A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Elementary Schools

Ensuring Success for All Students

OVERVIEW

An emphasis on early academic intervention, a strong, coherent curriculum, and coordinated instructional strategies ensure that students at Lincoln Elementary School meet or exceed grade-level benchmarks by the time they enter the sixth grade. "If we can reach students early, we can solve any problem," said Penny Collins, a literacy resource teacher who works with kindergartners and first-graders. In this cooperative learning atmosphere, students achieve at the highest academic levels while developing positive attitudes toward themselves and their peers.

Lincoln's schoolwide program, first implemented in 1993-94, uses Success For All (SFA), MathWings, and WorldLab, the three coordinated curricula developed by the Center for the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) at Johns Hopkins University. Having these curricula at the core of the schoolwide program has successfully minimized the fragmentation in this very large kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school that serves a largely African American, Haitian, and Hispanic student population. Extensive on-site professional development that continues within the school day promotes a common instructional philosophy and teaching style across classrooms. It works, says Penny Collins, because "students receive the same signals from [all the] teachers," and all instruction is structured similarly.

In its schoolwide budget, Lincoln combines federal resources from the Title I, Title V-Magnet, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, with funding from the Florida lottery and other state and local resources. According to principal Margaret Brockmiller, becoming a schoolwide program meant using all available funds more effectively. The result was that, without labeling, all students benefit from focused, specialized instruction.

Lincoln serves a predominantly nonwhite student population, 87% of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Grade Levels PreK-5 Number of Students (1997-98) 1,181 Schoolwide Since 1993-94 Racial/Ethnic Composition 92%   African American 7%   Hispanic/White/Other

VISION, LEADERSHIP, AND DECISION MAKING

Lincoln faculty members are full participants in decisionmaking. The school's improvement plan for 1997-98 includes a comprehensive monitoring structure that outlines their roles and responsibilities to ensure that school improvement strategies are implemented.

Two representative decision-making bodies, a faculty council and a school, parent, and community advisory committee, coordinate to review and update the school's improvement plan periodically.

Decision making occurs through two representative structures—a faculty council from each grade and the School Advisory Committee (SAC). The faculty council meets with the principal twice monthly to discuss the school's day-to-day organizational needs and strategies for integrating the research-based reform programs with other schoolwide activities. The SAC, which meets monthly, is chaired by a parent, co-chaired by the principal, and includes parents, teachers, noninstructional staff, community members, and administrators. At least 10 members represent parents or the community, including one designated representative from the school's large Haitian community. The SAC works by consensus to maintain an updated school improvement plan. The state allocates $10 per child for the SAC to spend on school improvement activities.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE RESULTS

Each year students in grades three through five take the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) in the spring, and fourth-graders take the Florida Writing Assessment in February. The CTBS scores provide longitudinal data on individual students for three years. Between 1994 and 1997, the percent of students performing above the 50th percentile rose significantly in both reading and mathematics. In reading, the number of students above the 50th percentile rose from 18 to 29 percent during the three-year period; in mathematics, the percent jumped from 17 to 43. Based on data compiled from these scores, the school writes an annual curriculum plan, identifying areas of the test not sufficiently emphasized by the school's instructional program. Lincoln's scores on the Florida Writing Assessment have also increased steadily since 1994. Between 1994 and 1997, scores climbed from 1.6 to 2.5 on the narrative portion of the test and from 1.4 to 2.0 on the expository portion of the test. Both components are measured on a one-to-six scale. Every eight weeks, the SFA instructional assessments provide diagnostic information that teachers, in consultation with SFA facilitators, use to restructure reading groups according to appropriate skill levels.

RESEARCH-BASED REFORM STRATEGIES

The three instructional programs developed by CRESPAR and Johns Hopkins University researchers—SFA, MathWings, and WorldLab—guide reading, mathematics, social studies, and science instruction in grades one through five. The programs are aligned with Florida's Sunshine State Standards, and although each one is distinct, they are integrated across subject areas and grade levels, fitting together "like a puzzle," reports principal Brockmiller.

Three Johns Hopkins-developed instructional programs, Success For All, MathWings, and WorldLab structure a coordinated academic curriculum that is fully aligned with Florida's Sunshine State Standards.

Success For All (SFA). SFA structures the reading program for students across all grades. Homogeneous groups of students participate in daily, 120-minute uninterrupted reading and language arts instructional blocks. The SFA curriculum focuses on teaching comprehension, listening, speaking, and vocabulary skills, through multicultural stories that reflect students' cultures and heritages. The model uses literature to involve students personally in reading and to enhance their understanding of the story structures. Students learn to listen to, retell, and dramatize children's literature; to compose ideas orally and in writing; and to decode letters and sounds to support their advancing reading knowledge. SFA is a continual progress model in which students learn cooperatively. Students progress across achievement levels as they master certain skills, and they also develop the ability to assess their own progress and to correct their errors as they read and write. For students experiencing difficulty, tutoring and additional academic support services are immediately available so they can proceed through the reading program as quickly as their improving language skills will allow.

MathWings. The MathWings program gives students the opportunity to discover, experiment with, and apply their mathematical knowledge following the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Curriculum and Evaluation Standards. Mathematics activities build on the practical mathematics knowledge students have when they enter school and incorporate real and simulated problem solving, skill practice, calculator use, alternative assessments, writing, and connections to literature and other disciplines. Students learn to apply multiple-problem solutions and then describe this new knowledge in their own mathematics journals. MathWings is cyclical; students at each grade level review and build on what they learned the previous year until they achieve mastery.

WorldLab. WorldLab is Lincoln's integrated science and social studies program in which students use written work, role playing, and cooperative teams to carry out experiments, investigations, and science and social studies projects. WorldLab adopts the same instructional strategies as does the overall SFA and MathWings programs. The program, written on various skill levels, revolves around thematic units that incorporate writing, reading, mathematics, fine arts, and music into the science and social studies curriculum.

Across all content areas, students learn cooperatively and individually to achieve mastery. Students learn to assess their own progress and they develop the habit of correcting their own errors before moving ahead.

Early childhood learning opportunities. Teachers in Lincoln's prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms learn the SFA methods through the same training programs their colleagues participated in. It focuses on providing a balanced and developmentally appropriate learning experience for children emphasizing the development and use of language, music, art, and movement activities in a series of thematic units. This consistency of the preschool and kindergarten programs facilitates students' preparation for the first grade. Lincoln also uses the Breakthrough to Literacy Language Development Program, an interactive computer-based language development curriculum for kindergartners and selected first-graders. Each day, students explore words, letters, and sounds on computer programs aligned with all other academic components. Teachers use the same programs to continually assess students' reading progress.

Support services to students. Reteaching students who struggle to make progress through the progressively more difficult learning cycles is an important component of all aspects of SFA, and this concept carries over to all academic disciplines at Lincoln. Students receive various supplementary support services, including tutoring by specially trained paraprofessionals, drop-out prevention assistance, and mentoring through the program HOSTS—Help One Student To Succeed, which targets students in grades three through five. Those who score in the lowest quartile on the CTBS receive additional one-to-one instruction each day from one of four diagnostically trained full-time tutors. Students in the highest quartile on the CTBS may participate in the county's Structures of Intellect (SOI) curriculum, which helps eligible students prepare for the district's Gifted and Talented program. Parents are an essential part of the formula for success in SFA.

The research-based reform programs at Lincoln accommodate all students, especially those at risk, because teachers continually reassess and regroup students according to their educational needs. For designated students with limited-English proficiency, a full-time ESL teacher provides additional assistance, supplementing classroom reading instruction in the morning and individually tutoring selected students in the afternoon.

All students have access to mental health services through the support of Lincoln's Family Support Team. Two assistant principals also help resolve conflicts and organize peer mediation sessions on campus. Lincoln's discipline plan features conflict resolution and encourages the school's "Fight Free" program to help students implement the schoolwide motto, "Celebrating Peace Every Day."

THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

We help teachers question themselves by making them aware of what they're doing and not doing. They're constantly checking and rechecking their teaching against assessments of students' progress. Penny Collins Teacher Facilitator Lincoln Elementary

When Lincoln initially adopted the CRESPAR/Hopkins programs, all staff received two weeks of intensive preparatory training on how to use the materials and the strategies incorporated into the research-based program. Professional development continues to be available from in-school and regional facilitators. Lincoln's two in-school facilitators—one who supports SFA and one who supports both MathWings and WorldLab—work with teachers to examine students' progress summary data, structure teaching around students' needs, determine the effectiveness of lessons, and, in the case of SFA, arrange students into homogeneous reading groups. Every eight weeks, facilitators issue checklists to teachers with information on each program component to help ensure that instruction is data-driven. According to facilitator Penny Collins, "[We] help teachers question themselves and make them aware of what they're doing and not doing. They're constantly checking and rechecking [their teaching against assessments of students' progress]." SFA-sponsored network facilitators who work in the region conduct periodic implementation checks and provide continuous feedback to the principal based on summary information about student performance.

In addition to training and support in the research-based SFA models, professional development opportunities at Lincoln include the Early Literacy Inservice Course (ELIC) for primary teachers, Professional Orientation Program mentors for new teachers, grade-level discussions, and early release days so that teachers can attend in-service courses on conflict resolution, writing, alternative assessments, inclusion, and test-taking preparation.

PARENT AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

A Family Support Team conducts home visits, directs parents to appropriate agency services, and, when necessary, intervenes into situations at home or at school that negatively affect students' learning.

Lincoln's Family Support Team, including Lincoln's social worker, principal, counselor, and psychologist, is a vital component of the SFA model that provides an array of services to families. The team, headed by the school's social worker, visits families of students who are exhibiting behavioral, health, or academic problems; steers families toward agencies that can assist; conducts parent outreach; plans interventions for non-school situations that affect learning; and issues attendance plans for students who have a less than 95 percent attendance rate. When needed, the Family Support Team reviews information relevant to each student; discusses the needs with the student's teacher; and identifies a case manager for each family. Lincoln's parent liaison also assists the team in contacting parents and enlisting their cooperation.

The Lincoln staff reach beyond the school to familie—seven to those who are unable to visit the school. They use a number of communication devices: a parent compact, a daily calendar of student work and responsibilities referred to as a "student agenda," and calendars of school events. Updated information about individual students facilitates the ongoing dialogue between parents and teachers, keeping the school and families tightly linked in support of students. Each day, students leave school with a progress report for parents that includes teachers' comments about their achievement. Parents are encouraged to talk with their students about the report and to respond with comments or questions. Quarterly curriculum nights, featuring grade-level presentations by the faculty, are a forum for parents to learn about curriculum content and instructional activities and to ask questions about testing. Parent-teacher conferences, held twice a year, take place at the school or over the telephone. Lincoln reports all assessment results to parents, including the results of both standardized and SFA tests. Written materials released by Lincoln are translated into Spanish, and an interpreter is available to Haitian families.

SUSTAINING CHANGE

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