Edutopia - August/September 2008 - (Page 27)

How To: Increase Student Achievement “We know we are a long way from bringing every student to proﬁciency, particularly our English-language learners,” concedes Sheri Hart (center), assistant superintendent of the Central Union High School District, in El Centro, California. But when the high-poverty, high-minority district moved from Performance Improvement designation to California Distinguished status over the course of a few years, it became clear that taking one step at a time—and dogged persistence with each step—can make a world of difference. Stakeholders in the CUHSD switchover suggest the following strategies for success: Start with a Needs Assessment “Look at yourself in the mirror and ﬁnd out what your barriers are,” says Central Union High School principal Emma Jones (above, at right). Apply for funding if necessary and begin allocating resources to the areas that need it the most. The CUHSD’s performance-improvement initiatives were sustained on state and federal funds, including California’s Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP), federal Title I and Title II grants, and a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant from the U.S. Department of Education that provides funds for after-school tutoring with certiﬁed teachers. Educational software such as Accelerated Reader and professionaldevelopment programs such as Achieve 3000 and The Write Institute help improve student literacy skills, and professional development workshops for teachers have included the work of María MontañoHarmon, Kate Kinsella, Ruby Payne, Rick Stiggins, and Rick DuFour. Make Time for Collaboration Between Teachers Every other week, CUHSD schools close early to provide educators an entire afternoon of focused collaboration. Teachers compare notes and discuss academic standards, curriculum, targets, and goals. This constant communication helps create a tightly knit community districtwide, aids teachers in getting a grasp on standards-based education, and provides a forum for idea sharing and mutual support. Use Data To differentiate instruction for each student, it has been vital for CUHSD teachers to know the status of each student. Data-analysis tools such as DataDirector, an online data-management program, help educators use data to drive instruction. The district uses color-coded data sheets that provide at-a-glance student-performance information. A nonevaluative classroom-instruction monitoring system called Data in a Day has worked as a district professional-development and data-collection tool, and a modiﬁed version called the Teach for Success Classroom Observation Protocol is now available to other school districts through the research-and-development organization WestEd (WestEd.org). Create Teacher-Resource Personnel “Don’t put resources in the district ofﬁce. House those resources where the kids and the teachers are,” says CUHSD superintendent C. Thomas Budde (pictured at top left). Academic coaches and programimprovement resource teachers support classroom teachers personally and professionally, mentor new teachers, lead in-house professionaldevelopment workshops and initiatives, and serve as a communication liaison between teachers and administrators. To reduce potential resistance from teachers and teacher unions, ﬁll the position with someone who can build trust quickly—preferably someone who’s been teaching in the district for many years. Employ Research An emphasis on educational research, district staff report, has helped improve communication and collaboration between teachers, increased their focus on effective classroom assessments, and helped them better understand student culture and student needs. Because the district’s English--language-learner population is so large, strategies to help those students have been at the top of its priority list. No-prep tools often used in foreign-language classrooms such as choral response (simple repetition of new vocabulary) or AB partners (pairs of students reading aloud to each other) can make a huge difference when it comes to language acquisition and student engagement. Be Persistent “Part of the success of any kind of change initiative is to be persistent enough with it and not abandon it prior to achieving some measure of success,” says Budde. “I think, in education, we have a tendency to do that.” Painstaking persistence and constant reevaluation and modiﬁcation of the implemented strategies, say teachers and administrators, have been the real change agents in the district. —SB Attention Getters As with any major reform effort, the change here took time. Strategic collaboration districtwide is not something that happens overnight, nor is it ever ⇒nished. Ultimately, district staff contend, any progress is based on an ongoing commitment to the students they are serving. “Teachers always say to us, ‘Come in after class, come after school, come in the morning,’” says Central Union High School senior Jezreel Ontiveros. “They are always willing to arrange their schedule to ⇒t your needs.” After-school tutoring programs and a robust Advancement Via Individual Determination program (AVID), a system that prepares underserved populations of students for four-year universities, for example, encourage students to excel and promote the district’s pervasive college-going atmosphere. According to Southwest High School junior and recent immigrant Raul Carmelo, the biggest difference between his experience in school in Mexico and his time in the district is the personal attention he receives from his teachers. “I think we know who our kids are,” says Anabel Rodriguez, an ELL-program resource teacher who’s also a graduate of Central Union High School, the youngest of twelve children, and the first in her family to go to college. “We know where they are coming from and know the obstacles that they’re facing.” Still, she adds, “every kid wants to learn, wants to succeed. Our job as teachers is to do what we can to make sure that happens.” e EDUTOPIA.ORG EDUTOPIA 27 http://WestEd.org http://EDUTOPIA.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Edutopia - August/September 2008

Edutopia Contents Up Front Feedback Dispatches Sage Advice Ask Ellen Head of Class Cool Schools Design: Building on Disaster What's Next Full-Service Schools In the Trenches Moral Aptitude Serious Gaming Behaveyourself.com Media Is the Message The Way of the Wiki A Match Made in Cyberspace Hail to the New Chief Rise of the Robots Disrupting Class As Others See Us Heart & Soul Pop Quiz: Moby

Edutopia - August/September 2008

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