Lincoln School Program Aims To Lift Test Scores
Last updated Monday, August 25, 2008 10:08 PM CDT in News
By Rose Ann Pearce
THE MORNING NEWS
LINCOLN -- A new program is being launched at Lincoln High School to develop stronger bonds between administrators, teachers and students in an effort to raise student achievement on standardized tests.
Several teachers praised Wolf Hour as a way to remediate students who need help, better prepare students for the exams and give teachers and students time to develop stronger relationships.
The group was among more than a dozen teachers from the district's four schools who presented the annual report to the public Monday during the Lincoln School Board meeting. Most of the estimated 30 people in attendance were teachers.
One hour every day is devoted to Wolf Hour, when students can get extra help in subjects in which they will be tested as part of the Arkansas Benchmark program -- literacy, algebra, geometry and biology -- or help in preparing for the end-of-course exams administered in the spring or can participate in enrichment classes which are being planned, said Johnny Williams, a high school teacher who explained the Wolf Hour concept to school board members.
Each teacher and administrator at the high school act as advisers for 12 students, meeting with them each week during Wolf Hour. Wolf Hour also provides time for pep rallies, clubs and other activities without disrupting the class schedule, Williams said.
Teachers said literacy is the number one focus at the high school this year because of poor student performance on the end-of-course literacy exam last spring. The high school is on alert to improve its literacy scores or face other sanctions under No Child Left Behind.
Among the students who took the 11th-grade literacy exam last spring, only 43 percent scored proficient, meaning they tested at grade level. No student scored at the advanced level while 57 percent scored basic or below basic.
"We're trying to change the culture of the high school," said Steve Asp-Schussheim, high school principal. More attention this year is focused on instruction for the whole child and strengthening professional growth for teachers, he said.
Board members also heard a first report on the new alternative school which began this year in the district. For the last several years, Lincoln has participated in a regional alternative school sponsored by Boston Mountain Education Services Cooperative.
Clay Hendrix, director of the new program, said 19 students are enrolled because they meet two of 14 criteria required to participate in an alternative program under state law.
Most of the students are in the alternative school for credit recovery and many have attendance problems in traditional school settings, Hendrix said.
The board also heard detailed strategies from a team of elementary school teachers to help lift that school out of school improvement status under No Child Left Behind.
The Lincoln Middle School met all standards for adequate yearly progress, Superintendent Frank Holman said.
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