Greenway Elementary School

School Information

School Name: Greenway Elementary School
School Address: 100 Old Douglas Road, Bisbee, Arizona 85603
School Phone: 520-432-4361
School Fax: 520-432-6121
Principal: John Taylor
Principal email:  jtaylor@busd.k12.az.us

Demographics

Number of Students:  270
Number Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 179
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 16%
Percent of Special Education:  18%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White                        42%
• Black                          2%
• Hispanic                   54%
• Asian/Pacific Island   2%
• Other                           0

 

Student Achievement Data:

3rd grade	2004 (Greenway /State)	2005 (Greenway /State)	2006 (Greenway /State)
Reading	73/72	75/72	87/75
Writing	95/81	80/77	85/57
Math	66/64	80/77	89/78

 

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.

In 2003-04, 66% of our students met or exceeded the state math standard, in 2005-06 89 % met or exceeded the state math standard. The most significant aspect of the math data is a 23 % increase in the number of students that meet or exceed the state math standard in the last two years.

In 2003-04, 73% of our students met or exceeded the state reading standard, in 2005-06 87 % met or exceeded the state reading standard. The most significant aspect of the reading data is a 14 % increase in the number of students that meet or exceed the state reading standard in the last two years.

From 2003-04 through 2005-06 it appears that writing scores have dropped significantly, from 95% meeting in 2003-04 to 85% meeting or exceeding in 2005-06. These numbers are not a true reflection of our progress the last two years. We are confident that we are significantly improving our writing scores when comparing Greenway scores to the state average. In 2004-05 Greenway writing scores were 3% above the state average, and in 2005-06 our writing scores were 28% above the state average. This discrepancy can be attributed to several possibilities. The state using different writing prompts, using a different scoring rubric. The 25% increase in our scores as compared to state averages is credible evidence we are moving in the right direction.

 

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

When we began implementing some of the philosophies of a professional learning community, the classroom doors were flung open. We made the decision that all stakeholders would be responsible for student learning and working in isolation would no longer be an option. Data overwhelmingly indicates that students have benefited from this new approach. Educators have benefited also. Expectations for collegiality and collaboration have encouraged teachers to be more reflective about their practice, with the goal of enhanced student achievement always the primary focus. During our transformation, a very powerful no excuses approach to school improvement philosophy began to infiltrate the culture of our school. Accepting mediocrity is no longer an option when it comes to student learning. We realized that we have complete academic control six hours a day, five days a week for one hundred eighty days a year, and we will do whatever it takes to insure student learning.

 

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

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Greenway has developed a series of common assessments in core content areas that are aligned to state standards that are given throughout the year. Grade level teams use the results to determine the effectiveness of classroom instructional strategies, to determine how students performed on each skill compared with other students or classes, and to determine appropriate interventions for students who are not being successful. We are committed to using assessment results to drive our instruction and improve teaching, not just using assessments to report student progress to parents.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.
 
High levels of student achievement at Greenway Elementary School has been accomplished by implementing systematic procedures that provide exemplary current curriculum, by creating systems to identify student strengths and weakness, by affording the necessary support systems to help students meet and exceed academic standards and by developing a schedule that allows teachers to work collaboratively to bring the cumulative knowledge of a team to the individual classroom.

Greenway offers a wide variety of opportunities for reading success for all readers.  All students are assessed on their reading progress using DIBELS and an assortment of age/grade appropriate assessments.  Students in grades 1 through 3 are grouped into three families based on assessment performance.  The low group has one Title I paraprofessional, one ELL paraprofessional and the services of a special education paraprofessional to assist the teacher.  The low group is then broken up into three levels and in twenty-minute intervals the groups rotate between the teacher and the paraprofessionals to work on specific intensive reading strategies. The middle group has the assistance of either a title paraprofessional or an ELL paraprofessional. That classroom is divided into three levels and they also rotate between the teacher, the paraprofessional and an independent activity in twenty-minute intervals, working on specific reading strategies. The high group works with the classroom teacher on advanced activities at each student’s reading ability. Our family reading program provides nine levels of reading instruction at each grade level. Each grade also has access to a leveled bookroom so that all students are reading on the appropriate instructional level.  Every classroom has a classroom library that students use for daily sustained silent reading. For students not being successful in our family structure, we have created a “Power Lab” where groups of students are pulled from class in the afternoon and provided additional specific reading instruction by highly qualified paraprofessionals.

Quarterly, students are tested to assess student progress through the reading program. Kindergarten and 1st grade students are assessed using DIBELS, Emergent Literacy Screening, Quick Phonics Survey and Oral Language Subtests. Second and third grade students are assessed using the GRADE test as a pre and post grade level test, DIBELS, Reading Fluency Test, The Quick Phonics Survey, and the SORT Word Recognition Test. The results of the assessments that are used by grade-level teams to drive instruction determine family groups, select who will participate in Power Lab, and to identify students who need other types of interventions, such as Child Assistance Team support.

Greenway has adopted and implemented with fidelity, the Scott Foresman/Addison Wesley math curriculum. This program provides different levels of instruction for every lesson. Our common math assessments dictate the direction of instruction and/or remediation our teachers will take. If large groups of students fail to demonstrate proficiency on a topic, the classroom teacher will institute the remedial/re-teaching parts of a unit in additional math lessons in the afternoon (this is also the ideal time to provide the extension activities for students who have demonstrated mastery), while continuing to follow the curriculum calendars during the scheduled math time in the mornings. If only a few students have failed to demonstrate mastery, they will be pulled out of the class to work with paraprofessionals on remediation for specific areas of weakness.

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

Greenway students are released early one day each week so teachers can meet to analyze student work and assessment results. Teachers then share ideas for fine tuning instructional approaches. Grade level teams keep administrative discussions to a minimum; the focus is on student learning and how to improve it.
We have created a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze student progress and to share with each other the most successful instructional strategies and classroom practices. When teams of teachers work collaboratively together, individuals can access ideas, materials and strategies from the strongest members of the team to help improve the instruction in their own classrooms. We feel that the quality of a child’s education should not be left to the luck of the draw. This system insures that every child has the opportunity to be provided the best instruction the team as a whole has to offer.

 

List awards and recognitions your school has achieved

- Arizona Department of Education "Spotlight on Success" Award '06-'07 school year

- The Center for Public Education feature article titled “A No Excuses Approach to School Improvement”

- Arizona State Department of Education Recognition as “Arizona’s Distinguished School for Closing the Achievement Gap.”

- National Association of State Title I Directors and the United States Department of Education Recognition as one of 28 schools nationwide honored as a “National Distinguished School for Closing the Achievement Gap.”