Blacksburg Middle School teacher Melody Smith uses Classroom Performance Systems in her math class. The Cherokee County School District has received national recognition for pioneering the use of classroom performance systems (CPS) through a middle school math project.

Students are using a remote control device called CPS in responding to questions from math teachers based on the district’s curriculum guide and Exam View test banks linked to their textbooks. Teachers use the technology to shift instantly from written work on an electronic chalkboard to PowerPoint and Internet multimedia presentations.

The district purchased 24 CPS kits over the summer to pilot the project in middle school math classes this year. Those efforts were spotlighted in an Oct. 21 article in “Einstruction,” the national online Corp. that manufactures the CPS.

“Cherokee County was cited in the national publication as being one of the best places in the country for using the CPS as a technology instructional tool in the classroom,” Cherokee County School Superintendent Dr. Bill James said. “A representative from Einstruction Corp., which makes the product, read the article and invited our teachers Monday afternoon to make a presentation at this weekend’s Blue Ribbons School Blueprint for Excellence Conference.”

Einstruction Corp. is an education technology company in Denton, Texas, which makes the wireless response pad technology now being used in all 50 states. The technology is being used by thousands of public school students as well as more than 600 universities and 10 foreign countries.

The company is paying for Cherokee County teachers to make a presentation on their CPS project during the Blue Ribbon Schools conference Dec. 1-4 in Myrtle Beach.

This year’s Blue Ribbon Schools Conference will highlight nationally recognized schools and programs from across the country.

Cherokee County School District’s CPS project is considered a best practice for the use of technology in the classroom.

“This is a tremendous feather in the cap for our district,” James said. “We look forward to sharing information about our CPS technology program with educators from the nation’s best schools.”

Chad Hudson, coordinator of research for the Cherokee County School District, was the founder of the innovative plan to integrate the CPS technology into the math curriculum. Blacksburg Middle School teachers David Roark and Rita Fowler joined Ewing Middle School teacher Stacy Smoke last year in piloting the CPS with students in their classrooms.

The district’s teachers use CPS databases loaded with preand post-tests for chapters, units and tests for every question. Every question is linked to South Carolina state standards.

Students use remote control devices to respond individually to questions shown by teachers on an LCD computer projector during math lessons.

“Being a veteran teacher, it has changed my teaching more than any other trend in education,” Roark said. “We are able to use the CPS technology to adjust our instruction and how we teach to more effectively meet the needs of students.”