District Administration - March 2007 - (Page 30)
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DistrictProfile • ort Chester Middle School is no overnight sensation.
With deliberate and carefully executed steps over the past eight years, it
has become a nationally celebrated model for improving learning among
disadvantaged students. The school is located in a worki ng-cla ss city in
Westchester County, home to some of New York’s wealthiest residents. The
school has the county’s highest percentage of nonnat ive English
speakers 12 percent of its 795 students are English Language Learners ,
and more than half of its students come from lowi ncome families. Yet in
2004, it was the only middle school in Westchester County to make New York
state’s most improved list in both math and English, which means test
scores rose by at least 20 percentage points between 1999 and 2003.
Lucille Renwick PORT CHESTER N.Y. MIDDLE SCHOOL: Success at a Steady Pace
P after its principal, Carmen Macchia, arrived in 1993. His first six
years were focused primarily on making the school safe, clean and orderly.
But in 1999, the principal discovered that barely one-third of
eighth-graders passed basic English and math on a newly instituted state
exam. He implemented a number of improvement s that included teacher
collaborat ion, building student literacy, and having teachers map out
their curricula from one grade to the next. “We’re making steady
progress. It all takes time.“ a nd has guided them in designing
worksheets and tests that mirror the state standardized exams. Critics of
such forms of test prep may see this as teaching to the test, but
superintendent Donald Carlisle says it is an “obligation to provide more
preparat ion for the exam and to help reduce test anxiety” among the
students, especially given their English skills. Academic Transformation T
he school’s academic transformation began in 1999, several years PORT
CHESTER N.Y. MIDDLE SCHOOL No. of instructional staff: 70 No. of students:
795 Per-pupil expenditure: $15,945 Population of town: 26,000 approx. Free
and reduced lunch: 58.9% ELL students: 12.3% Superintendent: Donald
Carlisle, since July 2006 Literacy at All Levels Macch ia also emphasized
improving literacy, no matter the subject. At the start, he asked to see
teachers’ lesson plans to be sure that they included literacy
instruction. Now all teachers meet by grade level to coordinate their
lessons so that everyone works on the same language skills at the same
time and each teacher knows how much work and type of work another teacher
is assigning. Teaching literacy has made a tremendous impact on students,
says Aida Velez, a seventh- and eighthg rade math teacher. “For the
majorit y of my students, if they saw a problem with numbers and very few
words they could get it. If it had lots of words they’d give up, because
it was intimidating,” says Velez. “When I help them understand how to
read the problem—both in understandi ng the English language and the
language of the problem—it’s much easier for them. Training the
Teachers P rofessiona l development for teachers has also been critical.
For the past 10 years, the school has worked with an educational
consultant who has helped teachers master their instruction and curricula
building Principal Carmen Macchia, since 1993 Steady Increases In 2004,
math scores at the school were in the top 10 percent of all New York
middle schools. In 2005, two-thirds of students met the state standard for
English language arts. Last November, the school was one of five in the
nation recognized by the nonprofit group Education Trust for its success
in raising student achievement among minority and disadvantaged youth.
Macchia is hoping for continued success this year, with 75 percent of
students at the school meeting the state English language arts standa rd.
“We’re making nice steady progress, always moving up,” he says.
“It all takes time.” DA Lucille Renwick is a freelance writer based in
Los Angeles. District Administration Web site: www.portchesterschools.org
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http://www.portchesterschools.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - March 2007
Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Friday Night Fever
Creating an Effective Virtual School Program
Hunting for Talent
Multimedia Man
Do These Web Sites Work?
Finding Funds for Student Laptops
Curriculum Crassifieds
Gearing Up for Science Assessments
New Products
Computer Literature
Speaking Out
Principal Opinion
The Online Edge
Calendar of Events
Problem/Solution
Research Corner
District Administration - March 2007
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