Reducing Excellence Gaps: The Gadsden Elementary School District Early College Program
By Melanie S. Meyer San Luis, Arizona is only a mile from the Mexican border wall. Between 85 and 97 percent of the students in San Luis who attend one of the eight schools in the Gadsden Elementary School District No. 32 (GESD) qualify for free or reduced-price meal programs. Despite the economic challenges, this community is also home to some very talented young mathematicians. Homero Chávez, the Early College Program Director, explained how he started merging the goals of equity and excellence over 20 years ago. He said, “Back then, we wanted to make sure we had a program that prepared our kids for STEM-related degrees, but we didn't have anything for that.” Chávez and his colleague, Jesus Arrizon, a former metallurgical engineer and advanced math teacher, chose to focus on developing students’ math skills for entry into science, technology, engineering, and math fields, and on preparing students for the American College Test (ACT) to increase their access to high-level education opportunities. The GESD Early College program began with free math tutoring on the weekends but over time has evolved into 76
a coordinated system mathematical talent.
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eginning in fifth grade, universally screens students’ Arizona state math test scores. Using building-level local norms, the Early ollege rogram team identifies the highest performing students on each elementary campus. In after-school tutoring, math instructors at Southwest Junior High School and an uis iddle chool prepare fifth and sixth-grade students by frontloading the foundational math skills they will need for advanced coursework. In seventh and eighth grade, these students are grouped together for an accelerated math course, an ACT preparation course, and a college-level math course taught on their campuses by three GESD teachers who are also adjunct professors at Arizona Western College. eginning in the fifth grade, these students all take the ACT, a test typically given to college-bound high school students. This above-level testing allows students to qualify for academic summer residential programs through the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY).
American Consortium for Equity in Education
