Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
September 2009
A visitor to Community Consolidated School District (CCSD) 15 could walk through any school building and quickly discover a variety of quality tools in actionfrom detailed plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles and mission statements displayed in the classrooms to colorful run charts tracking the spelling progress of elementary students. First and foremost, quality tools are enhancing student learning, but some teachers in the district are using the tools to address behavioral issues as well.
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Samojedny believes that students as young as first graders benefit from using data folders. It helps the kids take ownership and accountability with learning and gets them to understand that they are a part of the learning process, she explains. In addition to helping students track their academic progress, teachers and principals refer to the data binder if a student experiences a learning issue. Tieman reveals that when a student has a problem that calls for a discussion with the parents, he pulls the students data folder and reviews the documented goals with the parents to work through the issue together. At Winston, the data folder isnt discarded or even sent home with the student at the end of the school year; rather, its transferred to the students new teacher in the fall. A new chapter is added to the binder each year so that progress monitoring is continual. Teachers can review goals, tools used, and the students efforts to monitor his or her progress. Thus, the data folder essentially becomes a progress monitoring kit complete with writing samples and pieces of outstanding work. Some elementary schools in the district take the student data folder concept a step further, using it as a foundation for student-led conferences. Samojedny says that fourth through sixth graders at Lincoln Elementary are not only active participants, but also leaders in parent conferences. While the classroom teacher is present for the conference, its the student who shares the contents of the data folder, explaining his or her strengths and weaknesses, goals accomplished, future goals, and how he or she is working to meet those goals. She notes that students take pride and ownership in this process, and the parents often express amazement at the run charts and Pareto diagrams created
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upper-level elementary classrooms in District 15 have addressed this topic using the plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycle. Students often begin the improvement process by creating an affinity diagram to analyze the situation. They use Post-it notes to rank order concerns. From a quick look at the number of Post-its attached to each area of concern, they can easily spot the main issues associated with bullying. The next step is identifying root causes. Samojedny reports that students create fishbone diagrams like the one shown in Figure 4, focusing their analysis around various stakeholder groups, such as bullies, students who are bullied, and playground supervisors. Once you put it into a diagram the answers just jump out at you as you try to narrow the focus to get to the bottom or root causes, explains Tieman. Finally, the students create action plans with interventions to address the behavioral problems. One classrooms intervention strategy focused on bringing in a social worker who guided the students through various role-playing activities aimed at reducing the bullying behavior. It was very interesting that students were able to do this exercise and show that everyone plays a role in the bullying situation, notes Samojedny.
About the Author Janet Jacobsen is a freelance writer specializing in quality and compliance topics. A graduate of Drake University, she resides in Cedar Rapids, IA.
May not be strict enough May not have time to listen right away
Lunch/recess supervisors may be overwhelmed and outnumbered May not get involved if it doesnt affect them or their friends Bus drivers may not pay close enough attention to bullies Adults
Students
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