Schools uss innovative ideas to meet AYP goals

Waterless soap dispensers have been installed in sixth-grade classrooms throughout Wasilla Middle School. This is just one way that principal Amy Spargo hopes to reduce illness and approve attendance at her school.

"One thing I know is kids perform better when they come to school regularly," Spargo said.

The school purchased 16 soap dispensers as part of its Adequate Yearly Progress improvement plan, and the school nurse is teaching the sixth-graders about personal hygiene and proper hand-washing techniques using a 'Scrubby Bear' curriculum.

"We are teaching our kids how to stay healthy, and when they are healthy, kids really do come to school more," Spargo said. "Kids are voluntarily using [the dispensers]."

Colony High School plans to boost its AYP scores by having teachers focus on professional development and by implementing a student of the month program to improve students' sense of self worth.

"We think that positive reinforcement in students always goes a long way," said Colony principal Cyd Duffin. "Why settle for doing well if you can do great?"

Teachers are outlining how they are teaching Alaska performance standards in their daily lesson plans, and attending professional development conferences to get a better idea on how to improve student learning.

"I think our teachers are highly qualified," Duffin said. "Even when you are an expert in your field, it's refreshing to get that professional development … Our teachers are coming back excited."

Burchell High School vice principal Scott Warren says that the school's AYP goals include improving student attendance and helping students feel more comfortable about assessment taking.

"We are building in assessments on a regular basis so it becomes a part of daily life, instead of a major event spaced months apart," Warren said.

Burchell is also posting the attendance data and reviewing it with the students and staff on a weekly basis, while stressing the link between attendance in school and success.

"We nag them in a loving way when necessary," Warren said.

Goose Bay Elementary principal Lisa Miller is focusing on curriculum alignment schoolwide in order to meet its AYP goals, especially in the use of the six traits of writing: Ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions.

"When you break it down into components, things start clicking," Miller said. "The magical thing about that is that it incorporates the whole writing process."

Students at Goose Bay will use the same writing technique throughout their grade-school experience, which Miller says will help students grasp the fundamentals of language arts.

"A child in the first grade can know what ideas mean as well as a child in the fifth grade," Miller said. "Kids go from grade to grade with the same terminology."

Every school in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District was required by the district to come up with an AYP improvement plan, regardless of last year's AYP scores. Each school will be sending out a letter to parents, outlining the schoolwide improvement plan, sometime in the next couple weeks. For more information on individual school's improvement plans, please contact that school.