When given a choice, students prefer to work at their own pace, rather than the teacher’s. And the ability to go back and quickly review instructions – without drawing attention to one’s self – is invaluable, according to school officials and students involved in the Pitsco Education Pre-Algebra program pilot testing this school year.

Case in point: A student at Douglass School in Leesburg, Virginia, doesn’t immediately understand a fractions problem. Loudoun County Career and Technical Education Director Shirley Bazdar happens to walk by and watches the student pause briefly and then “go back” on the computer to review the lesson.

“If we were looking at just a book, it would have been more difficult to have that kid move on because the teacher says, ‘Do the next problem.’ And the student thinks, ‘Oh, I can’t do that,’” Bazdar said. “Whereas this is a multimedia setting that allows the student to go back and review the directions for how to multiply fractions before moving forward.”

After taking this extra step, the student gets it, and he didn’t have to interrupt class or feel awkward about needing help.

“To put your hand up in middle school is sometimes the kiss of death,” Bazdar said. “They think, ‘I don’t want to be noticed. I don’t want to stand out. Don’t look at me.’”

Even high school students feel that way. Douglass tenth-grader Kelly Childs says she doesn’t want to raise her hand when she needs clarification. “I don’t like asking questions.”

The safe environment of Pitsco Pre-Algebra helped Childs make tremendous progress in math, a subject she disliked and failed last year. Her teacher, Jason Fournier, said the new means of learning math was exactly what Childs needed.

“The preassessment revealed that her gaps were incredible. Kelly had to do all of (the lessons). She tested out of none of them,” Fournier said. “By the time she was finished, she was in the 400s. I was so proud of her.”

No zoning out

Childs said the new delivery method forced her to change the way she worked in class at the alternative school. “When I’m sitting in the classroom, I’m usually bored and I zone out. I don’t know what’s going on. In this lab, you’ve actually got to do it to get it done with. It basically forces you to pay attention.”

Fournier says the traditional means of teaching pre-algebra – textbook and an overhead or white board – doesn’t exactly prompt students to sit on the edge of their seats in anticipation.

“The old way, it was a struggle and you lost about half of (the students), which was huge,” he said. “This way, I don’t think you lose any, maybe just a small amount. I didn’t lose any in my small class.”

After mastering the Individualized Prescriptive Lessons that a preassessment reveals are necessary, the students move on to Pitsco Pre-Algebra Modules where they work in pairs to study concepts and complete activities that involve manipulatives and equipment.

“If you’re in a regular classroom and you’re talking, it’s like, ‘Be quiet because you’re disturbing everyone,’” Childs said. “But if you’re with a partner at a Module, you can talk and still get your work done.”

Awaiting test results

The Virginia Board of Education has adopted Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL), and all students are required to perform at specified levels and show improvement year to year. Early results have not been good, Bazdar said.

“Virginia, with the standards of learning, really learned a painful lesson the past year or so when they started end-of-course testing with sixth, seventh, and eighth grades,” Bazdar said. “In math, our scores were not good, and that’s Virginia in general. A lot of school systems didn’t make it, and they were not accredited in math in those areas.”

Fournier is optimistic that Pitsco Pre-Algebra will lead to improved performance.

“We’re excited to see where their SOL scores go because all of the students are working. I know it’s going to go up, and it’s not because our students changed,” Fournier explained. “Now, our students are engaged in some mathematical activity while they’re in the classroom. And they’re doing math. They’re not just waiting for the next 90 minutes to hurry up and go by.”

Organization and structure

Instructor Kija Bailey charts students’ progress anonymously on a graph posted in the classroom so students can track their progress and quickly see what they’re missing or how far ahead they are. It’s another incentive that spurs students to strive for greater achievement with small rewards in the form of treats or extra credit.

Bazdar says such measures and a highly structured program set up in multiple phases are exactly what today’s students need.

“They need something different that’s engaging, something that also has a structure to it,” she said. “Kids crave structure. They will fight it left and right, but they really do crave the structure that comes with a product like what we’re doing here with (Pitsco Pre-Algebra).”