An Interview with a LEARNING-FOCUSED Principal

Brenda Hill
Sep 07, 2009

Turner County Elementary School is a Title I school located in Ashburn, GA under the leadership of principal, Tim Huff. The school began implementing the Learning-Focused Model two years ago. With much effort, determination, and commitment to the Learning-Focused Model by district personnel, administrators, and teachers, Turner County Elementary School has increased academic achievement for students and met the stringent requirements of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind. AYP under NCLB requires schools to meet criteria in three areas: Test Participation (for both Mathematics and Reading/English Language Arts), Academic Performance (for both Mathematics and English/Language Arts), and a second indicator (Second indicator for Turner County Elementary is Attendance Rate).

How long has your district/school been using Learning-Focused?
"We have been working with Learning-Focused for two years. The first year we focused on strategies. At the conclusion of year 1, we realized that many of our deficits were a result a curriculum that was not guaranteed. The work with LFS mapping our curriculum was critical to our making AYP. There were many 'aha' moments for staff as we dug into the curriculum, mapped out our instruction, and built benchmarks for assessing student learning. "

What can you say about the quality of Learning-Focused services?
"The support and services that we have received from Learning-Focused have been extraordinary. They have been honest with us during their visits to our school while being sensitive to the needs of our staff. Any resistance that we first faced when LFS training began has declined significantly."

What impact has Learning-Focused had on your teachers since receiving their initial training?
"We are much more focused on the curriculum than we were a couple of years ago when our focus was on our resources."

What changes have occurred in student achievement since you started working with Learning-Focused?
"During the first year of implementation, our primary focus was on reading. We had a 6% improvement in Reading/ELA on the CRCT (Georgia's state assessment). During the second year, we continued our focus on reading and added math as a focus. We saw a 15.6% improvement in math performance on the CRCT. The best measure of our success has been that we made AYP after having not made it in 2007-2008."

How have you or your administrators benefited from working with Learning-Focused?
"Working with LFS has focused my efforts to meet the instructional needs of our students. It has made me a better leader."