Literacy in the Jorge
Lucas Dual Language School
A Change for Improvement
Our
Goal: The Jorge Lucas Dual Elementary School has
undertaken the task of improving the levels of Literacy amongst their students
by implementing effective strategies for change through the “Literacy Now” Initiative.
With these, the school aims to create an academic environment were all its
students will be able to improve their work in school by enhancing the skills
needed for reading and writing.
Challenges
For
several years, the Jorge Lucas Dual Language School had seen its literacy
levels decrease gradually amongst their students, a problem that stemmed from
the fact that many students were not proficient in English due to their
cultural background. The school began to see negative results amongst test
scores and many students found themselves unable to advance forward. It was not
long after this that teachers began to become concern for their students’
academic progress, but it would take more than just the teacher’s efforts to
see an improvement. A change needed to be implemented, one that would be school
wide and involved everybody that had a stake on the success of the school and
its students; more importantly, the learners themselves. Looking forward, after
establishing the “Literacy Now” initiative, we have a long road ahead and there
is much work to be done. Teachers must now engage in collaboration between all
stakeholders involved in improving literacy amongst our students. We will also
need to implement effective and proven strategies that will help students
improve in this area through the use of culturally relevant instruction, collaborative
projects and collaboration between teachers and parents. Most importantly, the
school will also be implementing the most advanced and efficient instructional
technology custom made to fit the learning needs of each individual student.
Early
Victories
Our
school has struggled for a long time now, but the tides have begun to turn to
our favor. After several months of dealing with the school administration and
several Educational tech companies about budget and licensing concerns, the
Jorge Lucas Dual Language School has finally begun its implementation of the new
“E-Chalkboard” Learning Management System (LMS) created by Windu Educational
Technologies. This LMS system is designed to support student learning by
analyzing the student’s learning style and creating a unique “Learning” account
for the child to log in and practice according to their academic needs. The system
was created by collaboration efforts between, teachers, instructional designers
and Windu EdTech programmers with the purpose of presenting students with
interactive academic content that will include collaborative projects,
bilingual content, and other features that are tailored to each student
according to their learning style. Already we have seen major breakthroughs in
student success and adaptation to the usage of this program. Primary student
assessments has shown that students have begun to score higher marks in
language acquisition projects thanks to the immersive educational technology
custom fitted for each child learner.
Signs
of Advancement
So
far our school has already begun to see success in its endeavor for changing
what once was failing literacy scores. Our Gates-MacGinitie scores, which were
used to determine reading achievement, have
improved drastically from an average 5.6 grade-level equivalent to an average
8.7 grade-level equivalent. Even
though these scores do imply that there is still room for students to go
farther and achieve higher scores here at J. L. D.L.S., we are definitely strengthened
by the fact that the average student now beginning to read more than two grade levels higher than two years ago. In
addition to these positive initial results, our academic institution finally
met our state accountability targets for the first time in seven years. New York City uses its official
accountability score, the Educational Performance
Index, to boost the city’s school performances by placing an accountability target for each school based on its
assessment results. In 2006 –2013, with a baseline score of 443 and a target of 465, The Jorge Lucas Dual Language Elementary
School achieved a score of 470 (Fisher, Frey & Williams, 2002).
Moving
Forward
The
Jorge Lucas Dual Language elementary school is resilient in its pursuit of
excellence and the through the “Literacy Now” initiative it is evident that we will
continue on the brilliant path to success. Still, the need for change goes
beyond simply implementing strategies and the aid of instructional technology
within the school. It requires for every stakeholder to reach out to the
community and create awareness for the need of literacy and academic
excellence. For these very reasons the Jorge Lucas Dual Language Elementary
School has established several extracurricular programs in association with the
New York Academy of Arts. One of these extracurricular programs is called
“ReadACT” and it is designed as an after school program to get students reading
and collaborate with each other by putting on performances of their favorite
literary works. The New York Academy of Arts further motivates our students by
providing them the tools and resources voluntary acting coaches, stage props,
costumes, and other useful items necessary for progression in their literacy
skills.
While we work to expand the success of literacy within
our school, it is also important that our primary focus remains on the
curricular success of our school. Our powerful instructional model is built
around a cooperative-learning framework that engages students in rich
discussion and motivating challenges every day. As of now, we are currently
finding more ways to engage students by widening the scope of our Multicultural
and Cooperative Learning and enhancing their lessons so, teachers can prepare
students for learning. With the use of questioning and modeling, teachers will
lead students through the new content they will need to complete through the rest
of the day’s activities, whether reading a novel, conducting research, or
working on a team product (Success for All, 2012). We will also be seeking new
ways to help students of all cultural backgrounds within the Jorge Lucas Dual
Language School, ingrate faster socially amongst their peers thus increasing
their potential for acquiring the desired levels of literacy. This they will
achieve together in collaborative learning projects that will provide them with
the empowering chance of taking control of their learning.
Finally,
we know very well that elaborate school improvement plans that do not focus
exclusively and directly on curriculum implementation and improving instruction
are not helpful to improving student achievement. For these very reasons, it is
essential that we remember that this is an evolving process were different
approaches will be taken, all of these of course proven to be successful in the
past. There is no doubt, that our effort and determination to succeed in the
perusal of helping every student in the Jorge Lucas Dual Language Elementary
School read is strong and will not be denied.
*This is a fictitious school which has been created by a student for academic purposes. None of the images belong to me and they are all borrowed from the internet.
References:
Success
for All Foundation (2012). Our Instructional Design; Successforall.org. Retrieved on August 6, 2013 from http://www.successforall.org/Elementary/Powerful-Instruction/Our-Instructional-Design/
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