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Changing Course
Story posted August 19, 2008. Story updated April, 24, 2012.
Results:
• 60% of students enroll in honors classes, with 26% in AP classes
• The school's pass rate on the state algebra exam, at 88%, exceeds the state's by four points; the pass rate for English met the state's at 82%.
Data-driven decision-making, targeted staff development, collaborative leadership, and the sheer will of committed staff members have launched Wheaton High School on a promising trajectory. Located in Montgomery County, MD, a predominately affluent area that has more than 20 high schools, Wheaton (which is 51% Hispanic, 26% African American, and 37% free or reduced price lunch) has always received attention, but unfortunately, for many years the attention focused on lackluster student achievement.
These days, though, Wheaton is getting positive attention. After years of difficult challenges, Wheaton is a tremendous turnaround story. Now Wheaton is known more for its academy programs, honors and AP courses, AYP results, outstanding in-school and after-school intervention programs, and serious and hard-working students than anything else.
The school's success has hinged on many factors, including substantive support from the school system and the local community. Above all, Principal Kevin Lowndes credits students, teachers, and staff members for their hard work and commitment to student achievement. In addition, Wheaton's commitment to smaller learning communities and other strategies outlined in Breaking Ranks, the National Association of Secondary School Principals' vision for school reform, are helping the school close the achievement gap.
Collaborative Leadership
To meet the needs of a diverse student body, all staff members are required to participate in subject-level professional learning communities (PLCs) that meet at least once a month to enable teachers to plan collaboratively, analyze student work, and develop common formative and summative assessments.
The school leadership team is also interested in creating opportunities for shared leadership, so the school's instructional council focuses on using instructional techniques to motivate students to succeed academically.
Personalization
Mirroring the emphasis on community among the faculty, Wheaton has also created smaller learning communities for students. Five academy programs enable students to be a part of a community that is dedicated to a specific area of study: the Academy of Information and Technology; the Academy of Engineering; the Academy of Biosciences and Health Professions; the Institute for Global and Cultural Studies; and the Freshman Academy. The four content-specific academies have an interdisciplinary structure that integrates content-specific curricula and the traditional disciplines to provide advanced-level instruction.
The Freshman Academy includes a Connections course-a combination transition and college-prep course that helps students prepare for college-level work and understand the relationship between their interests, skills, and academic performance and future college and career choices. The guidance counselors reinforce that emphasis with each student, and the school uses the Connections class, career field trips, and job shadowing to help students learn about a wealth of opportunities, including college, apprenticeships, military service, and trade schools.
The Freshman Academy is broken into houses, each with a counselor and house leader for 80-100 students assigned on the basis of their core curriculum teachers. The flexible modified block schedule allows for more personal academic support, study skills instruction, an adviser/advisee program, and guidance in small cohort groups. In addition, the house structure has helped literacy instruction become infused across all content areas with the help of literacy teachers, a staff development teacher, and the Read 180 program (reading intervention software).
Other highlights of the Freshman Academy include academic and career-focused student learning plans, mentoring, peer tutoring of students struggling in algebra (provided by National Honor Society students), a credit recovery program, and the Squires program-a peer program that pairs students who need academic support with other students for tutoring, mentoring, or other assistance.
Schoolwide, strategic use of data enables teachers and administrators to target study skills and focus academic supports to the appropriate students. A staff member who is dedicated to data analysis support prepares reports that identify instructional needs and necessary changes. This person also provides critical support to administrators, teams, and individual teachers as they gather, analyze, and report data.
Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment
Academies have been very successful in driving change at Wheaton. But an academy without challenging coursework might have led to simply rearranging chairs in the classroom. Instead, Wheaton placed a premium on increasing the rigor of coursework and has been aggressive in encouraging all students to take rigorous courses. "There is open and highly encouraged access for all students in the honors and AP courses," said Lowndes. To support this open access and success, Wheaton launched the Achievers Seminars to teach the skills for success in honors and AP classes. Those efforts have resulted in 60% of students enrolling in honors classes and 26% enrolling in AP classes. Soon, every student will be enrolled in honors, AP, or college-level courses because each academy will require college-level instruction in some form. Agreements with Montgomery College and the University of Maryland-Baltimore allow students who qualify to take college courses and receive credit prior to graduation.
In addition, Wheaton provides a host of academic supports, such as a daily lunchtime enrichment program, ongoing tutoring and mentoring, and lunchtime tutoring for English language learners. They also offer an extra period for students who need to repeat a class, which has kept more students on track to graduate with their class and prevented some students from dropping out.
A Promising Future
Collaboration and renewed energy and vigor have overtaken this school and prompted it to change course. Test scores are increasing-56% of students passed the Algebra Maryland High School Assessment in 2007, compared to 31% in 2004. 61% passed English II in 2007, compared to 49% in 2005. In addition, in 2007, the school's pass rate surpassed the state average in both Government and Biology.
Because their school is collecting and analyzing data and identifying ways to deliver a strong academic foundation with the necessary student supports and a sophisticated intervention system, Wheaton students are now able to master a rigorous curriculum and graduate ready to be successful in their college or work lives after high school.
For additional information, please contact:
Kevin Lowndes
Principal, Wheaton High School
301-929-2091
kevin_e_lowndes@mcpsmd.org
This story came to LFA's attention as a 2008 Metlife Foundation/NASSP Breakthrough School.
Story adapted with permission from NASSP from James A. Rourke and Dianne Mero's article A Change in Direction in Principal Leadership, Special Edition June 2008
Further details about this story can be found at:
NASSP's "MetLife Foundation/NASSP Breakthrough Schools: Wheaton High School Profile," 2008
Copyright (2008) National Association for Secondary School Principals. For more information on NASSP products and services to promote excellence in middle level and high school leadership, visit http://www.principals.org/
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