TopScore Is Being Used By Palm Beach County School District, But Parents Question Accuracy Of Lessons
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — In its rush to create an online learning program, the Palm Beach County School District apparently made several questionable choices, believing it was better to have mediocrity than nothing at all. An example, according to parents contacting BocaNewsNow.com — and reviewed by BocaNewsNow.com itself — is TopScore Writing.
TopScore Writing is a supplemental video lesson system based in Palm Beach Gardens. It is hosted by Lisa Collum who promotes herself as someone who “turns classes around.” A public records check confirms she is a licensed teacher in the State of Florida. She is not assigned to a school district — her license is “indivual.”
But in several videos reviewed by BocaNewsNow.com, Collum is teaching incorrectly — confusing “expository writing,” — writing in which a student explains fact — to “opinion writing,” writing where students would say why, for instance, they like summer.
BocaNewsNow.com has learned that the Palm Beach County School District “went with” TopScore because TopScore was able to structure a deal quickly for the school district.
The problem, the education being provided is questionable, potentially creating more work for teachers who, when school resumes, will have to undo the lessons learned from TopScore. It is unclear if teachers throughout the Palm Beach County School District are reviewing the lessons before assigning the lessons.
We have reached to the Palm Beach County School District — we’ll update when we learn more.
