Many students here at Lincoln Park have been missing their arts classes lately due to a course called Comprehensive Math. It is a product of Title One, a federal program which goes towards promoting math and reading.
“This is one of the ways we’re promoting math,” said Lindsay Rodgers, Title One Coordinator, who controls the federal funding at Lincoln Park. “[The goal is] to prepare students to reach a proficient level before graduation…which is a graduation requirement of the school and also falls under both national and state expectations for students.”
There are Title One staff members who teach the math classes—Sarah Marcy and Lynn Parr. Students meet with them two days a week or one day a week based on their individual needs. But how are the needs of each student calculated?
“We’re using an online assessment program offered through Plato Learning,” said Rodgers. “It provides us with benchmark exams [which are given three times a year] to test various proficiency levels in various subjects and can also provide online remediation courses in each subject.” Rodgers explained that they chose the teacher-taught classes over the online courses because junior year is “such a major year.” She also mentioned that the freshman and sophomore classes may also qualify for online instruction time through Plato.
But not all the students were forced into the program. Due to a glitch in the original testing, some were placed in the Comprehensive Math course even though they had proficient scores. Several of them, however, chose to stay.
“I’d rather be in the class than get a low score on my PSSAs,” said junior Cassie Hall. “It is helping me, because a lot of the stuff I didn’t know. It’s not necessarily exciting; I’m educating myself.”
Stelanie Chirgott, also a junior, had similar reasons for staying.
“I felt that it’d be very beneficial to take that class,” Chirgott said. “If you know how expensive SAT and PSSA prep is, to have a free class handed to you, there’s no reason not to take it.”
Chirgott is “really into studying for the SATs and PSSAs.” She is taking an online Kaplan SAT prep course and owns three SAT prep books. She ranks the Comprehensive Math course above all the other methods.
“Nothing helps more than a teacher teaching you. All of these tests are logic-based. I can’t learn from book logic. I have to be taught it,” said Chirgott.
Chirgott also understands the stakes of the PSSAs for Lincoln Park. “If we don’t pass, the arts are going to be gone. For everyone. If you think about the consequences if we don’t pass, it definitely outweighs this class.”
When asked if she would take advantage of the reading course in the spring, Chirgott replied, “There’s no point in not taking something that’s given to you.”
~Taylor Sirko