NCLB spurs some schools to make gains

By Del Stover

6/22/04 -- After years of hard work, W. Russel Todd Elementary School finally is off the list of schools labeled "in need of improvement" under the standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

That's quite an accomplishment for the small, rural school on the Uintah Indian Reservation in Utah. Nine out of 10 students live in poverty, 85 percent have limited English proficiency, and one in three has been physically or sexually abused.

Only three years ago, two-thirds of students scored well below grade level on state tests. Today, 75 percent score at the mastery level or above -- a more than doubling of test scores.

"What we found was that school improvement is not a mystery," says Principal Richard Stearmer. "When people come together to work toward the good of the students, focus on results, and everybody is held accountable, you get results."

Those are reassuring words for officials at thousands of schools struggling under the shadow of NCLB and the sanctions awaiting those that fail to show steady improvement in student achievement.

At the same time, the story of Todd Elementary is noteworthy because it reveals another facet of NCLB -- that the federal law has spurred schools to take student achievement more seriously than ever, and that some are finding they can meet the challenge laid before them.

At Todd Elementary, Stearmer gives credit to the faculty for working as a team to make academic success happen. But there's little doubt that it was his arrival as principal in 2000 that kicked off the school's academic turnaround.

One of Stearmer's earliest contributions to the school was to make it clear to teachers that NCLB was here to stay and that responsibility for student performance fell squarely on the shoulders of the school's adults.

"Success requires people to say 'I'm going to stop the blame game,'" he says. "I'm going to stop blaming the lack of funding. I'm going to stop blaming the parents or the principal or the school board . . . . We are going to be held accountable for what happens in the school day."

Once that mindset set in, teachers and Stearmer began digging into the effective schools research, which contends that schools that implement certain instructional and administrative practices can improve the academic performance of even the most disadvantaged students.

Relying on research

The faculty at Todd took to heart the findings of this research, particularly the importance of frequently monitoring academic performance, Stearmer says. Teachers looked at what worked at schools serving a similarly disadvantaged population, and they pored over the data on student skills in search of problem areas.

"We spent a year really delving into who we are," he says. "We looked at our students. We looked at how they learn. We looked at the scores. We looked at it all."

As the school would be judged on students' skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, the teaching of these core academic subjects was incorporated into all classes, including art and music.

Teachers began using data to develop "quality teaching plans" that refocused everyday instruction on tackling individual students' specific academic weaknesses. And teachers began creating an "action plan" identifying how they would help each student meet the school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals.

The school also embraced the instructional practices promoted by the Foundation for Comprehensive Early Literacy Learning, which encourages significant professional development to support school reform.

The faculty was so dedicated to professional development that, when a teacher left the school, a decision was made to not replace the teacher and instead spend the budgeted money on staff training.

For Stearmer, what's interesting is that the secret to improving student achievement is laid out for everyone in the research literature.

"I'm just impressed with the intellect and thought put into effective schools research," he says. "It's very replicable. We received the training, we invested in the programs, we got behind these programs, and our staff satisfaction is up and the kids are learning."

More time on task

Look at schools across the nation, and it's clear that Todd Elementary is not the only one successfully responding to NCLB's challenges.

In Rochester, N.Y., School 33, where nine out of 10 students come from low-income homes, the number of students meeting state test standards has nearly tripled. An extended school day, more time spent on reading and writing skills, and a more focused instruction in the classroom are credited for the improvements.

On the other side of the nation, Loma Verde Elementary School in Chula Vista, Calif., met its academic targets last year for the first time in three years. Teachers studied test sc-ores to identify academic weaknesses, and additional instructional support was provided to the lowest-achieving students.

As a result, state report cards show widespread gains.

Earlier this year, New York state recognized more than 1,000 public schools that had increased the number of students meeting English and math standards by more than 20 percent in recent years. Hundreds of schools in California have reported doubling their academic performance over the past two years.

Still, the shadow of NCLB looms large over these schools, as well as others whose academic progress is not as great. And even significant gains in test scores mean nothing if they fall short of state goals.

In New York state, for example, at least 500 schools currently are identified as in need of improvement. In Tennessee, 47 percent of the state's 1,650 schools failed to meet last year's testing goals. In Florida, more than four out of five Title I schools failed to make NCLB benchmarks.

Indeed, in California, more than 400 schools that doubled their academic performance still failed to make AYP.

The numbers are expected to increase as schools move closer to the law's 2014 deadline to bring all students up to proficiency.

A study by the Center on Education Policy reports that 20 percent of all school systems across the nation currently have at least one school identified as in need of improvement, up from 15 percent in 2002-03.

Some small help is on the way, however, as state and federal officials tweak accountability rules. For example, the U.S. Department of Education this spring made it easier to meet participation rates on standardized tests by allowing states to average participation numbers at a given school over two or three years.

Earlier, federal officials had softened rules regarding the testing of students with disabilities or limited English skills.

Meanwhile, more than 40 states are asking federal officials to let them make changes in their accountability plans. Tennessee wants to increase the size of its identified student subgroups from 45 to 55. Minnesota wants to identify schools as needing improvement only if the same subgroup of students fails to make AYP two years in a row.

Success in Yonkers

Although improvements in the federal regulations will be welcomed, Foxfire Elementary School in Yonkers, N.Y., is already well on its way to being removed from the state's list of schools in need of improvement.

In just two years, the school has more than doubled the number of students scoring at or above proficiency on the state's math and English exams. Test scores now are above the state average.

To achieve this dramatic improvement in student achievement, Foxfire also embraced many of the strategies outlined in the effective schools research.

As at Todd, a key change in the school was a new principal's efforts to give the faculty a clear vision of the school's goals. Aware that fourth-grade test scores would decide the school's fate under NCLB, Principal James Colasacco made it clear that each primary grade was responsible for preparing its students for success in the next grade.

"We couldn't blame the grade level before for not preparing our students," he says. "We would have to accept responsibility for sending on to the next grade level a higher percentage of children who were proficient in reading and writing and solving problems."

Using data to make instructional decisions also became a mantra at the school. Teachers conducted reading assessments throughout the school year so they could identify and respond to academic weaknesses.

Collecting this data also bolstered faculty confidence in the school's ability to improve because teachers could see the impact of their efforts in the assessment results, Colasacco says.

"It gave everybody an opportunity to strive for something," he says. "They could see the results. And once they started to see the results, that children were doing so much better . . . it's a powerful thing."

Professional development also was given a high priority, he says. The school used state money to bring in a reading coach who worked with the teachers in their classrooms to improve their skills in teaching reading.

"Normally, professional development is where teachers go to a two-hour workshop, and after the workshop, that's about it," Colasacco says. "Our teachers actually had the coach come into their rooms and show them with their own children how it could work. Then they had time to practice it, and the coach could watch them and give them feedback."

With test scores rising quickly, the faculty is looking forward to the day when the school frees itself from the label of needing improvement, Colasacco says. And while NCLB isn't the best-written law, it's not stopping his school from being successful.

"We've managed," he says. "Some schools have a very hard road, but it's working here because we started to build a sense of expectation. . . . We grew and designed a culture of success rather than a culture of deficits."

EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS FOLLOW THESE PRACTICES

Many schools that are successful in boosting student achievement follow the practices identified in effective schools research. According to the Association of Effective Schools, there are seven elements that lead to a school achieving academic excellence:

• Clear school mission -- The staff shares an understanding of and commitment to instructional goals, priorities, assessment procedures, and accountability, and the staff accepts responsibility for student learning.

• High expectations for success -- Teachers believe that all students can master the academic coursework, and they believe they have the capability to help students achieve that mastery.

• Instructional leadership -- The principal acts as the instructional leader of the school and effectively communicates that mission to the staff, parents, and students. The principal can apply the characteristics of instructional effectiveness in the management of the instructional program.

• Frequent monitoring of student progress -- A variety of assessment procedures is used. The results of the assessments are used to improve individual student performance and the overall instructional program.

• Opportunity to learn and student time on task -- Teachers allocate a significant amount of classroom time to instruction in the essential content and skills. For a large percentage of this time, students are engaged in whole class or large group, teacher-directed, planned learning activities.

• Safe and orderly environment -- There is an orderly, purposeful, businesslike atmosphere that is free from the threat of physical harm. The school climate is not oppressive and is conducive to teaching and learning.