Broad Acres Elementary School

School Information

School Name: Broad Acres Elementary School
School Address: 710 Beacon Road, Silver Spring, MD  20903                            
School Phone: 301.431.7616
School Fax: 301.431.7693
Principal:  Michael D. Bayewitz
Principal E-Mail:  Michael_D_Bayewitz@mcpsmd.org
Web Address: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/broadacreses/

Demographics

Number of Students:  572
Number eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 90.8%
Percent of Limited English Proficient:  68.4%
Percent of Special Education: 8%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White: 0.6%
• Black: 18.6%
• Hispanic: 68.2%
• Asian/Pacific Island: 12.3%
• Other: 0.4%

Student Achievement Data

State Averages: Broad Acres/State of Maryland

	Grade 3 (school/state)
	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Math	67.9/78.6	88.7/82.6	81.7/84.3	89.2/86
Reading	73.6/80.5	67.9/83	74.6/84.9	81.5/84

 

	Grade 4 (school/state)
	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Math	90.7/86	90.9/88.6	94/89.2	100/90.2
Reading	77.3/86	94.4/88.4	86/86.7	81.3/87.4

 

	Grade 5 (school/state)
	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Math	74.6/78.3	86.8/80.5	78/81.2	90.9/83.2
Reading	61.3/76.7	78.9/86.7	75.9/89.5	88.7/89.4

 

Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the data that you feel is particularly significant.

Broad Acres Elementary School is the most impoverished of the 200 public schools in Montgomery County, Maryland. Despite a 91% FARMS rate, a high mobility rate, and a student body of which nearly three-quarters speak English as a Second Language, Broad Acres' students have made dramatic gains in student achievement over the last ten years, with spiked levels of improvement over the last three years.

The improvement demonstrated by Broad Acres students over the last three years underscores the profound change in success over the last ten years at Broad Acres. In the spring of 2000, results of state testing showed that students at Broad Acres were performing at very low levels. Scores on Maryland State Performance Assessment Program tests were similar to those of schools being taken over by the state: only 11.8% of third graders were proficient in reading and only 5.3% showed proficiency in math, while at fifth grade, 21% were proficient in reading and 15% in math.

In the spring of 2001, school staff, in cooperation with district and union leaders, undertook a three-year program to internally restructure the school. By 2004, 75% of third graders demonstrated reading proficiency on the new Maryland State Assessment (MSA) and 67% demonstrated math proficiency. Fifth grade students showed comparable gains: 54% demonstrated reading proficiency and 60% math proficiency. Similarly, the 2004 CTBS scores for second graders were on par with some of the highest-performing schools in Montgomery County, showing increases of 26% to 70%.

Since that time, Broad Acres has again experienced a renaissance as students our reaching new heights. The school has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) every year since 2006. In 2010, 94.5 percent of Broad Acres' students scored proficient or advanced on MSA in Math, and 84.4 percent scored proficient or advanced in Reading. In many cases, Broad Acres students outperformed students in some of the most affluent neighborhoods in the country. In 2010, students in grades 3, 4, and 5 exceeded the MCPS averages in math proficiency.

 

Please present any additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact upon students and/or teachers.

Despite having the pressures of a high-profile Title I school, Broad Acres has retained its teachers over the last three years and teacher turnover has been minimal. The 2006 National Teacher of the Year, Kim Oliver Burnim, continues to teach at Broad Acres Elementary School. Teacher morale is high, as evidenced by school climate data. In the district's 2010 Survey of School Environment, 100% of teachers indicated that they get satisfaction from their work, and 94.1% of Broad Acres' teachers indicated that staff morale was positive at the school. Additionally, 100% of parents indicated that they feel welcomed in the school.

 

Please elaborate upon strategies you have found to be effective in any of the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Student achievement is monitored in a number of ways. At the classroom level, teachers are required to meet in grade and/or content level teams on a weekly basis for the specific purposes of analyzing student performance data. Each week, teachers share student data, analyze trends common strengths and pitfalls, and make instructional and programmatic changes based on their findings. These meetings include other key professional staff members including the Special Education teacher, ESOL teacher, and intervention teachers. Notes from the meeting are shared with other school leaders.

Each grade is also required to create a grade level SMART goal, which aligns with the School Improvement Plan and NCLB targets. SMART goal progress is monitored on a regular basis and then shared with the entire staff on a quarterly basis.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

As a Title I school, funding is used to purchase teaching positions that directly support student learning. As a result, at each grade level there is reading and math intervention for students whose data demonstrates the need for additional time and resources. Student interventions are specific and based on need. For example, in Reading, students who simply need additional time and support may receive a second opportunity for guided reading instruction on a daily basis. Other students who may be demonstrating weaknesses in reading comprehension would receive intervention that is specifically for building strategies to gain meaning. Still other students may only be demonstrating weaknesses in phonics. The interventions for these students are crafted specifically to meet those needs.

Intervention teachers attend weekly data meetings with each grade level so that intervention provided to the students are specific, timely, and individualized.

The master schedule is dually driven by student need and the ability of staff to support student learning. Grade and content level teacher teammates are given common planning time on a daily basis. In addition, common math block times are built into the student day across grade levels to facilitate above and cross-grade level instruction for students who are ready for it.

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

Broad Acres has several systematic ways to build teacher capacity. Twice a month, teachers meet in content-alike School Improvement Teams, in which they receive professional development, discuss curriculum, review research, and plan vertically. Monthly staff meetings are purely professional development as administrative matters are handled through electronic communication and other means. Our staff development teacher also provides teachers with hands-on job-embedded professional development that is tailored to the teachers' individual needs. Numerous other workshops and sessions are held on an as needed basis.

 

List any Awards and Recognition Garnered by Your School

• Home of National Teacher of the Year, Kim Oliver, in 2006.
• Featured in upcoming Harvard Business School case study.
• Featured in Washington Post column, Working Together.
• Featured in MCPS Case Study used in MCPS' Professional Learning Communities Institute.
• Recipient, Maryland State Department of Education Performance Recognition Program, 2008.
• Hosted visits by numerous local and national organizations, schools and school districts, including:
• San Francisco Unified School District
• Deputy Minister of Education of Singapore
• National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
• BROAD Foundation
• New America Foundation
• New Leaders for New Schools
• David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• Journalists from The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Gazette