BY Joe Parrino
NEW ERA STAFF WRITER
As local middle schools face the toughest possible sanctions of any schools in the district, teachers are keeping the faith in key programs.
Hopkinsville Middle School began its second year of implementing Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) and the instructional approach known as Thoughtful Classroom.
“We’re off to a great start,” said practical living teacher Pam Bush.
The start had its rough spots, too.
One month after classes began, teachers and administrators learned that HMS — along with Christian County Middle School and North Drive Middle School — failed to meet federal achievement standards for the fifth straight year.
HMS met 12 out of 16 No Child Left Behind targets in 2006-07. Though the performance was a slight improvement, the school’s consistent shortcomings put it on the brink of major consequences.
Unless HMS reaches all federal goals this year, state law calls for reorganization of school personnel — possibly even leadership.
It’s too early to know how the state might handle a school like HMS, which already underwent a change at the top.
Wendy Duvall took over the helm at HMS this summer after Mark Page resigned.
Teachers like Bush and science teacher Debbie Milburn said the looming consequences do not overwhelm them.
“I know what’s coming,” said HMS science teacher Debbie Milburn. “But I can’t think about the worst case scenario.”
Milburn says she conserves her mental energy for reaching learners. Weekly meetings train teams of HMS teachers on the instructional strategies behind the Thoughtful Classroom curriculum.
Recently, Milburn and her colleagues were encouraged to make their lesson repertoire more inclusive.
The research supporting Thoughtful Classroom shows that 87 percent of students who struggle academically learn more during group activities and creative activities than during lecture.
Milburn said her own self-expressive personality makes it natural to design science lessons around non-lecture learners. One of her Tuesday seventh-grade classes pushed aside tables and chairs to learn the concept of momentum through a Matchbox car experiment on the floor.
If Milburn was distracted by anything in recent weeks, it was her anticipation of statewide test scores. While schools received their NCLB report in early September, the actual scores in reading, math and other academic categories won’t be made public until this week.
When Superintendent Dr. Bob Lovingood visited HMS recently, Milburn caught him in the hall to ask, “When are we getting our scores?”
The Kentucky Department of Education is scheduled to release its data for the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) on Tuesday.
Milburn said she works relentlessly with her students to improve their written responses on CATS. Students with weaker literacy skills frequently skipped open-ended questions.
“Those zeroes kill us,” Milburn said.
To get students to take the written portion of CATS more seriously, Milburn made writing short answers central to her classroom. Students were taught the components of a written answer, given plenty of practice and rewarded for a complete response.
Bush, also an experienced educator, added plenty to her “bag of tricks” during the past two years.
The practical living teacher makes a conscious effort to commend good behavior, one of the guiding principles behind the discipline system PBS.
“It seems like we’re always talking to the kids getting in trouble,” Bush said.” When I recognize students who are doing things positive, things go a lot smoother.”
Bush’s and every other HMS classroom is decorated with a poster that reads CHAMPS. The acronym represents different PBS rules.
“C” , for example, stands for conversation level. Bush tunes her students’ voice level up and down many times over the course of her class. A “0” volume is demanded whenever the bell rings and students set to work on a starter activity. A “1” is permitted for activities that call for whispering between group members and higher levels for more spirited activities.
CHAMPS principles are reinforced every morning during Principal Duvall’s announcement over the loud speaker and every lunch period through a slideshow in the cafeteria.
Ingraining acceptable behavior is critical for the transition most HMS students experience, Bush said. Middle schoolers enter a high school-like environment with lockers and switching classrooms. Emotionally, though, many have not matured from an elementary school level.
Math teacher Ashlee Grace said her sympathies for the middle school age group make her wish “she could take every student home for a week.”
“I don’t have enough time to help all the students I know need it,” Grace said.
Algebra is challenging for many students. But sometimes the biggest barrier is work ethic, Grace said.
Last year, HMS met federal goals in math for all students except those with disabilities. Grace has six special needs students in her first period class.
“It’s not their intelligence,” Grace said. “They need to believe in themselves.”

JOE PARRINO can be reached at 887-3239 or jparrino@kentuckynewera.com.