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

Implementing Schoolwide Projects - May 1994

Laying a Foundation for Success

Cecil Elementary School
Baltimore, Maryland

Overview

Parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community members helped Cecil Elementary School develop a schoolwide project that upgrades the academic content by intensifying the intervention in advanced and basic reading, mathematics, and language skills. The program--which features Success for All teaching strategies, a computer network, improved staff development, early intervention to prevent student failure, and reduced class size--has contributed to significant improvements in student achievement.

School Context

Cecil Elementary School is located in northeast Baltimore, where poverty, substance abuse, and violence are common; even some kindergarten students demonstrate familiarity with the drug culture. More than half the students entering prekindergarten and kindergarten have limited Standard English skills and a lack of exposure to the world beyond their immediate neighborhood. All of the 712 students are African American, and about 85 percent receive free or reduced-price lunch.

Major Program Features

Academic focus. Setting high performance standards for students, the academic program individualizes education through computer-assisted instruction in grades K-5. Approximately half the students in prekindergarten through third grade follow a modified Success for All (SFA) program, and half follow a less- structured "traditional" program that focuses on skill development and comprehension. Success for All, developed at the Johns Hopkins University, is a prevention and intervention program based on the premise that every child can learn. SFA's major components include individual tutoring; reading class groupings by level of ability, with fluid membership that is determined by reading assessments every eight weeks; extensive use of cooperative learning in reading and math; a family support team; and staff development.

At Cecil, SFA classrooms in kindergarten and first grade have two certified SFA teachers, who receive up to 30 days of training per year from Johns Hopkins; students receive an extra 30 minutes daily of reading skill development in small groups. Second- and third-grade SFA classes have a Chapter 1 teacher, in addition to the regular teacher, who works with small groups. Most newly hired teachers are trained in SFA.

Cecil's prekindergarten program emphasizes the development of receptive and expressive language through a daily, two and a half hour program based on whole language concepts. In what the principal describes as "an eclectic approach," students indirectly learn to follow directions, make decisions, and react appropriately to different social situations while working in large and small groups on language skills. For example, children use puppets to discuss a story read by the teacher, or form a group to talk about their daily experiences. A Chapter 1 aide is assigned to each class, maintaining a student-teacher ratio of 10:1.

An extended-day kindergarten program with a student-teacher ratio of 13:1 focuses on teaching concepts; prerequisite skills; and a healthy, positive self-concept. In the first grade, two certified teachers instruct students who demonstrate the severest need, with a student-teacher ratio of 15:1 and an emphasis on individual success for each child.

Students in grades two to five spend 25 minutes daily in other computer labs. Cecil has three computer labs with a total of 58 Apple, IBM, and Macintosh computers, as well as two take-home computers for students who are ill. Computers are used primarily for the IBM Write to Read program and to reinforce skill development individually, with pre- and post-testing. Teachers select software for students who need help in specific areas, allowing them to work at their own pace; students are evaluated and their computer use is redirected every two weeks.

Planning and design. An assessment in early 1988 alerted school officials to the need for skills improvement among Cecil students. The school began its first year as a Chapter 1 schoolwide project in the fall of 1988, with a goal of increasing the average performance level of students in reading, mathematics, and language arts; the current goal is to raise student performance to the 80th percentile. Program development is based on the premise that the prevention of failure in a child's early education will lead to success throughout the child's school life.

A Chapter 1 parent advisory committee and a school management team (with representatives from every facet of the school) meet monthly with administrators to discuss the academic program and whether goals are being met. Results of these discussions are communicated to parents, students, and teachers through a "Parent Information Forum and Get Acquainted Meeting" held each September. Monthly P.T.A. activities and other parent involvement strategies reinforce goals throughout the year.

Planning since 1990 has been influenced by state-mandated performance testing and statewide adoption of a competency-based curriculum. "Our children were not prepared for the changes. We knew that education was expanding," the principal says. "We knew we had come up with tactics that were capable of being adapted to any change--and we wanted to maintain those, because we knew they were effective." In September 1992, teachers at Cecil began developing a database that integrated state, city, and schoolwide educational approaches. The database includes curriculum objectives at each grade level, instructional strategies, skills requiring staff development, and materials available within the school. Teachers working on the project received a stipend and met during school hours when students were in art, library, or physical education classes. A consultant hired by the principal helped the teachers develop teams to write the database.

Professional environment. The primary focus for staff development is on integrating higher level thinking skills into the curriculum. All regular and Chapter 1 staff participate in professional development. Cecil's school-based activities include four hour-long sessions per month and Saturday workshops (last year, teachers attended about 20). All sessions are planned by the Cecil staff development team and draw on staff with particular expertise, central office personnel, Chapter 1 specialists, and members of the educational and business community, such as IBM and Johns Hopkins.

At workshops, teachers discuss incorporating thinking skills and problem solving into social studies, science, and health; integrating the curriculum through thematic units; and using the inquiry approach to instruction. Teachers work in grade-level teams to study the curricula, plan activities and teaching strategies, and monitor student progress. In addition, staff participate in one full-day and four half-day sessions mandated by the district.

Cecil's management team takes an active role in all key decisions affecting the instructional program. The team surveys the staff for areas of interest and curriculum needs, communicates with the administration regarding program adjustments, and schedules activities to support the academic program.

Parent and community involvement. Cecil receives funds, services, materials, and equipment from the P.T.A., Johns Hopkins University, the Abell foundation, the Urban League, the Poets of Dunbar, East Baltimore Youth Services, and other local businesses and community groups. The schoolwide project's family outreach includes an annual "awards night," patterned after the Academy Awards. Students receive trophies for perfect attendance; scholastic achievement; improved citizenship; responsibility; safety awareness; and success in citywide reading, spelling, or mathematics contests. Last year, 502 trophies were awarded; according to the principal, students are so eager to win trophies that they will attend school even if sick, or will send their parents to school to pick up or deliver homework.

Evidence of Success

Cecil students continue to achieve high scores on standardized exams. Between 1991 and 1993, the percentage of students scoring above the 50th percentile on the CTBS increased at every grade level except fourth grade. The number of students in all grades scoring above the 50th percentile rose from 43 percent to 76 percent. The schoolwide project's promotion rate is 96 percent to 98 percent. The principal credits the annual awards program with ensuring near-perfect attendance records.

Cecil Elementary School
200 Cecil Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410) 396-6385
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