by Tom Farmer, Editor

Whether it is blue ribbon or at risk, a label doesn’t determine how a school will perform in the future. The desire and performance of administrators, faculty, and students set the standard year to year.

Carolina High School & Academy in Greenville, South Carolina, carries the “Palmetto Priority School” tag, which translates to low performing and at risk. But don’t let that label fool you. There’s a clear trend toward improvement that starts at the top with Principal Anthony Holland, continues through assistant principals such as Michael Delaney and teachers such as Andrew Baker, and concludes with motivated students performing up to their abilities.

“We inherited a school that was at risk, so we’re working through it,” Holland said. “This is my team’s third year together. Our graduation rate my first year was 41 percent. After my first year, we went up 10 percent. We went up another three percent last year. Now our kids are thinking about higher ed.”

On the rise

Teachers are helping students to grow in self-confidence, and success in previously perplexing subject areas is perhaps the biggest confidence builder of all. Pitsco Education Algebra was implemented in 2008 as an attempt to improve end-of-year algebra test results.

“We actually scored lower in math than we did in reading. We needed some help in that area,” Holland said. “Our superintendent, Dr. Fisher, was a key player in getting this program. She’s the first one to introduce me to this lab. She really believes in it and in what we want to do.”

It didn’t take long for test scores to improve. Carolina High School & Academy had a state end-of-course algebra exam pass rate of 58 percent in 2008. At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, 93 percent of Pitsco Algebra students passed the state EOC exam.

Assistant Principal Michael Delaney, a former algebra teacher, said the results in the Pitsco lab and the school overall are unprecedented. “We have tried a number of things over the years to improve test scores, from math blitzes to double blocking to personnel changes, and none of them have resulted in jumps in scores like we have had this year.”

Teaching toward the concepts

Pitsco Algebra students don’t just learn from lecture, a few examples at the marker board, and homework practice. Instead, they learn algebraic concepts in the context of real-world applications such as forensic science, sports statistics, nuclear energy, and climate change.

Baker says teaching linear regression rate at a marker board isn’t nearly as interesting – or as understandable – to students as calculating the cooling rate for a pot of coffee at a crime scene (Unsolved Mysteries Module).

“I absolutely prefer this way of teaching. Teaching toward the concepts rather than just procedures is 10 times better,” Baker said. “The students can understand it. When you’re teaching to concepts rather than procedures that are abstract to the students, it would be hard to think the traditional way (of teaching algebra) would be better.”

Course grades don’t necessarily reflect improved comprehension because most students earn B’s and C’s, but that’s OK with Baker as long as they’re learning. And they are learning.

Strephon, a freshman, says he’s always been an A student in math and he wants to become an engineer. “I’m making a B right now in this class because this class challenges me. Last year it wasn’t a challenge, and I got an A.”

Success for all

Baker says his main concern is that students learn key core algebraic concepts that they can build upon in later math courses and utilize when they’re outside of the classroom. All categories of students have enjoyed success in the lab. “I’ve had college prep and lower-level students in here. As far as motivation, they all want to succeed,” Baker said.

Delaney says the lab’s flexible design with students working in pairs makes it appealing to all types of students. “It’s interesting because sometimes you see kids in remedial algebra do as well as the honors kids because of this setup. Then you see honors kids who take it deeper than we thought it could go, and they get into a lot more things and a lot more discussions.”

And therein lies the main reason for implementing the Pitsco Education Algebra program at Carolina High School & Academy – an opportunity for all students to succeed.

“Success to me is each student reaching his full potential,” Holland says. “We’re concerned about test scores, but we’re more concerned about our students and the progress they’re making.”