2009 Annual Report.pdf - Town of Milton

Pierce Middle School: We began the 2008-2009 school year with a total
enrollment of 844 Students (280 6th graders, 274 7th graders and 290 8th
graders), all under the leadership of Principal James Jette.
During this academic school year, Pierce Middle School was identified by
the state as needing Corrective Action for ELA and Restructuring Year One for
mathematics, based on MCAS scores.
In response to this status, the Pierce Middle School lobbied for an additional
1.5 FTE to support the Pierce Middle School moving forward and to meet
the challenges that we face. The classes that were added were 1.5 Math Investigations
to work with students that were identified as “Warning” or “Needs
Improvement” on the mathematics section of the MCAS test.
The purpose of the Mathematics Investigations course is to provide students
with in-depth, hands on investigatory experiences in order to build deep
understanding of mathematical concepts. Course topics reflect important concepts
from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Mathematics Curriculum Framework.
Pierce Science teachers participated in the Pre-AP (Advance Placement)
training and the Vertical Team as part of the AP Grant. The focus of the AP
Grant was to increase the number of underrepresented students in AP. The Pre-
AP Program takes concepts that are taught in each of the AP courses and provides
activities to teach these topics at a level appropriate for a middle school
student. These lessons are not meant for just upper level students- all will benefited
from them which we hope helps to improve our students’ MCAS scores.
Three grade 8 Math teachers participated in an Algebra research study at
Pierce. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation and is collaboration
between researchers at Harvard, Vanderbilt University, and Temple
University. The project involves creating, implementing, and evaluating curriculum
materials designed to improve students¹ learning of topics in an Algebra
I course. The goal of the initial project was to develop materials that ‘infuse’
comparison into what teachers might already be doing in their classrooms.
Middle school math teachers and special educators participated in a course:
Addressing Accessibility in Mathematics through the Education Development
Center, Inc. The goal of the course was to Improve Math Learning for Students
with Disabilities: Patterns and Algebra Strand (Grades 6-8). The course met six
different weeks for approximately 3 hour each session
Mentoring Program: 28 faculty and/or staff members volunteered their time
and services to meet and support 2-4 students each. These mentors met with students
before or after school and sometime during lunch at least once per week.
245