Announcing the 2021 Gold Medal Honorees
Announcing the 2021 Gold Medal Honorees
34 GOLD MEDAL SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS
During the 2020-2021 school year we have seen schools display amazing resilience implementing hybrid and distance learning models to stem their students' learning loss and utilize Ascend to accelerate math learning. We are delighted to see that many of our schools also reported growth on high stakes tests, exceeding their projected growth targets. We are so thankful for our Gold Medal schools, what they are doing to support their students, and the ways they have shared their learning models to help other educators implement best practices. The over 7,000 students in our 34 Gold Medal schools had an average post test gain of 52% this year! Most students gained from 1 to 3 levels in Ascend Math! Each Gold Medal school implements Ascend Math in their own unique way, and yet all schools achieved great success in fulfilling their bold goals. Continue reading to find out what success looks like to our Gold Medal schools.
Falmouth Middle School
Falmouth, ME
Donna Albury
This year’s greatest progress indicator at Falmouth Middle School has been how many lessons students have been able to complete successfully with their school being in a hybrid model. Several students have moved up a whole grade level! I have taken on the responsibility of supporting my students grades 6-5 with their regular math programs and have been able to uphold RTI goals through Ascend Math.
Hoosier Academy - Insight School of Indiana
Hoosier, IN
Carol Sepaniak
Hoosier Academy – Insight School of Indiana uses Ascend Math with their general population to fill in learning gaps and strengthen a growth mindset which helps increase their level of success in math. Students work for 90 minutes each week and are expected to complete 2 objectives. Their students’ success can be seen in their assessment results with an average of 31% on Pre Assessment test and an average of 92.1% on Post Assessments!
Huston Academy
Stephenville, tx
Paige Burrus
Huston Academy adopted Ascend Math to build up the foundational skills students need to improve performance on State Tests. Students are motivated to earn the flags and they celebrate when they level up! Over 40% of students have completed at least one level since the beginning of September!
Kilgore isd
kilgore, tx
Delina Chitwood
Kilgore ISD utilizes Ascend Math as a tier 2 intervention tool to identify and close gaps students may have from previous grade levels. Some students have made gains that allow them to move to tier 1 in RTI. The additional math support also helps them on their in-class assignments.
Lowell Middle School
Lowell, IN
Wendy Pitcock
Ascend Math is being used as a supplemental resource with students 2 or more levels behind their actual grade level. Since the beginning of September over 62% of students have completed 1 or more grade levels with 25% completing 2 or more levels between September and March. Before using Ascend teachers were challenged to located and fill gaps for each student. Now students are able to work at their own level and learn only the material needed before moving forward to the next objective.
Newman International Academy of Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Cody Bergquist
Ascend Math is being used as the primary curriculum for Newman International Academy of Vietnam. Ascend has been an amazing tool for their students. Since September, over 80% of students have completed one or more levels in Ascend Math. Almost 40% of students have completed two or more levels!
Oglethorpe Charter School
Savannah, GA
Nicole Campbell
Oglethorpe Charter School uses Ascend Math with the students in their remedial math course to improve grade level growth and increase NWEA MAP scores. Ascend was adopted to assist in creating a curriculum tailored to the needs of all students. Since starting this school year in late August, students have completed over 1,500 objectives in Ascend Math!
Oglethorpe
Patricia Paetow High School
Katy, TX
Maria Sanchez-Vega
Ascend Math has had a very positive effect on the Special Education students at Patricia Paetow High School. Students had severe gaps in the math skills due to instruction missed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 20% of students have completed one level since the end of August while another 20% are more than halfway through their original level.
Pleasant Hope Middle School
Pleasant Hope, Mo
Cheryl Fletcher
Ascend Math is being used as the primary curriculum with the Resource Math class at Pleasant Hope Middle School. Prior to adopting Ascend students were falling behind or being held behind by their assigned group. Allowing all students to work at their own pace has benefited all students in Resource Math. Three students will be able to participate in regular education math next year because of their progress!
Pleasant Hope
St. Ann Catholic School
St. Louis, MO
Mark Werges
St. Ann Catholic School adopted Ascend Math in preparation for the challenges anticipated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During the year teachers taught in-person while live streaming to students forced to be at home to quarantine. Ascend Math included a component missing from other platforms and allowed for teacher-directed and auto-generated assignments. Between September and March 30% of students have completed one or more levels!
Stephens County Middle School
Toccoa, GA
Jill McCall
Stephens County Middle School implements Ascend Math with their accelerated and gifted students. Students are challenged to work harder and move through Ascend based on their individual mastery. They appreciate the ability to cover content at their own pace and only work on objectives not mastered in the pre assessment.
Truth or Consequences Middle School
Truth or Consequences, NM
Carol Bolke
Truth or Consequences Middle School has been using Ascend Math over the past two years in their special education self-contained classrooms. In that time, students are able to achieve 2-3 school year’s growth within one school year. While teaching in distance learning teachers are able to support students while they work independently at home using online meetings.
Armuchee Middle School Armuchee, GA
Austin Goggans
Armuchee Middle School uses Ascend Math to fill in gaps and also give students grade level instruction. In a multi-grade, self-contained special needs classroom, students can catch up on deficiencies while also working on grade level instruction tailored to their specific level. Over 70% of students have completed a level in Ascend!
Austin Area Schools
AUSTIN, PA
Norma Koehler
Austin Area Schools uses Ascend Math with their special education students. Ascend has been a great way for students to be successful at their own level, improving micro skills in areas that have left gaps in the core. Students enjoy the platform and love the certificates to recognize their achievements!
Burnsville High school
Burnsville, MN
jennifer Middendorf
Burnsville High School implements Ascend Math with students who have fallen behind in the math skills. Ascend helps students learn these skills in preparation for general education Algebra and Geometry classes. Since the beginning of September 88% of students have shown growth with 22% of students completing a full level!
Armuchee
Austin
Burnsville
Five Points Elementary
centerville, oh
Dennis gorski
Five Points Elementary School adopted Ascend Math for use with their Special Education students. The greatest impact for students is knowing they can work on their own at their own level. Students get excited when the climber moves up and fireworks go off! This helps keep them motivated and continue working at their best.
Garland McMeans Junior High katy, tx
Yesenia Hernandez
Ascend Math is used with the Special Education students at Garland McMeans Junior High School. During distance learning Ascend has assisted students and helped provide score performance. Over 60% of students have completed one or more levels since the beginning of September!
Henderson Middle School
Atlanta, GA
Brenda Tyler
Henderson Middle School implements Ascend Math with students for RTI, remediation and acceleration. Their growth has quadrupled! Their students have an average gain of 48.34% from the Pre Assessment to the Post Assessment.
5 Points
Garland
Henderson
Impact Academy
Indianapolis, IN
JEAN WALKER
Ascend Math is used as daily intervention with Impact Academy’s special education students to fill their math gaps. Students enjoy the accomplishments received in Ascend Math and often login during their free time. Between September and April students have completed over 3,800 objectives with an average gain of 38% on their assessments.
Indianapolis Public Schools-Resource Academy
Indianapolis, IN
Ron Scurry
Resource Academy uses Ascend Math as RTI with their students. While virtual school has replaced face-to-face instruction for over 95% of their students, their students have been diligently mastering concepts using the study guides and videos to assist them to master concepts and misconceptions (bridging the gaps) that are difficult or confusing. . Classroom math scores have improved from 72% to 84%.
Johnsburg Elementary School
Johnsburg, IL
Sherry Kegel
Ascend Math is used as an intervention program for 3rd to 5th grade students at Johnsburg Elementary School. During these difficult times teaching remotely and hybrid, they have seen strong improvements and growth in math skills. In their first semester, 4 third grade students progressed out of the program.
Impact
IPS – Resource
Johnsburg
Lakeside Christian School
Clearwater, FL
Jeremy Crane
Lakeside Christian School uses Ascend Math to close their students’ math gap skills. With even more gaps caused by COVID, Lakeside has been able to fill each students’ specific needs. Over 40% of students have completed one or more levels between September and March!
Leonard Elementary School
KATY, TX
TRACIE PARNELL
Ascend Math is used in Math Resource classes at Leonard Elementary School to help close math skill gaps. The program provides consistency and high expectations. It has provided us an option for Math that I don't have in any other program. I can see their progress and how many minutes they spent working. While working in Ascend since the beginning of September, students have shown growth of one or more levels.
McCulloch Jr High
Marion, IN
Paul Kurek
Ascend Math is used to increase mathematic knowledge with the students at McCulloch Junior High School. Differentiated instruction can be a difficult and time-consuming task. Ascend facilitates this and gives the teacher more time for individual instruction. Over 25% of students have completed one or more levels between September and March!
Lakeside
Leonard ES
McCulloch
Niles North High School
Skokie, IL
Amy Matales
The biggest challenge was just not having the data to back up decisions. Now, with the wide variety of reports, we are able to use Ascend and other tools to guide student schedules, minutes in special education, and determine IEP goals or present levels. Ascend has helped meet students where they are and only give them objectives they need.
Ozark Junior High School
Ozark, MO
Jamie Jones
Ozark Junior High School adopted Ascend Math to identify the missing knowledge with their special education students which allows their teacher to focus on their problem areas. Over 30% of students have completed one or more levels this since the beginning of October! Students love earning time to play the games!
Roseville High School
Roseville, MI
Barbara Lienemann
Lora bond
Ascend Math was adopted by Roseville High School to improve test results for their special education student population of 95. Ascend has proven to increase the students’ ability to think critically to abstract questions on state mandated tests and the SAT/ACT tests. Over 35% of students have completed one or more grade levels since mid-September!
Niles
Ozark
Roseville
South Cobb High School
Austell, GA
DeAnne Younge
South Cobb High School students use Ascend Math to recover credit for standards not previously mastered and with other students to work ahead of their math level to overall increase their success. Students have an average gain of 47.68 points. This gain is also a reflection of other gains made in district mandated assessments that determine overall growth during their freshman year. In addition, ESOL teachers found great success in using the program.
Stockdick Junior High School
Katy, TX
Shannon Souter
Stockdick Junior High School uses Ascend Math with their Special Education students. Their teacher is proud to see her students excited about their success within the program. Students are able to fill in learning gaps using age-appropriate instruction and lessons.
The Columbus School
Antioquia, Colombia
William Pulgarin
The Columbus School uses Ascend Math with their Summer and Intervention Programs. Like most schools, the pandemic impacted their ability to attend school with their students. As a result, they turned to Ascend Math to help supplement their math curriculum, to fill in learning gaps and to provide students opportunities to practice.
South Cobb
Stockdick
Columbus
Thorndale Middle School
Thorndale, TX
Deedra Rawls
Thorndale Middle School implements Ascend Math with their RTI and advanced students. RTI students have been able to fill in their gaps missed in their map journey while advanced students have benefited from the opportunity to move forward in math levels. Some students will move directly into 8th grade math next year as 7th graders!
Trevor-Wilmot
Trevor, WI
Nick Sustache
Ascend Math has been used in our special education department for the past 5 years. It is something that we use to help bridge the gap between where our students are and grade level. Families also love the program. We can assign a number of minutes for students to work at home and parents have mentioned how easy it is to monitor and login.
University View Academy
Baton Rouge, LA
Clyde Bruce
University View Academy is a virtual school that adopted Ascend Math to meet the accommodations of their diverse student population. Ascend Math has helped our students because of the flexibility of the program and its constant accessibility. We have witnessed an increase in student engagement over the three years. Students that follow the program structure have achieved and sometimes gone above their individual grade level. Their students have shown an increase of 47.01% in their assessments.
Thorndale
Trevor
University View
Yeshiva Middle School
Miami, FL
Robert LaLena
Yeshiva Middle School implements Ascend Math as a tool to supplement their math curriculum. Students have filled in areas in which they were previously deficient and developed fundamental skills previously unmastered. In a little more than 4 months of using Ascend Math over 65% of students have mastered 1 level! Over 30% have completed 2 or more levels!