RTI, credit recovery, and intervention/extension

How many students use Ascend?

About 30 at any given time.

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

5

How many teachers use Ascend?

1

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

Math department funds and instructional budget.

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

It was our first year for our high school, and we had students ranging in math abilities from 3rd to 10th grade, so we were looking for a program to supplement our curriculum that would meet our students where they were at, and allow them to build their skills at their own pace.

What were your desired objectives?

Our objectives included assisting students in filling in the gaps with their math skills, bringing them up to grade level, and individualizing instruction.

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

70 % of our students improved on their NWEA math scores.

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Supplement to course

How many students use Ascend?

150

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

2 hours

How many teachers use Ascend?

2

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

Our students were coming in with below grade level skills in high school. Their basic computation and logic skills were missing.  So we used ascend as a supplement to help students improve those skills.

What were your desired objectives?

We were hoping to have all students improve on their basic math skills as we progressed through the curriculum of our course.

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

Basic skills in terms of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division have drastically improved.  Students are also being able to see their thought process and write it out.

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Douglas Rural Schools have implemented a district-wide Response to Intervention Model.  The model incorporates an “acceleration block” for all students.  Ascend math is the math intervention used for all students; advanced learners, at-risk learners, and students with disabilities.  Students at all levels have benefited from the structured, self-paced, motivating lessons that Ascend has provided.

How many students use Ascend ?

Approximately 60 students.

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

Students spend close to 3-5 hours per week utilizing Ascend.

How many teachers use Ascend?

Fifteen to twenty staff members utilize Ascend.

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

District funds as well as federal funds were used to adopt Ascend.

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

Some of our challenges initially were ensuring our district technology framework could support the web-based program.  Our rural schools are each located approximately 30 miles from our school district so at times technology can be an issue.  We were able to resolve initial issues and our rural school students are well equipped with innovate technology and are very fluent with 21^st Century Skills.  Ascend has assisted in student growth with these skills!

What were your desired objectives?

We were hoping to provide ALL students with a research based intervention program that would accommodate student learning needs within a fun, engaging platform and most importantly provide successful results for all learners!

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

Rural school students have shown tremendous growth gains in math!  District MAP results indicated ALL students met individual growth rates in math and reading!  Rural school students have shown improved results on state-wide assessments as well.

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RTI

How many students use Ascend?

260 across 6 buildings

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

3 hours per week

How many teachers use Ascend?

6 (one per school)

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

Title 1 funding

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

We were looking for a targeted, individualized approach to math instruction for students who were not succeeding.

In terms of challenges, we had a very rough first few months as we rolled out the program. Due to technical difficulties, the program was not able to be fully implemented until December. But despite those issues (and the resulting frustrations at the building level), the vast majority of the schools kept at it, and have been rewarded with exceptional results across the board. If we can find success after the difficulties we had during initial implementation, imagine what other schools/districts can achieve!

What were your desired objectives?

We were looking for a significant increase in achievement.

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

All of the buildings have seen exceptional results. Across the board, post-assessment results have been above 90%, and all buildings except one has an average gain in score above 20%. (The one building with a lower average gain in score is seeing that result ONLY because their pre assessment results have gone up significantly. Their post assessment results are still in the 90% range.)

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Remediation for all students who scored level 1 on FCAT.

How many students use Ascend ?

90

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

They average 3-4 hours per week on Ascend

How many teachers use Ascend?

1

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

Funding comes from our SAC committee.

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

Students in grades 6-8 are enrolled together in Ascend.  Ascend was adopted because it correlates with the FCAT and I can work with students at all math and grade levels in the same class.  Funding is a challenge because of budget constraints and our SAC has so far been able to help.

What were your desired objectives?

Objective is to raise math level as measured by the FCAT

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

In 2010-11 school year 75% of students using Ascend improved at least one level on the FCAT.  The 2012 FCAT was just completed so no results available at this time.  In 2011-12 nearly 50% of our students have increased 2 or more grade levels on Ascend and we have a 50.2% increase between pre and post test results on Ascend.

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RTI and Special Education

How many students use Ascend?

The number varies with the needs of the students and school activities… Such as preparing for ACT or the PAWS. At any moment, our school district has the capability to serve at least 200 students.

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

Some students work on Ascend as little as one hour a week to five hours a week.

How many teachers use Ascend?

All elementary level teachers, special education teachers and middle/high school math teachers use it.  That is around 40 teachers.

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

District General Fund, ARRA funds and a grant for schools trying to improve AYP.

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

Ascend is a comprehensive intervention tool that allows teachers to have the student view on-line instruction either at school or at home.  Our challenge at this district is that attendance areas are separated with approximately twenty miles which creates a problem with funds and adequate support staff to deliver the interventions.  Ascend has helped our students who are struggling with math concepts but also those students who need to be challenged as well.

What were your desired objectives?

Our objective is to provide immediate intervention or enrichment in addition to the comprehensive curriculum that our district supports.

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

The impact on student achievement varies depending on the goal for the student.  Our district has noted several students who have grown at least two years in some cases.

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Our implementation is Intensive Program of Instruction, RTI, and Credit Recovery (recover math skills necessary to earn credits.).

How many students use Ascend?

The attached report reflects 87 students; however, only 74 students are using the program at this time. Thirteen students have not been removed from the program.

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

Some students use the Ascend Math Lab four and one half hours per week.

How many teachers use Ascend?

One Teacher and one teacher’s aide

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

Licenses were purchased with general education funds because all students use the Ascend Math Program.

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

The biggest challenge that our students bring to us is that at least 75% of students function at least three to four grade levels below the ninth grade. We only have our students for five and one half months. Many students have repeated the same grade level two or three times and have not been successful on the Texas state math assessments – EOC and TAKS.

What were your desired objectives?

Our desired objectives are to help students strengthen their math skills to enable them to progress in the classroom with direct instruction and on the computer curriculum. We also want students to overcome their fear and anxiety of math. We want to provide an intensive program of instruction to target weaknesses turning those weaknesses into strengths. Strengthening math competencies will help our students successfully pass the EOC, TAKS, and GED.

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

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RTI

How many students use Ascend?

117 currently but through the course of this school year we have had 145 students use the program and many were deactivated because they achieved grade level and no longer need this intervention.

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

3 hours 20 minutes at school. Many of our students also use the program at home.

How many teachers use Ascend?

2 Teaching Assistants supervise students on the program but each teacher in the building (31 teachers) has about 4 students using the program.

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

I strongly advocated for our district to purchase this program and to my knowledge it came out of our district’s general fund (no grant money was used)

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

Challenges – Getting administrator buy in, training necessary staff, using staff we had (no new staff could be add), having someone to oversee the program, and implementing the program on a relatively large scale with little prep time.

Reasons for adopting Ascend: We wanted an intervention that was:

*had a strong research base

*was appropriate for our target population

*focused on skill remediation

*aligned with NY state standards

*was customizable

*relatively easy to implement

*could be delivered by a Teaching Assistant (with supervision)

*was targeted to individual student needs

* would be fun and engaging for students

*would allow us to serve more students than was previously possible given staffing

*provide frequent feedback

*allow for progress monitoring

What were your desired objectives?

*remediate skill deficits (close the gap)

*motivate students to do well and take pride in their work

*provide positive feedback relative to each student’s individual progress

*improve classroom math performance

*improve NY state math test scores

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

*Classroom teacher have seen an improvement in math performance

*We are awaiting NY state test score results but we are expecting a statistically significant improvement over previous year’s results

*On Average students using Ascend had previously made about .5 grade level of growth each year.  These same students have improved by 1.7 grade levels (on average) over the past 7 months. That’s more than 3xs the growth they had previously made (in less time).

*On Average the students using Ascend were 2.5 grade levels behind and now they are less than 1 grade level behind (and some are at grade level).

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Special Ed.)?

The implementation objective of our Ascend Math Program is a school wide implementation based on the individual need of each student that has demonstrated a need for intervention in math. Any student that is struggling in math or that has had a history of unsatisfactory performance on the state assessment in math is targeted using the Ascend Math Program.

All students in special education participate on the Ascend Math Program. All English Language Learners also participate in the Ascend Math Program. In addition to those students, any student that has failed their math class during a grading period throughout the school year is placed on the Ascend Math Program. The Ascend Math Program is the Response to Intervention (RtI) program that we use to help target students needs they have in learning math. All students that are remanded to the district alternative education program (DAEP) campus because of disciplinary reasons are placed on the Ascend Math Program. Our school also has a few students that have missed school for medical reasons and or other reasons and are attending Saturday school for attendance credit and those students also work on the Ascend Math Program.

In addition, any student whose parents felt their child needed help in math or if a teacher felt that a particular student needed the assistance of the Ascend Math Program, the student was assigned to the tutorial program. There have been a few students that are placed on the Ascend Math Program after they have talked to their teacher, counselor, or myself and expressed they need extra help in math.

How many students use Ascend ?

Currently we have 262 students on the Ascend Math Program. With students added regularly depending on the individual needs of each particular student. Every mobile student (a student that is new to the district after the school year has already started) is added to the Ascend Math Program in order to perform a diagnostic assessment to help address the needs of the new student. This also helps the math teachers have an idea as far as where the student is in math and what interventions are needed to address the students’ needs.

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

The minimum time students were on the Ascend Math Program was 60 minutes a week on the Ascend Math Program. Most students spent more than 100 minutes a week on the Ascend Math Program.

How many teachers use Ascend?

Currently all 7 math teachers utilize the Ascend Math Program to help their students that are struggling in math. In addition, one English as a second language teacher, and three special education teachers also use the Ascend Math Program as a method to closing the achievement gaps our students have in math. In addition to the middle school implementing the Ascend Math Program, two other schools have also targeted leaning gaps in math with their students. Those campuses are the 4th and 5th grade campus along with the high school campus.

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

The funding sources used for the adoption of Ascend Math Program were from different sources. Local budgeted instructional funds were used along with funds allocated from a bond issue earmarked for technology. Lastly, the math intervention committee felt it was best to continue with the Ascend Math Program and we applied for a grant to help fund the Ascend Math Program for 3 years at 300 licenses each year.

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

Original Challenges

In the first year that we adopted the Ascend Math Program, the first challenge was to sale the Ascend Math Program to our teachers that there was a need for a program to help close the achievement gaps of our students in math. After extensive research, and meeting with a trustworthy consultant, we chose to use Ascend Math. Prior to the implementation of the Ascend Math Program, some students were assigned to 30 minute math tutorials with their math teacher 3 times a week. As a school, we felt this was ineffective and counterproductive. Our new plan, integrated the Ascend Math Program that would give teachers the opportunity to work with more students  throughout the week. Mainly because each student was assigned to a math mandatorytutorial in our computer labs until 5:00 pm working on the Ascend Math Program to close achievement gaps in math.

Another challenge we faced in implementing with the Ascend Math Program was the need to get students to work on the program with fidelity. After meeting with each student and communicating with their parents, students were assigned mandatory tutorials before and after school that totaled 90 minutes a week. Students were assigned 30 minutes with their math teacher and 60 minutes on the Ascend Math Program. Automated daily calls were made to each student’s parents the night before reminding the parents of the importance of attendance to the Ascend Math tutorials and the time they would be done every afternoon. A second call was made each afternoon to remind parents of the tutorial. When students missed a scheduled tutorial in the computer lab, a makeup day was assigned.

One major challenge that took some collaborative discussions was the need of our feeder school to get on board with the Ascend Math Program. It was apparent that our students were closing their educational achievement gaps in math. The problem was that the gaps were so wide ranging from students testing out on grade levels in the 5th, 4th, 3rd, and even 2nd grade level. Because of the gaps in math, students had to attain proficiency for up to four or five years of math within three, two, or even in one year. Getting our feeder school on board with the Ascend Math Program was a major accomplishment because the achievement gaps the 4th and 5th grade students had were not as bad as if the students were in the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade level.

The major reason why we needed to adopt Ascend math was that it was apparent that students at Fort Stockton Middle School were struggling in math. We looked at the Ascend Math Program because teachers were accountable for teaching their students math at grade level. Problem was we had too many students performing below grade level. I explained to teachers, parents, colleagues, and students the benefits of the Ascend Math Program. I gave examples such as, if a student struggled with proportions in the 7th grade, it may be because the student really did not grasp the skills needed to mathematically manipulate fractions taught at a lower grade. A gap existed and until the gap was filled, then the student would succeed in solving proportions. A solidifying factor was that if a student was one year behind in math and that student went to school every day and learned, the student was still going to be a year or more behind in math because of the gaps the student already had. To close the gap the student needs to spend at more time in math targeting the students’ needs so that they can eventually close that gap. The extra time coupled with the targeted instruction allowed for the student and math teacher to close the learning gap and experience success in math.

We also realized that the Ascend Math Program never had a bad day (like we as humans have occasionally). The instruction was always the same and never swayed to the negativity that accompanies frustration from both the student and the teacher. Regardless if the student had a bad day, the Ascend Math Program still worked at the same level to close the achievement gap the student had in math.

Current Challenges

This school year we faced similar challenges and were relinquished of some previous challenges we dealt with our first year of implementing the Ascend Math Program. All the teachers were sold and on board with the Ascend Math Program and were excited about the continuation of the Ascend Math Program at the Fort Stockton Middle School. As a school the new challenges we faced were that we wanted to:

• Address the math gaps sooner.
• Develop a plan to address student needs in math sooner.
• Work out the logistics of the plan that we were going to implement.
  • Plan needed to address time.
  • Plan needed to address personnel.
  • Needed to the biggest bang for our buck.

The plan that we came up with was having a class built into the school day so that all students that did not perform at the minimum level on the math state assessment test would be scheduled into those classes during the school day. We were able to schedule 8 classes a day with a maximum of 20 students for each class. The students were assigned to get at least 210 minutes a week and if they did not get their allotted time the student had to make up the time after school or on Saturday school.

In addition, I wanted the students to know that I was holding them accountable to working hard and getting their time and getting better in math through the Ascend Math Program. I had weekly meetings with each class and gave them a progress report on the time they had for the previous week, what level the student was on and if they completed any levels. We set a small reward program where if the student did their time on the Ascend Math Program they would receive a candy for working on the program with fidelity. In addition, I would give a certificate for a free drink at our local convenience stores if the students increased a grade level on the Ascend Math Program.

The following picture is a copy of that certificate a student would receive after completing a level in the Ascend Math Program.

Ironically, this would cause a craze amongst our students. Students were excited for me to give them their weekly debriefing on their progress for the hope of getting a free certificate for a slush at a local convenience store. Students learned that when the report portion changed on their student dashboard and because of the Ascend Math Program built in progress guides (the mountain climber climber and fireworks, along with the scream of “YAHOO” of the climber) when they progressed a level on the Ascend Math Program. Students would stop me in the halls of our school to let me know they were going to expect me the following Monday because they knew they just passed a level in the Ascend Math Program.

Students were excited and motivated to work and were proud of their accomplishments. Yes, it did take a lot of planning and weekly disaggregating of data to reward the students to work on math when they really did not like math and had a general feeling of negativity towards math. The rewards of having students understand math and their teachers being able to tell that their students were experiencing success was all worth the extra time and effort to play an active role in those students’ lives helping them improve their math skills and understanding.

We are still continuing our mandatory tutorial program after school for those students that have failed their math class during a grading period. One benefit is that we have had fewer students having to attend after school mandatory tutorials as a result if of addressing our students achievement gaps in math sooner than we had the year before.

What were your desired objectives?

The desired objectives of the implementing the Ascend Math Program is to close the achievement gaps in math of all students at Fort Stockton Middle School. Thus increasing student achievement in math, and improving state assessment scores in math. We wanted teachers to be able to spend less time creating lesson plans for the extra tutorials and more time working with their struggling students, and the Ascend Math Program was allowing our teachers to teach at grade level while the Ascend Math Program served as a tutor for each student targeting the unique needs of each student.

Another desired objective was getting students to work on the program with fidelity.  After meeting with students and parents, a rigorous schedule was implemented, automatic daily reminder phone calls and second calls to parents to reminder phone calls and second calls to parents to remind them of the next day’s tutorial schedule. As well as follow up conferences with students who missed a tutorial session to assign

a makeup day. In addition, students in the Ascend Math classes were debriefed on their progress and were rewarded for their progress. These debriefings excited students about learning math and encouraged them to excel even more for having a sense of accomplishment and ownership in their own learning.

In addition, there was a need to streamline the math programs so help accomplish our goals of closing the achievement gap of our students across the district. Last year, after many meetings and collaboration with our feeder school, they too implemented the Ascend Math Program. This year after much more collaboration, we were able to implement Ascend Math in the high school that our school feeds to in order to help the students in math.

Most importantly, our school wants students to attain a sense of confidence in math and even pursue careers that embrace math as means to a better world.

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

The impact Ascend math has had on our school and school district is tremendous. Teachers can tell which students are on the Ascend Math Program because of their improved math abilities and skills in the classroom and on their assessments. Students have much more confidence and work harder at math because of the success they have had in the Ascend Math Program.

The following tables demonstrate the progress our students have made this school year.

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Special Ed

How many students use Ascend?

30

On average, how many hours per week are they on Ascend?

4

How many teachers use Ascend?

3

What were the funding sources used to adopt Ascend?

Special Education Funds

What were some of the challenges faced, and what were your reasons for adopting Ascend?

Not making AYP in the category of Special Education students

What were your desired objectives?

To increase ISTEP+ test scores

What has been Ascend’s impact on student achievement, and what are the actual outcomes (Ascend results, test score results, etc)?

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