Case Study: The Effectiveness of Edmentum Online Solutions in the Context of School Improvement

This study documents the achievement gains made by some of the nation’s lowest-performing schools that are using Edmentum’s award-winning online curriculum and assessment solutions as part of their school improvement process. The study focuses on schools that have received funding through the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program and have implemented Edmentum’s online solutions as part of their coordinated improvement efforts. Results show that these schools are making dramatic and significant progress in student learning and achievement. Over a two-year period, across all high schools in the study sample that were on improvement and using Edmentum’s online solutions, the graduation rate increased by an average of 24%, a gain of 12 points. This percentage point increase is approximately ten times greater than the national annual average increase in graduation rates between 1998 and 2008. Schools that used Edmentum’s comprehensive online courses solution, Plato Courseware, had even better results. These schools saw an average increase in graduation rates of 53%, a gain of 22 points. This study details Edmentum online solutions as highly-effective tools that schools in need of improvement are using as part of their turnaround process.