Mitchell Elementary School
Muncie, IN 47304
Telephone: 765-747-5413
FAX: 765-747-5414
Principal: Cindy Iavagnilio
Grade Levels: K-5 Mitchell Elementary School Web Site
Annual Review
June 2003 Background Mitchell Elementary School is located in the northwest part of Muncie, Indiana. Currently, Mitchell has 193 students, 86% of whom are Caucasian, and 14% minorities (including students who represent 24 nations of the world). Mitchell has 17 certified and 7 non-certified staff members. Mitchell is a Professional Development School, part of the professional development network at Ball State University. It is Mitchell Elementary's goal to educate students in the best possible manner, so that they can successfully meet the challenges of tomorrow. This year, Mitchell was again named an Indiana 4-Star School, a status the school has maintained for 10 years.
PDS Function/Goals
Teacher Preparation During the 2002/2003 school year, Mitchell placed 8 student teachers. Mitchell continues to provide an excellent environment for student teachers to gain expertise. This year, student teachers had a number of opportunities in addition to working within their classroom placement. Student teachers observed at least twice in every classroom, participated in school activities and responsibilities, prepared a school-wide collaborative academic project, assisted at least once with each of the support staff, and attended staff meetings and district in-service.
Staff Development This year, Mitchell staff participated in a variety of staff development opportunities, some of which occurred at a national level. Teachers Mike McKenzie and Ron Purtlebaugh, principal Cindy Iavagnilio, and liaison Dr. Sally Catoe attended the National Staff Development Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. They attended sessions focusing on several areas of staff development in the areas of their stated language arts and mathematics goals (PL221). Classroom teacher Julie Eckelman developed a presentation on her PT3 technology project for the 7th Annual Holmes Partnership Conference in Washington, DC. Liaison Dr. Sally Catoe presented the school's Teaching Rounds project at the same national conference. Adjunct/teacher Ron Purtlebaugh, teacher Mike McKenzie, principal Cindy Iavagnilio, and liaison Sally Catoe each made separate presentations during faculty in-service meetings, sharing their learnings from the NSDC conference. Adjunct/teacher Ron Purtlebaugh and classroom teacher Mike McKenzie presented at the Fall PDS Institute meeting at Ball State, and Mr. Purtlebaugh conducted 3 state teacher-training in-services with Dr. Patty Hughes. In addition, Mr. Purtlebaugh served as a team member for the Ball State Professional Education Committee and its Sub-committee for Dispositions. Ron Purtlebaugh, Cindy Iavagnilio, and Sally Catoe participated in an NCATE review of the preservice teacher training model at Ball State, attended each of the PDS Institute meetings, and developed a grant proposal that was accepted. Mike McKenzie and Ron Purtlebaugh participated in the Ball State interview team that met with NCATE evaluators.
Research
Mitchell PDS has been engaged in 3 strands of research during this school year. The first is a continuation of the technology grant received by Julie Eckelman, third grade classroom teacher, to investigate the impact of technology (used by both teacher and students) on a special thematic unit of study.
The second strand of research focuses on action research. Mr. Ron Purtlebaugh documented the growth of student math work during a collaborative teaching time with his student teacher. Student test scores on the Saxon Middle Grade Placement Tests increased by an overall average of 17 points due to the small group teaching that having a student teacher in the classroom allowed.
Lastly, Mitchell has been engaged in developing and implementing a $1,000 grant from Ball State to improve writing scores. This spring has been largely spent in the developmental stage, incorporating input from teachers and parents in a needs assessment and setting up the structure for next year's implementation.
Student Learning During the 2002/2003 school year, Mitchell staff focused on several goals including expanded participation in language arts activities including reading and writing with a focus upon children's individual needs through best practices, use of major concepts, and ongoing research. As part of the focus on reading, eight Ball State preservice students supplied private tutoring for eight Mitchell struggling readers. Mitchell plans to continue this collaboration in the future. In addition, classroom teacher Jennifer Stacy implemented a series of "Literacy Lunches" that included students, student teachers, and parents in the discussion of novels.
Essential Attributes
Learning Community
Mitchell PDS is a learning community in a number of ways. First, Mitchell fosters an atmosphere of learning by focusing on children and their academic success. Next, Mitchell provides opportunities for Ball State student teachers to become part of the faculty and school, and provides continuous contexts for learning throughout the student teaching experience. Student teachers are given opportunities both within and outside of the classroom to work with children and they are given school-wide projects as part of their student teaching experience. Learning is encouraged and facilitated for the staff as well as children and university students. Teachers welcome student teachers' incorporation of cutting-edge activities and strategies. For example, several student teachers have used PowerPoint presentations and one student teacher incorporated a Web Quest in her unit.
Collaboration The Mitchell faculty continues to collaborate on various projects related to the academic curriculum. Vickie Fisher, Jennifer Stacy, and Ron Purtlebaugh collaborated on the Camp Crosley project. Mike McKenzie and Jennifer Stacy worked together on the Space Camp field trip. Ron Purtlebaugh participated in a county-wide education event (Career Day), highlighting a Social Studies integrated unit of study he developed and implemented with his students.
Mitchell and Ball State continue to collaborate in both staff development and work with student teachers. Student teachers at Mitchell collaborated on projects during both fall and spring semesters. An example of this was the school-wide Reading Challenge directed by the student teachers. This project brought in community leaders, Ball State resources, and others to encourage reading in each of the school's classrooms. Student teachers planned, lobbied for financial support, created materials, and tallied classroom reading lists for the project. Another school-wide project was Teaching Rounds. During the two separate experiences, each teacher invited all the student teachers to observe best practice lessons in a variety of subject areas. At the end of each round, faculty and student teachers participated in reflective analysis of what was learned during the opportunity and how to improve upon the experience next time.
A new collaboration between Mitchell and Ball State was formed this year as a number of Mitchell parents came to the university to be panel discussants for 14 sessions of the EDEL 350 courses. One set of parents took part in a panel discussion about multicultural issues in each of the seven sections of EDEL 350, and a different set of parents formed a similar panel to discuss parent expectations. Reviews from students, parents, and professors all determined that this was a very worthwhile activity for these classes.
Accountability and Quality Assurance Mitchell's cooperative and collaborative atmosphere provides an appropriate context for accountability and quality assurance. Working with Ball State, Mitchell staff members carefully guide and mentor student teachers. Throughout the process, staff and liaison work together to assist student teachers in achieving standards of excellence as determined by university documents and teacher expertise.
Mitchell has also worked carefully to gather and record information relating to their growth and change. They have conducted surveys of students and parents and have analyzed this information in documentation of PL 221.
Organization, Roles, and Structures Mitchell's participation as a professional development school maintained support throughout the staff this year. Site council meetings were held as part of existing faculty meetings, thus involving all staff in decisions to be made. Mr. Ron Purtlebaugh continued as the faculty adjunct and Dr. Sally Catoe served as the Ball State liaison. The new principal, Ms. Cindy Iavagnilio was an indispensable part of the team, spearheading many of the projects. Mitchell has maintained an active partnership with Ball State throughout this year.
Mr. Ron Purtlebaugh, Ball State adjunct faculty member and Mitchell teacher provides adjunct support for Ball State University and also encourages and motivates teachers in the school to participate in PDS activities. Part of his role is to "sell" proposals to fellow staff members. He also collaborates with Ball State and serves as a consultant there.
Dr. Sally Catoe served as the Ball State/Mitchell liaison. She engaged in several activities as liaison. These included supervising student teachers, providing staff development, encouraging teacher participation and modeling of best practices, presenting Mitchell's innovations at a national conference, and providing resources and support to pre-service teachers as well as classroom teachers.
Equity Mitchell PDS and Ball State University share common goals and responsibilities and take their relationship and partnership very seriously. They also share resources and commitment with regard to the education of Mitchell students. The Mitchell student body includes students representing 24 countries of the world. Focus throughout the school is on helping all students achieve at a high level. Student teachers have presented lessons that include current practices and trends and have therefore provided renewal for the faculty.
Mitchell provides Ball State pre-service teachers with real life experiences involving committee membership, lunchroom supervision, convocations, special programs, and PTO meetings. They have full faculty status and use of teacher aides and equipment. Ball State has provided staff development and opportunities for discussion and inquiry, as well as funding for some of the resources.
Mitchell continues to maintain a very desirable win-win relationship with the university, Muncie Community Schools administration, and parental support.