MEAP success in key of `A': Teacher's tunes help boost social studies scores

THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION

Monday, May 17, 2004 By Marlon Vaughn
mvaughn@flintjournal.com, 810.766.6324

FLINT -- Teacher Dave Kimber's fifth-grade social studies students sang their way to great results on the MEAP test this year. Seventy percent of fifth-graders at Neithercut Elementary School passed the Michigan Educational Assessment Program's social science test -- one of the top showings in the area and an improvement of 17 percentage points over last year's scores. The youngsters absolutely obliterated the state average of 31 percent passing. And to what does Kimber, who also teaches fourth grade, attribute the success? Music. "This CD is really the thing that's turned it around," said Kimber, who recorded "Under the Red White and Blue," a compact disc of songs with social studies themes, such as the Constitution and democracy. "Civics is a hard thing to teach. When I use these songs, it becomes easy. They don't think they're learning it, they think they're singing a song." Whatever it is, it's working. Social science scores have gone up at Neithercut for the past three years. "We're quite happy," said Principal Shelly Umphrey. "It's not easy to teach the core values, but he's found a way with the music." Song titles on Kimber's CD, which he recorded with his brother, Daniel, include "Popular Sovereignty," "Diversity" and "Justice." Students sing along to the song and answer questions about the topics covered in lyrics, such as: "Y'know I've been hopin'/ we could try to be open/ to a wonderful word/ Oh haven't you heard?/ It's called equality." Whitney Miles, 9, a fourth-grader who'll take the MEAP next year, credits her teacher and the CD for the high social science achievement in her class. "(Kimber) makes it fun," she said. "He takes us outside for lessons, he puts music on, and he even says we're going to have a dance contest soon." That's by design, Kimber said. "You've got to make it fun," he said. "Otherwise, none of this means anything." That wasn't so clear cut 10 years ago, when Kimber, then 46, was a rookie teacher at Neithercut. A California musician, Kimber had moved to Michigan with his wife after working in Australia. He admits he initially had no clue how to stimulate a child's interest in learning. "I didn't think I was going to make it (as a teacher)," he said. But then he decided to do what he'd done much of his life: make music. He'd attained some professional success as a musician -- he co-wrote the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" theme made famous by Woodsy the Owl. He also knew about writing, producing and playing music. Kimber collaborated with his brother, a high school teacher in California, on turning American core values -- truth, patriotism, popular sovereignty, diversity, equality, individual rights and common good -- into music, with a little urging from Gloria Tibbitts, former social science coordinator for the Flint School District. "We wrote 11 original songs and recorded them," he said. "Each is a capsule history lesson in 2 1/2 minutes." The songs aren't just Kimber's vocals over pre-recorded drum machine tracks. They feature real musicians playing real instruments and feature such extras as the New Jerusalem Full Gospel Baptist Church choir singing backup vocals. "That was just an amazing experience," he said. Kimber has played his songs in class for a couple of years, but the CD was released earlier this year. The Flint School District has purchased sets of the CDs and the course book to distribute to other classrooms. Kimber said he's discussing animated versions of the lessons with Disney, a la the popular "Schoolhouse Rock" series of televised civics lessons set to music. "(The CD) has been a golden elixir that has worked," Kimber said. "It really has great value. "If I run into these kids five years from now, they probably won't remember everything they learned ... but they will remember these songs."

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