One of 69 elementary schools in the Seattle Public School district,
Maple Elementary School is located on the west side of Seattle's Beacon
Hill, where noise from nearby Boeing Field, freeways, and railways
reminds Maple students and visitors that they are part of a harbor city
that is the gateway for goods and families from all over the world.

Maple Celebrates Diversity

Almost 40% Maple students begin school speaking little English and
qualify for bilingual education. Their diverse backgrounds encompass
more than 17 languages, including Cantonese, Chinese, Mandarin, Tagalog,
Ilokano, Spanish, Samoan, Arabic, Punjabi, Vietnamese, Toishanese,
Cambodian, Laotian, Amharic, Oromo, and Somalian. The students' and
staff's diversity is celebrated, appreciated, and considered one of
Maple's greatest strengths.

![](media/image1.jpeg){width="4.372916666666667in"
height="2.948611111111111in"}The commitment to diversity is apparent
throughout the building. In the school's front hall, clocks representing
the time in several locations throughout the world including Seattle,
Hong Kong, Seoul, and London greet visitors when they first walk into
the building. The library holds more than 100 multilingual books as well
as English language books reflecting many cultures. The student projects
which decorate the walls also reflect cultural diversity; one set
showcases students' favorite recipes from home, which ranged from
Vietnamese salad rolls to spaghetti.

Led by Pricipal Pat Hunter, the school staff embraces the cultural
diversity in many ways, translating paperwork into several languages and
beginning each year with a multiethnic dinner to welcome all students
and families. The Maple Creed reinforces respect for diversity: "I know
that our country was built by people of all races, and I know that
people of all races keep our country great."

The curriculum integrates several instructional strategies with the goal
of aiding multilingual students in their journey into the English
language. All teachers receive training in Guided Language Acquisition
which integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills into
all subject areas. Teachers also use the Seattle Literacy Initiative
strategies which include journal writing in all subjects, beginning in
Kindergarten and extending through 5th grade. In addition, bilingual
instructional assistants deliver instruction and support to students
both within the classroom and by pulling out English language learners
for small-group instruction.

**The Maple Way**

Nearly two-thirds of Maple Elementary School students qualify for free
or reduced-price meals, yet the school is ranked 11th among the
district's 69 elementary schools for student achievement. A culture of
self-discipline and high expectations is prevalent in every grade level
at Maple Elementary and upheld by the students and staff alike. The
school community operates according to the "Maple Way." Students who
excel at following it become Maple Medal Winners, held up as examples to
the whole school and given certain privileges, such as lining up first
and posting their pictures in the hallway for everyone to see. The Maple
Pledge sums up student expectations

> As a Maple student:
>
> I am responsible for my learning as well as helping others to learn
>
> I will treat all people including myself with respect
>
> I promise to work hard so I can be proud of my achievements
>
> I know how to solve problems and make good choices
>
> I promise to do my best at all times and NEVER GIVE UP!
>
> I will strive to do right to make my future look bright

Staff members also work hard and strive to serve as positive role models
for students. In the words of one parent, "The principal and the
teachers are willing to take the time to focus on the children; they are
enthusiastic. It's more than a job to them." Just as students are
expected to help their fellow students, teachers are expected to help
their fellow staff members and share responsibility across grade levels
for contributing to the success of every student. Teachers reported that
they did not mind being approached by teachers in other grade levels to
change aspects of the curriculum they deliver to students at their grade
level if those changes would benefit students in other grades. "All kids
are our kids" is the prevailing attitude. This shared sense of
responsibility is spelled out in the school vision: "The Maple School
community of parents, staff, volunteers, and students is responsible for
providing each student with the opportunity to have a positive and
meaningful education in a pluralistic learning environment."

**Open Concept Community**

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.34375in"
height="2.8041666666666667in"}Maple Elementary School is an "open
concept" school. Few walls buffer noise or close off communication.
Visitors to the school are usually surprised to see how well students
can focus on their own teacher's voice in the midst of large open
spaces, with other groups of students close by. All grade levels at the
school have three classes which have no interior walls, allowing a
visitor to view all classes simultaneously. Teachers claim that their
open classrooms make it easier for them to work together because they
can see what other teachers in their grade are doing and can share ideas
and materials across classes. It is easy and natural to communicate
frequently because no walls or closed doors serve as barriers.
Grade-level teachers also have common planning time each day in which
they can work together. The school's architecture lends itself well to
the schoolwide philosophy of collaboration and sharing.

Teachers also believe that the open classrooms contribute to a strong
sense of community in which they feel that all of the students are
"their students," and teachers share responsibility for all students'
success. Students learn early at this school to be respectful of their
teachers and fellow students and to focus on their assigned tasks. The
need for discipline is rare in the upper grades because students have
internalized early that they are at Maple to learn.

**Curriculum Aligned to State Standards**

Maple members staff initiated a schoolwide transformation process in
2000, and staff began to concentrate on teaching the skills measured by
the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). In the first year,
staff focused on math instruction, improving the school's average by 21
percentage points. The next year teachers focused on writing skills, and
began using strategies from the National Urban Alliance to help students
write more fluently. Consequently, the percentage of students who met
state standards in writing increased 12 percentage points in a single
year. Next, the school focused on reading and began using a reading
program that improved reading fluency and comprehension. Reading scores
increased by 15 percentage points. Maple's focus on standards and
deliberate approach to improving instruction in targeted areas has
proven to be a successful strategy for improving student learning.
Instructional materials are selected to support an inquiry-based
approach to instruction.

Writing is the foundation of Maple's curriculum. Starting in
Kindergarten, students write every day and in every subject. Writing
instruction is based on several research-based programs. Reading
materials include a variety of publishers as well as numerous
teacher-made materials.

Students use hands-on science kits to learn science by inquiry. Math
instruction involves the use of books from multiple publishers and a
variety of manipulatives. Teachers make extensive use of technology for
instructional purposes, including document cameras and computer
stations. From a single vantage point, a 4th grade observer watched one
teacher discuss equivalent fractions by showing examples of student work
on the document camera. In the adjacent class, students were gathered on
the floor by a whiteboard as the teacher illustrated equivalent
fractions on the board. On the other side of this class, students used
strips of paper to illustrate various equivalent fractions. As a teacher
noted later, "We're allowed to teach the standards in our own way, but
the open space lets us see how our fellow teachers are doing it so we
can get ideas from them."

**Writing Across the Curiculum**

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="3.1083333333333334in"
height="2.3555555555555556in"}At 9:40 a.m. in a first grade classroom,
students write in their journals in response to a prompt asking about
their weekends. Undistracted by the constant hum of sound spilling from
the adjacent spaces, they take to the task while a teacher moves from
desk to desk, offering encouragement and suggestions. Science, social
studies, math, and vocabulary words posted on the class walls form a
kaleidoscope of language and colors. By the time the lesson shifts to
direct instruction on adjectives, most of the students could tell a
visitor why they were writing in their journals beyond a mere "the
teacher told us to."

Earlier that morning, the visiting team had met the school leadership
team in the library---a spacious room, its echo stolen by walls of
thickly stacked book shelves. Students in pairs or by themselves
searched the shelves. Many of the books are fiction, but just as many
others are biographies and histories. A girl flipped the pages of a book
on climates and another on reptiles, weighing her selections pensively.
Another student reached for a book set out for display. These displayed
books (at least 25 in all) stood atop the four foot shelves that mark
the perimeter between the library and the "hallway" of this open-concept
building. A theme connects these books---the stories they offer and
histories they describe mirror the faces of the children in the
building.

In the afternoon, a different first grade teacher begins a math lesson.
Later in the lesson students will use manipulatives to practice adding
coins. But this lesson starts with students reading a story about
counting---a story that illustrates the differences between value of
money and a quantity of coins. The main character in the story errantly
trades one quarter for two dimes, thinking the two dimes increased her
wealth over the one quarter. Rather than simply tell students why the
trade was a bad one, the teacher invites students to make inferences
about the character's thoughts and make predictions about the
character's future actions. Students are even asked to explain why they
have the ideas they have. Higher order thinking skills are getting a
workout.

![](media/image4.jpeg){width="3.8777777777777778in"
height="2.6416666666666666in"}Interviews indicate these first grade
classrooms typify practice at Maple. "Writing is the foundation of the
curriculum and embedded throughout the content areas," says the
principal. Teachers agree. "Writing is the foundation in every subject,
so students get lots of it," say the Kindergarten teachers. "We write
all day, including in math and science," fifth grade teachers report.
Second grade teachers highlight the "strong focus on the writing process
at all grade levels" when asked what makes Maple successful.

While visitors saw rich literacy environments across classrooms, they
didn't see strictures or scripts in teaching. This school isn't
handcuffed to formalities, says Hunter, "but we are very intentional
about what we want to do." Two formal programs undergird teachers'
abilities to infuse writing across the curriculum: Guided Language
Acquisition Design (GLAD) and the National Urban Alliance's (NUA)
Seattle Literacy Initiative to accelerate reading and writing. According
to its website (www.projectglad.com), "GLAD is a model of professional
development . . . tied to standards, that trains teachers to provide
access to core curriculum using local district guidelines and
curriculum." Teachers call GLAD a holistic approach and praise its
emphasis that "literacy should be incorporated into everything."

NUA's website (www.nuatc.org/projects/seattle/seattle.html) describes it
as a 72-hour training that lets teachers and schools translate district
standards into instructional strategies that:

-   Enable all children to meet the reading standards;

-   Provide structures for support of a common literacy focus in each
    school; and

-   Improve learning across the disciplines by accelerating the learning
    of reading and the ability to compose and communicate understanding.

Teachers point to the empowerment that GLAD and NUA have given them to
implement writing strategies consistently across the content areas and
grade levels. The principal applauds the school's efforts to inculcate
writing and rich print experiences across the school, and she recognizes
these efforts need continual review and support.

Teachers say they are not seeing as much evidence of GLAD around the
building as they want, so they have discussed having a trainer come to a
staff meeting and discuss the strategies. Then they will have the
trainer come back to follow-up.

**Continuous Examination of Student Progress**

Asked what factors make their school effective, the principal and most
teachers concur that the key is individual student attention. "I think
it's the way we look at each child. We know which kids aren't meeting
standards and we get help for them," says one teacher, and another adds,
"We identify kids early and work with them. We don't let kids fall
through the cracks."

![](media/image5.jpeg){width="3.9493055555555556in"
height="2.553472222222222in"}They are referring to the school process
for continually examining student progress in order to re-teach and
differentiate instruction to both accelerated and struggling learners
alike. At the heart of this process lies the Student Intervention Team
(SIT). Every Friday, the SIT convenes to examine one or two students'
social, emotional, and cognitive progress. Serving on the Student
Intervention Team are the principal, school counselor, resource
specialist, teachers, and two parents. The SIT process is systematic:
the team begins by looking at data---student standardized test scores,
student work, classroom-based assessments, and written progress notes
from teachers. These data establish a body of evidence for what the team
sees is happening with the student, then the team moves to making
normative assessments, asking "What are the student's weaknesses and
strengths?" Finally, the team considers the school's available resources
and prescribes interventions.

While the SIT process is formal, any adult involved in the school,
including a parent, can refer a child. Moreover, teachers aren't shy
about referring a child: absent are fears that someone may blame poor
instruction as the explanation for the student's struggles. "As a
professional it behooves you to be open," says one first grade teacher.
"If a student does not meet standards," she continues, "then there must
be something written about why."

In fact, a school culture that encourages collaboration and discourages
privacy of practice finds particular expression when it comes to
identifying individual student needs and taking action to meet them. A
collective understanding pervades Maple that for even the most skilled
teacher, re-teaching and re-strategizing is a necessary aspect of
teaching practice. As a third grade teacher said, "Just because you
taught the curriculum doesn't mean that all the students learned it."

![](media/image6.jpeg){width="3.441666666666667in"
height="2.6902777777777778in"}Decisions to regroup, re-teach, or enrich
don't always flow from the SIT. In fact, most instructional change comes
from teams of teachers continually analyzing data from curriculum-based
assessments and district assessments. The term "enrich" isn't trivial.
"We don't just focus on the low kids," says a third grade teacher.
Instructional differentiation also involves tweaking instruction for
students who learn the standards quickly. The term "instructional
tweaking" is not trivial either. While recommendations from the SIT tend
toward formal interventions such as referring a student for auditory
disability testing, adjustments stemming from grade-level team meetings
tend to cue smaller and more frequent adaptations, such as grouping
students differently during math. It's precisely because teachers hold
grade-level team meetings regularly that changes are small. Indeed, a
collective responsibility to make small but continuous improvements is a
cornerstone of Maple's success.

Of course the operative term in making improvements is making them, not
planning them. Brilliant recommendations that die on the planning vine
don't help students. Fortunately, at Maple, there's plenty of harvest.
Whether it's a modification stemming from a grade-level team meeting or
a more formal SIT recommendation, Maple has resources that enable it to
carry out prescribed interventions. A cadre of instructional assistants
and English language learner specialists are organized and re-organized,
configured and reconfigured to respond to students needs. Like water
flowing past stones in a stream, Maple's staff dynamically envelops the
changing needs of Maple's students. Maple funds instructional support
staff through a combination of IDEA, Title I, local dollars, and
donations.

The instructional response process hasn't always worked so reliably. "At
one time there was no communication among and within the grade level and
there was little follow-up to the SIT," says one staff member. "I've
seen Ms. ![](media/image7.jpeg){width="1.9881944444444444in"
height="2.6243055555555554in"}Hunter make a difference," she adds. Just
as Maple didn't inherit strong communication, it didn't create the SIT
process *ex nihilo* either. The principal acknowledges that Maple
imported the SIT concept from other schools and then the SIT team and
counselor developed and adjusted the process over time.

When teachers say, "We pull together to look at the individual child,"
or "We know that we can go to any of our colleagues and get support," it
is clear that both technical---SIT meetings, for example---and cultural
elements are at work. Asked which practices she would encourage other
schools to replicate, Principal Hunter says, "If a school wants to
replicate, then it first needs to look at itself and see what can be
done; you can't just purchase a curriculum and expect to have that
work." As for Maple's next level of work, "We're focusing on how we can
improve the SIT team follow-up," says Hunter. It is safe to say this
will happen in small, continuous steps.

  ---------------------- ----------- ---------- -------- --------- --------
  **Maple Elementary                                               
  School State                                                     
  Criterion-Referenced                                             
  Tests**                                                          

  \% proficient and                                                
  above: 4th grade                                                 
  Reading                                                          

                         2002        2003       2004     2005      2006

  All                    59          59         78       87        91

  Low income             50          56         73       84        93

  ESL                    38          39         37       81        80

  \% proficient and                                                
  above: 4th grade Math                                            

                         2002        2003       2004     2005      2006

  All                    63          53         78       79        82

  Low income             50          47         75       73        79

  ESL                    38          26         26       78        67
  ---------------------- ----------- ---------- -------- --------- --------