Administrators in the Columbus Municipal School District this school year will be taking steps to combat below-average test scores, CMSD officials announced during a Saturday morning conference.
Because recently released Mississippi Curriculum Test 2 and Subject Area Test Program results indicated the CMSD is testing behind state averages, administrators from every grade level shared plans to improve the scores over the next year.
"I was horrified by the (MCT2) results," said Pamela Lenoir, principal of Stokes-Beard Elementary Magnet School. "My third-grade results showed the greatest deficit. But out of the 65 third graders at the school last year, over half were new to Stokes-Beard.
"A lot of the new students we got were testing extremely below grade level," Lenoir added.
An 11-month "success calendar" program implemented at Stokes-Beard and Sale elementary schools could work to combat the low test scores, Lenoir explained.
Through the 11-month calendar, Sale and Stokes-Beard will hold two success academies during the year. One will be held on school days from Sept. 29 to Oct. 9, and the second will run from March 22 to April 1.
The 18 success days will be used to "enrich" students who are performing at their grade level, and will be used to "remediate" students who have fallen behind, Lenoir explained.
"The enrichment classes will all focus on science, and will increase achievement for students who are scoring at or above their grade level," Lenoir said. "Students who scored below their grade level will be assigned into different remediation classes based on their area of deficiency.
"In those remediation classes, they will receive intense instruction in whichever area they have fallen behind," Lenoir added.
Teachers and administrators at Lee Middle School will be working this year to improve their understanding of the MCT2 and SATP test formats, said LMS Principal Cindy Wamble.
"We are just trying to promote a mindset with the teachers of knowing what they need to teach in order to help students perform well on the test," Wamble said. "There is a school-wide focus on literature. Even on the math sections of the test, they have to read.
"Two-thirds of the test is language arts and reading, so anything we can do to promote that is great," Wamble added. "We are continuing to improve our school climate. We have not had a single discipline problem during these first few weeks of school."
Data-driven teaching decisions will be the driving force this year at Columbus High School, according to CHS Principal Craig Shannon.
"We are asking ourselves 'how are our lesson plans based on the data we have?'" Shannon said. "We want all of our decisions to be data-driven, not just based on a feel-good theory.
"We have different segments of students, and we want to make sure we are teaching to each level, not just the middle group," Shannon added. "The major challenge we are facing is making students aware of the importance of education, and I think we are making great headway with that this year."
Neal Wagner is a Staff Reporter for The Commercial Dispatch.
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Ms. Young | 8/23/2009 10:34:00 AMmark as inappropriate It is good news to know that the scores are up from last year's results, that's good to know. I believe they can be better. It has to be cooperation on behalf of the teachers and the parents to deal with this problem. We as parents need to encourage our children to do better in school. We need to enlighten them on the benefits of a good education and also become active in their lives as parents when it comes to homework and studying for tests. I think this FYI will help our children here in Lowndes County.
TD | 8/23/2009 9:35:00 PMmark as inappropriate Let me see if I'm reading this right. Is Principal Lenior saying that they are doing things right at Stokes-Beard but blaming the students for the low test scores.
That is the way I read it. She's not taking responsibiity. She's passing the buck -- and passing it to children.
observer2 | 8/28/2009 3:39:00 PMmark as inappropriate Children always follow someone. The leaders of our city have a four day work week mentality. That alone tells me and everybody else who knows about us that most of the people in our town don't like to study and work hard. It's not very productive either in reguards to the condition of our streets. The appearance of our city residential areas is embarrassing when out of towners visit. Our school children see and follow. When their leaders want to take 3 day week ends to the coast every week or just lay around the house doing nothing, that seems to be a good mentality to have so they follow suit by not working hard in school and ignore home work, monkey see monkey do, right. Just do enough to get by and stay afloat-not really caring about being the best that they can be. The county leaders are just as bad. When one person can remain in a supervisor position for over 25 years with no better leadership qualities than when he first began, something needs to change. Too many fat cats in leadership positions.
God bless our teachers, black and white. They are dedicated to their work. No four day mentality there. Too bad their hands are tied behind their backs in reguard to discipline. Parents need to stand behind the teachers like in the old days--if I got a paddleing at school ,I got another one when I got home.
