Educational Leadership

or the kindergarten readiness skills needed for academic success. Yet in the 2010–11 school year, Fern Creek’s students achieved at the highest level ever attained at our school, surpassing district averages and achieving an “A” school rating for the third straight year. Our lowest-performing 25 percent of students made substantial learning gains.

We accomplished this through a school plan that called for Response to Intervention for struggling students, enriched supplemental instruction for students who were surpassing expectations, and professional learning communities (PLCs) and lesson study practices for our teachers.

gains (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2006). To foster this practice, we arranged for all faculty members to attend the Professional Learning Communities at Work Institute in Jacksonville, Florida, in June 2010. Inspired by that training, teachers agreed to meet in grade-level professional learning communities for two additional summer days to analyze student data and plan instruction and interventions geared to our students’ needs.

As part of that process, teachers analyzed their own learning needs. Some teachers wanted additional training on data collection and progress monitoring, others wanted to expand

Response to Intervention

Three years ago, Fern Creek implemented a plan to maximize faculty time in support of struggling learners. We used every available minute and dollar to have resource staff in classrooms working with small groups of students who weren’t achieving at expectation. This involved rearranging faculty and staff assignments and helping teachers move from a mentality of my students to a mentality of our students. We accomplished this by providing the entire faculty with training on the principles of professional learning communities.

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The plan grew to support learners who would benefit from enriched instruction. During the established intervention time, Fern Creek provides students who are on or above grade level with challenging self-paced computer programs, vocabulary enrichment activities, and hands-on creative projects that extend students’ learning. Our school data from the past three years indicate that this plan has steadily increased student achievement.

Watch and Learn Watch the video at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=r ThdAv2s3r0 to learn more about Fern Creek Elementary.

Fern Creek know that we care about them and that we believe they’re capable as learners.

Meeting our students’ physical and emotional needs enables us to more productively engage our students academically. Student results on Florida’s Comprehensive Assessment Test, a high-stakes measure of academic achievement and success in mastering grade-level standards, speak for themselves. Fern Creek has moved from a “D”-rated school to a high-performing “A”- or “B”-rated school on the state report card for the past seven years.

Although we have no control over many of the Goliaths that threaten our students, we have identified a coherent, comprehensive approach to mitigating their effects. Fern Creek is a school in which research, practice, and a caring community come together to create a new reality of success for all children. EL

their knowledge of meaningful center activities in the reading block, and many expressed the need to learn how to differentiate math instruction. We arranged teacher inservice training throughout the year to meet those and other needs.

By revising the school schedule, we created time for each grade-level team to meet weekly for 75 uninterrupted minutes, empowering teachers to continually analyze student performance and adjust instruction as needed. This year, Fern Creek has also implemented lesson study, a research-based practice that enables teachers to analyze their instruction and make improvements that benefit student learning.

References

Bailey, B. (2000). Conscious discipline: Seven basic skills for brain smart classroom management. Oviedo, FL: Loving Guidance.

Dufour, R., Dufour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2006). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Maxwell, S. (2011, November 15). Hungry, poor—Fern Creek still defies the odds. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved from www . orlandosentinel.com/features/education/ os-scott-maxwell-schools-take-a- village-111611-20111115,0,6443579

Winerip, M. (2011, May 1). Homeless, but finding a sanctuary at school. New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes .com/2011/05/02/education/02winerip .html

PLCs and Lesson Study A growing body of research has found that teachers who work in strong learning communities have a significant effect on student learning

The Results In spite of demographics that would predict otherwise, Fern Creek has blossomed into a school in which every child matters and achieves. Students at

Margaret Donovan (margaret . donovan@ocps.net) is school psychologist; Patrick Galatowitsch (patrick . galatowitsch@ocps.net) is principal; Keri Hefferin ( keri.hefferin@ocps.net) is community and mentor coordinator; and Shanita Highland (shanita.highland@ ocps.net) is dean of students at Fern Creek Elementary School, Orlando, Florida.