Acadience Learning Online
STANDARDIZED READING & MATH ASSESSMENTS
Product
Progressive Web App for assessing preK-8 reading & math, planning and evaluating support, and improving outcomes for kids.
Project Roles
UX/UI Design
Information Architecture
Data Visualization
Quality Assurance
Web App Development
THE CHALLENGE
Dr. Ruth Kaminski and Dr. Roland Good, the original authors of DIBELS and the authors of the K-6 Acadience Reading assessment, approached Emberex with one goal: to build a best-in-class software solution that would improve outcomes for students. With a renowned paper/pencil product already on the market and a large following of super-user mentors and teachers, the challenge was to build a digital platform that would make it even easier to assess students and interpret results.
THE PROCESS
Significant Discovery
The Acadience team welcomed a thorough Discovery process. They were laser focused on building the product that would ultimately have the greatest impact for students. With that goal in mind, the team understood the need for a thorough unpacking of the Acadience product history, as well as an unfettered exploration of what the future of the product could be. This act of taking the time to ask questions and listen for the most meaningful answers allowed us to uncover what features and functionality would have the most impact for Acadience users.
Wireframes
Through the use of wireframes and interactive prototypes the Acadience team was able to get a feel for what their future award-winning product could be. We broke up the large project into bite-sized feature sets and reviewed new wireframes at each meeting. We held animated feedback sessions with the teams and were able to make quick revisions to prototypes as we explored new ideas.
Final Designs and Development
Development of this industry-leading app is still very much ongoing, as ALO is wrapping up its 5th year on the market. The initial build, however, was an incredible feat of will and expertise, as we completed development in a very quick 18 months, in time to launch the product for the 20-21 school year’s sales cycle. (And into a pandemic)
Successful Statistics
A Look Around the ALO App
Key Features
A meaningful dashboard. We designed and built the dashboard to allow Acadience users to understand student performance at a glance. A robust set of filters allows different users to access the information needed for school and district-wide decision-making, making it a useful and beautiful tool for group and individual-level decision-making.
Tasks made simple. After an audit of the marketplace, we learned that competitors’ products required a great deal of clicking and sleuthing to determine which assessments to perform for each of the students in their classes. We designed a smart one-click UI, providing users access to an ordered list of students due for assessment, accessible from any page of the site.
Custom Goal setting. ALO sets an automated end-of-year student goal. However, people are unique and learning is individualized so it was important to Acadience that a teacher could override the system goal and determine custom goals, tailored to their students’ circumstances. We built a highly interactive tool that allows users to easily see how small changes can have significant impact.
Robust, interactive reporting. ALO provides 5 unique reports that allow users to understand student progress. The addition of robust filtering allows users easily find the information they need.
Natural, Intuitive Assessment. The ALO assessment experience is outstanding. We drew on elements of the paper/pencil experience that was familiar to users, while making it easy to capture student responses and keep up with quick-moving students.
Immediate Interpretable Results. Student results are immediately available upon completion of an assessment, without the need for manual scoring . Pill-shaped left-to-right indicators of student performance make interpretation simple. Item-level indication of how the assessment was scored helps all teachers and reading support personnel understand how the score was calculated.
Awards Worthy
A client goal, stated early on: a best-in-class product. And while that’s what Emberex is known for, it never hurts to have people notice.
Our relationship with the team at Emberex is the best thing ever in the world and has been key to our success.
THE RESULTS
Acadience Learning Online is used by over 2,000 school districts (and counting!), including large city- and state-wide adoptions. We continue to add new content and new features that make the platform even more powerful and easy to use.
TECHNOLOGY
Node.js, React, MySql, SocketIO, BullMQ, Chart.js, Lingui
