Dr. Victoria Pettis

Summer Cohort 2006

EOCS 7450

Standard I. A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

Description of the Activity: Disaggregate test data for your class (or that of a colleague) using ethnicity and/or free/reduced lunch.

Explanation of the Activity: During faculty meeting, we had an opportunity to look at some compelling data about the performance of our students district-wide on the CRCT exams, from grades 1 – 8. Divided by content areas, we were given two hours to analyze the CRCT data on our students in grades 6-8 in the area of English/language arts. We were encouraged to have an “honest discussion” and report our findings. Our questions and answers are below. I was appointed as facilitator/writer.

ELA Content Analysis/Discussion/Consensus about CRCT Data

Question 1: How effective were we in teaching all of our students?

Our response: In looking at our scores, we discovered most of the students who failed the CRCT represented the following populations: African American, Hispanic, ESOL, and special education/students with disabilities. We only had a handful of white students who did not perform well on the CRCT. We realize we have a lot of work to do so that we do not leave any children behind.

Question 2: How effective were we in teaching each core content area?

Our response: Both reading and language arts are problem areas. About 50% of our students are meeting the standard. We don’t think this is good enough. We think part of the problem was the fact that reading and language arts were divided and there was lack of consistency among content teachers and across all grade levels.

Question 3: Why do the results look the way they do? Use the “5 Whys” approach on the handout sheet you received yesterday to help you get to the root causes of the problems you identify. Be thoughtful and thorough. Include multiple reasons and avenues to explore. You may include problems that we cannot direct and immediately change, but don’t get bogged down in these. Spend more time looking at areas that we can control and effect.

Our response: Teachers are not trained to deal with this population which is described as high-poverty, low socio-economic, minority, and special needs. We need hands-on, real world strategies to deal with this population. Training can come from students and teachers teaching teachers about how to deal with students effectively (i.e., school assembly, dinner dialogues to talk about real issues, teachers sharing their expertise with their colleagues, etc.)

We feel that lack of relationships formed between teachers and students is related to students coming to school without any motivation to work hard and be successful. They need to learn that respecting both their education and learning translates to respecting their future. We could possibly explore mentoring students, ELTs that emphasize study skills across the grade levels, etc.

We need to establish an atmosphere that fosters a serious, academic learning environment – one that holds students accountable. We need consistency in expectations and discipline throughout the building – teacher-to-teacher – so that students (and their parents) know what is expected of them. The district’s core values should be – respect, integrity, etc. -- (implemented in every area) from core classes to ELTs. Another item for future discussion is the mandatory requirement of school uniforms, which would impact the general atmosphere- promoting the seriousness of what students are here to do. School should not be a fashion show and often students’ attire reflects going against the values we are implementing such as tee-shirts that read “I took your boyfriend and It’s all about the money, etc”. At CMS, we have started the process of improving our consistency in procedures, such as hallway and class routines, which we believe will positively impact our academic environment. Finally, why not require PACT (Parent and Children Time) for parents? For example, ask that parents come to school once a month to observe a child’s class, assist in some way, etc. We realize at the middle school level that we lose parental involvement and we know this is vital to a student’s success. Let’s continue this elementary school practice throughout the middle grades.

The curriculum needs to be engaging, interactive, hands-on, and relevant to the students that we teach in order for them to see the relationship between their learning and their future success. We might want to seriously consider providing “spaces” in the curriculum where students are encouraged to physically release their energy. In an ELA class, for example, students don’t have to read uncomfortably in their desks. We also need to seriously consider bringing back the art of reading out loud to students. We are in a prime location to incorporate service learning projects connected to reading such as involvement with Lanier Gardens, Alps, and the Public Library- providing tangible experiences and increasing motivation to read.