Cecil Griffin is the lead science teacher for Scurry-Rosser High School, a rural high school in Scurry, Texas. With over 15 years of experience as an educator, Cecil knows what it takes to help students succeed. From 2013-2017, Mr. Griffin’s students consistently surpassed their state’s STAAR testing performance by up to 22 points -- and up to 13 points higher than the whole district. He credits this success to USATestprep’s robust offerings for teachers and students.
Before using USATestprep, Mr. Griffin encountered several challenges that teachers across the country still face.
Data, Data, Data
Access to data about student performance and subject mastery is one of the biggest gaps teachers face today. Having streamlined standards-based data has helped teachers at Scurry-Rosser better serve their students.
Not Enough Time/Resources
One of the most scarce resources for teachers is time. Mr. Griffin and his peers were able to use USATestprep to save time in their day with the ready-to-use assessments and activities. Previously, teachers were spending hours splicing together items from various sources. On top of the time spent searching for assignments, keeping up with evolving state standards is another time-consuming task. With USATestprep, teachers have access to an extensive library of state-aligned activities for every subscribed grade and subject.
Before implementing USATestprep, a few teachers at Scurry-Rosser took a full day to analyze the results of a benchmark test for 70-80 students at a single grade level to understand where they were falling behind. This exercise took more than 12 hours to complete among several teachers. With USATestprep, they found that the same analysis was done in a matter of minutes! In addition to detailed item analysis, assessments are graded automatically -- again, saving teachers hours of work.
Providing Perspective for Students
While USATestprep makes great strides in lightening the load for teachers, Mr. Griffin cites the program as a helpful tool for students to gain more exposure and perspective in their different subjects. He credits the high-quality assessments and practice activities as a huge factor in the success his students experience each year.
Each teacher has his or her own unique way of teaching any given subject. The content available within USATestprep provides different ways to approach the same problems taught in the classroom. Having a diverse view of the subject matter allows students to think critically and prepare for the nuances in state exams. Although teachers are not able to view the content of the state exams, student feedback is extremely positive that questions in the USATestprep assessments were very similar to the way questions were asked in the exam.
Ongoing Success
Over the last 9+ years, Cecil Griffin has been able to consistently surpass state and district averages in biology with the help of USATestprep. In fact, Mr. Griffin has become an advocate at his school and acts as a mentor and aide for new teachers joining the staff. As he has shared his best practices and USATestprep success stories with peers in other departments, those departments have seen similar growth with their students.
Ready to be a leader in your district? Contact us today for a demo and free trial of USATestprep.
