Cherokee Heights Elementary School
St. Paul, Minnesota
(Pearson Digital Learning SuccessMaker)
 

“One of the reasons our SuccessMaker program is so successful is that everyone works together to benefit the students.”

Susan Cammisuli, Lab Technician, Cherokee Heights Elementary School

Results Highlights 
Cherokee Heights achieved steady gains in average MAT7 Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) scores in reading, mathematics and the complete battery over 2000 and 2001 and seen a 5 percent decrease in students missing 15 days or more over the last three years. Due in part to SuccessMaker and the dedication and support of the teachers and administrators, Cherokee Heights has built successful programs to help their students achieve new levels of success.
 

School and District Profile 
Part of Saint Paul Public Schools, Cherokee Heights Elementary is an urban midsize school and enrolls 530 students in grades four, five, and six. The school’s student population is 37 percent Hispanic American, 25 percent White American, 20 percent Asian American, 16 percent African American, and 3 percent Native American. The district’s student population is 9 percent Hispanic American, 33 percent White American, 31 percent Asian American, 24 percent African American, and 2 percent Native American. Approximately 85 percent of students receive free and reduced price lunches. 
 

The Challenge
Like many urban schools, Cherokee Heights Elementary faces a number of challenges. “We have a very high transition rate,” said Susan Cammisuli, lab technician at Cherokee Heights Elementary. “We’ve also had problems with low attendance and language barriers which make it difficult for parents to help with homework. In the last few years, we’ve implemented several programs to help address these issues and they’re working wonders. Combined with Pearson Digital Learning SuccessMaker courseware, our students are doing so much better than just three years ago, and our attendance numbers are way up.” 
 

Site Goals 
Cherokee Heights Elementary implemented SuccessMaker in 1995 to help improve students’ math skills. Today, the school uses the self-paced, interactive courseware to improve all students’ abilities in math and reading, provide focused interventions for students who are not at grade level, and help students make consistent gains on standardized tests.
 

Implementation
All students work on the SuccessMaker courseware every day in the school’s 55-station computer lab. Every 30 minutes, two teachers and their classes rotate through the lab. Fourth graders spend 12 minutes on math and 15 minutes on reading. Fifth and sixth graders spend 10 minutes on math and 15 minutes on reading and writing. In addition, some students work on spelling or science once a week. 

Cammisuli aligns the SuccessMaker curriculum with the Metropolitan Achievement Test, seventh edition (MAT7) for grades four through six, and the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) for grade five. Working with the teachers she reviews MAT7 and MCA scores from the previous year to determine what skills each grade level needs to improve. Then, they meet regularly throughout the year to determine what skills each student needs to cultivate, and provide focused instruction and intervention using the SuccessMaker courseware. 

Cammisuli also works with teachers to help them integrate instruction in the courseware with instruction in the classroom. “When a teacher presents a new concept or lesson in front of a class of 25 students or more, it’s difficult for her to know who understands it and who doesn’t. So, the teachers often let me know ahead of time when they’re presenting a new concept so I can have all their students work on that concept in the SuccessMaker courseware. From the students’ results, we can then design an individual learning strategy for each and every student based on his or her understanding of what’s been presented,” she said.

Fourth grade classroom teachers Melissa Ehlers and Pam Shanley, who team teach together, find this very helpful. “With SuccessMaker, we can meet individual student needs and reinforce skills through instruction in specific strands. As a result, we feel more comfortable introducing new skills in the classroom because we know that students will eventually master the skills with everyday practice in the SuccessMaker lab,” said Ehlers and Shanley. 

To provide additional assistance for students who have an average score of 60 percent or below in the courseware for the day, Cammisuli prints out worksheets that they can use back in class or as homework. 

“What teachers like best about the SuccessMaker system is that each student can work at his or her own individual level. If a teacher wants to teach a particular concept, like double-digit multiplication, SuccessMaker will take it to the level each student needs. It helps students achieve more than they could otherwise because they’re working at their own pace,” she said. “And, our teachers even think it helps make them better teachers because it offers them so much assistance.”

Cammisuli uses the SuccessMaker management system, which is seamlessly integrated into the courseware, to assess student performance and growth and provide targeted interventions. Each day, she provides teachers with performance reports for each student, showing the time, gain and level attained in the SuccessMaker courseware. Once a month she meets with each teacher to review intervention reports which offer precise information about areas of difficulty for individual students. Working together, she and the teachers then place each student in specific strands in the courseware to provide additional practice in targeted areas. 

“With SuccessMaker, teachers receive feedback on a daily basis so they have immediate information on students’ needs in math and reading,” said Robert Miller, principal of Cherokee Heights Elementary. “It keeps us focused on what needs to be taught and keeps our instruction aligned with students’ needs, which meets the goals of our School Improvement Plan. SuccessMaker is a very successful program for us.”

Once every two months all the teachers join together to meet with the principal, curriculum specialists and Cammisuli to discuss what will be taught in the coming months. “These meetings help us coordinate our efforts and share ideas and tips. And, of course, SuccessMaker is a big part of our plans since it supports everything we’re trying to teach.”

Outside the regular school day, Cherokee Heights Elementary has also begun to implement SuccessMaker in new afterschool programs to provide additional intervention for selected students who are working below grade level or need a little extra help in a particular subject area. 
 

Results
Thanks to the cooperative efforts of Cammisuli, the teachers and administrators at Cherokee Heights Elementary, the percentage of students missing 15 days or more who have enrolled for 160 days or more has gone down 5 percent over three years. 
 

School Dates	Total % of Student Attendance	% of Students Missing 15 Days or More
1997-1998	94.7	18.7
1998-1999	95.1	18.2
1999-2000	95.9	14.2
2000-2001	95.2	13.2

From 2000 to 2001 students achieved steady gains on average MAT7 Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) scores in reading, mathematics and the complete battery. 

“SuccessMaker has met our needs and objectives with everything we’ve wanted to do,” said Cammisuli. “We have teachers who’ve been offered positions in other schools who refuse to change schools unless they have SuccessMaker. The SuccessMaker system and the way it supports the teachers have really brought us all together. It has strengthened our staff and our commitment to our students in a way we never guessed would happen.” 
 

For more information on how Pearson Digital Learning can help you achieve results, visit http://www.pearsonedtech.com or call 888/627-5327; Canada and other international locations: 800/400-6192.

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