How to Improve a Middle School’s Performance, Case Study Example

New York’s Susan B. Anthony school (SBA) missed being classified as one of the state’s leading public schools, receiving an overall grade of “B”. Nonetheless, eighty-four percent of students displayed a clear academic growth in the past year, and this growth primarily occurred in the subjects of English, Science, and Social Studies. A closer inspection of the results reveals a significant gap between the course pass rates of English and the scores which these students received on state-level tests, indicating a need to implement harsher standards of English and new standards and curriculum in Mathematics.

Current Assessment

While much of the testing results are positive, several aspects of the school’s composition must be closely analyzed to create a plan for improved performance. Only 12.3 percent of tested students were classified as having disabilities, placing SBA in the lower mid-range of the number of this type of exceptional student in similar schools of roughly the same population. Nonetheless, progress was made, and SBA received additional credit for its particular progress in the scores of disabled and English-learning students.

It should be noted that course passing rates for English, Science, and Social Studies were well above that of the peer average, and Math performance was level with peer and city averages. This indicates either that the other subjects’ coursework is less challenging/ lenient in grading or that Math represents an area of curricular weakness. Since the student performance scores (which analyzed only English and Math) returned a total of 7.9 out of 25 and ranked SBA students near the bottom twenty-fifth percentile, it follows that the pass rates in Math classes represents a relatively accurate standing according to state tests. As Vogler points out, the teachers with the most teaching experience and/or specific skills often resist the call to adapt a curriculum to meet performance standards (2002, pp. 46-47).

A Plan for Change

Vogler condenses its results from a survey given to teachers of Massachusetts high schools seeking to raise the test performance of their students, providing five essential steps: 1) assess your school’s readiness for change, 2) create program goals, 3) anticipate challenges, 4) obtain feedback from new programs, and 5) demand high standards (2002, p. 51). This performance plan assumes a readiness to affect school policies and curricula, focusing on the last four steps. The program’s first goal is to increase student performance. Reviewing the assessment of current standing and possible barriers to learning poses important questions which inform the curricular changes and aid in the anticipation of challenges.

In Vogler’s study, teachers in Math and English were the most likely to incorporate new techniques or foci into group projects which targeted elements of testing weakness (2002, p. 47). The explicit instruction recommended by Greenes and Ping et al. originally referred to mathematics specifically; however, this emphasis is a common tenet of best practices which transcend disciplinary variations. In their article in The Journal of Special Education, Ping et al. suggest that practicing with word problems builds basic problem-solving abilities, and these abilities are useful in both areas of SBA’s critical need: Mathematics and English (2008, pp. 163-164). General skills for analyzing contexts, concepts, and procedures apply to problems of academic and personal experience (Sáenz, 2009, p. 136). These problems particularly stressed the identification of the unknown and known factors given in word problems (Ping et al., 2008, p. 167). In addition to explicitness and identification, the avoidance of isolated facts produces greater learning (Greenes, 2009, p. 55). Ping et al. agreed, calling the creative and practical representations meaningful and inextricably linked to story grammar (2008, p. 164). These skills apply to both exceptional and regular students and may begin with simple tasks, such as debating which automotive brand is the best (Sáenz, 2009, pp. 141-143).

Sáenz demands more change from the curriculum, comparing students from various countries using the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and illustrates that core competencies and contextual, conceptual, and procedural mathematic skills linked but not always apparently-lacking according to standardized scores (2009, pp. 134-135). The author recommends that teachers sort problems according to the school knowledge required to solve them, following the 2005 mandates of Rittle-Johnson and Koedinger’s “Designing knowledge scaffolds to support mathematical problem solving” (p. 134).

Conclusion

Greenes summarizes the challenges that a school faces: “The development of intelligence, then, is a dynamic evolution of more complex mental structures” (2009, p. 56). During which time, the child filters, maps, and reorganizes information according to their existing mental structures. Knowledge is upheaval. For performance to increase dramatically, teachers must reevaluate their own teaching intelligence, evolving with the new information which performance assessments, data, case studies, personal experience, and research can provide. Sadly, the high stakes of performance assessments can place heavy pressures upon the student, but Vogler reminds the readers that the stakes force the wheels of change into motion (2002, pp. 43-50). Predicting and monitoring the effects of change- both positive and negative- remains a task for the educational team and its support resources.

References

Greenes, Carole. “Mathematics Learning And Knowing: A Cognitive Process.” Journal Of Education 189.3 (2009): 55-64. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.

Sáenz, César. “The Role Of Contextual, Conceptual And Procedural Knowledge In Activating Mathematical Competencies (PISA).” Educational Studies In Mathematics 71.2 (2009): 123-143. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.

Vogler, Kenneth E. “The Impact Of High-Stakes, State-Mandated Student Performance Assessment On Teacher’s Instructional Practices.” Education 123.1 (2002): 39. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.

Yan Ping, Xin, Ben Wiles, and Lin Yu-Ying. “Teaching Conceptual Model-Based Word Problem Story Grammar To Enhance Mathematics Problem Solving.” Journal Of Special Education 42.3 (2008): 163-178. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.