Chattanooga Preparatory School
School Type: Charter | School Size: K-12 | Category: Summer School
THE CHALLENGE
Chattanooga Preparatory School is an all-boys public charter school located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Chattanooga Prep prioritizes small class sizes and rigorous academic programs with an emphasis on literacy.
Like many summer programs across the country, ours lacked a defined trajectory. The goal was to make sure they learned the skills necessary for the next grade level.
— Chief Academic Officer of Chattanooga Preparatory School, Juan Aguinaga
THE APPROACH
RISE is a five-week summer school program that provides standards-aligned daily lesson plans for 1st through 9th-grade students. RISE was designed with four key objectives:
Lavinia Group places the utmost importance on both high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) as well as high-quality professional learning (HQPL).
Within the RISE summer school program, Chattanooga Preparatory Teachers were given access to three different grade-level curriculums.
Math For Meaning: Story Problems™
Also included in the program was one week of leader and teacher training and twice-weekly professional development meetings. The specificity of the curriculum allowed teachers to focus on intellectual preparation using data and student work. Formative assessment was utilized to monitor student progress and inform intellectual preparation.
PROGRESS MEASUREMENT
At the beginning of Lavinia Group’s RISE Summer School Program, a pre-test was administered to 68 students in grades six (6) through nine (9). Students in grades six (6) through nine (9) were given two passages, eight multiple choice questions, and two constructed response questions.
15% of Chattanooga Preparatory students who completed the pre-test were categorized as ‘basic’ or ‘proficient’, with an accumulative pre-test score of 50% or higher.
The level of experience of the teachers participating in the RISE Summer School Program ranged from beginner (one year of teaching experience) to experienced (several years of teaching experience). The level of experience of the teachers participating in the RISE Summer School Program ranged from beginner (one year of teaching experience) to experienced (several years of teaching experience).
Six assessment reports were used to inform student learning needs.
THE IMPACT
At the conclusion of the 5-week program, a post-test was administered. Chattanooga Preparatory saw growth in the percentage of students categorized as basic or proficient and ready for grade-level content at the start of the upcoming school year. The 32% growth realized at the conclusion of the program increased the percentage of students categorized as basic or proficient from 15% to 46%.
“Our rising 8th graders saw a 29 percent gain in proficiency in just four weeks. Close Reading for Meaning allowed my students to become investigators, critical thinkers, and writers,”
Jillian Sutton, 7th-grade ELA teacher.
