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Action Learning Systems Schools in the News Schools Work to Raise Test Scores by Alice Joy
Note: All teacher and in-class training, The Reading Tree™ and Benchmark Tests referenced in the article were supplied by Action Learning System, Inc. Hollister - Two historically low performing Hollister elementary schools are using grant money to provide additional training to their staff, and are hoping it will result in an increase in student test scores. R.O. Hardin and Calaveras schools are in their third year of funding through what is now called the High Priority Grant Program.... ...In the two years of testing since 2004, Calaveras has improved its academic performance index, or API, from 603 to 667. R.O. Hardin has increased from 620 to 647. API is measured on a scale of 200 to 1,000, with a target of 800. All schools are expected to reach the 800 API mark by 2013. The average API score in the Hollister school district is 718. The highest performing school in the district, Cerra Vista, scored 787 in 2006. In the district, Calaveras had some of the largest improvement, seeing an increase of 64, while R.O. Hardin's improvement of 44 was about average for the district. Gabilan Hills saw the most improvement in its district, increasing its score by 83 points to 721. Despite their improvement, the schools' scores were still the lowest performing in the district. The teacher training has been developed specifically to increase these scores. The teachers are given specific teaching methods and are provided with coaches who come and critique them in the classrooms. The teachers referenced various skills the development program had taught them, ranging from conceptual ideas, such as making sure all the teachers are using the same language, to specific teaching strategies. Donna Rider, who has taught for seven years as a third-grade teacher at Calaveras, said the "reading tree" has been a helpful method given by the training. This helps teach her students reading comprehension, and will hopefully improve their scores on the state exam. With the reading tree, students use a visual of a tree and come up with "who, what, where, when and why" questions for the branches, while examining the text of the story. Through the training program, the schools have also been provided with benchmark tests, so teachers can look at their individual students' improvement, as well as their classroom overall. "As a teacher, it showed us weak areas classwise," said Donna Barry, a third-grade teacher at Calaveras who had just received some of the benchmark data back. "The first test, it showed we were weak in rounding, so we spent a little more time on that concept. It hones in on weak areas."
Written for the web by Alicia Malaby Monday was the fifth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act. Angelia Marchesi, a second grade teacher at Sacramento's Edward Kemble Elementary School, works to make sure her students meet proficiency standards mandated by the federal law. The school where she has taught for nine years is in the fourth year of program improvement, which means students have not met proficiency standards in math and language arts. "It takes everyone to be on board and to really do their best to focus on all the standards," Marchesi said.
Janna Schumacher
Hoover has worked hard for four years to bring our scores up. We knew we could and now we have. We took several key steps:
JENNIFER TORRES STOCKTON - The first-graders launched with purpose into their second official school year at south Stockton's Van Buren Elementary. A sheaf of newsprint - bound between sheets of red construction paper and titled "It's a new year and this is why we're here" - rests near the front of Lani Livermore's classroom, a record of their goals. "In first grade," a boy named Brandon wrote, "I want to learn about dinosaurs." Yakelen seeks to learn her letters, Miguel to read the book "Green Eggs and Ham," and Mia to add numbers up to 100. Van Buren Elementary has goals, too. And recently, students and staff members reached one that had proved frustratingly elusive. For the first time since the federal government set standards for student achievement about five years ago, Van Buren met them.
S.J.'s test scores a mix of slipping and celebration JENNIFER TORRES Many long-struggling schools met urgent demands for improvement while some typically high scorers stagnated and slipped, according to school-performance reports showing mixed, and often uncharacteristic, achievement among San Joaquin County's public schools. The reports, released Thursday, tell whether schools met state and federal standards for achievement during the 2005-06 academic year. "I certainly know that we have a long way to go," state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said. "I'm proud of how far we've come. Both accountability systems have led to a much-needed focus on improving the academic achievement of all students in California."
Valley schools fall short of standards By Christina Vance / The Fresno Bee ...Fresno Unified's Cambridge Continuation High School earned the highest API score increase in Fresno County, jumping 183 points. It also hit federal targets, positioning it potentially to leave the program improvement list next year. Principal Sam Hines said the school used a grant to hire outside consultants last year to work with staffers.
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