Despite more rigorous Math standards and challenges in Reading (ranked 3rd lowest in the state for 2011), Gadsden County third-graders achieved breakthrough results on 2011 FCAT 2.0 Math. Historically, Gadsden has performed among the lowest 4 counties in Florida in Math; however, on the 2011 FCAT 2.0 Math, Gadsden is ranked #8 in Florida with 84% of its third-graders performing at or above proficiency.

2011 Grade 3 FCAT 2.0 Math Comparative Analysis: ACALETICS – Gadsden County Partnership

HIGHLIGHTS – The ACALETICS Math Achievement Impact

► In 2011, Gadsden County’s 84% Proficiency ranked #8 in the State versus having the 4th lowest proficiency in 2010 in Math.

►7 out of 8 (88%) schools met or exceeded the State’s Proficiency Average of 78%.

►7 out of 8 (88%) schools showed significant Proficiency Gains (range: from 6 to 37 percentage points).

►6 out of 7 (86%) schools achieved double-digit Proficiency Gains (range: 10 to 37 percentage points).

►5 out of 8 (63%) achieved Proficiency Levels of 90% or more. One school achieved 100%!

Title I School Achieves 100% Math Success Despite Odds

Third-grade students at Twin Lakes Elementary in Hialeah know all about numbers. The Title I school is one of
only 28 elementary schools (out of more than 2,000) in the state to achieve 100 percent on the third-grade
mathematics portion of the 2010 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, according to results released by the
Florida Department of Education.

Although Twin Lakes is situated in a low-income area – with 87 percent of its student population receiving free or
reduced lunch – students didn’t let those statistics stop them from outperforming their peers: Twin Lakes has the
unique distinction of being the only non-charter school in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties to
accomplish 100 percent on the math portion.

Twin Lakes partnered with Educational Development Associates, Inc. (EDA) more than 10 years ago and the
school has seen a consistent boost in performance on standardized tests and other forms of assessments using
EDA’s Acaletics program. This partnership is proving that gaps in mathematics can be closed – in a fun and
challenging way.

Please join EDA in congratulating Twin Lakes Elementary and Principal Maria DeLeon on a job well done.
About Acaletics

Acaletics is a program developed by Educational Development Associates, Inc. (EDA). EDA offers several
research-based, results-driven supplemental products and services that boost the performance and achievement
of students in schools. Through our innovative Acaletics math program, EDA has helped more than 300,000
students and over 400 schools dramatically improve classroom instruction and learning, test scores, and student
competence and confidence by providing invaluable resources and direct support to teachers and school
administrators.

For more information on Acaletics, please visit www.acaletics.com or contact EDA at 305.362.8887.

Volume xx, Number 30 . April 11,2001

American Education Newspaper of Record (Please click on continue reading to see the highlighted section.)

April 11, 2001
From Worst to First:  By Karla Scoon Reid

Two wide-eyed girls nervously rattle off the latest announcements on Fessenden Elementary School’s closed-circuit TV newscast. After detailing the all important lunch menu, the 5th graders toss the show to Betty D. Brown, the assistant principal, for a much-needed pep talk.

The latest round of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, is a week away, and students and teachers arc on edge about the high-stakes test. Brown, who has organized a pep rally for later that day, tries to calm their nerves.

“A ferocious animal is coming..” she says in her best drama-filled storytelling voice. “We’ve done so many things to tame that cat [the FCAT], We’re not afraid.

“Do everything it takes to be winners.” She signs off, almost singing: “Have a great day, boys and girls!”With that, Fessenden’s FCAT countdown started. In a mere seven days, students clutching No, 2 pencils would hunch over test booklets at their desks in silence. Teachers would anxiously pace =around the class, searching students’ faces for encouraging signs.

The historic central Florida school is intimately familiar with the immeasurable impact of students’ test results. Fessenden is one of only two Florida schools that made the dramatic leap from an F in 1999 under the state’s grading system to an A last year, Under Republican Gov, Jeb Bush’s A+ plan to overhaul the state’s public schools, Fessenden and Brentwood Elementary School in Pensacola avoided qualifying for vouchers by exceeding minimum performance standards for 5th graders in math and 4th graders in reading and writing. The schools also had to make gains with their poorer-performing students.

Some educators characterize Fessenden as a success story worthy of being replicated by other struggling schools serving poor children. About 81 percent of the school’s 560 students qualify for free-or reduced-price lunches, But other educators and residents here are reluctant to acknowledge Fessenden’s gains because of its students’ low test scores in the past.

“I believe that some of the best teaching and learning occurs in schools that are perceived to be failures,” says John 0, Smith, the superintendent of the 38,OOO-student Marion County schools from 1992 to 2000, The fact that Fessenden improved from an F to an A is not by accident, he says, but thanks to a plan. ”They accepted [the F] as a challenge rather than a put-down, They have a lot of pride,” Smith says. continue reading »

St.Petersburgh Times Online
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHECK

As a second-grader, Karley Bender hated to read.She couldn’t make out what the words said. They looked like nonsense. Trying to get through schoolwork, much less a book for fun, was unpleasant at best.”I used to have to fight her every time to read,” Karley’s mom, Renee, recalled. “She would cry.”

Entering the third grade, Karley got into a program, once reserved for special education students, that changed everything. Over the course of 80 intense hours, the Chocachatti Elementary School student learned how to visualize words on a page in a way that made sense. continue reading »