Here is an excellent article about using CPS,
from the website of my friend and fellow
einstruction Consultant in Nebraska, Dustin
Frank.
CPS Can Help ALL Students Learn
by Tracy Allison
July 2009
With the advent of No Child Left Behind (2001), teachers must know for
certain that ALL students are learning. How does a teacher know for
certain that all of the students are truly engaged and are learning? Does
the teacher ask students a question? Does the teacher give the students a
"ticket out the door?" Do the students raise their hand if they think they
know the answer to a question? Does the same student consistently blurt
out an answer? With all the many requirements of teachers, when does the
teacher finally get around to grading the informal or formal assessment
and finally figure out that everyone doesn't definitely "get it?" Is it too late at
that point to go back and reteach what students did not get? Is there a
better way of teaching?
With the use of technology by eInstruction called a Classroom
Performance System (CPS), also known as "clickers" as well as by many
other names by different manufacturers, a teacher no longer must guess if
students know the answer to a question. CPS is an incredible instructional
tool for teachers and one of the best pieces of technology ever invented!
There is no more guesswork! Now a teacher can be certain who knows
what. More importantly than that, the teacher can provide immediate
feedback to students so that the students know instantly if they are on
track or not. The teacher can immediately rectify that situation by instantly
reteaching a topic, skill, providing extra practice, etc. if needed. An added
bonus is the time saved for teachers due to the immediate grading of the
questions. The use of a CPS in the classroom is a win-win situation for
both the teacher and the student.
A friend and coworker introduced me to the classroom performance

system a couple of years ago. I started using this technology consistently
during the past year in my eighth grade special education resource classes
for reading and social studies. My classes are comprised of students from
very diverse backgrounds and are typically from low socioeconomic
backgrounds as well. Once I started using this technology, I've never
wanted to teach without it. My students love it, and they do not want me to
teach without it either.
With consistent use of CPS in my classroom, I have seen improvements in
student engagement, student grades, student behavior, student self
esteem, and student achievement. It is amazing to see how the use of
'clickers' as I call them can impact students' educational performance and
behavior. Students who exhibit some major behavioral issues in other
classes do not have behavioral issues in my classroom, which I attribute to
my teaching style and the use of CPS. I am currently working on my
doctoral degree and have seen so much improvement in my students that I
contribute to the use of CPS, that I plan for my dissertation topic to be on
the use of CPS and student achievement.
I have now introduced CPS to other coworkers who also love using it.
Unfortunately, my school only has six CPS units for about 50 teachers.
The CPS units are in hot demand and all the teachers want to use these
now. Fortunately for me, I have my own personal CPS unit which I was
lucky enough to win at a technology conference in Georgia at which
eInstruction was giving units away during multiple instructional sessions.
I use the following process with CPS with students in my classroom (see
Figure 1); however, many variations and processes are available for the
teacher. I pose and display a question to the students based upon a
performance standard for the subject area that I am teaching. Students
then use their remote controls to "vote" in order to answer the question.
Students are then allowed to interact with a partner or in a small group to
engage in a peer discussion to decide if they think they are certain they
know the correct answer to the question or if their peer(s) can convince the
other students that their answer is correct and why their answer is correct
or not. Students are allowed to change their answer if they wish to do so at
this point. I then stop the voting process. I ask the students what they think
the answer to the question is and then reveal the answer to the question to
the students. I post a histogram for the question and allow students to see
if their answer was correct or not and how their answer compared to the
rest of the class. I do not show any of the many reports available with CPS
to the class. At this point, the class and I are able to engage in a class-
wide discussion of the thought process behind various answers. Students
often learn just as much from finding out why a certain answer is not

correct as they do from finding out that an answer is correct. At this point, I
can choose to continue to ask additional questions using CPS, move on to
other types of instructional methods or activities
There are countless ways to use CPS in the classroom. One quick and
easy way to use CPS in the classroom is to incorporate it into programs
that are already set up to utilize the technology. CPS is easily incorporated
into Study Island which is an online software program based upon the
performance standards available in many states for all academic subject
areas in grades 1-8. Many teachers in my school like to use Study Island
with their students but are not always able to get access to a computer for
every student in order to use it. The combination of using CPS with Study
Island is wonderful for teachers and students and only one computer is
necessary. The teacher can then choose the performance standard in
Study Island which is being taught to students and use CPS with this
program for practice, review for a test, or as an assessment. The student
and teacher are able to quickly get results using CPS without the teacher
having to create a bank of questions. A variety of reports are able to be
printed as well.

Another software program that I have used with students in conjunction
with CPS is MindPoint Quizshow. This interactive software program is a
favorite with my students, and they beg me to play this game. Using CPS
and Quiz Show, students have fun while learning. Teachers can use
questions from publishers, question banks created by the teacher, or
ExamView questions or assessments that are frequently provided by
textbook publishing companies. Again, in this situation, there is little work
up front for the teacher, yet multiple benefits abound for both the teacher
and students.
Educators must reach out to students in a way that will meet the needs of
all students. I propose that the use of CPS is one effective way to make
certain that all students are learning. The success of our students and
future generations is too important to not utilize every potential learning
advantage that can be provided to our most precious commodity - our
students.
Tracy Allison, is a special education teacher and department head in
a small rural school in Northeast Georgia. She has been teaching for
almost twenty years. She is currently working on her doctoral degree
in teaching and learning and loves integrating technology into the
classroom every chance she gets. She also loves receiving and
s
sharing ideas about the use of technology int the classroom.
For more information on Study Island, please refer to the following website:
http://www.studyisland.com/
In South Carolina , our Study Island rep is Tim Bush:
Email :Tim Bush@Studyisland.com
For more information on Quiz Show, please refer to the following website:
http://www.einstruction.com/products/interactive_teaching/mindpoint/
Note: Many textbooks come bundled with Quiz show. You can use the “title
track “ feature on the eInstruciton home page to see if a textbook you have
, or an considering, comes with Quiz show.
Please contact me for more information about eInstruciton products:

Bill McIntosh
Phone: 843-442-8888
Email: WKMcIntosh@Comcast.net
Authorized eInstruction Consultant
www.eInstruction.com
Stay involved or start a movement with eInstruction!
twitter: http://twitter.com/einstruction
ei Community: http://www.eicommunity.com .
Register now!
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/eInstruction/52967125286?
ref=ts