Case Study
Livingston Elementary School Columbus City School District, Ohio
2006/2007
About Livingston Elementary School: Livingston Elementary School Principal, Melinda Dixon, and Show What You Know® Publishing formed a partnership at the beginning of the 2006/2007 school year with the mutual goal of helping increase students' scores on the Ohio Achievement Test.
The scores displayed in the table above demonstrate improvement after the use of the Show What You Know® on the OAT test-preparation program. According to Principal Dixon, "There were a variety of factors that contributed to our increased scores on the Ohio Achievement Test this past year. Notably, the use of the Show What You Know® on the OAT test-preparation workbooks and the research-based Read on Target workbooks were two of the pillars of our success foundation."
Livingston Elementary School is located in German Village, adjacent to downtown Columbus, Ohio. According to Dun & Bradstreet Company's MDR statistics from 2006–2007, 84% of the 349 student population at Livingston Elementary were "Economically Disadvantaged." According to the Ohio Department of Education, this term means "students who are known to be eligible to receive the free or reduced-price lunch, (a program through the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Programs)."
Show What You Know® Publishing Product Implementation:
Principal Dixon partnered with Show What You Know® Publishing's Educational Consultants to implement a sound, multi-faceted test-preparation program. Product orientation was presented to the teachers of Livingston Elementary at an after school staff meeting. According to Principal Dixon, this product orientation, in combination with the staff's commitment, helped increase its school's performance (as shown in the table).
The Show What You Know® on the OAT Practice Test Workbooks were used at Livingston Elementary throughout the 2006–2007 school year in Grades 3–5. The Practice Test Workbook's Test Anxiety Chapter, along with the Test-Taking Strategies Chapter, written by Ohio child psychologist Dr. Jolie Brams, teach learnable testing strategies many elementary students have never had exposure to before. The workbooks demystify the test and familiarize students with answering various types of questions per subject tested. Two full-length Practice Tests build student-testing stamina and afford teachers the opportunity to collect data using the Parent/Teacher Supplement's Correlation Charts. The Correlation Charts identify students' strengths and weaknesses by Standard, Benchmark, and Grade- Level Indicator.
Each Livingston student was given a Show What You Know® on the OAT Practice Test Workbook and each teacher used a Parent/Teacher Supplement. Teachers were also provided decks of Show What You Know® on the OAT subject-specific flash cards for additional review. The Show What You Know® on the OAT test-preparation materials were used during regular classroom instruction, as well as before and after school.
Show What You Know® Publishing's Read on Target Workbooks were used in Grades 3-5 to assist students in their reading comprehension skills during their Reading and Writing block of instruction. Product orientation was also given to teachers to illustrate the use of the research-based Reading Maps. These tools assist the students with extracting and organizing key elements of text in both fiction and non-fiction passages. Teachers were able to identify where in the critical-thinking process students broke down, eliminating diagnostic time so more time could be spent on teaching the necessary reading skills.
Other Sources of Assistance:
Principal Dixon contacted the Columbus Downtown Rotary Club to organize volunteers to tutor students. Rotary Club members who could not donate time contributed by becoming a pen pal. The entire school participated in this pen pal program.
A Safety Net Teacher from Title 1 was hired to specifically focus on reading for all grades. A new program called "Teacher Leader" was implemented at Livingston. This program offers shared leadership responsibilities with the principal and a National Board Certified Teacher. Principal Dixon and her counterpart were able to write the new Teacher Leader job description. One of the responsibilities of the Teacher Leader was to target a specific group of students. Principal Dixon hired five additional retired teachers through the Reads Program to focus on tutoring the lowest scoring students. Livingston staff also attended a Formula Writing Presentation by Jane Cosner, through a program offered by the Columbus City Schools.
Livingston began an innovative new program titled "Each 1 Take 1." Twenty-five of the 30 teachers at Livingston volunteered to be responsible for helping one 4th grade student pass his or her Ohio Achievement Test. (Livingston's lowest scores were in 4th Grade.) This program was implemented through home visits and signed agreements with parents and students with the goal to get to Safe Harbor scores for the school. According to the Ohio Department of Education, "Safe Harbor" indicates higher achievement, but still in need of improvement to meet the benchmark.
Summary:
The combination of materials and training provided by Show What You Know® Publishing assisted Livingston Elementary School students in improving their scores on the Ohio Achievement Test. This increase exceeded Livingston's Safe Harbor scores set for the year. The second year of partnership with Livingston Elementary is ongoing with Show What You Know® Publishing.