Reaching Students with Special Needs

Study Island offers several features to assist students with special needs. These are just a few highlights.

1. Text-to-Speech

- Activate Text-to-Speech for struggling readers. With this feature students can highlight text on their page, and a voice will read it aloud to them! As each word is spoken its highlighted so the user can follow along with the voice! Go to School Stats and click
(if allowed by Admin). Option 3 allows you to enable text-to-speech for selected users.

2. Limited Number of Answer Choices

- A common test modification for students with special needs is the limitation of answer choices in multiple choice questions. If you would like your students to be presented with only three answer choices per question, go to School Stats and click
(if allowed by Admin). Option 3 allows you to limit answer choices for select students.

3. Multiple Highlighters

- Study Island now offers the ability for students to use highlighters of multiple colors. If allowed by your Admin, these highlighters can be enabled and disabled in the Preferences section of the Class Properties page (within Class Manager).

4. Larger Font Size- All students using Study Island have the opportunity to increase the font size of
the text on the screen simply by clicking the icon in the upper right corner.

5. RTI Report

- Study Islands new RTI Report shows a students progress on a specific topic over time, allowing you to easily see the effects of intervention.

6. Automatic Remediation- Sit back and watch as Study Island automatically remediates for your
students. When a student scores less than a 33%, he or she will be automatically presented with a Building Block Topic, which is a different set of questions at a lower difficulty level. Students can earn white ribbons as they succeed in the Building Block Topics, and their progress can be monitored using the RTI report.

7. Group Targeted Students For Easy Reporting Analysis- Group your students so that it is easier to
view reports in Class Manager. You can create as many groups as you want, and your students never have to know which group they are in.

8. Hide the Timer- Hide the timer from all students by adjusting the School Preferences on the
Admin Page. Or hide the timer for only your special needs students by grouping these students into classes through Class Manager and adjusting the Class Preferences. (if allowed by Admin.) Note: Study Island assessments are NOT time restricted.

9. Assign topics through Class Manager- This will help the student stay on task and not feel
overwhelmed by all the other Study Island topics.

10. Assign topics from a lower grade level- Teachers can assign topics from any grade level. This
enables students to work at their learning level while still experiencing the same topics as their classmates. Helpful Hint: Print the Objective Map* for every grade level your school owns. Compare the objectives so you know which topics are available at a lower level. *name varies by state

11. Appeal to various learning styles- Allow students to work in Test Mode, Game Mode, Printable
Worksheets, and with Classroom Response Systems.

a.

Create a Writing Assignment. Select a writing prompt or create your own. After a student completes his/her essay and turns it in, you can leave comments and send it back to the student for further revisions. This is an excellent way to track a students progress! Create a Custom Assessment. Custom Assessments allow you to select specific questions, rather than entire topics, giving you the ability to modify tests while still assessing based on your state standards.

b.

12. Restrict students to a specific grade level- Students have access to every program your school
purchased. You have the ability to restrict students to a specific grade level. You can even hide the grade level from the student. Go to the School Stats section and click allowed by Admin). Option 2 allows you to restrict a student to a specific grade level. (if

13. Study Island Lessons- Print Study Island Lessons for students to use as notes in class.

14. Custom Material- Use Create New Topic to write your own custom material, formatted to fit the
needs of your student.

15. Enable the use of a calculator

- Create an assignment through Class Manager and enable the

new calculator feature. The assignment can be posted specifically for your special needs students, increasing the confidentiality and making it easier for teachers to implement required modifications.

16. Adjust the Passing Goal- Every topic has a passing goal. The default setting is set by Study Island
and based on your states expectation for that topic. You have the ability to adjust that passing goal for each student. Go to School Stats and click (if allowed by Admin). Option 1 allows you to lower the passing goal 6% or increase it 6%, 12%, or 18%. Note: This doesnt change the material, just the percentage required to earn a blue ribbon.

17. Remove a students lowest score- If your student is having trouble reaching the passing goal, but
has shown marked improvement, why not meet him half way? Drop the lowest grade by removing sessions. To remove a session, click a students average in a topic. You will be taken to the List of Sessions. Select the session to remove and click Remove Checked Sessions.

Contact us for more information at 1.800.419.3191 or Implementation@archlearning.com