Elizabeth Vaughan Elementary School

School Information

School Name: Elizabeth Vaughan Elementary School
School Address:  2200 York Drive, Woodbridge,VA, 22191
School Phone: 703.494.3220
School Fax: 703.497.4774
Principal: Glynis Taylor
Principal E-Mail: taylorga@pwcs.edu
Web Address: http://vaughanes.schools.pwcs.edu/

Demographics

Number of Students:  717
Number eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 66%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 39.7%
Percent of Special Education:  5.9%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White: 10.9%
• Black: 36.5%
• Hispanic: 38.1%
• Asian/Pacific Island:7.7%
• Other: 6.8%

Student Achievement Data:

< = A group below state definition for personally identifiable results
- = No data for this group
* = Data not yet available

	Grade 3
	Reading	Writing	Math	History	Science
2005-06	80	-	93	93	91
2006-07	69	-	87	78	83
2007-08	77	-	85	89	84
2008-09	90	-	94	96	88
2009-10	74	-	88	94	91

 

	Grade 4
	Reading	Writing	Math	VA Studies	Science
2005-06	89	-	67	80	-
2006-07	89	-	78	83	-
2007-08	89	-	92	94	-
2008-09	93	-	88	94	-
2009-10	90	-	81	-	-

 

	Grade 5
	Reading	Writing	Math	U.S. History	Science
2005-06	89	85	82	61	83
2006-07	77	83	78	52	77
2007-08	92	90	90	69	93
2008-09	98	96	96	-	93
2009-10	88	96	89	-	85

 

	Overall Writing Performance(% passed in school/state)
	All	Black	Hispanic	White	Students with Disabilities	Dis-advantaged	Limited English Proficient
2007-08	90/89	90/82	84/83	100/92	</61	89/79	74/78
2008-09	96/89	95/83	84/83	>/92	>/61	92/80	94/78
2009-10	96/90	100/84	92/85	</93	83/62	94/83	91/81

Comments on our Data

The phrase that comes to mind when you look at our data  is, “Professional Learning Community (PLC) works!”  It works not only in the short term but also in the long run.  It is the answer for students from all backgrounds, academic levels and ethnicity.  It is the answer for those seeking sustainability of high performance in their school.  The following accolades are a result of the ten-year PLC journey at Vaughan.

• We are an award-winning Title I School of Distinction for the state of Virginia.
• We are a nationally recognized High Flying School as designated by the National Student At Risk Conference.
• We have achieved the status of School of Excellence four times.
• Trend data indicators reveal a +14 improvement in reading from 2007-2009, a +11 improvement in math, a +13 improvement in writing, a +22 improvement in history, and a +10 improvement in science. 
• Special Education performance was erratic due to some serious personnel issues but students were 29% above the state average in writing.  Only 2% of our population is designated for special education services (excluding speech and language).  Instead they are part of our Pyramid Response to Intervention plan.
• The above performance improvements were achieved in spite of high levels of transiency in our school.  The interdependency that is one of the big ideas of a PLC is pervasive in our school.  It is this factor that resulted in the staff’s willingness to work with all students in spite of staff replacements and/or absences.  It was the sense of “our kids vs. your kids” that resulted in the collective efficacy needed to achieve this status. 
• This year we had a significant increase in our transiency levels after October 1.  AYP is based on students enrolling after September 30.  We had an high numbers of students in the testing situation that were new to Vaughan after the AYP cut off date of September 30. We continued to receive additional students during the remainder of the school year.  This resulted in a small drop in some of our achievement data.  In a PLC school you do not make excuses for students not learning.  In lieu of the high transiency nature of the school additional learning opportunities are being provided for newly enrolled students as a part of our Pyramid Response to Intervention (PRTI).  We now have a New Kids on the Block project that includes a six week Saturday Institute for identified new students and universal screening for all students entering. 

In the DuFour, DuFour and Eaker model there is an emphasis on accepting and responding positively to your “current reality”.  Our new reality was an a substantial influx of families to our school district because of the poor economy.  We found ourselves with more than 400 students receiving free and reduced breakfasts.  High achieving schools are ones that respond immediately to perceivable or documented changes in the needs of students.  Not only did we tweak our PRTI model but we conducted a number of staff development opportunities for staff.  We invited, Mike Mattos, one of the co-authors of Pyramid Response to Intervention to our school district.  We also invited Elaine McEwan-Atkins, author of 40 Reading Intervention Strategies, to our school. 

Other Factors that Attribute to High Performance

1. Results Orientation and a Focus on Learning in a Collaborative Setting:
1. Data is discussed by content area weekly in a grade level open forum called Day of Dialogue or DOD.
2. Vertical sharing of data is done on a quarterly basis.
3. SMART Goals are reviewed at the beginning of each school year and revamped based on student performance.
4. Staff and student performance are displayed and updated weekly.
5. High student performance is applauded and used as a vehicle to improve low performance.  In other words there is a sharing of  “what works” by individuals with those experiencing difficulty teaching a concept.
6. Teachers in all content areas are held accountable for learning, including the non-tested grades and the specialty programs.
7. Vertical accountability is also evident in our sharing and accountability forums.
8. Data is celebrated in formal forums quarterly that are both professional and fun.
2. Celebration of Success
1. Thematic celebrations of student and adult performance takes place weekly and in quarterly formal settings.
1. Data breakfasts or lunches take place at the beginning of the school year. The theme last year was Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  This  year the theme was Breakfast on the French Rivera. Data from the previous year is shared at these annual theme oriented breakfasts.   Awards are given to every member of the staff aka  “The Power of Presence.”  Theme oriented public sharing of data is done during the school year.  Data dinners are a part of the culture.  The theme this year related to our college-bound focus (Kindergarten to College)…The Little Engine That Could…
2. Student Efficacy:  Pep rallies are held for students to share their success.  Students wear personally designed thinking caps to highlight our emphasis on meta-cognition.  Last year the celebration was literally done from the roof of the school! This year it was done on the lawn next to our newly designed children’s garden and data conference area.
3. Simulation of testing is done the last quarter.  Data is shared with the entire staff.  Specialists and teachers design school-wide planning for the upcoming Standards of Learning (SOL) test.  Changes may include schedule of services and/or the intensity of instruction being provided in selected content areas.  The data is used as a guide for the entire school. 
4. An end of each year Brag Session is held to celebrate student performance based on teacher observation.  Later we compare our perceptions with the reality of the SOL data.
5. Student performance is celebrated quarterly.
6. Student Awards are celebrated quarterly and cumulative at the end of the year with name engraved bricks, ceremonial ribbons and a 5th grade string performance (An Evening on the Lawn at Elizabeth Vaughan).  Soft data is collected on outstanding student performance.  Personal data chats are held with all of the students with their teachers.  Principal Chats are held with students having challenging during simulation and those with goals of becoming Brick Kids ( straight “A” students received a personalized brick in our Walk of All-Stars.  Personal chats have resulted in a significant increase in the number of students receiving engraved bricks



2. Weekly staff recognition for behind the scenes and high profile performance takes place.   A weekly Principal’s Cup is given each Friday.  The award is announced with fan fare and music over the public address system
3. Weekly student recognition takes place each week in the above forum.
4. Displays of students’ performance are done in the form of plaques, signature walls, engraved dog tags, engraved bricks, etc.  Efforts are made to recognize students in a number of arenas and a variety of modalities.

Mission

Mission is more than a statement at Vaughan; it is embedded in the culture.  It is a way of life.  All activities relate to our mission statement, Excellence for All…Whatever It Takes!
An integral part of the mission is our commitment to student efficacy.  Covey’s statement “Begin with the end in mind” took on a more visible and meaningful form when we had our first Kindergarten-College Day.  Colleges and other career oriented organizations provided  incentives for our students to establish college as a goal early in their educational career were very successful.  More than 400 students visited college campuses last school year.  This year we are slated to take all students to a college campus.

1. Collective Capacity Building- The leadership in this school is both bottom up and top down.  There is a concerted search for leaders in a variety of arenas.   The leaders that have emerged have made it possible for us to sustain high levels of performance.
1. Students are a vital part of this capacity building.  Students are held accountable for their own learning.  This requires us to provide them with the needed tools.  This is done in the form of think-alouds, understanding how the test and essential outcomes work, data chats and celebration of learning.  Goal setting is a part of the discussion during the data chats. 
2. Teachers are responsible for analyzing and displaying and discussing data.  More importantly they provide the solutions when students are not performing.  They develop and select common assessments.  They write SMART goals based on that assessment information.  They change instructional strategies based on data and research-based information.

5. Systems of intervention providing students with additional time and support for learning are part of our PLC and include:
a. Block scheduling  for daily interventions (core extension time) by each grade level.
b. An award winning six-week Saturday Strategic Learning Institute is provided for students not meeting the objectives during the in-school intervention time. More than 150 parents and students attend and participate in a graduation from this institute.
c. An “Early Bird” computer lab program is provided for early intervention.
d.  Universal screenings for all new students are conducted.

 

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.

• Teachers have bought in to the PLC process.  Initially, there was heavy resistance to data driven instruction.  Now you hear comments such as “I could never go back to traditional methods,” One teacher said “Teaching without data to guide your instruction is like trying to get dressed in the dark.”
• The “school-wide” collaboration has been the most beneficial.  You hear comments such as “our kids” instead of “your” kids.  This became evident this year when we had teachers leave their classrooms for medical reasons in middle of the year.  There was never a thought by the affected team of teachers of a substitute taking over the classes this late in the year.  Instead, the remaining teachers were willing to take additional students in their classrooms.  They assumed responsibility for direct instruction.  The substitute was provided but assumed a more remediation/assistant role to the team.
• Data chats are held weekly by grade levels. Common formative assessments are used. The entire school shares data at least three times a year.  Simulation tests are given at the SOL testing grades approximately 6 weeks prior to the test.  The entire school responds if one grade level or a teacher is having difficulty achieving the goal.  It is not unusual to see teachers taking on the responsibility of teaching another person’s classroom.
• A climate of “interdependence” exists in this school. We experienced some challenges with our 5th grade writing scores this year (2006-7).  Many staff members including the principal assisted.  Members of the office staff, including the principal’s college-aged daughter shared school published memoirs.  The students’ prior 4th grade teachers also assisted. Our internal assessments indicated we were looking at a pass rate in the lower quartile one month before this intervention.  Our writing test scores for 2006-7 came in recently, indicating a 90% pass rate once adjustments are made.

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis

• Monitoring is done on a weekly basis with individual grade levels.  These data chats or Day of Dialogue (DOD) are organized by teachers. A common assessment is used by the school at each grade level.
•  Teachers engage in collaborative planning 3 days a week, individual planning 1 day a week and data sharing with the principal, 1 day a week. 
• Monitoring with the specialists or subgroups is done on a monthly basis.
• School-wide data monitoring is done quarterly.  This is done in a celebratory format call data luncheons and/or data dinners. 
• Staff members are provided with the time to collect, disaggregate, and display their own data. They use the PLC questioning format for presentations: 
  • Are the children learning?
  • How do you know?
  • What are your plans for those not learning?
  • What are your plans for those who already know it?
• Summative assessment information is shared at the end of the school year in the form of a “Brag” session, with the entire staff in attendance.
• Principal/Assistant Principal interaction with students is another form of monitoring that allows us to acquire “real data”.
• Climate and culture monitoring is done resulting in weekly celebrations of the success of all staff members. Small successes are rewarded frequently and publicly. Celebrations of student success are done in the form of numerous awards, announcements and pep rallies.
• The adult monitoring process is the same but there is an emphasis on identifying teachers in need of support earlier in the instructional process. In 2006-07, we made AYP because the “interdependence” that is a part of being a PLC was tested. That experience made us more cognizant of teachers whose instructional strategies were not aligned with the standards. We provided support earlier in the school year in 2007-08.
• The most important strategy that changed for us in 2007-08 was the emphasis on student efficacy and meta-cognitive skills or thinking while reading and thinking on paper that was visible to the observer. Students were taught test taking strategies that included self monitoring of their performance during the actual test. Their monitoring was documented on scratch paper and rewarded (ex. trip to the ice cream truck). Not only did WE KNOW WHICH STUDENTS PASSED… STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO TELL YOU IN PRECISE TERMS THEIR PERFORMANCE LEVEL. Dr. DuFour talks about the importance of “collective efficacy”. When it is implemented at the student level high performance becomes the product.
• Special education performance improved in 2007-08 but was adversely affected by the absence of personnel at crucial times during the school year. This has become a SMART goal for us this year. Unfortunately we are without that service again this year. We are providing more support and systematic monitoring. We have data indicating higher levels of performance is taking place. The positive aspect is our low number of student classified as special education students. We believe that all students can learn at high levels, therefore identification of students in this category are few. The number of special education students is so low that it is not counted in the state data.

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

• Block scheduling allows for daily interventions (core extension time) by each grade level.
• An award-winning six-week Saturday Strategic Learning Institute is provided for students not meeting the objectives during the in-school intervention time. More than 150 parents and students attend  and participate in a graduation from this institute.
• An “Early Bird” computer lab program is provided for remediation and enrichment.

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

Each grade level has norms and agendas for its weekly meetings.

Teachers chair the weekly data chats.  The principal is invited as a participant and not the presenter of data.  We have found that teachers respond when they “own” data.  They take pride in their presentations.

Each grade level assigns individuals to be responsible for key content areas, presenting lesson plans, input for monthly calendars and monitoring pacing.  An additional assignment is that of Data Analysis Lead.

Common instructional calendars and pacing are in place.  Monthly calendars are posted for each grade level.

Leadership from within is promoted.  Opportunities for teacher growth within the system are promoted.

Awards and Recognition Received by School and Principal

• Virginia Title I School of Distinction, 2009
• Standards and Poors School Evaluation Service identified Vaughan among 69 schools in the state of Virginia that had significantly narrowed the achievement gaps between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years
• School of Excellence Award, 2001, 2002, 2008 and 2009
• 2005 Business Partnership Award-First elementary school to open a student-run bank in Prince William County Schools (PWC)
• Virginia Governor’s School Board Award-Saturday Strategic Learning Institute, 1997
• Principal selected as Principal of the Year, 1996-97 (Data driven activities preceded PLC)
• Principal received the Washington Post Distinguished Principal Award, 1996
• Principal introduced PLC to principals in Prince William County at 2001 Principals Administrators’ and Supervisors’ Conference
• Principal trained all administrators in Prince William County Schools as it considers district-wide implementation of PLC
• Principal provides Leadership Capacity (PLC) training for all staff pursuing administrative careers in PWC
• Principal selected as a consultant for the Virginia State Department of Education’s Academic Review Team, 2004-present
• Principal selected as an Associate for Solution Tree
• Principal selected as a member of the School of Education Advisory Board for Virginia Tech University-PLC training provided for selected schools in the Blacksburg area.

The  school was the focus of  Solution Tree’s books on PLC this year. Two were anthologies written by Mrs. Jessie, The Collaborative Teacher and the Collaborative Administrator. Mrs. Jessie is also a contributing principal in Dr. DuFour’s most recent book, Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work™.

The school is published in the videos, Professional Learning Communities at Work, The Collaborative Teacher and The Collaborative Leader.  All are published by Solution-Tree.

Mrs. Jessie is published in a recently published DVD-Celebration of Learning-Nothing Happens Until People are Having Fun!