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

Implementing Schoolwide Projects - May 1994

Building on What Students Know

Glassbrook Elementary School
Hayward, California

Overview

Consistent with the spirit of the California Curriculum Frameworks, the Chapter 1 schoolwide project at Glassbrook Elementary School is tailored to meet the specific needs of its culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged students. Adopting the credo, "We believe that powerful teaching creates powerful learning. We are all teachers and we are all learners," the staff builds new learning on the knowledge and skills that students bring to the school. An integrated curriculum, learning centers, and a diverse support staff in all classrooms captures the interests and engages the energy of all children. Parents--a vital resource--are regular contributors to the multicultural and multilingual curriculum. An extended school day for all students increases instructional time and offers enrichment and extracurricular activities.

School Context

Glassbrook Elementary School is located in the Tennyson/Harder Corridor of Hayward, California, an area with high rates of poverty and crime. (The local police department reports that 80 percent of crime in Hayward occurs in this area.) The school enrolls 435 students in grades K-3. Of the 70 percent minorities, about 46 percent are Hispanic and the others are Afghan, African American, Asian, Filipino, or Indian/Pakistani. Fifty-seven percent of students are limited English speaking; most use Spanish as the primary language. Over half of Glassbrook families receive federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and approximately 93 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Between 60 and 70 percent of the students move in or out of the school each year.

Major Program Features

Academic focus and cultural inclusiveness. Bilingual instruction empowers all children as learners and teachers; strategies and methods include peer coaching, cooperative learning, and learning through projects and experiments. Social studies is the framework for integrating other core areas of the curriculum, such as language arts and math, through thematic units. Each thematic unit lasts approximately three weeks and highlights a particular culture or ethnic group. On Wednesdays, students in some classes rotate through six to 10 learning center activities in math, reading, and writing that focus on the language and heritage of the featured culture. A cooking activity designed to reinforce basic math skills incorporates a recipe from a particular ethnic cuisine; music and art classes also present lessons that pertain to the cultural unit under study. In the centers, teachers modify activities to accommodate each child's achievements and developmental stage. A writing center that includes book-making may be adapted to allow a student with poor writing skills to illustrate a story rather than write it. This challenges all children and enables them to succeed.

As a result of the schoolwide project and the district's restructuring efforts, Glassbrook's curriculum is child-centered, multilingual, and multicultural. The teaching staff bases its approach on respect, tolerance, and an appreciation for cultural diversity. Chapter 1 funds helped purchase multicultural literature in English and made it possible to translate various materials into students' primary languages. In compiling literary sources, the school called on various community associations for recommendations and asked a nearby Native American group to suggest books that accurately portray American Indians.

Planning and design. Planning for Glassbrook's schoolwide project began in 1990, prompted by a mandate from the state to address declining test scores with vigorous action. The principal, committed to building consensus around new programs, formed a 12- member leadership team with support staff and a teacher representative from each grade to lead the school's planning and restructuring efforts. Team leaders organized smaller groups to determine a plan to improve curriculum, instruction, and discipline. The district helped the planning by allowing early release of students every Wednesday so teachers could continue their collaborative planning. According to the principal, "There was a climate for change, which met with very little resistance"; the project was implemented in 1992-93.

The project design initially focused on improving math instruction but expanded to include most aspects of the academic program. For example, the bilingual program was revised to include instruction in all areas, not just reading, and the English as a Second Language (ESL) program was enhanced by having most teachers begin the process of becoming accredited as language specialists.

Organizational/management structure. The schoolwide project replaced pullout programs with in-class interventions that fully used as students' everyday instructors special educators, language specialists, and regular education teachers. In addition, the school day extends from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., during which time students take reading in their primary language as well as in English, work in the computer laboratory, and participate in various extracurricular activities, including gymnastics and classes on Mexican folklore.

Since approximately half of Glassbrook's students are native Spanish speakers and the other half are native English speakers, the school has eight bilingual classes, one in each grade. Eight Spanish-speaking bilingual teachers and five language development specialists conduct the bilingual instruction for both English- language students and Spanish-speaking students. Using a "staggered" activity schedule, teachers alternate the language of instruction in a consistent pattern each day, offering core subjects in both English and Spanish and relying on bilingual learning centers and students' writing. Glassbrook also offers "sheltered language" classes at each grade level for students who speak languages other than Spanish and English.

Professional environment. The schoolwide project orientation employs instructional assistants more flexibly, according to the principal: "[Glassbrook has] built in a more consistent and coherent match between teachers and instructional assistants." The emphasis throughout the project is on increasing collaboration--among instructional assistants, among teachers, and among teachers and instructional assistants.

Professional development is closely aligned with schoolwide project goals. For example, during the 1992-93 year, staff development was heavily oriented toward building students' self- esteem. Teachers received inservice training in PRIDE, a social development program designed to promote self-esteem and social skills. To prepare teachers to work with the diverse backgrounds and learning styles of their students, teachers also received training in Gardner's "Multiple Intelligences Theory." The training helped teachers use the multiple talents and competencies of their students so that all students can achieve their full potential in school. One outcome of using Gardner's theory has been that teachers appreciate and celebrate students' gifts in interpersonal relations, a valuable intelligence that contributes to learning but falls beyond the traditional definition of academic ability.

Parent and community involvement. The schoolwide project has encouraged parents to become partners in learning. During planning for the project, all Glassbrook parents received a survey designed to elicit their view of what needs the school should address. Now Glassbrook offers classes for parents in English as a Second Language (ESL), and in parenting and child development. Each year, three or four parent workshops are jointly funded by Chapter 1 and California's program of Economic Impact Aid (EIA).

As part of its schoolwide restructuring, Glassbrook also focused on bringing more parents into the school. Now, parents volunteer in the classrooms and learning centers. Plans call for adding an on-site center during the 1993-94 school year, staffed by a parent liaison, where parents can leave young children while they volunteer or study in any of the school's adult education programs.

The school has a continuing partnership with a local restaurant, whose manager volunteers every Wednesday in the third grade learning center, leads field trips to the restaurant, and sponsors parties and events for Glassbrook children on Halloween, Christmas, and Earth Day.

Evidence of Success

Glassbrook's schoolwide project has been in place for just one year, so only short-term effects can be known. Nevertheless, the principal reports considerable reductions in behavior problems and retentions, an improved school climate, and increased parent involvement. Significantly, such a strong attitude of teacher collaboration has emerged that, faced with cuts in state and local funding during the past year, the staff found various ways to continue the important planning and scheduling flexibility that the previous year's resources made possible. Student outcome achievement data are not yet available.

Glassbrook Elementary School
975 Schafer Road
Hayward, CA 94544
(510) 783-2577
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