It’s about Never Giving Up!

Teach for America has been studying why students with the same ethnic and economic backgrounds make significant achievement gains in some teachers’ classrooms and not in others.

They wanted to know what made some teachers more successful.  What they found was the most successful teachers were also the most relentless.  They constantly analyzed their students’ progress and reevaluated and adjusted their instruction. They refused to give up until all their students were learning.

 An article in the January-February 2010 edition of The Atlantic describes this study  http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/01/what-makes-a-great-teacher/7841/2/

In Tigard-Tualatin, this shared relentlessness is reflected in the school district’s mission, “Educate every child.”  At Bridgeport and Metzger elementary schools, teacher success in educating every child has been recognized by the Oregon Department of Education.

Here are two short videos describing efforts at Bridgeport and Metzger elementary schools.

To help everyone achieve this mission, the district has put a variety of supports in place.

Those supports include:

Access to Data – from DIBELS testing in elementary school, to EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT in middle and high school and the statewide OAKS tests at all levels, the progress of ALL students is regularly monitored, shared and compared.  Across Oregon, the Tigard-Tualatin School District is considered a leader in using data to improve instruction.  District staff members are continuing to find additional ways to support teachers in monitoring and adjusting instruction based on their students’ performance.

EBIS – (Effective Behavior and Instructional Support) At every school, teams of teachers review student data every 6 weeks to determine which students need the most help in reading, math, writing, and behavior.  They also identify the kinds of help each student will receive.  By doing this, the lowest performing students receive extra support as early as possible so they can catch up to their peers.  At the elementary level, students may be “pulled out” for additional intensive reading instruction during the school day or enrolled in extended day programs. At the middle and high school, students participate in support classes or “labs” in reading and math. 

Elementary Reading Program and “Walk to Read” - To make sure every elementary student can demonstrate the reading skills needed for success, all students receive a minimum of 90-minutes of literacy instruction each day.  By placing students in skill groups, every student receives instruction at his/her correct rate and level.  Grade level teams of teachers evaluate progress frequently and students move in and out of their skill groups based upon their performance.  Since the implementation of Walk-to-Read in 2007-08, district reading scores have improved substantially for all students – from the struggling to the advanced. (Click here to see how reading scores for all students have improved.)

RTI (Response to Intervention) –RTI is part of the EBIS process.  In Tigard-Tualatin, struggling students are identified and receive extra help, early.   When students fail to make the same progress as others in their classroom, teachers, specialists and principals work together to try different research-based interventions to improve learning.  These interventions become progressively more intensive until the student is able to catch up—or, if the student is still unable to make the expected gains--he or she may be referred for special education services.  Early identification makes it possible for struggling students to receive help before they fall so far behind that more intensive support is required. Tigard-Tualatin is considered a statewide leader in implementing RTI.  Our district has a contract with the Oregon Department of Education to train school districts across the state in this process. ( Click here to read a regional article.)

Here is a national video on the Tigard-Tualatin School District's RTI program.

Middle School and High School Math and Language Arts “double dose” classes – By 2012, students must pass a reading assessment to receive a regular high school diploma.  To make sure all students read to the best of their abilities, district middle and high schools provide intensive reading programs.  By 2014, similar diploma requirements will be in place for math and writing.  In math, students must also complete three high school courses at the Algebra 1 level and above. To prepare for the new rigorous math requirements, middle schools are accelerating their math curriculum. Algebra I will become the expected math course for 8^th graders. Students who are struggling in regular middle and high school math classes will take a support class designed to help them keep up with their classmates by supplementing the instruction in the regular course. Click here to see the new graduation requirements.

SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) – For many years, teachers in Tigard-Tualatin and across the nation were trained in ITIP (Instructional Theory into Practice).  They learned to set objectives for their lessons and communicate those objectives to their students; they learned classroom management techniques and ways to make sure every student was given a chance to respond to a question or demonstrate his/her understanding of the concepts being taught.   SIOP uses those same techniques, with the addition of language or vocabulary objectives, to make sure all students---even those whose first language is not English---can understand the curriculum being taught.