The Journal
FELTON — Even the best can get better.
That’s why two Lake Forest schools are making specialized efforts to increase student performance even in the wake of receiving Delaware Department of Education’s top rating.
Superior Schools Lake Forest North and Lake Forest East elementaries submitted their improvement plans during the Lake Forest School District regular board meeting Nov. 13.
A school is rated based on the success of certain groups on the Delaware Student Testing Program. The results are analyzed and judged against its adequate yearly progress (AYP).
A school’s AYP is designed to measure academic performance of not only all students in a particular school but of subgroups or cells within the student population. The nine cells are: all students, American Indian, Asian American, African American, Hispanic, white, economically disadvantaged, special education students and English as second language students.
Superintendent Dr. Daniel D. Curry said that a school can succeed in every cell but one and be given a negative rating.
Brenda Wynder, Lake Forest North Elementary principal, said the cells her school is focusing on improving are the African American and special education student cells.
"We have to know where the boat is headed and that all of our paddles are in the water and rowing in the same direction," Mrs. Wynder said.
The school will add a Math Interventionist that will focus on raising math scores. The new position will work with 25 students in each grade that scored the lowest on the DSTP.
"The children will be grouped by grade and need," Mrs. Wynder.
One period a day a teacher will only work with second and third grade African American and special education students. The segregated class time would help the school address the achievement gap in those particular cells, Mrs. Wynder said.
"This means some of our students will get a double dose, and they need that double dose," Mrs. Wynder said.
She added that the separate class helps track the improvement of the African American and special education cells.
Mrs. Wynder’s plan combines staff development with her focused teaching strategy.
She meets with her staff monthly to brainstorm ideas to help her students succeed.
"We are confident that we will succeed," Mrs. Wynder said.
Lake Forest East’s plan begins with identifying students that aren’t succeeding and providing them with the assistance they need.
Lake Forest East will screen all of its students three times a year to gauge their progress.
The screenings will help the school identify where it needs to target its intervention — at grade, class or individual levels.
Recently, Lake Forest East identified its third grade as its neediest group in the area of reading.
"More students were not at grade level in third grade," Principal Martha Clark said.
Every Wednesday morning from 8:45-9:30 a.m. third grade students get additional reading time to address their need.
Mrs. Clark keeps an eye on her students’ progress.
"I monitor all benchmarks," Mrs. Clark said. She, along with her Instruction Support Team, identify students that are struggling even after the interventions and makes sure they are given the help they need.
Mrs. Clark said she would also like to increase the school’s involvement in the community as part of her school’s improvement plan.
She is focused on recruiting volunteers for the school mentor program. A mentor is a person from the community that comes to the school on a regular basis and befriends children in an effort to help them succeed. Her school has reached out to the Frederica Senior Center, fire house and area businesses.
"We didn’t really have a lot of success in recruiting mentors last year — we are just going to try again," Mrs. Clark said.
One area where the school is succeeding is in volunteer recruitment through its parent teacher organization.
The group hosts monthly family nights at the school including movie nights and bingo nights.
Mrs. Clark concluded her report by saying her entire school is focused on the success of the students at Lake Forest East.
