Jennifer Armenia

Case Study 1: Increasing Math Achievement

ISLLC Standard 1

 

A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

Questions: 1) Did the administrator focus on student achievement to develop a school  

                      goal?

2) Did the administrator foster continuous school improvement?

3) Were resources available to support the school goal?

Description of Situation

In the beginning of the school year the principal of an Elementary School announced that one of our school wide goals this year will be to increase the number of students in each grade level achieving level 3 on the Mathematics portion of the CRCT by 10% within the next 3 years.  This goal was announced on the first day of pre-planning.  At this time that was all that was said about the school-wide math goal.  A few weeks later at a leadership meeting, the principal told the leadership team that each grade level is to use last years CRCT scores to help find 10% more students which could possibly achieve a level 3 on the Mathematics portion of the CRCT and turn in those students’ names.  Each team was given the CRCT data from the previous school year.  The teams looked at students Mathematics test scores to determine which students are closest to achieving level 3 on the mathematics portion of the CRCT.  These students’ names were turned in to the administrators. 

            Throughout the school year teachers attended staff development on differentiation.  The focus of the differentiation was placed on math and science areas.  Teachers attended several sessions on differentiation to learn techniques in helping students succeed in math.  Teachers were also expected to begin documenting differentiation during math in lesson plans.  Teachers were also asked to observe another teacher during math time to see how other teachers in the building and write a reflection about their observation of differentiation.

            Along with staff development on differentiation the principal began to do more 5 minute walk-throughs during the day.  In these walk-throughs, the principal looked for essential questions, graphic organizers and strategies that show differentiation is being implemented in the classroom on a daily basis.  Teachers were then given a check-list to provide feedback from the principal and help the teacher improve their daily instruction. 

Answers to Questions

1)  In this case study the principal focused on student achievement of the students to create a school goal.  The goal was for more students to achieve a level 3 on the mathematics portion of the CRCT.  Even though the goal focused on student achievement, it only focused on student achievement for the students close to achieving a level 3 on the mathematics portion of the CRCT.  The students who achieved a level 1 or students already achieving a level 3 were not mentioned in the goal.  

2) In this case the principal did foster continuous school improvement.  Even though most of the students in the school already achieved a level 2 (meets standards) or a level 3 (exceeds standards) on the mathematics portion of the CRCT, the goal was set for more students to achieve a level 3 (exceeds standards).

3) In this case the principal did provide teachers with resources to help achieve the school goal.  Teachers received training on differentiation (with a focus on math and science) to help reach all students at all levels as well as opportunities to observe other teachers differentiation strategies in their classrooms.  The principal also did 5 minute walk-throughs for the teachers providing them with feedback from what she saw occurring in their classroom. 

Evaluation of Case Study

            The level of performance for this case study seems to be developing.  I feel this case study is a developing level for a few reasons.  One reason is there is only a little evidence to show that the principal provided support for the teachers.  For example, the principal did 5 minute walk-throughs to provide the teachers with feedback on their instruction but was this really beneficial for teachers or could the teachers have received more support from another activity? 

Another reason I feel this case study is developing is because even though there was a goal set to focus on student achievement, the goal only targeted a small group of students, those close to achieving a level 3 on the mathematics portion of the CRCT.  The goal should have been set to include all students no matter what their achievement level.  For example, a goal to include all students would be students will increase their score on the math portion of the CRCT by 10 points.  This goal would focus on the achievement of all students, not just a select few.  I also feel that this goal had the teachers cater to the few students the goal focused on.  Did the teachers continue to accelerate students achieving a level 3?  Did the teachers continue to remediate students achieving a level 1?