Team Effort Increases Math and Science Success

K¹², teachers and administrators overcome doubt to achieve success

"Nothing Less Than Our Best … All Day"  and "Only Your Best Is Accepted."

These are the mottos of two schools in Mississippi's North Panola School District. The student body of these schools is 99 percent low-income African-American. Though some of the state's public schools have met federal No Child Left Behind requirements, Mississippi continues to sit at or near the bottom of national performance rankings. More than 70 percent of Mississippi students attend Title 1 schools.

Where some doubters saw insurmountable odds to educate — even elevate — Mississippi public school students, state officials and district administrators saw an opportunity to embrace new ideas and methods toward the goal of greater academic success.

Such was the case in 2008 when North Panola partnered with K¹² to tackle underachievement in math and science.

The state allocated a special appropriation for the project, part of which was used to purchase 44 interactive whiteboards installed in the three district elementary and middle school science and math classrooms. The K¹² team consisted of Susan Furick, K¹²'s Senior Director of Classroom Academics, and three fulltime on-site K¹² Teaching and Learning Coordinators.. District math and science teachers were trained and supported daily by this team to use the K¹² curriculum and the whiteboards.

Working Together

District officials committed themselves to the project, doing whatever was necessary to achieve success. Still, getting every district teacher and principal behind the initiative took time. No stranger to bureaucratic takeovers and understandably leery of the stream of vendors and consultants who had come and gone over the years, skepticism was expected. However, once teachers and principals realized the K¹² team was onsite and fully committed to helping students grasp tough math and science concepts and elevate test scores, the program took off.

Key to the program's success was an emphasis on teacher professional development. "We showed them the research—that teachers are the No. 1 factor for student achievement, and we worked with teachers who may not have had enough experience or were deficient in some aspects of math and science," explained Furick. The commitment soon became evident. Parents and families displayed excitement for the program and lauded its potential.

Success

To ensure greater student achievement, Furick created written benchmark tests that students took every nine weeks. Because the K¹² curriculum and model is mastery-based, students are required to grasp core principles before they move forward — and move forward they did.

After one year, the district performance increased up to 15 % points compared to the state.

"Using the K¹² math and science curriculum with the on-site professional development support enabled the teachers to raise their expectations of students and they pushed them to succeed," said Furick. "Students loved the interactive whiteboards and that helped to keep them engaged. A whole new world of technology, science and math was opened up to them."

From 2007-2008 to 2008-2009, K¹² students in the North Panola School District showed a greater percentage improvement of scores "proficient or above" compared to students statewide on the state math and science tests – 8.4% points better in grade 4 math, 10.4% points better in grade 5 math, 9% points better in grade 5 science, and 15.1% points better in grade 8 science.