Reform & resolve: the right combination of reforms and resolve to improve instruction has led to improved test scores and increased learning at this elementary school

Leadership, Jan-Feb, 2003 by James Bushman, Pauline Sahakian

On a recent visit to a high-performing elementary school, it only took a quick glance around the main office to see what drove the school. Slogans like "Awesome attitude" and "Work harder to get smarter" covered the walls, along with row after row of student photos pasted on certificates of achievement.

At the bottom of the certificates student messages explain the award: "I was sent to the principal"s office because I did a great job in first grade," of "I was sent to the principal's office because my math score was 100 percent correct."

The office of Yamato Colony Elementary School in Livingston did not draw attention to the school, but to the students.

When the principal, Al Silveira, arrived and led us into his office, his intensity brought the old, small room to life. Silveira gushed with pride about his school and the vision for achievement, and all of us who listened were mesmerized by the spell his enthusiasm cast.

This 11-year veteran principal had a lot to say about the school's academic turn-around. His K-5 school of 525 students, 90 percent of whom began as non-English speakers, had been at the bottom of state API rankings, but now that had changed.

In the last three years, the school jumped 151 points and moved from a similar school rank of 1 to a rank of 7. And Silveira was elated.

Four years ago, as the school wallowed in poor test scores, there came a moment when the principal confronted his staff at a faculty meeting with a passionate plea about their spring 1998 results. "I don't want to be a number one (lowest state rank) school! Do you?" His teachers said they did not.

The principal will say that is the day the transformation began. Silveira gave the teachers copies of the California standards that told the teachers what they needed to teach. "We are doing a good job of teaching," he assured his teachers, "but the learning is not showing because we aren't aligned to the standards."

He gave his staff an API target goal considerably higher than the previous year's score, and he told his teachers, "What do I need to do to help you get to this goal." His words revealed his trust in his teachers and his respect for them as professionals.

Silveira's call to action made clear his role as the supportive administrator. The seeds had been sown; the transformation process had begun.

Responsibility for reform fell first on the principal. His unwavering focus made the target clear, but it was his ability to motivate, cajole, pressure and support his teachers that caused them to slowly take ownership of the goal. The reform process involved lots of give and take, shifting from identifying the goal to negotiating the process.

On the first day of school Silveira challenged the teachers by handing them copies of all students' test scores. The teachers countered by arguing that if they were supposed to prepare students for a test, they needed materials to do so. With district financial support, the school invested in test preparation materials from Kaplan, which served as a point of entry.

Examining instructional quality

If the school stopped here, with the Kaplan materials, they might well have seen a temporary climb in test scores. But the teachers and the principal recognized that preparing students to do well on a state test is not a two of three week affair, but rather a year-long process that requires a quality instructional program.

So the district brought in Dataworks to examine the quality of work the students were doing in the classroom and to see how the expectations for students measured up to the standards. It was an "eye-opening process," Silveira said.

What the school discovered was that teacher expectations for students were too low, and that much overlap and repetition existed in the taught curriculum. As a result, the teachers worked on articulation and alignment issues.

"It only made sense," he said. "After all, how many dinosaur units can you teach?"

Throughout this process, even as the principal expounded passionately about his goals, he supported the teachers, encouraging them with a "you-can-do-this" stance. In time, they began to make changes.

Meeting students needs

Teachers were trained how to differentiate and individualize instruction. They were given time during the day to meet and plan curriculum, and the reform process moved forward. To examine student work, the teachers created grade-level portfolios. To sustain ongoing assessment, teachers used assessment logs to track students from year to year. All of this focus by the teachers led to new suggestions and more changes.

When teachers saw the need to extend the school day for students who required more time to learn, Silveira established a before-and after-school program supported by state money. A new math program was adopted when teachers determined that the materials the school had been using lacked the rigor necessary to meet the standards, and several specialists were hired to help students with selected needs.