Curriculum Strategy & Adoption
In a recent Hechinger Report article titled A taste of victory, finally, for a struggling Newark school, reporter Sara Neufeld mentions reports, “Of all 45 elementary and middle schools in Newark, Quitman had the greatest test score gains in reading the prior spring.” When I read this, I got pretty excited.
Quitman Street Renew School is one of the many schools Education Elements works with that is seeing significant increases in students outcomes and they, like other schools, attribute this success in part to their new blended learning models. This is why I do my job - because it makes a difference.
Our journey to personalized learning at Quitman Street Renew School started over a year ago, during the 2013-2014 school year. As part of our design process around blending the best of traditional teaching with the benefits of adaptive digital software, we always outline the larger goals and priorities of the school site first. The school leaders at Quitman, lead by Principal Erskine Glover, knew they needed to focus on early literacy skills, reading comprehension, and citing textual evidence because over 80% of their 3rd and 4th graders were struggling readers. The plan was to use new instructional models to get better results than they had been getting before.
With the focus set on reading, our recommendations around adaptive digital software that could fill that role took hold. In analyzing the school’s current offline curriculum, it was important to note the strengths of that program and where digital content could play a role in helping teachers quickly differentiate for their students. We wanted to supplement, not replace, what they were already doing.
With our guidance Quitman chose Lexia and Achieve3000, two strong options from our partner ecosystem, to account for the lack of early literacy skills among their struggling readers and to better adapt similar texts to each student's’ instructional level to drive fluency and comprehension.
It was important to go with a layered approach for their digital content offerings in order for students to experience content in multiple ways. Students received direct, highly engaging and interactive tutorials through Lexia, while Achieve3000 allowed students to reflect, summarize and write down their reactions to articles outlining the current events happening today.
The instructional design, which we create with school leaders, accounts for the key components within a school day and reimagines how these components can be more personalized to better meet each students’ needs. We paired this design with the selected digital content and ensured there was sufficient time with their offline curriculum and a block to incorporate a blended in-class rotation model. This model provided the opportunities for teachers to go deeper with complex, grade level text for an hour and then break the class into differentiated groups that rotated to various stations, one being a digital station, while other stations included targeted small group time with the teacher and a chance for peer collaboration.
The compilation of these actions certainly seems to have made a positive impact on Quitman’s student population and we’re excited to see the blended program grow to more grade levels and incorporate more digital content. This school year Quitman is continuing the blended instructional model at the 3rd - 5th grade levels, and will expand to 6th - 8th grades this winter.
At the end of the day, I feel fortunate to work with such a hard-working team, like Evelyn and Callie, and to have the support and guidance from Principal Glover and District lead, Brenda Lee, who bring their passion and voice into this work at every step. The school has come a long way given its long history of fluctuation in leadership and teaching quality, and its location as part of a district that is undergoing immense changes with heightened public scrutiny. I know that these student gains and innovative classrooms are due to a thoughtful process, to the resilient and talented teaching staff, and to the focused and motivated leadership team that show up every day at the district office and at Quitman.
