Access Students Benefit from Summer School
Access is pleased to report the academic gains made by middle school students attending our Academy Summer School programs at our three archdiocesan partner schools.
“Based on the student’s performance during the school year, the Summer School program targets specific areas for improvement in Reading, Language Arts, and Math,” said Betsy Liberatore, Executive Director of Access Academies. “For instance, instruction might focus on dividing fractions in Math or capitalization, usage and punctuation in Language Arts.”
The Summer School program dedicates a minimum of 96 hours to academics and up to an additional 24 hours for enrichment over a three week period. Unlike the traditional school year where students are assigned classes based on age/grade level, students in the Summer School program are assigned classes based on their proficiency in reading and math.
“Testing at the beginning of Summer School helps us place students in the appropriate classes. The scores also serve as a baseline for measuring each student’s academic growth at the completion of the program,” added Liberatore.
At the completion of the program, students are given a grade for each class, which will be incorporated into their first quarter fall semester report cards. Below are the encouraging academic gains made by Academy students enrolled at Most Holy Trinity School & Academy, St. Cecilia School & Academy, and St. Louis the King School at the Cathedral.
Math
- Most Holy Trinity School & Academy – 88% of students experienced an increase in test scores at the end of the program. Across all MHT students, the average increase was almost one-full grade level, at a 0.8 increase. Most impressive were the 6th graders who experienced a one-full grade level increase. (Note- the school uses the STAR testing program for both reading and math.)
- Cecilia School & Academy – 96% of students experienced an increase in test scores at the end of the program. The average student growth between pre- and post-test was 40%.
- Louis the King School at the Cathedral – 92% of students experienced an increase in test scores at the end of the program. The average student growth between pre- and post-test was 16%.
English/Language Arts
- Most Holy Trinity School & Academy – 87% of students experienced an increase in test scores at the end of the program. The average student growth between pre- and post-test was 28%.
- Cecilia School & Academy – 90% of the students experienced an increase in test scores at the end of the program. The average student growth between pre- and post-test was 21%.
- Louis the King School at the Cathedral – 91% of students experienced an increase in test scores at the end of the program. The average student growth between pre- and post-test was 6%.
Reading
- Most Holy Trinity School & Academy – 72% of students experienced an increase in test scores at the end of the program. Across all MHT students, the average increase was one and one-half of a full grade level, at a 1.4 increase. (Note- the school uses the STAR testing program for both reading and math.)
- Cecilia School & Academy – Students were assigned books to read in small groups and book reports were completed at the end of the program. There are no pre/post- tests available.
- Louis the King School at the Cathedral – Students were assigned books to read in small groups and book reports were completed at the end of the program. There are no pre/post- tests available.
Across all the Summer School sites, 90% of enrolled students showed improvement in English/Language Arts skills, and 91% showed improvement in Math. Moving forward, the summer programs at the Academies will remain focused on Math, English/Language Arts, and Reading with classes based on academic proficiency, rather than grade level, to continue our trend of student improvement.
For more information regarding this release, please contact Julie Linder, Director of Communications, by calling (573) 268-0639 or emailing [email protected]