District/School Website Stories

Anderson School District Two

    Schools:

    • Marshall Primary School
    • Belton Elementary School
    • Belton Middle School
    • Honea Path Elementary School
    • Wright Elementary School
    • Honea Path Middle School
    • Belton-Honea Path High School

    Anderson School District Two is situated in Anderson County approximately 25 miles south of Greenville and approximately 12 miles east of the city of Anderson, South Carolina. Anderson Two is classified as a rural district of medium-size in and South Carolina, serving approximately 3800 students. Roughly 16 to 18% of Anderson Two's student population is classified as students with disabilities. The percent of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch status ranges around 45% percent. The Belton Honea Path area was once a textile magnet. All areas textile mills have closed, with other industries leaving as well, thus creating a problem of future employment for those students who do not have a high school diploma. Even with this economic backdrop, Anderson School District Two graduates approximately 73% of its students within four years of entering high school. Scores on state tests, when all grades are considered, rank the district within the top third of districts for the percentage of students meeting standards on state tests. Of concern for the district has been the performance and graduation rate of the specific subgroups of students with disabilities and minorities. And even though these students performed above the state average in Anderson Two, the district adopted a goal to improve test score performance and graduation rates. The district employees approximately 237 full-time certified staff at seven schools.

CLC Project in Anderson School District #2

a. Brief history

    In 2007-08, the district was able to secure grants from a private foundation to place reading teachers in all of the schools. It was easy enough to designate a curriculum for the primary and elementary schools but it became a more challenging question to find an appropriate program for the middle and high schools. During this time, the District Instructional Team had met to consider long term goals for Special Services that would affect the outcomes of all students. Using the State Performance Plan as a template, the district adopted three far reaching goals: 1.) increasing graduation rates 2.) decreasing suspension and expulsion rates and 3.) decreasing dropout rates. To accomplish these goals, the district realized changes must be effected across all grade levels and literacy, school climate, home-school relations, instructional schedules, and new instructional techniques were key to accomplishing these goals. As the district looked at the literacy component for the high school, our search brought us to the Content Literacy Continuum developed at Kansas University. The district needed more than a simple reading program and the CLC with its five level tiered approach, emphasis on inclusive practices and common approaches to planning and teaching across all subjects/grades was the right thing to do.

b. Successes:

  • Implementing a level III intervention, Xtreme Reading in September, 2008.
  • Forming a Pilot Team to implement Level 1 Content Enhancements
  • Significant difference found between CLC classes and non-CLC classes on Spring 2009 EOC tests
  • Began implementing Level I and III CLC strategies at the middle schools
  • Commitment to the CLC framework from the District Administration
  • Support from the SC Dept of Ed and the State Supt of Ed for CLC implementation as an Innovative Practice

c. Data (general trends that support successes)

    Spring 2009 End of Course Test results found a significant increase in student scores when CLC classrooms were compared to non-CLC classrooms. Teacher anecdotal reports indicate classes were covering material at a faster pace and students were asking for the Content Enhancement Routines in other classes.

d. Lessons learned

  • Systems within institutions can change.
  • Professional Development is ongoing, embedded in daily instruction and impacts the culture of the school.
  • People, when committed to implement with fidelity, are the difference makers.
  • Incentives, either to avoid or to gain, may need to be considered to begin the change process
  • Everyone doesn't understand the process of change the same and that may be good but preparation should be made to make the steps more salient for some.
  • Commit to take risks.

Quotes

    "The unit organizer helps organize my classroom. If students are absent, they know what's due and when and what topics were covered in class. It helps hold the students responsible."
    -Pete Griffin, US History

    "The CLC strategies I use in Academic Assistance help my students become successful in the general education classroom. The writing strategies they learn with me are also taught in the general education classroom, creating success for my students."
    -Cristie Guest, Academic Assistance

    "I teach students in Academic Assistance. In using CLC strategies like paragraph writing, I am creating confident learners for the general education classroom."
    -Deborah Davis, Academic Assistance

    "The CLC strategies I have incorporated in my daily teaching have changed the classroom environment completely and have helped students structure their writing."
    -Mary Carmichael, English

    "Freshmen students have a very difficult time taking notes. The Unit Organizer helps organize concepts and notes and are very easy to follow."
    -Jennifer Moore, Math/Algebra

    "BACK TO THE BASICS! As a teacher, the Unit Organizer has helped me to plan more efficiently and to focus on the basic ideas of the unit. I have taken time to re-evaluate my units and zone in on the important topics to help the students prepare for not only my unit tests but also standardized tests, again Back to the Basics"
    -Stephanie Hughes, Math/Geometry and Probability and Statistics