Presenting the LEARNING-FOCUSED Model to Parents

Dottie Fielder
Feb 05, 2007

Carver Elementary School Parents Night
January 24, 2006

Carver Elementary School, Jefferson County, Georgia, is a small but beautiful school in the little town of Wadley (population 2088).  Dr. Shawn Johnson, Principal, and Instructional Lead Teacher Judy Moore applied for and received a Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) grant to implement the Learning-Focused Schools Model to improve student achievement.  Carver had already achieved AYP in 2004-05; however, the teachers and administration knew that it would become more and more difficult to continue to improve without making some changes to reach all students.  They picked the LFS model, and, fortunately for me, Ashley Thompson called and asked me to provide the four days Strategies and Walk Through Trainings for them.  We began training in June, 2005. By the end of the school year, teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators will have completed the strategies, math, and walk through trainings. They are an enthusiastic, attentive, wonderful faculty to work with, and there is good evidence that they are moving toward consistent and pervasive exemplary practices!

One of the requirements of CSR grants is that parents are included in the project.  While Carver's parents are routinely invited to the school for various programs, they had not yet been informed about the Learning-Focused Model.  We decided it would be a good idea to give them a "preview" of what is happening in their children's classrooms, so I piggybacked a night-time presentation with a four-day visit to nearby Dublin.

We had a wonderful turnout of between 100-150 people from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on January 24. This included parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, school children, babies and toddlers. I was reminded of "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" by Neil Diamond: "Pack up the babies, grab the old ladies, and everyone goes." The teachers had a workshop for the first hour in several classrooms, where parents and kids together created and played some file folder games in reading and math to take home. There was much fun and laughter.

Then we came together in the cafeteria for my presentation. I had a PowerPoint presentation designed to involve both the students present and the adults. My presentation was an example of an acquisition lesson, so all the EATS components were present: Here is my lesson plan:

EQ:  How is the Learning-Focused Schools model changing Carver Elementary School?
Activating Strategy: Numbered Heads tell each other what they think an LFS school is
Teaching Strategies: Collaborative pairs respond to certain prompts while presenter explains with PowerPoint slides what an exemplary school and exemplary practices are, what successful learners do, what parents can do to help make their students successful, and then finally a demonstration of some graphic organizers (compare/contrast nickels and dimes and cause/effect Event: I don't have much money left on January 24)
Summarizer:
1. 3 things that make Learning-Focused schools different than schools we adults went to,
2. 2 things you will do to help make Carver Elementary a 90/90/90 school
3. 1 most important thing you heard tonight

There was terrific participation. The students wanted to answer all the questions posed to pairs, so I certainly had to rely on the ones and twos to get the shy adults to speak up.  During a demonstration of the use of graphic organizers, children were lined up at the mike to give their input on likenesses and differences of a dime and a penny. One kindergartener volunteered that the graphic organizer we were using was a "Venn diagram." Her grandmother just beamed! A particularly touching moment (for me) came at the end when we were summarizing. One of the 4th or 5th graders raised her hand and said that the most important thing she heard that night was that "Carver can be a 90/90/90 school!"

With the leadership of Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Moore, involvement of the parents/ guardians, and the demonstrated commitment to improved practice by the teachers, I believe they will reach their goal.

Dottie Fielder is a past National Learning-Focused Consultant, specializing in Learning-Focused Strategies and Learning-Focused Mathematics.