Change in culture results in rebirth at struggling schools

Taft Elementary School used to be known among Boise schools for its student fights and poor academic performance. That was before Susan Williamson showed up as principal four years ago. Now, the school’s disciplinary problems are nearly gone and test scores are among the best in the district.

Bill Roberts
The Idaho Statesman

In Twin Falls schools, parents were unhappy with student progress. Teachers complained the district had stagnated academically. Relations between instructors and school board members were tense.

That was before Terrell Donicht arrived as superintendent in the early 1990s. Now reading test scores are among the best in the state, and parents are delighted with the district´s progress.

Both Taft and Twin Falls underwent a rebirth in how they went about educating children.

Their success may point the way for other Idaho schools who are being asked to improve student performance.

A study on improving educational performance conducted by The Idaho Statesman shows that:

* Principals such as Williamson can play a strong role in improving student performance by setting high expectations for both students and teachers.

* Districts like Twin Falls can make improvements by focusing instruction, even if they don´t have a lot of money.

At Taft, Williamson brought a straightforward philosophy to educating kids: All students can achieve — but you must expect it from them.

In Twin Falls, Donicht and his staff outlined exactly what students should know and provided immediate additional instruction for students who fall short of those expectations.

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Bill Roberts
[email protected] or 377-6408

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/education/story.asp?ID=30472

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Boise: Taft insists kids can learn — and they do

Bill Roberts
The Idaho Statesman

Shortly after Susan Williamson was hired as principal at William Howard Taft Elementary School in 1998, a sixth-grade girl confronted her.

"I have been suspended three times," the girl said, "and you will probably kick me out of here, too."

Brenda Siegrist, a parent of three kids, showed up the same year in Williamson´s office vowing to put her kids in any elementary school other than Taft. Students weren´t learning at the school near State and 36th streets, she said.

"Taft was this dumpy little school behind the Viking Drive In," Siegrist said.

Williamson had to agree.

"It was tough," she said of her school of nearly 400 students."The kids were mean and they´d fight."

Most of the students came from low-income homes and faced stiffer learning challenges than students from more affluent backgrounds. Taft´s achievement test scores were among the district´s lowest.

Four years later, however, Taft´s reading scores are among the best in the Boise School District. Discipline problems are down dramatically. And parents are now requesting that their children attend Taft, even if they live near other elementary schools.

The transformation wasn´t easy. By the time students began turning in respectable test scores, Williams had taken on everything at the school, from its weed-infested landscaping to a faculty who fought her insistence that every child can learn, regardless of background.

"She rocked the boat," said Karen Abbott, a sixth-grade teacher who has taught at Taft for 10 years. "She made people mad."

Williamson showed that kids´ economic disadvantages don´t need to hamper learning. It´s a lesson that many Idaho schools will have to learn if they expect to meet state and federal mandates that all children reach minimum standards before graduating from high school.

Changing the culture

How did Williamson change the culture?

* She restored order and discipline, including how teachers dressed for class and how kids behaved on the playground.

* She scrounged for additional dollars to get better training for her teachers and aides and more educational opportunities for kids.

* She relied on data from kids´ tests to drive classroom instruction.

"They call me the data queen," she said, opening a 4-inch-thick book of information that covers Taft test scores, absentee rates and disciplinary actions over the past four years.

Williamson forged her reliance on test data as an elementary principal in Texas, regarded as one of the more successful states for linking classroom instruction to student achievement.

But when she got to Taft, she couldn´t begin educating until she conquered disciplinary problems.

One of the first things to go was an obscure wooden sign on the front lawn bearing the school´s name.

Parents convinced Albertsons — which was opening a store across the street — to donate a large, handsome rock with the school´s name carved on it.

Williamson consulted parents and students on what colors to paint the school´s interior. She brought living-room furniture into the hallways to give the school a more comfy feel.

"You need a rich, warm environment," Williamson said.

She also prohibited teachers from wearing casual clothes, such as jeans, on Fridays. Teachers should look professional at all times, she said.

And she started a character academy — classes that taught children about respect and caring for one another.

As behavior problems lessened, she went to work on instruction.

Teachers were brought together in teams to study — in minute detail — how students were performing and what could be done to boost proficiency.

Not everyone liked it. Many of the teachers just wanted to teach and help meet the emotional needs of kids they believed were struggling with heavy burdens in their lives outside of school.

"Last year, in the first 40 days of school, I had 27 meetings that took me outside of the classroom," said Sandi Haines, a first-grade teacher at Taft for 14 years. "It took me away from what I wanted to do."

Williamson said the best way to make kids feel better is to teach them skills they can use.

Teachers shape changes

Schoolwide reforms began tumbling out of the frequent teacher meetings.

In kindergarten, for example, children were divided into classes based on their early reading and other skills. Students with a lot of ground to cover were placed in classes with a ratio of one teacher to 10 kids. Other students went into larger classes.

Anne Anderson teaches one of Taft´s small kindergartens. She takes advantage of the small class to spend more time with each child and to engage the whole class in games that let them hear the sounds of letters and use their bodies to shape them.

"You have to keep at them, and by January or February, the light goes on," Anderson said.

Last year, all 10 of Anderson´s kindergartners were reading below grade level, according to the statewide reading test given in fall. By spring, all but two had reached grade level.

Williamson, however, wasn´t satisfied with keeping education confined to the normal school day. Last year, she began an after-school writing club.

About 30 kids showed up to write stories and poetry. Many of them barely wrote a word before they came to the club. Three other Boise elementary schools copied the program this year.

Red-haired tornado

Williamson´s intensity — she is sometimes referred to as a red-haired tornado — to make Taft a better school gets a lot of praise from parents.

Craig Cornwall, for example, lives in the Whitney Elementary School zone on the other side of town. But he sends 8-year-old daughter Madeleine to Taft.

Madeleine´s stepmother, Morgan Cornwall, says Williamson has set a clear goal for the school.

A volunteer at Taft, Morgan Cornwall watched one student last year who couldn´t read at all in second grade. But teachers worked with the child and "by year´s end she was reading with the rest of the class."

Teachers, once standoffish and defiant, have become Williamson´s greatest supporters.

"Just see how these kids are coming along," said Abbott, the sixth-grade teacher. "I don´t think anyone would go back."

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Bill Roberts
[email protected] or 377-6408

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/education/story.asp?ID=30471