Supplemental Education Services Program

School is now back in session throughout the country and while for some this means new clothes and reconnecting with friends, for many students it feels like staring into the abyss of a dark tunnel with no light in sight.

When the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction released the list of schools failing to meet standards during the 2009-2010 school year, over 300 schools, many of them in the local area, made the list.

These schools were not making “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) as required by the state, a policy stemming from the now defunct No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The AYP is determined by looking at a combination of High School Proficiency Exam and Measurement of Student Progress scores, graduation rates, and attendance records.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has teamed up with many private and district organizations to improve the AYP of these struggling schools by using Supplemental Education Services (SES) and working with educationally “at risk” students in one-on-one and small group environments.

“The Supplemental Educations Services program allows us to address these epidemic problems on a smaller scale, one student at a time,” said Brian Forster, President of Pi Plus Tutors. Pi Plus Tutors is a Puget Sound based tutoring company that has tutors all over Washington State working with the SES program.

“The districts and the government have to see the problem in terms of numbers and percentages”, said Forster. “But the teachers in the classrooms can directly see impact of the issue on the faces of children who are being told to succeed without being given the tools.”

The SES program works with low-income children that attend these AYP failing schools and provides one-on-one and small group tutoring after school from both private and district providers. Supplemental Education Services operates under the umbrella of Title I, a national act that distributes federal money to the schools and students who are most in need.

"As an elementary school teacher, I am thrilled that this program allows tutors to work one-on-one with students.  It is what every teacher wishes they had time for,” said Kristi Rodriguez, Pi Plus Tutor’s NW Regional Director. “Being a tutor as well, I know that individual attention makes a difference in the success and confidence of my students.”

To qualify for free Supplemental Education Services tutoring a student must be on free or reduced lunch and attend a Title I school that has failed to meet AYP standards for two years and is at Level 2 status. The SES enrollment window is only open for a short time as the first windows close by September, 30.  For information about how to join the Pi Plus Tutors team, and to find the list of schools that are eligible, visit www.piplustutors.com

Meet a Pi Plus Tutor - Marie Schimke

Marie Schimke is a tutor in the Seattle/Bellevue area. Marie is a career student who persues knowledge in every aspect of her life. She has a B.A. in Spanish and in French from the University of Oregon. She got her Masters in Teaching from Pacific Lutheran University. From there she attended California State University, Domingeuz Hills where she received a M.A. in Teaching of English as a Second Language. She also has a degree in Visual Arts from Fort Lewis College. However, with all of these degrees, she still says that her favorite subject to learn and teach is history. “We can’t move forward unless we listen to the past.”

The love of history and learning was taught to Marie at a young age. Both of her parents were educators so they talked and taught around the dinner table. “In fact that’s still what we talk about when I go home. We talk about our students and the best ways to teach them.” Marie’s father taught Washington State and Native American History in high school. 

“He had a very hands on approach to history.” Marie talks about how once, when teaching about the Bella Coola tribe, her father took his whole class out to the track. He explained about a native test of strength and worthiness where warriors were made to run a distance with their mouths full of water. If the tribe member was able to finish the distance with water still in his mouth then he was proved worthy. Then he brought out a jug of water and told the class that anyone who was able to run a mile with water still in their mouth would receive an automatic A in his class. 

Marie currently teaches college classes as well as working with her Pi Plus Students. She enjoys the chance to teach all different age groups. “Fortunately for me, all of my kids have been great. With the younger kids we would play a bit first to help them get ready to learn and to let me get an idea of their mood that day. I love to see them brighten up when I come to teach them. They are so full of innocence and excitement.”

Outside of the classroom, Marie has a different passion, Tennessee Walking Horses. She shows her horses nearly every weekend from April to September.

Learning Through Music

Ever since the early 90’s, the rumors of the “Mozart Effect” have circulated like a quick-fix solution to our country’s mathematical woes. All of a sudden parents believed that if they played classical music to their kids when they were young they would naturally grow up and succeed in math. While many studies have found a positive correlation between music and learning, it is not as simple as listening to a little Beethoven. 

Studies out of the University of California, Irvine by field leader Dr. Gordon Shaw in the mid to late 90’s looked into the “Mozart effect” in depth. Multiple studies were done on different age groups to see how much of an effect that music could have on the brain. The results of these studies showed that the preschoolers and grade school students who were given piano or keyboard lessons in addition to their math problems improved by 34% over their peers in the control group. They proved to be especially strong in their temporal-spatial reasoning skills.

Shaw’s studies, as well as several others, point to increased temporal-spatial reasoning as the key connection between music and learning. Temporal-spatial reason is the ability to visualize spatial patterns and mentally manipulate them over a time-ordered sequence of spatial transformations. Or more simply, it’s is the ability to see patterns in both time and space. This skill is stronger in many children who study music because it is indirectly taught as they learn different scales and types of notes. Rather than simply seeing a fraction on paper they are able to see, hear, and experience it on another level through half and quarter notes. 

Playing an instrument can also be instrumental in fostering good habits for the future. The practice and dedication it takes to play a musical instrument is a skill that can be learned at a very early age. Far earlier than a child is able to comprehend most mathematical concepts. These skills can become invaluable to a student trying to learn a difficult subject. 

What the studies generally don’t emphasize is that students gain a great deal of enjoyment from their music studies. Music brings enthusiasm, creativity, and group participation into the classroom. Music is foundational to the goal of producing well-rounded and balanced young adults.

While many studies show that playing music helps develop certain parts of the brain, the good study habits will be far more valuable to a student as they grow and tackle problems for their rest of their lives.