Dr. Jean Maddox, Principal
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Editor’s
Note:
Recently, Dr. Jean Maddox e-mailed Dr. Spencer Kagan this brief, cheerful note:
Spencer,
I thought I would share our good news. We received the results of our state
testing, and my school had the highest growth points in our district.
We made it to #1. Yeah. We still have a long way to go, but we are on
the move. It is all because of CL, MI, and brain-based strategies. Thank
you for all your help and training. It is paying off.
Number one in the
district —we were quite impressed. We invited
Dr. Maddox to share how her school achieved the highest growth
points in the district. This is her story. |
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Foster
Road Elementary School has been on the road towards success. Our first prerequisite to success was to identify goals for self-improvement.
As a staff, we recognized the unique potential that lies within each
of our students. We studied together the knowledge on how children learn
which built the foundation for implementing effective teaching strategies.
With the help of Kagan Cooperative Learning structures, teachers encourage
students to think, communicate, and express ideas in imaginative concrete
ways.
Foster Road Elementary (PreK-5) is part of the
Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District. It is a community center
school located approximately 18 miles southeast of metropolitan Los
Angeles. It is a unique school setting which includes preschool, regular
education, and a large population of elementary special education students.
Spanish is spoken as the primary language in many of the homes. The
ethnic composition of Foster Road’s
population was reported in October 2003 on the CBEDS School Information
Form. The CBEDS reports
• 82% Hispanic
• 9% White
• 3% Asian
• 4% African American
• 1% Filipino
Foster Road has 68% of the students participating in the free and reduced school
breakfast and lunch program. |
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In 1999, Foster Road’s Academic Performance
Index (API) was reported at 446. The Public Schools Accountability
Act (PSAA) was signed into law in April 1999, which authorized the
creation of a new educational accountability system for California
public schools. The (API) is used to measure school performance, set
academic growth targets, and monitor progress over time. When Foster
Road received the (API) report of 446 we knew we had a challenging
opportunity ahead of us to improve student achievement. We worked on
building our collaborative relationships, mobilized our resources,
and implemented effective teaching strategies.
Below is Foster Road’s API History
in chart and graph forms:
![Foster Road API growth points chart](../../images/freearticles/foster_road_chart.gif) |
Academic
Performance Index (API)
Year |
State Target |
Actual Growth |
Difference |
% Difference |
2000 |
18 |
62 |
44 |
244% |
2001 |
15 |
48 |
33 |
220% |
2002 |
12 |
25 |
13 |
108% |
2003 |
10 |
41 |
31 |
310% |
2004 |
7 |
41 |
34 |
485% |
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As a school, we are making a difference in the
students we are teaching. The progress has been steady, and we know
we have a long way to go, but the changes are happening. In each year,
we have exceeded the state’s
target. In 2004, Foster Road’s Academic Performance Index (API)
was reported at 695, exceeding the state’s growth target by 485%.
This year we had the highest growth points in the district for all 25
elementary and middle schools!![](../../images/freearticles/foster_road2.jpg)
When our first API report was available to us
our staff met to analyze the student data. This was our first step
and the driving force in the professional learning process. As a Kagan
trainer and principal of the school, I used my extensive training in
the cooperative learning structures, multiple intelligences strategies,
and brain-based research to accelerate our teacher training and student
successes. Each staff meeting (twice a month) covered various cooperative
learning structures demonstrating how the teachers could use the structures
in their classrooms. Our staff development days were on multiple intelligences
strategies to help address how students are smart in different ways,
and how we could reach more students if we looked at how they learn
best. Teachers tried a variety of approaches to meet their students’ diverse
learning needs. The teachers worked in grade level teams to identify
common needs and discussed each student’s strengths and weaknesses.
With standards-based instruction, we
wanted our students engaged in the lessons and interacting with one another.
We looked at best practices with cooperative learning as a leading method
for academic gain, social development, and improving ethnic relationships.
As a staff, we implemented various books each
year that staff members were held accountable for reading. We reviewed
the strategies discussed in the books at staff meetings, so everyone
had a common knowledge of terms and approaches. Some of the books we
have used are: Multiple
Intelligences the Complete MI Book by Dr. Spencer
Kagan & Miguel Kagan, Different
Brains, Different Learners by Eric Jensen, Tools
for Engagement by
Eric Jensen, Conscious Discipline by Dr. Becky A. Bailey, and Worksheets
Don’t
Grow Dendrites by Dr. Marica L. Tate. The staff was learning strategies
on teambuilding, reexamining their teaching skills, ways to implement
a few easy strategies as part of any lesson, and classroom management
skills to bring about dramatic gains in student success. We use many
of the Kagan SmartCards to help the teachers with a quick guide and a
reference to strategies they can use in their classrooms. Our goal is
to put fun back into their teaching.
Change is forever happening around us. As a staff,
we wanted to be proactive in the learning process. The journey begins
with the first step. We reviewed the video tapes “Reaching Standards
Through Cooperative Leaning.” The
tapes modeled cooperative learning structures in action, which helped
my teachers, understand how to implement the structures in various types
of curriculum. We modeled structures at staff meetings using our curriculum
demonstrating teaching in more ways, so we can reach more students.
As students learn at different rates, teachers
also learn at different rates. I am available to my staff to offer
support, coach, and model various strategies to use with the different
curriculum they are teaching. As we learn to stretch our intelligences,
we stretch our comfort zone to bring about
change. It is all worth
it when we celebrate our successes in our students’ achievement.
Kagan Cooperative Learning and all the professional
staff development that I have received through Dr. Spencer & Laurie
Kagan has impacted
the way I teach and work with my staff. All the strategies that have
been shared have made it possible to offer students broader and deeper
learning experiences. As a staff, we will continue to work together to
nurture and improve our students’ achievement. Thank you for being
the springboard that builds success and confidence in our students. Here’s
to meaningful instruction and having all students be engaged in their
learning process.
Success to all,
Dr. Jean Maddox, Principal
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