LeapFrog SchoolHouse is demonstrating the LeapTrack Assessment & Instruction System at this week’s National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in San Antonio, TX. The program, which works with the LeapPad device, is slated for release in August for Wintel systems, with a Mac version coming in December.
The LeapTrack Assessment and Instruction System for grades K-5 empowers teachers to use LeapFrog SchoolHouse’s LeapPad platform to instantly assess student progress and provide individualized, standards-based instruction, Peter Contino, company spokesperson, told MacCentral. The LeapTrack system provides a solution that lets teachers systematically collect, record and report assessment information to monitor student progress relative to state standards, to customize instruction for each learner, and to prepare students to master skills tested on high-stakes tests.
Using the three-step instructional process of assess-report-prescribe, the LeapTrack system strengthens any core curriculum. It enables teachers to quickly assess all their students in reading, language arts, math, science and social studies, Contino said. It then generates reports for administrators, teachers and parents to translate student performance into state standards that the student has missed or mastered. Lastly, it allows the teacher to produce an individualized learning path for each student in each curricular area.
The LeapPad is a rugged input device that stores info onto writeable LeapPad cartridges (which store up to 8MB of data) and connects to a computer via a USB port. It comes with a headset and is battery powered to facilitate individual (and quiet) learning, Contino said.
When the LeapTrack software arrives for the Mac near the end of the year, it will be Carbonized and will run on Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X, Contino said.