“Apex Learning really helps us engage students who struggle in a traditional classroom setting. I call them modern learners. They are students with short attention spans. They want to be engaged in learning instead of just waiting for everything to come their way. Apex Learning reaches the students who wants to move at their own pace.”

   — Bob Hahn
        Curriculum Coordinator

Curriculum That Better Fits Student Needs

The experience of learning in a traditional classroom is not successful for every student. Where some thrive, others never engage. They grow impatient with the one-size-fits-all pace — especially in today’s abbreviated, text-message world — and struggle to keep up academically.

Cherokee County School District began using Apex Learning digital curriculum in 2008, choosing it for its current examples, use of relevant digital media, and alignment to state standards and curriculum maps. Content is delivered in smaller chunks, and lessons engage students with interactive exercises. In addition to better addressing student learning styles, Apex Learning online courses also stood out in a provider-comparison rubric for their rigor.

Digital Curriculum for Credit Recovery and Original Credit

Cherokee’s five comprehensive high schools offer Apex Learning online courses for credit recovery in computer labs during regular class periods throughout the day. Students are grouped by subject area, and certified in-field teachers facilitate learning.

CrossRoads, Cherokee’s alternative high school for students with behavior, attendance, and academic issues, and Polaris Evening Schools, for students requiring a non-traditional program, have been using online courses for both credit recovery and original credit.

Using Technology to Individually Engage Students

Students receive one-on-one attention as they move through their online courses in class, and they are able to access their courses outside school from any computer with Internet access. Combined with the ability to print out practice and study sheets for “paper-and-pencil” students, the versatility of online delivery of multimedia content has made Apex Learning digital curriculum particularly effective.

Digital Math Curriculum Proves Invaluable for Remediation

Changes to state math curriculum standards led Cherokee to use Apex Learning content more extensively to support students during the 2008–2009 school year. For the first time, all 9th graders were required to enroll in a new course that takes an integrated approach to math instruction. The transition from a traditional sequence of math courses to integrated math has been challenging for many. Students classified as “needing support” are enrolled in Apex Learning online courses for a second period of math each day to address specific knowledge gaps. Additionally, schools offer an abbreviated recovery opportunity during the lunch period or after school to students who only need targeted remediation on specific skills and concepts.