1. NOTE: To change the image on this slide, select the picture and delete it. Then click the Pictures icon in the placeholder to insert your own image. POTTER ELEMENTARY: A SCHOOL ANALYSIS Kimberly Cummings EDFA 69500 Action Research Project Fall 2014

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS

3. POTTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL A SCHOOL AT RISK

4. “Getting to the Core of Learning: Success is the Only Option!” POTTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

5. Potter Elementary School is located in Tampa, Florida. It is part of the Hillsborough School District, which is the eighth largest district in the nation. In Florida, all schools within a county are in the same school district. Potter houses grades Pre-K through 5. Approximately 628 students attend the school and 36 homeroom teachers provide instruction. The student- teacher ratio is approximately 17 to 1. POTTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

6. The average annual expenditure per student is $11,000. Based on test scores and other factors, the relative quality of education provided at Potter Elementary School is rated a 3 out of 10. POTTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

7. VISION STATEMENT Potter Elementary School will be among the top schools in the district and become the district's leader in developing successful students.

8. MISSION STATEMENT Potter Elementary School will provide all students with an education that enables each student to excel as a successful and responsible student.

9. SCHOOL DATA

10. FREE/REDUCED LUNCH  FREE: 90%  REDUCED: 9%  FULL: 1%

11. SCHOOL DATA ETHNICITY  BLACK: 92%  HISPANIC: 7%  WHITE: 1%

12. Students by Grade SCHOOL DATA

13. Potter Elementary School Letter Grades In 2013-2014, this school received a grade of “F". In 2012-2013, this school received a grade of “F". In 2011-2012, this school received a grade of "D". In 2010-2011, this school received a grade of "D". In 2009-2010, this school received a grade of "D". In 2008-2009, this school received a grade of "C". In 2013-2014, this school received a grade of “F". In 2012-2013, this school received a grade of “F". In 2011-2012, this school received a grade of "D". In 2010-2011, this school received a grade of "D". In 2009-2010, this school received a grade of "D". In 2008-2009, this school received a grade of "C". SCHOOL DATA

14. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2 (FCAT 2) Results GRADE 3 SCHOOL DATA

15. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2 (FCAT 2) Results GRADE 4 SCHOOL DATA

16. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2 (FCAT 2) Results GRADE 5 SCHOOL DATA

17. Early Warning Systems The school's response to this section may be used to satisfy the requirements of 20 U.S.C. §6314(b) (1) (B)(ii)(III), (b)(1)(B)(iii)(I), and (b)(1)(I).

18. SCHOOL DATA

20. ACTION RESEARCH

21.  Florida law requires schools that have the lowest reading results on the annual FCAT to provide an additional hour of daily reading instruction during the coming school year, which can get expensive. In many cases this is an unfunded mandate. ACTION RESEARCH

22.  Strategy type: Potter Elementary has an Extended School Day  Minutes added to school year: 14,400

23.  Potter Elementary Bell Schedule 8:00 AM-3:30 PM  Most elementary schools not on the extended day begin at 8:00 AM are dismissed at 2:15 PM. ACTION RESEARCH

24.  Potter Elementary students have no recess. ACTION RESEARCH

25.  Hillsborough School District has approximately 142 elementary schools.  Potter Elementary is one of 26 schools (24 traditional and 2 charters) across Hillsborough County required by the state to add an hour of reading instruction to the school day this year.  Those schools are a part of the 307 schools with the lowest reading scores in the state. Previously, only the 100 schools with the poorest scores were required to switch to a longer day. ACTION RESEARCH

26.  Strategy Rationale  Potter Elementary has the 25th-lowest reading scores in the state with only 23 percent of its students proficient in reading.  Potter Elementary’s FCAT scores are one of the lowest 300 schools in the state, which requires the them, by state law, to have an extended day.

27. ACTION RESEARCH Sample of a student’s schedule at Potter Elementary School

28. ACTION RESEARCH  Potter Extended Day Strategy Description  Words Their Way, Elements of Reading/Vocabulary, and Fontas & Pinnell Leveled Reading (see Learning A-Z Correlation Chart) are the research- based strategies the school uses to increase the amount and quality of learning time and help provide an enriched and accelerated curriculum. Additional instruction in reading as required by statute.  (10,800 additional minutes for reading, 3600 additional minutes teacher planning/collaboration)

29. ACTION RESEARCH  Data is collected and analyzed to determine effectivenes s of the strategy Administrative Walkthroughs EasyCBMFAIR testingiREADY reportsELA assessments

30. ACTION RESEARCH

34. Students are exhausted (and so are teachers) by the end of the extended school day. ACTION RESEARCH

35. LITERATURE REVIEW

36.  The research data to support Extended School Days (ESD) to improve test scores in very different. The data is still fairly new and inconsistent based on school demographics. LITERATURE REVIEW  Those who support ESD have give specific cases that where a few schools have shown some improvements. To date, only 10 states have experimented with ESD.  Those who oppose it, and there are many, dispute the research done by those who support it.

37. In December 2009, President Obama proposed that American school children extend their time in class, either by lengthening the school day or the school year. [3] [3] A July 2010 Time magazine article has a chart showing that students in the United States have the highest total yearly instructional hours of those nations listed.Time LITERATURE REVIEW

38. Measured against statewide averages, the ten ELT schools began to make progress in the single most difficult task in public education these days: closing the achievement gap. In math they narrowed the gap modestly, by just 2.4 percent. In science they shaved it by nearly 15 percent. In English language arts, they took a huge bite out of the gap, narrowing it by more than 35 percent! A coalition of 16 parent groups Monday demanded a meeting with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to go over the real research on a 7 1/2-hour school day, and not the “misinformation” they charged district officials with spreading. “They are either misinformed or deliberately misleading the public,’’ said Jonathan Goldman of the new Chicago Parents for Quality Education coalition. “In either case, that’s not how we should be deciding public policy, especially when it comes to our children.’’ Goldman said he and other parents have analyzed longer day studies listed on the Chicago Public School website as supporting Emanuel’s call for a 7 1/2 hour school day, and they are, at best, “mixed.’’ In fact, when the Sun-Times called the author of one analysis of 15 studies cited by CPS as proof that longer school days work, Erika Patall of the University of Texas said the evidence the studies cited was “weak’’ and their conclusions were “very tentative” because “a good deal of the research does not rule out something other than time causing the improvement.’’ YES NO www.SunTimes.comwww.ReadingRockets.org

39. LITERATURE REVIEW I can see the possible benefits of the extended school day. I have often heard teachers and students alike wish for more time to work on projects. There never seems to be enough time for our science and art projects. But, how much is too much? Students in Japan are forced to attend long classes year-round and are physically punished if they don't perform. While Japan may be leading the world in industry and technology, they are also leading in the number of suicides among children and teenagers. Is that consequence worth the cost? YES NO www.NEA.org

40. LITERATURE REVIEW Many kids may think that it is a bad idea for the school hours to be longer but guess what it exactly isn't a bad idea. Many kids may think that school is boring and all but it is a environment that helps us learn. Many teachers put a lot of pressure into her/his students for a reason. They want you to pass the grade and be successful. You could even be higher than China's students just because you put the extra hours in. One thing about China is that they don't let their children just sit around and do nothing. China's children go to school all the time. In my opinion they are like studying robots that never take a break. China's children go to school 7 days a week every month. They don't have any breaks exact the Chinese New Year Break. In the USA, we have so many breaks. We have the winter break, spring break, and summer break. This is more than 2 months from school. Most schools already require an 8-hour day. That is the equivalent of a full time job for many people. Children are not ready for that kind of time commitment. They need unstructured time to help all they have learned throughout the day sink in and be transferred to long-term memory. Children also need time to get rid of built up energy, time they are often loosing as schools cut physical education programs. If the school day was made longer they would lose what little time they have after school to wind down after sitting in a classroom all day. YES NO Debate.com

41. LITERATURE REVIEW Measured against statewide averages, the ten ELT schools began to make progress in the single most difficult task in public education these days: closing the achievement gap. In math they narrowed the gap modestly, by just 2.4 percent. In science they shaved it by nearly 15 percent. In English language arts, they took a huge bite out of the gap, narrowing it by more than 35 percent! Most schools already require an 8-hour day. That is the equivalent of a full time job for many people. Children are not ready for that kind of time commitment. They need unstructured time to help all they have learned throughout the day sink in and be transferred to long-term memory. Children also need time to get rid of built up energy, time they are often loosing as schools cut physical education programs. If the school day was made longer they would lose what little time they have after school to wind down after sitting in a classroom all day. YES NO Debate.comwww.education.com

42. LITERATURE REVIEW Governor Chris Christie in his State of the State speech, that students in this century need and deserve something more than our old-school education system is giving them. But Christie's proposed fix is a simplistic and misguided solution to a nuanced and complex problem. As many school districts and policymakers have long mistakenly held, that more is better -- that more time in school equals more learning. I've found no compelling research that supports the proposition that a longer school day improves educational outcomes. Students who are engaged, curious, involved and passionate about what's happening in their classrooms learn more. But keeping today's unengaged, over- tested students in the classroom longer? That won't necessarily fix anything, and it may make the problems New Jersey is facing worse. If we really want to improve education, we need to reinvent the school day before we talk about making it longer. YES NO www.huffingtonpost.com

43.  “Various studies have yielded widely different results in regard to the correlation between school time and academic achievement. Massachusetts 2020 and its national affiliate, the National Center on Time & Learning, are resources for an enlarging group of states and districts that are exploring expanded learning time—several of which, including Oklahoma, Alabama, and Rhode Island, have launched new initiatives in 2010. [4][5] In 2006, Massachusetts 2020 worked with state leaders in Massachusetts to spearhead the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative, the first-in-the-nation statewide initiative to expand the school day. In 2010-2011, 19 schools in 10 school districts will have schedules increase learning time by 300 hours across the school year.” Massachusetts 2020National Center on Time & Learning [4][5]Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_school_time LITERATURE REVIEW

44. SUMMARY

45.  As a teacher working in a school that has an ESD, I am not sure that this is the answer. Our school tends to have more than a “typical” school’s behavior issues. If student behavior was not a concern, more quality learning would definitely be taking place. I came from a school that has been an “A” school for more than 20 years, and I have had students who have scored perfect scores on the state test. The students at Potter have the opportunity to score well on the state test, but the behaviors are such that learning is inhibited. Therefore, some may think that an ESD would be the answer. The extra hour that the students are at school, in my experience, is difficult because the students are even more unfocused and exhausted. There are no “brain-breaks” built into the school’s scheduled day other than 30 minutes for lunch and 50 minutes for special area classes (art, computer lab, gym, and music). It’s difficult for adults to concentrate and stay focused for that long let alone 5-11 year old children. For now, I do not think ESD is the answer. SUMMARY

46. WORKS CITED

47.  Abeles, Vicki. "Why Christie's School 'Fix' Is Misguided." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  DuFour, Rick, and Mike Mattos. "ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development)." how do principals really improve schools?. educational leadership, n.d. Web. 12 July 2014.. volume 70, number 7  "Extended school time." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  "Florida Department of Education." FCAT Demographic Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  "Hillsborough County Public Schools - Home." Hillsborough County Public Schools - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  Kourkounis, Erin. "More Hillsborough schools to add extra hour." TBO.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  Kourkounis, Erin. "26 schools to add extra hour of reading." TBO.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  "Longer School Days Affect Everyone." Rss. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  "Parent groups: Data for longer school day doesn't add up - Chicago Sun-Times." Parent groups: Data for longer school day doesn't add up - Chicago Sun-Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  School Improvement Plan (draft). Tampa: Potter Elementary School, 2014. Print.  "Should the school day be longer?." The Premier Online Debate Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..  "Time to Learn: Benefits of a Longer School Day." Reading Rockets. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014..  "What's to Gain with a Longer School Day?." Education.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014..