Wahluke
School District Sees Unique Challenges
As Opportunities to Increase Student Achievement
by
Dr. Bill Miller and
Delcine Mesa Johnson
Wahluke
School District sees the unique challenges we face as an opportunity
to "pull out all the stops" and find innovative ways to
support teaching and student learning. Wahluke is located in Mattawa,
a small agricultural community an hour outside of Tri-Cities and Yakima
on the Columbia River. Our
four schools consist of a diverse student population with 40 percent
migrant children. Seventy-nine
percent of elementary students in the Wahluke School District, and
fifty-five percent district-wide, are second language learners; yet,
the students who began school speaking only Spanish have the largest
increase in CTBS/4 test scores between 1995 and 1998, from 8.9 to
23.2 percent. Students who have attended school only in Mattawa score
better on achievement tests than those students who attended Wahluke
and a variety of other schools.
Students
who were tested each of the four years from 1995-1998 made significant
improvement in their test scores compared to the national norms.
"It is unusual for students to improve their collective position
(percentile rank) relative to other students, but is was accomplished
in the Wahluke School District.
The increase from 38.4 to 44.34 is indicative of outstanding
educational programs," according to Dr. Gary Leonardson, Consultant
in Statistical Research.
Grade
4 Mathematics student achievement, as measured by the WASL, has made
significant growth from the 1998 score of 4.9% to 1999's rise of 15.4%,
and Reading rose from 18% to 26% over the last 3 years. (It is interesting
to note that over 20% of elementary students miss 2-4 months of the
school year when education is interrupted midyear to return to Mexico.)
So
what is happening in Mattawa that is making a difference?
As an administrative team, we firmly believe in building and supporting
an adult learning community that views increasing student achievement
for all students as its primary vision and responsibility. Our principals
work collaboratively to have meaningful discussions and dialogue about
issues of importance as the instructional leaders of their school.
We set high expectations for leadership, challenge ourselves to "think
outside the box," and view problems as challenges and opportunities
for professional growth.
For
the adult learning community, we have adopted a pragmatic position;
we clearly and thoroughly examine the issues and then look at what
can be done instead of what hasn't happened in the past. We proactively
and aggressively seek and provide multiple opportunities, on and off
site, for professional development for our teachers and our staff.
We closely examine our demographics and recently correlated our test
scores to key factors that impact student learning and achievement,
and use this information to drive program decisions, work with parents,
set strategic planning goals, etc.
However,
we don't want you to think "everything is a bed of roses"
or that the job has been easy or that occasionally we don't get discouraged!
We are fortunate to have a supportive Board and community.
However, the challenges we face, again which we see as opportunities,
include but are not limited to:
- isolation;
rural agricultural community
- highly
mobile student population
- difficulty
in recruiting and retaining young, energetic teachers because of
our location (we think it is an incredible advantage!)
- a
significant number of second language learners
- limited
funding
- issues
of lack of prior school experience for students
- high
poverty level/low educational level for some segments of our student/adult
community.
- a
small high school population but a community expectation that we
offer a full service academic and athletic program.
But
our vision and focus is crystal clear; we are intent and committed
to increasing student achievement! One of our greatest impacts and
rewards has been our curriculum alignment process (K-10 in Language
Arts and Mathematics) facilitated by Dr. Judee K. Axelsen, Consultant,
VISION INTO REALITY. This work has been a major segment of our School
Improvement Plan.
Delcine
and Judee have worked as our on-site leadership, along with principals,
and two dedicated groups of K-10 teachers. Together they have closely
examined the research, extrapolated best practices, used resources
from OSPI and ESD 105, shared effective instructional practices, assessment
strategies and techniques, studied and dialogued about the EALR's,
benchmarks and WASL results, and examined multiple forms of informal
and formal assessment data. This in-depth process has caused us to
explore the concepts and content we teach so that all students have
an opportunity to reach standard. We have had to question some of
our long-standing beliefs and practices and give up some of our favorite
teaching activities that are not closely matched to the EALR's.
We've examined what we teach repetitively without the desired
results and what we haven't taught and should be. We are holding ourselves
and students to higher standards.
This
interactive, collaborative, inclusive, consultant-led process has
allowed us to clearly formulate our vision and mission for instruction,clarify
our beliefs about quality instruction, define homework practices,
design classroom interventions, intentionally teach vocabulary in
context, and most importantly look at assessment as an instructional
and evaluative tool. Has this been enough? No! Is it a step in the
right direction? Absolutely!
And what
a difference this ongoing work has made! Our Board has enthusiastically
supported use of release time, extended contracts and substitutes to
ensure that teachers have the time and support they need to do quality,
reflective work. The components of our work have included:
- targeted
staff development
- team
planning time
- grade
level input and feedback through the use of teacher teams
- a
core of "worker bees" who explored what should be taught
and what is being taught, and made changes in a reflective dialogue
process to include lesson design matched to the EALR's K-4, 5-7
and 8-10.
- possible
designs for district-wide interventions beyond what is currently
being done.
In addition
to our curriculum alignment and lesson design process, we have in place:
- all
day/everyday kindergarten for all students
- instruction
in the student's primary language
- paraprofessionals
in most elementary classrooms
- a
five-week summer school program that is experientially and content
driven
- computers
in every classroom and at least one computer lab in the intermediate,
middle and high schools teachers at each grade level discussing/sharing
instructional strategies and information to improve instruction
- teachers
one grade level below and one grade level above sharing concepts
and content in a systemic way for a continuous seam of student learning
- use
of technology integrated into content areas
We
have so much to share. One kindergarten teacher said to a first grade
teacher last summer, "Now that we have clearly defined our teaching/learning
continuum, my kindergartners will come to you much better prepared.
So, you're going to have to find something else to teach; they will
already know that!" A
second grade teacher at a recent Wahluke Board meeting related that,
due to the curriculum alignment process and all-day kindergarten,
"for the first time every one of my students has come to me able to
read. Please don't ever take these programs away!"
As
things are now, education is so cluttered and tangled up with a
thousand senseless notions and stupidities, that the task of reformation
is almost a superhuman one.
It is entirely a task of taking away and reducing – not one
of adding to, or explaining.
It is the task of the sculptor, who cuts the superfluous
marble off, rather than that of the wax-workman, who lays on the
stuff thicker and thicker.
--Walt
Whitman
About
the authors:
Dr.
Bill Miller is Superintendent and Delcine Mesa Johnson is Director
of Curriculum of Wahluke School District.
If
you would like additional information or want to know more about what
is happening in the Wahluke School District, please contact Delcine
or Bill at 509-932-4565 or Judee Axelsen at 206-935-5063.
This
article is in the public domain and can be freely copied and
used in trainings as handouts at parent and community meetings,
and in creating your school or district programs. (Please cite
all sources of materials you use.)
This
information is provided by:
Office of State Superintendent of Public
Instruction
Special Education
P O Box 47200
Olympia, WA 98504-7200
(360) 725-6088
Fax (360)586-1631
E-mail:
dgill@ospi.wednet.edu
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