Narragansett Elementary School
Narragansett
The SALT Visit Team Report
January 26, 2007
School Accountability for Learning and Teaching (SALT)
The school accountability program of the Rhode Island Department of Education
Rhode Island Board of Regents
for Elementary and Secondary Education
James A. DiPrete, Chairman
Patrick A. Guida, Vice Chairman
Colleen Callahan, Secretary
Amy Beretta
Robert Camara
Frank Caprio
Karin Forbes
Gary E. Grove
Maurice C. Paradis
Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Peter McWalters, Commissioner
The Board of Regents does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, national origin, or disability.
For information about SALT, please contact:
Rick Richards
(401) 222-8401
Narragansett Elementary School SALT Visit Team Report Page 27
1. INTRODUCTION 1
The Purpose and Limits of This Report 1
Sources of Evidence 2
Using the Report 3
2. PROFILE OF Narragansett Elementary School 4
3. PORTRAIT OF Narragansett Elementary School AT THE TIME OF THE VISIT 6
4. FINDINGS ON STUDENT LEARNing 8
Conclusions 8
Important Thematic Findings in Student Learning 10
5. FINDINGS ON Teaching for Learning 11
Conclusions 11
Commendations for Narragansett Elementary School 15
Recommendations for Narragansett Elementary School 15
Recommendations for Narragansett School District 15
6. FINDINGS ON SCHOOL support for learning and teaching 16
Conclusions 16
Commendations for Narragansett Elementary School 19
Recommendations for Narragansett Elementary School 19
Recommendations for Narragansett School Department 19
7. Final Advice to NARRAGANSETT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 20
Endorsement of SALT Visit Team Report 21
How SALT visit reports are endorsed 21
The Endorsement Decision 22
report appendix 24
Sources of Evidence for This Report 24
State Assessment Results for Narragansett Elementary School 26
The Narragansett Elementary School Improvement Team 30
Members of the SALT Visit Team 31
Code of Conduct for Members of Visit Team 32
Narragansett Elementary School SALT Visit Team Report Page 27
introduction
The Purpose and Limits of This Report
This is the report of the SALT team that visited Narragansett Elementary School from January 22-26, 2007.
The SALT visit report makes every effort to provide your school with a valid, specific picture of how well your students are learning. The report also portrays how the teaching in your school affects learning and how the school supports learning and teaching. The purpose of developing this information is to help you make changes in teaching and the school that will improve the learning of your students. The report is valid because the team’s inquiry is governed by a protocol that is designed to make it possible for visit team members to make careful judgments using accurate evidence. The exercise of professional judgment makes the findings useful for school improvement because these judgments identify where the visit team thinks the school is doing well and where it is doing less well.
The major questions the team addressed were:
How well do students learn at Narragansett Elementary School?
How well does the teaching at Narragansett Elementary School affect learning?
How well does Narragansett Elementary School support learning and teaching?
The following features of this visit are at the heart of the report:
Members of the visit team are primarily teachers and administrators from Rhode Island public schools. The majority of team members are teachers. The names and affiliations of the team members are listed at the end of the report.
The team sought to capture what makes this school work, or not work, as a public institution of learning. Each school is unique, and the team has tried to capture what makes Narragansett Elementary School distinct.
The team did not compare this school to any other school.
When writing the report, the team deliberately chose words that it thought would best convey its message to the school, based on careful consideration of what it had learned about the school.
The team reached consensus on each conclusion, each recommendation and each commendation in this report.
The team made its judgment explicit.
This report reflects only the week in the life of the school that was observed and considered by this team. The report is not based on what the school plans to do in the future or on what it has done in the past.
The team closely followed a rigorous protocol of inquiry that is rooted in Practice-Based Inquiry®[1] (Catalpa Ltd.). The detailed Handbook for Chairs of the SALT School Visit, 2nd Edition describes the theoretical constructs behind the SALT visit and stipulates the many details of the visit procedures. The Handbook and other relevant documents are available at www.Catalpa.org. Contact Rick Richards at (401) 222-8401or for further information about the SALT visit protocol.
SALT visits undergo rigorous quality control. To gain the full advantages of a peer visiting system, RIDE did not participate in the editing of this SALT visit report. That was carried out by the team’s chair with the support of Catalpa. Ltd. Catalpa Ltd. monitors each visit and determines whether the report can be endorsed. Endorsement assures the reader that the team and the school followed the visit protocol. It also ensures that the conclusions and the report meet specified standards.
Sources of Evidence
The Sources of Evidence that this team used to support its conclusions are listed in the appendix.
The team spent a total of over 136.5 hours in direct classroom observation. Most of this time was spent observing complete lessons or classes. Almost every classroom was visited at least once, and almost every teacher was observed more than once. Team members had conversations with various teachers and staff for a total of 40 hours.
The full visit team built the conclusions, commendations and recommendations presented here through intense and thorough discussion. The team met for a total of 35.5 hours in team meetings spanning the five days of the visit. This time does not include the time the team spent in classrooms, with teachers, and in meetings with students, parents, and school and district administrators.
The team did agree by consensus that every conclusion in this report is:
Important enough to include in the report
Supported by the evidence the team gathered during the visit
Set in the present, and
Contains the judgment of the team
Using the Report
This report is designed to have value to all audiences concerned with how Narragansett Elementary School can improve student learning. However, the most important audience is the school itself.
This report is a decisive component of the Rhode Island school accountability system. The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) expects that the school improvement team of this school will consider this report carefully and use it to review its current action plans and write new action plans based on the information it contains.
How your school improvement team reads and considers the report is the critical first step. RIDE will provide a SALT Fellow to lead a follow-up session with the school improvement team to help start the process. With support from the Narragansett School Improvement Coordinator and from SALT fellows, the school improvement team should carefully decide what changes it wants to make in learning, teaching and the school and how it can amend its School Improvement Plan to reflect these decisions.
The Narragansett School Department, RIDE and the public should consider what the report says or implies about how they can best support Narragansett Elementary School as it works to strengthen its performance.
Any reader of this report should consider the report as a whole. A reader who only looks at recommendations misses important information.
PROFILE OF Narragansett Elementary School
Located in Narragansett, Rhode Island, not far from the University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Elementary School is the only elementary school in the district. It serves students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. Since it was constructed in 1958, there have been three additions, one in 1968, one in 1973 and a kindergarten wing in 1995. Narragansett Elementary is a targeted-assistance Title I school.
Of the 540 students in attendance, 91% are white, 3% are Asian/Pacific Islander, 3% are Native American, 2% are African American, and 1% is Hispanic. There are five English Language Learners in the school. Seventeen percent of the students receive special education services, and eight percent are eligible for free or reduced price breakfast and lunch.
The professional staff of Narragansett Elementary consists of a principal, an assistant principal and 47 full-time and several part-time faculty members, including two reading teachers, an ESL teacher, a school psychologist, two occupational therapists and a physical therapist. Support personnel include three full-time clerks in the main office, 19 paraprofessionals and five custodians. There are three pre-kindergarten programs, five full-day kindergartens, five first grades, four second grades, four third grades and six fourth grades. Additionally, four resource teachers and five reading teachers service children with various academic needs. Program leaders representing each grade level and the unified arts serve as liaisons between the administration and the staff.
A variety of teachers use several standards-based instructional programs and initiatives, including guided reading, Six Traits of Writing, Exemplars and the GEMS NET Science program. Students receive both remedial and enrichment support during the school day, as well as after school and during the summer. Literacy coaching at each grade level and collaborative teaching with special educators is ongoing. A math consultant currently is providing ongoing professional development. Differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences and technology guide the instructional decisions to meet students’ varying abilities and interests. Technology is an integral part of the curriculum. The school improvement plan calls for ongoing professional development to support all these initiatives, which are consistent with the plan’s goals. Narragansett Elementary School trains many student teachers from the University of Rhode Island and benefits from URI mentors and science fellows working at the school.
An active Parent Teacher Organization helps to bring parents, students and teachers together as a community. Their numerous fundraisers and activities fund many special programs and field trips, as well as purchase special materials and equipment for the school.
PORTRAIT OF Narragansett Elementary School AT THE TIME OF THE VISIT
Nestled in a quiet neighborhood along the Narrow River, Narragansett Elementary School is the only elementary school in the seaside community of Narragansett, Rhode Island. This sprawling, bright, one-story brick school is home to more than 500 students in pre-kindergarten to fourth grade. This facility also houses a head start program. A bond issue recently was passed to make needed capital improvements to the school. Currently, the heat is erratic, and security is a concern for parents. Front doors remain open and accessible during the school day to anyone who wishes to enter.
Students are the heart and soul of this school. Their extraordinarily respectful behavior and social skills reflect the values of their families and of this school. Students come here ready to learn and eager to learn more. Teachers are dedicated to their students and invest many hours creating a safe, nurturing and productive learning environment. Parents are a driving force here; they willingly volunteer to support learning and teaching in numerous ways. All are proud to be a part of this learning community.
Two administrators lead this school, both newly appointed this fall. One served as an assistant principal and also as a co-principal of Narragansett Elementary School for several years, while the other most recently left the classroom to assume this administrative role. Their complementary leadership styles, coupled with their sage experience and fresh ideas, are helping to guide the staff to implement the many new initiatives directed by central office and state and federal mandates. While Narragansett Elementary School has been categorized as a high performing school, the administrators share a common vision for even greater achievement. Yet, movement towards that vision is slow.
Walking through the hallways, one quickly finds discrepancies in classroom management, teaching styles and the curriculum. There is a lack of consistent instructional content and strategies across all grade levels. Some teachers fear that consistency means lack of autonomy or creativity and do not view it as effective teaching. The scattered, inexplicable placement of classrooms throughout this large school magnifies this problem. Teachers continue to resist repeated efforts to relocate classrooms to promote collaboration and sharing of resources. To compound this problem, there is no consistent mandated forum for all teachers to meet regularly to discuss curricula issues and their instructional practices. The differentiated instruction and academic rigor that exists in some classrooms are noticeably absent in others.
With a wealth of materials, technology and resources for students and teachers alike, Narragansett Elementary School is well positioned to move forward. Yet there is much work to do so that student achievement continues to flourish.
FINDINGS ON STUDENT LEARNing
Conclusions
Most students at Narragansett Elementary School read with considerable competence. During lively discussions with their peers, many of them confidently compare and contrast character traits, predict what will happen next, and describe their favorite part of the book, citing evidence to support their opinions. Students in many classrooms frequently say that specific stories remind them of different experiences in their personal lives or about books they have already read. Knowing how to make these connections strengthens students’ understanding of the common themes, content and styles of writing. When asked why “book talks” are important, students reply that the discussions help them create images in their minds and “hold the words together.” Students in most classrooms read fluently and independently. Some know how to use several strategies to solve their reading problems. These students say that, when they get stuck, they make a link from something they know to something they don’t know. They look for patterns in words and use these to make or decode new words. In contrast, other students over-rely on their teachers or skip words and read on, failing to go back to figure out the word they skipped. As a result, these students often read without fully understanding what is going on in a story, poem or informational text. (following students, observing classes, talking with students and teachers, discussing student work with teachers, meeting with students, reviewing completed and ongoing student work, 2005-2006 New England Common Assessment Program results, 2006 Rhode Island School Report Card)