Wayne County Schools Excites Students About Learning with Classworks

The Wayne County School System implements Classworks® to individualize instruction for special education students, English language learners (ELL), and regular education students at the elementary and middle school levels. With Classworks’ engaging, standards-based instruction, students have gained confidence and dramatically increased their excitement about learning. Teachers, too, have become excited about students’ new fire for learning.

Challenge
The Wayne County School System in Jesup, Ga., enrolls 5,400 students in five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. Approximately 13 percent of students receive special education services.

“With No Child Left Behind, all students must make Adequate Yearly Progress,” said Vicki C. Hopps, special education director for Wayne County Schools. “In many instances, our special education students were not meeting state targets in math. I had seen and heard about Classworks at special education conferences. I thought it was a great, research-based instructional tool for benchmarking and delivering differentiated instruction to students.”

Implementation
In 2010, Wayne County Schools implemented Classworks comprehensive K-12 instructional software in its middle and elementary schools. Classworks includes 17,000 instructional activities drawn from 265 top software titles, along with assessment and reporting, to engage students and increase performance in math, reading, language arts and elementary science.

In Wayne County, students use Classworks in classroom and lab settings, depending on the school. Special education students work on Classworks a minimum of 45 minutes a week in math and reading. If time permits, regular education teachers may use Classworks with their students as well.

“Our students are growing up in a digital age,” said Hopps. “Classworks is geared for today’s thinkers. It engages students and holds their attention, and delivers instruction incrementally to make sure they master the content. If students have trouble with geometry problems or computation, for example, Classworks will prescribe instruction in that specific area.”

Each Classworks unit includes a mini-lesson, instructional activities, remediation, and a quick quiz. The interactive lessons provide differentiated, standards-based instruction, and allow students to encounter a subject from varied perspectives to support diverse learning styles.

“Classworks is an integrated learning model that not only teaches students new material but also maintains previously taught skills,” said Cheryl McReady, a special education teacher at Screven Elementary in Wayne County Schools. “Classworks is designed to move students through the pyramid of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students are taught new information through the mini-lessons, and they’re given a review of concepts previously taught. After students are confident about concepts, they then proceed to activities that reinforce the new skills, moving them to the ‘apply’ level in Bloom’s. Once the activities are mastered, the student is evaluated. The design of Classworks allows students to work independently. It is the best solution for differentiated instruction.”

In addition to individualized instruction, teachers use Classworks for whole group and small group instruction. “Teachers can use activities in Classworks to introduce or reinforce a concept with the whole class. They can also set up stations and send small groups to the computers to work on specific lessons,” said Hopps.

To monitor student progress, instructional coaches use the Classworks Manager instructional management system and reporting, and share the data with teachers.

Outside the regular school day, Wayne County Schools also uses Classworks in a six-week “mini-camp” afterschool to help selected students prepare for the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT). In the middle schools, the afterschool program is targeted to students with disabilities. In the elementary schools, it is geared to special education and Title I students.

Results
Although the district has only been using Classworks for a few months, administrators, teachers and students are delighted with their experiences.

“Students desire instant and interactive learning. Classworks makes it possible to provide effective differentiated instruction in every classroom,” said McReady. “As a special education teacher, I am very excited about Classworks. I can see students’ enthusiasm for learning. Not only am I excited, but my students are excited and, most importantly, engaged in learning.”

Hopps has heard similar stories from other educators throughout the district. “The principal of Screven Elementary, Dr. Mark Priester, was just telling me that children actually run in from recess because they’re so excited about getting to Classworks,” she said.

In spring 2010, Screven Elementary even earned special recognition for its enthusiasm in the third annual “Win with Classworks” contest. The school won the grand prize for its video submission about how much students enjoy working with Classworks. As one Screven Elementary student said in the winning video, “Now students desire to learn. And teachers and students not only are excited but are actively engaged.” In addition, McReady was selected as one of 20 winners from across the country for her online essay submission about her experiences with Classworks.

In fall 2011, Wayne County Schools plans to expand its use of Classworks to provide targeted instruction for specific student subgroups and customized interventions for students in its Response to Intervention (RtI) program.

“Our school system’s mission is to empower all students to reach their highest levels of achievement. Classworks supports this mission,” said Hopps. “With Classworks, students see they are improving in math and reading, and that it’s now easier to understand the concepts the teacher is teaching. Students like that they’re able to embark on their own individualized learning paths. Most important, they feel excited about their learning. That’s really the main benefit of Classworks.”