A triumph in redesign

In a profile of Guilmette Elementary School in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Jennifer Davis writes in The Hechinger Report that Principal Lori Butterfield didn't want to boost literacy and math scores at the cost of everything else. Lawrence Receiver Jeff Riley gave district principals "charter-like" autonomies, including control over budgets, curricula, schedule, professional development, and how much time (200 or 300 hours) to add to a full school year (contracts approved by the union). Expanded time, and a year to plan for it, proved critical for Guilmette, writes Davis. Instructional priorities included reading comprehension, experiential learning, and teacher collaboration. Guilmette now runs from 7:30 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. To ensure all students are on track, the schedule incorporates a Learning Lab where students receive targeted interventions from instructional coaches and special education teachers. Other students take part in accelerated studies, like small debate teams or higher math-skills groups. Teachers regularly review student data. In 2014, after one year with a redesigned schedule, 46 percent of Guilmette's third- and fourth-graders were proficient in reading, a ten-point increase over 2013. Sixty-three percent of third- and fourth-graders were proficient in math, a five-point bump over 2013 -- and 22 points higher than 2012 -- outperforming the state by three points. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.