Hillsborough Community College Finds Success With Shmoop

The College Reach-Out Program (CROP) at Hillsborough Community College in Florida reports that, "The CROP program is designed to increase the number of educationally and economically disadvantaged high school and middle school students who upon graduation from high school will pursue a postsecondary education." Lawrence Smith, a veteran teacher who serves as an associate for the CROP program, was the decision maker who added Shmoop to the mix.

Referencing Shmoop’s diagnostic testing and data-driven approach, Shmoop’s real-time data is precisely what Mr. Smith loved. "This is a plug and play generation," he says, "and students want to see exactly what they've done exactly when they do it."

The CROP program utilized Shmoop's online test prep program to prepare students for the SAT® exam, ACT® exam, PSAT/NMSQT® exam, and numerous Florida End-of-Course Assessments. Teachers are able to keep tabs on student progress with Shmoop's online gradebook, which Mr. Smith calls "slick." 

The results

Students leveraged Shmoop’s Test Prep over a 6-week summer program, and the results were phenomenal. 

In just six weeks, one CROP student saw his SAT practice exam score increase by 44%, starting at 1120 and improvinig to 1610. Another student saw her score increase by 76%! Jumping from 830 to 1460. 

Think it's just a few edge cases? Nope. Of the students who stuck with Shmoop for the entire 6-week summer program, 100% increased their scores. The success even inspired one student to sign up for a more rigorous course load his senior year so that he could apply to a previously out-of-reach college.

Mr. Smith concludes: "My students want to prove to themselves and to others: 'this is who I am and this is how good I can be.' I want my students to be successful, and that's why I equip them with Shmoop. This program really works."

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