By Annie MartinThe Daily Northwestern
Mixed-achievement classes and a team approach to learning have allowed Washington Elementary, 914 Ashland Ave., to help struggling students and improve test scores, fourth-grade teacher Colleen Kelly said.
Principal Susan Lewis said these strategies are a large part of the reason Washington met its Adequate Yearly Progress goals mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The school was placed on the No Child Left Behind watch list in 2003 because of low performance on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test. As a result, Washington has been required to provide after-school tutoring to low-income families and give parents the option to send their children to another school in Evanston/Skokie School District 65.
If Washington meets its goals again this year, these sanctions will be removed. This year about 15 families use the tutoring service, and fewer than five have opted to send their children to a different school, Lewis said.
Unlike at many other elementary schools, Washington’s class rosters are not dictated by students’ academic prowess, and there are no “advanced” reading groups. Math whizzes learn beside those who struggle, and every student receives the same material.
In addition, Kelly and her colleagues meet every week to discuss their students’ progress and to decide where to focus their efforts to improve student performance.
“We have an excellent staff,” Lewis said. “We’ve always had excellent teachers. We’re teaching in classrooms that have a lot of different achievement levels.”
Although Lewis said Washington faces many of the same challenges as other elementary schools in the district, 54 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches – a higher proportion than at other schools. Washington also houses several Two-Way Immersion classes, in which native English- and Spanish-speaking students learn together in the same classroom.
“We serve a variety of cultures,” Lewis said. “The neighborhood is naturally integrated and people here want students to learn and be educated in a diverse school.”
In the differentiated teaching model, students are taught in different ways but receive the same material. Although this technique is a much more involved process than traditional methods, Kelly said it’s worth the extra effort.
“We have teachers here for whom this school is an extension of their family,” Kelly said.
The teachers have been using data to analyze their students’ progress much more than they used to, Kelly said. After the students take a test, all the teachers at each grade level will sit down and figure out what information the students are struggling with. If Kelly notices several students in her class missed a certain question or seem to be having trouble with a topic, she’ll go back and re-teach the concepts.
“We all feel responsible,” Kelly said. “Any issues with students are everyone’s problem.”
“They analyzed where they needed to support students more and made a concentrated effort,” School Board President Mary Erickson said. “They can get a pinpoint picture so they know what they need to re-teach.”
Kelly said teachers and school officials pay particular attention to making sure that all students can perform at the same level, regardless of socioeconomic status or other outside factors.
“It’s an issue that keeps me awake at night,” Kelly said. “How can I close that gap?”
Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].
