Brewton-Parker College’s newest coach, head men’s soccer coach Michael Dye, is ready for the beginning of Barons soccer season next month. Student-athletes arrive on campus Aug.2.

Dye, 26, was the assistant coach for one year (2009-2010) at West Texas A&M Univ, where Dye’s soccer team ended the season with the program’s highest national ranking of #3 in the final regular season polls, a 15-2-2 record, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA National Tournament.

“My expectations are very high (for the Barons men’s soccer team),” said Dye. “I feel that the chemistry between the players is there. I think that’s very important for the team to succeed. We will take it game by game with the main focus on taking it to post-season (conference and the national tournament).”

CF Special Report

According to Kathy Cox, Georgia’s former State Superintendent of Schools, student performance is rising and the achievement gap is closing this year in the majority of grades and content areas on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) Georgia.

The official statewide results of the CRCT were released on June 9 and show one-year improvement on 25 of the 34 content area tests with historical data. However, there was a decrease on three tests (grade 2 reading, grade 2 ELA, and grade 1 mathematics) and no one-year change on six tests.

“These results provide further evidence that our teachers are doing a great job implementing the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and they are to be commended for their hard work,” Cox said.

“It  also shows that when you raise expectations, Georgia students will rise up and meet that higher bar."

Among the highlights of the report:
• Mathematics, grade 8: The pass rate was 74 percent, an increase of four points in one year and 12 points since GPS implementation (2008).
• Science, grade 7: Eighty (80) percent of students passed the science CRCT, a one-year increase of four points and an increase of 17 points since GPS implementation (2006).
• Reading, grade 5: Ninety (90) percent of students passed the reading CRCT, one-year increase of two points and an increase of nine points since GPS implementation (2006).
• Social Studies, grade 8: The pass rate was 70 percent, an increase of seven points in one year and 11 points since GPS implementation (2008).

Achievement Gap is Closing
Even as student achievement increased in almost every subgroup, the achievement gap between minority students and white students continues to narrow under the GPS. The gap is also shrinking between regular program students and English Language Learners (ELL).

“For the most part, achievement is improving for all of our students, but our African-American students, Hispanic students and English Language Learners are making substantial progress each year under our new standards," Cox said.

“There is still work to be done, but I am very pleased that our achievement gap continues to narrow."
Among the highlights of the score report:
• Reading, grade 3: The pass rates for English Language Learners (83%) increased 7 points in one year and 26 points since the implementation of GPS. The achievement gap between ELL and regular program students closed 5 points since last year and 19 points since GPS implementation.
• English Language Arts, grade 5: The pass rates for Hispanic students (90%) have increased 16 points in five years compared to an increase of 4 points for White students. The achievement gap has closed by 12 points.
• Math, grade 7: The pass rates for English Language Learners (65%) have increased 5 points in one year and 20 points since the implementation of GPS. The achievement gap between ELL and regular program students closed 4 points since last year and 9 points since the beginning of the new curriculum.

Performance on New Tests
This year with the addition of grades 6 and 7 Social Studies, all content areas have transitioned to the GPS from the Quality Core Curriculum (QCC). The results of the grade 6 and 7 social studies exams were invalidated in 2008. Groups of educators and curriculum experts made revisions to the curriculum in these areas and the CRCT is now aligned to the revised curriculum. In each case, the new test was more rigorous and required higher order thinking.

“These results give us a more realistic picture of what our students know and can do in social studies," said Superintendent Cox. "We are holding our students to a higher standard so that when they get their diploma it will mean they are truly ready for the demands of the 21st century and prepared to be productive citizens in our country."

Sixty-four (64) percent of 6th graders and 71 percent of 7th graders passed the new GPS-aligned CRCT in social studies.

Promotion/Retention
Scores went up in all grades and content areas where students must pass to automatically be promoted to the next grade level.

State law requires that students in third, fifth and eighth grade meet or exceed expectations on the CRCT in reading in order to be promoted.

Fifth and eighth grade students must also meet or exceed expectations on the CRCT in mathematics.
Results from the 2010 CRCT report:
•  Third-grade scores increased two (2) percentage points from last year to 90% in reading.
• Fifth-grade scores increased two (2) percentage points from last year to 90% in reading, and three (3) percentage points to 82% in mathematics.
• Eighth-grade scores increased two (2) percentage points from last year to 95% in reading, and four (4) percentage points to 74% in mathematics.

Local system-level and school-level results
At this point, school systems across Georgia have received student-level results only. Some districts may have calculated local results using this data, but many have not. The Georgia Department of Education will make local results available on the following dates:
• No later than June 23: System-by-system results
• No later than July 8: School-level results
The school-based results can be viewed at http://www.gadoe.org/peacommunications.aspx?ViewMode=1&obj=1954.

One hundred current Georgia high school juniors and seniors were selected from across the state, bringing together a diverse group of students, selected from a competitive pool of applicants. They participated in a weeklong series of training sessions and discussions focused on the media and current events.

Each Leadership Unplugged workshop provided a dynamic, interactive experience led by professionals, mirroring the kind of training major companies provide to their high-ranking leaders. The discussion topics included diversity, ethics in media, and audience engagement.

In addition, panels and mentoring sessions were held by several anchors and executives including CNN’s Don Lemon and Abbie Boudreau; HLN’s Susan Hendricks and Richelle Carey; CNN International’s Errol Barnett and CNN Student News Carl Azuz; and Kelly Regal executive vice president of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

The curriculum for Leadership Unplugged was developed by CNN Student News, CNN’s 10-minute, cost and commercial-free news program for middle and high school students that airs weekdays throughout the school year at 4:00 a.m. (ET) on HLN and is streamed on www.CNNStudentNews.com. Free teacher materials for each show are also available on the CNN Student News homepage.

Garden City police officers volunteer their time and expertise to teach students both in the classroom and on-the-job. They act as advisors and coordinate with the faculty at Woodville Tompkins to form and mold the program into a productive learning environment.

“So far we have on average 30 students participating,” said Purtee. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive from everyone involved, including the students, the faculty at Woodville Tompkins, and the Garden City police officers. This is the first program of its kind in Garden City and we are working very hard to ensure its success.”

For more information about Garden City’s Explorer Post program at Woodville Tompkins Technical and Career Institute, please contact Kurtis Purtee at 912.966.7777 or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .