[Teacher Testimonials] Inspiring & Accelerating Learning with Exact Path

Earlier this winter, we invited Exact Path partners from across the country to share how they motivate and inspire their students through unique contest plans to master skills and accelerate growth inside our K–12 diagnostic-driven, individualized instruction program. After reading the 100 powerful submissions we received, we’re excited to spotlight two of these educator testimonials so that you too can get a glimpse inside their classroom implementations, learning from the successful ideas they’ve put together.

Hayley Baker, 2nd Grade Teacher in Phoenix, Arizona

Ms. Baker shared that her 2nd grade students have ability levels ranging from kindergarten to 4th grade skill readiness. Doing her best to continuously differentiate and meet students where they’re ready to learn, she spends most of her instructional day working in learning centers and uses Exact Path as an integral component to her approach.

She quickly found that students were mastering skills and earning Trophies left and right inside of the program, but she wanted to find a dynamic way to celebrate this success and foster her classroom culture. Using a homemade Trophy Tracker (check out how cute this is in the video below!), students work toward a class goal and vote on a preferred prize. The success her students have found has even spread outside the four walls of her classroom, as Ms. Baker shared that her fellow 2nd grade teachers now use the program daily too:

If [students] don’t have those skills mastered and they don’t pass it, then they try again and they rewatch the videos and go through that whole learning process. Whereas if they were doing a worksheet or a different assignment, then it would take a while for me to grade it—for me to figure out what’s going on there and what to reteach. So, [Exact Path is] really helpful to get them immediate feedback with about how they’re doing and get them started on the right track again.

Check out this under-seven-minute video to hear from Ms. Baker herself and learn more about how she’s making the program work for her and her students.

Deb Butko, High School Math Resource Teacher in Norman, Oklahoma

Mrs. Butko first started using Exact Path when a statewide implementation began in the 2020–21 school year. Because she could use the program no matter if students were in the physical classroom or learning at home, Mrs. Butko found that she was able to identify the specific strengths and weaknesses of her learners and modify her instruction to follow suit. After a successful year one, she campaigned her school to continue offering the program to the direct-instruction students in her resource classes.

When it came to keeping students motivated, Mrs. Butko got creative by reaching out to her community for donations. There, she was able to secure prizes like restaurant and movie theater gift cards, and she used these incentives to recognize students who met goals around time spent in Exact Path and completed Challenges she had set. Not only did she find success but also, she found that the data built by the program enabled powerful conversations with stakeholders and fellow teachers alike. She continues to see her students grow more confident in their academic potential:

It’s really sometimes enlightening because on the [Exact Path] graph, it will say the lowest entry level, and I say [to a parent], “Oh, maybe something happened in 2nd grade because, look, we have a little hole in our learning here in 2nd grade.” And I would say about 90 percent of the time, the parent tells a story of something that happened in 2nd grade. So, it’s like: “OK, let’s go fix that. Let’s have the student really focus in on those 2nd grade skills, and then we’re able to fill in those learning gaps.”

Watch this less-than-10-minute video to learn more about Mrs. Butko’s story straight from her, and get ready to get inspired!

Interested in building your own Exact Path contest to drive motivation? Explore our design-your-own-contest toolkit for best practices, printable certificates trackers, and even more testimonials from our partners.