The Challenge
Many of the challenges faced by DEA were related to the extenuating circumstances brought on by COVID-19. Pandemic restrictions, coupled with increased responsibilities and stress levels, left the teacher workforce thinner than ever before. The lack of educators was felt particularly hard by DEA after multiple employees decided to leave over a two year period. On top of a lack of teachers, there was also a substantial shift in administration. This instability in the school meant that student scores saw very small improvements in their first year with SFA.
The Result
Despite its challenges, David Ellis has had one of the most impressive trajectories amongst SFA partner schools. A majority of this success can be accredited to the development of a new, all female leadership board. The team worked diligently to understand the SFA structure so they could effectively implement the program's research proven ideals and methodology. With a renewed focus on academic achievement, and overcoming student barriers, the group set out to create a culture of change.
David Ellis’s approach of implementing long-term goals in conjunction with specific benchmarks to measure change makes the process of tracking progress extremely streamlined. The leadership team focuses on three main objectives:
- Improving reading proficiency
- Implementing informational technology literacy, and
- Developing a family engagement plan based on data
Through these targeted action plans developed with their SFA coaches, DEA has begun to see significant improvements in test scores and overall student achievement. One specific mid-year objective was to have at least 20% of students scoring at or above grade level on the NWEA reading assessment and in actuality, 39% of students met this standard. On top of these statistical improvements, David Ellis Academy also created a strong relationship with many community partners. By focusing on a systematic transformation of the school with SFA rather than a patchwork approach to programming, DEA is able to foster improvements in student achievement and community development.