Small changes make a big difference

Liberty makes highest MAP scores in the district for math, science and english

Olivia Holler
November 11, 2016

Liberty made big strides on EOC testing scores leading as No.1 in both English 2 and Algebra 2 in St. Charles County that includes Wentzville, Zumwalt and Francis Howell school districts.

The English and math departments are very pleased of the outcome of the results.

“I am proud and excited that we were No. 1 in English 2 in St. Charles County and we were No. 1 in Algebra 2,” principal Mr. Nelson said. “We are in good company there if we are number one in two areas and we did well in other subjects as well. I’m looking forward to next year to see if we can up those scores.”

There have been some small changes to the way the English teachers have prepared the students for the EOC.
USAtestprep is online tool for students and teachers to practice and prepare for the EOC’s.

“For English 2, there is a software program that is called USAtestprep,” Nelson said. “I have a lot of experience using that both here in the Wentzville School District and also when I was a EOC coordinator in Fort Zumwalt High school. I’ve found that whoever is using USAtestprep, it’s a really good tool to use to prepare the kids for the types of questions. USAtestprep works with the company who makes the test. So they are directly inline of the types of questions on the test.”

Implementing USAtestprep has shown improvement in students English skills as well as the EOC scores.

English teachers have also not only been using USAtestprep but have been building relationships with students.

“The English department works hard to build relationships as well as making sure students understand the relevance of what we are teaching them,” Ms. Borders said. “I think that helps make improvement to the scores.”

The math department had also made new accommodations to help the students prepare not only for the EOC’s but for regular unit test in general.

“Throughout the year, we use the vocabulary and formatting we see on the released items to help students feel more comfortable with the ‘look’ of the test,” Ms. Hallemeier said. “Then, when we get

closer to the EOC test, we review topics unit by unit and as we get to the week before the test we mix up the topics, more like it’s presented on the test.”

Since the teachers have made these changes, they feel like the students are better understanding the information.