 Highlights
- With Pearson
Digital Learning NovaNET®, La Sierra
High School is addressing the No Child Left Behind
Act by closing the achievement gap and raising accountability.
- La Sierra High School was among 29 percent of all
high schools in the state of California to achieve
and exceed the state growth standards based on the
2002 Academic Performance Index (API) results of the
Stanford 9 standardized test.
- With NovaNET, La Sierra successfully closed the
achievement gap for its Hispanic and African-American
students, while still demonstrating a full year’s
growth with its Caucasian population. The program
also helped to close the gender gap by bringing female
math students up to the level of male math students
on standardized math tests.
- La Sierra students are on track to earn over 5,000
credits and recover over 1,000 credits for the 2002-2003
school year.
School District Profile
La Sierra High School is located in Riverside California
near Los Angeles. La Sierra is one of 18 schools in
the Alvord Unified School District and enrolls 18,600
students. Ethnicities of La Sierra High School include
47 percent Hispanic, 39 percent Caucasian, 7 percent
African-American, and 6 percent Asian. La Sierra High
School enrolls 2,650 students in grades 9-12.
Challenges
During the 2000-2001 school year, La Sierra had 29 senior
students who had not successfully completed their government/economics
requirement due to previously failing the course. Since
the closest location for these students to take advantage
of a nighttime credit recovery class was 10 miles away,
La Sierra needed to create a more accessible environment
for students.
Solution
A Digital High School grant in 2000 provided La Sierra
the funds to implement more technology in its effort
to increase student achievement. Staff members endorsed
putting NovaNET in their school to make it easier for
students to make up credits in an in-school environment.
The program was implemented in the middle of the 2000-2001
school year. One teacher was assigned to the NovaNET
lab to assist 29 students for one period during the
day.
Students began to progress through the NovaNET curriculum
at their own pace while taking a series of benchmark
tests along the way. Students not passing these tests
were directed through a comprehensive tutorial and then
tested for mastery. An 85 percent mastery of the test
is required for the student to advance to the next course
or topic. At the end of the school year, all 29 students
were able to graduate from La Sierra High School. According
the Don Austin, principal at La Sierra, “We quickly
learned that the key to a successful NovaNET program
was the selection of a caring and engaging teacher.”
The 2001-2002 school year brought new ways to further
leverage the power of NovaNET. Feeling confident about
the previous year’s achievements, staff decided
the program would now be taught on a larger scale. La
Sierra eliminated some of the dated computer literacy
courses, and turned the labs into NovaNET work centers.
Every incoming 9th grader with low basic skills was
put into a NovaNET math skills course. Every lower-level
math course on the campus was also eliminated, and replaced
with a combination of algebra and a supplemental NovaNET
course. The lowest achieving students were placed in
a double-block of algebra and a NovaNET Accelerated
Skills remediation course.
Since many of La Sierra’s students lacked in math
skills, this represented the center of the credit recovery
program. To accommodate student schedules, labs were
open every evening from 3:00-6:30 p.m. Soon thereafter,
over 500 students were enrolled in NovaNET courses.
Earning College Credit through NovaNET
Once the community began to hear the news about La Sierra’s
success with NovaNET, several organizations inquired
about the program, including a local community college.
After meeting several times with representatives from
both entities, the college was able to offer La Sierra
students simultaneous enrollment, allowing them to gain
college credit for hours earned through the technology-driven
remedial program.
NovaNET Meeting the Needs of No Child
Left Behind
Ensuring that “no child is left behind”
means that schools must not only focus on bringing the
low-achieving students up to expectancy, but also do
so without neglecting the high-achieving students along
the way. In this respect, Sierra gave advanced senior
students the opportunity to take selected courses from
their homes via an online education approach. A pilot
group of 15 seniors all successfully completed the requirements
for various courses in social studies. After seeing
the positive results of the pilot distance learning
program, it became an accepted and effective tool for
lowering class size. Each 45-student section of the
distance learning program allows La Sierra to lower
traditional class sizes during the day. “Through
the use of NovaNET, we were able to demonstrate statistically
significant gains in every population on our campus
while also allowing advanced students the opportunity
to study from the comforts of home,” said Austin.
Today, nearly 100 students are enrolled in distance-learning
courses at the senior level.
Standardized testing has risen to the forefront with
the NCLB Act. The Stanford 9 is a high-stakes test administered
by all California schools. It ranks students through
a standard referenced test, and generates an Academic
Performance Index (API) score to rank schools. California
schools are required to demonstrate growth both school-wide
and within major subgroups of students. La Sierra High
School was among only 29 percent of high schools in
the state of California to achieve and exceed the state
growth standards based on the 2002 API results.
Results
In order to measure NovaNET’s true results, La
Sierra conducted a statistical analysis of the program
by using the average difference change score from the
2000-2001 to the 2001-2002 school year. To begin the
analysis, La Sierra decided to review the same group
(match case) of 76 students enrolled in the mathematics
remediation program before and after using NovaNET.
After using NovaNET, these students demonstrated a mean
growth of over 4.9 NCE norm curve equivalency (NCE)
points per student, indicating a statistically significant
increase in their relative rank compared to other students
across the state.
Next, La Sierra gauged the effects NovaNET had on specific
student populations, finding that there was a significant
change in Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic
students after only one year in the NovaNET program.
The sample students experienced a complete reversal
of established testing norms. The Hispanic students
became the highest achieving, next came the African-American
students, and finishing with the Caucasian students.
La Sierra successfully closed the achievement gap while
still demonstrating a full year’s growth with
their Caucasian students.
Incoming NCE scores in mathematics
from 2000-2001 prior to NovaNET intervention.
Incoming NCE scores in mathematics
from 2000-2001 prior to NovaNET intervention.
Another study to analyze gains made in math by La Sierra’s
female students was conducted. Traditionally, females
lag behind the male students in high school mathematics
and on standardized math tests, so it was questioned
whether NovaNET would make a difference in this respect.
After one year in the NovaNET program, La Sierra and
the NovaNET program reversed the trend and closed the
gender-based achievement gap. “NovaNET has helped
to change the lives of students in every sub-group of
our campus,” said Austin.
Incoming NCE mathematics scores
from 2000-2001 before NovaNET intervention.
NCE mathematics scores for the
same students after one year in NovaNET.
Increased student achievement with NovaNET at La Sierra
High School can be attributed to many factors:
- NovaNET eliminates any teacher bias that may occur
regarding gender or ethnicity.
- The program rewards proficiency regardless of socio-economic
status, race, religion, or gender.
- NovaNET allows students to progress while providing
instruction for those who fail to meet the standards
of each module.
- Neglected students enjoy the individual attention
received through NovaNET.
- With NovaNET, students are now able to demonstrate
their competence at their own pace, independent of
their peers and devoid of timelines.
“Although we were initially met with some skepticism,
our staff and students are now 100 percent behind the
program,” said Austin. During the 2000-2001 school
year, the first year it was implemented, students earned
180 credits with NovaNET. Currently, the students at
La Sierra High School are on track to earn over 5,000
credits, including over 1,000 recovered credits.
La Sierra High School currently has over 270 students
enhancing their skills in math and English through the
9th-grade NovaNET Accelerated Skills remediation program.
Over 100 students are using NovaNET from their homes
to advance through distance learning courses via the
Internet, and over 200 students participate in the credit
recovery program.
“The costs of the program were insignificant compared
to the success of our students. Our graduation rate
has steadily climbed as students have discovered that
previous failures are neither fatal nor final,”
said Austin. La Sierra High School will continue to
expand the uses for NovaNET while students increase
their academic skills, recover credits, gain confidence,
and earn college credits all through the use of technology.
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. |
