As the new school year approaches, students and administrators alike around North Carolina will be thinking about the challenges that face them over the coming months. In two of those schools, teachers, students, and parents can look back to a job well done, and look forward to the next school year with added confidence.
Students at West Lumberton Elementary in Robeson County and Cedar Grove Elementary in Nash County have reason to be more confident — they have managed to make extraordinary progress in academic achievement over recent years. Both schools also have a high percentage of children qualified for the federal nutrition-assistance lunch program.
Students at West Lumberton Elementary improved from a 49 percent combined proficiency in 1997 to an 82 percent proficiency rating by 2001. The school was named a “school of distinction” in 2001, and classified as one of the 25 most improved in the state. These accomplishments, school officials say, are a testament to insistence on high standards.
West Lumberton Elementary serves 165 students, from pre-K through fifth grade. Just over 98 percent of the students can be classified as needy, qualifying for free or reduced lunch. But Principal Juanita Clark said academic performance can be dramatically improved, despite income barriers.
According to responses to a North Carolina Education Alliance (NCEA) survey of teachers and administrators, advances at West Lumberton are not rooted in greater funding, additional administrators, or trendy theories. Clark highlighted small-group tutoring, incentives for academic progress, and good behaviors factors. She also cited character education and partnerships with community organizations such as the Kiwanis Club and area churches as reasons for student success.
The focus on fundamentals has been a fruitful enterprise, Clark said. Accelerated reading initiatives led to the offer of incentives and financial support from both McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. Volunteers and tutors arrive each day to provide individual attention and extended instruction in reading. And each day the school sets aside time for individual, silent reading, a priority, Clark said.
The survey reports a strong focus on staff development, including greater cooperation between teachers and administrators. Staff development activities create a shared vision among staff, making cooperation easier and more productive. Clark said she and school staff set high expectations, which translates into approaching every student with high expectations in mind.
The NC Education Alliance survey reports that West Lumberton’s results encourage partnerships in the business community. Books & Beyond worked with the school to promote quality reading opportunities for all grades.
All the students are expected to make A’s. Children are most likely to perform well when teachers have high expectations, Clark said. Survey responses credit teachers as well as parents and members of the business community for providing the support needed to encourage student achievement.
Clark is a visible presence on campus. She tours classrooms, presents awards, and visits with students at the end of the day as they depart homeward on the bus. The school has received the Triple “S” Safe School Award multiple times in recent years.
Striving for excellence, and insisting on high standards is one way Clark works to turn around low-performing students. The large increase in grade-level proficiency, from just 49 percent in 1997 to 82 percent by 2001, is evidence of what can happen. Clark hints that further success depends upon keeping everyone’s sights set on the goals embodied in the school motto: “To Learn, To Think, To Achieve, and To Care.”
How can teachers encourage students to rise to the challenge of academic excellence? Principal Jerry Smith of Cedar Grove Elementary in Nashville tackles the issue with a “tri-fold partnership” that places equal responsibility with the school, the student, and the parents. A collaborative commitment to a long-term plan for improvement has paid off, Smith says.
A few years ago, only two-thirds of the children were performing at or above grade level. Proficiency ratings rose from a low level in 1997 to a proficiency level approaching 90 percent in five years.
Cedar Grove serves 260 county students, from pre-K to fifth grades. More than 60 percent qualify for nutrition subsidies for breakfast or lunch. Smith piloted the effort to further improve academic achievement. He reported that the improvement was the result of wide participation and effort. According to responses to the NCEA survey, instructional planning was key to enhancing the curriculum and encouraging improving. Smith identified “three R’s” as a means to better serve the needs of children striving to meet their potential.
The first R is research, intended to give better tools to teachers through workshops and seminars. The second R, recognition, places the focus on the plan and its progress. Reaching is the third R. This means implementing Cedar Grove’s instructional planning, termed by Smith as “workable strategies.”
Smith reported that the traditional “three R’s” of reading, writing, and arithmetic are central to successful instructional planning. Improvement, in his judgment, comes from a combination of factors: critical thinking and analysis skills, consistent reinforcement of important material, staff development, and openness to feedback.
A “lead teacher” functions as a direct link between the principal and teachers in order to keep communication open.
Tutoring programs and a focus on the fundamentals round out the curriculum. To better accomplish the tutoring, students are assigned to a staff member who supervises their studies in what Smith called a “study buddy” arrangement. A “reading buddies” program was also established to encourage parents to read to their children. Smith reported that special events have been implemented to promote and emphasize reading, and Cedar Grove is a daily participant in DEAR (Drop Everything And Read).
Testing concepts such as vocabulary are a top priority at Cedar Grove Elementary, as are supplementary items to strengthen the material used in core curriculum areas. A formal agenda set by the school is designed to enhance daily communication between parents and the school.
Smith said student progress suffers without the three-part partnership. Shared accountability between the school, teachers, and parents is essential to fostering high expectations that will “produce consistent, positive, academic results,” Smith said.
But obstacles still remain. Cedar Grove Elementary serves a rural community hit hard by the economic downturn. Smith characterized the greatest challenge as “a lack of self-motivation among the students.” Attempts have been made to counter this problem “while facing the immediate challenges of [their exact] locations and social pressures.”
Like other schools in similar situations, Cedar Grove relies on the community as an important resource. Public agencies such as the fire and sheriff’s department also volunteer services and resources for the school. Smith highlighted their presence as particularly positive role models, who can establish a bond before the children are old enough to get into trouble, or break the law.
Cedar Grove Elementary achieved “exemplary” status from the Department of Public Instruction and North Carolina Public Schools in 2001 and 2002. It was one of only 20 public schools in North Carolina to be selected as a “what works” school by the NCEA.
Advances in the school have been a concerted effort of parents, teachers, and students, along with a long-term plan for the school, Smith said.
Success can be built and maintained for many years to come by using teamwork, Smith said.
Jones is an editorial intern at Carolina Journal.