# Presentation: 013955

## South Elementary SchoolDes Plaines, Illinois

- Mary Ellen Bleeden, Principal
- Beatriz Cruz-Bradley, 1st Gr. Bilingual Teacher

- Keys To Success: Assessment,
- Data Analysis, Staff Collaboration,
- & Focused Instruction

## School Facts

- Type: Elementary School
- Size: 304 Students, Pre-Kindergarten-5th Grade
- Location: Suburban School with Urban Characteristics
- Staff Characteristics: 1 Administrator, 17 Classroom Teachers, 12 Specialists, 12.5 Paraprofessional, 3 Support Staff
- Assessments:
- 	-_I_llinois _S_tandards _A_chievement _T_est (ISAT)
-     -_I_llinois _M_easure of _A_cademic _G_rowth in _E_nglish (IMAGE)
-     -_M_easure of _A_cademic _P_rogress (MAP)

## Educational Issues

- Changing Demographics
- Data 1999 - Present
- 	-Limited English population increased by 20%.
- 	-Hispanic population more than doubled.
- 	-Low income families increased by 15%.
- Test scores were dropping especially in reading.

## Common Academic Focus

- Developed Building-Wide Reading Recommendations
- 	-Reading Fluency
- 		 •Snapshots in September, January, and May
- 		 •Struggling readers are monitored monthly.
- 		 •Each student sets a trimester goals.
- 	-Word Study: Provide students strategies & opportunities to   		    learn words independently.
- 	-Writing Across the Curriculum

## Common Academic Focus

- Comprehension Skills
- 	-Common reading comprehension strategy taught monthly:
- 		•connecting • predicting • imaging •inferencing 	  	•questioning •summarizing
- Flexible guided reading groups
- Increased the amount of non-fiction reading taught.
- Reduced the amount of fiction reading taught.
- Increased time spent on reading instruction.

## Common Planning Time

- Grade level teams meet 3 times a week
- 	for about one hour.
- 		-set academic goals
- 		-design common instructional units
- 		-share effective teaching strategies
- 		-formulate common assessment
- 		- analyze performance data
- 		- develop flexible groups
- 		- monitor performance

## Frequent Assessments

- Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy - ISEL, Primary Gds
- Measure of Academic Progress - MAP, Gds 3-5
- Reading Fluency Snapshots - Gds 2-5
- Illinois Standards Achievement Test-ISAT, Gds 3-5
- Illinois Measure of Academic Growth in English
- 	(IMAGE) - Gds 3-5

## Measure of Academic Progress - MAP

- Achievement test taken on a computer.
- Students assessed in reading, math, and language.
- Immediate scores upon completion of the test.
- Performance data within one day.
- Scores indicate a student’s instructional level.
- Instructional focus on exact area of learning that will help the student can make greatest academic gains.

## Interventions

- Project Prevent
- Title I Reading
- Special Education-SRA Reading, Math, & Writing Programs
-  Wilson Reading Program
- Flexible Ability Groups
- ELL Resource
- Read Naturally
- Reading Mentors
- Before/After School Reading Groups
- OASIS Tutoring

## Bilingual Education

- Philosophy: Students must be literate in their first language to be academically and cognitively proficient in the second language.
- Model: Transitional Bilingual Education
- Bilingual
- Sheltered English
- Total Main Streaming into Regular Education

## Special Classroom Programs

- State-At-Risk Preschool
- Special Education Preschool
- Special Education Kindergarten
- Special Education Intermediate Self-Contained LD
- Special Education Intermediate Self-Contained ED
- Primary Bilingual Classrooms (3)
- Intermediate Transitional ESL

## Additional Literacy Activities

- Reading Olympics
- Breakfast Program Reading
- Bear Facts Student Newspaper
- Family English
- Translation provided daily in the office
- Newsletter and all other school communications are provided in Spanish.

## Summary Points

- Key Learning:
- 	-Set Common School Wide Goals
- 	-Administer Common Assessments
- 	-Analyze Data Frequently
- 	-Implement Flexible Grouping
- Challenges Still Ahead
- 	-Ability to Hire Highly Qualified Bilingual & ELL Staff
- 	-To Provide Support Services to Primary Bilingual Student in Spanish
- 	-Ongoing Staff Commitment to Working Collaboratively