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Successes Noralto Elementary School, Sacramento, CA Successful school transformation with WestEd's LAPDS When California's governor wanted to highlight a successful school turnaround this past year, he chose one that had partnered with WestEd. During a press conference at the school, Governor Schwarzenegger told its students and staff, "A lot of what Noralto Elementary School is already — what you are doing right here — is something we want to do all over the state of California." Noralto Elementary is a K–6 public school serving a diverse student population characteristic of many of the state's schools. Over 60 percent of Noralto's students are English learners, over 80 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Prior to working with WestEd, the school had consistently failed to meet achievement targets and was designated for program improvement several years running. In 2006, Annabel Lee, the school's principal at the time, learned about successes that WestEd's Local Accountability Professional Development Series (LAPDS) had helped other schools achieve, and she hired LAPDS Project Director Joseph Sassone to be Noralto's external support provider. Beginning in fall 2006, Sassone led Noralto teachers and administrators through the LAPDS process. Together they delved into the state's content standards for reading, chose the most "essential" standards to focus on, aligned those with their textbooks and instructional calendars, created formative assessments, and instituted a regularly scheduled time for reteaching content on which the formative assessments indicate extra help is needed. LAPDS's direct support to the school was relatively brief, lasting just over a year, but the effects have been lasting. "We helped them build systems up, then they've been able to carry it on from there," Sassone says. In working with him, school staff institutionalized an intervention system they've nicknamed "WIN" (short for "What I Need") that includes the LAPDS elements of aligning curriculum and instruction with key standards, using formative assessments, and reteaching. While Noralto's work with LAPDS began in just reading and in limited grade levels, teachers have expanded this effort through WIN to include mathematics and all grade levels. Since 2006, when WestEd's work with the school began, Noralto's achievement scores have risen consistently and dramatically — more than 100 points on California's Academic Performance Index. In 2009, for the first time, the school met all Adequate Yearly Progress criteria. Most Noralto teachers attribute these rising scores to their implementation of WIN, and when asked what changes they would keep even if state and federal accountability systems were to "disappear tomorrow," most refer again to WIN. In 2008, Annabel Lee left Noralto and became a Senior Program Associate with WestEd's LAPDS, but Noralto's teachers and new principal, Bradley Allen, have supported and sustained the changes that LAPDS initially brought. "Noralto's teachers are really driving the process and the principal is supporting it," notes Sassone. "And the results speak for themselves." Creighton Elementary School District, Phoenix, AZ. In 2007-2008, prior to WestEd's work with the district, only two of Creighton's nine schools were identified as "Performing" by the state. Six were identified as "Underperforming," and one was identified as “Failing to Meet Academic Standards." After two years of partnering with WestEd, one school is identified as "Highly Performing", seven as "Performing Plus", and one as "Performing." Hillsboro-Deering Elementary School, Hillsboro, NH. In 2007, Hillsboro-Deering Elementary School, a school in corrective action in English Language Arts, contacted WestEd for assistance with the development of a student intervention system informed by formative assessment practice and implementation of research-based classroom instructional strategies. Over two years, WestEd worked with the school leadership team to determine a set of essential standards for each grade level, to create a series of common formative assessments and to build the school’s capacity for instructional excellence. In 2009, Hillsboro-Deering Elementary School met AYP performance targets for all student groups in English Language Arts. From 2007 -2009, the percentage of students scoring substantially or partially below proficient decreased from 32% to 23%, while the percentage of students scoring at the proficient or proficient with distinction levels increased from 68% to 77%. Wright (Orville) Elementary School, Modesto City Elementary District, Stanislaus, CA. WestEd has provided district and school improvement services to Modesto City Elementary District, CA since 2006. According to the California API, in 2009, Wright (Orville) Elementary School met its growth targets schoolwide, and for all subgroups. Also in 2009, Wright's API increased by 38 points. |
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