5. Where has this been tried and/or successfully implemented?
Valley Park Elementary School- Kansas City, Kansas
Valley Park Elementary School - Kansas City, Kansas
In 1994 Valley Park Elementary School, Blue Valley School District, in Kansas City, Kansas was a "good" school
- Students consistently scored well above the national average on standardized tests.
- Well educated parents demanded excellence
- Staff described as "highly-motivated"
- Sought to answer the question "can brain research make a difference in our school?
- Conducted questioning, researching, studying related to brain research and education to become critical consumers of brain research
- Worked to develop a functional understanding of how the brain works
- Established partnership with a school reform group at a Kansas City university
- Goal: combine this knowledge with experiential wisdom amassed during years of teaching
Theory into Practice
- Proceeded with brain-compatible classroom practices
- Safe, nonthreatening environment
- Active and meaningful learning
- Rich, stimulating, varied input
- Accurate timely, and helpful feedback
- Publicized within school and community Blue Valley School District’s core values
- Compassion
- Courage
- Honesty
- Perseverance
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Self-discipline
[This sounds a lot like character education as it is commonly practiced)]
- Concentrated on thematic, integrated units of study
- Developed a unit plan process (collaborative) – classroom teachers and specialists
- Yearlong themes focused on district objective
- Closely integrated the core disciplines with music, physical education, art
- Included the librarian!!! (And the counselor and the reading teacher)
- Combined performance-based assessments with traditional paper and pencil tests
- Provided ongoing staff development to equip teachers w/ requisite knowledge & skills
- Also used multiple personality assessments for Valley Park staff – goal to better understand one another
A School Snapshot (this section provides details of a typical class)
- Teacher conducting writing conference with small group
- Students working independently at other tables & computers
- Agenda board
- Student work displayed (with rubrics attached to backs)
- Paraprofessional
available- Quiet music
- Lots of natural lights
- Live plants Teaching Students About Brain Research
- Help students understand their own thinking and learning
- Brain function
- Brain anatomy
- Brain physiology at varying developmental levels
- Theme days related to multiple intelligences
- Various other hands-on, student centered activities related to brain & learning
Results
- Used three measures
- Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests
- End-of-book tests (Harcourt Brace or DC Heath math textbooks)
- Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
- Four years of data studied
- Gates-MacGinitie gain from grade 1 to grade 4 was 16 points – almost one full standard deviation
- Mathematics end-of-course: fall to spring increases of 37,44,36,35 in grade 2
- Iowa Tests – reading results steady with gains in math
"Overall support of the premise that a school can be transformed into a more enriched environment without introducing negative effects in reading or mathematics learning."
Results are mixed on whether or not changed environment challenged students to actually increase their learning in math and reading.
Caulfield, Joan, Sue Kidd, and Thel Kocher. "Brain-Based Instruction in Action," Educational Leadership 58 (November 2000): 62-65.
Premise of school: The brain responds to challenges, stimulation, and interactivity, and the brain learns spontaneously
Language-based learning difficulties
Staff spent two years studying how the brain reorganizes itself throughout our lifetime & started using more technology in the classroom.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT is important part of success for teachers.
The entire school community (faculty, staff, parents, students, businesses, etc) need to be on board with brain-based research implications.
Visible differences at Westmark
Created a dynamic learning environment:
Visit Westmark School: http://www.westmark.pvt.k12.ca.us/
Wagmeister, Jane, and Ben Shifrin. "Thinking Differently, Learning Differently." Educational Leadership 58, no. 3 (November 2000): 45-48.
In Clayton County Georgia Public
Schools, staff development coordinator Bobbi Ford demonstrates ways to teach
reading in a “brain friendly way.” Ford says that “vocabulary words must
be placed in context for students to understand and remember them. To teach a
word like ‘sorbet,’ for example, Ford puts the dictionary aside and brings
in a pint of the smooth stuff, tossing out synonyms like ice cream, yogurt,
and slushy. She also encourages small group learning, activities in which kids
teach one another, and ‘word wheels’ that relate words like ‘minute’
to kid-friendly jargon like ‘teensy-weensy’ and ‘super small.’ It
sounds like a lot more work, but changing instruction is not so difficult when
teachers ‘see the payoff’.” (Covino 2002, 26).
Covino, Jennifer K. “Mind matters: what brain-based research means for
educators and for the future of math, language arts, foreign languages, the
arts, and special education.” District Administration. 38, no. 2 (Feb.
2002): 25-27.
District supports theoretically, $$$, & time
School-based adoption decision
Phased-in approach
Visible differences include
Uncluttered environments
Softer lighting (use of lamps)
Live plants
Soothing music
Pastel color themes
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University of South Carolina
College of Mass Communication and Information Studies
School of Library and Information Science
Page last updated on 01/28/08