By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-620741.mp3
Dallas, TX – This month when the state released results for statewide student testing, many urban school districts saw their ratings drop. Many blamed it on new tougher standards for passing math and science. But the Richardson school district exceeded the new goals, and for the second year in a row became the largest Texas district to be recognized . Only one category- exemplary - is higher. KERA's Shelley Kofler reports on how the district has beaten the odds to improve learning.
The week before school starts, Richardson educators and volunteers distribute classroom supplies to some needy students. There are a lot of them in this district. Almost half the children are low income. Twenty percent are not fluent in English. In fact, Richardson is so ethnically diverse, its students speak 93 different languages and dialects.
Most school districts with these demographics are struggling to meet state academic standards that go up every year. Three years ago, Richardson was struggling, too. It was unable earn a state rating higher than acceptable. Why weren't student achieving more? That's when then-superintendent Jim Nelson ordered an audit that lead to two big things: an increased, almost obsessive use of data; and an expensive, sometimes painful overhaul of Richardson's complex reading program.
Deputy Superintendent Patti Kieker has spent 33 year in the Richardson school district.
Keiker: We had what we called a guided reading program and we have 41 elementary schools and it was more or less being implemented 41 different ways. We felt like given the fact we employ a lot of new teachers each year we have a lot of mobility our students moving from school to school we needed a program that would be alike in all our elementary schools
The program Richardson chose had not gone through a state review which would have made the material nearly free. The new program would cost plenty.
Reporter: How unusual was it for you to spend I think you said a million and a half for this?
Keiker: We had not done it in my tenure in the district. It was difficult for our staff because it was a change in reading philosophy it involved a whole lot of training with a whole lot of people a whole lot of work but it was worth it. The test scores go up but more importantly we've seen stronger readers in kids who can approach any subject with greater ease.
In tandem with the new reading program Richardson beefed up its team of data analysts who daily look at student performance in all subjects.
Superintendent David Simmons says he'd never seen anything like it when he joined the district in January.
Simmons: I've never been associated with an organization that mined the data down to the detail that we do in Richardson.
Simmons says teachers, as well as senior staff and principals are trained on how to use the data to identify curriculum that's not working, and children who need specific help.
Reporter: So you could probably look at data on any one of the 35-thousand children here and know how that child is performing and where that child is not doing as well as he or she could?
Simmons: Right and we try to do that very early on in the year. Our first internal assessments occur within the first 45 days of instruction.
Keiker: If you have an issue in fifth grade with some mathematics concept and it looks like it's district-wide then we know we need to look at our curriculum
There are certainly other intangibles that lead to student achievement in Richardson: a strong teacher mentoring and training programs; an executive staff with classroom experience; good community support. But Keiker believes success came with the ability to change, to commit money to the effort and to follow through with continual data analysis.
Superintendent Simmons says it's now time to set a new goal
Simmons: Our goal is going to be to be the largest exemplary district in the state
And the Richardson district won't cite it's many needy students as a reason for not reaching higher.
Shelley Kofler, KERA News