Thrive Academics

The pandemic has brought significant blows to the K-12 education sector.

Even before the pandemic, educators were stretched thin. However, today, they are overworked, exhausted, and trying their hardest to accelerate learning.

Educators do not have time to attend lengthy professional development courses to learn all the intricacies of Ed-tech tools. What they want is valid and reliable data quickly to see growth, identify gaps, differentiate instruction, and the fastest and most efficient way to monitor progress.

Enter Thrive Academics. The company is the exclusive K12 licensor of the trusted Achievement Series and Performances Series Assessments which were originally developed by Scantron Corporation. It continues to offer these timeless diagnostics, benchmark, and formative assessments as the most affordable assessments in K-12 education.

“We have streamlined the pricing and the purchasing process to ensure a hassle-free experience for school districts,” says Dr. Brandon Edwards, president, Thrive Academics.

Performances Series: The Most Affordable Diagnostic Assessment in K-12 Education

Performance Series Assessments are web-based, computer-adaptive diagnostic assessments trusted by educators for over 20 years. It includes benchmark assessments and universal screeners for all subject areas. Educators get instant results from a vast library of over 20 straight-forward, standards-based reports. These reports help educators identify gaps, differentiate instruction, and monitor progress.

Performance Series is the most affordable diagnostic assessment in the K-12 education space. It comes in two lengths—both include the same dynamic suite of reports.

First is Performance Express, which cuts testing time in half with a 15-30-minute, 25-question version of the popular Performance Series computer-adaptive diagnostic assessment. Performance Express delivers the same subject-level diagnostic as Performance Series standard without compromising the statistical significance (0.91 alpha coefficient). The other length is Performance Series standard, a 45–60-minute, 52-68-question diagnostic assessment that educators have been using for over 20 years, offering the highest level of precision (0.80 alpha coefficient).

Performance Series is used for diagnostic testing, benchmarking, universal screening, program placement, monitoring progress, suggested learning objectives, growth measurement, gap analysis, and interim assessments. Subjects included in Performance Series are Reading (grades 2–11), Reading Foundations (grades K–2), Math in English and Spanish (grades K–10), Algebra (grades 8–12), Geometry (grades 8–12), Language arts (grades 2–8), and Comprehensive science, including biology (grades 3–8).

The results of Performance Series can be trusted to make decisions as all assessments are valid and reliable and computer adaptive. It can be used at the beginning of the year for placement or throughout the year to monitor student progress. The inclusion of algebra and geometry makes it a great fit for high school in addition to elementary and middle school students.

Performance Series has a robust library of over 20 reports that provide scaled scores to measure proficiency, regardless of grade level. It assesses Spanish-speaking English learners on their math knowledge in their native language, differentiates student practice to reinforce concepts, and works well with any classroom curriculum. Performance Series also identifies and monitors growth in students’ reading levels and is accessible in school, remotely, or for hybrid learning.

Achievement Series: Making Assessments Creation Easy

Achievement Series is a web-based, flexible formative assessment builder that allows users to easily create assessments with a few quick clicks. They can design assessments from an item bank of over 100,000 standards based questions, copy and paste items from other vendors, create their own, or do any combination.

Through Achievement Series, users can write their own or use district created classroom assessments to gauge learning. It also allows all tests to be taken by students online, providing instant results.

Achievement Series has a library of over 20 reports that show results by student, class, grade, school, district, state, or subject. Data can also be disaggregated according to the criteria that you choose, such as socioeconomic status, gender, and grade. The sample reports include standards based reports, gap analysis, and class comparison reports. It is accessible in every learning environment.

Voyage: The Most Dynamic Online Life Prep Course

In addition to providing the most affordable assessments in K12 education, Thrive Academics has also designed the most dynamic online life prep course for high school students—Voyage. It is an interactive, online program that walks high school students through key skills they need to transition into adulthood well. Whether they are trying to figure out a career, exploring a college path, or simply seeking to learn adult life skills, Voyage has the tools and lessons to support them.

The fully animated, web-based program offers dynamic lessons in five modules that teach students personal development, career planning, college planning, financial responsibility, and everyday living.

We have streamlined the pricing and the purchasing process to ensure a hassle free experience for school dis

Module 1, or the Who I Am module, contains important information – and many thought provoking questions are asked. These include: who are you? What’s important to you? What are your passions? Specifically, the module covers the importance of identifying one’s purpose and strengths, having a vision statement, the difference between short and long-term goals, the idea of SMART Goals (goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely), and the need for action plans. Module 2, Career Planning, is aligned with the National Career Development Guidelines. It covers the differences between jobs and careers, how to research career options and choose a career with a future, as well as how to fill out a job application, write a resume, and more.

While Module 3 is the College Planning module which is aligned to the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards, Module 4 includes information on budgeting and wants vs. needs; how to open a bank account and balance a checking account; credit cards, compound interest; taxes; financial responsibility; even retirement, and the importance of starting a retirement account at a young age.

Last but not least, Module 5 teaches important topics students will need to master to live on their own. These include health and nutrition, communication, healthy relationships, traveling, getting a driver’s license, and learning how to buy a car and rent an apartment/home.

“Our attention to quality service is grounded in a single goal: to help students thrive. At Thrive Academics, we constantly strive to exceed your expectations by showing that our students always come first,” says Edwards.