Note: Criterion-Referenced Test (CRT) results compiled and provided by the Utah State Office of Education.
Additional Washington County School District articles:
ST. GEORGE, Utah – Who gets credit for
the well-above-state-average test scores
in Washington County School District’s
intermediate schools? Search all you like
for that one key ingredient, but what you’re
likely to find instead is a well-balanced
recipe that yields superior educational
experiences necessary to put students
among the state’s top performers in math,
language arts, and science.
In its fifth year as a required seventh-grade
course in the district, Pitsco
technology curriculum has been one of
those important ingredients as it serves
to unify through hands-on, real-world
experiences the content that students
learn in their English, math, and science
courses. The technology course brings
these subjects together in career-relevant
activities such as bridge building,
broadcasting, robotics, forensics, graphic
design, mechanics, and more.
“We answer the question, ‘Where am
I ever going to use this?’ That’s what we
do,” said Pitsco Curriculum Facilitator Brian
Armstrong of Tonaquint Intermediate School.
“At every station they do math, at every
station they do science, and at every station
they do writing. I know quite often I asked that
question when I was in school. These kids ask
the same question. Well, we show them. We
show them where the rubber meets the road,
where this learning means something.”
Students appreciate that revealing
truth, which emerges through the unique
delivery of cross-curricular content via
a combination of equipment, materials,
software, video, and audio. Many students
are kinesthetic learners and prefer to do
rather than just read or listen to lectures.
“You’re not, like, reading out of a
textbook or anything. It’s more of an
interactive learning, so that’s fun,” said
Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School seventh
grader Ryanne. “I think it’s easier because
your mind’s more occupied and focused on the subject instead of wandering. When you
read a textbook, your mind kind of wanders
to other things.”
Sunrise Ridge Principal Sandy Ferrell
has observed activity in the Pitsco lab on
many occasions, and she sees clearly how
the technology course has helped students
reach some rarefied air. The school’s math
scores in 2011 were the second highest
among all middle and junior high schools
in the state, and their science scores
were third highest.
“There’s high student engagement.
It’s not a boring lab,” Ferrell said. “The
kids are involved, they’re engaged, and
we know that student engagement equals
student achievement.”
Ferrell’s counterpart at Lava Ridge
Intermediate, Kalyn Gubler, says Module
Facilitator Seth Bingham regularly emphasizes
to his students the Module content
connections to core math and science
concepts. “The kids are seeing how all this
connects,” Gubler said. “Math experience is
here. It ties into our real life, and our learning
level is higher because of it.”