Evans Newton Incorporated Partners with Schools Districts for CCSS Success
Scottsdale, Arizona (PRWEB) September 04, 2013 -- Putnam County School System (PCSS) in Cookeville, TN partnered with Evans Newton Incorporated (ENI) to provide its five middle schools with professional development and coaching in mathematics, focused on standards alignment and pacing, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and data-driven instruction. The rural district showed significant growth on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). The percentage of students achieving at the proficient level or above jumped by 10 percentage points in grade 5; 7 points in grade 6; and 11 points in grades 7 and 8. Further, each grade level increased its rate of achievement, compared to state averages. Grades 6 and 8 performed higher than the state, while students in grades 5 and 7 decreased the gap between Putnam County’s performance and the state’s performance.
“We finished the school year with one set of standards and began the next school year with the new standards. This created many academic gaps, some of which were quite significant in math,” said Denette E. Kolbe, Assistant Director of Schools for Teaching and Learning. “We knew we needed to do something to close those gaps and help our teachers. We also knew our state would be transitioning to the Common Core Standards, so we didn’t want to implement the new Tennessee Mathematics Standards only to have to change things again in a couple years.”
PCSS partnered with ENI, a company of consultant educators who are experts in school transformation. The district’s goal was to provide its five middle schools with one year of mathematics professional development and coaching services for teachers and instructional coaches, focused on implementing the CCSS standards, aligning and pacing their curriculum, and the use of formative assessment data to plan instruction and interventions.
“The partnership with ENI is one of best partnerships we’ve ever had,” said Kolbe. “What’s different about working with the company is that it wasn’t about them coming in to change us, or to make us conform to their products or services. It was about meeting our needs and our students’ needs. Never in our district’s history have we had multiple grade levels where students across all five quintiles made dramatic gains.”
Putnam County School System is continuing their partnership in year three with Evans Newton Incorporated by moving forward with CCSS English Language Arts in their elementary schools. Their new reading textbook was aligned and a team of ENI Consultants conducted multi-day training in curriculum mapping for teachers and coaches in use of these new instructional resources.
“Our work with ENI is not only a partnership but an investment in our schools,” said Kolbe. “Before, we’d never done anything this comprehensive or this dynamic with our teachers. We had done bits and pieces of professional development and coaching, but never with this level follow-up, support, and sustainability. Our teachers now feel confident about teaching the Common Core Standards, and are thankful they began this process so they’ll be prepared when the new Common Core assessments are in place. We see the success we’ve had and we want to continue these efforts in the best interests of our students and their education.”
“We are so proud of the hard work and dedication Putnam County School System has done and how motivated and excited they were and are to move forward to be prepared for the new CCSS assessments. Their students are doing well and deserve the benefit of the great education they’re receiving in PCSS. Helping children realize their potential and expand their knowledge is our passion and that is evident in the work of the ENI consultant team.” said Jamie Piotti, President and CEO of Evans Newton Incorporated.
About Evans Newton Incorporated
Evans Newton Incorporated (ENI) is a company of educators who are experts in school transformation. Since 1973, ENI has partnered with thousands of K-12 schools, districts, and state departments of education to create dramatic improvements in student performance. Through a highly collaborative process of goal-setting, standards alignment, curriculum and assessment development, professional development and coaching, ENI empowers teachers and school leaders to transform their schools and get results. The company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. Visit ENI at: http://www.evansnewton.com.
Contact:
Jamie Piotti
President and CEO
Evans Newton Incorporated
480.998.2777
jpiotti(at)evansnewton(dot)com
Jamie Piotti, Evans Newton Incorporated, http://www.evansnewton.com, +1 (480) 998-2777, [email protected]
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