North Carolina Read to Achieve: Exact Path Approved as Alternative Assessment

The Read to Achieve program, North Carolina’s reading by the 3rd grade initiative, may have officially started in 2012, but its funding has never been more fully utilized as it was this last academic year. With its increase in popularity and utilization, we’re excited to announce that the North Carolina State Board of Education has approved Edmentum Exact Path as a Read to Achieve Alternative Assessment for the 2018–19 school year.

Edmentum is proud to partner with educators across the state of North Carolina in support of a unified goal to ensure that all students are reading at or above grade level by the end of 3rd grade. Under this approval, students may take the Exact Path adaptive diagnostic assessment in place of the mCLASS®:Reading 3D™ assessment. Accountability recommendations outline that a student must earn a Lexile® level of 725 or higher to demonstrate proficiency within End-of-Grade 3 achievement expectations.

As North Carolina State Superintendent Mark Johnson commits to another successful year of the Read to Achieve initiative, he outlines four key priorities: delivering more personalized learning for students, supporting early childhood literacy, reducing testing, and giving teachers back more instructional time. Each of these commitments aligns with not only what is ultimately best for students but also how the Exact Path program is designed and implemented in classrooms across the state today. Let’s dive a little deeper into each of these priorities and examine how Exact Path can help support each one:

1. Deliver more personalized learning for students

“More iPads will allow us to provide more effective small-group literacy instruction in our K–3 classrooms. These devices will allow us to further personalize learning for students.”—Harnett County Schools Superintendent Aaron Fleming

Continued investment in the Read to Achieve program includes providing new Apple iPad tablets for every public school K–3 reading teacher in the state this school year. This additional technology now brings even more devices into classrooms and provides educators with a greater ability to cultivate more innovative learning environments.

Exact Path offers 100% mobile-optimized, iPad-accessible instruction, practice, and assessments for students, that begins at their precise instructional level and allows for self-paced, adaptive learning that is individualized to each learner. Additionally, educators can easily access Exact Path from an iPad device to review student progress in the moment, plan for daily instruction, or launch content for just-in-time interventions and small-group learning experiences.

2. Support early childhood literacy

“The General Assembly began Read to Achieve because there is bipartisan consensus that early childhood literacy is a key metric for a student’s future success.”—State Superintendent Mark Johnson

At Edmentum, we couldn’t agree more—when students learn to read, their academic potential is unlocked across all subjects. Exact Path offers a uniquely age-appropriate login option, student interface, and curriculum experience for K–3 learners. Intuitive navigation and colorful icons ensure that students can get started right away, while friendly characters and relatable storytelling help students unpack complicated standards into the fundamental skills required to become successful readers.

3. Reduce testing

“Where we can, we will be revising the testing protocols to remove unnecessarily strict guidelines to alleviate at least some of the stress and disruption that testing causes in the early grades.”—State Superintendent Mark Johnson

Exact Path’s adaptive diagnostic assessments are designed to efficiently pinpoint each student’s specific instructional level, strengths, and needs, so students can spend less time testing and more time working on their individualized learning paths that are automatically created following every assessment administration.

4. Give teachers back more instructional time

“We want to give you time back to do what you entered the profession to do: teach.”—State Superintendent Mark Johnson

As students work in Exact Path’s individualized learning pathways, teachers are immediately provided with notifications regarding students who are struggling, insight into usage, and easy-to-follow progress visualizations. Leveraging this data, combined with built-in grouping features and assignment options, educators can quickly review performance and plan for targeted instruction and intervention in less time.

Interested in learning more about how Exact Path can drive successful outcomes for your early readers? Watch this 15-minute Exact Path overview and demonstration webinar!