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Kingsland School District vs. Academic Distressed

By Debra Myers

The Kingsland School District, which has kindergarten through twelfth grade on one campus, was placed on the academic distressed list for the school year of 2000-2001.

I was a new teacher to the district coming from a private school, so I did not know what to expect or what was in store for me. The big question: How did the Kingsland School District get removed from the academic distressed list? The staff at Kingsland pulled together, worked hard, and was able to be removed from the academic distressed list after the first year. It took the effort of everyone involved during the 2000-2001 school year, the administrators, parents, students and teachers, for Kingsland School District to be removed from the academic distressed list.

Administrators were the leaders in this endeavor. They worked hard to see that students came to school everyday, teachers had their plans in order and were teaching by the plans, and that the parents were helping at home. Administrators helped by sending notes home to parents explaining their role as a parent and how to help students at home. Administrators also agreed to give incentives to the students in the different grade levels, elementary and high school, who scored well on the SAT 9 tests. The incentive for the elementary students who scored above the fiftieth percentile or improved their scores was an invitation to a skating party. The incentive for high school students who scored above the fiftieth percentile or improved their scores was to have an excused day off from school.

Parents assisted Kingsland School during the time the school was on the academic distressed list. Parents were to ensure that their child or children had a good night’s sleep prior to the test dates. Another parental role was to give their child or children positive words before he/she left for school. Positive words like, “I know you can do it”, “You will do alright on the test today”, or just the simple words, “Just do your best today, and I love you”, were encouraged. The administrators felt that if parents gave their child or children positive words of encouragement each morning, he/she would come to school with a higher self-esteem about themselves and have a positive attitude toward the test.

Students had an important part during this time, since they were the ones who were going to take this test to pass. They made sure that they attended school regularly with a good night’s sleep. They attended class each day with a positive attitude ready to take on new and different tasks that the teachers gave them. Also, the students had to study at night with assignments given by the teachers to help improve their scores on the SAT 9 test. A note was sent home to each parent a few days prior to the test days. The notes gave information and some tips on steps to be taken the night before testing. Some of these tips were: to get a good night’s sleep, eat a good breakfast, and for parents to give their child or children a positive incentive before leaving for school. If parents give a positive incentive the students will come to school with a positive attitude toward the test. The school provided a hot breakfast each morning for students unable to eat before leaving home for school. This practice continues at Kingsland School.

Teachers also had an important role in helping to get the Kingsland School District removed from the academic distressed list. Teachers did multiple activities to help prepare students to pass or improve their test score. Teachers’ activities included: attending workshops, in-service meetings, evaluating students’ scores from the year before, making individual as well as over-all lesson plans, and pooling resources to help with the skills needed to pass or improve test scores. But, the main activity was the paper work. Everything that was constructed and performed had to be documented and written down on forms. If no form was provided then he/she had to write it down on paper. Teachers also had incentives for students in his/her classroom, who scored above the fiftieth percentile or improved their score. These incentives are discussed below.

First, teachers attended a mandatory workshop in El Dorado, which focused on schools either on the academic distressed list or on the borderline of academic distressed. The main speaker of this particular workshop was Frank Anthony, the superintendent of the Pine Bluff School District. He spoke on behalf of the Pine Bluff School District and how he helped to remove them from both academic and financial distress. In his speech he gave pointers and ideas to help stay off or to be removed from the academic distressed list.

Second, when school started, both administrators and teachers had in-service meetings. The administrators and teachers pulled together to gather the information to help each teacher construct his/her individual as well as overall lesson plans. Each teacher was given the 1999-2000 scores of the students he/she was assigned for the school year. The teacher highlighted each student’s score that was below the fiftieth percentile or that was on the border of the next percentile rank. After highlighting, he/she started making individual student lesson plans. The teacher chose the skills to be taught and looked for the skill with the highest p-value. Then, he/she pulled all of the individual lesson plans and constructed an overall lesson plan for each skill for the class. The lesson plan included: the objective of the lesson, how the lesson was to be taught, and what materials would be used for the students to focus on for this skill.

Last, teachers used multiple resources to help with teaching and preparing each student for the SAT 9 test. Some of the resources used were Key Links, Test Ready, samples of SAT 9 questions, and basic skill drills. The Key Links were open-ended questions to help students write out their answers with reasoning. The Test Ready included questions based on the SAT 9 test to help students with sample questions and test-taking skills. The teacher used the lesson plans and resources to help each student on the skill or skills he/she needed extra help on to improve on the SAT 9 test.

Some of the teachers in the elementary level gave incentives to those who scored above the fiftieth percentile or improved their test scores. Some of the incentives that teachers gave were: a popcorn party, an ice cream party or extra recesses. The over-all school year of 2000-2001 was a stressful year for everyone involved: administrators, students, parents, and teachers. But, when all parties pulled together and worked together, the hard work truly paid off. The students of the Kingsland School District improved their test scores. So, that meant that the Kingsland School District was removed from the academic distressed list the first year. YEA! Since that year everyone has continued to work hard to keep improving test scores and to stay off the academic distressed list. Teachers still must evaluate test scores from the year before, set lesson plans for those students who are below the fiftieth percentile or on the border of the next percentile rank, and find the resources he/she plans to use to help students on the skills that need improvement. So far each year we, the Kingsland School District, have worked very hard to keep improving test scores and to stay off the academic distressed list.

Comments: e-mail ArkansasTeach@aol.com

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About the author:

Debra Myers has been teaching for ten years. She holds a degree in Elementary Education, Kindergarten through sixth. She also had endorsements in middle school science, math and social studies. Debra has taught grades second through ninth. She is presently working on a Master’s in Educational Leadership.