I-Ready backlash: Why some Long Island parents want the program out of the classroom

Despite Alina Vegliante’s efforts to create a screen-free household for her 5-year-old son, every Friday in kindergarten class he sits in front of an iPad for math and English lessons.

Vegliante said the exercises, offered through the i-Ready program, have been integrated into the weekly curriculum at her son's Oyster Bay elementary school. Participation is not optional, according to the district. 

“My concerns come from one, the screen use in general, based on the myriad of research that says that screens for children are detrimental to their brain development,” Vegliante said. “Children at this age learn first through tactile and hands-on learning.”

She also worries about i-Ready's "gamified" approach to learning, with its use of graphic animations and rewards offered upon completion of a task.

“It teaches children to engage with learning only when it is entertaining for them. Learning requires friction," she said. "It's not supposed to be easy or enjoyable all the time."

Vegliante is among a growing wave of Long Island parents and teachers questioning the benefits of the i-Ready K-8 educational program, which offers online lessons and assessments to 17 million students nationwide.

Supporters say i-Ready provides an additional resource for teachers, helping to close academic achievement gaps and tailoring lessons to individual students in reading and math. 

But critics say the platform stresses answering questions rather than deeper learning and offers lessons that do not align with what is being taught in the classroom. Others claim the assessments, which usually take place three times a year, can be anxiety-provoking for younger children.

Megan Murray, a junior high school teacher in Suffolk and parent to twin fifth graders, said, "My own children have gotten very bored of using i-Ready, so they're just not invested in it."

Murray, who believes assessments would be more effectively carried out by educators rather than i-Ready, said she would like to see it temporarily shelved until there is a collaborative review by districts, parents and teachers.

"Students have to learn how to use technology, but we can't just hand over our children's education when these systems haven't been vetted properly," she said.

Technology backlash

The debate over i-Ready comes as more parents are pushing back against the use of technology in schools after the pandemic fast-tracked its adoption nationwide. Vegliante, for example, is among 70 parents advocating for scaling back the use of digital devices in the Oyster Bay-East Norwich district as part of a local chapter of the national organization Schools Beyond Screens.

The sentiment is resonating with some educators. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has called for banning technology, including computerized assessments, for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade. The New York State United Teachers also supports restricting devices for children in those grades along with other limitations for older students.

I-Ready offers personalized o nline instruction and diagnostic assessments that help teachers identify gaps in academic proficiency, said a representative of Curriculum Associates, the company that owns the platform. It is a data-driven model that measures growth and provides quick results for teachers, the representative said.

Students receive lessons in math and English, spending an average of 30 to 49 minutes on each subject per week. Lessons are structured to address each student’s needs, according to the company official.

Research, mainly commissioned by the company, shows that children who engaged with the program performed better in reading and math compared to those who did not.

“In New York State, the results are overwhelmingly positive. Students who used i-Ready Personalized Instruction for reading and math showed higher state test scores and were more likely to be proficient than their peers," Ty Holmes, the company’s chief impact officer, said in a statement. "We are immensely proud of these success stories and the millions of students, teachers, and educators we work with across the country every day."

Concerns surrounding student privacy have also been raised. A federal lawsuit filed in Massachusetts last year accused Curriculum Associates of collecting personal information from students without consent and profiting off it.

According to a company official, it does not sell student data to third parties or use it for advertising or to create commercial profiles. The official said local schools and districts own the data, which is used for academic purposes, and complies with federal and state legal requirements.

Roberto Joseph, chair of Hofstra University’s Department of Teaching, Learning and Technology, said that while students in kindergarten and first grade are too young for technology, i-Ready plays an important role for older students. Problems can surface, he said, if teachers use it as a “crutch,” and he stressed that school officials need to set up guardrails and parents need to stay abreast of what's happening.

“Districts need to really take a strong look at how it's being implemented in the classrooms, and not to depend solely on that technology, because that's when you get into trouble,” Joseph said. “A lot of this screen time is getting kids in real trouble with loss of learning…that's what parents are concerned with, and rightly so."

'Levels the playing field'

Richard Brown, Hempstead's interim assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, has seen the benefits of i-Ready firsthand.

Brown said as the former principal of the district's Jackson Elementary School, where half the students are English Language Learners, i-Ready was one of the tools that helped close the academic gap for struggling students.

The school started using the platform in 2015. In 2019, Jackson was moved off a state list of low-performing schools, 

"It was definitely one of those resources that made a pivotal difference for the students," he said.

The program evaluated students based on state standards and created "a personal pathway" to support them. He said i-Ready provided "real time data about students" and they were encouraged to continue learning after completing lessons and earning certificates.

"It's a very important instructional tool that provides students the opportunities for growth...and I think that's really important, because it's leveling the playing field," he said. He added, "The pathway, and the support, and the way it aligns directly to the state standards is unparalleled."

But Katelynn Biancardo, a seventh grader in the Huntington school district, told Newsday she is required to complete lessons in i-Ready for a homework grade but that she sees no value in the program.

The math exercises are repetitive and tedious, the 13-year-old said, and often do not align with what’s being taught in the classroom. For example, she said if she closes out of a lesson before completing it, she is forced to start from the beginning when she logs back in. She's had to restart lessons multiple times, and each generally take about 45 minutes to finish, she said.

When she answers incorrectly, she said she has to keep trying until she gets it right. But, she added, the system is not “actually teaching you how to solve the problem.”

Katelynn hopes her school phases out the program because, she said, “It just adds extra work when we’re already stressed and piled up with a bunch of homework.”

Katelynn’s mother, Jennifer, expressed frustration that she does not receive the results of her daughter's assessments. 

“They have her take all these tests and do all these assessments, and then at the end of the day, who sees the scores and who's following up on the scores, so, what's the point?" she said.

Huntington school officials did not respond to a request for comment. 

'Struggle and failure'

While academic assessments are federally required to track progress for students in third to eighth grades, there are no directives mandating the testing be conducted online, according to a spokesperson with the state Education Department. The state prohibits assessments for students younger than second grade.

"Interim assessments such as i-Ready are curricular and instructional decisions, which are made locally by districts, schools, and educators," state Education Department spokeswoman Rachel Connors said in a statement. "NYSED does not require any specific program or product. Any digital tools used by schools must follow data privacy and acceptable use policies."

In Oyster Bay-East Norwich, school officials are attentive to parents' feedback and working with them to develop future initiatives, according to Superintendent Francesco Ianni. He said in a statement the “use of the i-Ready platform is intentional, limited, and targeted,” and primarily used as a “diagnostic tool” in his district. He also said it is “designed to support teachers and students in closing achievement gaps.”

North Bellmore district parent Suzanne Vera said she would like to pull her youngest son, who is in first grade, from the program but so far there are no options to do so.

“I would feel better knowing that they're learning in a more real way — in person, with teachers, with instruction — and not sitting on a computer with an automated program that's going to trigger frustration and make them feel terrible,” said Vera, a school psychologist who doesn’t work in the district. "It increases struggle and failure."

North Bellmore school officials did not respond to requests for comment. 

Vera criticized the way the testing operates, with questions getting progressively more difficult following each correct response and the grade percentages shown in red and green colors for completed work. 

“I'm not against technology, I'm not against grading. But number one, you have to take into account those K through 2 learners that are still little and still curious and excited about learning," Vera said.

She added, “I don't want my kid coming home and sitting on a laptop and doing their homework. I want them with a pencil out, where I can sit and help them."