Summer 'Math Camp' for Seniors in NECAP 'Predicament' Ready to Go

Most of the soon-to-be seniors at East Providence High School who would not graduate today based on their “high-stakes testing” math scores last year have signed up for a special “math camp" this summer.

Principal Janet Sheehan, who proposed the special summer camp for the 42 percent of last year’s juniors who were not proficient on the NECAP tests given last fall, said 80 students will take classes at either the Career and Technical Center or Riverside Middle School. 

Sheehan said she had hoped for a few more students.

“But overall, I’m happy,” she said. “Many of the students who have not signed up are within two or three points and expect to improve their scores on their own.” 

The camp will start on July 22 and run through Aug. 23.  Certified teachers will work with the students four days a week for two hours a day. 

Attendance is considered mandatory, said Sheehan.

“I’ve already talked to the parents and the students,” she said. “They have made a commitment to come every day. We expect them to keep that commitment.”

The School Committee budgeted $18,000 for the summer math camp. But it transferred that money from another line item only with the assurance that the students would show up.

The students must demonstrate at least partial proficiency or show some improvement in math to graduate next year. They will take the NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) tests again in mid-October. This "cohort" of students is the first to face a graduation requirement that includes NECAP scores.

At least three different strategies will be used at the math camp, Sheehan said, including virtual math modules from the state, direct instruction in the areas where students show weaknesses, and reliance on web resources. 

The math camp will be the only additional support available for the kids in this predicament before October, she said. In general, the camp will stress algebra and geometry, functions and operations, ratios and percentages and some of the real “nitty gritty” of math going back a few years.

There is one last chance for the seniors who do not improve their scores enough in October. The state is setting up “regional centers” in March as a kind of fail-safe, she said. 

But Sheehan is hopeful that the summer math camp will be effective enough for most of the students to show the necessary improvement without going down to the wire in the spring.