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Test Scores

Noteworthy Achievements Among VESC™ K-12 Schools Nationwide

 

In collaborative efforts with school personnel, the Ventures Initiative and Focus™ system approach has led to:

 

 

Improved Test Scores

 

  • In one New York City school, 9th grade student performance on pre- and post-PSAT verbal and math exams increased by 20% and 16%, respectively, after 9th grade teachers schoolwide implemented just one component of the Ventures Initiative and Focus™ system.
  • Students in the Arkansas network of schools took College Board-sponsored Advanced Placement courses in calculus, English, and history, for the first time, during three years of sustained professional development of staff.
  • In Alabama, when 11th grade teachers in one high school collaborated in providing their full course of study through project learning, there was a 6% increase in physics mean scores and an 11% increase in algebra II mean scores. The number of seniors taking the ACT increased 33% in one year and ACT scores over 20 increased 200%. In addition, several seniors received an ACT score of 30.
  • From 1994 to 1995, students in one New York City high school passing Regents exams in sequential math increased 165%; in English, 146%; in global history, 141%; and in biology, 115%.
  • In a statewide math test, 6 students from a Navajo Reservation high school scored among the top 10; 21 VESC™ students scored among the top 10%.
  • In one New York City high school (where the percentage of eligible students taking the Regents exams was significantly declining at each grade level), school leaders, in anticipation of more stringent high school graduation requirements, launched a major effort to ensure that all students would register for the Regents courses and take the Regents examinations. After two years of sustained professional development with VESC™, not only was there a general increase in the percentage of students registering for the exams, but there was also a steady increase in the percentage of students successfully passing the exams. The percentage of those passing the Regents exams in U.S. history and government rose from .03% to 40%; in global studies, from 19% to 28.1%; in English, from 31% to 67.4%; in sequential math II, from 14% to 17%; in sequential math III, from 12% to 25.7%; in biology, from .07% to 12.3%; and in chemistry, from .09% to 11.7%. Sustained efforts, with consistent application of VESC™ methods in each of the disciplines, will ensure that an even greater percentage of students taking the exams will pass.