HDWestfield Elementary School Pilot Mountain, North Carolina

1
HDWestfield Elementary SchoolPilot Mountain,
North Carolina

• Beth McCauley-Jewell
• Title I Teacher and Waterford Program Coordinator
• and
• Tracey Lewis
• Principal
• February 24, 2006

2
Westfield Elementary Demographics

• Westfield Elementary is located in a rural
  community of Surry County, North Carolina.
• Surry County is best known for being the home of
  Andy Griffith and Mayberry.
• Surry County also has the largest open face
  granite quarry in the world.

3
Westfield Elementary Demographics

• In 1999, manufacturing was the major industry.
  Today, the services industry is the major
  employer due to numerous textile mill closings.
• The unemployment rate in Surry County is 6.

4
Westfield Elementary Demographics

• Westfield is a Title I School.
• 55 of students are on free/reduced lunch.
• Westfield Elementary has a Backpack Buddies
  program ensures needy students do not go hungry
  over the weekend.

5
Westfield Elementary Students

• Westfield Elementary has 540 students in
  kindergarten through grade 5 and 15 in our
  pre-kindergarten program.
• 11 of students are Limited English Proficient
  (LEP).
• 19 of students are served by the Exceptional
  Childrens Program.

6
Westfield Elementary Racial Demographics
3
lt1
10
4
82
7
Westfield Elementary Faculty and Staff

• 1 Assistant Principal
• 27 Classroom Teachers
• 20 Teaching Assistants
• 3 Exceptional Childrens Teachers

8
Westfield Elementary Faculty and Staff

• 2 Title One Specialists
• 1 English Second Language (ESL) Teacher
• Specialists Include Media Specialist, PE
  Teacher, School Counselor, Art and Music
  Specialists, School Nurse, School Social Worker,
  Instructional Specialist and Speech Language
  Therapist

9
Westfield Elementary Faculty and Staff

• All teachers and teaching assistants are highly
  qualified.
• 23 of faculty have Masters Degrees.
• 4 teachers are Nationally Board Certified.
• 54 of teachers have less than 10 years of
  experience.

10
Westfield Elementary Parents

• Westfields parents are mostly unskilled workers.
• Many parents have only a high school diploma.
• Most LEP students have parents that speak no
  English.

11
Westfield Elementary Achievement

• 60 of Westfield students are considered at-risk
  of not meeting state proficiency standards.
• Over ninety percent (92.7) of Westfield
  Elementary students in grades 3-5 performed at or
  above grade level in reading and math last year
  on state mandated assessments.

12
Westfield Elementary Achievement

• Westfield has achieved exemplary or high growth
  every year since 1996-1997.
• Of the 16 schools in the Surry County Schools
  District, Westfield Elementary was the only
  school to achieve high growth last year on state
  mandated assessments.

13
Westfield Elementary Achievement

• Westfield met all No Child Left Behind targets
  for Adequate Yearly Progress except one. The
  students with disabilities subgroup did not meet
  its target.
• Westfield is participating in a North Carolina
  School Improvement Program grant to improve
  reading and writing for students with
  disabilities.

14
Waterford at Westfield Elementary

• Waterford was purchased 4 years ago during the
  2002-2003 school year.
• 10 computer stations of level 1, 2 and 3 were
  purchased, which are housed in a lab setting.

15
Waterford at Westfield Elementary

• Every kindergartner spends 25 minutes on
  Waterford each day.
• While half of a class is in Waterford lab, the
  kindergarten teacher has a small group in the
  classroom for flexible group instruction.

16
Pre-Kindergarten Screening Average DIAL3 Scores
17
Kindergarten Percent of Studentsat Grade Level
Based on End of Year Miscue Results
18
3rd Grade End of Grade (EOG)Reading Pretest 3
Year Analysis
19
Benefits of Waterford

• Students learn letter sounds, phonological
  awareness, sight words, and build fluency and
  comprehension all in one program.
• Reports generated from Waterford are essential to
  assess student mastery and deficiency of skills.
  

20
Benefits of Waterford

• Teachers use reports to tailor make instruction
  for students in the classroom and for parent
  conferences.
• Waterford is especially useful with LEP students.
• The need for remediation programs in first grade
  has drastically decreased.

21
Benefits of Waterford

• Kindergartners love the graphics and their time
  spent in Waterford.
• Waterford fosters an early love for reading and a
  passion for learning.
• Parents give positive feedback about the
  Waterford Early Reading Program.

22
Keys to Successful Waterford Implementation at
Westfield

• Utilizing the lab setting enhances the transition
  from the classroom to Waterford.
• Incorporating personal touches to the time spent
  in the lab enhances student enjoyment.
• Personnel is a key component the Waterford lab
  is an inviting, fun and exciting place to be.

23
Keys to Successful Waterford Implementation at
Westfield

• Teachers and teaching assistants must support the
  Waterford Early Reading Program to ensure its
  effectiveness.
• Parents must stress the importance of reading
  with their child and allow their child to watch
  the Waterford videos at home.

24
Keys to Successful Waterford Implementation at
Westfield

• Students must practice, practice, practice their
  letter sounds and sight words in order to build
  an imprint for increased sight word recognition.
• Students write in their journals, read and sing
  aloud daily while in the Waterford lab. They use
  multiple learning modalities auditory, visual,
  and kinesthetic.

25
Implications for Future Waterford Implementation

• The School Improvement Team at Westfield hopes to
  be able to purchase a site license to increase
  our ability to use Waterford with other students
  needing to build phonemic awareness.
• A site license will enable us to use Waterford
  with our pre-kindergarten, ESL, students with
  disabilities, and other grade levels.

26
Who is Served?

• 110 students everyday
• 5 kindergarten classes
•  
• At risk first and second grade students

27
Structure

• Lab setting consisting of ten computers with one
  Title I reading specialist coordinating the
  program.
• At risk students begin work in lab 20 minutes
  before regular school day begins. 
• Kindergarten classes are divided into 2 groups
  (generally based on DIAL3 scores).

28
Structure

• Kindergarten teacher has small group instruction
  in classroom while Waterford group is in the
  labthen the groups switch.
• Teaching assistants remain with children in lab.
• Each child has color coded writing journal with
  name picture.

29
Structure

• Each group has picture name chart that matches
  journal color.
• Waterford rules are posted on wall.
• Waterford letter production instructions are
  posted on wall.
• Colorful dividers with ABCs numbers separate
  computer stations.

30
Structure

• Strategies for reading a word a story are
  posted.
• Power/Sight words are displayed in pocket charts
  for practice.
• Word cards with word families and rhymes are
  displayed and used for practice.

31
Structure

• Words to Waterford songs are enlarged and kept in
  notebook for practice during wait time
• Upper and lower case Waterford alphabet letters
  are displayedused for recognition and
  sound/symbol association

32
Supporting Classroom Teacher

• Communication is the keywe talk daily about
  skills, goals, and students progress.
• Teachers frequently visit the lab, all have been
  involved in training of WERP.
• Teachers have access to Level I and Level II
  teacher crate materials.

33
Supporting Classroom Teacher

• Teachers are provided class summary and
  individual reports on a regular basis as
  requestedoften used for teacher/parent
  conferences.
• Every kindergarten class has a set of Level I and
  Level II books and tapes, plus the four video
  tapes.

34
Involving the Parents

• Parents tour the Waterford Lab and use the
  computers to view activities their children will
  see in the program. This occurs on Beginners
  Night, Open House, and Parent Awareness Night.
• Parents have an open invitation to visit, put on
  a set of headphones and listen as their children
  participate in WERP.

35
Involving the Parents

• Parents receive certificates and information
  about their childrens progress daily.
• Newsletters from Waterford go home to parents.

36
Involving the Parents

• Letters are periodically sent home with ideas to
  help the children become better readers using the
  Waterford books and any other book. These
  include games, strategies, positive suggestions,
  etc.
• Parents are given a survey to complete that gives
  their opinions about all components of the
  program.

37
Great Gifts!

• Combination of singing drama for the Sing A
  Rhyme songs.
• All kindergarten children receive 52 books to
  create their own personal library 26 Sing A
  Rhyme and 26 Read With Me books.

38
Great Gifts!

• Every child gets the four video tapes to
  keepthese also help younger siblings and
  non-English speaking parents learn.
• Certificates and awards are printed and sent
  home.
• Sense of excitement and pride in learning reading
  skills.

39
Success of Waterford at Westfield

• Due to students, parents, classroom teachers,
  teaching assistants, and administrators
  recognizing and supporting the Waterford Early
  Reading Program with excitement and involvement,
  we have experienced great success.

40
(No Transcript)
41
School Contact Information

• Westfield Elementary School
• 273 Jessup Grove Church Road
• Pilot Mountain, NC 27041
• [phone]
• [phone] FAX
• http//www.surry.k12.nc.us/westfield/

42
Presenters Contact Information

• Beth McCauley-Jewell
• Title I Teacher and
• Waterford Program Coordinator
• mccauleye_at_surry.k12.nc.us
• Tracey H. Lewis
• Principal
• lewist_at_surry.k12.nc.us