Wes Del Elementary School
500 E. Jackson Street
Gaston, IN47342
Telephone: 765-358-3079
FAX: 765-358-3573
Principal: Tracy Shafer
Grade Levels: K-5 Wes Del Elementary School Web Site
Annual Review
May 2004 Background Gaston Elementary School is located on the northern edge of Delaware County in the small community of Gaston, Indiana. This small rural community included approximately 120 farm operations and 80 businesses. The Harrison-Washington School Corporation services the children of this area.
The school population is comprised of ninety-nine percent Caucasians who are in the lower middle class with regard to their socioeconomic level. Parents are employed in service, manufacturing, clerical, small business, or farming. Very few technically skilled and professional persons reside within the school boundaries. Approximately forty-five percent of the students at Gaston Elementary receive free lunches and textbooks.
Gaston Elementary School, a K-2 building, has enrolled approximately 190 students. It offers two three self-contained classrooms for Grades 1 and 2 and two self-contained classrooms for kindergarten. In addition, Gaston Elementary offers a preschool and an after school latchkey program for the corporation.
There are currently 9 classroom teachers of the staff at Gaston Elementary. In addition, there are several specialty teachers, that is art, music, and physical education. The support for faculty includes Primetime assistants, Title 1 assistants, and a library assistant on staff. Also included are a school counselor, nurse, daycare assistant, speech, and learning disabilities teachers and a social worker are all employed to work in the school.
Harrison Elementary School is the partner school with Gaston Elementary. It is located two and one-half miles south of Gaston, Indiana and is a part of the Harrison-Washington School Corporation.
Harrison Elementary School, a 3rd through 5th grade building, has enrolled approximately 232 students. There are currently 10 teachers in the school (3 teachers in 3rd and 4th grades and 4 teachers in the 5th grade). As with Gaston, there are specialty teachers, i.e., art, music, and physical education. They also have Primetime assistants, Title 1 assistants, and a library assistant on staff. A school counselor, nurse, speech, and learning disabilities teachers and a social worker are all employed to work in the school.
PDS Functions/Goals This report summarizes the results of the strategic plan developed for Gaston Elementary and Harrison Elementary based on the PDS Site Visit Reports (Spring 2003) and the recommendations made. School improvements are focused on the different functions and goals important for Professional Development Schools.
Teacher Preparation Gaston Elementary and Harrison Elementary staff members have continued to offer sound instructional practices for student teachers. In addition, student teachers have had opportunities to explore their own beliefs about teaching and how children learn under the supportive guidance from their cooperating classroom teachers, the PDS liaison, as well as the school faculty. For the fall of 2003 and spring 2004 there was a total of 11 student teachers in these schools training for the teaching profession.
The student teachers upon entering Gaston Elementary and Harrison Elementary found that the classroom teachers were engaged in exploring their own instructional beliefs and methods by participating in action research. To support their research, the teachers were engaged in continual professional development. This year the focus of professional development was on the topics of reading comprehension and vocabulary development. From this, the teachers were addressing the many issues that they may have about their own professional growth. This modeled for the student teachers the importance of a life-long learner attitude. As a result of the professional growth activities at these schools, the student teachers were required to develop and implement inquiry throughout the course of the semester that focused on one topic. The student teachers read, discussed what was learned, developed and implemented lessons that aligned with effective instruction. The inquiry project clearly aligned with the already established goals set for student teaching at Ball State University, including the INTASC principles.
For this school year, the student teachers researched the topic of reading comprehension, which followed the professional development plan for the professional teachers in both schools. They read required literature on the topic (Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop) as well as other pertinent literature on the topic of comprehension. During student teacher meetings, questions were answered about their study of comprehension and they shared instructional experiences while implementing comprehension strategies. Part of their support for one another was by visiting each other's classrooms to observe the use of comprehension strategies. At the end of the student teacher experience during the portfolio presentation, they were required to report on the success of their instruction based on the inquiry. In addition, they wrote an essay that described what was learned. To support their learning, the student teachers were required to attend all professional development meetings, including one meeting to develop this year's Title II inquiry project. It gave me great pleasure to observe these student teachers as they implemented their instructional plans that focused on reading comprehension and discovered how reading comprehension affects instruction throughout the curriculum.
In addition, the student teachers implementation of reading comprehension strategies and activities in a workshop environment greatly affected the professional development of the classroom teachers. For example, one student teacher developed centers that allowed children to focus on important comprehension strategies. This worked well in a workshop environment. However the teachers were struggling with the development of the centers. From her development of the workshop centers and her successes using it, the classroom teachers ventured forth and also developed their own centers and found ways to successfully use them.
Because of the success we have found with our student teacher program, it will continue this next year. Furthermore, because the teaches will continue their study of reading comprehension the student teachers will also continue to focus on this topic for their inquiry project.
Staff Development All staff development correlates with both schools' PL 221 plans.
Several projects were the focus of professional development this school year.
1. The writing workshop project found closer this year as far as formal presentations of how to use the writing process in a workshop environment. Even so, when the teachers needed assistance with certain aspects of the writing process, I willing helped them. From this extended professional development, writing instruction in both schools has changed. In addition, attitudes about the teaching of the writing process have greatly improved.
2. The schools both participated in the Title II grant activities this year. The study of reading comprehension has continued. Last year, a CORE group of teachers from both schools read the text "The Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Workshop Environment." This year, both staffs read the text and attended professional development sessions (usually twice monthly). The text was the center of learning, however, other pertinent literature on the topic of reading comprehension was also used. During these sessions, the teachers reflected and shared what was learned. The teachers were to try out the different strategies presented to them in their classrooms. In addition, the teachers participated in an intense study of vocabulary development throughout the school year. This was part of a program for struggling schools called TOP Hat II sponsored by Title I through the Department of Education. From this additional in-service on vocabulary development, the teachers made a connection between vocabulary development and comprehension so that they understood how the two topics are related. Furthermore, during the sessions, team-building activities occurred to assist the two separate teaching faculties as they prepare to become one faculty the fall of 2004. (Note: Gaston Elementary has been under construction all school year. The purpose was to bring the Harrison faculty to that site. The new school will be called Wes Del Elementary). "Food, Fun and Family Night" has continued at Gaston and Harrison. There was a family night in the fall at Gaston and one in the spring at Harrison. As this program has progressed into its second year, it was well attended by the community and both teaching staffs (including student teachers) as well as administrators from the district office and university. This evening event has continued to focus on important issues that families may have that support their children's learning. The teachers planned and implemented the sessions that families attended during the family nights. This activity will continue into 2004-05.
3. I would like to note that because of a love of learning, several teachers in both schools have become leaders. One such example is Shirley Thacker who received National Board Certification this last fall 2003. She began the process three years ago and is now one of 105 teachers in the state of Indiana who has received this honor.
4. This next year, the study of comprehension will continue and will be discussed more specifically in the research section. In addition, the study of vocabulary will continue.
Research Three projects have developed from the research at Gaston Elementary and Harrison Elementary.
1. For several years, the teachers at Gaston and Harrison have studied the importance of the writing process. The writing process in a workshop environment was implemented. This has been very successful in many of the classrooms. From this continual in-service over time, two studies have developed.
* The first-grade teachers, Shirley Thacker, Lori Young and Regina Segraves participated in a study for one school year. The purpose of the study was to examine the learning of these three teachers as they implemented the writing process via a workshop environment. Each teacher is at a different stage of professional development on the topic of the writing process in primary grades. Several types of data were collected, i.e., teacher interviews, student interviews, writing samples, and pictures, observational notes. Data were transcribed and analyzed systematically over a period of time, with each semester analyzed separately by the liaison and a doctoral student.
The results revealed categories of information that affected the teachers' learning that supported the literature on the topic of how teachers development professionally. Interesting, the results of the student interviews also showed that they had similar learning needs. It appears that learners (of all ages) basically have similar issues and need similar things to support their learning. This is important information considering that most staff development activities do not support the individual professional development issues of teachers but expect everyone to perform the same way at the same time. The teachers and I spent the year and wrote a manuscript about their experiences during this study. The manuscript was sent to Childhood Education.
* A second study was conducted examining a group of students for a period of two years as they learned to use the writing process in a workshop environment. These students were in a classroom where the teacher (Shirley Thacker) was looping (1st and 2nd grade). This gave us the opportunity to examine how children learn to write over a period of time. I have collected a variety of data, i.e., teacher interviews and student interviews, two in the fall and two in the spring; writing samples of the writing process; observational notes; journal entries from the teacher and students; and pictures. At this time, the second year data (2nd grade) are being transcribed. Data analysis will occur during the course of the summer 04 and fall 04. A literature review has been completed for a manuscript, which will be written next school year. Shirley Thacker will assist in the writing of the manuscript. Few studies have been conducted that examine how first-grade children use and reflect on the writing process. In contrast to the few studies that have focused on this topic, preliminary results in this study show that the first-grade students could reflect on the process of writing (beyond just learning the steps of the writing process). Learning how to use the writing process greatly affected how these children entered the classroom in the 2nd grade and approached not only writing instruction, but also reading.
2. A third study was piloted this last year focusing on the topic of reading comprehension. The teachers engaged in learning about reading comprehension in continual professional development meetings while reading a text (noted previously) and other pertinent literature to support reading comprehension. They implemented what was learned in their classrooms with the support of a CORE team of teachers, the administrator, and the university liaison. Reflection journals were kept as they learned about reading comprehension and began the implementation of appropriate instructional strategies. Observational notes were also collected to examine their learning. A variety of children's literature was bought to support the teachers developing Reader's Workshops.
This next school year, the teachers will continue their study of reading comprehension. This supports the research literature that states that learning to use new and different instruction takes time and a variety of support for teachers to make philosophical as well as instructional changes. This next year, Sherry Kragler (BSU reading faculty) will also conduct professional development sessions with the Wes Del Elementary faculty on the topic of reading comprehension and processes. This adds a new perspective and voice to the professional development that the teachers receive. The university liaison will continue to support the faculty but most of the coaching will take place with the CORE team (that has been trained now for two years). The university liaison will collect data along with Sherry Kragler during the course of the school year. A variety of data (quantitative and qualitative) will be gathered to examine the effects of this professional development on students reading performance, i.e., pre/post testing using the Gates McGinitie (K-5), observational notes, student samples, Terra Nova and ISTEP scores.
Student Learning
The students continued to make improvements in both schools this year. This was demonstrated on test scores and in student attitudes about learning. An effort will be made to continue to monitor the students' learning.