Sunday, October 7, 2001
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Sunday, October 7, 2001 |
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N. Fayette utilizing new resources to help improve student performance
Some new changes at North Fayette Elementary are helping the school better meet the academic needs of the community it serves. Enrollment at the school is increasing and along with a larger student population comes the challenge of addressing a variety of academic needs. To help North Fayette address those needs, the school is the first of two in the county to experiment with instructional support teachers in the areas of math and reading. This year the Fayette County Board of Education approved the hiring of instructional support teachers for North Fayette and Brooks Elementary schools. These teachers are not given traditional teaching assignments but rather provide staff development opportunities for teachers to learn techniques and methods to improve student achievement in their classrooms. Instructional support teachers at North Fayette are working with the school's lead teachers to help them analyze test results so that they can better fit the curriculum to the specific needs of the students. They are also helping teachers deliver the curriculum by co-teaching lessons and role modeling. "We are very fortunate at North Fayette to have these additional teaching positions. We have approximately six to eight new students in every classroom this year," said North Fayette Principal Louis Robinson. "We are very grateful that the board of education had the foresight to see our need for these additional resources." Another initiative of the instructional support teacher is to find creative and innovative ways to get parents involved in the educational process. North Fayette has organized regularly scheduled parent workshops that will meet throughout the year to give parents assistance and advice on what they can do at home to help reinforce what their children learn in the classroom. This year the school has already had a math night for grades 3-5, two reading nights for grades K-2 and a workshop on understanding test data. The school took a survey of parents and organized these workshops to meet their needs and schedules. Most sessions are held in the evening after 6 p.m. But Robinson says that the school plans to host several lunch and learn workshops during the year as well. "We have had a lot of positive feedback from parents on the workshops. The most popular one has been the one on test data," added Robinson. "Due to popular demand, we are going to schedule another test data workshop in the near future." A new partnership with Community Christian Church offers an additional avenue for the school to utilize community resources. The school has already had several church members volunteer to become mentors and reading tutors. The school and the church had a kickoff dinner in September to begin making plans for the school year. "We are excited about this partnership. Our goal is to get more of our community involved with the school and more people to serve as positive role models for our students," said Robinson. Technology is also a key factor at the school in helping students learn to improve their reading and math skills. A new Computer Curriculum Corporation (CCC) reading and math lab provides teachers with diagnostic information so that they can pinpoint where their students are performing within the curriculum being taught. Through a series of exercises, the CCC software assesses what skills the student does and does not have and then helps the student work through the curriculum at his or her level and speed. The software can also tell the teacher how many sessions it will take to get an individual student to the curriculum level desired. Students have access to the lab before, during and after school. The school is just beginning to see the results from the use of CCC and Robinson says they are phenomenal. "We've come a long way in the last three years. Data is showing that we are making significant gains in reading and math through the utilization of CCC. Teachers also confirm the fact that students are progressing," Robinson added. Robinson also says that the school is planning to host a CCC night where parents can come to the school and use the software so that they can have first-hand knowledge of how the school is helping their children improve math and reading skills. As North Fayette's student population continues to grow, so does the need to help ensure that students are well prepared to begin their elementary education. This year, North Fayette was the first of two schools to receive a lottery funded pre-k program. The new program now gives 20 four-year olds an opportunity to become better prepared for kindergarten. In addition, the school increased spaces available in its Title One pre-k program from 15 to 20 for a total of 40 pre-k slots.
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