Home > Successes > SuccessMaker > Pate Elementary School

Pate Elementary School

"SuccessMaker is tailored to the individual student. Questions reflect the type students will encounter on PACT, which tests students� knowledge of South Carolina standards. Like PACT, the items available on SuccessMaker programs are written at a higher level and this encourages students to think at higher levels. Since the SuccessMaker implementation, Pate has become one of the top performing schools in the state of South Carolina. Due to this success Pate is one of five schools in South Carolina to be recognized as a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School.
     Terry Martin, Principal

Highlights

• School grade improvement rating of "Excellent" received on the 2001, 2002 and 2003 State of South Carolina Annual School Report Card since implementing Pearson Digital Learning SuccessMaker.
• Steadily increasing scores on the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT) in language arts and math since 1998. Continued improvement in ELA since implementation.
• Higher demonstrated achievement levels than other area schools of similar socioeconomic status.

School District Profile

Pate Elementary is part of the Darlington County School District, located in the northeast corner of South Carolina. Pate enrolls 640 students in four-year-old kindergarten through grade three; total district enrollment for Darlington County is 11,200 in 22 schools.

The socioeconomic levels represented include low to middle income, with 79 percent receiving free or reduced meals. The ethnic ratio consists of 74 percent African-American, 25 percent Caucasian, and 1 percent other.

Approximately 12 percent of Pate students are latchkey children, and 29 percent of students are enrolled in an after-school program, which includes all of the school�s third-grade students.

Approximately 52 percent of students live in a two-parent home. Forty percent live in a single-parent home, while 8 percent live with someone other than their parents.

Challenge and Goals

According to the Pate Elementary 2001-2002 School Summary report, goals for student performance include:

• A 5 percent increase over the previous year in the number of students scoring at the Basic and Proficient Levels or above on the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT) in grade 3 in English/Language Arts.
• An increase of 5 percent over the previous year in the number of students scoring at the Basic and Proficient Levels or above on PACT in Math for grade 3.

In 2002-2003 scores continued to increase in Math and English/Language Arts.

In 2003-2004 scores remained well above the sate average with 86% above Basic in Math and 93.4% above Basic in English/Language Arts.

Solution

Pearson Digital Learning SuccessMaker courseware was implemented at Pate Elementary during the 1999-2000 school year. Courses covered include Math Corner, Math Concepts and Skills, Reader's Workshop, and Reading Adventures. A total of 147 students in grade three use SuccessMaker each day for a total of 40 minutes, 20 in reading and 20 in math.

Teachers use Grouping Reports to gauge areas of weakness and strengths as a way to meet program goals. As incentive, students meeting daily goals receive a sticker to post on a chart outside of the SuccessMaker lab. After a student receives five stickers, the student's name is placed in a drawing for a prize. Administrators give a celebration for students who make gains of a year or more.

Teachers and administrators at Pate Elementary have been trained in various aspects of the SuccessMaker lab. Teachers always attend the lab with their students to provide assistance or to have small group instruction. Student progress is measured by reviewing Daily Session reports and Weekly and Quarterly reports. To keep parents informed, the SuccessMaker lab manager and third grade teachers present parent-oriented workshops on the benefits of the lab and how it works.

"SuccessMaker is tailored to the individual student. Questions reflect the type students will encounter on PACT, which tests students' knowledge of South Carolina standards. Like PACT, the items available on SuccessMaker programs are written at a higher level and this encourages students to think at higher levels. Since SuccessMaker implementation, Pate has become one of the top performing schools in the state of South Carolina . Due to this success Pate is one of five schools in South Carolina to be recognized as a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School," says Terry Martin, principal at Pate Elementary.

Results

Teachers and administrators at Pate Elementary were able to gauge success by establishing goals prior to the students using SuccessMaker.

Goal 1
80 percent of the students in grade 3 will cover a year of objectives in math (Math Concepts and Skills) at acceptable performance (90% mastery).
Results
76 percent of the students in grade 3 met the school goal. On average, students made gains of almost a year in math in 28 hours of instruction.

Goal 2
80 percent of students in grade 3 will cover 1 year of objectives in reading (Initial Reading and/or Reader's Workshop) at acceptable performance (65%-85% correct).
Results
71 percent of students in grade 3 met the goal. On average, students made gains of over a year in reading after only 27 hours of instruction.

Teachers and administrators also measure student progress based on the results of the annual PACT. Student performance levels on the PACT test in language arts and math have been steadily increasing since the 1998-1999 school year.

" SuccessMaker plays a crucial role in the success of Pate Elementary. Using weekly reports, teachers and administrators come together each week to discuss each student's progress. The results are recorded and placed on an assessment wall. The wall provides a striking visual that helps to target children who are not progressing or are progressing slowly," says Mrs. Martin.

Pate Elementary School received a school improvement rating of "Excellent" and an absolute rating of "Good" on the South Carolina 2001 Annual School Report Card. The state's Performance Goal is this: "By 2010, South Carolina 's student achievement will be ranked in the top half of the states nationally. To achieve this goal, we must become one of the five fastest improving systems in the country."

School Rating Terms for the South Carolina Performance Goal

There are 76 schools in the state comparable to Pate Elementary in terms of student socioeconomic status. The absolute ratings for those schools ranged from unsatisfactory to good. For improvement ratings, the range was from unsatisfactory to excellent. 2001 PACT scores for these schools were also lower than Pate Elementary. Overall, Pate has met its goals and demonstrated substantial improvement since SuccessMaker implementation.

Contact us for additional information on how Pearson Digital Learning can help you achieve results with SuccessMaker Enterprise.