Wednesday, June 13, 2001
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Wednesday, June 13, 2001 |
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School system has a year of firsts By KAY SEABOLT [Editor's note: The following is the first in a series of monthly columns provided by the Fayette County Board of Education. This month's columnist is Kay Seabolt, the math coordinator for the Fayette County School System. She has been in education for 29 years. Her previous experience includes teaching math at the middle and high school level and being an assistant principal at Fayette County High School.]
The 2000-2001 academic year was an exciting and busy one for the Fayette County School System's mathematics department. We implemented several new programs into the mathematics curriculum, which added to the quality of math instruction already being delivered to our students. I would like to take this opportunity to recap some of the new programs that were implemented as well as highlight something new that will be offered this summer. At the beginning of the calendar year, we initiated the Extended Year Program (EYP) at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Students who had been identified by their teachers as needing extra help in math received free math assistance and tutoring for one hour after school. The first 30 minutes were devoted to teaching the curriculum and the last half-hour was reserved for homework or for additional reinforcement instruction. Teachers worked extra hours in order to facilitate the program. Each session was limited to seven to 10 students per teacher. This program was well received by our students and parents. In fact, it was so popular that we kept a waiting list throughout the academic year. In order to continue helping our students achieve high academic levels in math, the EYP will run through the summer in the form of a day camp. Students who participated in the program during the school year have been invited to attend. Additional participants have been identified by their teachers and given the choice to take part in the program. Elementary students will be assigned to either Kedron or Fayetteville elementary school. All middle school students will attend their sessions at Fayette Middle School. High school students who failed the high school graduation test will receive free mediation at Fayette County High School. During the summer EYP session, elementary and middle school teachers will be using a program called Summer Success which was designed to be used for extra math help in the summer. Other counties that have used the program have been very complimentary about it and indicated that it raised test scores. Also, all students will have the opportunity to work with a variety of measurement and probability tools since this is a weak area, as indicated by our test scores. For the first time in the history of the school system, there was a math contest at every elementary school for students in grades 4 and 5. First-place winning teams from each school advanced to compete in the countywide elementary math contest, another first for the Fayette School System. Prior to this year, mathematics was the only discipline that did not have a county-level competition for elementary school students. The benefits of the county competition were multifold for our students. First, it provided a forum for students to display their knowledge and compete with others. Second, the competition was a great way for teachers to review concepts with their students and assist them in developing problem solving skills. Third, the contest has the potential to help students perform better on standardized testing, and fourth, it stimulated an interest in math. We were very pleased with the success our first contest and are continuing to look ahead to see how we can enhance future competitions at the elementary level. Finally, the long, but effective process of textbook adoption has come to an end. A committee made up of parents, teachers and school administrators reviewed the possible texts available for adoption and gave their input as to which ones they thought would be best for our students. McGraw Hill was selected as the choice for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and its secondary counterpart Glencoe was chosen for most of the courses taught in middle and high school. Students and teachers will begin using the new texts when the 2001-2002 academic year begins on Aug. 10. Even though the textbooks have changed in Fayette County, the math curriculum has not. Whether it be a first grade or advanced math teacher, he or she will be teaching the objectives set forth by the Georgia Department of Education. In turn, the statewide Georgian Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) for grades 1-8 and the middle/high school end-of-year tests are based on the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) objectives. Each teacher is responsible for helping students learn the objectives and will use the adopted textbooks as one of many tools to accomplish this. [Kay Seabolt says the award she is most proud of is being selected as a Star Teacher for the last two years that she taught at Fayette County High. She is married to Larry Seabolt, a civil engineer. They have two children: Kayla, who will be a math teacher at Flat Rock Middle School next year, and Keelan, a junior at Georgia Tech majoring in physics.]
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