ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The summer can be a great time to catch up on different work, and students throughout USD 480’s secondary schools spent some time making progress on their academics through summer school.
As the coordinators tell it, much progress was indeed made by the program’s participants.
“We had 193 students referred for summer based off of Fastbrige data, they were scoring below the proficiency levels, and out of those 193 students, 84 were enrolled, and we saw an average attendance of 68 students,” Eisenhower Middle School coordinator Heidy Molina said. “We did see some difficulties with summer camps and athletic camps that saw students coming in and out, but that allowed our class sizes to be smaller, and the 8th grade students who I knew had attended summer school previously said that was their favorite part because they felt more comfortable asking for help. Some of the big focuses for ELA were vocabulary, comprehension and fluency based on grade levels or holes that need to be addressed from Fastbridge data. Then with math, we analyzed data on ALEKS and used Fastbridge to focus on facts, integers, computation, decimals, place values, fractions, variables, data analysis, statistics, and probability. 20 to 30 minutes was focused on ALEKS, and each day the students had a soft launch with a 30-minute SEL lesson, and the students really enjoyed that because they were able to share and get to know their peers better. With the Leader in Me lessons, the students got to learn what it meant to overcome obstacles and sharpen their saw by doing some chalk drawing for passersby to see.”
The students’ math and ELA skills saw great improvement, Molina said.
“With math, we saw an average of 20 topics per student mastered with the 6th grade students, and the 8th grade students mastered 611 new topics, with an average of 29 essential skills gained in 16 days. The 6th grade students grew 2.5 percent from pre- to post-test, the 7th grade students grew 0.9 percent, and the 8th grade students grew 5.6 percent. The 8th graders really appreciated doing the more hands-on activities and visually seeing how everything came together,” Molina said. “When it came to math fact fluency, in 6th grade, 20 percent improved in one area, 20 percent improved in two areas, 45 percent improved in three areas, and 15 percent improved in all four areas. With the 8th graders, 50 percent of the students scored Proficient. With ELA, the 6th grade students grew 5.8 percent from pre- to post-test, the 7th grade students grew 5.8 percent, and the 8th grade students grew 5.5 percent. The students had to do 30 minutes every day of vocabulary and 30 minutes of fluency, and they practiced fluency by reading out loud to their peers, and there were also stations and extra work done to help with that. We saw students learned five vocabulary words per week and toward the end of the week, they were learning 10 new vocabulary words and not only their definitions, but also how to use them correctly, and it was great seeing that progress.”
Students at Seymour Rogers Middle School also saw great progress, coordinator Ashley Whittington said.
“Our objective for summer school was to provide a focused and engaging learning environment to address learning gaps in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) for students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades,” Whittington said. “The program was staffed by 10 teachers who provided instruction and feedback. The program was really well-received by the teaching staff – 70 percent of the teachers rated their overall experience as a 4 or 5 out of 5, and 90 percent stated they would either 'definitely' or 'maybe' be interested in teaching again next year, which was really encouraging to hear. We had 101 students referred to summer school based on being at risk in math or ELA according to Fastbridge, and we also took into account how many Fs they had at the end of the school year. Out of those 101 students, approximately 50 of them attended regularly throughout the 16 days, and we had 12 students who had perfect attendance. Teachers used pre-test data from Fastbridge to identify specific students and their content gaps and benchmark gaps. Instruction was given through a mix of whole-group teaching using differentiated small groups and hands-on experiences to reinforce those concepts. We also integrated technology, they used Fastbridge and ALEKS to practice their skills at their own pace. To measure academic progress, students were administered the Fastbridge aMath assessment at the beginning and end of the session so we could track that growth, as well as with ELA. With the math, 69 percent of students showed positive growth, and the average growth was 2.29 points. With ELA, teachers utilized resources such as Words Their Way, Edgenuity, and daily language practice with an emphasis on homophones and vocabulary, and the students used modeling, think-alouds and games to practice reading and writing, and 50 percent of students showed positive growth. STEM was also implemented, and it was great seeing the students' creativity shine with those activities.”
Even Liberal High School saw a flurry of academic activity, according to coordinator Kelsey Kronawitter.
“Summer school at LHS is a little different than the other schools, and while I did have some STEM activities planned, I learned very quickly there were many students who preferred to use their time working on Edgenuity because they had the incentive of if they finished their required courses, they got to enjoy the rest of their summer and not have to return,” Kronawitter said. “We had many students who started with us but not end with us because they completed their requirements ahead of time. We had 148 students who were enrolled in summer school, and out of those, 107 were able to complete at least one course. Out of those 107 students, 52 were able to complete two or more courses. Edgenuity provides a multitude of courses so we can get any core content recovered for those students throughout the summer, and it's great helping those students get exactly what they need to get to graduation. Of the courses that were recovered, many were in the English area, and a total of 193 semester classes were recovered in English, history, science, math, and other electives. I encouraged all of the summer school staff members to have restorative conversations with the students, and I think they were able to get to everyone as the summer went on, which made me really happy because this one step helps students make huge gains toward graduation. The students took big steps forward and showed determination and resilience, and I can't thank our staff enough for supporting these students and instilling hope for the future.”
Some students from the Extended School Year (ESY) program also got a leg up during the summer, according to coordinator Deidra Mitchener.
“ESY is a program designed to provide special education services beyond the typical school year to students with disabilities. It aims to prevent substantial regression of skills during breaks in the school year. Eligibility typically includes students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), experience regression of skills during breaks that cannot be recouped in a reasonable time, and require additional services to maintain or improve skills,” Mitchener said. “Eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis by the IEP team. I've taught SPED all 12 years I've been with the district, and it's great seeing the progress the students make and the goals they come up with. ESY services preschool through 12th Grade (Special Education and related services), and a credit recovery option was also offered separately from ESY. In terms of overall attendance, 29 attended regularly out of 32, making for a 91 percent attendance rate. With the credit recovery, we had seven out of 10 students attend at least 50 percent of the time or more, so we were really happy to see so many students. Progress reports were provided to families of students attending ESY, and teachers focused student learning on IEP goals in their IEP from their most recent IEP. In terms of our success rate, we had 30 out of 32 students either maintain or improve on at least one of their goals. The students really enjoyed the days we got to spend some time at the park, and since there were some of them who had never visited the splash pads before, their faces absolutely lit up when we took part in that.”
