News from ComFit Learning
An update of what's going on with our company and our partners

December 15, 2010
UCO Study Validates the Benefits of Combining the ComFit Online Learning Center and Guided Study

The ComFit Online Learning Center figured prominently—and positively!—in a study conducted earlier this year by the Academic Support Center at the University of Central Oklahoma.

The study involved 300 entering freshmen whose college placement test scores had fallen short of the minimum requirement in certain areas—and who were consequently obliged to take the test for the second time.

The ComFit Online Learning Center was the ideal support resource for what we were trying to accomplish...
The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of three approaches to helping students prepare for the retest: (1) letting students simply "sit out" the four-week waiting period; (2) giving students access to study materials of their own choice but not providing any personal guidance; and (3) administering a four-week "blended program" that combined the resources of the ComFit Online Learning with at least one hour of "guided study."

The results in the specific content area analyzed in the study—Elementary Algebra—were striking. The number of students in the "blended group" whose scores on the retest increased by 20 points or more was three times as high as the number of students in the first group who made similar gains—and nearly 50% higher than students in the second group.

"The ComFit Online Learning Center was the ideal support resource for what we were trying to accomplish," says Bathsheeba Cantrell, the Academic Support Center staffer who oversaw the study. "It produced far better results than any other study software programs we've used in the past—and mainly because of the range, the simplicity, and usability of the mini-lessons."

May 12, 2009
Manatee Community College: Exit Test Success for ComFit Students
Elizabeth Smith, a development reading and writing instructor who heads the Communications Lab at Stage College of Florida in Venice, FL. reported this
...students like the fact that they can focus on the specific concepts they haven't yet mastered. And the process frees me to focus on their writing skills in general."
week that for the fourth consecutive year the students in her developmental writing class students who were using the ComFit Online Learning Center finished up the spring semester with her campus's highest grammar scores on the Florida state exit exam.

"I've been doing the same thing for the past four years, and it's working very well," Elizabeth explains. "At the beginning of the semester, I have students go through a ComFit 'drill-down' assessment that identifies the specific areas they need to work on. Then each student, throughout the term, works on self-directed mini-lessons that are keyed to whatever weaknesses have been uncovered in the assessment. The students really like the fact that they can focus on the specific concepts they haven't yet mastered. And the process frees me to focus on their writing skills in general."

September 9, 2008
IS 296: A Success Story for a ComFit Learning Partner
One of ComFit Learning's partner schools in New York—IS 296, in Brooklyn—has just received official word from the New York City Board of Education that its Progress Report grade rose from an "F" in 2006-2007 to a "B" in 2007-08.

"The ComFit Online Learning was a major help to us in five Quality Areas..."
Annual Progress Reports are a key element in a New York City Board of Education initiative whose purpose is to measure the performance level of individual schools in three key areas:(1) school environment; (2) student academic performance; and (3) student progress.

"The ComFit Online Learning was a major help to us in five Quality Areas," says IS 296 Principal, Maria Barreto. The areas she singled out were: (1) Data Gathering; (2) Planning and Setting Goals; (3) Aligning Instructional Strategy to Goals; (4) Aligning Capacity Building to Goals; and (5) Monitoring and Revising.

If you would like to talk to someone at ComFit Learning about the skill-building needs that are priorities for you or your organization, call us toll-free at 1-866-266-3481, or click here to send an email.