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Story posted October 7, 2009.  Results updated February 2011.

Results:
• 93-95% of students scored proficient or higher passed each of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Tests for 2010
• Received a Blue Ribbon Award, and their sixth Alabama State Department of Education Torchbearer Award in 2010
• Received a 2007 National School of Change Award and a 2008 National Title I Distinguished School Award 

Walking into Anna Booth Elementary early in the morning is like gulping a double shot of espresso. The new school building buzzes with energy. Every classroom is a hive of activity, and there’s a palpable intensity in the air. The faculty and 530 students are ready to begin a jam-packed day of instruction, intervention and powerful learning.

The school, which serves Bayou La Batre (a small fishing community in southern Mobile County), has undergone important changes in recent years, including a name change from Peter F. Alba (19th century landowner) to Anna Booth (esteemed Bayou La Batre teacher and principal). Two years ago, the faculty and students moved from a worn-out facility with multiple portables in Bayou La Batre to a new brick building in Irvington, a 15-minute drive north. “It was a seamless change supported by the community with no negative impact,” says veteran principal Lisa Williams.

The new building is great, but Anna Booth’s actual metamorphosis began years before the move. The result has been a total shift in culture, from benevolent low expectations for struggling students to very high expectations and soaring achievement—in a school where 18% of students are English Language Learners and 83% meet federal poverty guidelines.

The change has been so complete, in fact, that Anna Booth has been named an Alabama Torchbearer School four years in a row (2006-09), and was one of six schools to receive the National School Change Award in 2007.

In the face of a challenge
This transformation becomes even more remarkable when considering another challenge that this school has recently faced: On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated Bayou la Batre. More than 70% of students were left homeless. Yet despite the devastation, teachers did not once express concern that the lingering impact of the storm would affect achievement. They were confident that the hurricane’s aftermath would not destroy the foundation that they had built. Staff members supported relief efforts to meet students’ basic needs and, at the end of that difficult year, student achievement continued to rise.

So how did the faculty and staff move Anna Booth from academic under-performer to national award-winner? Williams, a reflective and experienced school leader, has identified several key factors that contribute to the school’s success—factors she believes are easily replicated in schools with the resolve to do whatever it takes to improve teaching and learning.

Implementing ARFI with fidelity
Williams gives the Alabama Reading First Initiative (ARFI) credit for most of Booth’s progress. “We were told we would receive unprecedented funding and support, and that as a result of that, we should expect unprecedented results. We found that to be true.”

For six years ARFI, a K-3 initiative, provided funds for a comprehensive reading program (Open Court in the first five years and Reading Street in 2008-09), plus ongoing professional development for teachers and two reading coaches for grades K-3 (this year, that decreased to one).

The changes at the school have been phenomenal. On the 2007-08 state accountability tests, 95% of third, fourth and fifth graders scored proficient or higher in reading and math.

“Faithful grant implementation, determination, and relentless efforts have ensured that absolutely every child has progressed to the greatest extent possible during the last six years,” says Williams. “The teachers implemented the grant with full fidelity, and they see the grant as a gift—a response to a national crisis.”

Two key components of the school’s implementation of ARFI have been the research-based comprehensive reading program and a strategic, effective schedule that allows for an intensive intervention plan with targeted small-group instruction.

Teachers received intensive training and job-embedded support for Open Court, which helped them implement it to the full benefit of their students. There was very little resistance—the faculty embraced the highly structured reading program as a powerful tool for boosting stu-dent achievement. When the system shifted to Reading Street, Booth’s faculty and students had a learning routine in place and found the switch fairly easy.

“Implementing a program with fidelity doesn’t mean that you’re a robot, and that you don’t consider other factors going on around you,” says Julie Salmons, the reading coach for second and third grades.

“We see Open Court and now Reading Street as research-based tools. They work. We know that,” Salmons says. “Good practices are good practices, and good teaching is good teaching. And that good teaching can still continue on without skipping a beat while implementing a program.”

ARFI also introduced the practice of regular, formal data meetings. “We needed a process for analyzing student achievement data to drive instruction and plan for professional development,” explains Williams. Monthly grade-level data meetings allow teachers to study data as a group and discuss the strengths and challenges of every student in the grade. Where challenges are identified, instruction is tailored to fit the student’s needs. “They are an integral part of our success,” she says.

At the end of Booth’s first ARFI year, it became apparent that the framework was going to have a tremendous impact on student success. The school expanded its comprehensive reading program to the fourth and fifth grades, implementing every aspect of ARFI that didn’t require additional funding—the daily reading block, the intervention period, teacher collaboration, and grade-level data meetings. As a result, student achievement in the higher grades is keeping pace with K-3.

Maintaining constancy of focus
Every MCPSS school must create and carry out a School Action for Excellence (SAE) plan. One of Williams’ favorite quotes is from basketball coach Steve Brennan: “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”

“Our SAE plan embodies that,” she explains. “We fervently believe in it and we act vigorously on it every day. It’s a very methodical course of action based on a comprehensive needs assessment. Our SAE plan articulates our direction while ensuring we maintain our vision and mission.”

The faculty shares their leader’s total commitment to the SAE plan, in part because they are all involved in creating it. “Our SAE is a working, living, breathing document,” explains Salmons. “We are the SAE; it’s not just some words on a piece of paper.”

The staff meets quarterly to review the SAE and make sure they’re on target. Then they conduct a comprehensive needs assessment based on student data during the summer, analyzing all of the standardized test scores, DIBELS and in-class assessments. The focus for the next year grows out of that analysis and becomes the new SAE framework.

Creating an engaging school
During the initial implementation of the change, six years ago, one of the greatest challenges was to change the culture of the school. “We had to engage our staff in ‘courageous conversations’ about our core beliefs. Do we believe every child can learn? Do we believe and understand that poverty, home language, culture, and migrant status are not and should never be considered correlates to poor academic performance?”

In a few short years, Williams says, she’s watched the faculty completely change their outlook on student achievement. “They’ve moved from an attitude of ‘It is impossible, it’s out of our control,’ to an attitude of ‘It is a reality. By collaborating, we’ll succeed.’”

In the first few years of tremendous school change, some teachers chose to go elsewhere. However, in the last four years, there’s been very little faculty turnover. “The staff members are not competitive, and there is no evidence of divisive cliques or professional jealousy. They work in unison. Each grade level teacher accepts responsibility for every child in that grade.”

First grade teacher Dayle Alidor has only been at Anna Booth for two years. She came from a large school with a completely different climate. She now drives 100 miles round trip to work. She says the professional learning community at Booth makes the trip worth it.

“I don’t think any one of us has a child in our classroom for whom we don’t have high expectations,” she says. “And they know that. Their parents know that and we all know that. There are a lot of schools with all these excuses about why students can’t achieve. But it doesn’t matter where they live or who they live with—it’s about their brain and what they’re capable of doing.”

Job-embedded professional learning
None of the significant improvements in teaching and learning at Anna Booth could have happened without focused, ongoing professional development. Student and teacher data help assure professional development is relevant and timely.

“We focus on the National Staff Development Council’s results-driven vision,” Williams explains. “We look at what our students need to know, what we need to know and be able to do to ensure their success, and what training we need to get us there.” Workshops, book studies and other activities are always research-based. We make sure we know how to translate our learning into daily practice, and that our practice impacts student learning.”

Peer coaching has been the most effective job-embedded professional development, says Williams. The reading coaches actively support teachers by providing demonstration lessons. This has helped dramatically with the implementation of both comprehensive reading programs. “We were well prepared [for Reading Street],” says Donna Melton, a second-grade teacher. “But there were still times I started teaching a new unit and said to myself, ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t flowing right.’ We were lucky to have our reading coaches available to come straight down the hall and model lessons or call Reading Street consultants to get answers for us.”

Maintaining a sense of urgency
Every day at Anna Booth Elementary, there is an intensity and sense of urgency. It’s the glue that holds everything together, Williams says.

“At every meeting, we engage in conversations about the challenges of preparing our students for today’s global economy. We examine our role as elementary school teachers in ensuring that our students graduate from high school and can compete—not just with other kids in the district or in the state—but globally.”

With national funding for Reading First eliminated for 2009-10, Alabama will have to discontinue most of the funding and support given to ARFI schools. As a result, Williams and her faculty face a real challenge—sustaining the momentum and intensity they’ve achieved.

Williams isn’t worried. “Absolutely not. We have the keys to success, and we are going to sustain our success. It’s too important to these students and to this community.”

“I’ve learned a great lesson,” she says. “Real success is accurate information sustained over time. It’s sustainable when it’s taken for granted. And that’s what’s happened here. Our culture, the intensity, it’s all internalized now. We just do it.”

MARCH 2010 UPDATE: According to Alabama's Accountability Reporting System, Anna Booth Elementary is continuing outstanding performance.  In 2009, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students at the school outperformed the state as a whole on all reading and math tests, despite serving a significantly higher percentage of students in poverty.  More than 85% of students scored proficient or higher in all categories, with more than 92% of students scoring proficient or higher in 3rd grade reading and math, 4th grade reading and 5th grade reading and math. 

FEBRUARY 2011 UPDATE: Anna Booth has continued its success, winning its sixth Alabama State Department of Education Torchbearer Award and a Blue Ribbon Award in 2010.

Via an email exchange with Pyron, Williams said that the Blue Ribbon Award shows their “students are as capable as any students in the nation” when coupled “with effective instruction and support.” Williams pointed out that the Anna Booth community has experienced significant difficulties in recent years: Hurricane Katrina, the recent oil spill, and the instability of the seafood industry which the community relies on for income. She sees the Blue Ribbon Award as proof that “our community is resilient” and that the community’s “work ethic and resiliency is evident in the . . . children.”

When asked how the school has sustained its success, Williams identified several key factors: Implementation of Reading First and the Alabama Reading Initiative, both of which are research-based, and include small-group instruction and collaborative staff meetings based on student data; professional development based on Learning Forward standards (also based on student data); and a staggered school day that optimizing time and human resources. More generally, all of these reforms were done with long-term institutionalization in mind.

Anna Booth’s test scores continue to be very high to go along with these academic initiatives: the state education website indicates that 93-95% of students passed each of the grade tests for 2010.

For additional information, please contact:
Lisa Williams
Principal, Anna Booth Elementary School
lmwilliams2@mcpss.com  

Adapted with permission from the Alabama Best Practices Center.

Full citation:
Jennifer Pyron, "Anna Booth Elementary: ‘We Have Found the Keys to Success.’” In the Fall 2009 issue of Working Towards Excellence: the Journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center, Volume 9 Number 1.

Copyright © 2009 by the Alabama Best Practices Center.

Click here to access the original article as contained in the Alabama Best Practice's Center website.

Photos courtesy of Anna Booth Elementary School.