The improvement in student math skills in our district has been rapid and amazing. At Brazoswood High School, one teacher had 58 general and special-education students, none of whom had passed the math on the TAKS in recent years. That meant, sadly, that 100 percent were predicted to fail the 2010 assessment. After just four months of learning with Ascend Math, 45 percent of those students passed the high-stakes test.
In addition, 60 percent of students realized achievement gains of one-and-a-half grade levels in that short amount of time, and 38 percent saw remarkable gains of two or more grades during the same timeframe.
Nancy Barberry, one of our teachers at Brazoswood High School, said: “I have watched students find success who haven’t succeeded in math in years. They see they can pass. They see they can learn.”
Brazoswood High School associate principal Ron Redden has seen unbelievable progress since implementing Ascend Math. “These students lacked the basic skills to do the content work, and needed to close the gaps before they could move forward. If they’re struggling with basic skills, they can’t move to the next level,” he said. “Ascend moves them past the hurdle. It’s absolutely stunning to see how quickly they’re working through their lessons and seeing success.”
Brazoswood High is also using Ascend Math for primary classroom instruction with its resource class students, some of whom have severe learning disabilities, and is seeing success. “One student started with a score of just 11 percent proficiency and is now between 80 and 90 percent,” said Redden.
Next, we’re implementing Ascend Math at Brazoswood High with students in grades nine through 12 who are struggling with geometry, providing 12 weeks of classroom instruction and use of the afterschool lab.
“With Ascend, they start seeing success right away. Success breeds success, so they gain skills and confidence and push forward. Students who had never had success in math are sailing through the state assessment,” Redden said.
We are also expanding our implementation of Ascend Math to help fill gaps in math skills for students in our intermediate and middle schools. We want all students to be prepared for Algebra when they enter ninth grade, and using Ascend with the middle grade students will help us achieve this goal.
For students who don’t have the foundation for it, algebra is abstract. But once they start filling in the gaps with Ascend, they build confidence and are motivated to learn. They move from having the teachers say, “You can do this,” to, “You are doing this.”
Judy Senter is Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction in the Brazosport Independent School District in Clute, Texas.
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