Analysis of data provided by theSchool District of Philadelphia over afour-year period suggests that schoolswith high levels of participation inthe First In Math® Online Programsee greater increases in mathematicsproficiency.

Hill Freedman Middle SchoolOne example is Hill Freedman MS,

located in the School District ofPhiladelphia's Northwest Region.With Principal Diane Hathaway at thehelm, Hill Freedman was named a“No Child Left Behind Blue RibbonSchool” in 2006.

Hill Freedman implemented theFirst In Math® program during the2003/2004 school year, and quicklyattained the Number 3 spot in the PAState ranking. Their hard work paidoff. When year-end PennsylvaniaSystem of School Assessment (PSSA)test scores were released, they showed84.7% of Hill Freedman's 8th gradestudents scoring Proficient & Above.This represented an incredible 41.2percentage-point jump over theprevious year.1

Hill Freedman students extendedthis high level of achievement anotherfive percentage points in the secondyear of the program, when 89.7% of8th grade students reached the

Proficient & Above benchmark. "Wetook great pride in knowing that HillFreedman was the third-highestscoring school in the District on 8th-grade PSSA scores," says Hathaway.

Sustaining a high level of excellence

is not an easy task, but PrincipalHathaway has established a legacyof success at her school. In the thirdyear of the program, 88.6% of 8thgrade students scored P&A on the2006 PSSA test. What’s more, the

First In Math® Online Program Contributes to"Blue Ribbon" Success for Two Philadelphia Schools!Data suggests that schools with high levels of participation in the First In Math®

Online Program show larger gains in student math proficiency.

Left to right: FIM Ambassador Cred Dobson; Philadelphia School District Director of SchoolSupport Services Steve Spence; Hill Freedman MS Principal Diane Hathaway; RegionalSuperintendent Linda Grobman; Director of Instruction Jackie Greene and Director ofSpecial Education John Murphy pose with the Blue Ribbon School flag and awards.

F i r s t I n M a t h ® O n l i n e P r o g r a m - S c h o o l S p o t l i g h t

1 In 2006, the National Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmark rose to 45% of students scoring “Proficient & Above”.

100

90

80

70

60

50

402003 2004 2005

43.5

84.789.7

2006

88.6

46.2 Percentage-PointIncrease Since

Implementation of theFIM Program in 2004

Hill Freedman MS8th Grade

Percent of Students Scoring Proficient & Above on PSSA Tests

school’s 7th graders scored 94.9%P&A, with 78% scoring in the“Advanced” category.

Hill Freedman’s phenomenalsuccess is due in large part to theway Principal Hathaway motivates herstudents,” says Robert Sun, creatorof the FIM program. “I marvel at howmasterfully she has used the First InMath® program as another tool inher arsenal to create success.”

"We teach our students to visual-ize where they want to be, set goalsfor achievement and to have astrong work ethic," says Hathaway.

"It is the work ethic of the studentsand teachers using First In Math®

that has helped us realize our visionand goal of being a 2006 No ChildLeft Behind - Blue Ribbon School."

Pollock Elementary SchoolThe School District of Philadelphia's

East Region is home to PollockElementary, a school that has fullyembraced the First In Math® OnlineProgram. Pollock's FIM 2006 statis-tics are impressive: Nine of the topten players in the District are PollockES students.

Andrea Miller, Director of Math at

Pollock, and a driving force behindthe school's FIM success, says "Firstin Math® is an amazing educationaltool, because it teaches much-neededthinking and computation skills andraises test scores. First In Math®

generates excitement amongteachers, parents and especiallythe children. It is a vital part ofthe educational process here atPollock School."

Pollock experienced a large increasein students scoring Proficient & Aboveon the PSSA tests. By 2006, 86.1% ofPollock 5th graders were scoring atP&A levels, a 20.5% percentage-pointincrease from the previous year.

Third-grade results mirrored thoseof their 5th-grade counterparts. The2006 scores showed that thepercentage of 3rd graders scoringP&A increased 12 percentage pointsover the 2005 scores, to 82% P&A.

The PA Department of Educationhas nominated Pollock ES for NationalBlue Ribbon School consideration."The announcement of the actual

winners will be made in the Fall of2007," explains Pollock PrincipalKathleen Quinn.

"We enjoyed hearing about HillFreedman being named a NationalBlue Ribbon winner last year, and Ibelieve it cannot be a coincidence thatboth of our schools are heavily intoFirst In Math,” adds Quinn. “We haveoutstanding teachers and an atmos-phere that values high achievement,but definitely, positively, First In Math®

is a key component of our success."Students CAN deliver—once

they are motivated to achieve.The First In Math® Online Program,developed by Suntex InternationalInc., draws on the company’s 18years of experience in igniting theachievement process among diversepopulations. Combining the family of24® game products with the powerof internet technology has created aprogram with a proven track recordof improving math skills and raisingoverall test scores. The First In Math®

program is easy to implement inschools, and poses no additionalload for classroom teachers.

Teachers use the program’s real-time assessment to see the percentageof students mastering basic facts, thedegree of students’ test preparednessBEFORE tests occur and more. n

The Blue Ribbon Award is bestowed uponfewer than 300 schools each year, honoringK-12 schools with at least 40 percent of stu-dents from disadvantaged backgrounds thatdramatically improve performance in accor-dance with state assessment systems; orscore in the top 10 percent on state tests.

The school’s

7th graders scored 94.9%

Proficient & Above, with

78% scoring in the

“Advanced” category

100

90

80

70

60

50

20.6 Percentage-Point Jumpin Students ScoringProficient & Above

on PSSA Tests

Pollock ES - 5th Grade

2005 2006

65.5

86.1

© 2007 Suntex International Inc. All rights reserved. 24® and First In Math® are registered trademarks of Suntex International Inc.

Learn more about the correlation between FIM and inceased test scores at www.firstinmath.com, where you can read or down-load Case Studies such as: Scientific-Based Research Study conducted by WestEd: Evaluation of the First In Math Online Math Program;2004-2005 Case Study: School District of Philadelphia - YEAR TWO and more.