Closing the math skills gap and boosting achievement

We turned to Ascend Math, a math intervention program that combines continuous assessment, targeted instruction, prescriptive tutorials, and reporting tools to give students a direct route to improved math performance. The instructional components of the Ascend Math program appealed to us as well. Master teachers give systematic, step-by-step instruction for the students in a particular concept. The research was compelling, demonstrating that Ascend Math closed math gaps two or more grade levels in a semester.

The first students to use Ascend Math were those with the greatest need in closing the math gaps. Those students were students failing their math class at grading periods, special education students, the Texas Discipline Alternative Education Program (DAEP), our attendance credit recovery Saturday school students, and 8th graders who failed the state assessment in math for several years.

Prior to using Ascend Math, students were assigned 30-minute tutorials with math teachers, 3 times per week. This proved to be ineffective and failed to produce the improvement that was so critically needed.

Integrating Ascend Math gave our teachers the opportunity to work with more students throughout the week and helped struggling students get back on track. Our teachers particularly appreciate Ascend Math as a complete math intervention solution that begins by diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses, then prescribes and delivers targeted instructional activities, ensuring consistent progress monitoring through ongoing formative assessments.

Implementation

We began with any student who failed a math class for any grading period and then expanded to students in a Saturday attendance credit recovery. All students remanded to the DAEP program are assigned to Ascend Math, and we regularly add students based on identified needs. Students are using Ascend Math during their regular math class time and in an after school labs for 50 minutes, two to four times per week. They typically spend six to12 weeks learning with Ascend Math.

Results

The staff at Fort Stockton Middle School has broadly embraced Ascend Math after seeing our school’s significant improvement in math skills. The impact Ascend has had on our school 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. Most recently, we had 46 8th grade students fail the TAKS state assessment test in math on the first administration.

Previous 1 2 3 Next