<strong>Harford</strong> <strong>County</strong> Public Schools – State Discretionary Grant – HSA FY10 A 18
<strong>Harford</strong> <strong>County</strong> Public Schools – State Discretionary Grant – HSA FY10 Success Maker is part of a Proven Formula for Success By Rosemary Heher, Coordinator of Mathematics Instruction Maryland has 24 public school systems, which participate in state assessments, as mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Recently, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) identified middle school students in the Worcester <strong>County</strong> Public School system as ranking first in the state on the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) in Mathematics, as reported in MSDE’s 2006 Master Plan Update report. In addition, the 2007 MSA Mathematics scores for grades 3 through 8 rank Worcester <strong>County</strong> Public School students first in the state in Grades 3, 6, 7, and 8. (Grade 4 ranks second; Grade 5, eighth.)This extraordinary success does not happen by chance. It is a product of a clear vision and a well-developed and executed plan. The plan is dependent on many factors, including hiring and retaining the highest quality teachers; developing and implementing a state-approved mathematics curriculum; and providing students with engaging materials of instruction. In addition to these factors, our school system believes that academic success is most attainable when students are provided with individualized instruction. Individualized instruction can be achieved through small class sizes, as well as differentiated instruction, which takes into account how, and at what pace students learn. Worcester <strong>County</strong> Public Schools prides itself on having the smallest class sizes in Maryland. Small class sizes enhance a teacher’s ability to provide one-on-one instruction to students who need it. In addition to small class sizes, a new computer mathematics program has been adopted district-wide to further individualize our school system’s mathematics program. The Success Maker program, a computer-driven learning environment from Pearson Digital Learning, provides students with individualized mathematics instruction that engages and challenges students at their level and pace. Our school system can proudly say that SuccessMaker is part of a proven formula for success in mathematics. The results continue to add up. For nearly a decade, Worcester <strong>County</strong> Public Schools has utilized computer software to supplement math instruction. As more challenging computer software programs became available, our school system decided to pilot Success Maker at Ocean City Elementary School when the school transitioned to its new building. The program was an instant success with students and teachers, and was expanded soon after to all students in the school system in grades 1 through 6. Success Maker is being used as a supplement to daily mathematics classes, adding an additional hour of math each week. Students can also access Success Maker programs in their after-school academies, summer school academies, and during their math enrichment experiences. Pearson Digital Learning also provides an online component, which allows parents and students to access Success Maker elements from their homes. In the Success Maker mathematics lab, students work in a highly interactive computer graphics environment led by a Success Maker manager. Students enroll in Math Concepts and Skills/2, a skills-based program; Math Investigations, a program requiring students to demonstrate higher-order thinking and communication skills; and Algebra Topics which introduces symbolic manipulations and functions. Students are initially assessed using specialized adaptive software, which places them within their individual ―math comfort zone,‖ where they are able to solve most of the math problems. Students are then challenged to expand their repertoire of skills through increasingly more difficult, creative problem-solving activities. The software provides students with immediate feedback. Success Maker’s data management system monitors the progress of each student, enabling teachers to intervene with timely follow-ups in the classroom. While progress is, instantaneously monitored, periodic reports are generated for teachers and parents to review. Many of our schools issue a pair of weekly-individualized reports for every student enrolled in Success Maker. The first report describes a range of skills each student has mastered. The other report identifies a student’s single lowest skill area and provides computer-generated activities to help the student build strength in that skill. Teachers set aside time during the week to work one-on-one with each student until the student has mastered the identified lowest-skill area. Once a student has achieved mastery with this skill, Success Maker then targets the next lowest skill area and the process continues. By using these differentiated reports and customized activities, all stakeholders (students, parents, and teachers) are continually aware of the progress each student is making in the program. Children tell us that they enjoy the flat screen TV monitors, the colorfully animated A 19