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Professional Development
Success Stories
Story posted October 16, 2008; Results updated March 26, 2013
Results:
• A 17% turnover rate for teachers with fewer than five years of experience in 2011.*
• In 2011, the district outperformed state proficiency levels in all grades across all subjects.
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. ...
Viers Mill Elementary School: Success for the Long Haul
Story posted November 9, 2009. Results updated February 27, 2013. Note: You can read more about Viers Mill at http://www.learningfirst.org/collaboration-viers-mill.
Results:
- In 2012, over 95% of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students met proficiency standards on state reading tests
- In 2012, over 98% of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students met proficiency standards on state math tests
- In all instances, the school outperformed the state despite serving a higher percentange of students in poverty
If you're looking for a Cinderella story, get to know the people at Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland:
One of the [paraeducators] who had been here a long time said, "you know, they used to call this place 'slumville.'" Now, she says "the President's visiting here...." He came to our school for the work we did. He didn't just happen to show up.... It was the apotheosis of my entire career.... The President of the United States--the President of the United states!--is in our cafeteria...because of the work that went on in this building....
That's Susan Freiman, Viers Mill's staff development teacher, describing President Obama's surprise visit to the school last month. She worked hard with her colleagues to turn the once struggling elementary school into a national exemplar where almost every student is proficient on state tests. That is no mean feat for a school where most students are from low-income families and ...
Story posted December 17, 2012.
Results:
- Six years ago, the school—which enrolls 475 students in grades 6–8, 69% of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch—was one of the lowest performing middle schools in Kentucky; today the students outperform 90% of the students in the state.
- West Carter has met AYP the last three years; continued overall growth; and as of 2010, ranked in the top 10% of the 327 middle schools in Kentucky.
No student has been retained at West Carter Middle School in Olive Hill, KY, in the last five years. Staff members proudly point to that fact as evidence that their decision to not permit zeros is working. That’s a bit misleading, because coupled with the no-zero policy were a number of programmatic initiatives and supports that allowed all students to meet state standards and demonstrate significant academic growth. Six years ago, the school—which enrolls 475 students in grades 6–8, 69% of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch—was one of the lowest performing middle schools in Kentucky; today the students outperform 90% of the students in the state. ...
A Quilted Approach to Professional Development
Story posted July 24, 2012
Results:
- Over the past four years, nearly 400 Fulton County elementary, middle, and high school teachers have received between 50 and 160 hours of professional development that was funded by over $2.7 million dollars in grants
- State test scores rose an average of 14% in mathematics and 11% in science over this time
The Challenge
For the past several years, the state of Georgia’s funding for teacher professional development has been limited, but there has been flexibility allowed with those funds to assist districts in balancing their budgets. However, this has meant less direct money to provide needed professional development for math and science teachers. Fulton County is a geographically large urban district with a diverse population, and the professional development requirements to address the diversity of student backgrounds and needs are varied among teachers, schools, and regions.
The Solution ...
Story posted May 4, 2010. Results updated March 21, 2012.
Results:
- Despite serving a student population where 79% are recieve free or reduced lunch - double the state's rate - the school outperforms the state and district in multiple measures
- In 2011, 93.2% of Sacajawea students scored at or above proficiency in reading, compared to 91.3% in the district and 92.7% in the state; in math, 90% did so, compared to 85.3% in the district and 88.4% in the state
- The school improved its own proficiency rates between 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 in both reading, 90.3% to 93.2%, and math, 87.8% to 90%
- Named one of only three Distinguished Schools in Idaho for 2009
Back in 2005, Idaho’s Sacajawea Elementary School was struggling. The school had had four principals in four years, had never made Adequate Yearly Progress and lacked direction. But that changed with the arrival of Greg Alexander.
Now in his fourth full year as principal, Alexander presides over an award-winning school. After making AYP the last two years and seeing tremendous growth in its Limited English Proficient students' reading scores in particular, Sacajawea was named one of only three Distinguished Schools in Idaho for 2009. What are the keys to its success? A focus on recruiting and retaining excellent teachers, a consistent discipline strategy, a strong reading program and a host of other efforts designed to meet students’ individual needs. Principal Alexander recently told us more.
Public School Insights: How would you describe Sacajawea Elementary?
Alexander: Sacajawea Elementary is located in Caldwell, Idaho, a suburb of the capital city of Boise, just a good 20 minutes away. I actually live in Boise and commute to this community. We have a neat facility. We are up on a hill, overlooking what is called the Treasure Valley. There is a story about a young boy sitting on the edge of a cliff off beyond our school, looking over the valley as the wagon trains came through. The sagebrush was so high that you could only see their canopies. And we look up at the Cascade Mountains. It is just a really beautiful campus.
On this beautiful campus we serve 500 students from pre-K through fifth grade. We are 60% Hispanic and 23% ELL, or LEP [Limited English Proficient], students. We are about 36% Caucasian students, and then just a few percentage of a variety of other students. We have 7% that have special education needs, and we are 90% free and ...
Iowa’s Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children
Story posted February 9, 2012
Results:
- Over 64% of kindergarten children who attended preschool were considered proficient on DIBELS in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 school years, compared to approximately 52%, 56% and 57% (respectively) of their peers who did not attend preschool, and the impact is greater for children in poverty
The Iowa State Board of Education has long supported quality early childhood education, and in 2007 the legislature created the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children (SWVPP). The purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity for all 4-year-old children in the state of Iowa to enter school ready to learn by expanding access to research-based preschool curriculum and licensed teaching staff.
Under the program, school districts, along with community partners, submitted grant applications to participate. Those awarded a grant demonstrated collaborative involvement with multiple stakeholders in both the planning and ...
Story posted June 10, 2010. Results updated December 20, 2011.
Results:
• In 2011, the school performed as well, or better than, the state as a whole on reading and math tests at every grade level (no data available for seventh grade math), despite serving a significantly higher percentage of students in poverty
• Named a 2010 Breakthrough School by the National Association of Secondary School Principals
It is no accident that the staff at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School adopted a central tenet of Breaking Ranks in the Middle—to banish anonymity by creating a personalized learning environment for all of its students. The school was created six years ago when the four middle schools in Henry County, VA, were consolidated into two middle schools.
The consolidation left the students, the staff members, and the community angry and disjointed. No one felt any joy in coming to a middle school that was housed in a former high school. The hallways and classrooms were out of proportion with the students, and the 900-student school was an extreme change for the rural area.
The closing of many of the area’s manufacturing plants and subsequent rising unemployment rates compounded the difficulties— unemployment in the area is the highest in the Commonwealth of Virginia at 20%, with almost 50% of the students eligible for meal subsidies. The board of education, supported by the community, recognized that an effort had to be made to provide a quality education for every student.
After a challenging first year of consolidation, the staff, led by principal Moriah Dollarhite, embraced the idea of grade-level teams, breaking the school into small groups to create camaraderie and school spirit. Content teams were also created to monitor instruction and ensure that all lessons were tied to the state learning standards.
And finally, a lead teacher team, representing all content areas and ...
Strategic Staffing Helps a Title I School Succeed
Story posted November 19, 2009. Results updated December 7, 2011.
Results:
- Proficiency rates close to or exceeding 88% on 2011 state reading and math tests at every grade level, outperforming the state as a whole on each test.
- In 2011, grade 4 math and reading scores both exceeded state averages by 5% at 88% and 93% respectively.
- Since 2008, grade 3 math scores rose by 4% and exceeded state math scores in 2011 by the same amount.
Indian Springs Elementary is located along one of the many rural highways that crisscross northern Mobile County, in territory marked by signs of poverty and under-development. There’s no interesting history behind the name of the unincorporated community the school serves—Eight Mile is just the distance down U.S. 45 to the city.
The exterior of Indian Springs shows the wear and tear of a building that has housed students for many decades. The school comes alive only after you cross the threshold, where you find a physical space that is clearly well-loved by the faculty, staff and students.
Just inside the front doors, a small sitting area decorated with potted plants and flowers welcomes visitors. The walls are bright and the floors shine. Bulletin boards and student work cover every inch of the hallways. Teachers decorate the entrances to their classrooms with personal touches, like the kindergarten teacher whose door resembles a front porch with columns, shutters and an awning.
The school serves 451 students in grades pre K-5. It has a 50-50 ratio of white and African American students—87% of whom meet federal poverty guidelines. About 14 percent are classified as having special needs. The demographics offer few clues about the school’s academic performance. But in fact ...
Aiming for a Blue Ribbon in Alabama's Black Belt
Story posted October 3, 2008, Updated August 29, 2011.
Results:
• In 2011, 80.8% of 5th graders met or exceeded standards on the state reading test, up from 77.4% in 2005, with the number of students exceeding state reading standards (the highest performance level on the test) up by 10% from 2010.
On the edge of Alabama, 15 miles from the Mississippi state line, lies Aliceville. With only 5,000 residents, the town relies on agriculture and timber for jobs, and many of its residents live at or below the poverty level. Driving through downtown, you see three closed gas stations with their prices permanently set at $2.58. A right turn takes drivers past an established housing community and a few newer complexes, and then two long, low red brick school buildings come into view. ...
Innovative Initiatives Provide Well-Rounded Education
Story posted March 1, 2011
Results:
• A variety of unique initiatives ensures students receive an engaging and well-rounded education
• These efforts have also equipped students to do well on tests, and they have scored well above state averages in every test in the last four years
At Dakota Hills Middle School, which serves students in grades 6 through 8 in Eagan, MN, it’s all about balance—ensuring that in-class lessons have real-world applications, emphasizing the importance of both academic achievement and career exploration, and providing individualized help along with whole-group instruction. The school has found success in using a trimester system trimesters instead of semesters, and the school offers an extended-day program until 4:50 p.m. for students who need additional help in their core academic courses. Other enrichment activities are occasionally offered during this time as well. ...
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A VISION FOR GREAT SCHOOLS
On this website, educators, parents and policymakers from coast to coast are sharing what's already working in public schools--and sparking a national conversation about how to make it work for children in every school. Join the conversation!
