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Some math, literacy programs more effective

Key math and literacy programs in St. Paul Public Schools' elementary schools need to be expanded, but other programs — including Reader's Workshop and AVID — don't appear to be improving student achievement, according to a report presented Wednesday.

The report — presented to St. Paul school board members as well as other officials — is part of a $2.5 million, two-year review by the Colorado-based Leadership and Learning Center. The effort is being paid for with federal stimulus money.

The effort, led by the center's chairman, Doug Reeves, is considered a road map for priorities to guide tough budget decisions next year and beyond. In 2010, the district faces an estimated shortfall of about $25 million.

"It's time for us to just focus on what we need, and then do it well," said new Superintendent Valeria Silva, in her first day on the job Wednesday.

The report identifies programs that are being implemented successfully and showing correlations to student success and those that are not. Silva said it's too early to draw conclusions about what will be kept and what will be cut.

"This is new data. We need to analyze it as a system," she said.

Reeves met with several groups Wednesday and today in St. Paul.

Next, district leaders will appoint a team to fully analyze the findings and make preliminary recommendations to Silva by the end of January.

By March 5, Silva plans to make specific decisions about program changes that can be folded into the budget process for 2010-11.

In addition to the district-level report, Reeves' team has prepared individual reports for each school.

Administrators will meet with principals in coming weeks to analyze the findings for individual schools.

The report recommends continuing and expanding the following efforts: content-focused coaching; Everyday Math (the standard elementary math program in St. Paul); Writer's Workshop; the 30-minute language skills block/word study; and the use of professional learning communities.

Programs with "lower levels of relationship to student achievement" were the following: Reader's Workshop; Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID); Full Option Science System (FOSS); Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS, also sometimes called Reading Assessment and MONDO); Read 180; Edge Reading; Holt Mathematics; Disciplinary Literacy; Accelerating Maximum Potential (AMP) Reading; and 7-12 district science.

Reader's Workshop is one of two building blocks of elementary literacy instruction in St. Paul, along with Writer's Workshop, and AVID is a highly touted initiative aimed at middle-level academic performers. It was the centerpiece of the recent investment by Traveler's in St. Paul Public Schools.

Silva said improved results in those programs may take increased implementation and more time.

The report inventoried 15 programs (about half the initiatives currently in effect), assessed how extensively they are being implemented and analyzed what relationship that implementation had on student achievement from 2008-09.

The key finding was that stronger commitment yields better results and that St. Paul needs to do fewer things while doing them better.

"There is a demonstrable relationship between deep implementation of SPPS instructional initiatives and improved student achievement," the report said.

http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_14015243