Schools

'Success Maker' Is True to Its Name for Culver City School Scores

Administrators say the software program helped the district improve its performance on the latest California Standards Tests.

A computer software program that is designed to cater to each student's individual English language and mathematical needs is getting credit for a major jump districtwide for Culver City schools on the latest California Standards Tests. Success Maker has been making the rounds at Culver City Unified's schools, and administrators say they are seeing payoffs. 

“I believe that what is so great about this program, the schools were able to target the students that are basic, below basic and far below basic and contact the parents to do intervention on those students,” said Superintendent Patti Jaffe. “The students who are higher achievers are able to use it for enrichments; as they progress, they move up a level. It targets what they need and what they don’t know, so that the teacher can focus on that as well.”

Success Maker's effectiveness lies in individualized instruction and assessment that is supported by both auditory and visual aspects that assist the student, says Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Eileen Carroll. Students who are targeted for the specialized program by benchmark assessments come in before and after school three to five times a week. “It has obviously worked; our scores in the last two years have accelerated,” Carroll said.

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For the 2010-11 school year, Farragut Elementary School saw an 11-point jump in students performing at proficient or advanced levels in English/language arts compared with 2009-10. La Ballona Elementary's scores increased approximately 9 percentage points in the same subject. For math, Linwood Howe Elementary jumped approximately 12 percentage points since the 2010 school year and La Ballona increased 7 points, as did Farragut. Farragut was the first school to use Success Maker.

El Marino Elementary has not implemented the program yet, as Principal Tracy Pumilia is still evaluating it, said Carroll.

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Culver City Middle School teachers are gearing up for training to institute Success Maker before school begins Sept. 6.

“If you are monitoring students throughout the year and see the ones who need help, you can intervene to ensure that when the CST comes along, they will be able to master it,” Carroll said.


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