HIGH STANDARDS & ACCOUNTABILITY are the focus of the
Department's June newsletter & Satellite Town Meeting.
Below is an article from the newsletter, "Community Update,"
featuring Tidewater Park Elementary School, which has achieved
impressive gains in student performance. Sylvia Spratley,
principal of the Norfolk, Virginia, school, will be among the
guests on the Town Meeting Tuesday night, June 19, 8:00 to
9:00 PM (ET). Other guests include...
* Linda Schrenko, State Superintendent of Schools, Georgia
* Wes Stucky, President, Ardmore Chamber of Commerce,
Ardmore, Oklahoma
* James Barker, Superintendent, Erie Public Schools, Erie,
Pennsylvania
* Emma Carrillo, Teacher & Curriculum Specialist, Drexler
Elementary School, Tucson, Arizona.
For more information and to register, please see
http://registerevent.ed.gov/downlink/event-flyer.asp?intEventID=140
The newsletter includes...
* an excerpt from Secretary Paige's recent speech to the
Education Writers Association
* the story of a high school that rose from the bottom 10%
to the top 10% on Maine's Educational Assessments
* & more.
The full issue of Community Update, as well as back issues &
an online form for subscribing to this paper-based newsletter,
are at
http://www.ed.gov/G2K/community/
Note: Community Update & the Satellite Town Meeting are
produced by the Department's Office of Intergovernmental &
Interagency Affairs (OIIA). Community Update is edited by
Nicole Ashby (OIIA).
*********************************************
Achieving High: A Virginia School Raises
Expectations & Proves Every Child Can Succeed
*********************************************
Before summer recess begins, Tidewater Park Elementary School will
be getting back test scores that chart how well its students are
measuring up against state standards. Last year, 75% of students
in the Norfolk, Virginia, school passed every subject area on the
state exam -- an impressive leap when just two years prior not a
single 5th-grader passed the history or science portion of
the test.
"The first year the test scores came out, they were supposed to be
baseline data. But everywhere we went we were haunted by those
scores," recalls Tidewater Park's principal Sylvia Spratley. The
1998 report, which also showed that less than a quarter of 3rd-
graders at Tidewater Park met the basic math requirements, marked
the first year Virginia students were taking the test. Many
schools in the Commonwealth, however, did not fare well on the new
exam, which was based on the newly adopted & rigorous Standards of
Learning (SOL). As part of Virginia's education plan, the
standards were put into place in 1995 as guides to districts &
schools on what all students should know in four core subjects:
English, mathematics, science, & history & social science. The
assessments are administered in grades three, five & eight, as well
as in selected high school courses.
The year Virginia first gave the SOL tests was Spratley's second
Year as principal at Tidewater Park. Although already challenged
by the school's poor results on other standardized tests, Spratley
said the state scores better focused her on the strategies needed
for improving student achievement, prompting her & support staff
to "work around the clock."
When school reopened in fall 1998, several Tidewater Park teachers
began volunteering on Saturdays to provide additional instruction.
Over half of the 3rd- & 5th-graders attended each weekend. Then,
partnerships with Old Dominion University & a local church began
funneling more manpower for after-school tutoring.
The Norfolk Public School System, which by that time realigned the
curriculum with the Virginia Standards of Learning, began providing
teacher training. Spratley even started using her faculty meetings
to provide ongoing training. She also hired a team of specialists
whom she calls her "master teachers" to work with both the teachers
& students. She credits their work for much of the school's
improvement. Additionally, each class was either reduced to a
maximum of 19 students or team-taught for larger numbers.
As a result, classes became more academically rigorous, lesson
plans standards-driven, & every minute accounted for, which
Spratley refers to as "time on task." Time was blocked in the
morning to teach communications skills & in the afternoon for math,
history & social science. Spratley also began hosting monthly "SOL
Training Dinners" for the parents, posting the test scores on the
wall, explaining to them, "This is where we are," & then pointing
to the standards saying, "This is where we have to go."
The fruit of Tidewater Park's labor was immediately evident: 1999
test scores for 5th-graders on the English exam rose to 43%, up
from 18% in the previous year, & to 81 percent on the 2000 results.
One Standard for All
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spratley says that the remedial efforts were easy compared to her
greatest challenge. "One of my hardest tasks is to continue to
foster the thought that we have to expect our children to learn,"
she says passionately. "It is not okay for our children to receive
dumbed-down instruction... Challenge their minds."
She says because low income too often is tied to low expectations,
the victory of Tidewater Park -- where 88% of the students are
eligible for free & reduced-price lunch -- was often met with
disbelief.
Nonetheless, for the first time Spratley says she sees pride from
the community, students & teachers. She considers having higher
expectations, bolstered with state standards, to be a catalyst for
that change. "Now everyone has something to work towards," she
explains. "So there isn't a standard over here for Taylor
Elementary -- a wealthy school -- & a standard over here for
Tidewater Park. My students have to meet the same standard that
children from other schools & other socio-economic backgrounds
meet."
She says teaching content tied to standards beginning in
kindergarten helps start children on an equal footing. Angela
West, whose 5th-grade daughter & youngest son attend Tidewater
Park, agrees. "It's a little harder for my daughter because she
didn't start out doing the SOL, but my son has to know these 20
words to pass & he knows them. He already knows how to read in
kindergarten," she muses.
'69 « Won't Do'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the end, an accountability system, in which each stakeholder is
held responsible for student achievement, must accompany the
standards.
Spratley, who says she holds teachers accountable just as she is
held accountable by the superintendent, expects every Tidewater
Park student to master at least 70% of the SOL. "I say to my
teachers, 'Now, 69 « won't do,'" she says, but stresses, "The goal
really is to get all of our students to meet the standards because
even if we have 75%, we've left some children behind." Test data,
which can be disaggregated by teacher to reveal whose students are
not performing, is tied closely to end-of-the-year evaluations.
Consequently, Lisa Ellick admits feeling pressure in teaching the
3rd grade, the level when students are first tested on the SOLs.
"We have to think of creative ways to get them to review those
previous years along with focusing on the content that they need
for the 3rd grade," she says.
Although there are no measures for holding parents equally
responsible, Spratley says the lack of parent involvement does not
release educators from helping students progress. "If you get to
the place where you don't think you're accountable `because the
mothers didn't do something,' then you're in the wrong field," she
asserts.
Low-test results are also a determining factor for promotion to the
next grade. Therefore, Tidewater Park employs innovative methods
for teaching children that rewards & sanctions accompany their
responsibility to learn.
For example, the "Conduct Chart," an idea from Old Dominion
University, starts every child off each day with a green dot for
superb behavior. Any infraction changes the dot through several
coded colors that eventually end in a gold dot, the most serious
offense: a conference with the parent. But the students are always
given opportunities to redeem their "green" status.
By 2007, every school in Virginia will have to meet new criteria,
which requires that 70% of students pass the tests in order for the
school to receive accreditation.
Spratley, who says such requirements are at times needed to drive
change, adds, "I think the accountability piece will be around for
a long time, & not only for Virginia, because I've met principals
from other states. The accountability idea is out there, so we
either have to come aboard or get off."
For more information about Virginia's Standards of Learning, visit
http://www.pen.k12.va.us. To learn more about the success of
Tidewater Park, visit
http://www.nps.k12.va.us/schools/tidewaterpark/index.htm, or call
757-628-2500.
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John McGrath, Nicole Ashby,
Kirk Winters, & Peter Kickbush
U.S. Department of Education
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