Freedom Elementary - School Specialty—Literacy and Intervention

Case StudyFreedom Elementary “Turbo-charges” its PerformanceDesignation with a Proven Intervention Solution“We were thrilled that our intervention strategy enabled us tomake significant performance gains in a short period of time.”Jean Snyder, Principal at Freedom ElementaryFocus on:Academy of MATH ®Fast Facts:Rallying Around An Ambitious GoalIn 2004, Freedom Elementary adopted the Ohio IntegratedSystems Model for Academic and Behavior Supports (OISM), acomprehensive school-wide prevention and intervention modelthat provides support systems which address both academic andbehavioral needs of all students. Any school adopting OISMscrutinizes student performance data on a regular basis to guidedecisions related to any potential intervention. The overridingfocus is on enabling the success of all students by meeting theeducational needs of every student.In 2005, Freedom Elementary embarked on a search for acomprehensive technology-based intervention solution that wouldwork within the framework of OISM while addressing the learningchallenges of its 3rd and 4th grade students. “Only 33% of our3rd grade students passed the Ohio Math Achievement Test in2004/05,” says Jean Snyder, Principal at Freedom Elementary.Alarmingly, the school also fell into ‘Academic Emergency’ thatsame year. “We were devastated and extremely concerned,” saysSnyder. “We rallied ourselves around the explicit goal of changingour performance designation to ‘Continuous Improvement’,which meant bypassing ‘Academic Watch’ and jumping twocategories in one year—an ambitious goal, for sure.”Location:• Lima, OhioSchool:• Freedom ElementaryGrades:• K-4Number of Students:• 350Student Demographics:• White: 44%• Hispanic 3%• Black: 40%• Other: 13%Free and reduced lunch:• 85.1%Website:www.limacityschools.org

www.autoskill.comIndividualized Instruction “A Must”The school’s educators quickly selected the Academyof MATH in part because of its rigorous interventionmethodology—“prescribe, monitor and intervene”—and its proven ability to build fluency in thefoundation skills of math. “We had some priorexperience with the Academy of MATH. We liked thesolid research-based approach of the programand the fact that with it we can deliver true,individualized instruction to each student,” saysDeb Gronas, teacher.Just over 100 students in the 3rd and 4th grades weretargeted for the intervention. “The Academy of MATHsystematically placed each student at the appropriatelevel based on their ability and worked through theTerms, Operations and Word Problems for eachmathematical skill area,” says Gronas. “Our studentsreally like it because they know the program is gearedto meet their specific needs. They can progress in apositive and engaging learning environment withoutany competition amongst each other.”Results DrivenGuaranteed performance gains were critical. Studentswere tested in December 2005 to establish abenchmark, and again in May 2006 using the STARassessment in addition to State testing. “In Decembermy students tested 4.1. In May they tested 5.2. Theprogram produced over a grade level gain in just5 months with the students working in the lab forjust 30 minutes, twice a week,” says Gronas.Whereas only 33% of students had passed in the3rd grade, over 60% of the same students passed inthe 4th grade. “What makes this an impressiveachievement is that in our school we’ve never hadmore than 40% of our 4th grade students pass,” saysGronas. “I really believe that the Academy of MATHboosted their confidence and gave them thejumpstart they needed.”Impressive gains were also realized in the 3rd gradeclasses. “We tested from September to May and oneclass averaged a 93% increase,” says Gronas. “It’seven more striking that some students saw a 200%increase in their test scores.”Mission AccomplishedTo realize their goal of jumping to a ‘ContinuousImprovement’ designation, the school required aperformance index score of 80.0 or above. “Wescored 80.7,” says a triumphant Snyder. “We werethrilled that our intervention strategy enabled us tomake the performance gains required to achieve‘Continuous Improvement’. The Academy of MATHplayed a big role but I am also very proud to workwith such a dedicated, hard-working team ofprofessionals. The teachers’ buy-in and commitmentbehind this software implementation is what madethis outcome possible.”Now that the school has successfully upgraded itsperformance designation, Freedom Elementary canand will confidently build on its success in the future.About AutoSkill ®AutoSkill creates award-winning intervention solutions to help close theproficiency gap in K-12 schools. For over 15 years, its research-basedprograms have helped at-risk students to build fluency in the foundation skillsof reading and math. The company’s core products, Academy of READINGand Academy of MATH, deliver rapid, permanent gains so students progressin their education and administrators meet AYP targets. For moreinformation, go to www.autoskill.com.AutoSkill International Inc.555 Legget Dr., Tower B, Suite 600Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2K 2X3Tel: 800 288-6754 Fax: 613 287-0990Email: info@autoskill.com www.autoskill.com© 2006 AutoSkill International Inc. All rights reserved. AutoSkill, Academy of READING and Academy of MATH are registered trademarks of AutoSkillInternational Inc. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Printed in Canada.1106