Darley Road Elementary is much improved -
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Published on: 9/8/1999
Last Visited: 8/15/2000
Educators have been admonished to go easy when it comes to bragging about recently published state academic test scores, but Jim Grant, principal of Darley Road Elementary School, has something to crow about.If not the most improved school in the state, it is unquestionably high up there among the most improved.
Darley Road Elementary jumped from ranking 68th out of 69 elementary schools in the state in combined results from the 1999 third-grade tests to 46th in a field of 72 this year.If that standing still keeps it solidly in the lower half, consider that the number of third-graders who met or exceeded the state standard climbed nearly 16 percentage points to 80.7 %.That beat the statewide average of 76.8 %.
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There are no comparable figures from a year ago, since the program be not in place then, but Grant conservatively estimated the on-mark kids were no more than about two-thirds to three-fourths of that class.
Finally, Darley Road Elementary was designated a National Distinguished Title I School.
That honor tells part of the story.Title I is a federal program authorized by the first title, or part, of the Education Advancement Act, which provides money for extra effort to education children from.
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Literally every member of the instructional staff -- including Grant who frequently substitutes for absent teachers -- participates.
On top of that, there is extra instruction -- tutelage or extended-day classes -- is provided for children who need that boost.And parents are brought into it by agreeing to either read to or listen to their children read for a minimum of 20 minutes a day.Grant said that aspect of the program drew better than 70 % full cooperation in terms of the adults keeping and submitting logs or the activities.
While the new program with its intensive and highly visible demonstration of the seriousness with which the school takes reading -- considered by all educators as the basic leaning tool -- no doubt played a major role in elevating Darley Road Elementary's performance, Grant said it is by no means the only factor.
What it did was change our way of thinking.We knew that the way we were going about the everyday business of teaching be not working, he said.
Obtaining maximum results from the program is a matter of providing a conducive atmosphere.We were doing other things before to accomplish than and obtain [ parental ] involvement, he explained.Outside the instructional area, they have included such things as requiring students to wear a modified uniform and grouping the student body into families' -- the Awesome As and Brilliant Bs last school year -- to mingle the grades for such activities as lunch and recess.
One thing Grant categorically rules out as a factor in the school's improvement is a sense of competition with other schools, which, in part, the state tests originally were intended to promote.While he admits attaining a higher ranking after the 2001 tests next spring would be satisfying, the real goal is more solid : Having every student in the school reading at or above grade level after the third year of the program.
It can be done, Grant said.
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