Designed by: Nancy Drew

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Designed by Nancy Drew
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Are your teachers
overworked?
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Do your teachers limit writing assignments
due to grading overload?
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(No Transcript)
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Instructional Dilemma How can my district raise
TAKS scores without pushing over-burdened
teachers over the edge?
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Eureka!
YOU HAVE JUST DISCOVERED THE NEXT BEST THING TO
HAPPEN TO EDUCATION. YOU CAN POSSESS THE WINNING
TICKET,
THE TRIPLET
TICKET! THE TICKET TO TAKS MASTERY AND THE
SOLUTION TO THE BIGGEST EDUCATIONAL DILEMMA OF
THE NEW MILLENIUM.
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The TRIPLET TICKET is the brainchild of Texas AM
researcher, author, and English teacher DR.
NANCY DREW, who envisioned improving the QUALITY
of LANGUAGE ARTS instruction while making life
EASIER for TEACHERS. The TRIPLET TICKET
consists of a lucky thirteen PRACTICE TESTS
formatted like the exit level TAKS English
Language Arts Exam. Unlike existing practice
materials, the TRIPLET TICKET utilizes
STATE-OF-THE-ART ELECTRONIC GRADING of MULTIPLE
CHOICE, SHORT ANSWER, and EXTENDED ESSAY
RESPONSES.
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Nancy Drew has solved a modern-day conundrum.
The issue How do you prepare students for
standardized writing exams without weighing down
already bleary-eyed teachers with more paper
grading? Drew's solution Grade the practice
tests electronically. Drew, a 49-year-old
Advanced Placement English teacher at Carroll
High School, will launch a software program next
week that not only evaluates students' skills
with multiple choice questions, but also grades
their ability to write. Each of the 13 practice
tests she has designed to appeal to the MTV
generation is geared toward meeting objectives
set by Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
curriculum. This curriculum helps prepare
students for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills, the test each 11th-grade student must
pass to graduate. Because most high school
English teachers in the Corpus Christi school
district have between 180 and 210 students,
assigning a two- or three-page essay means
grading several hundred pages each time.
"There's just not time to adequately read and
grade the old fashioned way," Drew said. "That's
what is going to make this software so popular.
It's user friendly and teacher friendly."
Thunder Data Systems, a local Web site
development and custom software and database
programming company, designed the software using
a hard-copy manual created by Drew. Each
software license will be sold for personal or
campus-wide use for 799. After a school campus
purchases the program and sets up an account for
a teacher, the students can log in to the
Web-based practice test from on- or off-campus.
Drew, who earned a bachelor's, master's and
doctorate degrees in education, plans to hire a
sales staff to market her product "The Triplet
Ticket" nationwide and expects sales will reach
500,000 during its first year. Although she
would not reveal details about the criteria the
program uses to grade essays, Drew said it
includes spelling, punctuation, capitalization
and proper grammar among other standards. In a
field study she conducted for extra credit points
with her students, the practice tests accurately
graded students' work. The test only determines
if the student sufficiently met requirements.
Teachers then can further evaluate or coach
students on improving their writing. If students
haven't proofread their work and receive an
insufficient mark, the teacher can send them back
to redo the assignment. Now, students turn in
assignments, a teacher marks errors and students
make corrections. "It puts the responsibility of
editing on the student," Drew said. Katherine
Conoly, executive director for special programs
with CCISD, has heard of programs that allow
teachers to create personalized multiple choice
exams, but not essay questions. "It would be
wonderful," Conoly said after hearing about it.
"Writing is a major focus for the district."
Les Vela, director of federal programs
curriculum and instruction for Presidio
Independent School District in West Texas, said
teachers have had success using Drew's hard-copy
version. "Teachers are going to be able to do
more writing assignments, because they won't have
to grade until all hours of the morning," Vela
said. "I'm looking to earmark our funds." John
Wenhold, one of Drew's former students, took two
hours to test out the program. Wenhold said the
practice test was similar to the TAKS test and
that the passages he had to read were
interesting. Drew also teaches a summer
advanced preparation course for incoming juniors,
tutors students and is planning to start a
clearinghouse for other educational entrepreneurs
to market their products. But even after she
strikes it rich, she has no plans to leave the
classroom.
Software grades essays From one teacher to
others, a program to make life easier By
Alison Beshur Caller-TimesJune 2, 2004
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On Disc
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On the Web
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The triplet owes its success to its use of a
proven methodology behind language skills
development
High-Interest Reading
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Students eagerly read and respond to the Triplet
Ticket. Age-relevant content includes fiction
and non-fiction selections appealing to secondary
school student interests

• Love
• Art (even body art!)
• Relationships
• Ethnic experiences
• Pop culture
• Teenage problems

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GIVE YOUR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS A CUTTING-EDGE
LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR ONLY PENNIES PER
STUDENT.
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encourages proofreading
Buy Now!
raises scores
Why Triplets?
promotes elaboration
holds students accountable
improves reading and writing skills