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CONTACT:
Principal Rayburn Mitchell
38955 Pleasant St.
Sandy, Oregon 97055
503-668-8065
District Web site: http://www.oregontrailschools.com/
Sandy Grade School made giant strides in reading and math, after implementing several strategies in recent years, especially among English as a Second Language students.
The district “clusters” ESL students in classrooms, so at least three students of “like skills” are in one classroom. The school has become a model for other cluster schools in the Oregon Trail School District.
Russ Hasegawa, Oregon Trail District assistant superintendent, notes striking increases in the third and fifth grade average state test scores: From 77 percent meeting standards in 2002 to 91 percent last year for reading, with similar increases in math.
[See additional resources below]
A strong after-school program funded through Title I is also a key to success. Three days a week for one hour after school, students work with teachers and Title 1 assistants. Sandy Grade also increased training for all school staff on “flooding” – which means classrooms can be “flooded” with up to five adults, either as teachers, mentors or instructional assistants, all helping small groups of kids.
From Russ Hasegawa,
Assistant Superintendent, Oregon Trail School
District
“We noticed five significant practices and strategies that lead to increased student achievement:
- Clustering Model;
- Flooding;
- Afterschool Program;
- Collaborative Staff;
and
- the Title I reading program. Janet Pitcher, Title I Coordinator, has implemented a balanced reading program that is effective."
From Julia Monteith, Oregon Trail Community Relations
Director
Sandy Grade deserves a salute – We implemented the cluster model at 3 of our 6 elementary schools in the fall of 2003, and Sandy Grade has become the model for our district. Teachers have been proactive with professional development in language acquisition and ESL teaching strategies. We have a federal grant that provides ESL professional development districtwide, and Sandy Grade has an impressive number of staff participating. And they are not just setting their training materials on a shelf; they are implementing the strategies and seeing almost immediate results. They have taken ownership of their assignment as a cluster school, are excited about their
teaching and are pouring their hearts and souls into it. We plan to have staff from our other two cluster schools do visitations to Sandy Grade to shadow some of the teachers.”
Additional
Resources
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