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**MADISON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL**

When Madison Elementary School opened in 1949, its design was so
forward-looking that the district superintendent invited 150 architects,
contractors, and superintendents to the school for a day-long workshop
on the essential features of a good school building.
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Today, the school remains a well-preserved testament to its founding
principles and continues to celebrate excellence in learning. With more
than half of its student population eligible for free or reduced-price
meals, Madison students are nonetheless in the top ten percent of
Washington students on state assessments.

Under Principal Brent Perdue's strong leadership, Madison has created a
culture that holds everyone to high standards and has made enormous
strides in students' math achievement.

**MAKING MATH A PRIORITY**

Three years ago, the school committed to improve its math instruction
and efforts are paying off. Based on assessment data pointing to math as
the area of highest need, coupled with research from the Education
Trust, Madison made mathematics a priority. Student scores on state
tests have improved dramatically: In 2002, 64 percent of Madison
students met the 4th-grade state standard; three years later, that
figure rose to 73 percent. Compared with other elementary schools with
similar percentages of students qualifying for free or reduced-price
meals, Madison students are in the 84th percentile of all low income
students in mathematics, and last year Madison saw gains at other
grades, with 80% of 3rd-grade students and 87% of 5th-grade students
meeting state standards.

"Math is what we have been eating, breathing, and thinking for a while,"
a teacher said. Madison made math the foundation for schoolwide
teaching, learning, and professional development. Explained Principal
Perdue, "When schools target mathematics, the other content areas do not
show a decline. It is likely due to the fact that most elementary
teachers choose to teach elementary school because they love literacy,
but tend not to have the same level of training and comfort in teaching
math." The school is committed to retaining this focus for at least five
years in order to see lasting change. "The research recommends a
five-year focus on a content area to make lasting and sustainable
change," Purdue said.

As one teacher noted, "The thing I am most proud of is that the work we
are doing here is definitely preparing our students for success in
middle school. The middle schools that our children go on to attend are
asking what we are doing here with our kids, because they see a
difference with our kids in comparison to kids from other schools"
adding that this finding was not merely anecdotal: there are data to
demonstrate this difference. "The most exciting thing," the teacher
said, "is that one of the middle schools disaggregated their data by
feeder school and Madison's kids were by far the highest achievers."
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**A STRUCTURED MATH BLOCK**

A Madison math block contains includes three components: a daily
"constructivist" lesson, problem-solving, and skill review. The daily
lesson is aligned with state standards and emphasizes mathematical
thinking and understanding how to get to the answer rather than simple
memorization. Students use various methods to aid in their
problem-solving, such as working with manipulatives, using drawings to
demonstrate how to solve problems, connecting math to real-life concepts
such as time management and the conservation of matter (the same volume
looks different in two different sized containers), and learning how to
conduct surveys and analyze survey data.

In a 1st-grade classroom, students worked in small groups to measure
items such as rulers and books using smaller items such as tiles and
paperclips, recording the measurements on paper. When they reached
scenarios that challenged their thinking, such as how to record a
measurement that was "almost 5 clips long," the teacher scaffolded their
work by bringing in other students to help solve the conundrum and
patiently worked with students to reach their own conclusions.

During the problem-solving portion of the math block, students write
detailed explanations describing exactly how they arrived at their
solutions, so that others may learn from their thinking process. In one
classroom students presented their solutions and explanations to the
rest of the class, who responded with questions and counter-arguments.
This active problem-solving process is a powerful method for
understanding "what math is all about." It gives students the
opportunity to "dig deeper" for the meaning behind the answer, rather
than simply memorizing facts.
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During the final portion of the math block, skill review, students
review content that has previously been taught. The questions selected
for this additional review are based upon assessment data.

**DISTRICT-WIDE MATH CURRICULUM**

Madison students from kindergarten through 6th grade were observed
actively participating and engaging in high level discourse. In one
Kkndergarten class a small child exclaimed, "I am using my brain to
think!" explaining why when you subtract 1 from any number and then add
1 to it, the value remains the same. In higher grades, students
presented their work via projectors with confidence as they demonstrated
how they solved problems. In another class, 5th graders took a survey of
how many people watched a certain television show, calculating both the
fraction and percentage of the class who watched the show.

## STRONG LEADERSHIP, HIGH EXPECTATIONS

It is clear that Mr. Perdue takes the Spokane Public Schools' focus of
rigor, relevance, and relationships seriously. Moreover, he is a
principal who puts action behind his words, "I am not the type of
principal that is just making sure the bells ring." A teacher concurred:
"We set high expectations for ALL children no matter what family
background, ethnicity, or income level. We have respect for all
families." Just as school staff set high expectations for children, Mr.
Perdue sets high expectations for his staff. As one teacher explained,
"He sets high levels of expectations for his staff. It is NOT an option
NOT to collaborate." Another teacher said, "He challenges me as a
teacher and I really love that." More important, "he has the kids'
hearts in mind at all times."

Staff members could not say enough positive things about the principal's
leadership style. One teacher called Principal Perdue "the driving force
behind what we do here. He's a wonderful leader. \... Of all the
principals I have worked for he is by far the best." Added another, "Mr.
Perdue fosters an environment of respect here. You don't feel that
hierarchy like at other schools. \... Everyone is respected in their
roles. Mr. Perdue has done a nice job to include everyone in the
decision making process, so everyone feels valued."

Parents made it apparent that they also felt respected and included, and
shared the teachers' admiration and respect for Mr. Perdue. As one
parent said, "Mr. Perdue is so involved that kids aren't afraid of the
principal. He gets into the classroom and knows them all by name."
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Recently recognized nationally for his excellence in leadership, Mr.
Perdue was one of six principals in the country awarded the Terrel H.
Bell award by the U.S. Department of Education for outstanding school
leadership in 2007. Winners of this award are chosen for having made a
difference in their schools through achieving dramatic increases in
student outcomes despite challenges. Observations in the school,
conversations with Mr. Perdue, along with parent and staff interviews,
strongly supported that this award is well-deserved.

**DEDICATED QUALITY TEACHERS**

Mr. Perdue does not attribute Madison's success to his efforts alone,
but credits much of the success to quality teachers. "Research
consistently shows that the number one school-based impact on student
learning is the quality of the teacher who leads the learning in the
classroom," he said. It was evident to observers, who saw highly
enthusiastic teachers engaging their students in the learning process
through discourse and scaffolding. Parents also spoke of the dedication
and excellence of Madison teachers. "The staff at this school are more
involved in what's going on with the children and what's going on in the
classroom than at any of the other schools they have attended," said one
parent, and another added, "The staff cares. It's not just a job to
them. They care about kids' learning and about their safety." Parents
marveled at how accessible the teachers are. "You can always feel free
to call a teacher to ask questions," one mother noted, "Some teachers
even give out their home phone numbers." Asked why they thought Madison
was awarded the Blue Ribbon, parents said, "It's the best staff. All
staff support each other and work well together. They have one goal in
mind, are open and approachable." This comment was echoed by the
teachers themselves when they said, "We build off of one another,
support each other. We all really get along with each other." During
teacher collaboration time teachers were observed actively listening to
one another and communicating clearly to best serve the academic needs
of their students.

**A PLACE WHERE PARENTS CAN LEARN, TOO**

Madison has invested a great deal of effort in involving parents in
their children's educations. As the school's mission statement says,
"The Madison Elementary School community is committed to providing
excellence in education \... This excellence cannot be realized without
parents, who are recognized as their children's first and foremost
teachers." The teachers at Madison have taken the mission statement to
heart, saying they find "lots of opportunities to connect with families
and the staff takes the time and effort to reach out to our
families\...75-85 percent of the staff will attend the evening events."

The evening of a school visit, school staff members were gearing up for
a night of "Book Bingo" sponsored by the Parent Teacher Organization.
Many other events throughout the year, such as a Back to School
Bar-B-Que, Math and Literacy nights, and "Love and Logic" parent
education and support workshops, bring families and school staff
together for fun and learning.

Madison has made keeping parents informed and involved a top priority,
and invites parents to attend when experts come to the school to offer
the staff professional development. Parents expressed appreciation for
being included in math events with national experts, because they needed
to be aware of "this new style of teaching math, because it's not at all
how I learned it when I was in school."

All the Madison staff work together to ensure that parents attend
parent-teacher conferences throughout the year, and parents make
attendance a priority, as evidenced by a 97 percent average attendance
rate over the past three years. In addition, Madison maintains an
open-door policy and encourages parents to volunteer in classrooms.
Parents were observed throughout the day engaging in one-on-one tutoring
and helping out in large groups in various classrooms. A teacher
credited parents with Madison's success, saying, "The parent population
is really involved here, even parents of children with special needs. I
really haven't seen this level of parent involvement in other schools."
It was clear that teachers were very comfortable having visitors in
their classrooms.

## "MADISON, WHERE EVERYONE IS A LEARNER"

The Madison school motto states, "Everyone is a learner," an assertion
that includes the entire school community of teachers, students,
parents, and the principal, and drives everything that happens at the
school. In the words of the principal, "We need to continuously learn
what the latest research is saying about best practice and adjust
teaching strategies accordingly. The staff here are continuously making
strides in their own learning."

Every Thursday morning in Spokane Public Schools, teachers arrive 30
minutes early and students arrive 30 minutes late, giving teachers 60
minutes of collaboration time. Teachers meet in small groups with their
grade-level teams or in a large group with the goal of spending focused
time discussing data, content, and critical strategies that create
optimal learning for students. In the words of one teacher, "having the
opportunity to collaborate is a big one."
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Professional development at Madison is ongoing. The principal's approach
has been to bring in leading experts rather than send a few staff
members to an off-site training session. This approach builds a
"critical mass" of knowledge within Madison, rather than having
knowledge rest only with the few who were able to attend the training.
For example, Cathy Fosnot, the author of *Math in the City*, came to
Madison to collaborate with teachers and develop strategies for
improving number sense among students of all grade levels. According to
the principal, "it was huge to see the guru in mathematics speak with
passion."

Optional Monday afternoon book studies bring staff together to update
their learning by reading professional books and the latest research.
The principal describes himself as, "always voraciously reading what is
out there on best practices. I model this learning for my staff." He
described his philosophy of lifelong learning as, "The world is
constantly changing. I tell the teachers that you wouldn't want a doctor
that did not keep up on the latest practices and medicines for
treatment. It's the same for teachers."

In interviews, teachers said they valued the opportunity to participate
in the book studies, finding the book groups "really helpful in
improving my teaching," in the words of one teacher. This enthusiasm was
observed during collaboration time when teachers were discussing
strategies to increase children's reading comprehension. One teacher
waved a book, *Comprehension Connections*, before her colleagues,
exclaiming, "This book has amazing meta-cognition strategies!"

Madison currently has an instructional coach in mathematics who works
with staff to help plan instruction, review assessments, make
intervention decisions, and co-teach lessons. In an interview, Principal
Perdue explained his philosophy behind hiring the instructional coach:
"I am also a firm believer in instructional coaching. Tiger Woods has a
swing coach. Here at Madison we have an instructional coach in
mathematics." The instructional coach is part of Madison's comprehensive
approach to ongoing professional development and another example of the
school's commitment to learning at all levels.

Teachers have appreciated the coach's efforts and embraced the
opportunity to learn from their work with her. "She has been a real
inspiration to a lot of us and a good model. She works hand in hand with
teachers and generates lots of discussion about the curriculum," said
one. Another noted, "She has been instrumental in Madison's improvement
in mathematics."

The instructional coach was observed providing one-on-one instruction
and support to teachers and students in several classrooms during the
site visit. During an observation of a 6th-grade classroom, students
were encouraged to share their mathematical problem-solving skills. The
instructional coach and the teacher delved deeply into the children's
thought processes, asking the children to use pictures to demonstrate
the reasoning behind their answers. The instructional coach continuously
praised the students and said, "I am learning more from you than you are
from me. You are the real teachers." During an interview with the
instructional staff, she further shared thoughts on her teaching
pedagogy, "The idea behind what we do here is that children are engaged
in authentic learning experiences on a daily basis. Kathy Fosnot's
materials are really helpful in that everything they learn in math is
based on relevant/authentic real life examples. All math is taught in a
problem-solving context; there is a purpose and connection to the real
world with mathematics. The children are as much the teacher as we are.
We really teach the children to trust their own thinking and judgment."
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## CONTINUOUS EXAMINATION OF STUDENT PROGRESS

Assessment is a guiding force behind all decision-making at Madison. It
"drives instruction daily and everything done in the classroom" and it
also guides schoolwide decisions as well. "We have moved away from what
feels good and going on gut instinct to using research to guide practice
and doing what gets results." Both formative and summative evaluations
take place in classrooms daily. "We have a data-driven protocol here. We
definitely assess more than the average school." Teachers described how
they keep daily running records of informal observations of children's
progress, then use formative assessment to look across grade spans and
across the whole school to see what they need to re-teach as a group. In
addition, staff also examine district assessment data to "see whether
there are any areas we need to address or any areas that are
particularly strong."

Collaboration is a time for "teachers to specifically focus on
assessment. It is a time for the teachers to share what is going really
well and what isn't." A recent collaboration time was spent as a whole
group looking at which questions on the district assessment were missed
by groups of students and why they were missed, with the goal of meeting
with individual students in small groups to clarify their
understandings. One teacher summarized this process well when she
explained, "I participate in the collaborations and during this time we
review individual student's progress data to see how children are
performing. We also use the district and state assessments to globally
look at what ALL children are missing \... we then focus on those areas.
Sometimes that involves having to back-up to bring those kids up to
speed." Examining data trends allows teachers to "see the data and pick
up on patterns of kids and re-focus." Assessments guide differentiated
instruction and interventions offered at Madison.

## "WE ARE FAMILY" 

Madison staff, students, and families have worked hard at making their
school a community. The most consistent sentiment expressed by staff,
parents, and administration was that "Madison is home" and "we are like
a family." Children are placed center stage at Madison. As one staff
member said, "We all put the children first. It's all about the kids."
Children's artwork, mathematics, and writing are displayed throughout
the building and one gets the sense that Madison children are celebrated
here. The children are the tie that binds the Madison community
together, as one staff member poignantly stated, "There isn't a person
in this building that doesn't absolutely\
love children."

Parents echoed the teachers, noting, "It's like a second home, everyone
melds together." Another mother explained, "Everyone at Madison wants
our little school to succeed \... staff works together so well, they all
get along, like family they get along." Staff work hard to ensure that
every student gets personal attention and this level of commitment
extends to parents as well. For example, one parent related, "If you ask
questions of teachers they will sit down with you and answer your
questions." Teachers also noted that all staff are willing to go above
and beyond to reach out to families. As a teacher noted, "Every teacher
here is very approachable and available." Madison staff consistently put
in extra hours outside of their contract hours to attend district and
building trainings, work with parents, and tutor students. They are
dedicated to ensuring that each and every child succeeds. According to
one parent, "the staff cares; it is not just a job to them. They care
about kids learning and about\
their safety."

Students and teachers speak respectfully to one another as they engage
in activities throughout the course of the day, as a visitor observed
during a class exercise where students shared stories they wrote with
their classmates. In turn, each student came up to the front of the
class and sat in a chair facing his or her classmates, who listened
respectfully to the reader. After the reader finished, students raised
their hands to provide comments about what they liked about the story
such as, "I liked the character names," I like how you made it
realistic," and "you did a good job of making it sad."

Many schools can cite similar activities that foster community, but
Madison stands out for its environment of respect. The beginning of the
day ritual includes a student's voice over the loudspeaker reminding
every child that it is his or her choice whether to have a positive day.
The student then reads an inspirational quote that typically has to do
with respect for self and others. Posters with positive messages pepper
the hallways and classrooms. Madison ascribes to the Josephson Institute
program, Character Counts, with its six pillars of character: Fairness,
Trustworthiness, Caring, Respect, Responsibility, and Citizenship. Every
classroom displays a poster of these six pillars and the school's
entryway is festooned with a large a banner reminding staff and students
that "Character Counts." These cues serve as a constant reminder for
students of the pillars on which their community is founded.

+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| Madison Elementary School,     |         |         |        |       |
| Spokane, Washington            |         |         |        |       |
|                                |         |         |        |       |
| Washington Assessment of       |         |         |        |       |
| Student Learning (WASL)        |         |         |        |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| \% proficient and above: 4th   |         |         |        |       |
| grade Reading                  |         |         |        |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
|                                | 2004    | 2005    | 2006   | 2007  |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| All                            | 86      | 100     | 97     | 85    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| Reduced or Free Lunch          | 84      | 100     | 100    |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| State Scores                   |         |         |        | 76    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| \% proficient and above: 4th   |         |         |        |       |
| grade Math                     |         |         |        |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
|                                | 2004    | 2005    | 2006   | 2007  |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| All                            | 60      | 73      | 73     | 71    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| Reduced or Free Lunch          | 60      | 73      | 73     |       |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+
| State Scores                   |         |         |        | 58    |
+--------------------------------+---------+---------+--------+-------+