Title One Case Study
Title One Schools Score Big
A Study of 64 Title One Schools in Two Districts
Download Title One Schools Score Big Case Study
This case study looks at 35 Title One schools from Houston ISD in Texas and 29 Title One schools in Richland One School District in South Carolina that implemented Empowering Writers approach to writing instruction as the district curriculum.
Overall Performance by Districts
Houston ISD:
Lowest performing schools raised writing scores on state test an average of 11.3%. (red = 2010, gold = 2009)
Richland One:
Result #1
2011 Grade 5 students improved 18.8% over their 4th grade state test scores (compared to 2010 when Grade 5 students improved 1% over their 4th grade state test scores)
5th graders scored 8.6% higher on 2011 state test than 5th graders on 2010 state test.
Background
Houston ISD
In 2008, Port Houston ES trained teachers in Empowering Writers narrative writing. This elementary school was the first HISD school to fully implement Empowering Writers approach to writing instruction. Teachers and specialists at the school applied the methodology and strategies and followed EW’s scope and sequence.
- Grade pre-K through 6th Results after 7 months
- Population of the schools consists of 99%
minority students. - 100 % passing on TAKS (up from 82% in 2008) - Empowering Writers approach needed to – increased commended performance by 52.9 %
complement HISD existing writing program over the previous year
“6+1 Traits of Writing” - Recognized as a Texas Exemplary School System - Grades 2nd through 4th attended Empowering
Writers Narrative Writing Workshop.
“We couldn’t be more proud. We owe a huge part of our success to Empowering Writers. I know we couldn’t have done it without their help.”
- Reid Whittaker
Principal, Port Houston ES
Based on the success of Port Houston ES, the East Region of HISD implemented Empowering Writers approach to writing instruction for all their teachers in the elementary and middle schools.
HISD’s East Region’s Implementation
After meeting with the East Region’s administration, Empowering Writers designed a comprehensive professional development plan for the 2009-2010 school year. This comprehensive plan provided professional development for teachers and specialists, follow up coaching for designated schools, and implementation strategies and support for principals and administration.
Professional Development
Workshops
850 plus teachers and specialists attended one of Empowering Writers genre based workshops in August 2009. Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers attended the K-1 workshop. 2nd through 5th grade attend the narrative workshop. 6th through 8th grade attended the expository workshop.
Coaching
All teachers and specialist were provided monthly bulletins by grade level. These bulletins outlined the scope of instruction for the month. 11 schools elected for follow-up work with EW trainers through out the school year. This coaching included in-school visits for modeling lessons and working with teachers. Teachers were able to receive one-to-one mentoring.
Principals
East Region principals received a 90 minute workshop on how to monitor and support implementation in their schools. Each principal received a implementation guide containing simple strategies to ensure proper instruction is taking place.
Monitoring Progress
Each grade level from each school were required to submit student samples to EW’s training team at a designated time during the year. By looking at student work, EW assessed the quality of writing instruction at each school and provided explicit instruction for improvement.
“The quality of work I am getting from my students since we started Empowering Writers has increased considerably.” Referring specifically to their “Wild Thing” project, Jones began by reading “Where The Wild Things Are” with her students, then implemented the Empowering Writers methodology.
Jones adds,
“We charted our observations, turned them into sentences, and discussed how to revise the writing to limit repetitiveness. After practicing as a class, my students were able to use their imaginations to turn those sentences into elaborate paragraphs. The results were phenomenal!”
- Rachael Jones
Elementary Teacher JW Oates ES
2011-2012 School Year
In the 2011-2012 school year, teachers from 120 HISD schools attended Empowering Writers workshops and implemented the methodology, strategies, and lessons of Empowering Writers approach to writing instruction.
Richland One Public Schools
In 2009-2010 school year, Richland One School District made writing instruction a top priority. The curriculum department chose Empowering Writers approach to writing instruction to meet the goal of improving student writing across the district. Teachers from the 29 elementary schools began attending Empowering Writers workshops and implementing the methodology in January 2010.
“Because of Empowering Writers training and coaching, our teachers have the skills and strategies to be successful with writing instruction. We are thrilled to see our students’ writing and have achieved increased test results.”
- Rebecca Clark
Elementary ELA Consultant
Richland One School District’s Implementation
Professional Development
Workshops
Teachers and specialists from all 29 Richland One elementary schools attended two of Empowering Writers narrative, expository, or kindergarten-1st grade workshops throughout 2010. These workshops provided the attendees with an understanding of the proven methodology and lessons for improving their writing instruction.
Coaching
EW provided monthly bulletins for each grade level which outlined the scope of instruction for the month. The administration designated schools for follow-up work with EW trainers. This coaching included in-school visits throughout the year for modeling lessons and working with teachers. Teachers were able to receive one-to-one mentoring.
Principals
Richland principals received a 90 minute workshop on how to monitor and support implementation in their schools. Each principal received a implementation guide containing simple strategies to ensure proper instruction is taking place.
Monitoring Progress
Each grade level from each school were required to submit student samples to EW’s training team at a designated time during the year. By looking at student work, EW assessed the quality of writing instruction at each school and provided explicit instruction for improvement.
2011-2012 School Year
In the 2011-2012 school year, all 29 elementary schools attended Empowering Writers workshops and implemented the methodology, strategies, and lessons of Empowering Writers approach to writing instruction.
