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Story posted July 30, 2009. Results updated August 31, 2010.

Results:
• In 2010, more than 84% of 6th, 7th and 8th graders met state reading standards, outperforming the state as a whole in 6th and 8th grades
• The school continues to show improvement in math test scores, with the proficiency rate increasing at least six percentage points in all grade levels--and fifteen percentage points at the 8th grade level--over the past four years

Relentless is the word that staff members at Stelle Claughton Middle School in Houston, TX, use to describe how they operate: "We don't give up on our students, their families, or our own commitment. We recognize that our own attitudes, choices, and behaviors toward our students and about their learning have the greatest impact on their achieving excellence."

The relentless pursuit of excellence is everywhere in the school, and it reflects Principal Delic Loyde's approach to staff members, students, and instruction. No detail, no matter how small, is overlooked. A few years ago, when the school missed its attendance target by a 10th of a percent, Loyde stressed to the faculty that the number represented only a few students and that every adult had a responsibility to ensure that every student was at school every day. The target was never missed again and overall attendance improved.

Translating percentages and targets into actual students is a strategy that Loyde regularly uses because "it makes the goals personal. A 'percent' not proficient can be someone else's students. Turning the numbers into students gives teachers direction and motivation to focus on instruction." So although having 94% of students proficient in reading is a significant accomplishment, it translates into 31 students who are not proficient, which is unacceptable. Loyde believes that all 31 of those students will become proficient with the appropriate support strategies.

Expectations for staff members could not be clearer. Loyde firmly believes that achieving excellence is about creating an environment in which each student can succeed. To put this belief into action, she shares leadership responsibilities with more than one-third of the staff. Although the school's goals are nonnegotiable, staff members, students, and the community all have a voice in how the goals will be attained. Staff members participate in interdisciplinary groups called "families," in grade-level teams, in content departments, and also on the leadership council-along with students and parents.

Expectations are also clear for students. They know that reaching the proficient level is not their goal; "commended" status is. From day one, they are taught how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals--specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable, and time bound--in their daily advisory period. Although their annual goals and accompanying action plans are revisited throughout the school year as new benchmarks are reached, there is an ever-present reminder that the long-term goal is for every student to go to college and that is what everyone is working toward. Hallways are decorated with college posters, pictures, and slogans. Every day, the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students pass under a doorway banner that proudly states, "We are college bound!"

Claughton, which opened just six years ago, is a Title 1 school and a Texas Recognized school, which means that in 2008, all of its subgroups--including [the 75% of students who are economically disadvantaged,] the 10% of students who speak limited English and the 9% who receive special education services--achieved in the exemplary range of performance (more than 90% passing) on the reading, writing, and social studies Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and in the recognized range (more than 80% passing) on the math and science TAKS tests. More than half of the students earned commended status in reading, writing, and social studies, which means that they had a perfect score or missed only one or two questions on the entire test.

Collaborative Leadership
Loyde's emphasis on high expectations and her ability to bring out the leadership potential in staff members and students earns her unanimous praise from the leadership team. They specifically cite her skill in being able to sift out and cultivate those with "heart and intention." "Everybody has a voice," said Donna Pikus, an instructional specialist. "Principal Loyde includes us and asks our opinion about everything."

Leadership potential and collaboration are also fostered through the leadership council, a group of 36 family leaders, grade-level content-team leaders, department chairs, assistant principals, and counselors. The council meets every other Tuesday to discuss and make decisions about issues that affect the students and the faculty and staff members and serves as the voice for the teaching staff. The leadership council takes great pride in the fact that the school is a learning organization-always willing to change something that is not working. "This is a school of possibilities," said Assistant Principal Sharon Geiger. "It is all about relationships and working together with each other and our students. We work together to be consistent." That consistency is fundamental to success and is fostered through department teams, grade-level teams, and family teams.

The campus is organized into family groups, in which core-content teachers work with the same group of students; there are usually four teachers to a family. This arrangement enables interdisciplinary lesson planning, discipline management, brainstorming, and information sharing. The family teachers meet on Thursday mornings to discuss students and their needs. Grade-level teams meet on Wednesdays during a common planning period; are attended by an administrator; and allow grade-level subject teachers to plan lessons, discuss strategies, and analyze student achievement. The family and grade-level meetings are complemented by the department meetings that are held twice a month on Wednesdays. Teachers share strategies, resources, data, and other information that is relevant to their content areas.

Loyde also includes staff members in the hiring process, which was an important task at the beginning of her tenure because by the end of its first year of operation, she was the school's third principal and had witnessed a 33% turnover of staff members. She looks for the four Cs in candidates: caring, compassionate, competitive, and a little bit crazy. Prospective teachers must teach a lesson to the interviewing staff members, lead a discussion, and then answer two questions: Can you dance or sing? What makes you mad? Loyde believes the answers to these questions get to the heart of a person. The school's goal is obviously to find the right match of heart and excellence. Since Loyde's first year, teacher turnover has been minimal.

To ensure that parents feel comfortable, the school developed the parent center, a welcome room for parents where they can use computers and get information about the school. According to Assistant Principal Hayden Solomon, "The key is to get parents on board. We get to know the parents.... We are community based. We don't have all the answers, but we do have systems in place to get the job done."

Personalization
Giving students an environment that is conducive to learning as well as the personal connections that support academic and individual development is essential to student success. It must be heartening to the faculty to hear statements like those shared by Claughton students: "Teachers are devoted to us-they want us to succeed. They don't let us fail. They don't give up." And perhaps most indicative of the environment the school offers, when a student was asked about Claughton being a home away from home, the student responded: “No, this is home!”

In addition to a strong National Junior Honor Society and an extensive selection of clubs and activities, how does Claughton make students feel at home? It starts when sixth graders come in and find that they have their own wing (each grade does) and their own lunch period. All students are also placed into a family group and participate in a daily advisory and academic enrichment period that delivers content-based lessons with social skill reinforcers built in. Teachers designed the lessons--some differentiated by grade level, others for schoolwide use--which students call their "extra dose of learning." Other initiatives include a teen leadership class; a "stamp out bullying" program; peer mediation; and Mix-It-Up, a program that fosters peer interactions among diverse students. In addition, counselors visit classrooms to teach life skills and offer a counseling corner in the cafeteria during every lunch period.

Typifying the importance that the staff places on the personal touch and high expectations, the principal meets with every student who is in the lower quartile of achievement and, if possible, his or her parent or guardian, to discuss interventions and promote achievement.

The foundation for all of these initiatives is a belief in high expectations, which is reflected the school slogan, We are college bound. That focus is epitomized by a paper titled "My Future" that all eighth graders complete and display on their lockers. In the paper, students describe and illustrate a career that they'd like to explore as well as one they'd like to avoid. The intent of the assignment is to show students that they can do anything they choose as long as they are prepared. Claughton's career center and an elective class in career investigations help students understand the opportunities that are available--and how they can prepare to take advantage of them. Building expectations for higher education is further emphasized through the school's work with Texas A&M to incorporate the Kids to College program.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
"Everything we do is logical-we plan for achievement." said Loyde. Benchmark assessments are given three times a year, and the results enable teachers to address the specific academic needs of students through the regular curriculum; specialized tutorial programs before and after school; and other interventions, such as Read 180, Autoskills (math/reading), Neufeld, and MySatori. Faculty members are charged with designing lessons that challenge students to realize their potential. Teachers have studied and received professional development in the rigor and relevance framework and Philip Schlechty's Working on the Work framework to help them meet that challenge.

How do teachers know that students are being challenged? "We [the administrators] are in classes every day [to help close the achievement gap]," said Loyde. Getting the school leaders into the classrooms is part of an effort to ensure that the instructional emphasis is on engaging students in all classes and activities--no passive instruction or learning is allowed. Leadership council members use a reflective walk-through model to improve instruction. The staff attributes significant growth in achievement-especially in math-to changes in instructional delivery and to the adoption of the LESA (launch inquiry, explore, summarize, and assess) model. Math class size was also lowered to support this objective.

Claughton has moved to an inclusion model for special education that improves achievement for all students. This thrust to reach each student has prompted the school to mandate afterschool tutorials, require teachers to tutor students two days a week, use instructional specialists for reading and math, and offer pull-out support. And to help students prepare for state testing, Claughton offers TAKS Saturdays 15 times a year in various subjects; attendance is voluntary for most but mandatory for struggling students.

To facilitate outreach to each student, the school created the Instructional Extension Center, an in-school suspension program that focuses on academics and character building. Disciplinary management reinforcers replace traditional detention. Sessions are held after school on Fridays and Saturdays, provide additional instructional support, and include parent involvement.

Interventions for success do not end when the school year ends. A four-to-six-week summer program provides hands-on lessons to help students develop improved math and reading skills.

Conclusion
"Mission possible" was the school's motto from its inception when its goal was to become a Texas Education Agency (TEA) Recognized School. In 2008, six years after opening, Claughton could say, Mission achieved! When the school became a recognized school, staff members could have said, "We're there. We've made it. No need to do more." But they didn't. Instead, they revised the motto to "Excellence in every endeavor." Their goal is now to be a TEA Exemplary School. When the staff begins to feel overwhelmed by the challenges, the principal tells them that they can't be-that together they need to find a way that will work; that she expects more; and more importantly, that their students are entitled to more. They need to be, in a word, relentless.

AUGUST 2010 UPDATE: Stelle Claughton continues to perform well, despite serving a disadvantaged population (75% of its largely Black and Hispanic student body are considered economically disadvantaged, compared to 55% of students in the state as a whole). In 2010, more than 84% of 6th, 7th and 8th graders met state reading standards, outperforming the state as a whole in 6th and 8th grades. Writing and social studies proficiency rates were just about the state average. And the school continues to show improvement in math test scores, with the proficiency rate increasing at least six percentage points in all grade levels--and fifteen percentage points in the 8th grade--over the past four years.

For additional information, please contact:
Delic Loyde
Principal, Stelle Claughton Middle School
delicl@springisd.org

This story came to LFA's attention after being published in the print edition of NASSP's June 2009 Special Edition of Principal Leadership magazine on its 2009 Breakthrough Schools.

Reprinted with permission of NASSP.

Citation: James Rourke and Marlene Hartzman, May 2009.  Heart and Excellence. Principal Leadership, High School Edition, p. 36-39.

Copyright (2009) National Association of 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/.