A fairly new credit recovery program known as PLATO is becoming increasingly popular among at-risk high school students in the Clear Creek Independent School District.
“They absolutely love it,” said Linda Rawlings, principal of Clear Lake High School. “They feel a lot of success. They enjoy using the computer program and getting instant feedback. Some students also enjoy the independence, the fact that it is self-paced and that they don’t have to sit through an entire class.”
Funded through the Freshmen Grant Initiative, a project of the Texas Education Agency, PLATO helps students earn course credit to get back on track. PLATO is a proprietary software suite of e-learning tools deployed by state education agencies nationwide.
“They (ninth-graders) sometimes become discouraged and end up staying in the same grade for two to three years,” Rawlings said. “This is not systemic to CCISD; it’s across the nation.”
The program started in January and it was originally designed to assist ninth-graders, but because demand was on the rise, it expanded. This year, any high school student who is behind a grade level will have the opportunity to sign up for PLATO.
“The faster you can help them get where they need to be, back on grade level, the more success the student feels and the more likely the child is to graduate,” Rawlings said.
Students may go to the lab during a regular class period or after the school day is over.
Each PLATO lab is equipped with 25 computers and has software installed for all of the major subject areas and several elective courses.
“The program tests them to find where they are, and it has activities and lessons to catch up,” Rawlings said. “If they don’t pass the test on the computer, they have to back up and relearn.”
More than 300 students completed the program during the spring semester and about 350 enrolled during the summer.
The district is now making plans to add a web-based version of PLATO that will allow students to access classes and review materials from their homes.
“It has lots of exciting possibilities,” Rawlings said.
