Grade Levels: K-5

Washington-Carver Elementary School Web Site

Annual Review

2005-2006

Background

Washington-Carver Elementary School is located in the East Central Historic District of Muncie, Indiana and was built in 1972. It is an urban Title 1 school with a K-5 population of approximately 270 students. The staff includes 1 full-time administrator, 1 half- time administrator, 30 certified faculty, 7 non-certified staff and 1 Ball State University (BSU) professional development school (PDS) liaison. Current statistics show that over 90% of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch, and there is a mobility rate of approximately 50%. The range of services offered at Washington-Carver include full-time physical education, art, and music teachers; a counselor; a nurse; two mildly mentally handicapped special education classes; a learning disabilities resource room; full-day kindergarten; two preschool special needs classes; and special needs preschool speech and language services for 75-100 students.

PDS Functions/Goals

Teacher Preparation

Goal for 2005-06:
Washington-Carver will continue to provide a dynamic setting for student teachers. Emphasis will be placed on acclimating pre-service teachers to the public school setting.

Progress:
Twelve student teachers were placed at Washington-Carver in the K-5 and special education classrooms. Student teachers were regarded as full members of the faculty as they attended weekly faculty and professional development meetings, parent-teacher conferences, and case conferences. The student teachers were actively engaged in a variety of school-related activities that build community, such as Open House, Young Authors, Read Across America, Spelling Bee, Family Science Night, Math Night, Literacy Night, and the Living History Museum. Other BSU connections included EDEL 351 practicum students, 12 special education practicum students, 4 speech practicum students, 90-100 students that completed observations of physical education, the Waterford Early Reading Program, and tutors for the CAPE reading program.

Goal for 2006-07:
Washington-Carver will continue to provide a dynamic setting for student teachers, practicum students, and BSU tutors. Emphasis will be placed on acclimating pre-service teachers to the complexities of the public school setting with a multicultural, at-risk population as the school undergoes restructuring based on NLCB.

Staff Development

Goal for 2005-06:
Provide a variety of professional development opportunities including in-service from consultants that will include emphasis on improving math literacy through the use of journals in math.

Progress:
The entire faculty, including pre-service teachers, participated in a multitude of professional development opportunities, such as the Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) training, the Fred Jones video series and book, four math and four literacy in-services from outside consultants, group studies of professional articles, and SBRR training that led to the establishment of SBRR format lesson plans. The faculty completed a book study of Michael Dorn's Weakfish, followed by a PowerPoint presentation and discussion led by Principal Jean Ann Clevenger. Nikki Stanley presented an in-service on "differentiated instruction." Jean Ann Clevenger strengthened the relationship with BSU by presenting to Dr. Terry Weidmer's educational leadership class, EDSUP 650, and Lynette Varner's EDEL 450 course.  This year several different groups of the Washington-Carver faculty attended a variety of professional development conferences. Sara Jarvis, Leslie Davis, Paula Mostrog, and Christian Cummins attended the National Teachers of Math conference in St. Louis; Sara Walker, Hope Patterson, Dian Constant, Vicki Bixler, and Jerry Conaway attended the International Reading Association conference in Chicago; Cathy Purtlebaugh, Judy Lee, and Barb Webster attended the Indiana Computer Educators' conference; Shelly Bergren, assistant principal, attended the National Conference on Standards and Assessment; and Jean Ann Clevenger, principal, attended the Ready Schools Summit sponsored by CCSSO and the Annie Casey Foundation in Atlanta and the ASCD conference in San Francisco.

Goal for 2006-07:
While Washington-Carver already exhibits a strong commitment to professional development, the faculty, staff, and liaison will pursue issues related to math strategies and expansion of efforts related to test data and implications of instruction.

Research

Goal for 2005-06:
Continue to gather and analyze data related to the Ready Schools Initiative that focuses on the transition of preschool children into kindergarten. Continue to encourage action research projects for the classroom teachers and the BSU student teachers. Facilitate completion of action research projects which could lead to publishing and sharing of results.

Progress:
The Ready Schools Initiative was implemented in 2004/2005.   Dr. Clark of BSU is no longer associated with the Ready Schools Initiative and no data is available at this time.   BSU is continuing to gather data to research the effects of the computer-based Waterford Early Reading Program on students' reading achievement by comparing the CAPE participants to other students in the school. During the fall and spring semesters the BSU student teachers implemented a modified LAMP project in which they created a unit of study with pre- and post-tests complete with comparison graphs to show students' learning.

Goals for 2006-07:
Establish a baseline for reading levels of all students in September and monitor progress of students each grading period. Gather and analyze data that compares reading levels of students who attended preschool with those who did not. Continue to encourage action research projects for the classroom teachers and the BSU student teachers. Facilitate completion of action research projects that could lead to publishing and sharing of results.

Student Learning

Goal for 2005-06:
Continue to work toward the PL 221 achievement goals of obtaining a passing rate of 64.3% in math and 65% in language arts. Investigate and initiate programs that increase students' motivation.

Progress:
Throughout the school year, students were enriched with instructional strategies based on the SBRR format with a special emphasis on transferring of skills and strategies to other subject areas. The DIBELS program was implemented to monitor students' progress in fluency. The Voyager Passport Intervention program was initiated in January as the intervention piece for students identified in the low strategic and intensive categories.  The student teachers' LAMP projects showed gains in specific Indiana State Standards and Indicators in relationship to their interdisciplinary thematic units.

Goal for 2006-07:
Given the needs of the Washington-Carver population, the faculty will continue to work toward the PL 221 achievement goals of obtaining a current passing rate in math and language arts.   This goal is to increase current scores by at least 10%.

Prepared by:

Lynette Varner, Ball State University PDS Liaison
Jean Ann Clevenger, Washington-Carver Principal
Cathy Purtlebaugh, Washington-Carver Adjunct