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Vicksburg board approves PRISM VR pilot licenses for algebra, citing engagement gains
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Summary
After a pilot year, the Vicksburg Board approved annual student licenses for PRISM VR math modules—about 250 high-school seats at $15 each—citing increased engagement and module-level assessment gains; the district will monitor outcomes and expand cautiously.
The Vicksburg Board of Education voted to approve annual student licenses for PRISM VR’s algebra I and geometry modules after a pilot at Vicksburg High School.
Denny Ream, who led the PRISM VR presentation, told the board the district is seeking licenses for roughly 250 students at a cost of $15 per student "for the math package," with an optional $5-per-student add-on if virtual science labs are later adopted. Ream said the VR lessons force active participation and support spatial reasoning, resilience and problem‑solving: "Once you put those on, you're in it. Alright. You can't do anything but, go ahead and participate and be active in the class."
Ream described early evaluation steps used during the pilot: module exit surveys and a short formative assessment embedded in each module. He said the district is seeing growth on the 2–3 assessment items that follow each module and that improvement appears to come from a wider set of students, not just a handful of volunteers.
Jen, who summarized the district’s curriculum review process, said the purchase followed district procedures: "We do have a really involved curriculum review process when we take a look at our resources... We always are taking a look at our data." She added that staff plan to continue using formative checks to identify where students struggle and to guide teacher supports.
Board members asked about teacher access to student activity and whether the district could see student progress. Ream described a teacher dashboard that allows staff to screen‑cast student sessions, see attempts, and identify common mistakes so that teachers can anticipate problem areas.
The board approved the item in a roll-call vote during the meeting’s action items. Trustees said the decision reflects a cautiously optimistic approach to supplemental technology: the district will continue to collect module-level data and monitor whether the engagement and assessment signals translate into durable learning gains.
