Separating freshmen from the rest of the student body, then dividing them into small groups and giving them more individual attention, has been a popular initiative at several local high schools.
The hope is to not only ease the students into the rest of their high school career but also to prepare them for the state ISTEP+ exam.
With the release of another year of test results, some Allen County high schools are boasting success from these programs, but the results for others remain to be seen.
South Side High School, in Fort Wayne Community Schools, increased its passing rate for 10th-graders in language arts by 9 percentage points this year. The students tested in the fall were the first to benefit from the freshman initiative that began at the school last year.
The results were not as promising in math, however, as the passing rate in that subject declined from 44 percent last year to 42 percent this year.
But South Side remains the crown jewel among the freshman initiative programs at FWCS. Spokeswoman Krista Stockman said the program was implemented the best at the school, with teachers collaborating and trying to merge subjects.
The same could not be said at Elmhurst and North Side high schools, which also began the initiative last year. Last year was one of transition for Elmhurst, which was without a principal from November to the end of the year. Former principal Barb Gentry resigned amid allegations her secretary had sexual relationships with former or current students.
Schools need a strong leader in place for the freshman program to work, Stockman said. And officials believe they have that with new principal Chad Hissong, who will be monitoring the program more closely, Stockman said. Passing rates in both language arts and math for Elmhurst 10th-graders went down from 45 percent last year to 40 percent this year.
While there was no increase overall, officials were able to see improvement in specific areas of 10th-grade language arts on the ISTEP+, such as reading comprehension, literature analysis and writing application, Stockman said.
North Side structured its program differently than South Side last year in that teachers were not located close to one another in the building, making it hard to collaborate and work together effectively, Stockman said.
“This year they have physically changed the setups, and the classrooms are closer together,” Stockman said.
Passing rates increased at North Side, from 34 percent considered proficient last year to 36 percent this year.
Carroll High School Ninth Grade Academy Principal Ken Folks credits the freshman program for taking ISTEP+ scores to their highest level ever in language arts. Ninety percent of 10th-graders performed at grade level on the math portion of the test, the highest ever for that section, Folks said.
That’s an increase of 2 percentage points over last year. Scores on the language arts portion were stagnant but high, at 89 percent passing.
Homestead High School also has a freshman academy, but officials could not be reached for comment. The passing rate on the language arts portion went down by 2 percentage points to 84 percent and down in math by 1 percentage point to 86 percent.
ksoderlund@jg.net
