Students in the Eastern Upper Peninsula will be able to take advantage of a new remedial course program that will allow them to get up to speed in their classrooms, make up missed classes when they are absent from school, and even take advanced course work. The computerized program is made possible with a grant from the federal Title 1 "Improving The Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged" program and was outlined at the meeting of the Moran Township Board of Education Monday, August 17.

The program, called Compass Learning, provides lessons from kindergarten to grade 12 and will primarily be used for remedial purposes after school and during the summer, Gros Cap School Superintendent William Peltier said. If a student is struggling with a particular subject, the program can assess the student's skills and quickly identify the areas that need to be improved. Writing lessons, learning strategies, and assessments are among the tools the program provides.

Teachers can use the program to supplement their own lessons during class, he added. All of the material Compass Learning covers meets state standards.

"It's another set of materials to use," Mr. Peltier said. "You use it along with everything else."

Parents are able to track their child's progress from home and observe their child's progress but are not able to complete assignments for them, Mr. Peltier said.

The program is also modular, said Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District Superintendent Peter Everson. If a student fails a class because of a particular subject, long division for example, the program can be used to teach the long division module rather than to require the student to repeat the entire course.

If a student misses several weeks of school, the program can also be used to help teach the child any missed lessons.

Students can also be referred to the program for advanced lessons, Mr. Peltier said. If a student is excelling in his classes, Compass Learning can be used to teach advanced lessons from higher grade levels.

The program will be used once teachers have received training on how to use it.