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Project Title: Correlate-Develop, Implement I.E.P's to the Essential Learnings in an Inclusion Classroom
Seth Woodard Elementary School
Orchard Center Elementary School
West Valley School District

Contact: Pam Francis
francip@wvsd.wednet.edu
7401 E. Mission Avenue
Spokane, WA 99212
(509) 921 2160

Population Special Educ 504 Title I/LAP ESL
569 67 4 -- 23

Orchard Center Elementary: OSPI Inclusion Grant Progress Report 2001

Why Did OSPI Invite Orchard Center To Present At The Winter And Summer Conferences? Our test scores were not outstanding! Two years ago, our test scores were in the lower end of the Spokane Valley, but fell in the middle of schools around the state with similar demographics. We were not satisfied with where our kids were; hence we developed our school motto: "We will educate every student to the best of their ability, NO EXCUSES!" (Borrowed from West Point).

Who is Orchard Center?     

  • 260 Students
  • Average Class size:  22 (You need a supportive Superintendent)  
  • Grades 1 through 4   
  • Free and reduced lunch count: 58%  
  • Students in special programs: 43%    
    • Special Education, Readiness to Learn, Title I School Wide Plan  
  • Student mobility annually: 27%    
    • Less than 45% of our students spend four years with us.
  • ESL: 13 students, almost exclusively Russian

Getting Beyond The Excuses!

Reform should not be confused with test scores. But in Washington State test scores are the yardstick of successful reform. It would be easy to say that our WASL Scores are based primarily on the quality of the students we serve.To espouse a limited ability to effect change leads to a feeling of hopeless defeatism that we cannot possibly overcome. Schools don't need to be victims of their demographics.

The ship has turned and gained momentum!

School Year Listening Writing Reading Math Averages
98-99 60% 14% 40% 18% 33%
99-00 77% 39% 82% 62% 65%
% Improvement 17% 25% 42% 44% 32%
State 99-00 64% 39% 66% 42% 52%
% over state averages 13% Even 16% 20% 13%

Why must we get on board?

"Parents don't send us their bad kids and keep the good kids at home.  They send us the very best kids they have, and all of the hopes and dreams the parents have for the future are wrapped up in those kids." - Dr. Lorraine Monroe

We have to believe that we can make a difference. We are our students single best hope for a rewarding life. Education is not simply a matter of what a child brings from the home or the neighborhood. It is also a matter of what teachers and schools do. Any educator who feels powerless to make a difference in the life of each and every child they serve needs to find a new profession!

Accomplishing Positive Change

Develop a healthy culture that is supportive of a journey toward improvement. Never mistake the edge of the rut for the horizon, find out what is possible, and dream. Ask yourself "What is it that is impossible to do today, that if it were possible would fundamentally improve the education of our students?" Jerk the wagon out of the rut, gather the debris that is useful, lower a shoulder and start pushing. No one else will push until they see the sweat on your brow. Lead by example.

Time is your most valuable tool.

Time is our singular most precious resource. To reform our school we maximized the usage of the time that was available:
  • Instructional Time
    • Cluster Reading Times
    • Balance Itinerant Times
    • Use recess to maximize learning.
  • Inservice Time ( Bldg & District)
  • Prep Time
  • Collaboration Time
  • Conference Time
  • District Level Planning  

What OSPI Has To Say About Success

Schools showing the largest gains share the following common threads, according to Jeff Fouts of SPU.

A.  They have strategically, and in a coordinated fashion, planned for improvement in all of the following areas:

  • Reading Improvement
  • Math Improvement
  • Writing Improvement
  • Staff Development
  • Test Readiness

B.  They provide assistance for teachers

  • HOSTS
  • Grade Level Planning
  • Building Curriculum alignment
  • Grade Level Expectations
  • Coordinated Staff Development
  • Pare Down Non Essentials    
  • Teachers, E.A.'s, and Principals Are Placed For Maximum Effectiveness

  C.  They have positive building climates

  • Second Order.    
  • High expectations for all.
  • Focus on what you can change instead of what you can't.  
  • Everyone committed to excellence.
  • View standards as tools.
  • View EALR's as the the path toward successful lives for students.

D.  Collaboration

  • Grade Level   
    • Building  
    • District
    • $$$$$
  • Curricular
    • $$$$$
  • Group Observations
    • Fall
    • Spring

Finding the Dollars: Chasing the Grants

  • Washington State 1% Inclusion Grant:  $70,000 over the past two years to fund the HOSTS program.
  • Washington Helping Corps Grant, provides us with a half time math specialist for the 99-00 school year and hopefully the 00-01 school year (~ $60,000 yr.)
  • Team Teaching, Mentoring, Math Communities, Etc.
  • Technology Grants $80,000.
  • Medicaid, Medicaid, Medicaid!
  • At risk student grant, $50,000.
  • Character Ed., Goals 2000, Eisenhower, Primary Reading, etc.
  • Over $350,000 in two years.
  • CHAMPS Grant
  • Our newest:  21st Century Grant ($115,000 annually, for 3 years for each of 3 schools!)

From the Mountain to the Wave!

  • The School Improvement Plan (The Beach)  
  • Accelerated Reader (Every Surfer Must Ride the Wave)
  • Sound Partners  (Surfers Who Need a Little More Wax)
  • HOSTS  (Surfers Who Need the Board Leash)
  • At risk summer program.
  • Recruiting the Life Guards
  • Reading Intensive Classrooms (Surfers Who Need Life Jackets)
  • Reflections on Our Ride
The School Improvement Plan (The Beach)

A. Staff

  • Training for paraprofessionals on assisting kids in reading.
  • Inservice on Running Record & Reading Strategies
  • Training for new staff in Running Record & Reading Strategies
  • Pre-testing of Sound Partner Tutors on their phonics and language skills.
  • Develop observation form for periodic evaluation of Sound Partner Tutors.
  • Assess 1st & 2nd grade students regularly with Running Record.
  • Incorporate WASL-like reading assessments based on Pegasus theme books.
  • Purchase multiple copies of leveled readers.
  • Establish a book room for sharing leveled readers.  

B. Students

  • Goal-setting conferences with parents and students in October
  • Building-wide incentives - Accelerated Reader
  • Project Pride - 4th grade preparation for WASL
  • New library purchases of non-fiction books.

C. Parents/Community

  • Goal-setting conferences early to get parents on board.
  • Weekly reading logs for home reading.
  • Public recognition for parents who return reading logs 98-100% of the time.
  • "Muffins for Mom and Doughnuts for Dad"
  • Read Across America Parents' Reading Night – 1st & 2nd grades - a "how to" for parents to read with their kids at home.

Accelerated Reader (Every Surfer Must Ride the Wave)

  • Creating an enthusiasm for reading!
    • Presently 2300 books with quizzes
    • Write quizzes for non-AR books
    • Purchase of new AR titles to fill in the holes (i.e.: lower level & nonfiction books).
  • What the kids get:
    • Improved reading ability
    • Schoolwide recognition
    • Special privileges
    • Material rewards
  • What the teachers and parents get:
    • Happy kids who love to read
    • Increased skills of reading for understanding

Sound Partners  (Surfers Who Need a Little More Wax)

  • Phonics tutorial program
  • 1:1, 30 minute sessions, 3-4 times weekly
  • Good packaging:  user friendly for tutors
  • Supervising teacher checks progress every 10 lessons. By the end of the program, children read and write sophisticated, multi-syllabic, phonetically regular vocabulary, as well as sight words
  • Currently 26 students (10%) are being tutored by 8 high school students and one college student.
 

HOSTS  (Surfers Who Need the Board Leash)

  • Individually prescribed lessons and activities
  • 1:1, 30 minute sessions 4 times weekly
  • IRI
  • Diagnostic assessment
  • Database incorporates a materials inventory and diagnostic information to prepare a unique prescription for each student.
  • 73 students served (28%) by 70 mentors.
  • HOSTS and Sound Partners 83 students being served, 33% receiving individual tutoring
  • Teachers are beginning to learn how they can use HOSTS assessments and materials in their classrooms.
  • Lesson plans
    • Literature (Read the book!)
    • Vocabulary development (reading & writing)
    • Skills (prescription)-Workbooks, manipulatives, kits, games, cards and computers
  • Finally
    • Readiness
    • Training Support
    • Recruitment

The At Risk Partnership: A collaboration with Ness Elementary and Children's Home Society.

  • 30 students to participated is a summer experience program.
  • School staff Children's Home Society staff, (1.5 FTE)
    • Reading, writing, math.
    • Camp day.
    • Service learning.
    • Peer mediation.

Recruiting the Lifeguards

  • West Valley High School
    • Sound Partner Tutors
  • Middle Schools
    • City School Real Time
    • CMS 6th grade class
  • Community Members
    • Church Partnership
    • Work Study College Students
    • District Employees
    • Retirees

Reading Intensive Classrooms (Surfers Who Need Life Jackets)

  • Purpose: Intervention for kids who are not reading at grade level, but have the potential.
  • Purpose for 4th grade: Intervention for kids "just below the WASL bar".
  • Initially a 2nd and 3rd grade program; last year the program was expanded to serve fourth grade students.
  • Staff support for reading classes to be capped at 18-20 students.
  • Staff support to free-up building aide time so that 2 hours a day is allotted to each of the reading intensive classrooms.
  •   Identification of students:
  • Screening rubric
  • Teacher recommendation
  • Program  
  • Kids are generally kinesthetic learners  
  • Kids work slower
  • Emphasis on reading and writing
  • Project Read - sequential phonics supplement to literature-based curriculum
  • Diagnostic assessments at the beginning and end of the year.
  • Continual assessment throughout the year. 3rd grade class includes a pod of students above grade level (22% of the class).

Reflections on Our Ride

  • The basics…
    • Be lucky enough to have a leader to get you to the beach.
    • Trust your leader.
    • Encouragement and support to get on the board.
    • Map your safari.
  • And then…
    • Sometimes you need to sit on the beach and re-read your map.
    • When you fall in the water, get back on the board.
    • The more you surf, the easier it gets.
    • Celebrate your successes, enjoy riding that wave!

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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