WS Chronicle

Looking to increase student achievement and better prepare students for the future, Carver High School is looking to adopt a new educational model that uses technology to accelerate learning.

Agile Mind was founded with a mission to increase the number and diversity of adolescents who excel in mathematics and science. Based on five foundational principles, which include building for “next-generation standards” and putting teachers at the heart of instructional leadership, to date the program has helped nearly 4 million students across the country.

While no school in the local district has used the program before, the Agile Mind program is the cornerstone of Charlotte-Mecklenburg School’s Algebra Readiness initiative, a program that allows students to use hand-on tools, animations and simulations to enhance the learning experience.

During the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, June 12, when it came time to vote on the Agile Mind Contract, the board members in attendance voted unanimously to approve the contract. Board Chair Dana Caudill Jones was not in attendance during the meeting and did not vote.

Before the vote, Principal Carol Montague-Davis gave a brief overview of the Agile Mind program and how it will be implemented at Carver next school year. Montague-Davis, who returned to Carver for her second stint as principal last year, said the Agile Mind program would be used to help students enrolled in the Foundations of Mathematics course and Math I.

She said students enrolled in the program will be getting math instruction every day. On “A-Day,” students will receive the Agile Mind curriculum infused with Foundations of Math course work and on “B-Day” students will receive Math I curriculum and upon completion of the program students will receive credit for Foundations of Math and Math I.

Montague-Davis said although math every day may seem like a lot, students will not be bombarded by countless equations and math problems. She said the Math I course will reinforce the skills learned in the program.

“This program requires you to have extensive 90-minutes a day in order to see success in it,” she continued. “…We feel like students are coming to us with so many deficiencies in math, and this is going to help us build them up and catch them up with their peers.”

Teachers who will be using the program will spend the summer training and learning the Agile Mind program. Montague-Davis said the plan is to make sure teachers are well-prepared and familiar with the program and ready to roll on the first day of school. 

Only 75 students are expected to be enrolled in the program in the first year. At the end of the year, administrators will compare the scores of students enrolled in the program to those who are not.

“We know it’s not a silver bullet, but at least it’s a chance for us to be able to start to look at something different, because we know what we’re doing now is not accomplishing some of the things that we need to do with our students,” Montague-Davis said.