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Accountability
Targeted Assistance
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Provider: Catapult Learning
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| Provider Details |
| Program Areas: | Reading, Mathematics |
| Grades: | K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| Place of Service: | Student's School, Community Center |
| Type of Organization: | For Profit |
Experience with:
Limited English Proficient (LEP) students: Yes
Students with disabilities: Yes |
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| Program Description (written by provider) |
| Catapult Learning has been a leading education and instructional services provider for more than 30 years. We provide teacher-led small-group instruction programs that use our own proprietary curricula composed of scripted and/or teacher-created lessons. We use systematic, explicit, and intensive remediation and instruction to improve students’ reading and/or math skills. We guide students through carefully scaffolded sessions that include instruction, modeling and guided practice, and independent practice and application. We identify students’ strengths and weaknesses, by administering one of several proprietary assessment tests. Students receive instruction in two or more 60-minute sessions per week. We deliver our programs primarily during the hours following the regular school day. |
| Evidence of Effectiveness (written by provider) |
Catapult Learning programs are of high quality, based on nationally-recognized research, and designed to increase student academic achievement. Our small-group instruction model provides underachieving students with an environment where they have a greater chance of academic success. The model is based on research findings that instruction for at-risk children must be more intensive than regular classroom instruction (e.g., Foorman & Torgesen, 2001; Lou, Abrami, & Spence, 2000). The success of this model is evidenced by consistently high achievement gains among the at-risk students targeted for the program.
Our data analysis from 1998 to 2008, using matched pretest and post test standardized achievement test scores, indicates that students who received 20 or more sessions of our instruction achieved increased academic growth in reading by 54% and in math by 92%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness our instructional programs.
Catapult Learning teachers communicate with classroom teachers to ensure transfer of new learning into the classroom setting. Following initial assessment using proprietary tests such as the Assessment of Student Achievement (ASA) and the Catapult Learning Criterion Referenced Test (CLCRT), a Student Plan is created for each student. If desired, we can report student progress in the form of objectives set and met on the students’ plans, which are updated quarterly to reflect academic growth. New objectives are added as the need arises. At the end of the school year, the Student Plan is finalized and placed in the Student Audit File as a reference for the following year. A new testing and assessment cycle begins each year. A pre/post test evaluation model utilizing standardized test scores determines long-term student gains. Our Research & Evaluation department analyzes either Fall-to-Spring or Spring-to-Spring results annually. These results are used to assess overall program effectiveness and individual student growth, as well as to identify areas for program improvement.
We strongly believe that all services to children must be in a state of continual improvement. Therefore, program evaluation is and has been a hallmark of Catapult Learning’s instructional services. Our approach is to gather as much data as possible in order to obtain an unbiased and accurate picture of program effectiveness. Quantitative data, in the form of comparable pre-test and post-test standardized test scores, is critical. Catapult Learning’s Research and Evaluation Team evaluates district results, site-specific results, student-specific results, and demographic subgroup results to evaluate program effectiveness.
Our evaluation however, does not end there. Catapult Learning surveys parents, principals, and classroom teachers to ascertain their perceptions of the instructional services. In addition to responding to standard survey items, respondents are also encouraged to comment. We analyze the information from these sources and use it for program enhancements or adjustments, where needed, thus furthering our goal of continuous improvement.
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| District(s) Served |
Please note that these are the districts this provider is approved to serve through this contract. Not all of these districts may be required to offer supplemental educational services through Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act. Check with your school or district for more details.
| All Massachusetts Districts |
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