Profiles of Successful Schoolwide Programs - December 1998

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

Elementary Schools

Commitment to Teacher Development

Montview Elementary School
Aurora Public Schools · Aurora, Colorado

OVERVIEW

High-quality initial instruction—rather than remediation—guides Montview Elementary School's schoolwide program. Believing that literacy skills foster learning in other curricular areas, Montview adopted a "balanced" literacy model that simultaneously provides opportunities for children to achieve high performance levels and for teachers to develop a high level of expertise. Under the schoolwide program banner, Montview implements ongoing professional development, coordinates all academic programs, uses a curriculum that supports high standards, and creates a school, parent, and community partnership.

In recent years, Montview has witnessed a rapid influx of students from impoverished backgrounds, many of whom are limited-English-proficient and from transient families. Montview addresses the special needs of these students with skilled English as a Second Language (ESL) staff who work alongside classroom teachers in two-hour language arts blocks. To minimize overcrowding, Montview operates a year-round academic program that is divided into four tracks, so only three-quarters of the school's students are ever in the building at one time.

Encouraged by the district's Title I office, Montview began planning in 1993 and became a schoolwide program in 1994. Its schoolwide plan, based on a comprehensive needs assessment of staff and parents, combines federal resources from the Title I, Bilingual Education Act, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs and a grant from the National Education Association (NEA) with other state and local funds. According to principal Debbie Backus, Montview's schoolwide program has facilitated the process that allows all students to meet high standards: "We had always been very focused about where students needed to be. The difference now is that we're expecting all students to overcome obstacles imposed by poverty and language and to reach the same challenging standards," she noted.

Montview serves a high-poverty population, including 84% of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. In a typical year, over 70% of Montview's students are newly enrolled.

Grade Levels
K-5
Number of Students
(1997-98)
856

Schoolwide Since
1994-95
Racial/Ethnic Composition

45% Hispanic

30% African American

22% White

3% Asian

VISION, LEADERSHIP, AND DECISION MAKING

Montview uses a consensus model to include stakeholders in key decisions about the school's program. Representative task forces convene to discuss issues and submit recommendations which are, in turn, approved through consensus by larger stakeholder groups. Ultimately, the school's accountability committee reviews recommendations and makes final decisions. This group is a state-mandated body that consists of 10 appointed and volunteer members who represent three constituent groups—administrators, teachers, and families—and reflect a balanced ethnic and school group representation. Montview's accountability committee meets monthly to make decisions, devise action plans, develop annual goals for student achievement, and monitor progress toward those goals.

Shared beliefs and values among a balanced representation of stakeholders enables decisionmaking to occur by consensus.

The emphasis on shared leadership helps sustain Montview's whole school improvement effort by providing a system of checks and balances to ensure that all perspectives and opinions are heard. The staff's shared beliefs and values make decisionmaking by consensus possible and foster a real sense of collegiality among staff. Backus, who came to Montview 10 years ago, noted that this camaraderie had "an incredible impact" on Montview's ability to move the school improvement process forward. Although Montview experienced an initial period of turnover when it became a schoolwide program, it retained staff who are deeply committed to professional growth and high standards for all children. Backus identified her role as "the keeper of the vision" who guides the organization toward its goals.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE RESULTS

Montview measures student performance through three vehicles: (1) teacher-conducted formative assessments that drive instruction and help inform planning; (2) summative, standardized assessments required by the district and state; and (3) writing and mathematics assessments developed specifically for the school. Each year, Montview's accountability committee revises the schoolwide plan according to the results of these assessments, report card data, action plan reports, and student work presented at quarterly conferences.

Teachers at Montview continually conduct formative assessments using students' daily classroom work, such as writing samples, spelling notebooks, running records, and responses to probing questions. This information helps teachers create instructional designs that promote students' progress along a developmental continuum. Formal assessments at Montview consist of the Riverside mathematics performance assessment, administered in the fall to students in grades two and five; an integrated language arts assessment by Riverside Publishers, administered in the spring to students in grade four; and reading and writing tests aligned with the state's standards and administered in grades three and four. Prior to initiating its schoolwide program, Montview worked with the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) to design a school-specific mathematics assessment. Each year, teachers administer a mathematics assessment and an internal reading assessment to students in grades one through five.

In the fall of 1996, 56% of second-graders met the state's standard on the Riverside mathematics assessment. In 1997, that percentage increased to 93%.By 1997 there was a 26% increase in the number of fifth-graders who met the test standard.

Student performance data from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), reported in grade level equivalents, demonstrate that in each ethnic (African American, Hispanic, Asian, and white) and gender category, Montview's fourth-grade students surpassed Aurora School District averages in both proficient and advanced levels of reading, language, and mathematics. Overall, Montview's fourth-graders performed at a 5.0 grade level in advanced reading, 5.1 in advanced language, and 5.5 in advanced mathematics. These scores rose from 4.4, 5.0, and 5.0, respectively, in 1996. Similarly, on the fourth-grade Riverside integrated language arts assessment, a performance assessment that includes samples of students' writing, overall scores increased from 73 percent in 1995 to 92 percent in 1997. For Hispanic students, these scores jumped from 57 to 92 percent over the same period, and for African American students, from 55 to 89 percent.

RESEARCH-BASED REFORM STRATEGIES

Montview's teachers conducted research on literacy to develop its own research-based instructional model that adopts proven strategies to implement a balanced approach to literacy.

During the transition to a schoolwide program, the Montview staff consulted educational research on literacy acquisition and professional development. Research into the whole-language approach by Ken and Yetta Goodman, Donald Graves, Brian Cambourne, and Marie Clay influenced staff decisions. Similarly, research on staff development models advocated by Linda Darling-Hammond and Ann Lieberman of Columbia University contributed to Montview's decision to emphasize professional learning as a means of improving student performance. "It's not an anything goes sort of culture here. We abandoned approaches that didn't work and designed our program around students'—not teachers'—needs," noted Backus.

All classrooms at Montview, regardless of students' special needs, structure language arts around the Literacy Learning Model. This model integrated into the Montview program a diagnostic and prescriptive approach to teaching developed in New Zealand and administered in the United States by the Learning Network. The model assumes that students benefit most from powerful initial instruction rather than remedial approaches. "We try to prevent breaking rather than repair what is already broken," explained Backus.

During two-hour language arts blocks, which occur in the morning for primary students and in the afternoon for intermediate students, all teachers and paraprofessionals, including specialists in serving disadvantaged, bilingual, and disabled students, provide intensive, in-class assistance to students who need additional support. These language arts blocks highlight the natural integration of speaking, listening, reading, and writing; involve small-group reading and individualized spelling instruction; and reflect the state's reading and language arts standards. Mathematics blocks follow a similar structure, emphasizing hands-on learning and problem-solving skills. The mathematics curriculum at Montview is based on state standards and on those developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Teachers assess students' skills using everyday work to decide where on a continuum of activities students should be learning.
Montview closely monitors students who are educationally at risk and provides intensive, individualized support when it is needed. Students for whom English is a second language are immersed in English in regular classrooms, where they receive both in-class and pull-out support from well-trained ESL staff, including two ESL tutors and two teaching assistants. ESL tutors work with the neediest students each day in 45-minute sessions, dividing students into small groups and tailoring instruction to parallel activities taking place in classrooms. Teacher also supplement academic activities with multicultural activities developed by the district. Montview serves approximately 12 students with severe disabilities separately, but mainstreams them during the language arts blocks. It also offers at-risk readers additional one-on-one tutoring using a reading program known as Success in Primary Reading (SUPR).

Students conduct research and "publish" their original writing on computers that are located throughout the school in every classroom and in the media center.

Computer technology is a powerful tool for supporting classroom instruction at Montview. Computers are located in every classroom and in the school's media center, so they are readily available for students to use when conducting research or when editing and publishing their original writing. A "miracle classroom," sponsored by Apple Computers, Inc., adds state-of-the-art technology to the school's instruction resource base for fourth- and fifth-graders. According to Backus, the students in the Apple classroom have a deeper appreciation of product quality and are "really engaged in learning." Technology is also available to all students as an elective, along with art, music, physical education, and communications.

An "affective education" department provides a temporary, alternative setting to students whose behavior problems are a barrier to their success in the regular classroom. These students receive one-on-one instruction and personalized attention from two full-time teachers. With the support of the families, the staff strives to buoy students' capacity to function successfully in the classroom. The affective teachers, trained in the Literacy Learning Model, offer reading and writing activities that parallel the instruction occurring in the students' classrooms. This "revolving door classroom," where students come only for short periods of time, has successfully kept Montview's suspension rate one of the lowest in the district.

THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

The Aurora Public Schools' "Grow Your Own" program urges paraprofessionals, volunteers, and uncertified adults with bachelor's degrees—especially those who are male, nonwhite, or second-language speakers—to obtain teaching certificates.

Montview supports teachers individually as well. All staff—including classroom teachers, speech and language specialists, literacy specialists, paraprofessionals, counselors, the community liaison, assistant principal, and principal—learn to use the Literacy Learning Model. Training includes a four-day "literacy learning in the classroom" course, which provides a basic understanding of the approach's four constructs: the reading process, the writing process, conditions for learning, and the teaching-learning cycle.

Individualized and ongoing professional development is available to teachers from master teachers trained by the Learning Network. Teacher leaders, specializing in either mathematics or reading, provide literacy-learning training. One of the facilitators serves as a full-time teacher leader, and the others divide their time between classroom teaching and mentoring. Classroom teachers consult with the Learning Network teacher leader once each week to discuss personal action plans and to monitor students' progress toward state standards. Teacher leaders also visit classrooms and observe teachers' work on areas defined in their personal action plan; afterward, they meet to discuss further improvements. Each quarter, teachers also confer individually with either the principal or assistant principal to discuss students' progress toward state standards and to determine whether program adjustments are needed.

On-the-job mentoring available to teachers includes topic-centered study groups, the Learning Network conference and institute, in-service training sessions, and 90-minute, after-school "dialogues" facilitated by teacher leaders. The dialogues feature topics determined by teachers, and can vary each week. The informal discussions foster collegiality and ensure that teachers "share the same understandings and help each other with individual challenges," principal Backus reports. Most important, they encourage a shared vision of the teaching craft and increase consistency in theory and practice across classrooms.

Two preprofessional training programs also give the staff at Montview an opportunity to contribute to the professional growth of emerging teachers. The Aurora Public Schools' "Grow Your Own" program urges paraprofessionals, volunteers, and uncertified adults with bachelor's degrees—especially those who are male, nonwhite, or second-language speakers—to obtain teaching certificates. Montview is also a professional development school in partnership with the University of Colorado at Denver; student teachers design their own personal action plans, work with teachers, learn to continually assess students, and plan accordingly.

PARENT AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Montview has several structures in place to encourage parents' involvement in their children's education both at home and in school. The school hosts family nights, maintains a parent-teacher organization, translates all relevant materials into Spanish, and makes an effort to hire parents for key school positions, especially bilingual parents. "Parents are a wonderful link to the community and can encourage other parents to get involved," said Backus.

Montview employs a full-time parent coordinator/community liaison to assist families—many of whom are recent immigrants to the United States—to identify and access resources, obtain employment, and locate housing. The community liaison serves on the family service team—a group that also includes the affective education teachers, a counselor, nurse, social worker, and principal—that intervenes to improve situations in which students exhibit continual behavioral, social, academic, and/or emotional problems.

Continuing on-the-job professional inquiry creates a community of learners that is committed to implementing consistent instructional practices across classrooms.

Approximately 90 percent of Montview's families attend quarterly student conferences. The conferences are student-led, with students presenting their portfolios and performing for parents and teachers. The high parent turnout at these conferences is attributed to the fact that parents have a solid understanding of the literacy learning model and can track their child's progress on the school's learning continuum. Montview also makes available Spanish translators to help parents interpret their child's test scores. "Although the printed materials are translated into Spanish, making personal contact is more effective because parents often have difficulty understanding educational jargon and want to ask questions," said Backus.

Each quarter parents attend conferences with their student and his or her teacher. The students lead the conference, demonstrating their progress through displays, performances, and portfolios of their work.

Under a grant from the NEA, Montview is designing a parent involvement center where families can access educational and other resources. According to Backus, the parent involvement center will work with parents to stimulate their child's development and will be a "place where parents can come together as a community." In time, the center will offer parenting classes; English classes; Spanish interpretation; job placement services; GED classes; referrals for food, clothing, and shelter; and books and toys to use on-site and to check out for use at home.

SUSTAINING CHANGE

The job of sustaining school improvement is a big one. Backus observes, "We're always working at it; [but] we're never quite there." In her view, Montview gains its momentum from the staff's commitment to implementing a research-based academic program and a common instructional philosophy. Backus attributes the school's strength to its willingness to share authority and to involve all stakeholders in decisions. Furthermore, the staff holds to a vision that a school is a learning organization and recognizes that systemic improvement is a long-term process. In this collegial atmosphere, Backus notes, professional development is a resource that increases teachers' success and minimizes their risk of burnout.

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