Introduction: Harnessing the Power of Time
Utah State Department of Education. This was accomplished through developing a guaranteed and viable curriculum, common assessments, common pacing guides, and common interventions and extensions and taking collective ownership of all students across a grade level. As a result, the school’s end-of-level scores have soared above 90 percent in all curriculum areas. In chapter 9, Paul Goldberg details the journey of John Muir Literacy Academy in Schaumburg School District 54 in Illinois, a Title I school with a minority student population of over 80 percent. This suburban school, with more than five hundred students in preK through sixth grade, was on the state watch-list for not making AYP and had only 69 percent of students meeting state standards in 2005. By 2012, through its curriculum-aligned acceleration model, approximately 90 percent of its students were proficient on state assessments in reading and mathematics. Muir has achieved some of the highest student learning growth in the United States in both mathematics and reading, performing near the 99th percentile. In chapter 10, Paula Rogers delves into the all-important topic of positive behavioral support for individual students. As deputy superintendent of the Hallsville Independent School District in Hallsville, Texas, she made it her goal to design a behavior support program that met the wide spectrum of students’ needs while maintaining their placement in their academic setting. Her chapter provides examples of behavioral interventions at all three tiers and discusses how behavioral and academic interventions intertwine. In chapter 11, Chris Weber discusses how student behaviors were improved at Bucktown Elementary School, a K–8 school in Chicago serving 750 students. The student population is diverse, reflecting the neighborhood and city in which it is located, with over 65 percent of students qualifying for free and reduced price lunch and over 53 percent of students designated as ELs. Through collective commitments and the consistent application of research-based practices, the Bucktown staff have implemented a system of positive behavioral supports that ensures all students learn at high levels. In chapter 12, Regina Stephens Owens describes how Spring Independent School District in Spring, Texas, used technology tools and social media to provide students with additional time and support. Her chapter encourages us all to move from paralyzing programs to personalized learning, demonstrating this primarily through the use of technology tools. In closing, here’s a point of caution: Richard DuFour often says, “Embrace the forest; don’t fall in love with a tree.” While the goal of this book is to provide educators with detailed examples of exactly how real-life schools created time to implement specific interventions, there will undoubtedly be aspects in every example that do
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