Mark Twain Middle School

School Information

School Name: Mark Twain Middle School
School District: Fairfax County Public Schools
School Address: 4700 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA 22310
School Phone: 703-313-3700
School Phone: 703-313-3797
Principal: Aimee Holleb
Principal Email: Aimee.Holleb@fcps.edu
Web Address: http://www.fcps.edu/TwainMS/

Demographics

Number of Students: 825
Percent eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 36.2%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 24.7%
Percent of Special Education: 15.8%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White: 32.1%
• Black: 18.3%
• Hispanic: 28.4%
• Asian/Pacific Island: 14.2%
• Other: 7.0%

Student Achievement Data

Scale: % at or above proficient

Math	2007	2007	2009	2010
All	60	70	81	90
Black	48	60	75	87
Hispanic	39	44	66	85
Limited English Proficient	37	55	66	85
Economically Disadvantaged	38	51	70	86
Students with Disabilities	26	32	72	91
White	72	83	89	93
State	80	84	86	88

 

Reading	2007	2007	2009	2010
All	60	70	81	90
Black	48	60	75	87
Hispanic	39	44	66	85
Limited English Proficient	37	55	66	85
Economically Disadvantaged	38	51	70	86
Students with Disabilities	26	32	72	91
White	72	83	89	93
State	80	84	86	88

 

Writing	2007	2007	2009	2010
All	60	70	81	90
Black	48	60	75	87
Hispanic	39	44	66	85
Limited English Proficient	37	55	66	85
Economically Disadvantaged	38	51	70	86
Students with Disabilities	26	32	72	91
White	72	83	89	93
State	80	84	86	88

 

Social Studies	2007	2007	2009	2010
All	60	70	81	90
Black	48	60	75	87
Hispanic	39	44	66	85
Limited English Proficient	37	55	66	85
Economically Disadvantaged	38	51	70	86
Students with Disabilities	26	32	72	91
White	72	83	89	93
State	80	84	86	88

 

Science	2007	2007	2009	2010
All	60	70	81	90
Black	48	60	75	87
Hispanic	39	44	66	85
Limited English Proficient	37	55	66	85
Economically Disadvantaged	38	51	70	86
Students with Disabilities	26	32	72	91
White	72	83	89	93
State	80	84	86	88

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.
Over the last four years, our dedication to working together as a collaborative team of professionals has raised the achievement of all students.  We are particularly proud, however, of our closing of achievement gaps between student subgroups and raising the overall achievement as measured by our state standardized assessments, the Standards of Learning tests (SOLs).  The White/Black Math achievement gap decreased from 24% to 14% and the White/Hispanic Math achievement gap decreased from 33% to 8%. The White/Black Reading achievement gap decreased from 13% to 10% and the White/Hispanic Reading achievement gap decreased from 35% to 8%.  Our commitment to PLC fundamentals allowed us to both elevate and compress our student achievement scores.

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.

Following the philosophies that drive Professional Learning Communities, our Collaborative Learning Teams (CLTs) create norms and a commitment to working together toward the achievement of all students.  As we continuously work to answer the question, “what do we want our students to know and be able to do?” we embrace the philosophy of “our students” instead of “my students.” Our CLTs unpack standards throughout the school year each year so that we are crystal clear about what students must know and be able to do.  As we consider, “how will we know if they learned it?” we formally meet on a regular basis and informally meet multiple times each week to create common assessments, share best instructional practices, identify students “by name and by need” when students are not mastering expectations, and plan/implement “real time” time intervention to support students as soon as learning gaps are identified by collaborative teams. As a standardized expectation in Mark Twain MS, every CLT must have at least one, formal unit assessment data talk each month that follows a common data-talk protocol which was created by our teacher leaders and enhanced throughout the school year to ensure formal data-talks are part of our culture. CLTs informally discuss results of informal assessments throughout the month as well based on other formative assessments as part of our culture. Our data talks celebrate successes, identify strands of need by our students, identify specific students in need of intervention, allow us to share ideas for instructional strategies that work, and ensure each CLT makes a plan for the intervention that will follow as a result of the assessment results/identify how the results of the intervention will be monitored for effectiveness. We understand our call to action and the urgency needed in our response plans when we answer the question, “what will we do when they don’t learn it?”  throughout the school year. In the mindset of a Professional Learning Community, staff believe that instruction/learning is not linear—it’s cyclical. We focus on which standards students have not yet met and respond in “real time” by providing more time and support for students to master objectives.  This response may be intervention during the instructional period through strategic grouping of students, response during our embedded intervention block of time at the end of the day (Extended Learning Time), after school support, or “rolling admissions/rolling release” of students into our “double block” support classes that focus providing additional time and support for students with math/reading/writing/successful work habits learning gaps and needs.

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

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Mark Twain Middle School staff drill down to the individual needs of students in an ongoing process of formative and summative assessments.  Collaborative Learning Teams implement regular common assessments and analyze data to understand where learning gaps exist.  During data dialogues, individual students are identified as not understanding particular course standards.  Those students are targeted for intervention opportunities during our embedded intervention period - Extended Learning Time (ELT).

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

There are four ways staff provide more time and support for students when learning gaps are noted. First, staff will provide intervention during the instructional session for specific students who need more time/intervention. This may be by reviewing with the whole-class, flexible groups of students, pull-out support, or through providing one-on-one additional support in the classroom. MTMS has created sections of courses with two-teachers, often times one being an expert in language acquisition or learning strategies and either staff member can provide such support o respond to learning gaps immediately in students. Students are specifically placed in classes with two teachers based on past achievement on standardized assessments, English language learning assessments, and with IEPs—MTMS uses child-by-child hand-placement of students into such courses even if a childs “levels” on county assessments may not qualify them for such support—as an opportunity to ensure a “safety net” for students who may need intermittent support. Second, may work with students afterschool to provide extra time and support. Late busses are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Students have the opportunity to stay for one hour or for two hours, based on their need for extra support. At times, collaborative learning teams create/implement “bootcamps” for afterschool intentional support that is targeted to student needs/individual students. Third, on a formal and regular basis, staff ensure “rolling admissions and rolling release” of students into our intervention period, Extended Learning Time (ELT). Collaborative Team leaders strategically decide to have an Extended Learning Time (ELT) positioned at the end of the instructional day so students who do not understand information during their regular class period can receive interventions the same day before going home.  During the last 40 minutes of the school day, all students are scheduled for an ELT class.  School wide, our teachers decide which students are in need of what type of interventions and are scheduled to match that need.  We built into our master schedule four additional classes so students can be scheduled in up to four separate locations (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays Fridays) to receive supports, thus eliminating wasted time of student transitions from one location to another.   Lastly, students who need more intervention are scheduled using the “rolling admissions and rolling release” paradigm into our “double block” million dollar classes. Mark Twain MS calls these “double block” classes our “million dollar classes.” We know that if someone naively offered us “a million dollars” and told us to raise student achievement, the two key factors to this task are: 1) more time for learning by students and 2) highly effective teachers to provide this additional time. We believe that we don’t need this carrot of “a million dollars” to raise student achievement: Mark Twain MS has create the systems, hired the right people, and spends our money as a priority on these two ideals. We create models for double-block classes in our master schedule through classes called: Power Math, Algebra Readiness, Action Literacy, Read 180, Academic Language, Basic Skills Resource, Reading, and AVID. These are classes that take the place of an elective class and provide more support in reading/mathematics/student success work habits. MTMS is diligently committed to providing more time and supports for students whose gaps need to be closed and our sense of urgency ensures we do this in real time throughout the school year. We know that “fewer choices now” for students will result in “more choices later” for their future success. Reading, writing, and mathematics skills must be a solid, mastered foundation for all students prior to their beginning high school to ensure their success.

3. Building the capacity of teachers to work as members of high performing collaborative teams who focus the efforts of their team on improved learning for students.

MTMS believes in the professional capacity of our staff. We believe that the single-most important predictor of a child’s success is the team of adults who support that child.  It is critical to understand that Mark Twain MS is extremely selective in our hiring practices to make sure that new staff have the philosophies  that drive our vision: a true love and appreciation for the adolescent learning, a proven past of  a strong work ethic, a belief that it is our job to “look in the mirror” rather than “out the window” when identifying causes for student failure, a belief that collaboration and team work are core values in effectiveness, a commitment to turning “roadblocks” into hurdles to support the social, emotional, and academic success of students, and a belief that life-long learning is part of the journey for all educators so that professional development and growth is embedded into all of our collaborative interactions. Once hired, we believe it is our responsibility to invest time and money into the growth of our staff and we work diligently to create formal, high-quality professional development opportunities to align practices with research-based best practices to supplement the daily, job embedded professional development and growth that occurs in our school. The majority of our teaching staff have attending professional conferences offered by Solution Tree or members of the Solution Tree network including PLCs at Work; Ahead of the Curve; and PLC Summits. Many staff have also attended Standards/Assessment Conferences, 90-90-90 Schools Conferences, or chosen to come to guest speakers who share about Assessment for Learning concepts. We believe that it is critical that staff hear first-hand from the current researchers who have done the research and are helping close the “knowing-doing” gaps of schools by identifying the specific actions staff must do to ensure success for all students. This has been a major focus of the professional development aspects of our School Improvement Plan over the last four years and will continue to be a priority in our fiscal allocations of resources. In addition, all MTMS staff have received Kagan Cooperative Learning training to increase levels of student engagement.  MTMS teachers engage in professional book reads/discussions and have been driven by the works of: Ahead  of the Curve by Doug Reeves et. al., Good to Great by Jim Collins, Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano, Classroom Instruction That Works by Robert Marzano, Professional Learning Communities at Work, by Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker, Whatever It Takes by Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker and Gayle Karhanek, Getting Started: Reculturing School sto Become Professional Learning Communities by Robert Eaker, Richard DuFour and Rebecca DuFour, A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne, and A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades by Ken O’Conner.

List any Awards and Recognition Garnered by Your School

• 2011 Board of Education Competence to Excellence Award
• 2011 Fairfax County Public School “Outlier” Recognition
• 2010 Virginia State Adequate Yearly Progress Recognition
• 2010 Best of the Web: Web Site Excellence Award
• 2009 Virginia State Adequate Yearly Progress Recognition
• 2009 Best of the Web: Web Site Excellence Award