Wednesday, May 16, 2012
By Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
ANSON — Eleven sophomores at Carrabec High School sat in a classroom Wednesday beneath painted ceiling tiles depicting the colleges they dream of attending: Harvard University, Marist College, University of Georgia, University of New England.
HIGHER EDUCATION: Carrabec High School educators spoke with Jo Anderson, a Senior official within the U.S. Department of Education, on Wednesday at the Anson School. From left are Mark Collard, Luke Ellis, Hal Larlee, Sue Hellewell and Principal Regina Campbell.
Staff photo by David Leaming
RAISING THE BAR: Jo Anderson, a senior official with the U.S. Department of Education, speaks with students in the Advancement Via Individual Determination program at Carrabec High School in Anson on Wednesday.
Staff photo by David Leaming
The students were selected specially to participate in a new program this year called Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, which targets “students in the middle.” They are smart students but can benefit from learning new study skills and taking demanding courses.
Like the rest of the school serving Anson, Embden, Solon and New Portland, they already are showing remarkable improvement.
In the face of the challenges of living in a rural, relatively isolated area with few employment opportunities, Carrabec students and teachers are generating national attention for their effort to turn around their school, part of School Administrative District 74.
The AVID students were direct recipients of that attention Wednesday when a senior official with the U.S. Department of Education walked into their room.
Jo Anderson, senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, turned one of the desk chairs to face them, sat down and asked them their opinion of AVID and the school.
“It’s helped me so much,” said Macy Andrews, 16, of North Anson, describing how AVID has kept her organized and focused. It’s taught her the Cornell note-taking system, which requires students to formulate questions about their notes to clarify meanings and strengthen memory.
In the last year and a half, classes at the school have gotten tougher, Andrews told Anderson, but students are keeping up.
“I feel that’s the only way we’re going to get better academically, is to work harder,” she said.
Principal Regina Campbell said students and teachers not only are increasing rigor but also are improving academic achievement. She has the numbers to prove it.
A year ago, there were three honors and advanced placement courses at Carrabec High School. This year there are 15, Campbell said, and two-thirds of all students are taking them.
Between last year and this year, students’ Preliminary SAT scores in reading and mathematics improved about 20 percent, from 17 percent proficiency to about 37 percent proficiency.
Two years ago, a total of 69 students failed 134 classes. By the end of last year, only 33 students failed 49 classes, and of those 33 students, 32 recouped the credit during a summer program.
“The most pleasantly surprising thing is the kids are rising to meet the standard,” Campbell said.
Because the school was named to a list of Maine’s 10 persistently lowest achieving schools two years ago — based on lack of growth in SAT scores — it was eligible to apply for federal turn-around funds. It won $727,000 to help improve the school during a three-year period.
‘Shining star’
As he waited in the hallway before a school assembly, Anderson said what students want is the same thing that teachers, administrators, Duncan and President Barack Obama want: for students to be excited about their education and to graduate ready for college or the workforce.
“If challenged, these students will rise to the challenge,” he said.
As Campbell introduced Anderson to the school’s 244 students sitting on bleachers in the gymnasium, she said, “This is huge for Carrabec, and this is huge for the state of Maine.”
The students stood and applauded as Anderson walked to the microphone. He joked, “You keep standing up like that, I’ll start thinking I am the president.”
As the first federal education official to visit Carrabec, he said the school is a “shining star” and urged students to continue to challenge themselves and help one another.
“We want others to learn from you,” he said. “Thank you for the good example you’re going to show to the rest of the country.”
After his speech, valedictorian Sudie Myers, 17, of New Portland, said it was an honor to have Anderson visit Carrabec.
Students’ attitudes are starting to change, she said.
“People are probably prouder than they were before,” she said. “Over the past couple years, we’ve definitely been pushed more to do better and offered more help.”
‘I love it’
Sitting in a circle of desks, teachers described to Anderson how students previously had been taking standardized examinations that tested subjects the school didn’t even teach, such as calculus or statistics.
Before the improvement grant, the hardest mathematics class at the school was algebra II, mathematics teacher Hal Larlee said. Now the school can afford another teacher for pre-calculus.
Next year, teachers anticipate 15 students will take advanced placement mathematics. The number is expected to double the following year.
Staff also want to help prepare students more for college, mathematics teacher Marc Collard said.
Students already may earn college credits by taking Kennebec Valley Community College courses. Next year they may dually enroll at Thomas College, in Waterville.
The school also has increased its number of clubs, started several tutorial services, increased the amount of time students spend in the classroom and woven SAT preparation into the regular curriculum. Teachers have participated in more professional development opportunities, and there is a greater emphasis on reading and writing skills in all classes.
Luke Ellis, who graduated from Carrabec and now teaches mathematics here, said the grant has created a lot more work for educators, but “I love it.”
Campbell told Anderson that parents also have been getting more involved. Part of the AVID program involves gathering parents together regularly to discuss their children.
Campbell said she thought they would want to meet quarterly, but they surprised her by asking to meet monthly.
“These parents are driving the change,” she said.
Teachers’ union
The Carrabec Education Association, the Maine Education Association and the National Education Association also are helping to drive the changes at Carrabec.
The school is one of 39 sites nationwide — the only one in a rural area — that has joined the National Education Association’s Priority Schools Campaign in order to increase opportunities for teachers’ professional development, strengthen community ties and purchase more locally produced food. It is receiving staff training and money from the NEA and MEA.
Teachers’ unions historically have protected the interests of teachers, custodians, cooks, education technicians and bus drivers when contracts are negotiated and grievances are filed. The collaboration at Carrabec is changing that definition, Chris Galgay, president of the Maine Education Association, said.
“We want to help develop a collaborative decision-making process that will become a role model for other Maine schools,” he said.
As part of the school improvement grant, the district was required to develop a way to pay teachers based in part on students’ academic performance. Teachers, who helped produce the evaluation system, will switch to it over time, Superintendent Ken Coville said.
Measures of teachers’ effectiveness will include supervisor, self and peer assessments; student and parent survey feedback; and 24 measurements of student learning outcomes, such as students’ progress on standardized tests, graduation rates and attendance.
Rose Mahoney, with the MEA, said the association supports the use of tying student data to teachers’ pay if the data are reliable.
“We want it to be more meaningful and authentic to truly represent the work of the individual and not someone’s perception of the work of the individual,” she said.
What next?
Coville said when the school improvement grant application originally was written, administrators listed which activities would self-terminate when the money ran out and which ones would continue.
The district will develop a plan to determine how to support the continuing programs.
Much of the grant went to long-lasting investments, such as textbooks, instructional materials and professional development, he said. The grant also resulted in the hiring of one full-time and two part-time employees.
Paula Rae, an Embden school board member, said the board has been concerned about continuing the school’s momentum when the grant money runs out in a year and a half.
“I’m trying to be an optimist,” she said.
Erin Rhoda — 612-2368
erhoda@centralmaine.com
Copyright ©2012 MaineToday Media, Inc.
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