QuickSmart
Encyclopedia
QuickSmart is a basic academic skills program aimed at middle
years students in Australia
. Two programs using the same approach encourage fast and accurate basic skills in literacy
or numeracy
.
) at the University of New England
, Armidale, New South Wales
, Australia
. These programs began implementation in schools in 2001. By 2009, they were implemented in over 150 primary and high school
around Australia. In 2011 approximately 600 schools involving 10,000 students were using QuickSmart.
support teachers, and teacher aides to discuss and practise ways to significantly improve under-achieving middle school
students' learning outcomes in basic mathematics
and literacy.
QuickSmart instructors work in small class instructional settings with two students, for three 30 minute lessons a week, over thirty weeks. They use a specially constructed teaching program supported by extensive material and computer-based resources. The program is called QuickSmart to encourage students to become quick in their response speed and smart in their understanding and strategy use. In QuickSmart, the aim is to improve students’ information retrieval
times to levels that free working memory
capacity from an excessive focus on mundane or routine tasks. In these interventions, automaticity
is fostered; time, accuracy and understanding are incorporated as key dimensions of learning, and an emphasis is placed on ensuring maximum student on-task time. The lessons help develop the learners’ abilities to monitor their own learning
and to set realistic goals for themselves.
s and survey
s of students, parents, teachers, and principals have gathered consistently positive qualitative data, indicating improvements for QuickSmart students in class, in their attitudes to school, their attendance rates and their levels of confidence in and out of the classroom.
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
years students in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Two programs using the same approach encourage fast and accurate basic skills in literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
or numeracy
Numeracy
Numeracy is the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts. A numerically literate person can manage and respond to the mathematical demands of life...
.
History
The QuickSmart Numeracy and Literacy programs were developed by John Pegg and Lorraine Graham of the National Centre of Science, Information and Communication Technology and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERRSiMERR
SiMERR Australia is an Australia-wide research body. Its National Centre is located at the University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia....
) at the University of New England
University of New England (Australia)
The University of New England is an Australian public university with approximately 18,000 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern New South Wales....
, Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. These programs began implementation in schools in 2001. By 2009, they were implemented in over 150 primary and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
around Australia. In 2011 approximately 600 schools involving 10,000 students were using QuickSmart.
Aims
QuickSmart aims to reverse the trend of ongoing poor academic performance for students who have been struggling at school and who are caught in a cycle of continued failure. It also includes a professional learning program that provides the opportunity for classroom teachers, special needsSpecial needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
support teachers, and teacher aides to discuss and practise ways to significantly improve under-achieving middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
students' learning outcomes in basic mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and literacy.
QuickSmart instructors work in small class instructional settings with two students, for three 30 minute lessons a week, over thirty weeks. They use a specially constructed teaching program supported by extensive material and computer-based resources. The program is called QuickSmart to encourage students to become quick in their response speed and smart in their understanding and strategy use. In QuickSmart, the aim is to improve students’ information retrieval
Information retrieval
Information retrieval is the area of study concerned with searching for documents, for information within documents, and for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching structured storage, relational databases, and the World Wide Web...
times to levels that free working memory
Working memory
Working memory has been defined as the system which actively holds information in the mind to do verbal and nonverbal tasks such as reasoning and comprehension, and to make it available for further information processing...
capacity from an excessive focus on mundane or routine tasks. In these interventions, automaticity
Automaticity
Automaticity is the ability to do things without occupying the mind with the low-level details required, allowing it to become an automatic response pattern or habit. It is usually the result of learning, repetition, and practice....
is fostered; time, accuracy and understanding are incorporated as key dimensions of learning, and an emphasis is placed on ensuring maximum student on-task time. The lessons help develop the learners’ abilities to monitor their own learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
and to set realistic goals for themselves.
Results
Independent (state-wide or standardised tests) assessment results gathered from QuickSmart and comparison students since 2001 have consistently demonstrated student growth of two to four years’ improvement over a 30-week period as measured by effect size statistics. InterviewInterview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
s and survey
Statistical survey
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
s of students, parents, teachers, and principals have gathered consistently positive qualitative data, indicating improvements for QuickSmart students in class, in their attitudes to school, their attendance rates and their levels of confidence in and out of the classroom.