How LAVCA Improved Their ACT WorkKeys Pass Rate by 100% with Progress Learning

Last semester, Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy (LAVCA) conducted an experiment: they ditched the official ACT WorkKeys curriculum and relied solely on Progress Learning to prepare students for the ACT WorkKeys exams. We interviewed Michael Vinning, the ACT WorkKeys prep teacher who spearheaded this experiment, to hear about the results. Keep reading to find out more!

Background

This is Mr. Vinning’s fourth year as the ACT WorkKeys prep teacher at LAVCA. From the very beginning, they used Progress Learning. “We used Progress Learning from the get-go. The first year, that is all we had. We didn’t have a curriculum, we just did a lot of baseline testing and Study Plan work and Focus Areas,” explained Mr. Vinning.  

For the first year and a half, Mr. Vinning created the ACT WorkKeys curriculum from scratch using Progress Learning. “What I would do is use the Item Analysis to create PowerPoints and we’d work with the kids on that.” He also used Progress Learning’s examples and baseline testing, but he said, it was a lot of work on the teachers.

Despite this challenge, student performance improved. “We did see our numbers improve that year. But like I said, it was kind of chaotic and we were just kind of winging it. But thank God for Progress Learning because it’s all we had.”

Then, two years ago, they decided to purchase the official ACT WorkKeys curriculum, hoping it would provide a more solid structure and ease the workload. However, they soon ran into problems.

The Problem

LAVCA is a virtual school, with students scattered across Louisiana and 50% of them lacking reliable internet. This made it difficult to pull accurate data from the ACT WorkKeys curriculum. “It was a month after the semester ended before I could get any reliable usage reports from the ACT WorkKeys program. It got to where we could not use that as we intended. “Because admin needs data, they need reports, and we needed to give it to them,” said Mr. Vinning. 

The school also struggled to juggle between Progress Learning and the ACT WorkKeys curriculum. “It was really messy,” Mr. Vinning explained. “We were spending a third of our time in this platform that didn’t give us any data, a third of our time in Progress Learning, and the other third, giving some instruction.”

The situation became even more complicated when Mr. Vinning had to train a new co-teacher. “On top of all of that, I had to train a new teacher and she wasn’t familiar with all the things. By the time I got her trained up on Progress Learning, OHS, the way the class works, and the test itself, let’s just say, it was information overload.”

Over time, Progress Learning became the preferred resource. “It got to where the WorkKeys curriculum was our supplement and Progress Learning was our go to. Because it’s always reliable and it’s always on top, even when there is an issue. I have never once had an issue that I didn’t get in touch with Progress Learning and they jumped on almost immediately. So the support there is out of sight,” said Mr. Vinning.

Eventually, they decided to stop using the ACT WorkKeys curriculum altogether. “I’m like, you know what? We’re going to do an experiment and just use Progress Learning. And so we went 100% into Progress Learning.”  

The Solution

Mr. Vinning and the LAVCA team decided to go all in on Progress Learning. They used everything in Progress Learning — from the baseline tests and Study Plans to remediation and Item Analysis. Here’s how they used it last semester: 

• Baseline Tests

Mr. Vinning began the semester with a baseline test to assess students’ abilities. “We baseline tested them the first week so that we knew what their strengths were and what their weaknesses were… If they were weakest in math, we set that Study Plan up first and let them jump right in there and start working on that,” explained Mr. Vinning.  

• Study Plans & Focus Areas

Students then worked on their Study Plans. “We split the day so we’re giving some instruction on a specific topic, whether it be applied math, graphic literacy, or workplace documents, and then we give them time to work in their Study Plan,” said Mr. Vinning. He encouraged his students to complete every blank circle or standard in their Study Plan. That way, the Focus Areas would catch all their weakest areas and they could work on those too.  

• Remediation

During this practice time, they also used Quick Click Remediation, which assigns practice in the 3 weakest standards for each subject. Initially, Mr. Vinning wasn’t familiar with this feature and would stay up until midnight manually assigning remediation. “When I found the one button remediation, things got much better for my life.”

Mr. Vinning particularly enjoyed that Quick Click Remediation offers unlimited attempts. “What’s cool about the remediation is it allows students to continue retaking those so if they did poorly, they can continue working on it and then they can ask us for help.” 

Students who were still struggling with remediation were pulled into breakout rooms or received individualized instruction.

• Item Analysis

While students worked on their Study Plans, Focus Areas, and remediation, Mr. Vinning and his team used the Item Analysis feature to build out PowerPoints. “We used Item Analysis to look at the questions that 50% or more of the students missed. And I would include that question on a PowerPoint of most frequently missed questions.” Then, they went over the PowerPoint as a class to help drive home what the students missed.

He appreciates how easy it was to see the weak areas in the Item Analysis feature. “I love the way you can look at the whole page and boy, when you see a red column, it’s like, ‘Boom! That question for sure.’ So I’ll favorite all the questions from that baseline test, and then I’ll go back, look at my favorites, and I’ll just copy paste those onto a PowerPoint,” said Mr. Vinning.

Over the years, Mr. Vinning has developed an extensive library of PowerPoints. “We normally try to have our kids separated by weakest subject. So, we may have math in one room, graphic literacy in the next, and workplace docs in another. We’ll have those PowerPoints up there with somebody in there running through them with the kids,” explained Mr. Vinning.

Other Important Resources:

• The Data

At LAVCA, data is crucial for making instructional decisions, especially since the school is completely virtual. “Administration loves data,” Mr. Vinning emphasized. “In a virtual school, that’s what drives every decision. We’re not seeing these kids face to face, so we have to rely on the data to know where to move them, when to move them, and how well they’re progressing.” Progress Learning has met their data needs. “The data is what sold us on Progress Learning. It is so remarkable for data,” said Mr. Vinning.  

Throughout the semester, Mr. Vinning and his team tracked student progress using frequent baseline testing — typically three times in the fall and four times in the spring. “We give that first baseline test, we record their baseline scores, and then we give them instruction for a two to three-week period. Then, we baseline them again and we record their growth,” Mr. Vinning said. These regular assessments ensured that students were continually improving.

• The Progress Report

Mr. Vinning found that the Progress Report and dot rank system were especially helpful. “Progress Report has been a lifesaver,” he said. First, it was a very reliable predictor of how students would do on their tests. “Students know that once they hit a high 70 or a high yellow, they’re looking good for passing the test. If we have a student consistently scoring green, rarely have we seen that student fail. So, the dot ranks in themselves are amazing.”

Second, the Progress Report kept students motivated. Students could see their colored dots move from red to yellow to green as they practiced, which was a great intrinsic motivator. To further encourage engagement, Mr. Vinning also offered rewards. “If a student is consistently working more problems than necessary and holding high yellows or green dot ranks, I give them some free time during the week.” 

Finally, the Progress Report held students accountable. “It’s good for us and it’s good for the kids too, because they know that we’re going to hold them accountable when we say we’re working for 30 minutes, we expect you to get X amount of problems done… The Progress Report is beautiful in that way.”

The Results

Mr. Vinning compared the ACT WorkKeys scores of 2023 (when they used both the official ACT WorkKeys curriculum and Progress Learning) to this last semester in 2024 (when they only used Progress Learning). The results, he said, “were fantastic.”

“The year before, we had 67 zeros on the WorkKeys test, meaning 67 seniors who had graduated could not score higher than a Bronze level on the WorkKeys test in all three areas,” explained Mr. Vinning. “At the end of last year, we dropped that 67 down to 35. So yeah, we cut those in half.”

In other words, the number of students who were failing dropped from 67 to 35, showing nearly 100% improvement in their pass rate. Fewer students were failing and more students were passing when they only used Progress Learning.

Mr. Vinning said that even with a brand new co-teacher this year, the results have been impressive. “Even with the new teacher, we still cut those zeros in half, which is over 100 percent growth. So I got a lot of praise and I was good with that,” he joked.

The results made Mr. Vinning realize that “we can do this thing with Progress Learning. We don’t need to spend $3,000 a semester on some other fancy program that won’t give us good data. We’re just sticking with the tried and true, which has always been there for us in Progress Learning.”

There’s no greater joy for Mr. Vinning than seeing a student who once doubted their abilities succeed. “For a kid who comes in and says, ‘There’s no way I’ll pass this test, I just can’t do math…’ And then to watch that kid’s face when you tell them that they passed that test, there’s nothing that beats that. It is so amazing.” That’s what teaching is all about! 

Moving Forward

So, what is LAVCA planning to do following the results of this experiment? Stick with what’s working! The results were so promising, LAVCA is not re-subscribing to the ACT WorkKeys curriculum and will only use Progress Learning this year.

As Mr. Vinning explained, “We’re sticking with the plan that worked last year and I predict our numbers will be even better this year because we’re working out the kinks.” He said that he “looks forward to seeing our numbers this year,” and we look forward to that as well! 

Continuous Improvement

Mr. Vinning sits on the Progress Learning product improvement panel and he said that over the four years he’s been using our program, it’s “gotten better and more in depth.” 

He praised our product team, saying that LAVCA’s “phenomenal results were a testament to what you have been doing with the WorkKeys areas of Progress Learning.” Thank you, Mr. Vinning, we are so grateful for your valuable feedback. We love getting feedback from our teachers and implementing it to provide the most effective program for our teachers and students.

Recently, he provided some great feedback about Item Analysis, which we are currently working on. “God, I’m so looking forward to that,” said Mr. Vinning. So are we!

Conclusion

LAVCA’s experiment proved that using Progress Learning as the sole preparation tool for ACT WorkKeys can lead to significant improvements in student scores. With our assessments, Study Plans, Focus Areas, Item Analysis, Quick Click Remediation, data, and Progress Reports, the school was able to provide support to all their students and help them succeed. 

Congratulations to Mr. Vinning and all the educators at LAVCA! We are so proud of you and your students’ achievements. These results are not only a testament to Progress Learning, they are also a testament to all your hard work and dedication to your students. 

Want to improve your ACT WorkKeys scores like LAVCA? Request a demo of Progress Learning today!