Profiles of Educator Success
Avon Community School District, IN
Lead Educator: Brian Scott
Grades: 9-12
Needs: RTI
Results: 81% of the students who experienced 10+ hours on Ascend Math met or exceeded anticipated growth on NWEA.
Bibb County Schools, GA
Lead Educators: Dr. Lori Rodgers, Ex. Director of Special Programs,
Joanna Gittens-Summerow, Title 1 Education Specialist
Grades: 6-8
Needs: In 2015, Bibb County schools began a Flexible Learning Program (FLP) utilizing Ascend Math. The students in the FLP are students who are most at risk of failing math and fall into the lowest 25 percentile. Bibb’s FLP is a blended learning model designed as direct instruction coupled with online learning for math.
Results Year One:
- At the beginning of the school year, 58% of students tested below the 4th grade level in math. By April, only 15% remained.
- Only 9% of students tested at grade level 5 or above at the start of the year. By April, that number increased to 64%.
- 44% moved up two or more grade levels.
Year Two:
- More than 50% of FLP (most at risk) students increased their score on the state test. By comparison, only 45% of the general student population increased their score.
- On average, these FLP students made greater improvement in their scores than did the non-FLP students.
- Underperforming FLP students showed a percentage of decline slightly better than non-FLP students.
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Carbon County School District, WY
Lead Educator: Cathy McAtee, Math Facilitator
Grades: K-11
Needs: Special Education, RTI and/or Tier 2 students, after school enrichment/intervention and gifted and talented students
Results: PAWS (state mandated test) scores increased an average of 17.28%
USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden, KS
Lead Educator: Dr. Jeanne Disney, Ph.D.
Grades: 6-12
Needs: RTI
Results: NWEA Map test results revealed that students who received core math instruction plus Ascend Math intervention had a mean RIT growth score of 10.8.
Fair Park High School, LA
Lead Educator: Theda Fielding
Grades: 9-12
Needs: Math scores at Fair Park were scattered across the board with a significant number of ninth and tenth grade students scoring in the third and fourth grade ability level. Ascend Math was implemented to enhance student knowledge prior to entering an Algebra or Geometry class, fill gaps in their understanding, and improve performance on high stakes tests.
Results:
- Students improved from the third grade to the seventh grade level in just 6 weeks.
- Students most at-risk increased their math score on the PLAN (pre ACT) Test from a 10.28 average the previous year to a 12.85 average.
- One student moved from a 4 on the previous year’s test to 15.
“These are some of the most dramatic increases in scores. I feel that another full year of Ascend Math would put most (if not all) of our students on grade level.”
- Theda Fielding, Teacher
Fair Park High School
Fort Stockton High School, TX 
Lead Educator: Gil-Rey Madrid
Grades: 9-12
Needs: 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 grade levels in one year.
Kenwood High School, MD
Lead Educator: Angela Adams
Grades: K - 6
Needs: The educators at Kenwood High School had the goal to have 100% of their students enrolled in their AMA program finish at or above grade level.
Results:
- 74% gained one grade level or more.
- 38% gained two or more grade levels.
- 11% of students demonstrated gains of 3 or more grade levels.
St. Pius X High School, TX
Lead Educator: Marge Harris
Grades: 9 and up
Needs: Students were struggling with Algebra 1. Ascend Math is used to bring students up to 9th grade level so they could be more successful in Algebra I.
Results: For the past six years students have experienced success with Ascend. Several have jumped 4 levels in one semester! Most improve by 1-2 levels in that time. It has made their learning in Algebra I easier, and Ms. Harris uses lessons from Ascend to back up lessons in algebra.
Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, TX
Lead Educator: Sara Sexton
Grades: 6-8
Needs: Woodrow Wilson Junior High adopted Ascend Math as an elective class to assist students in their regular math class.
Results: The school significantly increased their 8th grade STAAR passing rate to 76% which was a 50% increase from the previous year.
Avon Intermediate School, IN
Lead Educator: Dr. Brian Scott
Grades: 5, 6
Needs: Differentiation for students ready to experience skills above grade level.
Results: NWEA MAP testing showed a 35.3% increase in 6th grade scores and a 3.2% increase in scores from 5th graders.
Crosby Middle School, TX
Lead Educators: Robert T. (Todd) Hicks, Principal, Alicia Jordal, Instructional Technologist
Grades: 6-8
Needs : Tier 3 math intervention On the state assessment, CMS students were not at the level they believed they should be. Changing math TEKS (state standards) caused greater gaps in understanding for students who were already struggling in math.
Results: Students who did not meet grade level previously were placed in Tier 3 math class. The first six weeks working with Ascend, 60% achieved one or more grade levels in math.
Emmet Belknap Intermediate School, NY
Lead Educators: Lynn Hewitt, School Psychologist, Gary Wilson, Principal
Grades: 5-6
Needs (Challenges): Tier 2 math intervention Needed a math intervention product with a strong research base, aligned to NY state standards. Most importantly, they needed to serve more struggling students than was previously possible with their limited staffing.
Results: Students who previously averaged .5 grade levels of growth, achieved nearly four times the growth using Ascend Math.
Fort Stockton Middle School, TX
Lead Educator: Gil-Rey Madrid, Principal
Grades: 6-8
Needs: Tier 2 math intervention. Students entering Fort Stockton had math skill gaps of up to 6-7 years. Previous math intervention attempts did not work.
Results: The school significantly increased their eighth grade pass rate on the state assessment from 74% to 86%. Some students achieved proficiency on the TAKS after spending only 3 weeks on Ascend Math during an intensive intervention initiative.
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Glenbrook Middle School, MA
Lead Educator: Dorian Jones
Implementation: Tier 2 Intervention, Grades 6-8
Needs: Ascend Math was adopted as a Tier 2 intervention to help fill in gaps that were shown on state testing. Their goal was to pass the state test with a proficient or higher and to match the target scores on their aimsweb MCAP and MCOMP probes.
Results:
- By winter, 80% of 6th graders met or surpassed their target goal on MCAP and MCOMP probes.
- All 7th graders met their target goal.
- Students in all grades improved on their MCAP and MCOMP probes.
- Students in all grades surpassed the district’s goal for growth on the state test.
Holabird STEM Program, MD
Lead Educator: Amy Boyd
Classes: Algebra I and Basic Math
Needs: Prior to using Ascend, 97% of the students tested at least one grade below grade level, with about 70% of those students testing three or more grades below their current academic grade.
Results: Holabird saw dramatic improvement with students quickly moving up in grade level. The number of students testing at 3rd grade level decreased by 92%. 6th graders testing at 5th grade level increased by 100%. 7th graders testing at 5th grade level increased 280%. 60% of students gained 2-3 grade levels in less than one school year.
Howard Middle School, GA
Lead Educators: Joanna Summerow, Dr. Sharon Daniel
Implementation: Blended Learning, Grades 6-8
Needs: Howard Middle School was labelled a Focus School due to the large gap between their lowest achieving and highest achieving subgroups. Following their use of Ascend Math Howard Middle was removed from the Focus School designation.
Results:
- At the beginning of the school year, 58% of students tested below the 4th grade level in math. By April, only 15% remained.
- Only 9% of students tested at grade level 5 or above at the start of the year. By April, that number increased to 64%.
- 44% moved up two or more grade levels.
Kilgore Middle School, TX
Lead Educator: Sheila Haralson
Grades: 3 - 9
Needs: Ascend Math is used at Kilgore Middle School to help improve STAAR test results.
Results: Students who used Ascend Math recorded 56% growth in STAAR Results; 21.6% of which passed STAAR for the very first time. In 8th Grade 73% of students showed growth in STAAR; 32% of these students had never passed STAAR previously.
Pike-Delta-York Middle School , OH
Lead Educator: Jon Mignin
Grades: 6-8
Needs: Educators at Pike Delta York Middle School adopted Ascend Math after they heard how it helped a neighboring district to improve math scores on their state test. Their goal was ambitious: to bridge the gap of math skills for all students and get them to be academically at grade level.
Results:
- Students filled more than 19,000 skill gaps.
- 38% achieved one grade level growth.
- 27% achieved two grade levels growth.
- 13% achieved three to five grade levels.
Swanton Middle School, OH
Lead Educators: Leigh Pancoast
Grades: 6-8
Needs: All students at Swanton use Ascend as a part of their regular class curriculum and for timely intervention as needed.
Results: During the 2011-2012 school year students increased overall school math scores 30% over the previous year on state mandated tests. Ascend Math results indicate another substantial increase in 2012-13 Swanton students continues to make great progress through the years.
Garden Oaks Montessori, TX
Lead Educator: Lindsey J Pollock
Grades: K-8
Needs: Educators at Garden Oaks Montessori adopted Ascend Math with the goal to improve STAAR test results and bridge the gap of math skills for their students.
Results:
- 2015-16 first STAAR administration 72% passing rate and final 85% passing rate
- 2016-17 first STAAR administration was 85% and final is now 92%
Jerry Junkins Elementary School, TX
Lead Educator: Linford Cox
Grades: K - 6
Needs: Ascend Math is used at Junkins Elementary to help improve STAAR test results.
Results: 47% of students in the Ascend Math class showed Mastery on STAAR vs 26% in the non- Ascend Math class. 94% of students passed STAAR in the Ascend Math class vs. 91% of students in the non-Ascend Math Class.
Lakeside Christian Academy, FL
Lead Educator: John Keller, Lisa Buckingham
Grades: K-8
Needs: Ascend is used to move students who were working below grade level, up to and beyond grade level. Students enrolling in the private school come from a wide diversity of demographics and abilities, especially in math.
Results: More than 75% of students gained one grade level or more with 27% gaining from two to six grade levels. Students averaged 27% improvement between their pre and post assessments. Lakeside Christian is a 5-Time Ascend Math Gold Medal school.
Taylor County Elementary, FL
Lead Educator: Kathy Kreidler
Grades: 3-5
Needs: Taylor County Elementary makes use of Ascend math to provide an effective math intervention program for their lowest quartile students including their ESE (special education) students.
Results: Taylor County Elementary uses Discovery Education Assessment to track progress. Their mid-year assessment showed:
- 93% of 3rd graders increased scale scores.
- 91% of 4th graders increased their scale scores.
- 86% of 5th graders increased their scale scores.
- Ascend Data confirms overall: 53% of students gained one grade level with an additional 38% gaining two grade levels.
Fort Stockton Middle School, TX
Lead Educator: Gil-Rey Madrid, Principal
Grades: 6-8
Needs: Special Education in addition to At Risk, and failing math students
Results: After just 6 months of use, 86% of special ed students passed the TAKS (Texas mandated test) greatly surpassing their ambitious goal of 75%.
Memorial Middle School, GA
Grades: 6-8
Needs: Special Education Supplement grade level math instruction for students with disabilities having a wide variance in academic abilities.
Results: Students achieved average gains of 48%. Two thirds of the class grew one or more grade levels. One student grew an astounding seven grade levels and moved on to honors classes.
Ronan Middle School, MT
Lead Educator: Kathy Knapp
Grades: 5-8
Needs: Ascend is used to support students with special needs and those not proficient in math.
Results: Within 7 months, 21% of 6th grade students and 60% of 5th graders were back on grade level. 82.6% of special ed students gained one or more levels.
