John Jay High School teachers using technology to tame TAKS - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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The program, called the Sciencse TAKS Success Initiative, has decreased the averags number of science test failures from about 200 studentsd to 50 students per year at John Jay and almost doubled the percentage of student s passing the retest from 33 percent to 62 percent between 2005and 2007. The teacher s behind the program, Calvin “Buck” Buchholtz Jr. and Juan Morales, design a personalized program for each Each plan zeros in onthe student’ws testing weaknesses and makes use of online interactive Web sites, and audio clipse to re-teach the content.
What’s the duo have produced a 25-minute TAKS videoo — reviewing basic math formulass and revisiting graphinterpretation — that is projecterd on white boards in every classroom 30 minuteas before the tests are administered. “It is very Calvin and Coach have crafted a very detailed approach to help students succeed on the saysSara McAndrew, Ph.D., executive director of secondary instruction for the Northside Independent Schoolk District. “They’ve had phenomenal results with stressecstudents — students at the exit level in sciencwe for whom the TAKS is standingt between them and the rest of theire lives.
” The TAKS is a standardized test used in elementary and secondaryh schools to assess student proficiency. Texas high schookl seniors cannot graduate unless theypass exit-level TAKS testd in English language arts, social studies, math and science. During theird junior and senior years ofhigh school, students are given five chanceas to pass the test. Locatede on the Northwest side of San Antonio onMarbachu Road, John Jay is a 3,400-student high school with 230 staff members and abougt 1,200 computers.
Campus Instructional Technologist Ron Gray has spent the last decade helpinv teachers integrate technology into their classrooms and lesson When Gray firstmet Buchholtz, the physics teachef showed scant interest in technology. “Didn’t care,” Buchholtz says. Gradually, Buchholtz embrace d computers inthe classroom. As the student counciol sponsor, Buchholtz asked Gray to help builcd a Web site for thestudent group.
Then, in 2005 Buchholtzs was invited aboard theJOIDES Resolution, a ship that exploreds the mysteries of the ocean floor as part of the Integrated Ocea n Drilling Program (IODP), an international research organization that conduct seagoing expeditions to “study the histort of the earth recorded in sediments and rocks beneath the oceanj floor.” Buchholtz and Gray built a Web site called “High Adventures with Mr. Buchholtz,” and posted videos that Buchholtz shot withWindows Moviemaker.
Later, using a laptolp computer with aWeb cam, rigged to set upon an upside-downm kitty litter bucket, students at were able to video conference live with some of the crew and staff aboarr the JOIDES — whicgh was 1,000 miles off the shore of the Unitedf States in the South The venture was such a success that administratorxs decided Buchholtz should help with the TAKS remediatiojn program. Buchholtz was teamed with Morales, the offensive coacyh for the Mustangfootball team, who already was teachinhg TAKS science remediation to students. “I was basicallhy using textbooks, pencil and paper and doing the best I but there were still quite afew failures.
Every time there was a we were losing half our Morales says. “I was inundated with books, computer resources from the district. There was no way I couldr pass all this on to the students and expect them to preparre inthree weeks. “And, of course you’re fightinhg not just the material, but kids’ attitudes and theirr sense of failure.” Morales and Buchholtaz culledthe material, whittling it down to aboug 20 Web sites, two textbooks and a Gray designed the Web site http://www.nisd.net/jay/success/index.htm for the it’s free and accessible to anyone.
For everyt student that failed the TAKSscience test, the team analyze d scores and customized a study plan, which each child followed daily in the TAKS remediatioh class. “The lingo is Student Differentiated Buchholtz says. “We’re honing in on the greatest weaknesses.” The first year of the programkin 2005, 33 percent of the studentsz who retested passed the TAKS. In 2006, 44 percent in 2007, 62 percent were successful. John Jay Academid Dean Kathy Mitchell, says the team works because the men play the role ofgood cop/bad cop with the “They work in tandem and spend so much time with thosw students.
They’re so focused on the shepherdinvg of these kids that the studentse jokethat they’re (the teachers) stalkers. Don’t you dare let them find you eatingh lunch,” Mitchell jokes. Jasmine Garcia, a John Jay senior, is a successfulo graduate of the TAKSScience Initiative. After failing the sciencse portion of theTAKS twice, she landed in and Buchholtz’ class. In November 2008, she finally She graduates in two weeks and has applied to the Universithy of Texas in San Antonio and hopes to studyh ona pre-med track.
“I found out at Thanksgivingb that I passed and wasso happy,” Garcia “I was worried that if I didn’f pass that I wouldn’t graduate.” Evergy year, Buchholtz and Morales tweakl the class to improve their methods. Most they discovered that the Science TAKS exam has five one of which is callexd the Natureof Science, which involves reading a graph and interpreting data. “We went back and noticede there were literally maybe 15studentsz — out of all the thousands of studentsw who had ever taken the test at John Jay — that had scorex 12 or better out of 17 on that one Buccholtz says.
This year, everh Friday focused strictly on the Natures of Science portion ofthe test. Moralea and Buccholtz researched TAKS ruleas and learned they legallg had one hour before they had to pass out the They created the schoolwide video that was shown in every classroom 15 minutes beforr the test washanded out. In addition to technica l tips aboutscience components, like the periodic the video reminds studente to leave their “distractions and behind and focus on their ultimate goal. “After the the kids were callinfg me in thehallways saying: ‘Coach!
I saw you on the TV in our classroom and I’m so glad you covered that because it was on the test,’” Morales TAKS remediation is only one area in which John Jay and the entire Northside district — is tapping into technology. Morning announcements are recorded as podcasts calle d the Jaycast and uploaded onthe school’s home Web One teacher on maternity leavwe used Skype, a software that allows videoconferencing over the to teach a clas s remotely. Next year, off-site band competitions and sports playoffsz will be livestreamed into the Intwo weeks, the school’s graduation will be live streamex so that out-of-town relatives or militaru parents can watch.
The last day of school might be aroundthe corner, but there’s no easing up. “We’vre got results from April/May and we’red creating individual plans for the students to use over the Morales says.