POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) - A metro Atlanta teacher has created an alternative learning environment to raise her class' test scores.
Kimberlee Derry, a teacher at Lovinggood Middle School in Powder Springs, replaced desks with bean bag chairs at the start of the second semester.
Derry cited research suggesting benefits of alternative learning environments and told the Marietta Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/WrBELx ) her students' language arts and social studies scores have improved by several points since the transition.
Derry says students with less than an average grade of 80% are put on bean bag restriction, and must sit at traditional desks.
Aside from bean bag chairs, Derry plays classical music while students work, and allows them to listen to their own music while they study.
Powder springs is about 25 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.
Information from: Marietta Daily Journal, http://mdjonline.com/
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