College, COMPASS, Careers (C3)
A partnership between Sealth High School and South Seattle Community College
Background
90% of recent high school graduates entering SSCC scored below college level math on the COMPASS assessment test
Like all high schools in WA State, Chief Sealth is focused on improving WASL scores and math readiness
Four Main Project Goals
Provide Diagnostic COMPASS Testing to Junior Class Cohort ~Completed
Provide Additional Math Remediation Resources ~95% Complete
Capacity Building ~20% Complete, Additional progress anticipated in upcoming months
Increase Student Motivation by Connecting Math Success and Career Success ~Projected completion by June of 2007
COMPASS TESTING
Entire Junior Class was tested Students received their scores immediately Teachers, counselors, and administration
were given comprehensive data set on outcomes
Bonus…Survey results w/ relevant info. about each student were given to teachers
Students were Surveyed about Math Perceptions and Demographic Info.
Students career goals and their expectation of the corresponding math requirements
How much time spent on math homework outside of class?
Students’ expectation on what grade they will earn in math class
Need for additional help outside of class Current use of, and scheduling availability for
tutoring after school and/or weekends
Additional Resources for Math Remediation
PLATO tutorial software Purchased seats in SSCC Teen MAST
~A Math/Science tutoring center for college students made available to teens
Capacity Building
SSCC staff attend Sealth math department meetings
SSCC math teachers meeting with Sealth math teachers to discuss additional resources for students
Curricular alignment discussions Macro level discussions
Student Motivation /Connecting Math with Chosen Careers
Communicate Math Pay Off Discuss the math requirement in most
careers Illustrate the message with real students Do it now or pay later…
Example: A True (mostly) Story
A Story
Bart Simpson
JessaBuenavista
?
Once upon a time, two Sealth students registeredfor classes at South Seattle Community College.
During his senior year Bart took classes, but pretty much did the minimum in:
Language Arts 12
Senior Project
He neglected to take:•Any Math (He stopped at Math 3 after his junior year because he didn’t like the teacher)•Science
•Both took the College Assessment exam which measures:
Math
Writing Skills
Reading Comprehension
• The exam is used to place them in Math and English classes
•They received different scores
MATH Courses Chief Sealth Equivalent
MAT 083 Arithmetic Math .5
MAT 084 Arithmetic Math .5
MAT 085 Elementary AlgebraMath I
MAT 086 Elementary AlgebraMath I
MAT 087 Elementary Geometry Math II
MAT 097 Intermediate Algebra Math II
MAT 098 Intermediate Geometry Math III
MAT 102 College Algebra Math III
MAT 117 Elements of Calculus
MAT 122 Pre-Calculus
MAT 124 Calculus with Analytic Geometry
What happened?
Bart was recommended
to be placed intoPre-College Classes:
English 094(Writing Skills II)
Math 087(Algebra 1)
Jessa was recommended to be
placed into College-Level
Courses:
English 101(Composition)
Math 111(Applied Math 1)
2 years$17,86
0
Note: Financial Aid only covers first two years of Community College
English and Math Do Matter!Do it now or pay for it later!
Moral of the Story
3 years$26,79
0
Summary
Project is very successful, but needs to be taken to a larger scale
Sealth wants to expand and COMPASS test the 9th and 10th grades as well, in order to affect change in their behaviors at an earlier age
We want to post test the students in order to have a stronger evaluation of our outcomes
Other schools in our neighborhood also want to partner with us and participate in this project next year