Longtime SFA partner Whitney Elementary school is finding a way to reignite student success.
The Challenge
Whitney Avenue Elementary school in Sacramento, CA, had been a Success for All partner since 1989. So when, after years of steady progress, the school’s scores plateaued recently, Principal Vincent Arias didn’t panic; he knew that he already had the solution to reignite student achievement.
The school – where nearly 90% of students receive free or reduced lunch and speak more than nine languages, including Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Ukrainian – simply needed to get back to SFA basics and renew its focus on fidelity.
Arias had faith in the ability to effect a turnaround with SFA. When he came to the school three years before, he quickly saw the benefits of the program’s cooperative learning strategies and was impressed by the staff’s deep commitment to them. “I really came to believe in the program,” he says. “It’s pretty phenomenal if really look at it from a principal’s eyes.”
The Results
“It’s so important, because [SFA] is not just a literacy block by itself. It has to be [used as] a whole-school reform model, or it’s just not going to work,” Arias says, also noting that SFA is most successful when school staff are highly effective and cooperative – qualities that Whitney Avenue has in abundance.
As Arias sees it, one of SFA’s great strengths is its flexibility. While it provides a solid structure for teachers, it leaves room for creativity. “It’s not about one way that’s going to solve every problem,” he says. “If there is something we need to change, we will.”
After using a program for so long, a school’s focus may wane. But SFA is constantly evolving to stay ahead of educational trends, which is why even after 14 years, the program remains relevant and valuable to Whitney Avenue. “SFA isn’t stagnant; it’s based on research,” says Arias. “You just can’t implement it once and kind of maintain; you’ve got to renew,” which is what he and staff are doing in their efforts to raise scores.
These efforts have already proven fruitful: the school’s Read and Respond (requiring students to read nightly for 20 minutes with a family member) daily rate has improved from 68% to 80% in just three months.
Arias explains: “I feel we are more ready than most places because CCSS are about expanding what we are doing within our reading block,” such as thinking independently and working collaboratively. “I think SFA does an incredible job of preparing kids for that.”