Lincoln County High School: A LEARNING-FOCUSED Success Story

Debbie Willingham
May 25, 2009

Lincoln County High School was born as the result of a consolidation effort, when the state of West Virginia merged four small (about 250 students each) high schools into one. While each community had some misgivings about the merger, because of their individual heritages of close community spirit and friendly rivalry, the county-wide high school opened its doors in the 2006-2007 school year with a new blending of teachers and students.

The first year concentrated on meshing four distinct areas of the county into a new community with common goals. The second year, it was time to focus on academics, and the principal, Dana Snyder, went to work to increase rigor and set high expectations. The district, under the order of the state department, had been instructed to select and implement a model for achievement that could be easily, quickly, and completely implemented. The new superintendent, David Roach, knew that Learning-Focused fit their needs. He and assistant superintendent, Jeff Huffman, moved quickly to support the high school in putting training and implementation in place, both there and at a struggling elementary school. The faculty at Lincoln High rose to the challenge and gave up summer and school days to participate in a variety of trainings offered by Learning-Focused.

Being consistent and pervasive was the theme, and after just one year of implementation, test scores increased by double digits in some areas. The state (WesTest) test scores in English increased 15 points, and math scores increased nine points. In addition, the end-of-course Biology test scores showed over 80% of students scoring proficient. Now, in their second year of implementation, Mr. Snyder reflects on the progress the school has made.

Debbie: Besides increased test scores, how has Learning-Focused made a difference for teachers and students?

Dana: What I like best about Learning-Focused is that it is not a canned program; it is a teaching philosophy. It is research based, and the research, as well as now our own experience, shows results. How can you not make decisions based on those facts? Students know the expectations; there are no "gotchas." They know they're expected to know the answer to the essential question in depth. They know they will be expected to stay actively involved in their learning through the strategies the teachers use, and they know what the expectations are. Teachers recognize that the planning they do and strategies they use are just what good teaching is all about, and I'm happy to say that many of them were able to say, "Oh yeah, I kind of already do that," about a number of things.

Debbie: How has Learning-Focused meshed with your other primary initiatives?

Dana: Our primary initiative in place going in was High Schools That Work (HSTW). We were happy to see that there is an easy correlation between the two models. Both focus on standards-based design of lessons, high levels of thinking using literacy and numeracy strategies (like graphic organizers and data tables), student-centered tasks and extended thinking assignments, and both formative and summative assessment (often using rubrics). According to our February HSTW audit, Lincoln County High is in the top 25% of all West Virginia high schools in HSTW areas, and we are number one in overall growth. In the spring 2008 audit HSTW credited Learning-Focused with the vast improvement in the use of strong, rigorous instructional strategies.

Debbie: Where do you see Lincoln County High School another two years down the road?

Dana: I plan to have 100% implementation of the Learning-Focused model in the next two years, with our being totally consistent and pervasive. We should and can be a 90/90 school.

During the past year and a half, it has been extremely gratifying to visit classes, conference with teachers and administrators, and see the growth and successively easier implementation of strategies. Lincoln County is truly a success story in having become a community with common goals and methods of attaining them, and we look forward to following their continued success.