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How to Raise Student Achievement

There is a lot of pressure to raise student achievement in our public schools today. This article explores several options that school administrators and teachers have to raise achievement levels without sacrificing quality education.

Author: Donna Newberg-Long
Date: Sep 30, 2009 - 11:53:58 AM

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There is a lot of emphasis in schools today to increase student performance. I think in this environment, it is important to keep in mind what educators are already doing well with the students. Then, dispense with those tactics that are not working and keep those that are.

When we as teachers are able to help a student overcome a hurdle and find success in their behavior or their studies it feels great. Keep that in mind and know that you have the ability to make a difference to our kids; abandon the outdated notion that you have no support system to get it done.

Provide Interventions

One solution our school has come up with is to create problem solving teams by grade to brainstorm solutions that will work for a specific group of children. The entire team must buy into the measuring process you agree on. For example, graphing has been very successful. The next steps are to conduct a pre-test, organize the students by results, break up the team members (dont forget administrators and special ed teachers), one for each group of students, and work with the group of students to improve where the pre-testing indicated necessary, using intervention when needed. The follow up tests will show significant improvements. The children will test proficient on the graphs, and many will even surpass that goal. The school district will be very pleased when its time to take mandatory state testing.

When using this process, keep in mind that accelerated students will need to be challenged to continuously strive for achievement goals, and educators must do all they can to keep these gifted students from becoming bored in the classroom.

Response to Intervention

One way to raise achievement results in more challenging students is to use the broadened system of accommodations which I have established, which was designed to work in combination with what is now known as Response to Intervention (RTI). It began with a meeting among the students parents, administrators and teachers to discuss the specific concerns with the students and to cooperate in creating a workable plan which included accommodations that would support the advancement of the students accomplishments.

The key thing to keep in mind when working with accommodations is that the strategy is not to modify the curriculum for every student with challenges. This is often difficult for teachers, even special education teachers to grasp and the result is that many teachers lower their educational expectation of students who are struggling to keep up. On the contrary, accommodations are designed to help students continue with the mainstream curriculum without lowering their academic standards. Modifications, on the other hand, are available and should be used for those students with serious cognitive problems or disabilities who really cannot keep up with a mainstream curriculum.

An example of an appropriate accommodation follows: There was a boy, well call him Richard, who had a very difficult time focusing on his work. He had been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and was very bright. He drove the teacher crazy! Still, during our meeting we came up with accommodations to help him be successful.

It is a critical component to the accommodation process to let the student in on the plan and get his agreement to participate, as well as to establish a penalty process if the student does not participate as agreed. Make sure the student understands that the goal is to help him succeed in school. Most students are aware of the problems and are happy that their parents and teachers care enough to work with them toward a solution.

In the plan, Richard was to be allowed to get up and walk at the back of the room when he could no longer sit quietly and do his work, and as long as he was not disruptive to others. Richard was to use a small hour glass provided by the parents. When the sand ran out, it was then that he could get up and walk around for a minute and the back of the room. During instruction, he was given a tactile ball to squeeze and play with while he listened to the teacher.

There were some accommodations for Richard and his parents at home as well. Each evening they prepared a to-do list for the following day and preparing his homework and backpack for the next morning. Letting these tasks slip from his mind in the morning had also been a consistent problem for Richard.

We had a follow up meeting about one month after implementing the accommodations to see if progress was being made. The teacher reported significant improvement, and stated that Richard was no longer a disturbance in the classroom.

Use Student Data

It is key to analyze data derived from summative and formative testing in order to improve student performance. School administrators can compile the data into reports that group students with similar needs and provide this information to the teachers. There would never be enough time to effectively work with each student one on one, but grouping allows a teacher to focus on students similar concerns in an effective manner.

Teachers can work together to establish inter-rater reliability to determine what proficient writing looks like and to establish acceptable scoring methods. In addition to writing, this can be expanded to many subjects, which will result in a school highly understanding of each level of proficiency among students.

Student Engagement

Students learn best when they are engaged and interested in the subject matter and presentation style. We must teach our students to think at high levels. Another activity that can raise teacher awareness of the required standards and methods for communicating them to students is requiring them to understand the revised Blooms Taxonomy and coordinating it with each of the schools standards and objectives. At McREL, this was called Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum. The possibilities are endless for when teachers and students cooperate to raise success levels of the students. I encourage you to look at McRELs Classroom Instruction That Works for fantastic tips and strategies for developing significant activities that will raise student achievement.

Donna Newberg Long, aka Principal Donna has been an educator for more than two decades. As the founding principal of 2 schools, Donna is available for consultation for start ups and schools in need of advice. Visit www.AskPrincipalDonna.com to learn more or call 303.280.5220 to discuss your schools needs.

View all articles by Donna Newberg-Long

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