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The Triplet Ticket is proud to announce Dr. Nancy Drew as the winner of HEB's Excellence in Education, Teacher of the Year award!

The Triplet Ticket consists of thirteen practice tests formatted like the exit level TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) English Language Arts Exam. The English practice tests employ web-based teaching and learning software to electronically grade multiple-choice, short answer, and essay questions. Studies have shown that using the Triplet Ticket will raise TAKS and other scores. The triplets are excellent reading and writing practice tests that will enhance English skills and test scores on other standardized tests such as the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills). Unlike existing practice materials, the Triplet Ticket utilizes state-of-the-art electronic grading of multiple choice, short answer, and extended essay responses. The Triplet Ticket has been used successfully for students in grades 9-12 (see the test selections for exact grade-level appropriateness at the Documentation page's conclusion). A middle school set of seven electronically-graded triplets geared specifically to the interests and reading levels of grades 6-8 is now also available.

Dr. Nancy Drew, creator of the Triplet Ticket and veteran high school AP English teacher, prepares her students for a variety of different exit-level and high-stakes exams throughout her seventeen years of teaching. From the ACT to the SAT and the TAAS to the TAKS, she works to motivate her students for the high-stakes exams they face before graduation. Mary Carroll High School, recently named one of the nation's top 1000, earned the designation based on the large number of students motivated to take Advanced Placement English Language and Advanced Placement English Literature exams each year under her tutelage. The Triplet Ticket is the winning ticket to middle school and high school secondary education, improving the quality of language arts instruction while making life easier for teachers.

For the High School/Middle School STUDENT

Consistent with the concept of multi-cultural learning and English standardized test curriculum alignment, Dr. Drew uses high-interest reading material containing age-relevant content. Selections include fiction and nonfiction that appeal to the middle or secondary school student's interests: love, art (including body art!), relationships, ethnic experiences, pop culture, and teenage problems.

The Triplet Ticket practice tests benefit students in all states when used in preparation for the high school exit-level required tests, AP exams, and other college preparatory entrance exams. Students can use these preparation materials to take the fear and anguish out of standardized test preparation. Students using the Triplet Ticket become more proficient in their critical reading skills while improving their ability to elaborate and proofread their written responses. The advantages of the English skills building program for the student follow:

• contains high interest, age-relevant reading selections that appeal to a variety of adolescent interests to keep students on task;

• gives students multiple high-tech practice opportunities to improve test-taking skills and to elevate English literacy skills;

• provides unlimited at-school or at-home access as class work, homework, or tutorial;

• furnishes unlimited opportunities with individual pacing for self-remediation;


• supplies immediate, objective, consistent feedback on critical reading and writing abilities;

• encourages student accountability for elaborating and proofreading a written response before submission of a final draft for teacher evaluation;

• offers opportunities for students to submit multiple drafts of revised essays and to retake individual triplets multiple times to achieve mastery;

• reduces student test-taking anxiety by providing familiarization of English exam testing formats used on standardized tests for high school exit and college entrance.

For the High School/Middle School TEACHER

The workload of a teacher today is so overwhelming that the headache of standards, tests, and minimum proficiency requirements is driving teachers away from the profession. The job of English teachers can be incredibly time consuming, as grading stacks of essays in a timely manner can discourage teachers from assigning practice for standardized tests. Conversely, teachers may limit writing assignments due to grading overload. The electronically graded triplets diminish the burden of grading papers late at night and on the weekends.

Students may take the tests from home on their computers for homework assignments, rather than using a day of classroom time. Also, students who work at a slower pace than others can finish the triplets started in the classroom from their home computers.

Electronic practice materials also reduce the amount of copies and scantrons teachers need to reproduce and buy, saving English departments and school districts thousand of dollars a year in paper and supply costs. The TAKS test preparation software is an inexpensive way to educate our students in critical reading and writing, to improve English literacy, and to build basic English skills for ESL, ESOL, and bilingual education students as well as traditional English classes. The key components of the English teaching software are as follows:

• allows the teacher to assign more analytical reading and writing practice as homework, computer lab assignments, or tutorials;

• scores written responses to establish consistent baseline criteria for minimum mastery of composition skills;

• sends the results of the practice tests directly to the teacher for quick diagnosis of student literacy abilities, allowing the teacher to customize instruction for individual students or to make adjustments in teaching;

• allows the teacher more instructional time to teach reading and writing intervention strategies;

• reduces the time and expense of preparing, reproducing, and purchasing consumable test practice materials.

For the PRINCIPAL

• raises reading and writing scores on exit level and performance-based tests (TAKS, SAT, ACT, AP, GED, ESL, ESOL);

• establishes consistent baseline criteria for evaluation of English literacy skills through holistic, objective, fair, and consistent evaluation of analytical reading and writing skills and critical thinking skills;

• supplies cutting-edge technology and cost-effective, quality instructional materials that challenge students' critical reading, writing, and thinking abilities;

• reduces paper, scantron, and other supply costs.

INTRODUCING: THE TRIPLET TICKET: THE WINNING TICKET TO LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDIZED TEST MASTERY!

Are you looking for ways to integrate innovative technology in your district to enhance teaching and to maximize quality learning experiences for students? Do you want improved instructional methods to increase student learning on and off campus through flexible use of computer facilities? Are you searching for a challenging instructional program that will raise students' Language Arts TAKS scores and provide students with proficient reading, writing, and critical thinking skills needed for success in the academic and work environment? Do your English teachers limit writing assignments and standardized test practice due to the overload of grading and/or lack of time?

The Triplet Ticket: The Winning Ticket to Language Arts Standardized Test Mastery, a user-friendly, teacher-friendly software program developed by veteran secondary school English teacher, author, and Texas A & M researcher, Dr. Nancy Drew, provides a technical solution to the secondary English teacher's dilemma of how to pace quality language arts instruction for individual students while raising high school and middle school student scores on standardized reading and writing exams---and without over-burdening English teachers with increased grading responsibilities. The solution lies in electronic grading of reading and writing assessments.

Unlike existing instructional materials, The Triplet Ticket, one of the first web-interfaced, state-of-the-art electronic grading programs, uses a criterion and a rhetorical assessment system to evaluate multiple choice, short answer, and extended essay responses. The Triplet Ticket supplies a school campus with quality instructional materials that may be used on and off campus to elevate students' English language arts skills and to prepare an entire school for mastery of analytical reading, writing, and thinking skills measured on exit level and performance-based tests required for graduation and college entrance.

Note: Practice exam access is for demonstration purposes only. No reproduction or classroom use of The Triplet Ticket practice materials is allowed without purchase of licensing agreement. Triplet texts are based on editions within the US Public Domain and are not subject to copyright law. The website makes no representations on copyright status in other countries. Users outside the US should consult copyright law therein before using or downloading this material.