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Story posted January 5, 2009.  Results updated January 22, 2012.

Results:
• The school outperforms the district in every tested subject at every tested grade
• It maintained its "effective" rating in 2010-2011 by the Ohio Department of Education
• Even though the school serves a student population that is at a slightly economic disadvantage when compared to the state average, it outperforms the state on standardized tests in almost every subject in every grade

Eleven years ago, the administration of Toledo Public Schools and the Toledo Federation of Teachers embarked on a campaign to create innovative district schools that meet the needs of parents and the community. As a part of that campaign, they worked together to open Grove Patterson Academy, a school offering a combination of nontraditional programs proven to support student achievement.

Grove Patterson is a kindergarten through eighth-grade school that serves students selected via a lottery from throughout the city. Closely reflecting district demographics, Grove Patterson is 50 percent African-American, 37 percent white and 13 percent Latino, with 40 percent of students considered economically disadvantaged.

Thanks to the vision of its founders the school boasts a number of unique features:

• Extended school day and year. Grove Patterson students attend school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for 192 days per year. The entire school participates in a 90-minute uninterrupted reading block, and time is dedicated to physical activities and the arts every day.

• Foreign language instruction for all. Beginning in kindergarten and continuing through their time at Grove Patterson, all students study either German or Spanish for 30 minutes each school day. Foreign language classes focus on teaching vocabulary and reinforcing content from other subject areas. For example, if students are studying measurement in math, the language lessons for that week will focus on Spanish or German measurement words and will reinforce concepts taught during their regular math class. Principal Gretchen Bueter reports that when Grove Patterson graduates enter high school, they generally test into the second- or third-year level of their foreign language.

• Looping. Teachers at Grove Patterson follow their students for two consecutive years. When the school first opened, teachers applied as looping teams—for example, a third-grade teacher and a fourth-grade teacher applied together to loop through those grades. Now, because vacancies few and far between, they are filled as needed, with the looping partner participating in the interview. The long-term teacher/student relationships established through looping have been shown to support student learning.

• Time for teachers to collaborate. The extended schedule provides substantial time for teachers to plan and work together. The school is divided into two “ladders,” the Spanish ladder and the German ladder. Staff from each ladder meet once a week for two hours to collaborate across grade levels on curriculum and instruction. At the end of each school year, the ladder teams have five days without the students to review the year’s curriculum and instruction and to plan for the next school year.

In addition, each ladder has a “ladder leader” elected by the other teachers to serve a two-year term. That leader is responsible for keeping up on curriculum trends and research-based practices, and for sharing that information with colleagues within the ladder. The ladder leader also researches, participates in and organizes professional development for other teachers.

• Labor-management collaboration. The Toledo school board and the Toledo Federation of Teachers worked collaboratively to plan Grove Patterson’s extended schedule and to determine compensation for the additional time worked and allocation of time for professional development.

• Parent involvement. Grove Patterson emphasizes strong parent-teacher collaboration. All parents agree to get their children to school on time, participate in homework sessions—including nightly reading and the signing of a reading sheet—and volunteer 10 hours per family per year.

• Data-driven instruction. The school assesses students every eight weeks and makes the data immediately available to school staff so that instruction can be tailored to each classroom’s and student’s needs.

The combination of these strategies has impressive results for Grove Patterson. The school has made adequate yearly progress for each of the last seven years and is rated “effective” by the Ohio Department of Education. It consistently has a higher percent of students scoring at or above proficiency on Ohio Achievement Tests than the state average in most areas tested. In addition, in 2008 100% of 8th graders scored at or above proficiency in reading on these tests. 100% of 4th graders did so in writing. GPA has also been recognized as an Ohio “School of Promise.”

Principal Bueter and Kathy Sattler, the union’s building representative, have both worked at Grove Patterson since it opened 10 years ago. Sattler says its success is due to a combination of factors including teachers’ commitment to working there; unique programs that meet the children’s needs; and the school’s cycle of researching, implementing and assessing curriculum and instruction. Principal Bueter cites the collaboration among staff as integral to students’ success. She says, “Sometimes we have to agree to disagree, but we can do that because we all know that the focus is rightfully on what is best for kids.”

For additional information, please contact:
Gretchen Bueter
Principal, Grove Patterson Academy
419-534-5821
g.bueter@tps.org

Kathy Sattler
Teacher and Building Representative, Grove Patterson Academy
419-534-5821

RESULTS UPDATE: Grove Patterson continues to perform well.  According to its 2008-2009 Ohio Department of Education School Report Card, the school maintained its "effective" rating in 2009.  It outperformed the district on state assessments in every tested subject at every tested grade level.  It also outperformed the state as a whole in every tested subject grades 3-7 and in 8th grade reading while serving a student population that is more disadvantaged. 

RESULTS UPDATE 2012: Grove Patterson maintained its strong performance in 2010-2011, evident in its most recent "effective" rating from the Ohio Department of Education School Report Card.  The school is currently serving a student population that is at a slightly economic disadvantage when compared to the state average; yet it outperforms the state on average test results in almost every subject in every grade. 

This story came to LFA's attention in a series of school profiles by the American Federation of Teachers that highlighted policy recommendations by their President Randi Weingarten.

Story adapted with permission from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Click here to access the original article as contained in the AFT website. (Story updates not included in the original posting).

Copyright © 2008 by the American Federation of Teachers.  All Rights Reserved.

Photo from the Toledo Public Schools’ Grove Patterson Academy profile