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Postcard from USA & Canadian

Elementary schools 2010

In September and October

2010 a NSW Primary Principal

, David Abbey (pictured right )

from Kingswood Park Public

School , visited 3 USA

Elementary schools and 5

Ontario Canada Public

Schools conducting action

research into what were the

most successful Reading

practices for Indigenous and

minority group Grade 3

students.

It was of no surprise that in

many of the observed schools

some were receiving National School Improvement Awards, featured on morning TV Education

interest reports , highlighted in Worldwide fact finding research studies or having teachers

recognised in state or provincial Quality Teaching ceremonies and publications.

The research question was framed to determine the significant factors that impact on teaching and

learning in USA and Canadian Elementary schools with a Grade 3 emphasis to keep the research and

lesson observations focussed and manageable. Recent key educational authors and studies are also

quoted with their educational principles relevant for schools like Kingswood Park Public School

with its particular needs as a Priority School low Socio Economic community . Kingswood Park also

receives Federal

government funding

for high Indigenous

student population

and National Literacy

Partnerships for

School Improvement.

The USA and Ontario-

Canada schools were

also chosen as having

similar sized student

populations to those

at Kingswood Park of

180 students.


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A. The School is for me ; Fair Go project 2007 conducted by the NSW DET South Western Sydney

region established the following principles for schools with significant Indigenous and low socio

economic (SES)poverty minority groupings.

1. Concentrate on pedagogy as a process ;not just a product with only teacher intentions but

where the pedagogy played out in the class with students and teachers making authentic ,

productive , quality learning p8

2. Be Proactive with Low Socio Economic students by shaping classroom practices to set high

learning expectations to overcome students resisting high level tasks by only complying with low

level tasks p9

3. Provide professional learning challenges for teachers to change fromdisengagement ,defeat ,

struggle and giving up to Engagement - High thinking, feeling, negotiation, empowerment p12

and demonstrated in ;

a) Higher cognitive/ thinking Quality teaching deep knowledge and understanding

b) High affective /feeling -conversations teacher /student negotiate for learning to stimulate

enjoyable class work

c) High operative /doingcompetent and empowered learners across all Key Learning Areas

d) High reflective learning community.

4. Promote the Insider class where students have a place and a say in their learning with

Engaging messages we see connection and meaning , we are capable,have high expectations

We can do this together/share resources , its great to be a student in this class ...ownership

We share teachers and students reflective self assessment, reciprocal roles p12

B. Quality Teaching Framework DET NSW (2000) strongly collaborates the School is for mefindings including Intellectual Quality, Connectedness and Supportive Environment/Recognition

of Difference as the 3 key components of successful learning in schools.


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C. The McKinsey Report (2007) commissioned by the OECD into what do high performing school

systems ( like Finland, Australia , New Zealand, Hong Kong , Singapore and Ontario-Canada) and

rapidly improving school systems ( New York, Boston , England) have in common .This report into 25

educational systems throughout the world found these 3 principles mattered the most;

1. Getting the right people to become teachers

2. Developing teachers into effective instructors

3. Ensuring that their educational system was able to deliver the best possible instruction for

every child

D. Star teachers of Children in Poverty (1995) University Wisconsin identified that ;the best

teachers planned for and expected challenges in their classrooms behavioural , social , academic

These teachers did not complain and eventually give up but saw themselves as part of the solution

seeking to expand student teacher dialogue , co-operative lesson planning , student ownership and

responsibility for learning.

E. Michael Fullan Whats Worth Fighting for in the Principalship 2008 sets up key

responsibilities of leadership Principals need to implement for successful teaching and learning ;

Principals are in the midst of a battle to stir their schools students ,staff and parents mindful

emotions in effective directions, to establish conditions , cultures and commitment on a large scale

to engage continuous improvement all the time! p ix

F. John HattieAuckland University What makes the difference to learning ? 2005.Researched

over 1000 studies into effective teaching and concluded that the Highest effect(impact) size was

Teacher reinforcement and feedback the best teachers have continualand immediate positive

dialogue with their students p 2

G. Shirley Gilbert University Western Sydney focus on connectedness and recognise culturaldifferences when working with Indigenous students - Lecturer in Aboriginal studies 2010

H. Reading Fluency Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Ontario Schools 2010 directs teachersto assist students who do not demonstrate adequate reading comprehension if identifying

words is not automated and decoding (phonological awareness) requires significant cognitive

resources to be diverted to that task then comprehension is likely to suffer. Their studies

identified Automaticity (automatic word recognition) , Phrasing (use syntactic clues to read

phrase by phrase) and Expression ( from monotone to varied voice using visual text clues) as key

to reading fluently.

I. Daily 5 Read RoutineDallas ISD -Texas Elementary Schools 2010 A whole of reading approachfor Students to read to self,others , listen to others read, work with words and write.

Action Research in the schools visited

In the 8 schools visited ,with similar size and characteristics to Kingswood Park , the Principal ,Vice

Principal or Assistant Principal, Teachers and Parents were interviewed with permission and 3

questions were asked;

1. Which improvements has your school achieved in Reading ?

2. What did your school do to achieve this ?


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3. How and why have your teachers contributed to this success ?

Several opportunities also occurred to attend Executive , School Improvement Team and

Professional Learning Meetings.

Grade 3 classes were visited in every school and Reading lessons observed.

All schools made their results available including school policy , procedures and other teaching and

learning materials .

The enormous amount of data collected would be analysed to triangulate or group together three

pieces of collaborating evidence that substantiated / demonstrated a key learning Principle or

action in line with the Reading Research question relevant to the student needs at Kingswood Park

Public School.

James B. Bonham Elementary School is located in inner city Dallas-Texas and hasachieved Above State Average Reading Results and System Recognition/Awards for the past 9

years(Dallas Independent Schools Board 2010 website) .

It has 15 classes Preschool Grade 3 with 265 student population consisting of high NESB/ESL ,low

socio economic community within an inner city urban environment.

Principal since 2007 Sandra Fernandez was interviewed and believes the Exemplary Texas

Assessment of Knowledge and Skills ( TAKS) Grade 3 Reading results over 90% achievement 2001-

2005 and 100% achievement 2006-2010 was possible through high literacy focus and expectation,

school wide phonemic awareness daily lessons , strong Teacher Librarian collaboration and parent

literacy promotion, several bilingual teachers across each grade to assist literacy in Spanish to

English and most strategically outstanding staff commitment .

The staff commitment was witnessed during the 4 day visit in many voluntary ways: before andafter school tutoring , Saturday morning school tutoring for Grade 3 students to improve their

Reading , School Improvement Leadership Team (pictured below right ) after school planning with 8

staff , assisting each other taking students from other classes for lessons in their class.

Sandras teachers demonstrated team

building at every level and she believes that

her school has the best teachers as 80% are

alternate certification ( retrained into

teaching after completing alternate degrees

and employment later in life ). These teachersbring an enthusiasm and skills set from

Banking, Finance, Accounting , Marketing ,

Science, Journalism, Social Work, and Criminal

Justice building and maintaining a premier

school that prepares all students to learn and

graduate with the knowledge and skills

preparing them to become productive and responsible citizens ( James B. Bonham Mission ). They

go beyond the 8am -3pm hours that society generally perceives teachers as working and see their

day finishing when the job is finished indicating a strong internal accountability and collective

responsibility. Many have or are studying their Masters degrees and Administration Certification (

to be eligible for Executive appointment) with Sandra Fernandez working towards an Education

Doctorate .


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Grade 1 Teacher Mentor Rogelio Garcia (pictured top left corner) has been at Bonham 10 years

and related a time when the school was struggling with low results and poor community reputation .

It was turned around through a succession of Principals and committed staff dedicated to school

improvement all the time and doing whatever it took to get there. Rogalio, who had retrained from

Juvenile Detention Officer and previously worked in a low performing school, was recently

recognized as an Outstanding 2010 teacher by the State of Texas and received a grant of $25000.

Parent Sandy has a Grade 1 daughter, is a member of the PTA and believes Bonham teachers really

care about everyone. Another parent Antonio Bhardwaj is impressed with the great inclusion for his

child after recently arriving from India and quickly sensed that the teachers are very committed to

students learning.

The school will continue their relentless focus on learning and have added the Dallas ISD Daily Five

Reading routine of read to self, read to or with others , listen to others read , you write about your

reading , you do work about the words you are reading.

James B. Bonham received the 2010 Blue Ribbon Award for Schools that make big academic gains

and significantly close achievement gaps from the US Department of Education in Washington DC

on November 15 last year. Only 200 schools across the whole USA nation of 300 million population

received this coveted honour .

Eliot K-8 school is in downtown Boston and has posted significant MCAS gains(Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) with double digit increases in the percentage of

students passing and achieving in all or nearly every subject of every grade level for two

consecutive years( Boston Public Schools Guide for Parents and Students 2010 website)


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Principal Traci Walker Griffith (pictured third from the left) reported in her interview that when

she was appointed in 2007 to replace the previous Principal she arrived at a school with 39

suspensions (mostly African American) for only 175 students and MCAS scores of only 12%

achievement Grade 3-8.She identified that the social and emotional climate and culture of the

school would need change before embarking on instructional improvements. Fifteen new staff

arrived in 2007-08 with some existing teachers challenged to be part of the solution or seek

employment elsewhere.

Important learning focus started with Kinder in 2007 and staff training began with Literacy and

including Reading pedagogy , interventions , Individual Education Plans and special

accommodations for students with significant learning needs. Teachers felt must better prepared to

teach Reading said long serving Assistant Principal Lydia Torez . A culture of high expectations was

begun with staff contributing to open staff meetings and more accountable and responsible for

their professional learning. Community engagement grew as the parents and local

residents/businesses welcomed the turnaround from Eliot school.

Student Brian in Grade 3 reported reading makes a movie theatre in my mind as he completed

his daily reading workshop with his teacher . There was obvious evidence that all classes display the

lesson outcomes and expectations for every lesson every day ( pictured below ).

2010 MCAS results at Eliot school produced a 67% achievement at State Reading benchmarks for

all Grade 3-8 students with a 76% improvement in Reading results from 2008.

Francis Stevens Campus P-8 is located a short distance from the White House ,Washington DC and would have the Barrack Obama girls as their local students if the President

wished .The new Preschool to Grade 8 campus was developed in 2008 after lower student numbers

at nearby Stevens Elementary and Francis Junior High forced closures.

Currently 244 students attend with the schools results on the improvement. New Principal Maurice

Kennard arrived in 2008 and together with Assistant Principal Jewell Hill ( 7 years at Francis HS )


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both are very proud African Americans and determined to see all students including the 66%

African American student population meet and exceed Washington DCs learning standards.

When the new Campus

began much time was spent

on dealing with disruptive

students resulting in less

time on learning

opportunities . 2009 saw a

school wide positive

discipline system

introduced and a focus on

increased learning

opportunities with teachers

giving 1 lunchtime per

week , morning or after

school for extra tuition for

students with Reading

difficulties. City Link

Community program provided 8 High school/Tertiary Education graduates working for 1 year as

extra Teachers aides and a local business Law firm allowed 3 lawyers ( pictured above ) to mentor

Grade 6-8 girls in career planning a half day per week.

Professional learning focused on increasing rigorous academic instruction and Assessment to

meet high academic outcomes by beginning with assessment cycles every 6 weeks. 2008 Grade 3-6

Reading results were slightly improved 47% at State level compared to Maths 42% (District of

Columbia Public Schools website). However Principal Kennard is not pleased until the whole school

shows consistent improvements over

several years. Grade 3 teacher

Rebecca James says staff are working

hard amidst a challenging

environment including the new merit

based bonus to staff who receive a

Highly Effective rating from their 4

performance assessments in a

year.Rebecca saw great

improvements in oral Reading

assessments from her studentsinvolved in daily peer reading with

Grade 7 students (pictured left) .

The visits to 5 Elementary schools in Ontario Canada were possible through the Leading Educators

Around the Planet (LEAP) Principal Exchange Program with my Principal Exchange colleague Lynda

Pressey .Lynda is the Learning Supervisor for Thames Valley Schools Board, London/Ontario and is

responsible for Student Literacy and staff professional support and training in over 180 schools.

Wilfrid Jury P-8 school is located in the city of London, Ontario with over 500 students.


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Vice Principals Corey and Scott summarized the school culture we have increasing numbers of new

settlement students from overseas (ESL 13 %) together with mental health, disability and special

education students (25%)that are all requiring significant learning support. Wilfrid Jury seeks

stronger links with their

community (parents income

below national average) and is

committed to higher level

literacy outcomes in reading

knowledge , questioning skills

and use of technology. Growing

levels of student self

assessment were evident in

class visits ranking themselves

1- didnt know 2-did some 3-did

all 4-did more .Data charts

illustrated student learning

progress in every class.

Education Quality Accountability Office (EQAO) is Ontarios independent agency administering the

report card results for Ontarios Elementary schools .Reading for Grades 3-6 in 2007 saw 43%

Wilfred Jury students meet Ontario minimum standards , 59% in 2008 and 46% in 2009.

Port Burwell Public School is a smaller rural school of 172 students with parentincomes significantly well below the national average. Principal Tina Vander Woollen-Harvey has

23% Special Education students and 19% ESL and finds this a growing challenge to meet Provincial

standards as well as facing the possibility of school closure for low student numbers by the Thames

Valley School Board .It was ranked 2612 out of 2742 schools in Ontario with Reading Results Grade

3-6 in 2007 38% achieving minimum standards , 39% in 2008 and 50 % in 2009.

Antler River 1st Nations Preschool to Grade 8 with 108 students isadministered by the Chippewas of the Thames 1st Nations Board. Federal funding is provided for the

Indigenous Aboriginal peoples to administer their land as determined by the local 1st Nations

people including Health , Housing , Transport , Education , Police , Fire , Council services etc.


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Principal Joanne Henry was excited to return to her local area and work to increase the educational

outcomes for her people. I see so much potential but until the local community is more involved

that potential will remain unfulfilled- parents can assist in the learning at home and at school they

are getting training .The need for greater parent ,community and School Board support was also

identified by an Evaluation visit in 2006. Since 2007 Joanne and the school board have planned

greater community connection opportunities in Art, Culture , Language , Technology , Student

recognition and Positive welcome to school life before a meaningful focus on higher teaching and

learning started .Recent results in Grade 3 are improving however the older grades are way behind

in comparison to the other Ontario schools results.

The Board has strongly invested in the facilities- Smart Boards and FM audio systems in all rooms ,

state of the art buildings with quality furniture , carpets and displays. Retention of teachers and

continuity of instruction is an ongoing challenge as the Chippewas Board has a lower pay rate that

other teachers in Ontario . Quality teachers appreciate a starting opportunity at Antler River but

soon move to other Ontario schools with this experience and receiving higher pay .

Corvette Junior Public K-6 is located in the lower socio economic suburbs of Toronto

where the parents income is below the national average.The school receives significant ProfessionalLearning Support from the Ontario Government and Principal for the last 4 years Helen Wong is

starting to see improved results. Whilst our Reading scores are still below the Province( 50% below

in Grade 6 2009) a better comparison is that in Grade 3 those same students were 54% below

within the school our cohorts are improving their reading scores.

Helen identified the increase in the School Leadership Team from 2 to 10 has influenced whole staff

professional learning growth . Teachers feel more ownership , are secure and safe , the school

culture is clearly aiming to higher student expectations and the local community is involving

themselves more in after school art programs , a school musical and before school breakfast.

Teaching and Learning Critical Pathways were introduced across Ontario in 2006 developed from

Fullan , Hill and Crevolas work with students individual learning journeys .Corvette Teachers

received training from Literacy Coaches to gather evidence of student need, design specific

instruction pathways for students and assess the impact.

At Corvette Junior teachers have a set Literacy 2 hour morning block for the 30 classes and three

Year 3 classes were visited .

Assistant Principal Sandra Quintal begins with her Grade 3 students sharing rich listening and

speaking opportunities . It was inclusive of all students from 16 different nationalities with formal ,

direct instruction also providing scaffolds to support students with varied learning needs.

Ana Halls class when visited was modeling high level discussion to solve a responsibility question .

The whole class instruction then moved to small group solving of the problem with all group

members allocated a role and contributing .When the groups reported back their answers Ana was

encouraging each groups usage of rich and specific language .


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Michelle Prices

Year 3 /4 class were

clearly well taught

in moving from

whole class to

paired elbow

partners in sharing

possible answers to

a whole class

challenge question.

It was very evident

that these teachers

were planning

together to

establish high level

Literacy sessions to

achieve improved

Literacy Learningoutcomes for all

their students.

First Nations School of Toronto was established to enroll only Indigenous studentsunder the Toronto School Board and Curriculum but allowing specific language and cultural lessons

to also take place . New to the Principalship in 2010 Lisa Zwicker has found her position a

challenging one with students from all over Toronto travelling to experience the Ojbway language

and culture. Students receive daily cultural awareness (pictured below) and indigenous language

lessons. EQAO Results show 1st Nations students achieving at Provincial Reading standard of 7% in

2008 , 9 % in 2009 and 8 % in 2010. Grade 4/5 teacher Trina Elise is in her first year of teaching and

has found it both rewarding and demanding these students have so many learning needs to cover

,. Reading is low yet they have hearts that greatly respect the strength of their culture.

50% of Staff have an indigenous background which is great for the students but we also seem to

have a lot of staff changes each year lamented School Counsellor Cheryl MacDonald .


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Reading Lesson Observations, Assessment Data and Learning

Resources used the following Strategies ; 1. Individual fluency assessment

2. Daily Five Reading habits 3.Whole Literacy immersion blocks 4.Peer Reading

5.Guided Reading 6.Group Reading 7.Reading workshops 8.Phonemic Awareness

9. Withdrawal support teacher 10. Critical Pathways 11. Culturally connected reading

Conclusions ; There are numerous successful Reading practices for Indigenous

and minority group Grade 3 students as evidenced ,by percentage, in the 8

schools visited and supported in research ;

A strong triangulation between Principal , Teachers and Community on the moral motivation forschools to make a difference in students lives through reading- 100% schools

Strong reading planning and school improvement of staff involvement and commitment to qualityprofessional learning - 88% schools

Quality teaching of reading is universal with high academic expectation , supportive learningenvironment and the teachers significant role in student learning. - 88 % schools

Staff implement chosen reading strategies including fluency emphasis 75 % schools Extra involvement; Sat school, before/after school ,lunch tutoring for reading 50 % schools Authentic parent and community relationship , ownership with their school- 75 % schools High level classroom interpersonal dialogue , discussions/individual feedback in Reading

Lessons 63 % schools

Acknowledgement/recognition of cultural difference ; bi-lingual teaching , culturalArtifacts ,values spoken and displayed , student first language taught 75 % schools

Clear expectations of student achievement in reading lesson outcomes 63 % schools High aspirations for student engagement and success 75 % schools Student accountability and responsibility for learning 75 % schools Care , compassion and interest in each student 100 % schools Maximum use of resources; IWB/Smart Boards, document projectors , support staff,

community groups 100 % schools

Balanced approach to achieving Provincial/State mandated Reading result minimumBenchmarks 75 % schools

The opportunity to visit other international education systems and their schools is particularly

meaningful in three ways.


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Firstly you learn new approaches to teaching and learning .

Secondly you compare these new approaches with many of our current teaching and learning

understandings to rigorously determine .under scrutiny, which ones we still need to keep.

Lastly you reflect on both teaching and learning approaches (the newly observed and your currently

reinforced practices) and continually determine the best improvements for your students.

Kingswood Park Primary is now embarking on a School Improvement Leadership Team , increasing

Community Reading Tutoring involvement and increasing our focus on Reading fluency whilst having

our current practices in teaching low socio economic and Aboriginal students strategies confirmed.

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