Sedalia Elementary becomes McREL "demonstration school"

Denver—Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) has partnered with Sedalia Elementary in Sedalia, Colorado, to create its first-ever model school, based on a comprehensive suite of McREL solutions, including McREL’s Success in Sight approach to school improvement.

Sedalia Elementary, a small, semi-rural school located just south of the Denver metro area, is part of the Douglas County School District, one of the highest-performing school districts in the state. The school, whose population includes almost a quarter Hispanic students and a third low-income, is one of the district’s lowest-performing schools. The number of English language learners (19% of students) increased by 11 percent from 2009-2010 to 2010-2011.

“We are committed as a staff to find ways to improve our instructional efforts for students and families,” said Sedalia Principal George Boser. “This partnership will help us implement school initiatives in the most effective way possible and eventually reach our goal of increasing student achievement levels to those of the rest of our district—or even higher.”

The school is well on its way. In August 2010, McREL began delivering Success in Sight professional development focused on improving the writing proficiency and vocabulary of the school’s 335 students. In just one year, school-wide writing scores on the state assessment increased six percent, from 52 to 58 percent. Sixth graders made the most dramatic improvement, with scores rising by 19 percent, from 53 to 72 percent.

As a development partner with McREL, Sedalia will complete three years of Success in Sight and become a model-demonstration site for other McREL programs, including Classroom Instruction that Works (CITW), CITW with English Language Learners, Balanced Leadership®, and Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas.

“We are impressed with the investment Sedalia Elementary is making in their students and the future of their school,” said McREL President and CEO Tim Waters. “We anticipate investing with them in ways that strengthen staff and leadership capacity for translating research into practice and raising student achievement to world-class levels.”

Read more on this story on the Douglas County Public Schools website.