Success in Sight® raises achievement in N.C.
high school

The Challenge

When Northeast High School (NEHS), in McLeansville, North Carolina, was named as one of the state's 64 “turnaround schools” in 2007, it came as a wake-up call to the staff.

The school was operating like many high schools do—department chairs were managers but weren't active in guiding student achievement, and teachers mostly worked in “private practice,” collaborating little with each other. “There was an air of fear about being a turnaround school and about the unexpected,” said NEHS's principal, Dr. Anitra Walker.

Strategic Solution

McREL Principal Consultant Sammye Wheeler-Clouse led NEHS administrators, coaches, and teacher leaders through the five-step Success in Sight process. “McREL provided us with the opportunity to focus on our immediate need of building teacher capacity,” Walker said.

The staff chose to increase student engagement by implementing Classroom Instruction that Works® (CITW) strategies and supporting one another through professional learning communities (PLCs). Teachers developed a criteria list for how to identify student engagement during classroom observations. They now use this list when coaches, administrators, and teacher leaders visit classrooms—another new practice for NEHS staff.

Called “focus walks,” these observations have set a high level of expectation among the staff for using the instructional strategies effectively, resulting in a cross-departmental awareness of instruction that didn't exist before.

McREL's Success in Sight approach to school umprovement helps schools balance the science of effective schooling with the art of continuous improvement. Success in Sight helps schools develop the capacity to create and sustain effective reform efforts through a five-step, cyclical approach:

Take stock

Focus on the right solution

Take collective action

Monitor and adjust

Maintain momentum

Results

“Focus walks are an example of the culture change that has occurred at NEHS,” said Wheeler-Clouse. “Before, teachers felt they shouldn't disturb or interrupt other teachers, and now they feel they need to be in others' classrooms to learn and share. They hold each other accountable for using the CITW strategies that make a difference.”

In the year that McREL has worked with NEHS, the school has made enormous strides in shared leadership, building collective efficacy, the use of instructional strategies, and increased capacity to implement and sustain change.

The school has undergone an equally dramatic increase in student test scores. From 2007–2008 to 2008–2009, proficiency levels for 9th and 10th graders have risen in most subjects, including 24.5 percent in Algebra II, 18 percent in chemistry, 14 percent in U.S. history, and 12 percent in biology.

In 2009, NEHS was named one of the most improved schools in the county, according to the Piedmont Triad. Walker attributes this success to the “hard work, commitment, and sense of personal responsibility” of the teachers at NEHS.

Next Steps

Led by O'Donnell, PLCs continue to meet twice monthly and focus on the work and progress of individual students. Teachers talk about how the implementation of strategies is going, what's working and not working, and whether students are engaged.

In the 2009–2010 school year, Lead Consultant David Rease will train staff and support the implementation of the next CITW strategies. He will help administrators and department chairs to recognize all instructional strategies, as well as lead staff on classroom visits (peer observations) so that teachers can learn from each other. Rease will provide the whole staff with professional development, and provide technical assistance to administrators and teacher leaders to ensure a high level of implementation.

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