Giving Compass' Take:

• In this article for Education Dive, Paul Lawrence uses a Mississippi elementary school as an example of how dedication to teacher development and student engagement can rapidly improve learning.

• How can philanthropy better support teacher development?

• Discover more strategies to establish successful education for young students.

Magee Elementary was a school in crisis when I began as principal in 2015. Our steady progress reflects a schoolwide effort focused on data-driven instruction, targeted professional development and stronger student engagement.

After years of seeing students struggle, our teachers didn’t have a lot of faith in their ability to turn around student performance. Accordingly, one of our first objectives was to help teachers believe in themselves and in our students. We supported this process by setting clear goals, providing regular professional development and creating strong professional learning communities.

We actively participated in Mississippi’s state-funded literacy training, which includes Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. As part of this initiative, literacy coaches began by collaborating with our teachers nearly every day, at first, but we then shifted to once a month after we began demonstrating solid progress.

We also made sure our teachers learned how to leverage i-Ready, the math and reading instructional program we began using in 2015. In addition to providing students with individualized instruction, the program gives teachers a variety of resources to deliver lessons as a targeted intervention with a small group or individual students.

We also ensure that everything we do, including goal setting and lesson planning, is driven by data. Each week we review the data provided by i-Ready, including a report on each student’s progress, specific strengths and weaknesses, and time on task.

Importantly, we have focused on improving both classroom management and student engagement. Students not only learn the school’s behavioral norms, but understand they will receive the support they need to be successful.

Read the full article about what failing schools can do to flip the script by Paul Lawrence at Education Dive.