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"We're all focusing on the same thing. Nothing comes out of left field somewhere." In 1990, Shallowford Falls Elementary was a brand new school, built to serve a prosperous Atlanta suburb. Parents' expectations were high, but they couldn't have imagined that the principal's and teachers' expectations were even higher. Principal Cheryl Hunt Clements interviewed 250 teachers before selecting her staff, and she made it clear what the demands would be. As one teacher puts it, "You've got to be willing to give 112 percent. From the moment we got here, Cheryl expressed the idea that everyone would be a team player." Over the years, through site-based management, teachers have decided to focus that 112 percent on improving students' scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) – in a school where students already score well above the district average. "It's such a big job," one teacher explains, "that you can't do it alone. We have to think of ourselves as a team." As evidence of this team approach, no matter what students' test percentiles are in first and second grade, by fifth grade they're higher. The gains are cumulative across the grades. In fact, Shallowford Falls fifth graders are consistently the highest in the district. Each spring, a cross-grade team analyzes the new ITBS scores to draft the School Improvement Plan and associated professional development plan for the year ahead. Those plans are shared with the whole staff, reviewed by the principal, and reviewed again by the staff. "It's bottom up and then comes back down and we refine it," says one teacher. "In the end, it's mandatory, but we're all focusing on the same thing. Nothing comes out of left field somewhere." In addition to the schoolwide goals, grade-level teams and individual teachers also have score-driven goals. The principal sees her role in helping teachers use their test data as crucial to the process. "Every year," she explains, "we rank ourselves by each sub-test against each of the 61 elementary schools in the district. Each grade level identifies its strengths and weaknesses." For example, one year the student gains for the whole fourth grade were low in listening skills, so improving the teaching of listening skills became a focus for that team. Grade-level teams are given release time three times a year to analyze their students' strengths and weaknesses. They also meet after school one Thursday a month, and they get together informally at lunch or whenever they need help or want to share a success. A veteran teacher explains, "The greatest resource you have is the teacher next door. That's really practiced here." Another teacher cites the example of the first year she taught third grade: "My scores were the lowest in third grade, so I went to the teacher that had the highest scores. The next year I copied what she did, and my class scores came up." Teachers analyze their own weaknesses and write personal goals that are shared with their grade-level team and the principal – not as mea culpas but for support. As one teacher unabashedly reveals, "What I need to beef up this year is more language and punctuation. Ten of my kids went down, so that's a personal thing I can improve on to help the kids. I assumed they knew more than they did. But something got missed." Teachers also develop goals for each student, which they go over with the principal. The principal explains, "We develop a profile sheet for each student, over time, from grade to grade, and it specifies for each child how much to push. At the end of the year we also look at each child's gain scores and try to figure out, if any child did exceptionally well, why, and if a child didn't do well, why. That information is passed on to the child's next teacher." All this focus is relentless. Says one teacher, "We put the kids under a microscope, but they can tell you how much their personal score has gone up, and they can see their growth." After school, the focus widens and students have a wide range of activities such as art, drama, Spanish, and running clubs to help them develop more broadly. Parents at Shallowford Falls are highly involved in their children's school experience. Between 90 and 100 percent of them turn out for the many events planned for parents, and they also show up to help out. "The involvement of parents," one teacher points out, "has been a huge part of our success. As teachers, we learn and do our thing, and the kids need to do their thing, too. Homework and class work are not optional. The parents know that and they are supportive."

Grades K-5 Number of Students 660 Student Ethnicity 90% White 3% African American 3% Latino 3% Asian English Language Learners 0.5% Free/Reduced Lunch 3% Special Needs 15% Measures of Success steadily higher ITBS scores even with baseline scores above district average selected as Talents Unlimited demonstration site 3529 Lassiter Road Marietta, GA 30062 770-640-4815