In the wake of COVID-19, the EdTech software “i-Ready” has proliferated as a personalized learning experience for students working to recover from learning loss. i-Ready monitors student progress through interim assessments and provides practice delivered in the form of engaging animations and sounds, however many parents are questioning the software’s effectiveness according to Chalkbeat, a national education reporting company.
In effect, parents’ concern with i-Ready is just part of a broader resistance to technology in the classroom. While the idea behind the program is that it makes content engaging, parents are worried that its features are distracting and that it adds unnecessary screen time.
About one-third of American students use i-Ready. After years of implementation, the question has become centered around whether the software is just repetitive, “digital busywork,” or if it is an engaging, evidence-backed solution to the problem of student achievement.
Kelly Sia, the CEO of Curriculum Associates (the software company that created i-Ready), says that “student outcomes are the only metric that matters,” and that i-Ready is purposeful and supports student growth.
According to research funded by Curriculum Associates, i-Ready shows promising results for personalized math instruction, but reading did not see the same. All things considered, there is some existing data that suggests i-Ready can be helpful for some students, but there is not enough to support fully adopting it in schools.
And then, the question of research bias arises. Transparently, there is not enough federal funding to conduct studies on every program and software, so companies often have to commission them independently. This is a significant problem in EdTech, since student achievement must be measured objectively.
Meanwhile, some parents express real concerns with i-Ready. One parent filed a class action lawsuit alleging that i-Ready improperly shared student data. Others find the animations to be counter-productive and even harmful to student proficiency scores, while still others find the numerous practice problems to be ineffective.
One parent complained that her daughter performs poorly in math on i-Ready because the sounds and animations that appear when students answer questions wrong are fun—her daughter was answering problems wrong on purpose because the alien character’s reaction for that unit made her laugh.
Teachers have also expressed frustration with i-Ready, sharing that it eats into classroom time at the expense of subjects like science and social studies. At the same time, school boards are becoming increasingly aware of the high costs of extended contracts. Some are even opting to renew their agreements with Curriculum Associates for a short time while they compare student proficiency against its use before signing extended contracts.
The bottom line? i-Ready may be useful for some students. But, districts and schools should be careful and intentional about requiring all students to use it unless results are evidence-based in an unbiased way over time.