Fall 2010, Vol. 2 No. 1
A school without a school From Star Academy to college prep
The Star Academy at Hickman Mills finds success for the ‘forgotten population’
Suny McKaughan Educaonal Services Manager
By Scott Sims, Communications Assistant
[email protected]
M
ost Star Academies are a school within a school. But in Hickman Mills C-1 School District in Kansas City, Missouri, the Star Academy is the school. Located within the Bapste Educaonal Center, the Star Academy stands on its own with the closest district high school, more than a mile away. Paula Rodgers took over as principal at the school in July 2010. Her 10 years as a school administrator and 24 years of teaching special educaon give her unique perspecve to the Star Academy.
One-fourth of students in Berkeley Middle College program hail from Star Academy
T Paula Rodgers, Principal
Megan Hobbs, Pre-Algebra and Algebra instructor
“We need teachers that can prepare lessons that provide more of a thought process for students, not just ‘I’ll generate this lesson and you write it down.’ Students need to be able to share and parcipate in cooperave learning. Those are denite components of the Star Academy.” The building where the Star Academy is located used to house the alternave school for the district. This is the second year the building has been continued on page 5
Rudy visits Star Academy students page 3
Data collection helps validate and evaluate program page 3
he Berkeley County (S.C.) School District is oering a new opportunity to its students, and many former Star Academy aendees are taking advantage of it. The district recently opened the doors to its Middle College program. The program oers high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn college credits, free of charge, while sll in high school. Students in the program complete their courses via a combinaon of online and tradional learning. This new program has 76 students enrolled; of these, 19 are former Star Academy students. Yes, 25 percent of the students in this collegeprep program were recently at-risk students on a path to prematurely ending their high school career. continued on page 2
Building a library at a stand-alone Star Academy
page 4
From Star Academy to college prep (continued from front page) Claire Freeman, principal of the new magnet program and a key individual in the start-up of the Star Academy program at Berkeley High School, reported that former Star students were performing well and highly prepared for the program. One would suspect that the self-paced, computer-intensive format of Star Academy has enhanced the comfort level of the students in this nontradional learning experience. Star Academy Liaison Jim Trusso and Berkeley Star Academy Administrator Eric Gambrell recently visited the former Star students in the Middle College program. Students shared their successes and views of the program. Gambrel stated that the students were well-adjusted, excited about their opportunies, and very posive in their outlook. In parcular, Gambrell relayed the success story of Chuck Wheeler. Chuck was a sixth-grade repeater, struggling in middle school, when he was interviewed for acceptance into the Star Academy. He joined the Star family and successfully completed his year in the program. He is now in the Middle College program, taking one honors class, two college preparaon classes, and two college classes with aspiraons to become a psychologist. Through Berkeley County School District’s backing, the encouragement and tenacity of Star Academy teachers, the drive and sck-to-iveness of the students, and the support of their families, Chuck and 18 other former Star students not only stayed in school but also are on their way to
From left to right: Toni Rae Moore, Dominique Rodriquez, Elizabeth Edens
pursuing college and meaningful careers. What an incredible transformaon! Chuck’s story is just one of many that Gambrell and other Star administrators could share of the triumphs of our students. Keep up the good work, Star Academy teams – you never know what a posive dierence you will make in the lives of your students.
By Carol Rodgers, ELA Teacher, Enoree Career Center, Greenville, S.C.
[email protected]
Play E.T. – phone home School is in full swing, and we as educators are all very busy. But don’t put o one important task too long. When I say, “Call all of your parents,” you will probably talk back to this page and say, “Yeah, get a life, woman.” I promise you; calling during the rst part of the school year will save you me and problems later. Here is why: • You will nd out which phone numbers are incorrect. • The phone call will be short! I can usually call an enre class in 20 minutes. • Most importantly, you will be making a posive contact with a parent who will immediately appreciate your eorts. When there is a problem, the parent will be recepve and ready to help.
2
RISING Stars Fall 2010
If you are interested in how those conversaons go, the following is typical: Hello. Is this Mrs. Parent? I teach ______ English this year, and this is a good phone call. Yes, this is Mrs. Parent, and I’ve never had a good phone call. Well, enjoy this one because I am glad to say that ________ seems to be seling in to the new school and new schedule and doing ne. Thank you for calling me; what did you say your name was? Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you so much, Mrs. Rodgers. It was my pleasure, Mrs. Parent. I hope we have many others like this one. Goodbye.
If my next call has to be about lack of work or bad behavior, my stage is set. Ring, ring. Is this Mrs. Parent? This is Mrs. Rodgers from Star Academy. Yes, this is Mrs. Parent. Well, if you remember, we talked earlier on the phone when I called about how well _______ was doing. Yes, I remember. I am sorry, but this me things have changed, and I need your help. – Relate problems. I hope I have convinced you that playing E.T. and phoning home will ulmately make your path easier.
By Dorcia Johnson, Senior Development Specialist
[email protected]
• Special ed classicaon • English prociency status • 504 classicaon This informaon helps us evaluate if the program is biased against any specic demographic group. To date, we have seen no such trend! Performance data requested includes: • Aendance (days present/ absent) • Behavior (number of detenons, in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, truancies, and expulsions) • Credits earned (core areas provided by the program and elecves provided by the school) • Grades earned by percentage • Honor roll status • Promoon/retenon at conclusion of program • Test scores (end of course, achievement, and so forth) • Reason for leaving the program (if a student leaves during the year)
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
2% Retained in original grade (31)
Everywhere we turn today, people want to know facts and gures. As consumers, we want to know that our money is being well spent. That’s one of the reasons we ask for data from Star Academy Programs. Many of the programs across the country were purchased, in part or whole, with funds from grants or reform iniaves. Oen, the funders require proof of the outcomes of the project. Some organizaons require compleon informaon; others require informaon on credits earned. Basically, they want to know that their money was well spent. To cover all of the dierent data requests we’ve received from funders or seen on grant applicaons, we request a comprehensive set of disaggregated data from each Star Academy Program. The typical demographic data requested is: • Ethnicity • Gender • Date of birth
29% Promoted one grade (460)
Data collection helps validate program
This informaon is opportunies benet new requested quarterly for and exisng programs. When each individual student. data is collected annually, We also ask for the we can see trends regarding students’ historical data student performance based so we can compare how on program version. This they performed before data can be used to pursue the program to during the funding upgrades for program. We never ask locaons with early versions for student of the 6 67$5$&$'(0<5(68/76 names! We program. request &RPSUHKHQVLYH3URJUDP&RPSOHWLRQ,QIRUPDWLRQ The data that data be you submit 90 submied enables us 80 with unique to publish student 70 inspiraonal idencaon 60 pieces of numbers. informaon. We take the 50 For example, data from all 40 in 15 cohorts locaons and from 200830 compile it into 09, 97% of 20 aggregated students data reports. 10 completed The results the Star are submied 0 Academy to funding Program and agencies, used in future 81% accelerated to 10th funding applicaons, and grade during the program documented in program year. literature. We can only report what The data you provide is you report to us. Help us used to validate the program make a dierence – tell in grant applicaons, us how your students did legislave appropriaon during their Star Academy year! requests, and other funding opportunies. These 69% Accelerated two grades (1,110)
The more we know
%
%
N=1610, ending enrollment; 42 program cohorts
A star at life Rudy Ruettiger (whose story was the basis for the movie Rudy) visited the J.T. Simpson Star Academy in Easley, South Carolina on October 8. He talked to the Star students about how not to let excuses get in the way of their dreams. He encouraged them to dream about whatever they wanted in their lives and talked about his dreams and the many people who told him he would never reach those goals. He demonstrated how not letting those naysayers be the breakers of his dreams taught him to move away from those people and find those who believed in him, which helped make him the success he is today. He told them “Pull the plug on goofy thoughts. You can’t do that; you wont amount to anything.” He also told them to surround themselves with powerful things, people, music, books, and friends. If someone is negative, walk away. “Face adversity with a positive attitude.”
Fall 2010 RISING Stars
3
Library gives students more opportunities Cered librarian hopes that informaon literacy skills improve By Tom Farmer, Communications Manager
[email protected]
C
all it a reallocaon of resources. Or perhaps it’s an example of addion through subtracon. Regardless how it’s described, the net eect of having Carrie Kipp in the Hickman Mills (Kansas City, Missouri) Star Academy is the opening of a library that will boost students’ opportunies to read and improve research skills. Kipp had served for two years as a middle school librarian, but when one of the district’s three middle schools was closed last summer due to budget cuts, Kipp was reassigned to Bapste Educaonal Center, which houses the Star Academy. “When I was told I was coming here, the director of library services said they have books, so that’s something I can do on the side,” said Kipp, who also has eight years experience in the public library system. “If they have libraries at the elementary, middle, and high schools, we should also have one here since we are a school.” The library was taking shape recently as two helpers placed books
Social Studies Teacher Carrie Kipp feels right at home among the stacks of books in the new Star Academy library at Baptiste Educational Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
on the shelves in ancipaon of a mid-October opening. Kipp, who also serves as the social studies teacher in the Star Academy, perked up when asked how Star students would benet from having a library that contains an esmated 750 books and several computers. “They’ll be able to come in once every two weeks or so and check out books,” she said. “Kids should be reading 15 minutes every day. Even though they have books, this provides addional reading. There’s also con for pleasure reading, and there’s noncon books if there’s a certain subject they like.” Kipp will also teach another essenal skill, research, during her me in the library. High school students must learn the proper ways to conduct research
and gather reliable informaon. “Students need to understand that not every Web site has quality informaon. I use Wikipedia to look up popular entertainment stu, but there are too many other Web sites that are accessible and have quality informaon.” Ulmately, though, teachers and administrators hope the Star Academy library will facilitate a stronger love for reading, which should translate to higher Lexile reading scores. “The district looks at that data, and they want to see the kids’ reading level has improved,” Kipp said. “All of the foundaons that you do, at least in science, English, and social studies, are built on reading. It’s about comprehension.”
By Carol Rodgers, ELA Teacher, Enoree Career Center, Greenville, S.C.
[email protected]
Smarter than a ninth grader Collage projects can be modified to motivate students and mitigate cleanup That dreaded word collage pops up in the Star Academy English Lesson Plans. I understand the need and the concept. The collage is a visual rst step to wring a compare-and-
4
RISING Stars Fall 2010
contrast essay, but, oh, dear me . . . here are students wasng me, having one picture glued down aer 20 minutes of searching, and leaving my room a mess. The vision is before me: magazines are strewn about; paper is on the oor, not just big pieces that are easy to get up, but miniscule pieces; markers have their caps o; and glue scks are drying up. All at once, the idea hits me: let the class do one big collage. They will get it done
much faster, and I don’t have to watch each of them turn through page aer page of magazines. I did it this way, and it worked. They completed the project in 20 minutes. We all laughed as magazine pictures appeared on dierent students’ backs. (That leads me to another idea of doing a dierent kind of collage in the future. Why does it have to be on paper?) But . . . that rst vision was reality. There were
the scraps of paper, the markers, the glue scks. The next thing we were going to do was watch a scene out of The Outsiders. Hey, what about oering a cket to the movie – pick up a marker, a glue sck, a scrap of paper. I don’t lie; in less than a minute, the room was clean! Each student had something to hand me, and both of my hands were full of those ny scraps. Out went the lights! On went the movie! Ah, once again, I proved myself smarter than a ninth grader.
A school without a school (continued from front page) kids want to be here. We want them to used for Star Academy. come in here and feel like it is a school. Along with the Star Academy, there That is what kids are used to: a school is a GED program, a day school for environment.” special needs Rodgers said the lab and students, and a transion program. “This type of program is library can be used as a way for students to get caught Rodgers oversees definitely beneficial for them all and at-risk students because up on subjects outside of the classroom, or they has placed each can just be places to relax program under the they can sometimes be the forgotten population.” and read if students have Star umbrella. downme. “We have the “The students have plenty of Star Academy, Star GED, Star Day, and Star Transion.” She schoolwork to keep them busy, but I feel it is important to give them a place sees Star as a connector, helping to like this that is benecial for everyone. make it feel more like one school for the students. “This is something we are People think that kids and computers, they must love it, but doing class doing to help build a posive culture work is a dierent thought process. within the school. It gives a sense that These places give them a chance to we are all together.” take a break from that intensity of Because this Star Academy is not schoolwork.” a school within a school, Rodgers has The school is beginning to see had to come up with some dierent ways to make it feel more like a regular success with its Star Academy. high school. Students are allowed to “I really feel like it is innovave. It parcipate in is smulang, and the sports acvies students seem to be at the district’s very focused when Ruskin High they are working School. The within the program. A school has a lot of students seem to computer lab do beer with one-tocalled the “I Can one and small-group Learn Lab,” and instrucon.” Star Academy The key component teachers and is the dierenated volunteers are instruc on. Rodgers in the process of said when she went pung a library to school, all of her together (see classes were directed related arcle on instrucon. “I think page 4). many teachers think, “It is up to me ‘That worked for me, and the teachers directed instrucon, to create an Jennifer Dreisewerd, Communication Arts instructor taking notes, and atmosphere doing homework,’ and that helps
Michelle Brown, Science instructor
that is true. But this is a dierent me. Because of technology and innovaon, dierent smuli are needed. We have to be modern in our thought processes toward educaon, and I think Star is alluding to this. This hands-on type of program is not just benecial for kids at risk but for all students. But this type of program is denitely benecial for at-risk students because they can somemes be the forgoen populaon.” All students need to be challenged, and Rodgers believes that the Star Academy is a challenging and smulang classroom environment for the twenty-rst century. “This is a dierent way of learning for [the students] and they are enjoying that. I believe many more classrooms across the United States will move to this model. It is becoming more accepted. I can see in 10 years that schools across the country will have programs similar to this.”
Benefits of a Star Academy Program • Accelerates learning of overage eighth- and ninth-grade students who have previously failed so that they can successfully enter the 10th grade • Reduces the number of overage students dropping out of the eighth and ninth grades • Engages overage students in relevant, career-linked learning • Employs dierenated methods • Increases student aendance from the prior school year • Reduces negave behavioral incidents from the prior school year
Fall 2010 RISING Stars
5
By Carol Rodgers, ELA Teacher, Enoree Career Center, Greenville, S.C.
[email protected]
Even tough guys are afraid
A
t the end of last year, I asked students to write “their story.” I had so many good, hardworking students, certainly not failures. What along the way had brought them here to Star to “catch up” to their grade level? What was their experience here? What did they want to share with me? When I made the assignment, one of my students said, “Finally! I’ve wanted to tell my story all year.” The papers were eye opening. It was amazing to see how many students, especially the boys, were afraid on the rst day. Because the students came from such a variety of schools, they had le their old power bases and friendships behind. Because love and belonging is one of Maslow’s basic needs, you can see why they felt lost and insecure. One of my excellent, well-behaved, polite, respec ul students wrote that he “hated the school so much that [he] decided to plot an event to get [himself] suspended or expelled. [He] was tempted to pull the re alarm or start
P.O. Box 1708 Pittsburg, Kansas 66762 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
6
RISING Stars Fall 2010
a wild re.” Another student talked him out of doing either, so he decided not to “unleash [his] plot.” He wrote that he was grateful to her. How can I read papers like this and not have them impact my teaching? In the past, I have been obsessed with making sure all the forms were passed out the rst day, all the rules were covered, all the seats were assigned, and all the passwords and point sheets were given out. This year, my rules are about ng in. Instead of using the rule “No food or drink in the classroom,” I am stang the rules in the posive and in the terms of ng in: “We leave food and drink outside the classroom.” I want to share with them how successful this program will make them and how well we will all support their goal to be in the 10th grade next year. I want to capture their hearts and make them feel that they belong here. Aer all, we selected them because we knew that they would do well.
Volume 2, No. 1 • Fall 2010
Published periodically during the school year Ma Frankenbery Director of Educaon
[email protected] Robin White-Mussa Vice-President of Sales Support and Customer Service
[email protected] Suny McKaughan Educaonal Services Manager
[email protected] Celeste Paren Logiscal Liaison cparen@pitsco.com P.O. Box 1708 Pittsburg, Kansas 66762 888-844-8414 Fax: 620-231-2466 www.staracademyprogram.org
