The Greene County board of education at its Dec. 17 meeting approved the action plan required by the Iowa Department of Education because of the elementary school’s designation as a school in need of assistance (SINA). The board had approved a preliminary draft in November to meet the state deadline, but didn’t see the final plan until December.
A key element in formulating the plan was determining the root cause of the students’ failure to meet annual yearly progress (AYP) goals.
Director of learning Karen Sandberg explained to the board that she, three teachers, reading specialist Julie Neal and principal Scott Johnson had gone through a two day process with Area Education Agency staff to determine two root causes. First, there is not consensus among teachers that all students can achieve proficiency through effective instruction and targeted and intensive intervention. “Our teacher mindset is that lack of proficiency is a student problem rather than an instructional problem,” the plan states.
The second cause is that the curriculum is not aligned across classrooms at the same grade level or from grade to grade.
To address the first root cause, the SINA plan calls for all elementary teachers to read, study and discuss the book “Mindset, Whatever It Takes” by Dr Carol Dweck. Dweck argues that mindset substantially affects what we are able to accomplish. “Through a combination of studying and discussing this work collaboratively and continually analyzing data/celebrating the successes of students, we expect a shift in teacher beliefs,” the plan states.
The second root cause will be addressed with an increase in the amount of collaborative time teachers have and aligning teachers’ unit plans within and across grade levels. Units will use rigorous strategies and methods. “Aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment for both content and rigor will result in a shift in teaching and learning,” according to the plan.
Teachers will be paid extra to implement the plan, with the district’s Title I funds covering the cost. The plan states that professional development in the area of mindset and curricular alignment related to reading and math will need to be addressed outside of the school day and contract time, and that Title I funds will be used to pay teachers to engage in the study of new teaching strategies and implementing them.
Some changes had already been made before adoption of the plan. Among them is an increase in reading instruction time to 90 minutes a day and instruction in math to 60 minutes a day. After school tutoring in reading has been added and a new math curriculum was adopted. The school successfully applied for the state’s Teacher Leadership grant funds and is using instructional coaching as part of that program.
