Matthew Santoni, The Examiner
2006-07-11 09:00:00.0
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Harford County -

Harford County schools are hoping to tackle achievement gaps and reach more students through the “Best Bets” program, which trains teachers on tested methods for improving student participation and learning.

By focusing on building vocabulary, improving note-taking, summarizing topics and identifying similarities and differences, teachers can get their students to be more active participants and “take ownership” of their learning experience, said Jackie Tarbert, acting coordinator of curriculum and professional development.

“These are the things shown to have a high probability of improving student achievement, so let’s make them happen,” she said, citing research by Robert Marzano and Denver-based Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

For example, the “Best Bets” approach to note-taking pushes students to write down what the teacher is saying in one column, add their own ideas and notes in a second column, and summarize each page in a box at the bottom, Talbert said. Doing so keeps students more organized and more involved in the subject than traditional transcription-style note-taking.

Preliminary results from the Maryland State Assessment tests showed that Harford County’s black students are getting fewer passing scores on the federally-mandated math and reading tests than other students. Superintendent Jacqueline Haas pointed to the Best Bets program as an attempt to narrow that gap.

While there has not yet been an increase in test scores that can be attributed to the three-year-old program, officials remain hopeful that the approach can close the achievement gap and improve scores all around.

“One of the things all the ‘Best Bets’ have in common is that they force teachers to work on higher-level thinking,” said June Clark, an instructional facilitator at Magnolia Middle School and Joppatowne High School.

“We have a lot of struggling learners ... and they need every day, in every class, to think at a higher level so they can close that gap.”

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com