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Elementary
Blog Entries
In our exclusive interview two weeks ago, Children's Literature Laureate Jon Scieszka insisted that we should give children greater choice in what they read. Apparently, the Children's Book Council (CBC) agrees.
The organization is sponsoring the Children's Choice Book Award program, which allows children to select award winners. The CBC has just released the titles of 25 finalists in five categories: Grades K-2; Grades 3-4; Grades 5-6; Favorite Author; and Favorite Illustrator. If you know a child in grades K-6, encourage him or her to vote here before May 4th.
The winners will be announced live on May 13 at the Children's Choice Book Awards Gala in New York City. ...
Mimi Bair is the principal of Memorial Middle School in Little Ferry, NJ, and a former staff member at Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Weehawken, where she helped implement an innovative arts-focused curriculum that has helped the school's mostly low-income students outperform students state-wide. (You can find PublicSchoolInsights.org's story on Woodrow Wilson Elementary here.)
Ms. Bair recently shared some of the secrets of her success.
The Center on Education Policy just released a new report on changes to the elementary curriculum since NCLB. Their findings: Schools have put subjects like social studies and the arts on the chopping block to make way for more time in mathematics and reading. (Way back in 2004, yours truly wrote a similar, though less sophisticated, report that reached similar conclusions.) Given the wide range of skills and knowledge students will need to thrive (see here, here and here), this is unsettling news. ...
Success Stories
‘Yes, We’re Serious’ — A Campaign to Reach 100% Graduation
Story posted April 23, 2013. (We previously covered this initiative in August 2012, but this narrative adds a different, and very valuable, perspective.)
Results:
- The district graduation rate has steadily increased from 78.5 percent in 2006 to 95.2 percent in 2012.
- All high schools in the district exceeded their individual target graduation rates.
- More than 100 businesses, civic, government and faith-based organizations have signed up to be a part of the 100% Graduation Project.
There’s a real conversation-starter hanging on a wall outside the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System’s (CMCSS) board room. It’s a wall-sized poster of football players representing each of this Middle Tennessee district’s seven high schools. They are standing on the 50-yard line, in uniform, looking tough and determined, with game faces on. Below them is the text: “95.2% is not enough.”
The poster stops many visitors in their tracks. When they realize the meaning behind the words — that the number reflects CMCSS’s current graduation rate, and the district’s goal is 100 percent — they typically question if district leaders are serious. We are!
“One hundred percent graduation,” said Superintendent Dr. B.J. Worthington, “is our goal, and our community has made the commitment. We’ll not strive for anything less.” After all, a football field is 100 yards long, and CMCSS is not content to stop 4.8 yards short ...
Fremont County School District's 180 Degree Turnaround
Story posted March 26, 2013
Results:
- In 2012 the district made AYP for the first time
- During the first four months of the 2012-2013 school year, multiple grades in the elementary and middle schools have seen 7 months to 19 months growth in student learning
Fremont County School District #38 is located on the Wind River Indian Reservation. 98% of 440 students are members of the Arapaho Tribe.
CHALLENGE
For many years, the students of Fremont County School District #38 were far behind in their reading, writing, science, and math skills and abilities. Students often transferred from one grade to the next, several grade levels behind where data-driven norms suggested that they be. In addition, frequent changes in district leadership meant no sustained systematic approach to addressing achievement by school leaders. Teachers were left to do what they could on their own and students suffered from years of systems' breakdowns. One of the many negative results of the disorganization plaguing the district was that Fremont #38 was continually unable to meet the Annual Yearly Progress goals set by the state under the No Child Left Behind legislation. The lack of strong systems and ...
North Carolina Educators Nationally Recognized for School Reform Efforts
Story posted March 26, 2013
Results:
- Over the past two years, Oak Hill has raised its composite score (which combines the results from third- fourth- and fifth-grade reading and math exams, plus fifth-grade science) by nearly 25 percent
- The percentage students meeting proficiency in math rose from 55 to 86 and in reading from 33 to nearly 50
- 85 percent of students are proficient in science, surpassing the state average by ten points
- Named a North Carolina 2012 Title I School of the Year
The hard work and dedication of educators and school leaders at Oak Hill Elementary School in High Point, N.C. has received much-deserved recognition for its school reform efforts.
Closing its achievement gaps between students by significant margins has earned Oak Hill North Carolina’s Title I School of the Year award by the state’s Title I Distinguished Schools Recognition program. This honor comes with a $32,500 award and national recognition at a conference in Nashville, Tenn.
Educators shared with conference goers the growth Oak Hill has experienced in the areas of data-based instruction, standards-based planning, school culture, and areas in need of ...
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 ...
A "Beacon of Light": Baldwin Academy
Story posted December, 2007. Results updated October 23, 2012.
Results:
Outperforms state averages in all subjects across all grade levels, despite serving a higher percentage of low-income students.- Baldwin's school rating based on state test scores rose from 493 in 1999 to 858 in 2012 (the statewide goal is 800)
- Standardized test scores continue to improve - for example, from 2011 to 2012, 5th grade ELA proficiency rates increased from 49% to 69%; science rates increased 56% to 78% and math rates increased from 67% to 91%.
Baldwin Academy Principal Bonnie Wilson refers to her school as a "beacon of light" for the surrounding community in the San Gabriel Valley of California. Today, Baldwin's light is shining brighter than ever thanks to a high level of support for staff, plus extensive collaboration among teachers at all levels. ...
Story posted September 25, 2012
Results:
- During the 2009-2010 school year, 12 percent of Totem Middle School’s eighth-graders took algebra; now, 83 percent take algebra, with 100 percent projected for the 2012-2013 school year.
- At Totem, a $10,000 grant secured by MEA through NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign helped the school install a new laptop computer lab.
- School staff are receiving training on parental engagement.
- Data teams were created at schools receiving school improvement grants, with data from assessments shared with the students so they can see their progress as well as used by educators.
What does a strong public school system look like? It’s hard to envision with today’s political and economic climate, but America can provide a great public education for every child. The National Education Association (NEA) and its members know where to start.
Last December, NEA laid out its Leading the Profession Action Agenda, incorporating proven best practices in education from thousands of teachers around the country and input from the independent Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching, created by NEA in 2010 to examine the teaching profession and make recommendations on maximizing teacher and teaching effectiveness. This year, NEA expanded that vision by introducing five domains of education quality: the quality of the professional, the profession, the schools, education policy and the union.
So what does all that look like in practice? In Marysville, Washington, educators in three schools supported by NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign (PSC) are planting the seeds for sustainable education reform in ...
The Best Leaders in the Neediest Schools
Story posted August 27, 2012
Results
- In 2011, 93.5% of students performed at or above grade level on the state end-of-grade math test, up from just 54.2% in 2008
- The percentage of students at or above grade level in reading rose more than 20 percentage points over that same time
- 80% of students achieved grade level performance in science in 2011, up from just 24.6 percent in 2008 (all gains come in spite of the reality that 97 percent of students qualify as economically disadvantaged)
Summary: District officials in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools believe that effective principals directly impact student achievement and, as a result, are placing the district’s top principals in the neediest schools.
When Suzanne Gimenez became principal at Devonshire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina, she had one mission: improve student achievement. ...
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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!
