A Steady Path Toward Growth in Pamlico County Schools, North Carolina

Like many other schools around the country, technology has become commonplace in the classrooms of Pamlico County Schools in Bayboro, North Carolina. Technology is so prevalent that, just a few years ago, school leaders found themselves caught up in an all too common scenario—using too many disparate products and platforms with a lack of central vision and professional development, leading to disappointing use and fidelity. In 2017, the district went “total Edmentum,” as Executive Director of Instructional Services Sherry Meador puts it. The move has already resulted in focused, intentional growth year over year.

As educators at Pamlico County Schools expanded their longstanding Edmentum partnership, it was integral that each program was part of a larger blended process, not a standalone piece of technology. To support this goal, the district implemented programs thoughtfully at each grade span to solve specific learning challenges.

“We're focusing on growth because our kids do come struggling and behind, and we can't control how they come to us necessarily, but we can control how they leave us,” reported Mrs. Meador. “And so, that year that they're with us, we need to grow them as best we can.”

Pamlico County Primary School (which historically served K–2 students but, as of 2019–20, serves K–3 students) now incorporates Reading Eggs to support foundational literacy and phonics skills for K–1 students. Additionally, 2nd and 3rd graders use Study Island for standards-based practice and formative assessment. And, as of 2017, Edmentum Exact Path was also introduced to support personalized instruction and individual growth in reading and math. Teachers continue to have success leveraging these programs in daily station-rotation models.

Fred A. Anderson Elementary School uses a combination of Study Island and Exact Path to achieve standards proficiency and fill in skill gaps, respectively. Programs are primarily used during WIN, or “What I Need” time, in which students are grouped by ability and receive 30 minutes of reading and 30 minutes of math enrichment, remediation, or even extra practice every day.

Pamlico County Middle School implements a similar combination of Study Island and Exact Path but with a slightly different rollout that accommodates the school schedule. Teacher professional learning community (PLC) meetings are used to organize students into groups based on abilities, and one WIN period per day is used for dedicated services based on needs. Students could receive math or reading depending on the day and their specific needs.

Pamlico County High School has long used Courseware as curriculum support and credit recovery. Mrs. Meador sees opportunity for this Edmentum program to offer a more personalized approach to students outside of the credit recovery model, though, and in 2019–20, includes plans to expand its use into blended learning for additional student populations.

As of 2019–20, the district opened the “virtual doors” to its first online academy, Pamlico County Schools Virtual Academy, leveraging Edmentum’s EdOptions Academy to power this nontraditional learning environment with proven courses and North Carolina–certified teachers. After seeing other similar programs in the state, Pamlico County Schools is hopeful that this will provide a competitive option for providing flexible options to students in the county.

While Mrs. Meador recognizes that this district still has plenty of room for improvement to meet proficiency targets, the road so far as an Edmentum partner has included several proud moments. According to school accountability growth composites published by the state, North Carolina EOG and EOC assessment scores show tremendous growth. Each year, a growth goal is set based on the previous year’s assessment scores. Therefore, each year exceeding “2” demonstrates exceptional growth.

“It’s just a really big deal for us—because [Fred A. Anderson] was considered a school of improvement last year, and we went from being a low-performing school to exceeding expected growth in one year,” shared Mrs. Meador.

Mrs. Meador believes that these signs of success are a larger indicator of more meaningful gains. That starts with everyone—from leadership to staff—using resources with fidelity and looking at the data to make everything work together.

“If you’re trying to offer personalized learning, you want to have resources that meet the needs of the kids that are on target and just need additional practice, the kids that are way above target and need to be pushed forward, and the ones that are missing some things and need that extra remediation,” remarked Mrs. Meador. “And, that’s what I feel we got from Edmentum.”