![](media/image1.jpeg){width="6.777777777777778in"
height="1.9354166666666666in"}

SCHOOL SETTING, DEMOGRAPHICS, AND DATA

Although it is located on a busy street only a few miles from urban
Philadelphia, Lancashire Elementary Schools is surrounded by trees and
well-maintained open space. Inside, bright signs hang from the ceiling,
steering visitors to the front office, and student work covers the
walls. A giant graph of "good choices---great rewards" tracks points
students have earned for good behavior. Greeting children by name, the
principal exchanges a few a quick hugs or pats a child gently on the
back and asks about his siblings or parents or how a recent test
went.![](media/image2.jpeg){width="4.50625in"
height="3.379166666666667in"}

Part of the Brandywine School District in Wilmington, Delaware,
Lancashire serves about 350 students in Kindergarten through third
grade. The school roughly reflects the community's demographics:
According to 2000 U.S. Census data, Wilmington's population is 10%
Hispanic, 32% White, and 56% African American. The median household
income in Wilmington is \$35,116, more than \$12,000 lower than the
state average. Wilmington is not growing, and Lancashire pulls students
from low-income areas to the north and east. In response to local need,
Lancashire includes a Title 1 extended Kindergarten\
program for nearly half the entering students. With the extended
program, specialists, volunteers, and other supports, the program works
to even the playing field for all children in the school.

In addition to Principal Peter Barry, Lancashire has 17 classroom
teachers, three full-time and eight part-time special resource
teachers/specialists, four para-professionals, and three support staff.
Teacher turnover is very low. In addition to the faculty and staff,
Lancashire has an active volunteer force. Volunteers include parents,
retired community members and others; administrators estimated that
Lancashire has volunteers about 40% of the time. Every volunteer
participates in an hour-long training course. Of particular note is the
strong connection to retired citizens in the community through Retired
and Senior Volunteer Program and Toward a Better Society volunteer
tutors.![](media/image3.jpeg){width="2.95625in" height="2.98125in"}

Lancashire Elementary is a choice school under No Child Left Behind,
meaning that parents may choose it for their children over a
neighborhood elementary school. Several Lancashire teachers have chosen
to have their own children attend the school, a testament to the quality
of instruction. It is clear that all school staff are expected to get to
know the students in order to understand and teach them better, to make
them feel cared about, and to anticipate a lot in terms of good
behavior, effort, and accountability.

SCHOOL CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT

While there is no official definition of school culture, a visitor
senses it on first walking through a school's doors. Is the school
culture collaborative? Is it dogmatic? Is this a competitive
environment? Is it friendly? Lancashire's principal, described by
several teachers as "extremely accessible," greets faculty and staff
warmly. Students walk in orderly lines, their voices low but their
energy high. They smile and easily accept the principal's greetings.

The school building, now more than 40 years old, was built according to
an open plan design, with grade-level classrooms clustered around a
centrum, or open area for small groups, specialists, and storage.
Construction is beginning on a new building on space next to the school
in Spring 2008, and while teachers and staff voiced some regret about
losing the open centrum area, they were pleased that the new, larger
building will accommodate students from kindergarten through 5th grade,
giving them two more years with students before middle school.

Lancashire uses a multi-faceted, team approach to create a positive and
healthy learning environment and culture of caring. A key element is the
PBS (Positive Behavior Program), which applies across the board at
Lancashire---to students, teachers, and staff members. Using a
point-based reward system, the PBS program is an incentive for teamwork.
Classes earn class compliments that translate into class rewards;
students can earn individual compliments, known as PAW bucks, which they
can turn in for personal rewards. PAWS is an acronym for Practice
kindness, Act safely, Work responsibly, and Show respects, which are the
four schoolwide expectations. Students are given clear expectations
about behavior and are taught what good behavior looks like. Parents
noted that their children talk about the rewards and that they "really
want to earn it."

Lancashire has very few discipline issues. "Teachers are trained on how
to handle \[discipline problems\], so only very serious issues are sent
to me," explained Principal Barry. Teachers are supported through
training (for example, through the YMCA anti-bullying program) and by
the guidance counselor, who goes into each classroom every other month
to reinforce PAWS, the anti-bullying and conflict resolution program.
Some students are referred by teachers or parents to work with the
counselor more intensely on a temporary basis. A parent noted that Mr.
Barry addresses issues immediately and uses a teaching approach to
problems rather than punishment.

The Lancashire pledge, which students recite every morning following the
Pledge of the Allegiance to the flag, reinforces the school's positive
message:

Today I pledge to be

the best possible me!

I will practice Kindness,

act Safely,

work Responsibly,

and show Respect.

No matter what I do,

I know I can become better.

I pledge to believe in me!

Less formally, teachers promote good classroom behavior through
reinforcing statements. Several teachers throughout the building were
often heard offering students specific praise through "I like the way
you..." statements, such as, "I like the way you used your math strategy
to find the answer" and "I like the way your class is quietly walking
down the hall." This approach to specifying what was going right was
systematic. Compliments were never a vague, "good job," but were always
specific---"good job on your paper, Jane!"

Lancashire has a simple dress code---solid colored shirts and pants or
skirts but no jeans. While not a strictly enforced (some students were
slightly off), it is a valuable practice, said Principal Barry, and
neither students nor parents have every voiced concern over the dress
code. Uniforms also make it easy to supply economically constrained
students with needed clothes, he added. The school has a supply of
school shirts and pants that can be

passed along to families and other kids don't notice the difference.
Principal Barry attributes the dress code to helping students stay
focused on school work, noting that "there is a definite change when we
have had schoolwide dress-down days." Because students were a little
more restless, he has decreased the number of dress-down days.

**STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT**

In most cases, students at Lancashire Elementary have been progressing
and in some years excelling on the Delaware Student Testing Program
(DSTP) in reading, writing, and math. Teachers, the principal, and
parents attribute these positive moves to the school's focus on quality
instruction, clear curricular goals, a spirit of collaboration and team
effort, and a strong sense of community, both inside and outside the
school.

Mr. Barry believes a key factor is Lancashire's strong emphasis on
accountability, because early identification and intervention are
essential to improving or adapting instructional practice to meet
students' learning needs. Several accountability forces are in play at
Lancashire, including tracking student progress across assessments;
using formative and ongoing assessments to gauge each student's progress
towards meeting grade-level expectations in reading, math, writing, and
science; and monitoring the fidelity of curriculum and instruction
implementation.

Teachers, parents, and Principal Barry were careful to explain that at
Lancashire assessment and testing provided teachers with the clues they
need to alter and adapt instruction according to individual student's
needs. Lancashire's technology coordinator tracks information on a
spreadsheet after teachers submit student data at every marking period.
Assessment tools in use at Lancashire include benchmark assessments to
determine students' progress in reading fluency, end-of-unit tests to
assess growth in vocabulary and language development, and text-based
writing prompts to help gauge students' responses to text. Student
proficiency in elaborating their writing with detail is tracked through
their grades as a part of the standards-based grade-reporting system.

In math, Lancashire developed one-on-one assessments based on the
Delaware Grade Level Expectations for number sense and computation,
augmented by district-created assessments to determine competency in
problem-solving and mathematical communication. These assessments in
particular are tied to small increments of learning that allow teachers
to determine whether students have mastered a skill and who may need
re-teaching of a skill or strategy. All these assessments are ongoing
and are used for goal-setting and instructional differentiation by the
Instructional Support Team, grade-level teams, and by each teacher.

In addition to customized instruction for each child, prior year test
scores influence which class children are placed the next year. Test
scores are disaggregated by subgroups to help the principal look at how
subgroup learning gaps are closing. For example, a dip in the DSTP math
score for one subgroup prompted further investigation, and led to the
finding that there was a disconnect between the district pacing guide
and assessments

when the new edition of the math textbook was introduced. Teachers and
the principal will be tracking progress carefully for all students now
that the program is fully implemented and revisions to the assessments
and pacing guides are in place.

Mr. Barry described the use of data as a team effort. During an
Instructional Support Team meeting he engaged teachers in a conversation
about the data and empowered them to direct the conversation to a
discussion of interventions and solutions. The next day, Instructional
Support Team members then took the strategies to grade-level meetings
for further discussion.

Teachers have grade-level meetings twice a month, in the morning before
students arrive. Additional meeting time is provided when the principal
takes the whole school to the gym for monthly assemblies and teaches
students about American heroes.

CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

The Lancashire Elementary School takes a schoolwide approach to
curricular and instructional initiatives. While many of the initiatives
may not be unique as stand-alone programs, what makes the Lancashire
effort so strong is the building-wide buy-in and support for the
initiatives by faculty and staff. The principal, teachers, specialists,
support staff, students and parents clearly embrace the spirit of the
initiatives.![](media/image4.jpeg){width="3.74375in"
height="2.751388888888889in"}

During the 2005-2005 school year, Lancashire implemented the
Instructional Support Team (IST). Made up of teachers and support staff,
the IST uses a collaborative problem-solving process to focus on
enhancing, improving, and increasing student and staff performance. The
goal of IST is to improve teacher instruct ion and student performance,
and IST members are trained in a problem-solving process intended to
support teacher instruction and create appropriate instructional matches
for referred students. The collaborative, team approach offers teachers
the opportunity to work with colleagues to problem-solve and create
learning success for all students.

The IST process begins when a teacher completes a confidential request
for assistance for a student. Request forms are placed in the IST
mailbox and a case manager from the team responds to the referral within
a week, setting up a time to meet. Together the case manager and teacher
begin a problem-solving process that includes: 1) identifying specific
and observable concerns, 2) assessing instructional conditions, 3)
prioritizing and

targeting concerns, 4) collecting baseline data, 5) writing specific and
measurable goals, 6) designing and implementing strategies to help the
student, 7) graphing data, 8), evaluating the strategies or
interventions implemented, and 9) redesign or closure. Typically, this
process takes about 12 weeks. During the 2006-2007 school year, 20
students participated in the IST process.

An Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) made up of the principal, reading
specialist, guidance counselor, special educator, and one teacher from
each grade meets monthly to review data, share information and plan.
Working from an agenda, the team meets for approximately 45 minutes. In
a recent meeting, a teacher shared a strategy she was using with her
students in math that involved graphing each student's test scores over
time and then analyzing them with the student. "Kids are taking
ownership \[of their test scores\] and see trends and ask questions like
'why did I not do well on that one?'" the teacher explained. Principal
Barry had the other teachers look at some graphs and discuss the
strategy. Some teachers were hesitant to try it across disciplines, and
the principal suggested they "just try it in one area to start." The ILT
group serves multiple purposes, among them cross-colleague professional
development and guidance. In another instance, a discussion of a new
spelling program elicited agreement from the 2nd- and 3rd-grade teachers
to use the first 100 words on the word wall for consistency across
classrooms.![](media/image5.jpeg){width="3.575in"
height="2.676388888888889in"}

Lancashire teachers are currently pilot testing a new edition of a math
textbook, and discussed about how they felt about it, how it differed
from the earlier edition, and how it worked in the classroom, noting
that is was "much more user-friendly" and that they valued its use of
multiple methods to solve problems and its highly visual, interactive
nature. The level of conversation suggested that teachers were not just
implementing the new edition in a rote manner, they were making it their
own.

Delaware has developed a recommended curriculum for all content areas
including, but not limited to) English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and
Social studies. The standards in each content area contain the essential
knowledge and skills students must attain by graduation from high
school. Developed using the Understanding By Design framework, the
curriculum includes Enduring Understandings, Essential Questions, and
Specific Grade Level Expectations. It was created through back
mapping---starting with what students need to know and be able to do by
the time they graduate high school and working backwards to develop an
aligned curriculum that will give each student, from kindergarten
through 12th grade, the essential skills and strategies to reach
graduation.

The Brandywine School District created Pacing Guides for each grade
level in each content area to create a road map teachers could follow as
they implement instructional programs. The guides guarantee that
students are exposed to the curriculum, while practicing and applying
the skills that will lead to their meeting the grade-level expectations
established by the state.

In one class, on fractions and decimals, the teacher had written a
series of challenges on the board and students were eager to work out
the problems. After the students tried the problems, the teacher took
each challenge and worked it through all the way. When one student got
the problem wrong, the teacher did not just move on to another student,
but worked through the challenge with the student, while inviting others
to suggest alternative strategies. When the student figured out what he
did wrong, he gave the answer with enthusiasm and the whole class
cheered.

Teachers, staff, and the principal noted the strength of the
kindergarten program at Lancashire for preparing kids for the
challenging upper grades, as an observation of a kindergarten math
lesson showed. The teacher had made a 6' x 3' graph, around which
students sat while the teacher explained the graph's columns and rows.
One column was marked as "heads" and the other "tails." Using a large
mock penny, the teacher identified which side was "heads" and which
"tails," and linked the discussion to an earlier study of President
Abraham Lincoln. Drawing from a pile of large paper cut-outs of pennies,
each child rolled a large mock penny like a die, then marked heads or
tails on the graph. Throughout, teacher prompted students to note what
they were observing, encouraging them to think about the activity. At
the end, the children counted up the heads and tails to determine which
there were more of (in this case, it was a tie). Then students worked at
tables with real pennies and worksheets, again flipped coins, noted
heads and tails, and graphed their results. The teacher used this time
to observe how each child understood the concepts being taught.

According to classroom teachers and Principal Barry, early intervention
services and inclusion make a tremendous difference at Lancashire,
helping teachers stay grounded and focused. For example, the Reading
Specialist works with teachers to use common strategies and common
language for phonics, reading comprehension, and beginning writing in
kindergarten. Using benchmark tests and a fluency support, the Reading
Specialist and teachers target special support for students who need
some assistance. The goal is to identify where reading issues begin. The
Reading Specialist and the teachers devised a plan to use teaching
strategies from their inventory for topics such as letter sounds,
blends, fluency, and comprehension. Checking in with teachers
periodically, the Reading Specialist sometimes also models classroom
strategies and helps with further diagnosis. Noting that Lancashire is
moving to a Response to Intervention (RTI) model next year, the Reading
Specialist expressed eagerness to see how it works in their program,
hopeful that the RTI will help teachers sharpen their instructional
focus.

CONCLUSION

Features that set Lancashire Elementary School apart from other schools
with similar demographics include the positive school culture, the use
of assessment to inform instructional practice, and the strength of
curriculum and instruction implementation. It is not one of these
elements in isolation, but rather the embedded nature of all of these
practices and more that create an environment where students can thrive.
The entire faculty, administration, support staff, and community are
clearly cheering for the kids at Lancashire---and not only cheering, but
setting up safety nets and supports to ensure that every student has the
opportunity to flourish.

The challenges Lancashire faces may be found in countless other school.
What is unique to Lancashire's approach is the attention to the details
of each child's learning and each teacher's teaching. It has much to do
with the faculty's willingness to get on board with new practices and
study what kids are learning. Lancashire has clear support from the
principal, professionalism among faculty, and strong community backing.

+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| Lancashire Elementary School   |         |         |        |       |
|                                |         |         |        |       |
| Delaware Student Testing       |         |         |        |       |
| Program (DSTP)                 |         |         |        |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| \% proficient and above: 3rd   |         |         |        |       |
| grade Reading                  |         |         |        |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
|                                | 2004    | 2005    | 2006   | 2007  |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| All                            | 83      | 87      | 94     | 88    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| African American               | 71      | 86      | 86     |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| State Scores                   |         |         |        | 81    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| \% proficient and above: 3rd   |         |         |        |       |
| grade Math                     |         |         |        |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
|                                | 2004    | 2005    | 2006   | 2007  |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| All                            | 80      | 83      | 82     | 84    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| African American               | 63      | 77      | 72     |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| State Scores                   |         |         |        | 77    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+