Acrolinx vs. Read&Write vs. Unique Learning System

I have used Acrolinx as an integrated tool with Microsoft Office. I use Office tools on a regular basis and need new formatting options for not only presentations slides but also for document creation, email templates, etc., and here is where Acrolinx helps me on a daily basis. Acrolinx, however, suffers from some frequent unavailability of the tool, which results in some disturbance, but overall the experience is great with the software.

Incentivized

Read&Write is a solid, long-lasting tool that I have relied on for my students for many years. It is especially strong at supporting students with reading challenges. It is less appropriate for students with more complex needs who have non-standard speech or are using head or eye control. It will continue to be a tool that I encourage many students to use.

Incentivized

I have actually recommended it to another teacher in a different district for her autism program since she could level and pace it easily and also easily collect IEP data without stressing out her students with extra work. Unique Learning System is also a good program for our autism program because it is consistent with all core subjects, making is very routine based.

Incentivized

• Powerful theme suggestions when integrated with Microsoft Office
• Powerful syntax corrections when integrated with Microsoft Office
• Powerful formatting suggestions when integrated with Microsoft Office

Incentivized

• Creates vocabulary lists for students that include symbols, definitions, and space to add additional notes or images (a staff favorite)
• Intuitive word prediction that supports spelling, grammar, and reduces the number of keystrokes needed
• Text-to-speech on any digital text using the regular reader or screenshot reader, making almost any content accessible

Incentivized

• Data tracking and progress reports - Unique Learning System's Polaris feature is a user-friendly, simple way to track and monitor progress towards learners IEP goals. When creating a roadmap that follows a learner's IEP, you input data such as learning profiles and benchmark assessments and rubrics that then produce goal suggestions. You can craft your own goal, use a suggested goal, or choose a goal from the goal library. It gives you a great idea of what goals to target based on learner needs and progress. Entering data is super easy, just a date and a data point, and a graph generates for you. From there, it will show the data trend and flag it for you when it's at risk. It is also easy to add an intervention. Quarterly, I use the progress report feature to generate a report that provides me with the graphs that I use to put into IEP writer.
• Curriculum pacing - My school utilizes Unique Learning System for our daily instruction. Unique Learning System provides pacing guides with what to teach and when. Everything is standards aligned and all of the lesson plans have ways that you can differentiate already built into the plans as well as an easy to use, structured/routine based set up that makes daily lessons predictable for learners to increase engagement.
• N2Y - My learners love News To You! This provides children with access to informational text. We use it as a "fun Friday" read every week. We read the article in class, watch videos, answer questions, and typically do an activity to go along with it. The kids look forward to it every week, and also enjoy the Joey's Locker games that go along with the articles. They have a new feature to be able to assign activities that go along with the article which is really nice because I assign them as supplemental activities to go along with what we are learning about in class!

Incentivized

• Noticed some frequent unavailability of the servers that results in loading of Acrolinx
• Need to add more formatting options
• Need to add more themes

Incentivized

• I would like to use the practice reading aloud tool more, but the kids that I work with have a hard time understanding the concept. I think that, while there are a lot of tools available, sometimes they are hard for younger students to understand.
• The hover to read function is nice as well, but my students struggle with the fact that if you move the mouse once it starts reading it will start all over in a new area. It's not as smooth as I would like it to be.

Incentivized

• Unique Learning System's materials in the science and social studies areas aren't "fluffy" as other areas, but they are continuously adding materials
• The layout of the website isn't the most user friendly, but most teachers are able to navigate easily after an initial training
• The administrator side of things isn't super straightforward, reports can be confusing to find/run, but the one on one meetings always provide clarity.

Incentivized

I'm just really impressed with the software and the access it gives to learners who are used to coming up against barriers in education. It's a quick-fix for a learner - something they can access usefully and productively with very little training. I also love that learners can access Read&Write on their devices at home - that really is a game changer.

Incentivized

I appreciate all the various resources that Unique Learning System has to offer. However, due to my limited interaction with other resources similar to Unique Learning System I do not know enough to compare it against other programs. I also am not a person in charge of renewing Unique Learning System for my organization.

Incentivized

I am giving this an 9. Not a perfect score because working on PDFs is better but not yet as easy as I need for it to be. Working with many students who have executive function challenges, I need a smooth simplistic access method. We are not quite there yet for writing on PDFs. Overall the toolbar on Read&Write is super easy to access and I love that the suite includes several tools on the toolbar providing a solution to many accessibility challenges.

Incentivized

There is a lot of content in Unique Learning System. It can sometimes be time consuming to navigate through everything. I appreciate the depth and breadth of the resources, but it can also be tough to use when I need a worksheet or packet for my students. The use of Unique Learning System on the computer is great, but my students seem to learn best when they have a pen and paper in front of them.

Incentivized

Seems to be available when Internet is working.

Incentivized

errors will show up

Incentivized

there are issues with the dictation not running smoothly.

Incentivized

there have been few issues with login or glitches

Incentivized

The support team at Texthelp is excellent. They're all super helpful and open to feedback and new ideas. Still, more importantly, they are ultimately fully committed to aligning with us and ensuring they help us provide the best education possible. Furthermore, they're open to new features and always communicate this incredibly well.

Incentivized

The individuals helping have always been great. The response to requests for changes in functionality or reporting less so.

Incentivized

it was all over the place hard to follow along

Incentivized

It was easy to learn to use

Incentivized

It took a solid 2 weeks for R&W to work on our students chromebooks even after reaching out to tech support. The toolbar was greyed out and not accessible to students. Took a long time before tech support helped us solve this problem.

Incentivized

good product

Incentivized

I only have Acrolinx integration with Microsoft Office and Outlooks suites.

Incentivized

We are still learning how to use Equatio. I am not a mathematician and therefore I am finding understanding it a bit more difficult. Once I understand how to use it I will be able to cascade it down. My hope is that it will be as useful as Read & Write

Incentivized

We viewed Encore by TeachTown. The product seemed to be a notch above Unique Learning System and included workbooks and other books but was very expensive. The downfalls of Encore was that it did not include the Profile Assessments like Unique Learning System and also the monthly checkpoints which are very valuable.

Incentivized

The pricing is reasonable. A lower tier with just screen reading and basic functions would be nice, but not a deal-breaker.

Incentivized

The product can be used on as many devices at once as needed

Incentivized

todays weather would not load sometimes

Incentivized

• I haven't calculated the exact financial benefits, but indeed Acrolinx has contributed greatly to the quality of the content my company has been producing
• With enhanced formatting, themes, and organization of the documents, emails, and presentations, we have been able to attract new customers, resulting in more business
• With the offerings Acrolinx have, team's productivity has increased manifolds

Incentivized

• We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see increased test scores
• We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see decreases in student behaviors triggered by challenging ELA assignments
• We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see improvements in student self perception as a result of increased ELA success

Incentivized

• Ease of planning is #1. I am able to plan an entire lesson or a week's worth of lessons during my 30-minute planning time.
• Data that is collected for IEPs is so valuable and reports are parent-friendly.
• Students are able to work on the alternative path toward a diploma because this curriculm is covering all of the standards they need to see in order to earn their diploma.