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Putnam County School District Palatka, Florida 
Approximately 20 percent of Putnam County’s adults do not have a high school diploma. To complicate matters, the county does not have public transportation, which limits access to available services such as training and adult education programs. The Putnam County School District enrolls more than 12,500 PreK-12 students. Sixty-three percent receive reduced-price or free lunches. In 1999-2000, the district’s graduation rate was 61.2 percent. Not surprisingly some of the district’s biggest challenges are to help at-risk students overcome barriers to learning and to increase the graduation rate. In addition, the state of Florida recently raised its statewide standards and graduation requirements, making the district’s challenges all the more difficult. Clearly, administrators and teachers had their work cut out for them as they set out to find new solutions to address the growing needs of their students and adult learners in their quest to earn a high school diploma. Surely, there was no solution for everything—or was there? In January 2000, the Putnam County School District implemented the NovaNET® computer-based education network. In so doing, they discovered that they could indeed help all learners—middle and high school students, at-risk students, and adult learners—develop the knowledge and skills they needed to reach their goals. The NovaNET system is an online comprehensive courseware system that delivers thousands of hours of standards-based, interactive curriculum with integrated assessment, student management and record keeping. The system acts like a personal tutor for each student. As students progress at their own pace, they receive continual positive feedback and instructive encouragement along the way.
According to Grace Smith, director of applied technology and adult education for the Putnam County School District, the NovaNET system is quite different from traditional classroom instruction. "NovaNET is much more efficient," said Smith. "It directly addresses each student’s ability level." Identifying and Overcoming Barriers in Summer School "One of the problems we’ve had in the past is that students would squeak by with a ‘D,’ get their credit, and then flunk next class," Smith explained. "But there’s no sense going on to Algebra II if you don’t know Algebra I. Learning is sequential; each area is a building block for the next. NovaNET makes sure students are prepared to go on to the next course. It provides a level of evaluation and feedback we simply can’t afford to give each student in a traditional classroom." To help students improve their grades and work toward credits the state requires in specific subject areas, the district implemented NovaNET in summer school. Approximately 600 students attended summer school, which ran two hours a day for three consecutive weeks. In the NovaNET lab, students primarily worked to earn credits in Algebra A, Algebra B, Geometry, and Algebra II. The district also hired certified math teachers to help students who needed additional intervention. Together, NovaNET and the math teachers provided students with the individual assistance they needed, exactly when they needed it. The NovaNET system’s curricula are organized into units, each covering a distinct set of objectives. If a student does not master the objectives, the NovaNET system raises a red flag. This red flag prohibits the student from proceeding any further in the lesson without intervention from the teacher. "When a red flag came up in the NovaNET system, both the student and the teacher could identify exactly what was holding the student up in algebra or geometry," explained Smith. "The teacher would explain it and, amazingly, the kids would say, ‘Oh! I finally get it!’ Because the NovaNET program is sequential, the teacher could quickly move from student to student removing barriers as they occurred. It’s very efficient because the teacher doesn’t waste time talking to students about things they can’t understand or things they already know." As students improved their skills and their self-esteem in summer school, they earned a total of 454 half-credits in mathematics. The state of Florida requires a total of 24 credits to graduate with a diploma, including three credits in mathematics. At least one of these credits must be in Algebra I, its equivalent or a higher level course. According to Smith, it typically takes a student 60 hours to earn a half-credit in a traditional summer school program. During the school year, it typically takes 90 hours to earn a half-credit. Using NovaNET, however, some students were able to complete a half-credit in only 30 hours. "There is no way you could cut your time down that much and expect the same progress—or even better—in a traditional class," Smith noted. While saving students’ time, NovaNET helped the district make the most of its limited summer school budget. According to Smith, NovaNET enabled the district to realize significant cost savings versus the cost of a traditional summer school program. When summer school ended, the district kept the NovaNET lab open for an additional 21 days in July for students who wanted to finish their half-credit and for those who wanted to go on to earn a whole credit. "The students who worked on the NovaNET system in summer school are much better prepared for their next math class than many who earned their credit in a traditional class," said Smith. "NovaNET forms a direct link between the student’s ability, where they need to be, and what they need to move on. And it closely connects with what the state expects of students through the Sunshine State Standards." Meeting Higher Statewide Standards In Florida, all public high school students must meet specific statewide standards to graduate with a standard diploma. Students must complete a minimum of 24 academic credits in grades nine to 12, pass both sections of the High School Competency Test (HSCT), and maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average. (The HSCT is a basic skills test in mathematics and communications administered to Florida students in 11th grade.) The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) is also part of Florida’s overall plan to increase student achievement by implementing higher standards for students. Test questions and performance tasks are written to measure specific Sunshine State Standards benchmarks in reading, writing and mathematics for all public school students in grades three to 10. Beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, students who expect to graduate from high school must earn passing scores on their grade 10 FCAT. "All of us are very concerned because in the current 10th grade class, only about half the students in Putnam County have passed the FCAT," said Smith. "Three years ago, students could take Consumer Math, Business Math or Pre-Algebra to graduate. Now all students must take Algebra I or above. Although our students are no different than they used to be, the standards are much higher. We have to have something like NovaNET that tells us exactly where students are and helps us bring them forward." Improving Students’ Skills and Attitudes To meet the state’s increasing standards, the district has begun to implement NovaNET in classes offered during the school year. At Crescent City Junior/Senior High School, for example, two teachers now utilize NovaNET as their core curriculum in algebra, instead of teaching from a textbook. "With the NovaNET system, we discovered that many students who were assigned to Algebra I really weren’t able to do Algebra I work. So we put them in Pre-Algebra and let them work their way through to get the foundation skills they needed before starting Algebra I," said Smith. "Some of the honor students from the advanced math classes also volunteered to serve as tutors during class. By the end of the semester, most of the students had the algebra skills they needed to go on to the next class." Moreover, students actually felt good about being promoted. "Thanks to NovaNET, the students felt better about their math skills because they knew they would start at a point where they could be successful, instead of facing failure everyday," Smith added. "It also helped them with the FCAT and the HSCT." In addition to helping students meet state standards in math, the NovaNET system helps students in the district’s Adult Basic Education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) program earn diplomas. Removing Barriers to Graduation Thanks to a grant from the regional Workforce Development Board, the Putnam County School District implemented the NovaNET system in its ABE GED program. Their goals were to identify at-risk secondary students and dropouts, and remove barriers to graduation. From January to May 2000, 269 students—including 121 seniors—accessed the NovaNET system through the ABE GED program. During that time, students earned a total of 293 half-credits in the district’s grade forgiveness (credit recovery) program. In addition, 94 seniors earned their diplomas. "If the seniors had not been able to use the NovaNET system, they would not have graduated," Smith said. "Nearly 20 percent of our graduates in the district came from the ABE GED program." Because of the success of the NovaNET system in its middle school and high school programs, the Putnam County School District extended the NovaNET system into a variety of community programs. Through these programs, the district aims to tackle challenges off school grounds before they become problems in the classroom. Improving Family Literacy In August 2000, the Putnam County School District initiated the Family Literacy Project. Through this program, the district provides computers, modems and 24-hour access to the NovaNET system for up to 34 families in Putnam County. To qualify, each family must have at least one child under seven years old and one parent who does not have a high school diploma. Working with Cynthia Earhart, the Family Literacy Project coordinator, parents use the NovaNET system to improve basic skills and prepare for the GED exam. During scheduled home visits, Earhart meets with the parents and children to help the children develop literacy skills. "The best part of the NovaNET system is how well it works for my program," said Earhart. "Our participants are people who are holding down a job and have young children at home. With NovaNET they can work at their own pace when it’s convenient for them. Right now, I’m averaging about 10 people a day getting online to work on NovaNET." Although Earhart cannot be with her students every day, she can view a complete history of each student’s work on the NovaNET system at any time. To help students progress through the program, Earhart also provides constant feedback, encouragement and assistance via email and on the telephone. When the parents are ready, they take the GED Practice Test on the NovaNET system. The GED Practice Test is a comprehensive test that measures students’ readiness to pass the GED exam, and helps to identify weaknesses. If they perform well on that test, Earhart administers a written practice test since the actual GED exam is administered in a written format. According to Earhart, 92 percent of the students who pass both the electronic and written practice tests also pass the GED exam. For every participant that earns a GED, the district receives performance payments that go back into adult education budget. "If Cynthia had to go to each student’s home every day and work from a textbook, she could probably only serve six to eight students a year. It would be impossible to accomplish what she does with NovaNET," Smith noted. Reaching Homebound Students Thanks to NovaNET, the district is also able to provide more assistance to students who are homebound for medical reasons. "NovaNET is excellent for this program," said Smith. "Like the Family Literacy Project, the homebound program teacher cannot be with their students all the time. With NovaNET, students can take classes online and we can provide printouts of their work to the homebound teacher. This way, children can continue their studies without falling behind in their classes." Offering Skills Another unique application of the NovaNET system is the district’s Career Skills program. Through this program, the district identifies 60 children in sixth, seventh and eighth grades that need supportive services. "Career Skills is a pregnancy prevention program but it’s not taught like a sex education class. The goal is to raise children’s self-esteem," explained Smith. "No one wants to make F’s," she continued. "When you’re making D’s and F’s all the time, you don’t want to come to school. Through Career Skills, we’re trying to encourage children to attend school, to be successful, and to think of themselves having a career. We work with them to help them do better academically, to set career goals, and to increase awareness of the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and drugs." Reaching Adult ESOL Learners While opening doors for at-risk students, the district also uses NovaNET to increase opportunities for its growing population of English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). "Our adult ESOL program is growing. We have one teacher to serve a roomful of 30 people. There’s no way he could do it without NovaNET," said Smith. "NovaNET enables him to help keep each learner on task and progressing at a good pace so he can spend more time working with those who need individual help. Since we implemented NovaNET we’ve seen some tremendous growth in that group. We even had one learner who earned a GED diploma last year." A Total District Solution Today, the Putnam County School District uses the NovaNET system in three high schools, one middle school, one elementary school, three adult education programs, and one adult ESOL program. The district is also considering expanding the use of NovaNET to new applications, such as virtual charter school. Since implementing NovaNET in 2000, Putnam County School District has improved its graduation and dropout rates. Overall, graduation rates have gone from 61.2 percent in 2000 to 80.2 percent in 2004, surpassing the state average. The dropout rates have also been steadily decreasing through the district, from 3.8 percent in 2000, to 1.5 percent for the 2003 school year. Putnam County School District and State Graduation Rate Comparison
Putnam County School District and State Dropout Rate Comparison
Passing rates with NovaNET compared to rates without NovaNET.
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