Presenting the 2013 Gold Medal Hall of Fame

Twenty exceptional schools competed for this year’s Gold Medal award.  So high was the caliber of this year’s nominees that we could not choose just one. Three schools were selected to receive the Gold Medal Award.  We could have chosen all twenty. Congratulations to all the Gold Medal nominees.

Eastern Division Award
Nolan Middle School,
Bradenton, FL

This marks the third year in a row Nolan received a Gold Medal nomination for their remarkable results. Educators at Nolan Middle School chose Ascend for their RTI needs. Each year, students use Ascend in school, after school, and at home to fill math gaps and move back up to grade level quickly. Nolan teachers rely upon Ascend to diagnose and design an individual program for each student not working at grade level.

Results:

  • All six classes achieved success.
  • 17 struggling students got back to grade level and “graduated” by the end of 2 marking periods.
  • 88 students (59%) gained one or more levels with 17% achieving two more levels.

Central Division Award
Fort Stockton High School,
Fort Stockton, TX

Ascend Math is the RTI program used by Fort Stockton to close the achievement gaps in math for all their students and improve state assessment scores in math. Students with a history of unsatisfactory math performance are placed in the Ascend Math program. The Fort Stockton High School student population is 86% Hispanic, 50% At Risk and 58% economically disadvantaged.

Results:

  • 58% of students grew one level or more.
  • 27% achieved 2 or more levels, and 8% achieved 3 or more levels.
  • Teachers can tell which students are on the Ascend Math Program because of their improved math abilities and skills

Western Division Award
Sanders Elementary School,
Sanders, AZ

Sanders Elementary serves a 98% Native American student population.  Many students come from homes with no running water, no electricity, and families that want to keep their children home to help tend to livestock and native traditions.  Last year, the school went from a “D” grade to a “C.” This year their goal is to move every student to confidence of grade level. Sanders Elementary is an Ascend Math Model School.

Results:

  • Last year, Sanders Elementary increased their state math scores from a 27 percent to 40 percent passing rate, according to the Arizona Department of Education website.
  • This year 74% of Sanders students using Ascend Math achieved one grade level or more.
  • 36% grew two grade levels.
  • Twenty students achieved three grade levels.  Four have achieved four grade levels and one has grown five grade levels.

Nominee Listing

Wentzville South Middle School
Wentzville, MO

Wentzville uses Ascend Math with 51 students identified for RTI in grades 6-8. They strive for realistic, obtainable, measurable tasks and goals for these students. Furthermore, they require students to take ownership of their own academic progress by showing mastery of identified basic math skills.

Results: 

  • 34 out of 47 students (72%) using Ascend completed at least one grade level.
  • 49% have completed two levels or more.
  • 30% have completed three or more levels.
  • 34% of struggling students are now working at grade level.

Leo Junior/Senior High School
Leo, IN

Leo Junior/Senior High School makes use of Ascend Math in a remedial math class for students with special needs as well as general education students struggling in math. They chose Ascend for its ability to fill in the deficits where students are lacking, differentiate instruction, and for its powerful capability to record data on student progress.

Results:

  • 15 students using Ascend passed a total of 27 levels.
  • Two students have increased three or more grade levels.
  • Students increased their post-assessment percentage by an average of 35.5%.
Model School

Youngker High School
Buckeye, AZ

Youngker High School received great results from their math intervention program last year and even better results this school year. They used Ascend with 311 students identified as below grade level in math.  These students with very low math skills are required to meet state requirements within two years. Youngker became an Ascend Math Model School in September, 2012.

Results:

  • All students have a goal to complete three objectives each week and at least one grade level each quarter.
  • The first three months, 229 Youngker High School math students had already completed at least one grade level in Ascend Math.
  • As of April, 83% of students gained one grade level or more and 54% gained two or more levels.
  • This will be the first year they will be able to tell how the Ascend program helped their students with the AIMS (state mandated) tests.
Model School

St. Pius X High School, Math Lab 1
Houston, TX

Marge Harris has been using Ascend Math for six years to help students get up to the ninth grade level in math so they can succeed in Algebra I. Students were struggling in Algebra I because they were missing some basic skills in math. This school year thirty six students spent an average of 3.75 hours per week with Ascend for one semester.  St. Pius X became an Ascend Math Model School in 2012.

Results:

  • In one semester, one student completed four grade levels, six completed two grade levels, and 17 more completed a full grade level.
  • For the past six years students have consistently improved one to two levels with several gaining up to four levels.
  • It has made their learning in Algebra I easier, and Ms. Harris uses lessons from Ascend to back up lessons in algebra.

Frontier Middle School
O’Fallon, MO

Frontier Middle School was faced with the challenge of raising math proficiency for students who were falling behind, while continuing progress in the grade level math curriculum. In spite of the best efforts of their dedicated educators, some students continued to fall further behind each year.  They chose Ascend Math to provide the same level of tier 2 math intervention for students that they had for their struggling readers.

Results

  • 23% of students using Ascend gained three levels.
  • 32% moved up two levels.
  • 29% moved up one level.
  • Six students made enough progress to move back into regular math class.
Model School

Swanton Middle School
Swanton, OH

For the past three years, Swanton Middle School has used Ascend Math both as tier 2 intervention and as a part of their regular class curriculum for the past three years. Low math skills as a whole were a challenge for their middle school students.  They find Ascend to be a great program to reinforce skills specific to each individual student. Swanton is an Ascend Math Model School.

Results:

  • Last year, students at Swanton increased their math scores 30% over the previous year on their state mandated tests.
  • This year 234 out of 402 students gained one grade level or more.
  • 47 students gained two or more levels with several gaining 4 levels.

Lakeside Christian School
Clearwater, FL

Students enrolling in Lakeside bring with them a wide diversity of demographics and abilities, especially in math. Lakeside educators use Ascend to bridge any gaps in mathematical understanding and allow each student to have the tools for success in the classroom.  Their primary goal is to move students who were working below grade level, up to and beyond grade level.  Ascend allows them to provide learning beyond what students receive in the classroom.

Results:

  • More than 75% of the 170 students using Ascend this year have gained one grade level or more.
  • More than 27% have gained from two to six grade levels.
  • Students averaged 27% improvement between their pre and post assessments.

Braden River Middle School
Bradenton, FL

Braden River is a three time Gold Medal nominee. Year over year, they do an exceptional job of motivating their students to fill math skill gaps. The results are clear in the improvement they see in their FCAT (state mandated test) scores.  Last year, 67% of students using Ascend improved at least one level on the FCAT.  Each year, they seem to get better and better.

Results:

  • More than 90% of grade 6-8 students improved at least one level.
  • 46% improved at least two levels.
  • 23% improved three levels or more.
  • End of year tests show consistent improvement.

Snowy Peaks High School
Frisco, CO

This marks the second year in a row that Snowy Peaks is a Gold Medal nominee. They use Ascend Math to help students reach grade-level competency, earn credits they lacked, and provide individual curriculum support.  Many of their students were below grade level (sometimes drastically) and were unable to succeed in traditional Algebra and Geometry classes as a result of this deficiency.

Results

  • Three students who were competent at a 5th grade level worked their way to a 9th grade level within one academic year.
  • Students who had taken, but barely passed, Geometry were able to solidify the skills they had either forgotten or never learned, which translated into success in Algebra II.
  • Students who were not likely to graduate due to credit deficiency will now graduate.
Model School

Place Bridge Academy
Denver, CO

Place Bridge Academy has an 80% ELL population. Students speak 60 different home languages.  In addition, Place Bridge is also a magnet school for mild/moderate and multi-intensive needs students.  Ascend provides a Tier 2 and 3 Math Intervention program used by “Mainstream,” Special Education and Intervention teachers.  The program also provides individualized math instruction to the students who are English Language Learners and are therefore working on English language acquisition as well as Math proficiency.

Results:

  • 215 mainstream, tier 2 and tier 3 intervention students benefited from the use of Ascend Math.
  • Overall increase in students who were proficient or advanced of 6%. In some grades, the increase was 11 %.
  • In April, Place Bridge Academy was honored with Ascend Math Model School status at a special event coinciding with NCTM.

Avon Intermediate School East
Avon, IN

At Avon Intermediate School there is an expectation for students to achieve high growth on the annual NWEA Measures of Academic Progress assessment. The goal each year is for 75% of the students to achieve annual growth based on national norms on the NWEA MAP assessment. Nearly 300 students using Ascend Math demonstrated desired growth from the pretest to posttest and are also increasing the anticipated growth on NWEA MAP.

Results:

  • Two teachers leading four classrooms each saw significant across the board improvement over the previous year with the sixth grade improving more than 35%.
  • 79.3% of 6th grade students met or exceeded anticipated RIT
  • 66% of 5th grade students met or exceeded anticipated RIT
Model School

Emmet Belknap Intermediate School
Lockport, NY

Emmet Belknap was last year’s Gold Medal winner.  In seven months of Ascend Math use last year their tier 2 and tier 3 math intervention students achieved four times their previous growth. This year, the intermediate school continued their impressive results with 172 students making use of Ascend.  Their previous success allowed them to add a full time teacher to the math lab this year. Emmet Belknap is an Ascend Math Model School.

Results:

  • 137 students moved up 1 or more levels (80%).
  • 37 students moved up 2 or more levels.
  • 70 students graduated from Ascend Math Lab; based on STAR tests scores they went from requiring intervention to at or above benchmark.

The Academy at Mind in Motions
Springboro, OH

Educators at The Academy at Mind in Motions turned to Ascend Math to supplement their hands on approach to learning math.  It is used to progress their students at a faster rate and to fill in gaps in learning.  Individualization and differentiation are a core component of their philosophy. Ascend fits in perfectly with this philosophy. Students at Mind in Motions use Ascend Math on iPads.

Results:

  • Students averaged a 19.6% improvement in pre to post-test scores.
  • 83 students (out of 89) have exceeded 1 grade level growth.
  • 29 students (32.5%) gained 2 or more levels.

Ronan Middle School
Ronan, MT

Last year, 55% of Ronan students failed to achieve proficient or higher on their 2012 annual CRT scores. Poverty levels are high with 71% of their students qualifying for Free or Reduced lunch. Computer resources are extremely limited.  In only about six months Ronan educators have made remarkable progress in using Ascend Math with their students below grade level and their special education students.

Results:

  • Overall, 22% of students achieved grade level with 60% of 5th graders achieving grade level.
  • 74.2% gained one or more levels and 26.9% gained two or more levels.
  • 82.6% of special ed students gained one or more levels.

ChalleNGe High School
Iraan, TX

The Texas ChalleNGe Academy (TCA) is a volunteer program for 16 to 18 year old teens that are at risk of dropping out or that have already dropped out of high school.  They use Ascend Math for response to intervention, credit recovery, and special education.  Incoming students often lack basic math skills, test well below grade level and are missing multiple credits due to a variety of reasons, including truancy. Approximately 25% are special education students and 10% are English Language Learners.

Results:

  • 57% have gained one grade level or more.
  • 15% have gained two or more grade levels.
  • 55 out of 59 (93%) students passed their GED.
Model School

Fort Stockton Middle School
Fort Stockton, TX

Fort Stockton Middle School won the Gold Medal in 2011.  This marks the third year in a row that the middle school has posted exceptional gains with Ascend Math.   A large percentage of incoming students have major math skill gaps and are in need of math intervention. They set up a class that allowed students time to work 3 to 4 days a week on Ascend Math. Fort Stockton was the first Ascend Math Model School.

Results:

  • 40% of the 200+ students using Ascend have gained one or more levels this year.
  • 20% have gained two levels.
  • 88% of 8th graders passed the STAAR math assessment on the first administration. This is an all-time high for 8th graders at Fort Stockton Middle School.

Crisp County Middle School
Cordele, GA

Crisp County Middle School uses Ascend Math to help meet the needs of their students who have consistently failed the GA Math CRCT state assessment. These are the same students who struggle with High School Math coursework and eventually drop out of High School.  Ascend is being used to help reverse this trend.  Judging by these results they are well on their way to accomplishing their goals.

Results:

  • 112 students in Ascend completed 201 Levels during the school year.
  • 41% completed 2 or more levels.
  • 45 students (40%) reached their grade level.
  • 64% passed the CRCT with a CRCT score in the Level 2 range.

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