Portrait of a Benchmark School

Author: Cawelti, G.
Publisher: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Publication Date: 2000, February
Journal: Educational Leadership
Journal Volume: 57(5)
Pages: 42-44
Available for purchase online at: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/feb00/vol57/num05/abstract.aspx#Portrait_of_a_Benchmark_School

Description (written by WestEd)

Waitz Elementary School, close to the Mexican border, ranks 17th from the bottom in Texas in terms of property values per child. Waitz has 825 students, 99 percent of whom are Latino. One-third come from migrant worker families who leave in April and return in the fall long after school has started. According to the author, "Waitz School defies predictions of low achievement by a sustained focus on multiple factors that improve student performance: a principal who is a strong leader and a committed faculty with high expectations who are willing to make the extra effort, individually and in teams, to perfect the multiple changes that contribute to student achievement."

In 1993, 41 percent passed the state TAAS in math; in 1998, it jumped to 97 percent. The passing rate for reading tests improved from 63 percent to 91 percent (the state average was 84 percent). All Waitz students passed the writing test, compared to the state average of 85 percent.

The district-union agreement allows Waitz to hire teachers who want to work with challenging students. Teacher teams use test data to discuss strategies for corrective teaching for specific students on specific skills. The principal leads a Friday assembly to recognize student and teacher accomplishments and underscore school values and mission. Students work hard and are actively involved in learning. There is daily silent reading, paired reading, and oral reading with a mix of some phonics and whole-language activities, along with the Accelerated Reader program (students read interesting books and are then assessed on the computer). Teachers use bilingual approaches but prepare students for the state test in English by the end of the third grade.

Students who need more time to learn get more time — not more years but more intensive hours within the year, such as after school and on Saturdays, when high school students and parents tutor students. Half-day preschool and full-day kindergarten and Head Start are preventions.

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