The focus in schools today is to raise achievement among our students.I think in this environment, it is important to keep in mind what educators are already doing well with the students. Then, dispense with those tactics that are not working and keep those that are.

 

As teachers, we have always felt so good when we’ve done what is right—that thing that turns a student around and leads to success, whether it is behavior or academics. Stop feeling that you have to reach everyone and do everything yourself and trust that you are capable to reach your students.

 

Provide Interventions

 

One idea that has worked in my schools has been to engage your grade level team in problem solving and come up with solutions that will work for groups of kids. The team must agree on a benchmark measuring tool to use in the process. One successful measure has been graphing. Then pre-test, divide the entire grade level into groups according to how well they did, decide who will teach each group (involve your administrators and special ed folks, too), schedule the intervention times, and off you go. The post test results will be significantly better than the pre test results. They will all be proficient on graphing and many will exceed proficiency. State testing will no longer be a concern after this process.

 

Don’t forget to plan for the needs of accelerated students who must also get what they need to raise their achievement and to eliminate boredom of our brightest students.

 

 

Response to Intervention

 

To raise student achievement for students about whom you have serious concerns, I established a broadened system of accommodations in alignment with what we now know as Response to Intervention (RTI). It begins with a meeting between the students, teachers, and school administrators to compare notes on the student’s weaknesses and strengths and to coordinate a plan among everyone to support the student, which plan includes accommodations to make the initiative most successful. 

 

Accommodations are not modifications to the curriculum. Many teachers, even those in Special Education, are not clear about this point, and it is one of the reasons so many lower their expectations of struggling students. Rather than lower expectation, accommodations are designed to assist students in successfully navigating the curriculum as set by the administration. Modifications, on the other hand, are available and should be used for those students with serious cognitive problems or disabilities who really cannot keep up with a mainstream curriculum.

 

An example of an appropriate accommodation follows: There was a boy, we’ll call him Richard, who had a very difficult time focusing on his work. While he was very intelligent, he was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder). There were days when Richard drove his teacher up the wall! Still, during our meeting we came up with accommodations to help him be successful.

 

It is essential to explain the plan to the child and get his agreement to participate, with clear consequences if he does not follow the plan. Usually all that is necessary is to make the student understand how the proposed plan will help them succeed at school. Most children will appreciate the care you show on their behalf.

 

In the plan, Richard was to be allowed to get up and walk at the back of the room when he could no longer sit quietly and do his work, and as long as he was not disruptive to others. Richard’s parents gave him an hour glass to take to school. When the sand ran out, it was then that he could get up and walk around for a minute and the back of the room. Richard was also give a squishy ball to squeeze when sitting and concentrating on his lessons.

 

His parents had some accommodations to support at home. They would make sure Richard had a list of things he had to do before he went to bed each night, including getting his homework in his backpack ready for pick up the next morning.Letting these tasks slip from his mind in the morning had also been a consistent problem for Richard.

 

After a month, we had a follow up meeting (very important) to see if the accommodations were working. . The teacher reported significant improvement, and stated that Richard was no longer a disturbance in the classroom.

 

Use Student Data

 

Analyzing student data provided by formative and summative assessments is essential for raising student achievement. . This information should be used by administration to group students with similar needs so that teachers can work with these students together. There is simply not enough time in the day to meet everyone’s needs individually.

 

Teachers should be given time to meet together to analyze student writing, for instance, to develop inter-rater reliability for scoring student work and to determine what proficient writing looks like. This method can be used for other curriculum subjects as well in order to establish a school that understands each level of proficiency.

 

Student Engagement

 

In order for students to learn, they must be interested in the content and approach. The possibilities are endless for when teachers and students cooperate to raise success levels of the students. Another activity that can raise teacher awareness of the required standards and methods for communicating them to students is requiring them to understand the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy and coordinating it with each of the school’s standards and objectives. At McREL it was called Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum. The possibilities are endless for when teachers and students cooperate to raise success levels of the students. See McREL’s Classroom Instruction That Works for great ideas and strategies for creating meaningful activities that will raise student achievement.

 

Donna Newberg Long, aka Principal Donna has been in education for over 20

years. As the founding principal of 2 schools, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her counseling with teachers, principals and boards. Donna is available for consulting services for start ups and schools in need of advice.  Visit href=”http://www.AskPrincipalDonna.com”>www.AskPrincipalDonna.com> for more information or call 303.280.5220 to discuss your schools needs.