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Public School Insights

What is Working in Our Public Schools

25 Stories about Successful Public Schools and Districts

Learning First Alliance Summit for Public Education March 2009

The Learning First Alliance is composed of the following organizations:

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

American Association of School Administrators

American Association of School Personnel Administrators

American Federation of Teachers

American School Counselor Association

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Association of School Business Officials International

Council of Chief State School Officers

National Association of Elementary School Principals

National Association of Secondary School Principals

National Association of State Boards of Education

National Education Association

National Middle School Association

National PTA

National School Boards Association

National School Public Relations Association

National Staff Development Council

Phi Delta Kappa International

Copyright © 2009 by the Learning First Alliance All rights reserved

Public School Insights

What is Working in Our

Public Schools

25 Stories about Successful Public

Schools and Districts

Learning First Alliance Summit for Public Education

March 2009

Printed with generous support from the National Education Association

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Contents

Foreword .......................................................................................... 3

Giving Students Personal Attention .................................................. 5

A Second Set of Parents: Advisory Groups and Student Achievement at Granger High .................. 7

Individualized Language Arts Helps English Language Learners Succeed. Wright Middle School ...... 8

Helping Students Demonstrate Their Math Knowledge. Fenway High School ................................. 9

Measuring Success One Student at a Time. Walsh School District RE-1 .......................................11

Transformation Helps Close the Gap, Inspires Performance. Rockville Centre School District .........12

Reaching for High Standards that Matter ........................................ 13

Whole-Child Education Delivers Big Gains in Chugach. Chugach School District ...........................15

From Fire Trucks to the Federal Court: An Academic Edge for Low-Income Students. George Hall

Elementary School ..........................................................................................................16

Ensuring All Students Reach their Highest Potential in Math. Interlake High School ......................18

Seattle Students Go Global — and Soar. John Stanford International School ...............................20

Taking Flight in Queens. Osmond Church School – PS/MS 124 ..................................................21

Connecting Communities ................................................................ 23

Bridging the Gap Between Preschool and Kindergarten. Bremerton School District .......................25

A Full-Service School Fulfills Its Promise. Thomas Edison Elementary School ...............................27

Designing an Exemplar: University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Alexander School ....................29

Teachers Help Thousands of Students Come to School Healthy and Ready to Learn. Teachers for

Healthy Kids ..................................................................................................................30

Building Boat Models Aids Math, Science Learning. Parma City Schools.......................................31

Creating Safe Great Places to Learn ............................................... 33

A World of Opportunity. Forest Grove High School ...................................................................35

Arts Integrated Curriculum Helps Students Overcome Challenges of Poverty. Woodrow Wilson

Elementary School ..........................................................................................................37

Caring for the Future. Isaac Young Middle School ....................................................................38

School/Community Connections Benefit Both in Missouri. Independence School District ...............40

Pride is the First Step. Pocomoke Middle School ......................................................................41

Empowering Professionals ............................................................. 43

The Road from Good to Great. Boaz Middle School ...................................................................45

Turnaround in Tennessee. Hamilton County Schools ................................................................49

Working and Learning Together as a Team. Granby High School ................................................50

Personalization Leads to Success in Port Chester. Port Chester Middle School ..............................52

Teachers Teaching Teachers. Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District .........................53

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Foreword

A quiet revolution in public education is in full swing. Public schools and

their communities are rolling out innovating strategies to give all

students every chance to thrive in a challenging new century. In the

following pages, you will find stories about 25 remarkable public schools

and districts that are meeting this challenge.

They represent only a fraction of the schools and districts nationwide

that are transforming themselves to prepare their students for success

in a 21st-century democracy and global society. You can find many more

stories about what’s working in public schools and districts on

www.publicschoolinsights.org.

The success stories in this report fall under five elements of an emerging

vision for the future of America’s public schools. This vision of excellence

reflects essential experience and convictions shared by Learning First

Alliance organizations representing millions of parents, educators and

education policy members. Excellent public schools and districts:

Give students personal attention

Reach for high standards that matter

Connect with communities

Create great, safe places to learn

Empower professionals

Of course, many of the school districts depicted in this document could

be at home in more than one of these categories. That, in itself, is a

measure of their success. Still, we have chosen these 25 stories because

they embody essential aspects of our common vision for public schools.

They offer communities and their schools compelling examples to

emulate.

We hope these stories will inspire educators and communities to call for

national, state and local policies that create the conditions for success in

every public school and district across the country.

Learning First Alliance

member organizations:

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

American Association of School Administrators

American Association of School Personnel Administrators

American Federation of Teachers

American School Counselor Association

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Association of School Business Officials International

Council of Chief State School Officers

National Association of Elementary School Principals

National Association of Secondary School Principals

National Association of State Boards of Education

National Education Association

National Middle School Association

National PTA National School Boards Association

National School Public Relations Association

National Staff Development Council

Phi Delta Kappa International

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Giving Students

Personal Attention

Learn about staff in public schools and districts who forge strong,

caring and respectful bonds with students. These staff pay close

attention to each student's academic progress and physical,

emotional and social development, and they tailor instruction to

students' individual needs.

A Second Set of Parents: Advisory Groups and Student Achievement at

Granger High

Individualized Language Arts Helps English Language Learners Succeed.

Wright Middle School

Helping Students Demonstrate their Math Knowledge. Fenway High School

Measuring Success One Student at a Time. Walsh School District RE-1

Transformation Helps Close the Gap, Inspire Performance. Rockville Centre

School District

Personal Attention

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Published online February 2008

A Second Set of Parents: Advisory Groups and Student

Achievement at Granger High

Granger High School, Washington

In 2001, Granger High School's test scores were

dismal. Gang-related graffiti marred every surface, and fewer than half of students graduated. Most of the 300-odd students at this Washington State high

school come from low-income families working on farms in the surrounding Yakima Valley. Eighty-four percent are Latino, and six percent are Native American. Could these students succeed? Principal

Richard Esparza has the answer on his license plate: "Se puede!" (It can be done!) Under Esparza's confident guidance, the school reached out to students and their families, creating supports to keep students on track. Reading across the curriculum, aligning coursework

with state standards, and intensive academic interventions for struggling students all contribute to Granger's steady improvement. But caring connections between students, teachers, and parents bring all these strands together.

Esparza set up an advisory system where each certified school member—teacher, administrator, or

counselor—is responsible for 20 students. Advisory groups meet four days a week for 30 minutes, developing individual learning plans for each student and providing daily support in reading, mathematics, homework, and study skills. Advisers stick with their kids for four years, taking on a new group when their last group graduates. "No coach would say, 'I can

coach 400 kids at one time,' so why do we expect one counselor to handle that many?" says Esparza, a former wrestling coach. "Teachers can't give that much individual attention to the 150-180 students in their classes."

English teacher Joyce Golob says, "Advisers act like a

second set of parents. We keep students on course academically and reach out to caregivers and other instructors when there's progress or a problem." Students say the system helps them stick to their goals. "The advising classes are one of the best parts of school," says Jessica Carpenter, who's aiming for law school. "We do homework and get help from

other students or our teachers. We have time to work on our portfolio. When we're ready to apply to college, we have our work on hand." Student portfolios contain not only grades, credits, and

standardized test scores, but also career goals and

examples of their best work.

Twice yearly, students lead mandatory conferences

with parents and teachers about their progress. The meetings motivate kids to keep their grades up, Jessica says: "No one wants to explain why they aren't doing well." Advisers make sure every family shows up, scheduling conferences during extended-day hours

or even during intermission at school baseball games. Granger has seen 100 percent parent attendance at conferences for the last three years, and student achievement has risen steadily—over 90 percent graduate now, and test scores are up. The school turnaround has impacted the surrounding community—

Granger has come from having one of the highest crime rates in the Yakima Valley to one of the lowest.

"People often ask me how our high school can get 100 percent of parents to attend the conferences," says

Esparza. "The answer: one parent at time."

Further details can be found in our sources:

Richard Esparza, for AASA's The School Administrator, "Personalizing My School: Perfect Parent Attendance," September 2007 Partnership for Learning, "Sí, se puede. Yes, it can be done," September 4, 2007

NSBA's Center for Public Education, "Granger High School Grapples with the Basics-and Wins," January 8, 2007 Linda Shaw, for The Seattle Times, "WASL is

inspiration, frustration," May 8, 2006

Karin Chenoweth, The Achievement Alliance, "It's Being Done: "Se Peude (It Can Be Done)," 2005 For additional information, please contact: Richard Esparza, Principal, Granger High School, at

[email protected]

Results:

• 100% parent attendance at conferences for the past 3 years

• Over 90% of students now graduate, up from 59% in 2004

Personal Attention

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Individualized Language Arts Helps English Language

Learners Succeed

Frank Wright Middle School, California

Sparked by the rarest of rarities—affordable housing in Southern California—and its proximity to the Mexican border, Frank Wright Middle School in Imperial has grown from 367 students in 2001 to nearly 800,

adding sixth grade and moving to a new facility in the

process. More than 70 percent of the student population is Hispanic, and nearly one in four are English language learners.

The addition of sixth grade for the 2006-07 school year did more than just increase Wright's student population. It also required a new approach to middle school, and better outcomes for English language learners. "It's clear that student success...begins with preparation during the middle school grades, which are

a critical, pivotal point in the educational career of each student," says State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

To serve English language learners better, Wright

strengthened its focus on language development. All sixth graders receive 155 minutes of language arts daily, and a focus on English-language development follows them through all grade levels. In seventh and eighth grade, language arts classes meet for 105

minutes each day, and students who need further instruction, including beginning English language learners and those who are three years or more below grade level, are assigned to another period of language arts, offering an additional 50 minutes of instruction.

Teachers tailor language arts and math instruction to each student's progress rather than grade level. Teachers evaluate students using testing data, teacher input, and work samples. The school places struggling

students in special language arts intervention programs, where teachers test them again to determine exactly what their instructional needs are. Faculty monitors these students closely so they can be placed in core classes as soon as they are ready.

A rotating series of electives offer interdisciplinary activities including art, music theory, computers and AVID, a college-preparation class to help average

students prepare themselves for college. Portfolios to demonstrate student learning are used school-wide.

Wright's teachers work collaboratively in small teams.

All math and language arts teachers also receive a year of state-funded professional development and coaching, followed by another year of coaching.

"We are really good at identifying and responding to the needs of our kids," says former Principal Chuck Bush. "We're able to recognize their strengths and

weaknesses and build on those to prepare them for high school."

During the 2006-2007 school year, Frank Wright was

recognized for being in the top 2 percent of all California schools that have narrowed the achievement gap separating disadvantaged students and Hispanic learners from their peers. It was also one of four

California schools named a 2007 School to Watch, an honor bestowed upon schools by the National Forum to

Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform for meeting students' academic and developmental needs. It scored a 802 on California's academic progress index in 2006, up 172 points since 2000.

Making carefully individualized language arts instruction a priority and tracking student progress has helped the school meet all of its annual yearly progress goals, even for English language learners. Professional development and coaching for teachers also plays a

key role.

Further details can be found in our sources: California League of Middle Schools, "Frank Wright Middle School: Introduction," 2006

Jonathan Dale, for Imperial Valley Press, "State Honors Brawley, Imperial Schools," January 2007

For additional information, please contact: Diego Lopez, Principal, Frank Wright Middle School, at [email protected]

Results:

• Among top 2% of California schools in narrowing the achievement gap separating disadvantaged and

Hispanic students from their peers

• 172 point increase in the California academic progress index since 2000

Published online December 2007

Personal Attention

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Helping Students Demonstrate Their Math Knowledge

Fenway High School, Massachusetts

Fenway High has a unique history. It was founded in 1983 as a program for students in at-risk situations who were failing in the more traditional high schools.

Fenway became a pilot school in 1995 and is now open to all students, serving a diverse population that is 44% African-American, 36% Hispanic, and 15% Caucasian, with 46% receiving free or reduced lunch.

Fenway has an innovative approach to student learning, most notably in math, and has seen significant improvement in test scores over the past few years. Fenway's principal and math chair both

agree that their continuous improvement in mathematics is supported by three key elements:

Developing students' deep understanding of

math

Using formative assessments to gauge student

performance

Providing resources that both enhance and support students' math knowledge

Developing students' deep understanding of math Because the ability to demonstrate or explain math

knowledge is at the core of Fenway's math program, opportunities to communicate math concepts are critical. While performance on quizzes and exams is vitally important, a student's ability to communicate mathematical understanding to others is considered equally important.

Starting when students first enter Fenway as

freshmen, they have opportunities to present their math ideas to an audience. Throughout their careers at

Fenway, students are required to present high-level math problems - from a math fair during freshman year to exhibitions held annually. Some of the opportunities to make math presentations are formal - in front of staff, parents, peers, and community members - but a majority are informal and imbedded in everyday interactions and conversations.

Staff point to the skills that this process engenders - a culture of engaged learners who can articulate their beliefs and knowledge. In addition, each of these

interactions - from discussions to presentations to group work - provide critical student information, which help teachers assess student understanding and performance.

Using formative assessments to gauge student performance Fenway math staff rely on formative assessments to inform their teaching practice. As students are always

discussing and communicating their understanding of math concepts, teachers use these conversations to gather continuous and timely information about students' comprehension, gauging where they may need assistance.

In addition to emphasizing presentation skills, teachers

require students to keep portfolios of their math work. After each unit, every student must submit a portfolio, which is usually a collection of the student's best work

and a two- to four-page write-up addressing specific competencies. Students are required to choose at least three competencies or skills to write about, using examples from their work to demonstrate understanding. A valuable authentic assessment, these portfolios are key to building on a student's knowledge of math.

Providing resources that both enhance and support students' math knowledge

Fenway's efforts to improve student learning depend on teachers not only assessing students but also using

that information to target assistance for students who need it. Some of the supports available to students include after-school, one-on-one sessions with math staff as well as access to the school's Learning Center, which provides targeted support during the school day

and is open to all students after school.

In addition to remedial supports, Fenway offers

resources to accelerate students' learning so they can excel in higher-level math classes. Fenway has a

Results:

• 70% of students scored in the top levels of the MCAS in 2007, up from 35% in 2004

• 91% of 10th graders passed the math portion of the MCAS in 2007

• 83% graduation rate in 2007, with 89% graduation rate for both black and Hispanic students

Personal Attention

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partnership with Emmanuel College, a liberal arts and

sciences college, where students can take college-level math courses and earn college credit. On average, approximately one-third of Fenway's seniors have

taken advantage of this opportunity to enroll in college-level math classes at Emmanuel. Access to this caliber of courses is of particular importance, especially for underserved students, given the relationship between taking rigorous math courses in high school and being successful later in college.

As a result of this increased focus on math, Fenway has seen enormous gains. In 2004, only 35% of students scored in the top two levels on the MCAS,

whereas in 2007, 70% did. In addition, 91% of Fenway's tenth graders passed the math portion of the state's exam, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).

Fenway also has other signs of student success - attendance, promotion, graduation, and college placement rates suggest Fenway's approach is working well for students. For example, in 2007, Fenway

boasted an overall graduation rate of 83% and a

higher graduation rate of 89% for both black and Hispanic students.

For additional information, please contact: Peggy Kemp, Head of School, Fenway High School, at [email protected]

This story was originally featured in "Rethinking High

School: Supporting All Students to be College Ready in Math," the fifth report in the series "Rethinking High

School," published by WestEd with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Adapted with permission from WestEd and the Gates Foundation.

Published online June 2008

Personal Attention

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Measuring Success One Student at a Time

Walsh School District RE-1, Colorado

A depressed economy, low teacher salaries and a dwindling population in poor remote areas usually translate into restricted opportunities for children. Not so for the students in the Walsh School District in rural

southeastern Colorado.

In the Walsh School District, which serves

approximately 150 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, almost three quarters of the students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch - a federal benchmark for poverty. Although the median household income is less than $25,000 a year, the district is overcoming daunting challenges to providing every student an excellent education.

In fact, Walsh has the highest reading scores in the state. Its small size allows staff to truly practice Walsh

Elementary School's mission of "Measuring Success One Student at a Time." Teachers take time every day to give one-on-one help to struggling kids.

For example, elementary teachers ensure that all students have time for small group reading with an adult. They also use supplemental programs such as after-school tutoring, summer school and extra support for English Language Learners to boost educational success. The results speak for themselves.

Nearly 90 percent of Walsh's third- through 10th-graders are reading at or above grade level.

The district allows teachers to direct their own professional growth to the benefit of students. Each educator in the district can receive a $l,000 reimbursement for continuing education. The district

trusts these educators to use the money wisely in charting their own professional growth.

In Walsh, the support teachers receive from the district has a trickle-down effect. Elementary teachers will

often walk over to the high school during their free time and tutor students. And if a Walsh high school student is getting D's and F's, the school requires him or her to spend extra time with a teacher.

Walsh Elementary also enlists the help of parents to ensure students' success. In this tight-knit rural

community, nearly 100 percent of parents attend parent teacher conferences. The school also hosts a Parents as Teachers Night to instruct parents in methods for assisting their children with homework. Four nights a year the school hosts parent night, where parents have the opportunity to come into the school and meet with teachers.

"Failure is not an option," said Charylene Smith, who has taught at Walsh Elementary for seven years. "If a

student fails, that means the adults aren't putting enough effort in. Year after year, we say that to ourselves, and it works."

The District has found that individual attention, parent involvement and professional development for teachers are key components to student achievement.

For additional information, please contact: Kyle Hebberd, Superintendent/Elementary Principal, Walsh School District RE-1, at [email protected]

Further details can be found in our sources:

Allison Sherry, for The Denver Post, "Rural School Districts Learn to Flourish," September 2007

2005 National Title 1 Distinguished Schools, "A Galaxy of Stars", January 2006

Published online March 2008

Results:

• Almost 90% of 3rd-10th graders now read at or above grade level

• Almost 100% of parents attend parent-teacher conferences

Personal Attention

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Transformation Helps Close the Gap, Inspires Performance

Rockville Centre School District, New York

How does a poor minority student fare in a wealthy, predominantly white school? Thanks to Rockville Centre School District's personal approach, very well. But that hasn't always been the case. In this suburban Long Island school district, nearly 77 percent of the

students are white and live in upper-middle-class households. Twenty percent of the students are African American or Latino, many of whom are poor and live in subsidized housing. Several years ago, Rockville Centre uncovered a disturbing gap in educational achievement between wealthy white students and poor

minority students despite the appearance of equal access to education.

For instance, take the school district's rigorous high

school International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which

is recognized by universities around the world. While the IB program was open to all students, few minority students participated, because prerequisite courses and teacher recommendations often discouraged them. Once the district discovered the problem, it began to

phase out these impediments and introduce a more personalized approach to curriculum and instruction by eliminating tracking and introducing rigorous curriculum for all students in heterogeneous classes.

An innovative curriculum designed to meet each student's needs and assess individual student growth has personalized the educational experience. To meet the needs of struggling learners, the school district offers support classes every other day. The school

district also enhanced its professional development for teachers, who now have a deeper understanding of the design and implementation of student-centered lessons. Through peer feedback, teachers now differentiate instruction for students by modifying lessons to suit different achievement levels, multiple intelligences and individual interests.

Although a gap still separates majority and minority students in IB enrollment, it is rapidly closing. After

removing the tracking system for grades 6-9, the gap

in attainment of the New York State Regents diploma nearly disappeared, with Rockville Centre's African American and Latino students far outpacing white students in New York as a whole. More than half of all African-American and Latino students are now taking

IB English, IB History and IB Mathematics courses, and nearly a third of all minority students in the Class of 2009 are IB diploma candidates.

Even as the proportion of students taking IB courses has increased, the number of students excelling on IB examinations has skyrocketed. In 2002, 24 percent of the entire senior class passed the IB English exam. By 2006, 68 percent of the graduating class had. Performance on IB math courses showed a similar

trend - 32 percent of the class of 2002 achieved a

passing score or better on an IB Math exam; 70 percent scored at that level in 2006. Rockville Centre's experience demonstrates that high expectations for all students taught in heterogeneous detracked classes, coupled with strong individual support for each student, closes gaps.

For additional information, please contact: Delia Garrity, Rockville Centre School District Assistant

Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, at [email protected]

Carol Burris, Principal of South Side High School, Rockville Centre School District, at [email protected]

Further details can be found in our source:

Delia Garrity and Carol Burris, for AASA’s The School Administrator, "Rockville Centre makes strides in transforming high school instruction for heterogeneous student groupings," September 2007.

Results:

• Rapidly closing gap between majority and minority students in IB enrollment

• 68% of the class of 2006 passed the IB English exam (up from 24% in 2002) and 70% passed the math

exam (up from 32% in 2002)

• Nearly eliminated gap between majority and minority students in attainment on the New York State Regents

diploma


http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=9329&snItemNumber=950




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Reaching for High

Standards that

Matter

Read about public schools and districts that help students meet high academic standards that reflect the demands of life as a democratic citizen in a fast-changing world. Teachers use

engaging instruction and materials to make those standards relevant and attainable for students. Assessments tied to those standards accurately measure what each student has mastered, while showing educators and parents where individual students need support or new approaches to succeed.

Whole-Child Education Delivers Big Gains in Chugach. Chugach School District

From Fire Trucks to Federal Court: An Academic Edge for Low-Income

Students. George Hall Elementary School

Ensuring All Students Reach Their Highest Potential in Math. Interlake High

School

Seattle Students Go Global – And Soar. John Stanford International School

Taking Flight in Queens. Osmond Church School – PS/MS 124

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Standards that Matter

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Results

• Dropout rate has fallen nearly in half

• Students now consistently test above state averages in reading, writing and math

• More than two-thirds of graduates now go to college

Whole-Child Education Delivers Big Gains in Chugach

Chugach School District, Alaska

How does an Alaska school district serving just 250 students, most of them living in remote areas

accessible only by aircraft, receive the nation's highest Presidential honor for organizational performance? The answer: by pioneering a standards-based system of "whole child education" that adapts to students' individual needs and delivers big gains in student performance.

Chugach School District was chosen for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2001, just seven years after launching a comprehensive restructuring

effort known as the Chugach Quality Schools Model (CQSM). The restructuring was a response by school district leaders to a plethora of challenges, including dismal test scores, high dropout rates, and the inability of graduates to hold jobs or become productive members of their communities.

After securing a waiver from the Alaska Department of Education, the district took a bold step: It replaced credit hours and grade levels with an

individualized, student-centered approach based on standards in 10 content areas. Students work at their own developmentally appropriate pace toward demonstrated levels of mastery in subjects both traditional (math, science, reading, writing) and nontraditional (service learning, career development, cultural awareness and expression, and healthy development).

High expectations are reinforced through a variety of

formal and informal assessments in each content

area. Students and their families can track progress by consulting the student assessment binders maintained for every student in the district. While some students may achieve graduation-level proficiency as early as age 14, others may meet their requirements when they are 21. In addition to

meeting the district's requirements, students must meet the state's benchmark testing requirements and pass the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam.

Since adopting the CQSM reforms, Chugach School District itself has chalked up impressive performance

gains. Faculty turnover has declined dramatically, and the dropout rate has fallen by nearly half, from 9

percent to 4.9 percent in 2006. The district's students now consistently test above state-level achievement averages in reading, writing and math. And more than two-thirds of graduates now go to college. These and other positive results have prompted other school districts, inside and outside Alaska, to try the Chugach model.

Superintendent Bob Crumley said the Chugach model works because it asks something of everyone-

-and everyone gets something back. "The hard work put in by teachers and staff, the empowerment and ownership by the community and students, and the accountability that is built into the whole system is what makes it successful," he said.

Former Chugach School District student September Martin had a simpler explanation for what makes this small school district worthy of national and international attention. "I know that I am surrounded by people who would like to see me succeed in life."

For additional information, please contact: Bob Crumley, Superintendent, Chugach School District, at

[email protected]

Further details can be found in our sources: Grace Rubenstien, for Edutopia, "Northern Lights: These Schools Leave Literally No Child Behind," September 2007

NSBA's Center for Public Education, "Reinventing Education, Alaska Style," April 2006



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Results:

• Named a 2008 Blue Ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education

• In 2008, 100% of 3rd graders passed the state reading test and 99% passed the state math test

• In 2008, 99% of 4th graders passed both the reading and math sections of the state test

From Fire Trucks to the Federal Court: An Academic Edge for

Low-Income Students

George Hall Elementary, Alabama

"There's not a minute to be lost." That's the mantra in many high-needs schools today, where the

pressures of high-stakes accountability have reduced the time spent on "untested" subjects and activities like art, music, drama and physical education. And

perhaps no brand of school fun has taken the drubbing given to the venerable Field Trip in recent years. Trips away from school often take most or all of the day, and a day lost from intensive instruction (and test preparation) is no small matter to the principals of high-needs schools, where children often have a lot of catching up to do.

So it may be somewhat surprising to learn that teachers and administrators at George Hall

Elementary School, located along a narrow street in one of Mobile's most hard-pressed neighborhoods,

stage dozens of field trips each year for their PK-5 students, 99% of whom are African-American and 98% of whom receive free or reduced price lunch.

How dare they? Well, for one thing, they're very smart about it. What's more, as media specialist Patti Westbrook reasonably asks, "Who decided we have to educate children inside four walls?"

Many of the school's 2007-2008 field trips are described on George Hall's WetPaint website, where a

visitor will find podcasts, blogs, and photo stories created by students to document their journeys (and advance their higher order thinking skills).

"We go into so much detail and present the field trips in so many ways on our website that it may look like more than it is," says Terri Tomlinson, principal of the Title I school - one of five struggling schools designated by the Mobile school system for "transformation" in 2004.

Whatever the exact number of field trips, Tomlinson makes no apologies for the time invested in exposing her students to the larger world. These are carefully

constructed adventures that tie directly into the curriculum, she says, and provide the children -

many of whom have rarely traveled beyond the confines of their own neighborhood - important contexts for learning. For example, when

kindergarten and pre-K students study "community helpers," they travel to a nearby fire station and the city's fire rescue school. In March, first graders appeared before the federal court in Mobile where they interviewed a judge, talked with a federal marshal and staged their own mock trial. Third graders are on hand for the Alabama Frontier Days

festival, held each November in Wetumpka, where they learn more about the words "blacksmith," "artifact," "encampment," and "amputation."

Bringing vocabulary words to life

"Probably the lowest area in our school academically is vocabulary," Terri Tomlinson says. "Frankly, it's the pits. And most (reading) programs are teaching vocabulary in isolation, perhaps with a short reading

passage. You can teach it and teach it, but how do you make it real to students who often have little context for the words they are being asked to learn?"

That question became a constant topic of

conversation in faculty meetings during the first year of George Hall's reconstitution. As they read, many of George Hall's students have trouble closing their eyes and visualizing an image or a scene, says Tomlinson. Children who regularly go places with their families

"collect concepts and context and learn new vocabulary. But our children here in this school have

many fewer opportunities to be exposed to the variety of activities and conversations that give us the stuff we need to create concepts."

While the Internet can provide many resources to help children experience some of what they've missed, Tomlinson says she and her faculty saw a need to expand beyond the Internet and include physical experiences.

http://georgehall.wetpaint.com/


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And field trips don't end when students return to the classroom. The teachers help them document field

trips through digital photography. Then, when they return to school, students write narratives of their

experiences based on the photographic images and publish their "photo stories" on the Web.

George Hall developed the photo story project after participating in the Alabama Best Practices Center's 21st Century Learning Project. According to school achievement specialist Liz Reints, teachers initially planned to use web tools in a very teacher-centered way-students would use what the teachers put on the web. But the 21st Century Learning Project pushed

teachers to give students the chance to create content for a worldwide audience. And teachers have been very pleased with the results.

"I've been so impressed by their ability to use the vocabulary we had emphasized to explain the pictures," says fifth grade teacher Amy Lowe. "They could identify each image, they remembered what they had learned about it, and that's what they narrated. I think documenting what they learned

really helped them own that learning, and they watch it over and over, and that helps too."

"And now when we have discussions in class," Lowe adds, "they can often connect something from their field trip experiences to whatever we are talking about. They've seen it in the textbooks, they've seen it on the Internet, they've really been there, and

they've reported on it on our website. They have lots of ways to make connections."

A focus for learning “Children are actually using 21st Century learning

tools to talk about where they've been and what they've learned, using new vocabulary in authentic contexts," Tomlinson adds. "And the fact that they are doing this for various audiences on the Web makes it even more meaningful and purposeful to them. They want to get it right because they

understand that people they don't even know are listening and learning from them." In addition to increasing student engagement, these projects require students to analyze and synthesize information from different sources. These activities

help them develop not only the technical but also the critical thinking skills that will be essential in the 21st

century.

George Hall's students have experienced phenomenal

success the past few years. In 2008, 100% of third graders passed the reading portion of the Alabama

state assessment, and 99% passed the math section. 99% of fourth graders passed both sections of the test. That year, the U.S Department of Education named George Hall a Blue Ribbon School.

Field trips themselves are not the only reason for school and student success-teachers work extremely hard every day to help their children learn. Yet these trips are an indispensable part of school culture. Patti Westbrook says there is an important subtext

running through all of George Hall's field experiences. It's a message being sent by every teacher to every student: "We want you to have the knowledge to help run the world when we are older. There's a lot going on outside your house and outside this school building. It's out there waiting for you, and you need to go out there and get it."

For more details visit: George Hall Elementary’s website at http://www.my.schooljournalism.org/al/mobile/ghs/ For additional information, please contact:

Terry Tomlinson,

Principal, George Hall Elementary, at (251) 221-1345

Story adapted from:

"Purposeful Fun: Field Trips that Advance Learning." From Working Towards Excellence: The Journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center. The original story can be accessed at http://www.abpc21.org/fieldtrips.html

Copyright © 2007 by the Alabama Best Practices Center. Adapted with permission.

Published online October 2008


~ 18 ~

Ensuring All Students Reach their Highest Potential in Math

Interlake High School, Washington

Only a decade ago, Interlake High School was the lowest-performing school in the Bellevue district. As Bellevue is an open enrollment district, Interlake

parents and community members knew they needed

an academically rigorous program to turn the school's performance around and draw students to the school. In 1997, Interlake implemented the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) Degree program and in 2003 added the Advanced Placement program.

Access to challenging high school courses has more impact on the likelihood of a student successfully completing a bachelor's degree than any other factor. While recent studies have identified Algebra II as the

"gatekeeper" for college entry, Interlake has set the bar even higher, with the goal that all students will successfully complete pre-Calculus prior to graduating. And whereas Washington State requires

three years of math in high school, Interlake strongly encourages students to take four.

Interlake's principal and math chair point to the following three elements as critical to students' success in math:

Making high-level math courses available to all students

Encouraging students to take more

challenging courses

Providing supports to help students succeed

Making high-level math courses available to all students Inquiry-based approach: Math at Interlake is more

than just memorizing formulas and doing countless practice problems. Rather, the math curriculum is inquiry-based, so learning math is an interactive

experience for students and staff. Teachers encourage students to question answers and processes, investigate alternative possibilities, and draw from their prior experiences to build on their knowledge.

A variety of course options: Recognizing that

students come in with a variety of skill sets and

experiences, Interlake offers a wide range of high-level course options to increase students' chances for math success. Over the past ten years, Interlake has

expanded the number, levels, and variety of math

courses available to students while eliminating the most basic courses. Interlake currently offers 16 different math courses--all at the honors level or above.

District-defined curriculum: The district's curriculum is consistent throughout K-12, so as soon as students enter grade school, they begin the path that will prepare them for high-level coursework in high school. The math program is the same across all 16

elementary and six middle schools, so when students enter Interlake in ninth grade, they are prepared for rigorous math courses.

Encouraging students to take more challenging courses "Every child is a math student": Interlake staff encourage all students--regardless of their past performance--to take advanced math courses to increase their chances of college success. When

Interlake eliminated its more basic math courses, making all math classes honors level at a minimum, there was concern that some students would struggle. However, they rose to the challenge. A majority of the students were achieving at a higher level in a more rigorous class.

Providing supports to help students succeed A sampling of the supports Interlake offers includes:

Starting Strong: Staff work with middle

school teachers to identify eighth grade students who could benefit from additional assistance. These students are offered the opportunity to come to Interlake the summer before their freshman year and get a head start on their classes.

College Corps Program: Specially trained community volunteers assist students with

Results:

•73% of 10th graders scored at or above proficient on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning

(WASL) math section in 2007, up from 49% in 2004

• Math SAT scores have been above the state and national average for the past two years

•78% of students who took the AP Calculus exam passed in 2007, making them eligible for college credit

http://www.publicschoolinsights.org/node/2030


~ 19 ~

every aspect of the college process, including identifying and selecting the right school,

preparing the application, and applying for available financial assistance.

Tutorial High: Students can receive tutoring every day, in every subject, from 2:30 to 3:05 p.m.

Safe Study: An after-school program allows students to receive assistance for a variety of social or emotional issues that may have a

negative impact on their school work, such as coping with stress, assistance with time management, or ideas to help them get organized.

Math Support: The school provides a

mathematics class that meets at the end of the school day and is required of students who are struggling academically. The course is also open for all who would like a little more assistance with math.

Results: As a result of these programs, Interlake has seen great success. Over the past four years, the school has greatly improved the performance of its tenth grade students on the state's exam. In 2003-04, less than half (49 percent) of Interlake's students scored

at proficient or above in math. In 2006-07, almost three fourths (73 percent) scored at proficient or above.

For the past two years, Interlake mathematics scores

on the SAT college entrance exam have been higher than scores in the state and the nation as a whole.

And in 2006-07, 74 percent of Interlake seniors were enrolled in AP and IB coursework. An increasing number of these students are taking the AP and IB exams, from 227 in 2002 to 776 in 2007. Even more impressive, 78 percent of students taking the AP

Calculus exam received a passing score, making them eligible for college credit.

For additional information, please contact: Sharon Collins, Principal, Interlake High School, at [email protected]

This story was originally featured in "Rethinking High School: Supporting All Students to be College Ready in Math," the fifth report in the series "Rethinking

High School," published by WestEd with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.


Published online May 2008


~ 20 ~

Seattle Students Go Global — and Soar

John Stanford International School, Washington

"Globalization" is a word everyone uses, but few know how to put into practice. Eight years ago, however,

Seattle parents and businesses were asked, in separate surveys, what they thought would make for a successful "international" school - one that immerses students in world languages and cultures as

they acquire the skills needed to thrive worldwide.

The answers were put into practice at the K-5 John Stanford International School (JSIS), named for a Seattle superintendent who, before his death from leukemia, envisioned creating high-achieving global-savvy schools. Founded in 2000, JSIS is just that,

earning high test scores and prestigious awards, and serving as a model for the district. So how does it do all these things?

First, immersion. The 400 students - 24 percent Latino, 22 percent Asian, and 49 percent white -

spend half the day learning in English, the other half in Spanish and Japanese. Kindergarteners learn math,

science, culture and literacy in Spanash or Japanese from native speakers. They learn reading, writing and social studies in English. In subsequent grades, world language and English teachers begin to share the curriculum, ensuring that students learn at least part of every subject in a world language and part in English.

A global perspective, meanwhile, is ubiquitous. Harvest songs, South American folktales, and West African painting are taught in music, literacy, and art classes. International holidays are celebrated. And relationships with sister schools - in Tanzania, Mexico, and Japan - culminate in students' video-conferencing

presentations and an annual pilgrimage to Puerto Vallarta, where JSIS students and their parents immerse themselves in the daily life of a Mexican school.

JSIS fosters intense parent and community involvement. From the start, Seattle-based businesses, including Starbucks, have contributed

everything from textbooks to computers. During the school's International Business Breakfasts, as

students put on talent shows, they open their checkbooks for various projects. And the University of

Washington was instrumental in helping to develop JSIS's immersion curriculum.

One reason the school earned two high-profile honors - the Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence

in International Education; and the Best of the Best Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Award - is its support for excellent instruction. All teachers engage in ample professional development, share cutting-edge technological tools, and "loop" (spend two consecutive years) with each class of students.

JSIS also delivers what district officials crave: math and reading test scores that exceed state averages.

Such results have not only attracted visitors from around the world; they've inspired Seattle to expand its global reach. Karen Kodama, JSIS's founding

principal, is now the district's International Education Administrator, charged with creating 10 new

international schools, from kindergarten on up, over the next half-dozen years.

For additional information, please contact:

Karen Kodama, Founding Principal, John Stanford International School; currently Seattle Public Schools District International Education Administrator, at [email protected]

Further details can be found in our sources: Edutopia Magazine, "World Party: Cultivating a

Student's Global Consciousness," March 2006

Intel Corporation, "Intel Innovation in Education: The

John Stanford International School and the Academy of Allied Health and Science Set Their Sights on Excellence," 2005

Results:

• Math and reading test scores exceed state averages

• High-profile honors including the Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for Excellence in International

Education, and the Best of the Best Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Award



~ 21 ~

Taking Flight in Queens

Osmond Church - PS/MS 124, New York

Osmond A. Church Elementary School, otherwise known as PS / MS 124, sits so close to John F. Kennedy Airport that some at the school refer to it as "Hanger 12." It is appropriate, then, that achievement scores have "taken off" in recent years and continue to soar within all subgroup populations.

How has this been accomplished, one might ask? It

began in 1999 when the school applied to New York State for a Comprehensive School Reform Grant. The

school community chose to embrace E.D. Hirsch's "Core Knowledge Program," which was developed on the basis of scientific research.

The school received $784,000 over three years to implement the program. With support from the Core Knowledge Foundation, the entire school community—staff, students, and parents—began their journey and took off on an exploration of rigorous content knowledge instruction infused with skills development.

The curriculum change was a no-brainer for the Osmond Church School community, according to

Principal Valarie Lewis, who was a teacher on staff at the program's inception. Mrs. Lewis told the Achievement Alliance she knew it was time for a change when students weren't improving even though teachers were giving 150% every day. Among the challenges facing teachers and students was

persistent poverty—90% of students qualify for free lunch. In addition, students lacked the knowledge base to make them inquisitive or passionate about learning. Add to this mix a lack of adequate reading skills, and the school faced a recipe for minimal learning gains.

Under the Core Knowledge Curriculum, teachers and students follow a rich instructional framework, aligned to state standards, that creates enthusiasm for teaching and learning. At any given time, you can walk

through the halls and hear conversations that belie the supposed grade-level abilities of the students--kindergarten students discussing Picasso, Georgia O'Keefe, Monet and Van Gogh; fourth graders reenacting the American Revolution; fifth graders exploring the works of Shakespeare. Middle school students delve into the lives of Aristotle, Plato,

Confucius and Buddha, or they debate historical issues, drawing connections to modern day events. Eighth grade students are prolific writers developing thesis papers in science, social studies and English.

Within the Core Knowledge Curriculum, the school has expanded its focus on the arts. It offers dance with instruction from the Alvin Ailey Troupe. It has also developed a school band that studies the works of Mozart, Chopin, and Beethoven, and holds performances that hearken back to another time. The

chorus "Journey through History" performs music from many early and modern cultures.

The school has adopted a rigorous program to assess

each student's skills and content knowledge. After reviewing data, administrators meet with all staff to develop a multi-faceted instructional plan which is anchored by an extensive writing initiative for all students. Differentiated instruction within the content areas provides all students excellent learning opportunities.

Osmond Church's adoption of the Core Knowledge Curriculum has paid off in student performance on

statewide tests in English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. In 2008, for example, PS / MS 124 students at every level grades 3 - 8 matched or exceeded the proficiency rates of New York students

as a whole, with 79.3% meeting state standards in ELA, 92.3% in Math, 87.9% in Science, and 89.8% in Social Studies.

Because of these and other achievements, Osmond

Church has been recognized by New York State Department of Education as a "high performance / achievement gap-closing school" for the past 5 years.

Further details can be found at in our sources: Karen Chenoweth, The Achievement Alliance,

"P.S./M.S. 124, Osmond A. Church School," 2007

New York City Public Schools, "2005-06 Annual School Report Supplement: PS 124 Osmond A Church," 2006

Inside Schools, "P.S. 124 Osmond A. Church School Review," updated 2005

For additional information, please contact: Valarie Lewis,

Principal, Osmond A. Church School, at [email protected]

Results:

• 92.3% of students met or exceeded state math standards in 2008

• 79.3% met or exceeded state English/Language Arts standards in 2008

Published online September 2008

~ 22 ~

~ 23 ~

Connecting

Communities

Learn how families, communities and public school staff join

forces to help students thrive. They jointly set goals for their

schools and students. They openly share information about

student learning and well-being and take responsibility for

children's health, safety, happiness, character development and

academic success.

Bridging the Gap Between Preschool and Kindergarten. Bremerton School

District

A Full-Service School Fulfills Its Promise. Thomas Edison Elementary School

Designing an Exemplar: University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Alexander

School

Teachers Help Thousands of Students Come to School Healthy and Ready to

Learn. Teachers for Healthy Kids

Building Boat Models Aids Math, Science Learning. Parma City Schools

~ 24 ~

Connecting Communities

~ 25 ~

Bridging the Gap Between Preschool and Kindergarten

Bremerton School District, Washington

Through an innovative partnership between the Bremerton (Washington) School District, Head Start,

and community preschools and childcare centers, more than 50 percent of youngsters in this small urban school district start kindergarten knowing the alphabet.

But that wasn’t always the case. Just seven years ago, only 4 percent of Bremerton’s incoming kindergarteners knew their letters, compared to 60 percent of children nationwide. Bremerton’s students, 59 percent of whom come from economically

disadvantaged backgrounds, were behind the academic curve even before they stepped into a classroom.

Knowing that students who start behind often stay behind, district officials realized they shouldn’t wait until these children started school to address the problem. So in 2001, Bremerton School District launched the Early Childhood Care and Education Group (ECCE), with the ambitious goal of having all

children reading at grade level by the end of third grade.

Lacking the capacity to create its own preschool program, Bremerton looks to others to help improve early childhood education. Officials first reached out to its Head Start partners, who were already working with the public schools to serve children with disabilities. But the district didn’t stop there. Linda

Sullivan-Dudzic (the district’s Director of Special

Programs) and her staff recruited faith-based and community preschools as well as home-based childcare centers for the program.

Preschools embraced the effort. Carverlynne Prothero, program supervisor at Emmanuel Lutheran Childcare Center, says that her center is ―honored to be part of the program.‖ And given Head Start’s mandate to make the transition to kindergarten easier for

disadvantage students, Jill Brenner (child development manager for Kitsap Community

Resources, which manages Head Start programs in Bremerton and three other school districts), most Head Start programs will jump at the chance to partner with their school district.

The ECCE is truly a partnership. Together, Bremerton district officials and members of the preschool community developed a five-year plan to increase the number of kindergarteners with early literacy skills and decrease the number of children requiring

remedial services. Then, with input from the preschools, district officials selected a curriculum aligned with Washington’s early learning benchmarks.

Today, Bremerton provides its eighteen preschool partners with curriculum materials. Donna Gearns, a district instructional coach, leads monthly professional development and provides on-site support and training at the preschools. In addition, the preschool directors meet monthly with Sullivan-Dudzic to

discuss student performance, trends and research in early childhood education, and effective teaching strategies.

In exchange for these resources, the preschools provide the school district with qualitative assessments of student progress. Twice a year, the district evaluates the nearly 800 three- and four-year-olds enrolled in the program. Sullivan-Dudzic

regularly reports academic progress to the School

Board of Directors, which uses the data in decision-making. In addition, the district shares the data with the preschools so they can adjust their instruction as necessary.

Given that many of the participating preschools do not have the budget for the materials and assessments that Bremerton provides, they are very appreciative of the program, and the district is happy

Results:

More than 50% of entering kindergarteners know the alphabet, up from 4% seven years ago

Only 2.1% of kindergarteners needed specialized educational services in May 2008, down from 12% in

2002

73% of first graders were reading at grade level in 2008, up from 52% in 2002


~ 26 ~

to pick up the tab. According to Sullivan-Dudzic, while

a set of curriculum materials costs the school district $2,000, the district saves $2,500 for every kindergartener who does not need remedial reading

services. ―All I need is one kid coming out of that preschool who does not need remedial help to make up that first year’s investment,‖ she says.

The entire program costs the district about $65,000 a year (down from $85,000 each of the first several years of operation), which covers materials, teacher training, and an annual preschool fair to promote the program to parents and attract new preschool partners. From the beginning, Bremerton has funded

the program with state money from Washington’s Initiative 728 (I-728), which earmarked extra funds for six specific program areas—including

prekindergarten programs—designed to improve student achievement. Bremerton also received a grant to provide information to parents about the

importance of reading to young children and applied for grant money to provide weekend and evening training to home-based childcare providers.

But preschool only gets you so far, says Sullivan-Dudzic. So in 2002, Bremerton expanded its early learning efforts by offering full-day kindergarten to a group of academically at-risk children at each elementary school. In one year, the number of kindergarteners reading at grade level increased from

one percent to 51 percent. With such impressive results, the School Board took the next step, and in

2006 became one of the first school districts in Washington to offer universal, free all-day kindergarten.

That was the decision that tested us because it [was] a big financial gamble,‖ says DeWayne Boyd, Bremerton School Board Director. ―There was some trepidation. But for those students in full-day

kindergarten, the results were so good [that we] committed to having all-day [kindergarten] for everybody.‖

After just one year of universal all-day kindergarten, 92.3 percent of kindergarteners were reading at grade level or higher. By May 2008, 93.5 percent of

kindergarteners met or exceeded that benchmark and only 2.1 percent needed specialized services, down from 12 percent six years earlier. Among last year’s

first graders (the first to attend both the preschool

and full-day kindergarten programs), 73 percent were reading at grade level, up from 52 percent in 2002. Both the district and the preschools are pleased with

the results—pleased, but not satisfied. The group continuously looks for ways to improve. Current ideas include expanding their leadership group to include more community voices and having current preschool participants sit down one-on-one with new preschools to encourage them to join the group, a noble effort considering the high competition for students among preschools.

Bremerton’s efforts have earned state and national

attention. State education officials named Bremerton a ―Lighthouse District‖ and Bremerton staff now train up to ten school districts each year on developing

effective early childhood education programs. The National School Boards Association awarded Bremerton its prestigious Magna Award in 2007.

The results of the Early Childhood Care and Education Group and full-day kindergarten have exceeded the School Board’s greatest expectations, says School

Board Director Vicki Collins, and the Board is considering expanding the programs beyond literacy to other content areas such as math and science.

―We now must adjust the curriculum for the first, second, and third grades,‖ she says. ―The children are entering those grades with significant academic achievement. That’s a wonderful problem to solve.‖

For additional information please contact:

Linda Sullivan-Dudzic, Director of Special Programs, Bremerton School District, at (360) 473-1061 or [email protected]

Vicki Collins,

School Board Director, Bremerton School District, at (360) 373-0069 or [email protected]

This story was originally published by the Center for Public Education and adapted with permission.

©2008 Center for Public Education

Published online January 2009


~ 27 ~

A Full-Service School Fulfills Its Promise

Thomas Edison Elementary School, New York

In the late 1990s, teachers and administrators here at Thomas Edison Elementary School in Port Chester, New York, could see that the struggles of neighborhood families were affecting students' safety and well-being. They were also contributing to low academic achievement.

Although Port Chester is surrounded by affluent areas of Westchester County, our community is far from wealthy. More than 80 percent of Thomas Edison's students receive free or reduced-price lunch, and nearly 50 percent are English language learners. The majority of our families are recent immigrants from Hispanic countries. They struggle to afford adequate housing, child care, nutrition, and health care. They also face the stresses that accompany immigration: worry about legal

status, the difficult process of acculturation, language barriers, frequent moves and disrupted schooling, separation from family members, and school expectations very different from those in their home countries. These factors all contributed to low academic performance at Edison: in 1999, only 19 percent of Edison's 4th graders passed New York State's English language arts assessment, and only 75 percent passed the state mathematics assessment.

Divining Community Concerns That year, Edison began the process of becoming a full-service community school. First, Edison faculty and community stakeholders sought a deeper understanding of the conditions that were influencing student learning. We conducted focus groups, individual interviews, and surveys in which we asked school practitioners, parents,

students, and representatives of community-based organizations what concerns they had about Edison's students' lives and schooling.

Teachers' frustrations included the fact that parents

sent children to school sick--expecting the school nurse to provide primary health care--and the difficulty of communication with parents. Parents, in turn, expressed needs for child care, help overcoming language barriers, and guidance on school involvement. Community groups recognized how often emotional and physical stresses were handicapping students.

We drew on these concerns to design a school where the school district and community-based organizations combined resources to meet students' needs. We created a community-school advisory board that represented key constituents and met once a month during our first year, planning and putting in place the community-school framework and developing goals and measurable objectives. We hired a community-school coordinator to help secure funds, coordinate partnership activities, and serve as a liaison between Edison and the partner agencies.

Partnerships in Action Our School-Based Health Center A review of the school's health records confirmed teachers' observations that many students were coming to

school sick. We discovered that fewer than 23 percent of Edison students had health care coverage. The school shared these data with the Open Door Medical Center, an organization providing medical care to poor and underserved families in Port Chester, and initiated a partnership with them. Open Door secured federal grants and other funding to establish a school-based health center.

At the health center, the Edison school nurse and the

Open Door nurse practitioner coordinate health care initiatives involving students and their families. The nurse practitioner provides primary care to students at the school. Common colds and other illnesses, which were previously often left untreated, now receive prompt medical attention, reducing the number of student absences. A weekly visit from Open Door's dentist provides much-needed dental care for Edison's students.

All Edison students can receive health care at the center, including screenings, vaccinations, and prescription medication. During these procedures, the staff has

uncovered more serious illnesses, such as diabetes, which might have remained undetected until serious symptoms or complications appeared. We refer students needing more complex medical care to Open Door's main medical facility in the community. And in addition to providing medical services, Open Door staff members provide

Results:

In 2008, 70% of 4th graders scored proficient or better on the New York State English language arts

assessment (compared to 19% passing the 1999 assessment)

In 2008, 94% of 4th graders scored proficient or better on the New York State mathematics assessment

(compared to 75% passing the 1999 assessment)

Today 94% of students are medically insured (compared with less than 23% in 1999)


~ 28 ~

nutrition and wellness education to parents and help families obtain federally funded medical insurance.

As a result of the health center's services, 94 percent of Edison's students are now medically insured and receive ongoing medical and dental care. The success of this model has led the district and Open Door to expand this kind of program to other schools.

Therapy and Family Casework To complement the work of teachers and health-center staff in addressing the developmental needs of the whole child, Edison set up a partnership with the Guidance Center, a local mental health facility. A bilingual family caseworker meets with families in crisis and helps parents realize their roles as their children's first teachers and

primary advocates. The caseworker also supports the general parent population at the school, sometimes by facilitating communication between school staff and parents who do not speak English and by providing new families with school supplies and clothing, if needed. A social worker provides therapeutic counseling for students in crisis and teams up with the family caseworker to ease the stresses on students' families. These services help Edison establish links with the families that are hardest to reach. Parent Education and Capacity Building

For the past six years, Edison has hosted the weekly bilingual gathering "La Segunda Taza de Café" ("A Second Cup of Coffee") for parents at the school, facilitated by the caseworker from the Guidance Center. At these gatherings, parents participate in workshops, seminars, and discussion groups about topics of interest to them. These topics include state standards and assessments, parents' rights and responsibilities in schools, strategies to help their children learn, and information on citizenship and naturalization. One goal behind this parent program is to develop parents' leadership capacity. Edison's

immigrant parents are now visible in the school and active with the Parent Teacher Association. After-School Enrichment Services, Education, and Resources of Westchester, a nonprofit organization, was instrumental in creating Edison's after-school program. This program now serves 130 students daily and meets the twin needs of homework help and child care that parents and teachers identified in our initial community survey. Through professional and nonprofessional staff members, including many bilingual workers, we both support students' growth in English and

offer them enrichment experiences in their native languages--martial arts, photography, chess, tennis, computer-assisted instruction, and the opportunity to produce a literary magazine. We also strive to validate the rich Hispanic heritage of our students by bringing in artists to teach arts and crafts reflecting the culture and styles of indigenous Hispanic people. We also invite students to join a folk dancing troupe that performs frequently.

Partnership with Manhattanville College Edison's long-standing professional development relationship with Manhattanville College is an important resource for improving teaching and learning. Edison hires many teachers trained at Manhattanville (30 percent of

our teachers are alumni), which provides us with qualified teachers willing and prepared to work in a school confronting the conditions of poverty.

The majority of our new teachers from Manhattanville

have participated in structured preservice learning experiences at Edison, ranging from facilitating small-group instruction to student teaching. All our new hires participate in a two-year induction program coordinated by the college liaison, with Edison teachers serving as mentors. This formal guidance has increased the school's retention of new teachers. In addition, veteran teachers continue to refine their practice by taking courses in English as a second language, literacy, and content-area instruction at the college for free or at reduced cost.

Ten Years of Whole Child Education The changes we made in becoming a community school have led to dramatic achievement gains for our students. In 2008, 70 percent of Edison's 4th graders scored proficient or better on the New York State Assessment in English Language Arts, and 94 percent did so in

mathematics. Seventy-five percent of our families now participate in schoolwide events. The New York State Education Department has recognized Thomas Edison for its innovative practices and achievement gains.

Through 10 years of growing into a full-service community

school, Edison has had some insights. A key feature of our design is the fact that community-based partners provide services right on the school site and cultivate interagency cooperation. Reshaping ourselves as a community school has enabled our faculty to focus more on teaching and learning, has given families direct access to resources that improve their lives, and has expanded our partners' ability to reach children and families. We are now educating the whole child at Edison.

For additional information, please contact: JoAnne Ferrara, Chair of Curriculum and Instruction at Manhattanville College (Purchase, NY), at [email protected]

Story adapted from: "A Full-Service School Fulfills its Promise," by Eileen Santiago, JoAnne Ferrera & Marty Blank. In the April 2008 issue of Educational Leadership, 65(7), p 44-47

Copyright © 2008 by Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Adapted with permission.

Published online September 2008


~ 29 ~

Designing an Exemplar:

University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Alexander School

Penn Alexander School, Pennsylvania

When the University of Pennsylvania decided to revitalize their surrounding West Philadelphia neighborhood of University City in the late 1990s, they knew they had to start with an outstanding neighborhood school. Together with the Philadelphia school district and the Philadelphia Federation of

Teachers, Penn designed and created the Sadie Tanner

Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School (otherwise known as Penn Alexander). The initiative has been a resounding success: Penn Alexander has showed some of the highest test scores in the city (in 2007, more than 80% of its students scored proficient or higher in state

reading and math tests). What's more, the school has become a bridge connecting the neighborhood community with the university's vast resources.

Opened in 2001 with grades K-2 and 5-6, Penn Alexander has now expanded to serve over 500 pre-kindergarten through eighth graders. Students must live in the local catchment zone. In 2007-2008, enrollment stood at 50% low-income and 72%

minority (48% African-American, 28% white, 13% Asian, 6% Hispanic, and 5% other ethnicities).

What makes Penn Alexander outstanding? Principal

Sheila Sydnor told the Philadelphia Daily News, "The expectations are high and the curriculum is rigorous. I don't think we teach just enough. We go beyond just enough, and that has made a difference." In this case, "beyond enough" means a rich curriculum including language arts, math, science, technology, social studies, Spanish, art, music, and physical education.

Developed in close collaboration with Penn's Graduate School of Education, the curriculum focuses on student-centered, hands-on learning. Middle-graders meet in advisories and take a variety of elective classes, from journalism to handbells.

Thanks to its close ties to the university, Penn Alexander also serves as a center for research and professional development for teachers and staff. Team

teaching, mentoring teachers-in-training, graduate study, and research with Penn faculty are regular features at the school, and teaching strategies draw on the latest research from Penn's GSE.

The university also plays a major role in funding Penn Alexander, committing $1000 per student, per year, to the school, and leasing the property to the school district for $1 per year. The extra cash allows Penn Alexander to keep class sizes small-one key to its extraordinary success. With a student-teacher ratio of

17:1 in kindergarten and 23:1 in all other grades,

students benefit from a level of individual attention nearly impossible in overcrowded schools. The combination of strategic leadership at the school level and the University partnership allows for other features: a well-appointed school library, a multimedia

center, three computer labs, full-time technology and arts specialists, two playgrounds, and two gardens. The bright, spacious building (designed in collaboration with neighborhood parent groups as well as teachers and Penn faculty) includes an atrium where students gather to read, rehearse plays, or practice instruments. As seventh-grader Umar Farooqi told the Daily News, "It makes you feel welcome."

Universities nationwide are taking notice of Penn

Alexander, seeking the key to its achievement. What do they find? First, groups that share common goals-the well-being of children and their communities-accomplish more when they work together. Parents, neighborhood groups, teachers, the school district, and the university all contributed expertise and resources to the planning of Penn Alexander. Second, money

does make a difference. UPenn's investment of cash to support an excellent school design has paid off big-in higher test scores, excellent teachers and students, and a healthier community.


Ann Kreidle, Manager of k-12 Partnerships, The Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania, at [email protected]

Further details can be found in our sources: J. Khadduri, H. Schwartz, and J. Turnham of Abt Associates, Inc. "Reconnecting Schools and Neighborhoods," 2007

E. Greenwald, for Penn & West Philadelphia, "Say Yes to Education and the Penn Alexander School," Nov. 7, 2005

Result:

More than 80% of students scored proficient or higher in state reading and math tests in 2007



~ 30 ~

Teachers Help Thousands of Students Come to School Healthy and

Ready to Learn

Teachers for Healthy Kids, California

California teachers have linked thousands of low-income kids to health care because, as the Teachers

for Healthy Kids (THK) project puts it, "healthy

children make better learners." This initiative, a joint effort of the California Teachers Association and the California Association of Health Plans, connects teachers with information and parents with services to help ensure that the state's uninsured children

receive the health care they so desperately need to succeed in school - and in life.

Access to excellent, affordable health care is a major

challenge for millions of families across the country. When families have to choose between paying the rent and paying an eye doctor, it is not hard to see which will win out. As a result, for too many low-income kids, poor health becomes an impediment to learning. When the THK project began in 2002, in

California alone over 1.2 million children were

uninsured. Many of those children were eligible for free or low-cost health coverage. When THK became part of the efforts to connect the school community with the health care community, exciting things began to happen.

Begun in 2002 with funding from The California Endowment, THK is based on the simple premise that teachers are a vital and trusted link to parents.

The initiative provides teachers with information about health care plans, so that they can encourage parents of uninsured children to apply for coverage. Teachers need not be experts; they are simply the "trusted messengers."

Parents then work directly with the health plan providers to determine their children's eligibility for coverage. In addition to making the connection between teachers and parents, THK also works

through the Teacher Association, school districts and individual schools to incorporate outreach into the school calendar, disseminate health surveys to parents, and schedule enrollment events. As Carolyn Doggett, Executive Director of the California Teachers Association, describes: "over the course of

the THK program, we've sent more than a million pieces of mail to teachers across the state and distributed 2.8

million leaflets to families through teachers. We've

provided resource bags to more than 50,000 teachers and have sponsored programs in more than 125 school districts."

While Ms. Doggett does not want to take all the credit for the drop in the number of uninsured in California (approximately 400,000 more children have health insurance in 2007 than in 2002), she notes: "about half of the newly-enrolled families are reporting that they

learned about programs through their school." Already THK is serving as a model that extends beyond the school community. Cities and counties recently received funding from the Wellpoint Foundation to replicate the program in their recreation and after-school programs, and other venues - wherever people have an

opportunity to let families know that their children may

be eligible for health services and provide opportunities to assist with enrollment.

Building on the lesson that "teachers can't teach to an empty desk," THK serves as special model of communities and schools joining forces to help children succeed.

For additional information, please contact: Hellan Roth Dowden,

Project Manager, Teachers for Healthy Kids, at 916-440-8811 or [email protected]

Further details can be found in our sources: Carolyn Doggett’s speech at the Learning First Alliance 2007 Summit

Teachers for Healthy Kids website at http://www.teachersforhealthykids.com/

Result:

• Contributed to the addition of 400,000 children to California health insurance enrollments from 2002 to

2007



~ 31 ~

Building Boat Models Aids Math, Science Learning

Parma City Schools, Ohio

Parma City Schools in Parma, Ohio, and General Motors have collaborated in a program for third-grade

students at the district's Thoreau Park Elementary School to boost math and science performance.

The program evolved after the school community

focused on the fact that students were performing poorly on the Ohio state tests in math and science. At

the time, General Motors was a business partner with Thoreau Park Elementary and offered to provide volunteers to implement a proposed program, called

World in Motion. The premise was that students learn best when they can connect their learning to real-world aspects of life. In science and math, that involves connecting abstract theory to something tangible.

The program involves students creating small skimmer boats with the help of about 10 GM engineers working in the school's third-grade classrooms for an hour a week for six weeks.

The program curriculum was created by GM and

correlated with the third-grade Ohio standards in math and science. The Society of Automotive

Engineers developed a curriculum that had students take on the role of engineers to create, build, test, revise and ultimately develop the best-performing skimmer boats.

The program started with more than 100 students the first year. More than 300 have participated over the first three years.

GM engineers working in the classroom help students view scientific thinking in a positive way and see science and math options as viable career choices. The engineers portrayed their work and careers as

exciting and rewarding, inspiring the students to consider career choices in those areas. The school district has found having exemplary role models working with students in a process-oriented laboratory to be invaluable. Students work collaboratively in groups and have specific jobs and

goals. They learn how to hypothesize, test, observe, record data and analyze their product performance. The students also learn cooperation, tolerance, and

acceptance while working with others, and they see how volunteering, like the engineers in the program do, can benefit their community.

Through testing, trial and error, students are able to see how their skimmer boats react to various design changes. Together the students have to decide on one design change to improve the boat's performance.

Volunteers help the students learn how to reach such a consensus, and students learn to improve their listening and communication skills in the process.

As part of the final project presentation, students demonstrate their engineering efforts by racing their skimmer boats and testing them for the straightest path over a long distance.

Part of the success of the program has been seen in the turnout at the final project presentations in the school gymnasium. Attendees have included parents, community members, district office staff, school administrators, GM employees, and students.

Success can also be seen in their third-grade math scores at Thoreau Park on the Ohio Math Achievement

Test, which rose from 63 percent of students passing in 2005-2006 to 87 percent passing in each of the following two years.

Plans are to expand the program to the fifth grade. Meanwhile, GM is using the PowerPoint presentation created for the final project demonstration to recruit additional volunteers for the program.


Sarah Zatik, Superintendent, Parma City Schools, at 440-885-8661 or [email protected]

Karen Hronek Principal, Thoreau Park Elementary, at 440-885-2351 or [email protected]

This story came to LFA’s attention as the Ohio winner of the 2008 National Civic Star Award, presented by the American Association of School Administrators and Sodexo School Services. Story reprinted with permission, 2008

Result:

• 87% of 3rd graders have passed the state math test each of the past two years, up from 63% in 2005

Published online April 2008

~ 32 ~

~ 33 ~

Creating Safe Great

Places to Learn

Read about public school staff and communities that create safe

and engaging learning environments - both inside and outside the

school walls. Great places to learn inspire innovation,

imagination, collaboration, respect, personal responsibility and

hard work.

A World of Opportunity. Forest Grove High School

Arts Integrated Curriculum Helps Students Overcome Challenges of Poverty.

Woodrow Wilson Elementary School

Caring for the Future. Isaac Young Middle School

School/Community Connections Benefit Both in Missouri. Independence

School District

Pride is the First Step. Pocomoke Middle School

~ 34 ~

Safe Great Places to Learn

~ 35 ~

A World of Opportunity

Forest Grove High School, Oregon

From the moment you enter the lobby, it is clear that

Forest Grove High School places a high value on

achievement for all students. Large banners highlight the recognition the school has received for academic accomplishments (such as Oregon's Closing the Achievement Gap award, which it has received for two years running), and the school's mission-"To provide a

superior education that challenges our students to achieve academic and personal excellence and to become world-class citizens"-is posted throughout the school.

As Dave Willard, the assistant superintendent for the Forest Grove School District, stated, "We set the bar high for every student, make the entire curriculum so that every student has access. The students know what is expected of them, and more important, they

know we are committed to helping them succeed at the highest level. We have embraced the new three Rs of education for the 21st century: rigor, relevance, and relationships."

Collaborative Leadership To ensure that practice and instruction are driven by data, rather than anecdote, every two years Forest Grove holds a school improvement retreat during which representatives from all stakeholder groups

(including teachers, students, parents, board members, and community members) review disaggregated student achievement data to examine program efficacy, curricular alignment to state standards, state graduation requirements, and professional development. They then establish school

improvement goals for the next three to five years.

Using data to drive professional development has also prompted the use of differentiated instruction, student-owned strategies, power standards (i.e., essential, prioritized standards), recommendations for Breaking Ranks II (the National Association of Secondary Principals' vision for high school reform),

and other best practices. In addition to traditional parent conference nights and quarterly Latino parent nights, Forest Grove offers

parents a variety of tools and information to support

high expectations. Parents use a Web-based service

that provides biweekly updates and course expectations for each class and allows parents to check grades, missing assignments, assignment due dates, and attendance records. Forest Grove staff members also work closely with one another and with

parents to support early intervention for struggling students. During weekly team meetings, teachers review individual student progress and, as a result, often initiate individual parent conferences to identify and implement intervention strategies. Assistant principals provide a further check by coordinating student progress meetings for students who are failing

multiple classes.

In the area of school-community connections, the staff

reports an atmosphere for support consistent with the districts goal of increasing community awareness of the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets (available at www.search-institute.org/assets). The developmental assets are experiences and qualities that students should have to become successful, caring, responsible adults. The school's message about

supporting youth is spread in local churches and shared with service clubs and business groups. The results are manifested in the school when business leaders conduct mock interviews with all sophomores as part of the job shadowing advisory requirement and when community and business leaders serve as mentors for senior projects, are guest speakers for classes, and critique resumes.

Personalization

Forest Grove is continually striving to meet the needs of each student and embraces a host of strategies to help students develop a sense of belonging in the school and a sense of ownership over their learning. Creating that sense of belonging begins early with the ninth-grade transition program, which pairs

upperclassmen with the new arrivals and offers the freshmen support and guidance during their first year of adjustment.

Results:

In 2007, 79% and 81% of students met or exceeded state math and reading standards respectively, up

from 37% and 49% five years ago

AP participation rates among low-income students increased from 8% to 21% in one year

The drop-out rate decreased from 7.7% in 2002 to 2.5% in 2006


~ 36 ~

The Forest Grove house structure also helps to

establish peer-to-peer as well as student-teacher connections. Students in grades 9 and 10 are divided into houses, and upperclassmen are encouraged to

pursue a more specialized course of study through the school's six academies. The house structure-in which students have the same English, science, and social studies teachers-enables teams to plan together, address individual student needs, and implement individual interventions.

During the first semester of grade 9, each student is introduced to the "plan and profile" and begins to document experiences and academic and career

learning plans for high school and beyond. Profiles are updated in the fall of each year, and learning plans are attached to each student's class records for

forecasting in the spring. Learning plans are completed within an advisory structure that keeps students in the same group throughout their Forest

Grove career. Every student in the school meets with his or her advisor to review and discuss academic information, transcripts, course selection issues, school and class issues, and various school reports. In addition, advisers meet with their advisory group biweekly to address grade-level issues, such as making a successful transition to high school, driving, colleges and careers, and personal financial literacy.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

One way Forest Grove fosters achievement is by placing its best teachers with struggling students. The

Forest Grove policy of open access to AP classes promotes a challenging curriculum for all students. With open access and the addition of 11 new AP classes (for a total of 21) during the 2006-2007 school year, the number of seats filled in AP courses rose

from 180 to 460. AP participation rates among low-income students increased from 8% to 21%, and Hispanic student participation nearly doubled-from 8% to 14%—in the course of just one year. To give more students access and to accommodate their varying pace, Forest Grove offers some AP classes over the entire year, instead of a semester.

Dual enrollment programs at Portland Community College and Pacific University offer another

opportunity for students to engage in challenging

course work. This option allowed 131 students to earn 1,123 credits during the 2006-2007 school year.

Because common standards and expectations are agreed upon and promulgated through the collaborative exchanges of faculty members, the curriculum is consistent across the school, and all students are exposed to the same information and

learning opportunities regardless of who their teacher is.

Assessment is an ongoing activity at Forest Grove. Teachers have regular access to the data management computer system, which enables them to use the data to tailor instructional strategies or investigate new

options. For those students who do not meet state math or reading standards, 9th and 10th grade reading and math workshops-some of which are taught by AP teachers-are required, effectively doubling the time available for students to master areas of weakness while continuing with traditional math and English course work.

Assessment takes a turn during the senior year when

students spend time researching and writing their

senior projects. This culminating activity is finally complete when each student makes an oral presentation to a panel of judges. On this stage, students have an opportunity to demonstrate many of the writing, critical-thinking, and presentation skills they have gained during their four years at Forest Grove.

One Student at a Time As a result of these and other school improvement

efforts, students report at an overwhelming rate that they feel connected and that they belong at Forest Grove. Data support that finding: the drop-out rate declined from a high of 7.7% in 2002 to 2.5% in 2006. Academic performance has increased

dramatically, with 79% of the students meeting or exceeding the state math assessments and 81%

meeting or exceeding the reading assessment-scores that are up from 37% and 49%, respectively, five years ago. Forest Grove staff members understand that a good high school opens a world of opportunity for all students, and they are committed to providing the necessary knowledge, skills, and experiences to

meet future vocational and academic challenges.


John O'Neill, Jr., Principal, Forest Grove High School, at (503) 359-2432 or [email protected]

Story adapted from: ―A World of Opportunity‖ by James A. Rourke and Elizabeth Boone. In the June 2008 special edition of NASSP’s Principal Leadership.

©2008 National Association for Secondary School Principals. Adapted with permission.

Published online August 2008


~ 37 ~

Arts Integrated Curriculum Helps Students Overcome Challenges of

Poverty

Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, New Jersey

Woodrow Wilson is a pre-kindergarten to eighth grade school located in Union City, New Jersey. One of the

most densely populated cities in the United States,

Union City has a large immigrant population-90 percent of the students are Hispanic-and high rates of poverty. In fact, the city has the lowest median family income in the state, and 84 percent of the school's population is eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch.

Despite its challenges, Woodrow Wilson has developed a rich curriculum that uses visual and performing arts to help students meet state standards, engage them academically and foster their higher-order thinking

skills. This unique program develops their individual creative strengths and talents while giving them the confidence and problem-solving abilities they need to succeed in a challenging new century.

For example, Woodrow Wilson uses the Multiple Intelligence Arts Domain (M.I.A.D.) program, which allows students to explore the arts and academic areas of their choice through hands-on activities and experiences. Two afternoons a week, students and

teachers leave their normal classrooms and participate in activities such as ballet, opera, instrumental music, drama, visual arts, architectural design, dance or debate. M.I.A.D. offerings often support the core curriculum. When faculty noticed weaknesses in mathematics assessment results, for example, they developed a M.I.A.D. summer program targeting areas in need of improvement.

The school encourages students to develop poise

before large audiences and take public responsibility for their own learning. Woodrow Wilson students frequently demonstrate their learning through both informal presentations and formal performances of musicals, operas or plays. In addition, seventh- and eighth-graders maintain electronic portfolios of their best work, together with their own written reflections on this work.

Woodrow Wilson has built partnerships with the New York City Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera, among

many other arts organizations, to nurture students'

talents and give some the chance to perform on the New York City stages. Photographers, poets, playwrights, visual artists, musicians, folklorists and drama specialists regularly come into the school to mentor students and help teachers integrate art into the core curriculum.

The school has been wildly successful. Its school-wide reading and math proficiency rates have grown steadily over the past four years to well over 90%--

considerably higher than the state average. In 2004 the U.S. Department of Education recognized Woodrow Wilson's achievements by naming it a Blue Ribbon School.

Woodrow Wilson Elementary has proven that, when aligned to high academic standards, an arts-integrated curriculum can help children discover and expand their own individual talents-and overcome the challenges of poverty.


Mr. Ron Treanor, Principal, Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, at [email protected] Further details can be found in our sources: Jessica Rosero, "Woodrow Wilson School Receives

Prestigious National Award," Hudson Reporter, October

2004

U.S. Department of Education, "Blue Ribbon School Profile: Woodrow Wilson Elementary School - Weehawken, NJ," 2004 Woodrow Wilson Elementary School website at www.union-city.k12.nj.us/schools/elem/wilson/index.html

Results:

Reading and math proficiency rates have grown to more than 90%

Selected as a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education



~ 38 ~

Caring for the Future

Isaac Young Middle School, New York

"Built by the Past-Ready for the Future" is more than a school motto at Isaac E. Young Middle School in New

Rochelle, NY. Built in 1925, Isaac became the iconic

U.S. secondary school when Dick Sargent's painting of it appeared on the cover of the October 17, 1959, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The changes the school has experienced over the last 55 years mirror changes in the suburban United States.

Once a predominantly white middle class community, New Rochelle today is a diverse urban melting pot. Although 97% of the students still walk to school, the students are very different. Many are immigrants, and

many face significant challenges. What hasn't changed is the school's commitment to honoring its history and recommitting its energy and resources to educating every student for the future.

Isaac Young was deemed in need of improvement by the state of New York in the 2003-04 school year. Student achievement was low, and the school had large numbers of English language learners. There were also achievement gaps between groups of

students. Staff members felt that the "needs improvement" label didn't reflect the climate in the building but realized that without intensive instructional intervention, they were placing their students at risk. Principal Anthony Bongo, then the assistant principal, recalled a turning point, "a sense of urgency: we needed passion; we had to prepare our students."

Collaborative Leadership

In an anonymous survey, 99% of staff members approved of administrators' efforts to empower teachers. That empowerment is clearly evident in the school's literacy initiatives. The literacy committee was formed at the teachers' request to pull together all the research-based

strategies for which the school and district had previously provided extensive professional development. Those strategies had never been

coordinated or made part of a comprehensive plan until teacher leadership came to the fore. The literacy

committee studied the strategies and programs

already in use in the building and began to integrate them into a cohesive plan with implementation guidelines. Their plan incorporates personalized instruction, literacy across the curriculum, and inquiry-based learning and instruction to encourage students to bring their own experiences to the table and to seek information by questioning. The committee has

evolved during the past three years to play an active role in implementing literacy instruction across the curriculum and in building teachers' instructional capacity. Staff members firmly believe that this coordinated approach to literacy instruction is the reason for improved student results.

Personalization "It's always about personalization- compassion, building trust, teaching students to love learning," science teacher Jack Fullerton said. "Then comes the rigor because they will demand to learn. The emphasis must be on reaching each student." Echoing that

sentiment is Daniel Billups, one of two psychologists on site who, with two social workers at the school, provide support to students and families. ―It is our job to nurture the students enough so that they can be open to academics. Our support clears the plate so that students can learn," said Billups.

In addition to structural entities that foster personalization-such as the team and house structures, small learning communities and eighth-

grade academies, and academic and career learning plans for students-teachers act as de facto mentors or advocates for students.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Expectations and student engagement go hand in hand at Isaac Young. Counselor Martha Rodriguez believes that expectations are set high: "We push to get students ready for college. We talk about it with them from day one." The early emphasis on college is

Results:

Moved from "in need of improvement," to commendation by the state of New York

80 students enrolled in high school-level courses in 2007, up from 30 in 2001

The percentage of minorities participating in high school-level courses increased from 10% in 2002 to 28%

in 2007

99% of staff approve of administrators' efforts to empower educators


~ 39 ~

also supported by the College Board's Springboard

program. Raising expectations requires a similar emphasis on

providing all students with a rigorous curriculum. Staff members have made a concerted effort to increase the number of students who take the most challenging courses, such as the high school Regents courses. In 2001, only 30 students were involved in these high school courses; this year, 80 students took Regents courses. In addition, more minorities are participating

in these courses. Minority participation has grown from 10% in 2002 to approximately 28% most recently. Assistant Superintendent Diane Massimo discussed some other systematic efforts that promote high

expectations through well-aligned curriculum and instruction: "The curriculum is mapped; we have common learning outcomes by grade level, frequent formative assessments (which helps teachers target specific student weaknesses), and common language across content areas. The goal is for kids to have access and opportunity." Common preparation periods

for teams and grade-level teachers as well as block scheduling support these efforts. An extensive array of electives complements these initiatives and supports acceleration in math and science. Enrichment opportunities are also available through the Saturday Academy and the 21st Century

grant programs.

An Attitude of Success

Passion and pride are evident throughout Isaac Young. An attitude of success permeates every corner of the school. According to one teacher, "People feel that

they own the bricks here!" Staff members agree that the improved student achievement over the last three years can be directly attributed to the adults demonstrating how much they care about the students. This caring makes students want to work for their teachers. The students take pride in the school's history and feel a sense of joy knowing that they will

be prepared for whatever choices they make in the future. "I am proud of our rising test scores...[and] rising number of students who take and excel in accelerated courses," said Bongo, "but only because these scores

reflect the sum of our staff's instructional efforts and love combined with our students' determination."

For additional information, please contact: Anthony Bongo,

Principal, Isaac E. Young Middle School, at [email protected]

Story adapted from: ―Caring for the Future‖ by James Rourke and Marlene Hartzman. In the June 2008 special edition of NASSP’s Principal Leadership.


Published online November 2008


~ 40 ~


School/Community Connections Benefit Both in Missouri

Independence School District, Missouri

Everyone in Independence plays a role in educating young people. Each elementary school and one high

school has a School/Neighborhood Site Council that includes parents, teachers, community members, and students. These councils assess needs for their neighborhood and school and then implement action plans aimed at improving the well-being of students, families, neighborhoods and the community. In Independence, the public believes that a caring community builds on its strengths to provide meaningful opportunities for young people.

With a city population of 113,288 the Independence School District serves 11,489 residents. Household median income in Independence is $45,761, with 54% of children qualifying for free/reduced lunch. All of the district's 21 schools—13 elementary, 3 middle, 2 high, and 3 others—are community schools. The District incorporates city, university, state, and local resources to

support these schools and the services they provide to communities and children.

Initiated with the Schools of the 21st Century approach,

the community schools approach has grown over time in the Independence School District and was solidified in 1996 with a new partnership called LINC Caring Communities. The Local Investment Commission (LINC) creates a community governance model driven by direct involvement of informed families and citizens.

Independence now provides a strengths-based, holistic education that includes family goal planning, resource referrals, parenting and child education, long-term informal support and interventions, and crisis intervention.

One component of their model is the district Dental Clinic, which serves students in the kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a partnership between the District and Samuel Rodgers Health Services, a non-profit dental provider in the community. Children are transported from their school to the Dental Clinic each day on a rotating schedule that allows all children to be served. A Samuel Rodgers dentist provides free dental care by accessing Medicaid, private insurance plans, and local grants for

every student in need. Transportation to the clinic is funded by the H&R Block Foundation.

The school district is also concerned with mental health. It is currently working with the local mental health center

to develop an early intervention program to provide children and families quick and easy access to psychiatric care and in-home therapeutic services. This collaboration with agencies not previously involved with the schools is evidence of the impact of a community schools philosophy and commitment.

Buildings are used beyond the school day on a regular basis. Evening and weekend access allows buildings to become community centers during non-school hours. Volunteers within the schools, from mentors to boosters, improve the quality of education by increasing services to students during, before and after school and connecting the broader community to the lives of children. Volunteers from schools "return the favor" by working in the community with groups like Hillcrest Ministries Homeless Shelter. These efforts build a sense of civic

duty in students and create a valuable resource for the community.

These efforts are having a great impact on students and

schools. Early childhood and family programming have resulted in over eighty percent of kindergartners having contact with the district before entering school. Students involved in the extended program show improvement in almost every measurable area: participation, self-reliance, homework completion, attendance, academic achievement and more. The District won the state Distinction in Performance award for a perfect Annual Performance Report as well as the Civic Star for Missouri in 2006.

For additional information, please contact: Elizabeth Streich, Director of Community Relations, Independence School District, at [email protected]

This story came to LFA’s attention after winning a 2007 Community Award from the Coalition for Community Schools. Adapted with permission.

Results:

• Over 80% of kindergarteners have contact with the district before entering school

• Students involved in the extended program show improvement in almost every measurable area:

participation, self-reliance, homework completion, attendance, academic achievement, and more


http://www.publicschoolinsights.org/node/2041


~ 41 ~

Pride is the First Step

Pocomoke Middle School, Maryland

When visitors step inside Pocomoke Middle School, they are immediately surrounded by a profound sense of pride and high expectations. Students are actively engaged in instruction, the classroom walls are covered with student work, and the halls are lined

with pictures of students demonstrating success.

Pocomoke is located at the southern end of Maryland's Eastern Shore and serves a diverse population, with 58% of students qualifying for the free- or reduced-priced meals program and 10% receiving special education services. Pocomoke's school district, Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS), provides

considerable resources to support the school's academic program. The school, with its commitment to shared leadership and partnerships with the community, has leveraged those resources into a comprehensive program that

supports the complete development of each student.

Collaborative Leadership Principal Caroline Bloxom has assembled a dedicated and stable staff of 57 professional educators and 35 support personnel. She is proud of the teamwork that has helped foster personnel stability since her early

days as principal, when she was faced with hiring 14 teachers to fill vacancies. Bloxom has nurtured shared decision making and an extensive implementation team structure that includes students and parents. Pocomoke's teams align with the community's effort to enhance accountability in all of its schools and to use

the accreditation process to structure school improvement efforts. The teams include:

A strategic planning council that is composed

of administrators, faculty members, parents, community members, and students

A school-level leadership /accreditation team

A school improvement advisory committee that includes parents

Grade-level teams

Specialized implementation teams that focus

on topics such as reading, minority

achievement, school climate and character education.

Collaborative leadership at Pocomoke doesn't just involve adults. Students gain leadership skills by serving as representatives on the school implementation teams and on the student faculty advisory board as well as by participating in annual grade-level service learning projects and community

partnerships. Collaboration at the classroom level is also very strong and is supported by a teacher mentoring program for first- and second-year teachers as well as by targeted professional development.

School-community connections are also a priority for Pocomoke. Staff members hold quarterly meetings with local religious leaders, and the school has working relationships with the YMCA, Salvation Army, and various community and government agencies. In fact, the county health department sponsors a wellness program that places two full-time therapists

in the school to provide direct services to students and families. Personalization Pocomoke staff members are committed to family and community involvement in the quest to improve each

student's learning. Parents have access to up-to-date information on their children's progress through the

PowerSchool/Power- Grade student data system and the Homework Hotline. To share information and encourage a spirit of community and pride, the school also schedules dozens of parent and community activities each year, including an intergenerational

reading program, six parent and grandparent lunch days, Family Honors Nights, and the Art Expo. To support students who are struggling with emotional or behavioral difficulties that affect their learning, the school created a new position, the family connections

Results:

Over the past four years, scores on the Maryland State Assessment in reading and math have significantly

improved for all grades 4-8

For example, in 2007, 81% of 6th graders scored at or above proficient in reading, up from 57% in 2004


~ 42 ~

facilitator, to open a productive line of communication

with the family, make referrals for school and community services, and discuss home learning activities the family can employ.

Every student who does not experience success in the classroom has an individualized plan for success that is monitored weekly. These plans delineate the level of assistance that students require both in and out of the classroom.

In addition, students can participate in the highly acclaimed after-school Pocomoke Pride Academies, which offer enrichment and intervention to 65% of students. Transportation is provided free of charge, with the academies changing quarterly and covering a large spectrum of activities, including homework

assistance, skill remediation, violin and guitar lessons, basketball, drama, and family workshops. All students are encouraged to attend college, and each student participates in career planning each year. Students in grade 8 complete a five-year plan that outlines their activities during four years of high

school and the year after they graduate. During individual academic conferences with students, Bloxom has the opportunity to reinforce the importance of planning and achieving today, rather than waiting until it becomes more difficult. Some students need extra encouragement to

appreciate the opportunities that await. Staff mentors at Pocomoke pair with students to work on academic-

and behavior- related goals. In addition, high-performing, motivated, and caring Black male volunteers mentor struggling Black male students at Pocomoke. For one hour each week, the mentors meet

with their advisees to teach, talk about their experiences and outlooks, and most importantly to help the middle school students raise their expectations for the future. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Pocomoke has a cohesive curriculum structure that

emphasizes math and literacy, with access to rigorous course work for all students. The school offers: 150 minutes of daily reading instruction, 90 minutes of daily math instruction, pre-algebra for students in

grade 7, high school algebra for all students in grade 8, high school French for all students in grades 7 and 8, and arts immersion in all classes.

To support a challenging curriculum for all students, Pocomoke employs a curriculum planner, and the

instructional coaches help ensure quality instruction

and delivery of the curriculum. The arts immersion specialist and 10 specially trained teachers support other teachers in incorporating the arts into the

curriculum. To track what works and guide instruction and intervention strategies, teachers, counselors, and administrators use PowerSchool and PowerGrade software. Two new software additions, Edusoft and Performance Series, have enabled administrators and

teachers to track individual students' performance on state standards through state assessments and district benchmarks and get an accurate snapshot of students' performance on individual state standards in reading and mathematics.

Pride Yields Achievement One of Bloxom's first priorities upon coming to Pocomoke was to improve the way people think about the school. "Pride is an essential precondition to learning: pride in the sense of a child's feeling of self-worth; pride from an understanding that staff members genuinely care about them; and pride in

having a place to learn that is safe, orderly, and attractive." As anticipated, that pride has helped foster academic success. Over the past four years, scores on the Maryland State Assessment in reading and math have significantly improved for all grades 4-8. For example,

in 2004, 64% of 6th graders scored at or above proficient in reading; by 2007, 84% did. 57% scored

at or above proficient in math in 2004; 81% did in 2007. 4th graders provide another example, going from 67% to 82% in reading and 61% to 89% in math over that same time period.

For additional information please contact: Caroline Bloxom,

Principal, Pocomoke Middle School, at (410) 632-5150 or [email protected]

Story adapted from:

―Pride is the First Step‖ by James A. Rourke and

Elizabeth Boone. In the June 2008 special edition of NASSP’s Principal Leadership.


Published online July 2008

~ 43 ~

Empowering

Professionals

Find out about expert, caring and accountable public school

professionals who take charge of their practice and give students

the support they need to flourish. These professionals are

continually strengthening their professional knowledge and skills

and collaborating with one another to create an excellent working

environment for professionals and an excellent learning

environment for students.

The Road from Good to Great. Boaz Middle School

Turnaround in Tennessee. Hamilton County Schools

Working and Learning Together as a Team. Granby High School

Personalization Leads to Success in Port Chester. Port Chester Middle School

Teachers Teaching Teachers. Springville-Griffith Institute Central School

District

~ 44 ~

Empowering Professionals

~ 45 ~

The Road from Good to Great

Boaz Middle School, Alabama

The halls of Boaz Middle School are buzzing with energy. Students walk past bulletin boards displaying their work, as a visitor stops to browse the graphic

organizers and short essays. Teachers stand in the open classroom doorways, discussing students, strategies and the day's successes. Students stop to ask teachers for extra help with presentations and projects. Teachers stop students as they pass by just to ask how things are going.

It wasn't always this way. While Boaz Middle had always been a pretty good school, with SAT 9 and SAT 10 scores in the high 50s, it was missing some of the

key pieces that make a school great for every child that walks through the front doors. But the school has risen from good to great by focusing on the modern-

day three R's of school success: Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships. Growing a collaborative culture

Located in northeast Alabama's Marshall County, the Boaz community was once known for its booming retail industry of outlet stores. Today, the economy is shifting to agriculture and blue-collar factory jobs. The middle school serves 520 students in grades 6-8, 88% of whom are white, 10% Hispanic and 1% African American. Fifty percent of students qualify for free or

reduced lunch, making BMS a Title I school.

"Boaz Middle has always had the reputation of being a

good school," says Principal Ray Landers (who was

recently selected as the 2009 National Middle Level Principal of the Year by MetLife and the National Association of Secondary School Principals). "But the hard fact was we were leading Marshall County in failure rate, with 30-40 students being retained every year. As we dug deeper into student data, we came to

realize that we were a good school for a lot of kids, but we weren't a good school for those who were failing."

Landers knew that big change would require incremental steps. The initial step was to open up the classrooms and get teachers to start collaborating

more. "Everyone was in their own little world," he says. "Teachers would go into their classrooms and shut the door and that was that. We moved to a more open door philosophy almost immediately so that the faculty could learn from one another and see what was going on in the other classrooms."

Landers also committed to hiring teachers who share his philosophy that students are the most important part of any school. His requirements: professionals

who love working on a team, have a good sense of humor, an outgoing personality, and a passion for children.

"At the end of the day, success is not about programs," he notes. "It's about people. It's about hiring the right people and giving them the right training to make them great teachers."

Boaz's improvement took a big step forward in 2004, when Landers coaxed Pam Duke, a former staff member of the Alabama Reading Initiative, out of retirement and into a role as instructional specialist. That year, Duke led the entire faculty in job-embedded

professional development on all the literacy components of the Alabama Reading Initiative.

"It was very powerful because we gathered together in small groups during the school day to learn the literacy strategies," says Renee Adams, who teaches 7th grade science. "Then we returned to the classroom to practice. Pam helped us adapt them to our content area."

The school also did away with after-school faculty meetings, increased communication via email, and introduced block scheduling to ensure that all grade

Results:

In 2007, 96% of 6th graders, 95% of 7th graders and 95% of 8th graders scored proficient or above on

state standardized tests in reading

In 2007, 89% of 6th graders, 91% of 7th graders and 93% of 8th graders scored proficient or above on

state standardized tests in math

Discipline referrals decreased from 567 in 2000-2001 to 150 in 2006-2007


~ 46 ~

levels and content areas share a common planning

time. Most importantly, professional development moved from a "sit and get" experience to a shared, collaborative effort relevant to the learning process.

"We've gone from having consultants come in and give lectures, to a place where we are learning from each

other," says Jenny Franks, a 7th grade language arts teacher in her eighth year at Boaz Middle. "We are all required to do reflective journals about any outside professional development we do. Professional development is targeted to where our weaknesses are based on what our student data says."

As teachers became more comfortable with collaborating and sharing ideas, Landers found himself

having to step out of his comfort zone in terms of his management style.

"A lot of principals have a hard time turning over

ownership of the learning process to their teachers," he says. "But the folks in the building are the real experts, and a good instructional leader needs to learn how to share the responsibility with them. We needed help from everyone." To that end, the administration formed the Faculty Leadership Team that today makes all decisions regarding instruction.

"Mr. Landers wanted those of us in the trenches to make decisions regarding the school," explains Adams,

who serves on the team. "We meet frequently at the beginning and end of each school year, and then as

needed throughout the year. We also meet heavily during the summer to do scheduling and planning."

Endeavoring to understand poverty Four years ago, Boaz Middle School was not a Title I school, with around ten percent of students qualifying for subsidized lunch. But, as the jobs in Boaz have shifted toward blue-collar and migrant agriculture

positions, the demographics of the community have changed.

Two years ago, Connie Morgan looked at the rising

numbers of students in poverty and realized the percentages at the middle school were only going to increase-and might already be higher than reported.

"In middle and high school, self-reporting of poverty goes down, so even though the numbers may say only 50%, we suspect it's higher," she says.

Rather than make excuses about the difficulties of teaching students in poverty, Boaz Middle School

decided to tackle the issue head on. They conducted article and book studies, starting with Ruby Payne's seminal work, A Framework for Understanding Poverty. In it, Payne contends that relationships and education

are the two things that can help children break out of

the poverty cycle. "We had the education piece in place," says Landers. "We just needed to focus on the relationship piece. We needed to make it personal."

To do so, Connie Morgan says, "We showed our teachers the statistics for our community and then we

got on a bus. We drove through the community and stopped at the addresses of our students. We'd get out, knock on doors, and speak with our students and their families. We did this as a whole faculty to see what circumstances our students are dealing with at home."

As Amy Machen, a 6th grade social studies teacher, says of the experience: "We saw things and places we

didn't know existed here. Now, when a student doesn't

have his homework or looks disheveled and tired, we understand the underlying cause."

Last year, the faculty expanded their consideration of poverty, participating in an article study about tone of voice and discipline. "When you're working with older kids and you have 30 kids in the classroom, you may think that using the parental tone of voice is the way to go," explains Duke. "But in many cases, it is not going to work with students in poverty because they

may themselves be the parent in their household. [We] had to learn to use different tones of voice to communicate."

Shifting to student-centered classrooms

The culture shift at BMS from closed doors and teacher-centered instruction to collaborative learning focused on student needs has produced many visible changes in the school. For example, there are no textbooks in the classrooms. Instead, content

standards are taught using primary materials—newspaper and magazine articles, novels, historical letters, photographs and whatever else teachers can find to engage students.

Why the switch? According to Landers, using a diverse

array of materials makes it easier to differentiate instruction. "If you're teaching out of a 6th grade textbook but not all of your students are reading on a 6th grade level, you're in trouble. Or if your students

are reading on a 9th grade level, they are going to be bored.

"We did book and article studies focusing on research that shows textbooks are not the best tool for real learning. And then little light bulbs start going on all around the building. Teachers started experimenting with new lesson plans and leaving the textbooks on the shelves. They had such success that the practice spread like wildfire to other classrooms."


~ 47 ~

"It was very scary getting rid of our textbooks at first," says Machen. "But the kids have really enjoyed it."

Another component of student-focused instruction is the daily intervention program. During "home base" time from 7:15-8:00 a.m., Monday - Thursday, every resource teacher (P.E., Library, Music, ELL, Special Ed,

and the Guidance Counselor) works with struggling readers. The students are divided by gender so teachers can easily find articles, stories and small books that fit their interest. English Language Learners are included in each group. Each teacher has two groups of 4-5 students, two mornings a week. They guide them through expository articles at their ability

level, digging deeply into vocabulary, comprehension and fluency. In this way, the school is able to reach 50-60 kids per week with intensive small group intervention.

Students on grade level also get concentrated reading time from 7:30 to 8 a.m. daily. During that time, they read independently, orally or in literature circles in their home bases (homerooms).

Teaching out of the box Among the "out of the box" methods Boaz teachers employ to address student needs is the Zeroes Aren't

Productive, or ZAP, approach to grading. ZAP makes it difficult or impossible for a student to "earn" a zero. There's also Fix-It Friday, during which students may be required to leave physical education, computer, library or music to complete unfinished work in content

areas. The OSCAR program (On School Campus Alternative Remediation) provides for students to stay

after school three days a week to make up work. And high school tutors come in once a week to help kids who've been identified as needing extra assistance.

The school also focuses on writing across the

curriculum. Previously, readying students for the Alabama Direct Assessment of Writing (ADAW) was mainly the responsibility of 7th grade language arts teachers. To spread that responsibility, the school

conducted faculty book studies on consultant Rick Shelton's writing handbook, Write Where You Are. Shelton also visits the school four times a year to model lessons.

In 7th grade, teachers embarked on a "writing camp." During the first semester, language arts teachers introduce and give explicit instruction and practice on all four modes of writing. Social studies teachers support language arts teachers in at least expository and persuasive writing.

"After Christmas, the English teachers revisit one mode of writing per week," Duke explains. "The task is then

handed off to Social Studies, who reinforce that mode

for a week before handing the task off to science, who then hands it to math. In this way, we completely immerse students in the modes of writing for the months leading up to the ADAW."

The school also administers teacher-generated writing

assessments to 6th and 8th graders at the same time 7th graders are taking the state test. The practice tests are jury-scored by teachers in the same fashion as the ADAW. This helps identify weaknesses and strengths school-wide so instruction can be tailored to student needs.

At Boaz Middle, math gets equal billing with reading and writing. All content area teachers feel comfortable

helping math teachers. "I coined the term math

moment," explains Jeff Sanders. "Every content teacher is given a math problem every week to go over with their students. I also send out a math word of the week, and every Wednesday, the language arts teachers use it in their vocabulary lesson so the students learn what the words mean." In addition, math teachers review each new unit to identify fresh

vocabulary words, then give the list to all other content teachers so they can reinforce them.

Reflecting on success As the numbers show, the changes that have taken place at Boaz Middle School during the last eight years have dramatically improved student achievement. The school reduced discipline referrals from 567 in 2000-

2001 to 150 in 2006-2007. They've reduced the failure rate to zero. In 2006-2007, 89% of all 6th graders,

91% of all 7th graders and 93% of all 8th graders scored proficient or above on the math section of the ARMT. Also in 2006-2007, 96% of all 6th graders, 95% of all 7th graders and 95% of all 8th graders scored proficient or above in reading.

Another impressive statistic: the school was able to

improve writing scores by more than 20 percentage points in 2007. According to ADAW data, the 5th grade

class at Boaz Elementary School in 2005 had 67% of students at levels III and IV. In 2007, when those same students were in 7th grade at Boaz Middle School, 88% of them scored proficient (level III) or above.

"This is not the same school it was five years ago," says Connie Morgan, who moved from BMS to the district office last year. "We have some teachers who've been teaching 25 years, but they are not the

same teachers they were five years ago. And it wasn't because we purchased a lot of programs. It was because we changed the way we think and the way we were doing things inside the building."


~ 48 ~

"It wasn't an easy journey," says teacher Jenny

Franks. "At first, there were a lot of hard days where I felt like nothing was working and I wasn't being successful at all. Then, the very next day, I'd hit on

something and it would be great. Eventually, there were more great days than bad days, and now it's second nature. If we hadn't taken the journey, it would have been a tragedy."

"Our teachers will tell you that this is the toughest job they've ever loved," says Landers. "It's hard to teach the way we do it here. It's harder to teach good grammar and sentence structure using literature instead of a textbook, because you have to go out and

find the material. But that's what captures the students."

"We have to find a way to make learning entertaining to the video game generation," he insists. "Our teachers are not just dispensers of knowledge. They equip our boys and girls with the tools to go out and find the knowledge for themselves, and then use that knowledge to make their education a more positive experience."

For additional information, please contact: Boaz Middle School at 256-593-0799

Story adapted from: Jennifer Pyron, "The Road from Good to Great." The

Fall 2008 issue of Working Towards Excellence: The Journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center, Volume 8 Number 1.

Copyright © 2008 by the Alabama Best Practices Center. Adapted with permission.

Published online November 2008


~ 49 ~

Turnaround in Tennessee

Hamilton County Schools, Tennessee

A 2000 report on the performance of elementary and middle schools in Tennessee presented Hamilton

County with some sobering news: it was home to nine of the 20 lowest-performing schools in the state.

In response, local foundations and the Hamilton

County Department of Education embarked on an effort to improve student literacy in the low-performing schools, all of which were located in poor, urban neighborhoods in Chattanooga. The focus of the effort: embedded professional development and the creation of strong leadership teams in the targeted schools.

Joining the school district as partners in the school improvement effort were the Public Education

Foundation and the Benwood Foundation, a private Chattanooga funder. Among the major changes pushed by the partners was an approach called "embedded professional development." The idea was to transform professional development from a one-time event or

training seminar to an everyday occurrence grounded in the real work of Chattanooga teachers.

At the core of the approach are "consulting teachers"—individuals with demonstrated expertise and

effectiveness with students. These teachers work one-on-one or with small groups of teachers to offer support, guidance, best practices and more.

Other reforms aimed at empowering professionals in Hamilton County schools have included: a no-cost Master's Degree in urban education for Chattanooga teachers from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; cash bonuses for high-performing teachers and principals; the intensive use of student

performance data to inform instruction; and a new emphasis on collaborative planning in county schools to reduce the isolation teachers often face in their work.

The district's commitment to giving teachers the resources they need to succeed has drawn the

approval of the local teachers union, which has become a strong supporter of the Benwood Initiative. Other community partners also have joined in to support the

goal of improved student literacy. For example, the free Master's Degree program is funded by Chattanooga's Weldon F. Osborne Foundation.

As a result of these and other reforms, teacher turnover has slowed considerably in the Benwood schools. And more important students in these schools

have made significant strides in achievement. For example, the percentage of third graders scoring proficient or advanced in reading jumped from 53 percent in 2003 to 81 percent in 2007. One school's third-grade reading scores doubled from 41 percent to 84 percent in four years. Even more significant were gains revealed in Tennessee's value-added scores,

which measure achievement gains in a given year. The

Benwood schools outgained 90 percent of all schools in Tennessee.

"The story is remarkable. The road has not been straight or smooth, and the journey is not complete, but much has been - and continues to be - accomplished," according to a report on the Benwood Initiative by the Public Education Foundation. Among the lessons learned from the initiative, the report said,

is that improving teaching means building a collegial professional environment that fosters learning for all, students and teachers alike.

Further details can be found in our sources: NSBA's Center for Public Education, "Hamilton County (Tenn) Schools Nurture Good Teachers," May 2006

Public Education Foundation, "Partners for Strong Schools: Videos/Podcasts," Summer 2006

Results:

81% of third graders scored proficient or advanced in reading in 2007, up from 53% in 2003

Targeted schools out-gained 90 percent of other Tennessee schools in value-added scores



~ 50 ~

Working and Learning Together as a Team

Granby High School, Virginia

Granby High School is a large, urban, and diverse high school in Norfolk, Virginia, serving over 2,200 students, nearly half of whom are considered

economically disadvantaged. Here students are enrolled in and passing high-level math classes

including Calculus and Statistics. However, 10 years ago, few Granby students were taking advanced math courses, and of those who did, few passed. The school was described as "a high school in distress with low academic achievement and a

high incidence of behavioral problems." Granby needed a change. School leaders recognized the need to push all of their students to reach higher levels in math, not only to be successful in postsecondary education, but to prepare for career opportunities as well.

At this same time, Norfolk Public Schools instituted a whole-system overhaul and dramatically increased the focus on professional development.

Since then, Granby students have made tremen-dous growth, especially in higher-level math courses.

Building strong math teachers: a challenging and important task Granby High School offers a prime example of a school with a powerful approach to professional development that provides teachers with opportunities for ongoing learning where they can

develop and maintain skills and content knowledge. The school's purposeful teacher education is directly focused on instructional practice and supports achievement for all students. Foundation for success: continually improving

skills and math content knowledge

Granby's principal, Ted Daughtrey, cites three critical elements as contributing to the school's success:

Working and learning together as a team

Providing teachers with varied and

appropriate learning opportunities

Ensuring professional development has an impact on student achievement

Working and learning together as a team

Granby has instituted a culture of ongoing learning and support so new math staff members are not expected to learn on their own, but become part of the school's community of learners. Teachers are immersed in on-the-job learning—from their peers in collaborative teams and departments, from the analysis of student performance data, and from getting observation-based

feedback from their school and district leaders. Professional learning is a constant, guided by teachers' real-world needs and, thus, targeted to their daily efforts to help all students succeed in mathematics. Providing teachers with varied and appropriate learning opportunities

Granby recognizes that when it comes to professional development, one size does not fit all. So while the

school emphasizes the need for all teachers to continue their professional growth, it takes a targeted approach to professional development, providing multiple and varied learning opportunities. While the opportunities and

strategies listed below may exist in many schools, rarely do they exist at one site to create such a rich and supportive teacher learning community.

New teacher guidance and support: Teachers who are

new to Granby participate in a range of learning opportunities designed to orient them to the school, district, and the profession, and to bolster their subject matter knowledge. New teachers take part in a three-year teacher induction program that promotes their

effectiveness and helps keep them in their positions. They work closely with a coach who observes their teaching and gives detailed feedback and guidance.

Subject-specific support teams: In addition to meeting as a department, teachers meet in subject-specific teams that work together to plan units, develop lesson plans, and evaluate student data. Teams discuss student needs and develop extra academic supports as needed. Granby teachers report knowing each other's work intimately and are therefore able to hold each other

Results:

• 90% of students passed the end-of-course test in Algebra II in 2007, up from 25% in 1998

• Narrowing the achievement gap - 84% of black and 85% of white students passed Algebra I in 2007


~ 51 ~

accountable for teaching all of their students to a high standard.

Ongoing learning opportunities for experienced teachers. Granby teachers also have access to a range of professional development experiences that complement what they are learning from de-

partmental colleagues. Professional development leaders target learning opportunities to the needs of the students and to the individual staff members in need of the support. Ensuring professional development has an impact on student achievement

Student achievement is the bottom line of teacher professional development in an effective math program. Between 1998 and 2007, Granby

students have made tremendous gains on Virginia's "Standards of Learning" end-of-course tests in math. The pass rates for Algebra I and II

increased dramatically to 84 percent and 90 percent, respectively, up from 17 percent and 25 percent. Equally impressive is the school's success in narrowing the achievement gap in math, as evidenced by a pass rate of 84 percent for black students in Algebra I versus 85 percent for white students in 2006-07.

Granby's math department chairperson, Beth Ellis,

reports, "We have so many students who, seven years ago, would have been taking general math and are now taking Algebra II." Based on what she sees in classroom

observations and in student performance data, she identifies needs for increasing the math teachers' content knowledge and teaching skills. She then uses this up-close knowledge of Granby math teachers' professional learning needs to mobilize resources - within Granby and the district - to meet these needs. With her guidance, department meetings become defacto professional development sessions.


Edward Daughtrey, Principal, Granby High School, at [email protected]

This story was originally featured in "Rethinking High School: Supporting All Students to be College Ready in Math," the fifth report in the series "Rethinking High

School," published by WestEd with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.


Published online July 2008


~ 52 ~

Personalization Leads to Success in Port Chester

Port Chester Middle School, New York

Surrounded by its much wealthier Westchester County neighbors, Port Chester, NY is a lower middle-class island in a privileged sea. Its middle school is home to

about 800 students in grades six through eight. Latino

students make up 68% of population, while African Americans and Whites make up 11% and 21% respectively. Sixty-five percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. But close attention to the needs of each individual student helps Port Chester Middle School keep pace with the county's wealthiest schools.

The successes at Port Chester Middle School were hard

won. When Carmen Macchia took over as principal in 1993, safety was his number one priority. He and his staff spent six years cleaning up the school and addressing the root causes of many of the school's discipline problems. But when an assessment in 1999 revealed that only about a third of Port Chester's

students were meeting state standards in English and

Math, the entire school community embarked on a serious journey of self-discovery.

Port Chester set out to create an environment where teachers have the tools and resources they need to be better teachers, and where students receive the individual attention and support they need to be better students. Small class sizes, individualized instruction, and teacher development are the cornerstones of Port Chester's personal approach. As John Fazio, a math teacher, asserts: "Nobody falls through the cracks."

Macchia trains all his teachers to stress reading and

writing in every subject, even art. Creative scheduling

ensures that teams of teachers have the time not only to plan curriculum and instruction but also to study student performance data and discuss individual students who are struggling. In fact, the school devotes two team meetings a week to identifying specific resources individual student's need - from

counseling, to tutoring, to outside social services. Many times students and parents are included in these meetings. Teachers even "loop," or follow their students from grade to grade, creating strong bonds

between teachers and students. Special attention to students with disabilities and to those learning English also has been a key to the school's improvement.

Port Chester Middle School's students now score on a par with their wealthier counterparts on state assessments in English and exceed them slightly in

Math. Administrators and teachers point out that students feel safe, and that caring adults are meeting their emotional, physical, and academic needs. And, a fun and hands-on approach to learning keeps students engaged.

Port Chester discovered that personal attention to both its students and its teachers is key to success. As one teacher puts it, we "believe in meeting the needs of the teachers the way we meet the needs of the students."

For more information, please contact: Carmen Macchia, Principal, Port Chester Middle School, at [email protected]

Further details can be found in our sources: Karin Chenoweth, "It's Being Done: Port Chester Middle School." Harvard Education Press. Boston, MA, 2007

Jacqueline L. Marino, "Best Practices Case Study. Just for the Kids-New York Project.‖ Albany, NY, 2005

Lucille Renwick, for District Administration.com, "Port Chester (N.Y.) Middle School: Success at a Steady Pace," March 2007

Slyvia Saunders, for New York Teacher, "The Art of Redesigning a School." January 16, 2007

Result:

Students now score on a par with wealthier neighbors on state assessments in English, and exceed them in

math



~ 53 ~

Teachers Teaching Teachers

Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District, New York

Like many small rural school districts, the Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District in Western New York faces challenges in hiring and retaining teachers. Home to rural farms and small

manufacturing facilities, the district serves a diverse population of about 2,500 low- to middle-income

students. Many district teachers are nearing retirement, potentially exacerbating teacher retention woes. District leaders worried that high turnover rates would impede student learning.

Six years ago, Springville-Griffith educators took action. The district and the local teachers union, the Griffith Institute Faculty Association, collaborated on a

comprehensive and innovative mentoring and induction program that has improved teacher retention and likely contributed to steady improvements in student performance.

In 2002, the district initiated one-on-one mentoring for first-year teachers by tapping into resources from

the state's Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), a partnership of small school districts. The mentoring program was so successful and popular that

it has expanded to include supports for second- and third-year teachers as well.

First-year teachers in Springville-Griffith's program receive comprehensive and on-going support. New hires start the year with an orientation day conducted by the district's mentor coordinator, where they develop a script for their first day in the classroom. Each new teacher is also paired with a "teacher mentor" who will work with him or her throughout the

school year. New teachers and their mentors attend three half-day training sessions on important topics and complete periodic, informal classroom

observations to improve their understanding of effective instruction. During these observations, they compare what they see with the New York State Commissioner's Criteria for Effective Teaching.

New teachers also attend two days of training in classroom management and communication, keep a

reflection journal on their own experiences, and maintain a formal record of their mentoring and professional development activities. They receive

feedback from three formal observations of their classroom teaching and develop a portfolio of lesson plans, assignments and other evidence of their teaching practice.

The district makes sure that teacher mentors are well prepared to support their new colleagues. Mentors

attend a training session and new teacher orientation day. They receive a monthly checklist with topics to discuss with their mentees, and they keep a formal log of their mentoring activities, which add up to a minimum of 15 hours per year. They also attend three half-day training sessions on essential areas including peer coaching, supervision, adult learning styles,

collaboration, performance review, and professional development plans. In exchange for their services, they receive an annual stipend of $588, and first-time mentors receive an in-service credit for training.

Support for new teachers does not stop once they reach their second year. They no longer work with a

single teacher mentor, but they do attend six after-school sessions covering important topics such as professionalism, classroom management, lesson

design, assessment, collaboration and goal-setting. As in their first year, they receive training on effective teaching, get feedback on three formal classroom observations, and maintain a portfolio of their teaching practice.

Third-year teachers also undergo three formal classroom observations, and they submit their portfolios to district administration for evaluation. If they perform well enough on this evaluation to receive

tenure, these teachers work with "building mentors" to develop "action research projects," where they test new strategies, record their results and share what they have learned with their colleagues.

Second- and third-year teachers also receive on-going support from these "building mentors." Every school has such a mentor, who trains and oversees teacher mentors and serves as a liaison between new teachers, mentors, and administration. In exchange

for their services, Building Mentors receive stipends of $2,325 each.

Results:

• 88% retention rate of probationary new teacher hires since 2003

• Steadily improving state assessment scores and graduation rates over the past five years


~ 54 ~

Mentors are quick to assert that they're not in this

work for the money alone. As one mentor puts it, the program offers "a wonderful opportunity for me to be kept abreast of new ideas and skills...and to take advantage of my mentee's many strengths."

Springville-Griffith's teacher support program is

paying dividends in both teacher retention and student achievement. Despite its overall 25% turnover rate, the district has retained 88% of its probationary new hires since 2003. In addition, students' state assessment scores and graduation rates have improved steadily over the past five years. The district's far-reaching mentoring and support program

has been an essential ingredient of its success.

Further details can be found on Springville-Griffith's Mentoring Program's webpage at

http://www.springvillegi.org/staff.cfm/staff.cfm?subpage=281150


JoAnn DePue, Mentor Coordinator, Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District, at [email protected]

This story came to LFA's attention as a winner of the

2008 NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award for Teacher Induction Programs.

Adapted with permission from NEA and Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District.

Published online October 2008

The Learning First Alliance 4455 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 310

Washington, DC 20008 www.learningfirst.org

www.publicschoolinsights.org

Printed with generous support from the National Education Association

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