Kershaw to Use New Test-Result Programs
Educators say tools will help identify students who need assistance.

The State Newspaper / Kershaw Neighbors / Columbia, SC
Thursday, May 19, 2005
By KRISTY EPPLEY RUPON / Staff Writer

Kershaw County School district officials say two new tools that measure student progress will help improve student learning.

The district plans to use the Measures of Academic Progress and TestView to plot how individual students perform on standardized tests.

The tools allow teachers to use real-time results to identify students who need help and those who meet standards and need more learning opportunities, said Agnes Slayman, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

“Everything we do in curriculum instruction needs to be data driven,” Slayman said, adding that the programs provide a proactive approach to helping Kershaw County students meet state education standards.

John Gardner, a former teacher in the district and current director of student assessment, said the new technology gives teachers more information more quickly than in the past.

Gardner said when he was a teacher he spent all of his spare time in a full week researching his students’ standardized test score history.

“With a click of the mouse, we’ll be able to do similar things,’ he said.  “It takes all that vault sitting and permanent record searching out of the equation.  …  You can focus on the students.”

Slayman said with this new technology, Kershaw is following in the footsteps of some of the top districts in the state.

She said the new programs will allow the district to develop comprehensive curriculum guides that teachers can use as tools.

“That’s what the top districts are doing,” Slayman said.  “We’ve got some good plans.”

Superintendent Herb Berg said the new programs will help the district reach its ultimate goal of improved student learning.

“It’s going to make the analysis of what students know so much easier and sharper for our teachers,” he said.