National Classical Etymology Exam

1. National Classical Etymology Exam Complimentary Gift for the First Twenty Teachers!

2. National Classical Etymology Exam How Your School Can Use the NCEE to Improve Its SAT Scores

3. National Classical Etymology Exam • Fifty multiple choice questions • Latin and Greek Derivatives • Online (http://www.quia.com/quiz/2930643.html) • Forty-five minutes • Can be given any day in November, and at different times during the day • Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals are awarded, along with downloadable certificates

4. North Gwinnett High School • Large suburb north of Atlanta, Georgia • One of twenty high schools in its district • 2300 students • Upper middle class • Four foreign languages (Latin, French, German, Spanish) • Very large AP school-wide program • First or Second in the district in all academic areas except SAT score

5. Gwinnett SAT Scores (2010)

6. The Gap

7. NCEE Pilot • Thirty-nine NGHS Latin III students took the NCEE on November 26th, 2010. • Many of these students took the SAT on December 4th. • Seventeen won awards on the NCEE. • Those who took the SAT reported that their recently acquired knowledge from the NCEE helped them on five- ten questions.

8. So I got to thinking…

9. Expectations • 25-30% of the testing population (125-150 students) can put an academic achievement on their college applications • SAT Verbal/Writing scores will rise by 20-30 points on average, with some gains as much as twice that • Latin Propaganda

10. Proposal • Language Arts students study Latin and Greek roots August 8th-November 3rd. • LA students take the National Classical Etymology Exam on November 4th. • LA students take the SAT immediately thereafter, on November 5th. • NGHS testing population benefits from the added study (twenty-thirty points on SAT). • NGHS SAT scores improve / NGHS WSA score improves.

11. Curriculum of Study • Complement the LA vocabulary/root study already in place, NOT add to an already packed LA calendar. • Teach roots, rather than words • Teach word construction, rather than deconstruction • Teach efficiently

12. What LA Classes Do Now • Twenty words of unrelated meaning are introduced in a list (each week or so) • Differentiated activities reinforce the meaning of these twenty words (contextual fill-in-the-blank, synonyms, etc.) • At the end of each unit, students have learned fifteen-twenty words to proficiency

13. What We Can Do With the NCEE • Lists of related root prefixes, infixes, and suffixes are introduced • Students observe and define English words that are based on these roots • Lists that can number into the dozens off of just a few roots For example:

14. Prefixes • e/ex = out of, from (export) • in = in, into; on; not (import) • de = down, from, away (deport) • re = back, again; anew (report) • con/co = together, with (conscript) • ad = to, towards, near (ascribe) • per = through, badly (pervasive) • cap/cip/capt/cept = take

15. Resulting Vocabulary From One Base Root (cap) • except, exception • incapable, incapacitate, inception, incipient • deceive, deceit, deceptive, deception • receipt, receive, reception, receptacle • conceit, conceive, concept, conception, • accept, acceptance, acceptable • perceive, perceptive, perception What other language features are apparent?

16. CAVEATS LA Teachers don’t need more to plan Scripted lesson plans, support from the friendly local Latin Teacher, and online quizzes LA Teachers don’t want their instruction interrupted Make lessons efficient and brief LA Teachers and the whole school need to “buy in” to the initiative Meetings, meetings, sell, sell Daily announcements and emails Find Funding ($3/student + school fee)

17. Curriculum - A root is given (with examples) over the announcements each day. - LA classes reinforce that root briefly in class each day - On Fridays, LA teachers reinforce the week’s total of roots briefly

18. Curriculum - Two weeks prior to the test, LA teachers increase instructional focus on roots (Start-Up, Bell Ringer, Warm-Down, etc.) - Monday through Thursday before the test, all LA instruction is focused on Latin and Greek roots study - The Exam is taken on Friday - The SAT is taken on Saturday

19. Implementation Calendar • Pre-Planning: Discuss with LA Leads • August: LA Leads discuss with LA dept. and counselors discuss SAT registration • September (first week): Students register for SAT (at home school) and reserve computer labs for the NCEE • October 3rd: Register students for the NCEE • Week of Exam: Implement Instructional Calendar and train staff for NCEE • Nov. 4th: NCEE (SAT the next day)

20. Why This Will Work • Motivation to earn a better score on the SAT • Motivation to earn an award for college application • Economy of effort • Brief period of focus • No threat of failure on the NCEE

21. Questions • Follow Curriculum “A” or a modified version? • What grade level do we test? • Do we test all students in the grade or only certain sections? • What materials do we use? • How do we pay for this? • How do we encourage SAT registration?

22. The Gap

23. The Gap is Closed

24. NGHS Results • 550 12th Grade Students Took the NCEE • 220 Earned Medals • About 200 12th Graders took the November SAT • About 160 12th Graders took the November SAT AND had taken a previous SAT (for comparison) ….

25. NGHS Results • On average, those 160 students increased their SAT Verbal/Written scores 26 points • The students of the LA teacher who “bought in” the most raised their scores by 40 points

26. What does that 26 points mean?

27. Thank You • Download this presentation and all relevant docs at www.yaggyslatin.com/etymology.html • Chambers Dictionary of Etymology • Word Clues: Vocabulary Builder by Amsel Greene • www.Brainhoney.com