Discovery Elementary School
Glendale, Arizona
Discovery Elementary School is a K-8 school organized into 9 multi-grade cottages with 31.5 classroom teachers and 11 specialists. Five teacher leaders serve on the "Facilitator Team" that works most extensively with the written RI materials and then shares key strategies with his or her other team members.
Site Leader: Cathy Gayman
Principal: Carolyn Rogers
School Website: http://www.gesd40.org/discovery/districtsitetemplate/index.html
School Demographics:
54% Free & Reduced Lunch
2.5% Native American
4.7% Asian
11.6% African American
54.2% Hispanic
26.8 % White
K & 1 offer Dual Language Spanish Immersion. The school receives Title 1 funds.
Reason for Affiliation
Discovery is a K-8 school organized into 9 multi-grade cottages. 5 teacher leaders serve on the "Facilitator Team" that works most extensively with the written RI materials and then shares key strategies with his or her other team members. The curriculum has always been focused on quality literacy experiences and hands-on, project-based instruction. Working with NCTE is part of an effort to better focus that commitment. Discovery School was classified in 2002 as a low-performing school. We elected to invest in qualify professional development rather than scripted curricula.
Major Changes as a Result of Participation
During the 2002-03 school year Discovery's entire staff participated in the Reading Initiative training through our NCTE Facilitators. While we do not believe that test scores are the only measures of success, we did see overall gains in the area of reading:
|
3rd Grade 4.7% gain
5th Grade -0.9% loss
8th Grade 24.5% gain |
2nd grade SAT9 2% gain
3rd grade SAT9 8% gain
4th grade SAT9 2% gain
5th grade SAT9 -1% loss
6th grade ST9 7% gain
7th grade SAT9 -10% loss
8th grade SAT9 17% gain |
In cohort comparisons Discovery showed tremendous gains. Unfortunately, these are not ways in which we are held accountable by the state or federal departments of education.
Discovery School was informed in October 2003 that they achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined byThe No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.
Using the TORP (Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile) to measure pre and post teacher understandings of reading, Discovery teachers showed a great deal of movement toward more research based understanding of the reading process. The Reader's Rummy card engagement (based on DeFord's TORP) in the Reading Initiative became the corner stone of our Teacher Action Research. Teachers took specific belief statements and used these to study their classroom practices and student growth over time. Connections between the Reading Initiative experiences along with our classroom research has made a significant impact on our classroom instruction.
Here is what some of the Discovery School teachers had to say about how working with the NCTE Reading Initiative has impacted their teaching:
 "It has made me more aware of how children learn to read and the significance of reading to individuals. I am more aware of how crucial each reader's experience is to her or her success."
"It has not only made me relook at reading in my class, but really look at how people begin to read. I come from a skill and drill background and a mother who would shout at me when I did not sound out the words -- no value to the ideas of comprehension. I love the website ReadWriteThink. It has helped me with lesson planning and new ideas, some of the lessons even give me the GOOD questions to ask."
"I think the NCTE Reading Initiative has impacted my teaching by causing me to 'refocus' on the WHY's of my teaching. The language theory is SO important because it drives each strategy I use in the classroom, the materials I choose and the groups I set up, even the furniture placement in the classroom."
 "NCTE has caused me to be reflective about what I choose to do in my classroom. I find myself trying to blend reading/writing strategies from NCTE with SIOP and dual language. It is challenging, but also makes me discuss with other staff members their ideas. Where I used to think about my class, I now think about the individuals in my class."
Related Information:
Tour of Discovery School—Glendale, AZ
Discovery Photos
|
