What did the School
Community Council do with the Land Trust Funds during the 2011-12 school year?
The school hired 10 instructional paraprofessionals who
worked 10-17 hours per week. The
paraprofessionals used the push-in model in every classroom in grades 1-5 in
the school for ½ hour each day for four days weekly. The paraprofessionals worked with small
groups of students on skills in areas of identified need while teachers gave
struggling readers an additional level of literacy support in an extra guided
reading group. The paraprofessionals
were trained on specific activities in the areas of fluency instruction, word
study, vocabulary, background knowledge and familiar re-read. When planning, teachers choose the activity
from the menu of choices where they felt their students needed the most
support.
The paraprofessionals provided math enrichment activities
for sixth grade students who had mastered core concepts to enable teachers to
provide additional support for struggling students.
The paraprofessionals provided literacy support to
Kindergarten students by using the research-based reading program called, My
Sidewalks. Small groups of students
worked on letter and sound recognition, reading, and other skills.
Teacher teams visited neighboring schools to collaborate on
successful RTI programs. Teachers
participated in horizontal and vertical teaming to enhance the learning of all
students.
What were the intended
outcomes?
Improving student learning in the classroom was the intended
outcome of our program. To achieve this,
paraprofessionals and staff members were provided with ongoing professional
development in the area of Response to Intervention (RTI).
How did it impact
student learning?
Butterfield Canyon increased the number of students in the
proficient range on state end-of-level assessments by 3% during the 2011-12
school year. This increase is due to paraprofessionals and teachers working
together to meet the needs of all students.
