News Release

CONTACT: Milly Hough, millyh@scsba.state.sc.us, 1.800.326.3679

Richland Two Schools a double award winner

February 14, 2004

COLUMBIA, SC - Richland Two Schools received two awards February 14 during the awards banquet at the South Carolina School Boards Association's (SCSBA) annual convention in Hilton Head.

High School Initiatives 2000+ and TestView each received a Saluting Student Success award.

The High School Initiatives 2000+ program provides a safety net for students in grades 9-12 in the three high schools, helping students achieve academically and socially. The district identifies at-risk rising ninth graders and invites them to a two-week seminar designed to make the transition from eighth grade easier. Guidance counselors and teachers work with these students and continue to meet with them once they enter ninth grade. When they arrive in high school, freshmen join a mentoring program. They meet in small groups four days a week for 20 minutes during lunch, focusing on interpersonal and leadership skills.

Other components of the program include a system of privileges, parent involvement, and additional teacher planning and collaboration time.

At each of the three high schools the freshman failure rate has been reduced, and tardiness and absences have decreased and SAT scores are increasing.

TestView is a web-based software program that delivers standardized test results directly into the hands of classroom teachers. On day one of each new school year, teachers have at their fingertips a comprehensive performance profile on each student. The information allows teachers to customize instruction to help each student succeed.

Richland Two developed the TestView program from the ground up. Teachers, administrators, board members and technology staff brainstormed ways in which teachers could actually use test score data to tailor instruction for students. At the time that TestView was developed, an off the shelf product did not exist. Within TestView, scores from PACT, SAT, PSAT, Terra-Nova, and exit exams are neatly overlaid on basic student information.

The Saluting Student Success award was established in 2002 to recognize innovative programs at the district and school levels that significantly impact student learning. Programs must be original, must have operated for at least two consecutive and full school years and must show evidence of results

SCSBA is the statewide professional organization for the state's 85 local school boards.

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For more information or a copy of a particular nomination, contact Milly Hough, 1.800.326.3679