Background

The story showcases the successful implementation of Exact Path at the American World School (AWS), which serves 665 students in grades K-12 in Chennai, India. This story highlights how AWS, a forward-thinking educational institution, integrated Exact Path into its curriculum to address a critical need: improving English reading proficiency among its students. It also demonstrates how Exact Path's personalized learning approach, combined with strategic implementation and community engagement, can lead to substantial educational gains, even in contexts where English is a second language.

Exact Path is an educational tool that provides comprehensive data analysis and reporting capabilities across various levels of the educational system, from individual students to entire school groups. It helps educators identify areas of improvement and develop targeted intervention strategies.

Introduction

American World School (AWS) in Chennai, India, is revolutionizing education by offering a unique blend of American curriculum infused with entrepreneurship. Founded in 2021 by Dr. Mohana Lakshmi, an education innovator and entrepreneur, AWS is redefining the learning experience for students from diverse backgrounds, including the United States, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. At AWS, students approach every subject through the lens of entrepreneurship and innovation, fostering essential skills such as creativity, curiosity, growth mindset, persistence, problem-solving, critical thinking, cooperation, teamwork, and resilience.

School Profile and Vision

Dr. Lakshmi's vision for AWS is clear: schools should be project-based incubators for dreams and accelerators for ideas. This innovative approach aligns perfectly with India's National Education Policy, emphasizing multidisciplinary, integrated, and enjoyable learning experiences. AWS stands out for its commitment to personalized education, recognizing and fostering each student's unique capabilities.

The school offers an impressive array of over 450 subjects for high school students, including cutting-edge fields like Cyber Security, Health Science, World History, Artificial Intelligence, Coding, Business English, Entrepreneurship, Fashion Design, and Game Development. This diverse selection empowers students to craft their own pathways to success, increasing engagement and motivation.

Many students transition to AWS from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools—India's national board of education for public and private schools—and travel up to three hours daily to benefit from the personalized educational experience.

AWS Journey to Exact Path

In 2023, Dr. Lakshmi embarked on an accreditation journey that prompted her to seek an integrated assessment system. Her goal was to identify a system that would not only benchmark her students against international standards but also enhance data-driven decision-making within the school.
Dr. Lakshmi explains why Exact Path was chosen, “It effectively identifies student’s learning gaps and creates a personalized learning path for everyone. This path includes tailored lessons, opportunities to practice newly acquired skills, and mastery quizzes. This ensures students receive the right lesson, at the right level and at the right time for them.”
AWS's adoption of Exact Path demonstrates its commitment to leveraging technology to provide truly personalized education. This innovative approach not only aligns with international standards but also ensures that each student receives tailored support to maximize their learning potential.

Data-Driven Decision Making is Driving Continuous School Improvement

Exact Path is the perfect solution to support data-driven decision making. It provides reporting capabilities at multiple levels, including for individual students, classes, year groups, the entire school, and even across school groups. It enables educators to identify weaknesses and implement impactful, targeted intervention strategies. In India, English is the official second language for learners and Dr. Lakshmi, in part through the insight that as gained from the use of Exact Path, discovered there was a pressing need to enhance English reading proficiency across the school.

Identifying and Addressing Specific Needs

To address the reading proficiency need, Dr. Lakshmi developed a focused reading intervention program, which has shown immediate improvements in reading skills, vocabulary acquisition, and presentation abilities.
Based on the insight, the school implemented a focused reading intervention initiative with four key steps:
1. Students dedicate 45 minutes daily to reading.
2. Every Friday, students select a book to read over the weekend.
3. Students create a summary and illustration of the story they've read.
4. They present their work to parents at home and share it with classmates and teachers in class.

This initiative, informed by Exact Path's data analysis, has been widely embraced by the school community. The program has yielded immediate improvements in students' reading skills, vocabulary acquisition, and presentation abilities. Utilizing Exact Path's capabilities, the school was able to identify a critical area for improvement and implement a targeted, effective intervention strategy that has positively impacted the entire school community.

Parental Engagement

The parental community at AWS has embraced Exact Path enthusiastically. Parents appreciate the personalized approach to learning and the ability to benchmark their children's performance against international standards. Here are a few of their stories.

Vijay:

As parent of a grade 12 student, Vijay welcomes the personalized approach to learning that Exact Path offers his daughter.
For his daughter, Exact Path identified learning gaps in algebra. His daughter is an “A” student and initially the results shook her confidence; however, knowing she had gaps meant she was motivated and driven to improve her scores, and she started working hard in her personal learning path. She has now mastered all her algebra skills in Exact Path. This has restored and developed her confidence and ability, and she has completed her algebra Courseware course (an 18-week course) in just 2 weeks.

Vijay also welcomes the benchmarking part of the assessment. Through the tool, Vijay can see how his daughter is performing not only in her school with her peers but with students in the USA, as well. As the final data was gathered for this story, Vijay’s daughter completed her second diagnostic assessment and is now in the top 1% of children in math.

Radhika:

Because her granddaughter is a grade 8 student, Radhika is delighted because she has seen real improvements in her granddaughter’s vocabulary, accent, grammar and confidence since she started using Exact Path.
Student Engagement and Usage
Student engagement and usage are both critical components of a successful online tool. Edmentum’s learning scientists ensure every lesson is designed for maximum impact and engagement which means students enjoy learning and are rewarded by success. This is clearly working in the AWS.

Student Voice: Vihaan

Vihaan is a grade 9 student at AWS. His results were very interesting and pinpointed his strengths and weaknesses.

“My results overall were 83rd percentile for language arts and 69th percentile for reading, and 32nd percentile for math. I was really pleased with my English language arts result because I’m working above my grade level. I knew I wasn’t as good at math. I’ve always struggled with math, but I have never known how to improve or where to start. The test highlighted that although I’m in grade 9, I had some skills gaps from grade 6 in algebra, subtraction and long division. What is brilliant about Exact Path is that it gives you the right lesson at the right level to help you improve. I started working in my learning path and experiencing success because the work was at my personal level for math. This really motivated me, and I started enjoying math for the first time. I am improving every day, my negative self-talk about math has disappeared and the class leaderboard really encourages me to do my best. It is also great that we can access Exact Path anytime, anywhere because I am doing extra work to help me catch up. At first, I found it very challenging because I have to achieve 80% to master a skill. But then I really appreciated it because it means I understand the skill fully and remember it easily. In just 2 months, I have now mastered 95 new skills. I have just completed my second diagnostic assessment, and I am delighted to say I have improved in math from the 32nd to the 54th percentile in just 2 weeks. I am also in the top 1% compared to students my age in America in English language arts. The diagram below shows the algebra skills gaps I had initially. I have now mastered all these algebra skills. I found evaluate expressions the hardest but got it right the second time.”

Student Voice: Pragathi

Pragathi is in grade 9 at AWS. She was thrilled to discover she was performing at a grade 12 level in English language arts, but in math, she found herself at grade 7, Her national percentile rank scores ranged from 82 in English language arts to 47 in math.

“Knowing this and having a learning path to help me really motivated me to improve. I wanted to at least be in grade 9 for everything. In two months, I have now mastered 60 new skills. What I really like is the immediate feedback I get whilst learning and practicing. This means I know whether I understand something straight away and if I don’t, it gives me hints and explanations. This means my learning is happening much more quickly because any misconceptions are cleared up very quickly in the practice sessions. I have just completed my second diagnostic assessment and as you can see in the diagram below – in just 4 months I have grown by 29 percentile points in mathematics. I am really proud because the hard work and effort I am putting is bringing me success, and I am proving because Exact Path is providing me with the right lesson I need.”

Student Voice: Joshlyn

Joshlyn a grade 9 student at AWS. She attained 93 trophies for mastering 93 new skills at 80% or above in the last two months. She started off quite slowly and initially was quite low on the trophy leader board but is now in the top 5 in the whole school. She was surprised to find that reading was her best subject. She always thought she was better in math. The diagnostic identified algebra and ratios as areas she needed to improve. The trophies for mastering skills really motivated her to progress because they represented milestones in her journey of growth and learning.

“I worked very hard after school to improve, and I am proud to say I am now one of the top trophy winners in the entire school! I failed one skill in English and repeated it twice because I didn’t get 80% mastery. That really annoyed me, but I persisted and mastered it at the second attempt.’ Overall, the students are very happy with the Exact Path because they realise it helps them to identify what they don’t know so they can improve and master that area. They can also learn at their own pace when teachers aren’t available and at any time because the learning path is available 24/7.”

Delivering Whole School Improvement: Learning Science Driving Efficacy and Impact

All students in the school have grown have significantly. The average growth in math is 74 attainment points and 62 national percentile rank points. The average growth in English language arts is 60 attainment points 64 national percentile rank points. The average growth in reading is 46 attainment points and 54 national percentile rank points.
This growth validates Dr. Lakshmi’s use of Exact Path. It is having a positive impact on the learning of every student, improving student agency and self-belief, and creating real growth mindsets.

Lakshanya, grade 8, is one such student. She has recently taken her second diagnostic assessment, and her transformation is incredible.

Math: Improved +122 points

• Moving from 20th to 71st percentile
• Top 29% Of all international students comparatively

Reading: Improved +272 points

• Moving from 33rd percentile to the 98th
• Top 2% of all international students comparatively

English Language Arts: Improved +301 points

• Moving from the 26th percentile to the 99th percentile
• Top 1% of all international students comparatively

This type of growth is incredible and is a testament to the hard work and dedication of Lakshanya and the targeted support that Exact Path provides. The learning science and engagement is driving efficacy and impact and rewarding learners for the effort they are putting into improving.
 

Teacher Perspectives

Teachers at AWS have fully embraced Exact Path, noting its ability to provide real-time data on student performance, streamline assessment processes, and facilitate targeted interventions. The platform has significantly reduced teacher workload while enhancing their ability to address individual student needs.

Mr. Faisal is an AWS math teacher who has completely embraced Exact Path.

“It provides real-time data on student performance, enabling me to track progress and make informed decisions about instruction. It helps identify which students need additional support and which concepts may require more emphasis in the classroom. Most assessments require the teacher to use the data to create action plans for each student, but Exact Path provides each student with a unique path, a personalized map of mathematical exploration that caters to their strengths, ignites their passions, and addresses their challenges head-on. Its adaptive technology and automated grading have significantly reduced my workload. It has streamlined the assessment process, allowing me to quickly identify learning gaps and provide targeted interventions without spending hours on grading.”

Ms. Blessed is an AWS English teacher who expresses that Exact Path is a game-changer.

“My students are learning English as a second language, and Exact Path has shown me that every learner has completely different gaps in both ELA and reading. It has really helped with differentiation because it would have been very difficult for me to give every student the lesson they need, but I don’t need to because Exact Path does this for me. It has provided every student with an individual action plan and has automatically differentiated the work for every student. It provides lessons, practice, and mastery quizzes so that every student receives the right lesson at the right level for them. The progress has been incredible. Students are engaged, focused on their own personal needs, and improving daily. There has been a huge, positive change in the students’ comprehension levels and self-esteem. I also teach sociology, and students are transferring their improvements in English into their other subjects.”

Traditionally and culturally, the Indian education system is driven by high stakes examinations which create a significant amount of pressure and anxiety for students. Exact Path measures attainment but crucially it measures progress as well through continuous formative assessment. The teachers are all happy because attainment results are improving, and real progress is being achieved by all learners.

Leadership Insights from the Head Teacher and Owner

Dr. Lakshmi shares:

“Introducing Exact Path has been the best decision I have made this year. The entire school community from parents to teachers to students can see the positive impact on learning it is having. I want to provide every student with the support they need to flourish, improve and reach their potential and Exact Path is a huge part of this. Comprehensive reporting functions mean I can review, reflect, react, plan, implement, monitor, evaluate, analyze, compare and define progress which are all crucial elements of running an effective school and meeting accreditation standards.
My teachers and I have been empowered with tools to unlock personalized learning for each learner. My teachers are given actionable insights into student learning. The detailed reports help my teachers understand their students' strengths and weaknesses, enabling them to tailor instruction and interventions to meet each student's unique needs. Its robust assessment tools and progress tracking features make it easy to measure student growth, identify areas of improvement, and celebrate successes. For me, teaching children at the right level is paramount for a child’s educational development. Tailoring instruction to match a child’s current abilities and knowledge ensures engagement, prevents frustration, and helps foster a love for learning. By addressing individual learning needs, my teachers create a foundation for confident and successful lifelong learners. All my students are improving and currently Lakshanya, in grade 8, has mastered 137 new skills through Exact Path in two months. Every child deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential, explore their passions and overcome personal learning barriers.”

Conclusion

American World School, under Dr. Mohana Lakshmi's visionary leadership, is setting a new standard for personalized education in India. By leveraging innovative tools like Exact Path, AWS is creating an environment where students can embrace challenges, see setbacks as opportunities, and approach learning as an exciting adventure. The school's commitment to fostering entrepreneurial skills alongside strong academic foundations is preparing students for success in an ever-evolving global landscape.

Dr. Lakshmi shares:

“Pedagogy Technology (PedTech) companies like Edmentum are empowering schools and enabling their teachers to embrace the power of personalized learning journeys. Together, we are transforming education for the better. I want to ensure that no learner is left behind and that each one has the same, equal chance of achieving success. My students have a mindset where they embrace challenges as opportunities, see setbacks as steppingstones, and learning as an adventure to explore. I am an entrepreneur, and my school is creating entrepreneurs. All entrepreneurs need strong math and English skills and the powerful combination of Exact Path and my teachers are effectively helping my students achieve proficiency in both areas.”