Inoculating against low achievement: our job as educators is to mitigate the effects of adversity by accelerating achievements and building resiliency.

Any discussion of the achievement gap must begin with an understanding that a "gap" typically preexists the school experience. Circumstances are not equal for all children in the United States. However, all children can learn and attain high expectations. They can meet state standards and proficiency forecasts. To help them, our job as educators is to mitigate the effects of those circumstances that have created the gap. We must create opportunities for the students to build resiliency and responses to adversity that accelerate achievement through intentional, focused instruction.

Systemic inoculations and interventions

After 10 years of coaching low-performing schools, I have found that closing the achievement gap requires both systemic inoculations and student interventions.

In this model, an inoculation is a scientifically based action implemented for a specific result for a determined period of time. I am using the term inoculation in the same way that polio vaccine was first distributed in the '50s and '60s. Everyone participates and derives the benefit of the action. For school purposes, inoculations are campaigns that affect the whole school and are implemented to impact the culture of a school, instructional delivery, how the school communicates and the management of the school.

Interventions are strategies that are used to impact a specific subgroup of students, a content area, or a problem identified as causing disruptions in learning for a defined group of students. For example, a current intervention for the elderly is the annual flu shot. Because the elderly are one of most vulnerable groups in flu season, they are targeted for services even if they show no current symptoms. Their risk makes them candidates for intervention. Operating this way is called using the medical model.

In reform, the medical model can be used to map responses to symptoms that are incongruent with the goal and mission of healthy schooling. Because schools are microcosms of the greater communities that they serve, the problems in the neighborhood come to school every day. Stress, trauma and fear dramatically impact how students learn, how they behave and their family balance. Unchecked, this has tragic consequences for some of the most at-risk students. These neighborhood problems come to school and interrupt the homeostasis of the school system. Then, students and their families are blamed for the disruptions caused at school. Blaming disenfranchises people and disconnects them from the greater system. Now we have added another problem.

Using the medical model to resolve issues of under-achievement and the achievement gap can provide a venue to assess systemic and instructional circumstances without blaming the students, teachers and families. Within the medical model, needs are defined by the symptoms and their consequences. Symptoms are merely evidence of a lack of effective functioning.

Used correctly, this approach can take the personalities out of the process and help faculties focus strictly on the principles of effective educational protocol. Managing symptoms is an important part of taking control of the school. It is usually best to take care of the most obvious symptoms that indicate the school is not well.

For example, last year a new principal at a local middle school came into a school campus that was chaotic (symptom 1), dirty (symptom 2), and students were often out of the classroom (symptom 3). He talked with every class to establish new norms. He asked every teacher to be visible at all transitions and lunch, he walked lunch and had every administrator in the quad, he engaged parents on Saturdays to plant flowers, and he made sure that every student was in class every period. In three months, the campus was clean and orderly and students were in their seats.

When working within the medical model, you respond to the obvious symptoms first to make sure that the patient gets some immediate relief of symptoms. However, you must stop to ponder why the symptoms occurred in the first place. In this circumstance, the middle school teachers felt as though past administrators did not manage the school well. The new principal instigated a sale and orderly intervention that put the administration and the teachers in charge of the school. The next step would be to engage the students in taking charge of themselves and the school.

From this point, you start to look for causes of the beginning of the problem. The medical model is a causal chain. Each problem creates symptoms that impact people, causing more problems and more symptoms. The longer the problems exist, the more difficult it is to change the system.

However, when the individuals in the school desire change, anything is possible. The better the system is at identifying the core issues, the more likely the school will be able to sustain change. The inoculations, the systemic and long-term reform actions, should resonate with what you think are the core problems that cause the achievement gaps in your school.

Based on typical problems in low-achieving schools, I have identified research-based inoculations that have proven to accelerate achievement and close the achievement gap.

* Problem: Low achievement is endemic to the school

Inoculation: Use Standards Plus[TM] for all students for language arts and math. Standards Plus provides direct and explicit mini-lessons that are organized by the grade level standards. The mini-lessons take 10 to 15 minutes to deliver daily.

They are organized to provide an introduction to the content, guided practice, independent practice, review and assessments with reteach procedures.

The advantage of Standards Plus is that the lessons were written by teachers and have been field tested for three to five years. The way the lessons are "chunked" seems to resonate with students, who develop clarity about what they are learning, develop the academic language of their grade level standards, and experience adequate repetitions to maintain and reinforce the lessons. Most of all, the students like the process and the success that most often follows.

It is important to remember that this is not a curriculum; it is a supplemental, standards-based program that helps meet AYP and API achievement goals. Standards Plus and Fontana Unified were acknowledged by the Educational Trust in 2003 and 2004 for a successful reform program that dispels the myth that some students can't perform.

Research base: The theory behind the design of Standards Plus can be traced back to the research work of Lawrence Lezotte (1985), and Lezotte and Daniel Levine (1990, 1995). Through their studies, they identified characteristics of effective schools, which they called the Effective Schools Correlates (Levine and Lezotte 1995).

The Fontana Unified School District developed Standards Plus as a research-based comprehensive reform model. The program is an enhancement of a model developed in the Brazosport Independent School District in Texas by Gerald Anderson and Patricia Davenport (Anderson and Davenport, 2002). Multiple replications of the Brazosport Model across many school districts in several states confirm this program as effective in closing the achievement gap in a variety of contexts.

* Problem: Low language and poor reading skills

Inoculation: Implement a free voluntary reading campaign to impact language arts achievement. Several reading theorists highlight the benefits of this type of campaign. In reviewing the research, a convincing case is made that extensive reading at your independent level dramatically improves learning in a variety of areas. The magic number of words read per year seems to be about one million. At this level, students often learn about writing proficiency, grammar, spelling and vocabulary development.

This inoculation requires that students read or have read to them one million words. The grade level keeps informal logs. Graphs are maintained and posted in the cafeteria and regularly checked in this public forum. Periodic or spontaneous prizes can be given to spur effort and sustain momentum. The principal also makes a promise to do some outrageous action for the grade-level winners of the one million read-a-thon at the end of the campaign.

Make sure that ample access to print is made available to students, eliminating any excuse that would thwart the students from fully participating in the free and voluntary reading campaign.

Research base: R.C. Anderson, in "Research Foundations for Wide Reading" (1992), reports that students who read this much are exposed to approximately 20,000 new words per year. A minimum of 5 percent of those words are acquired for free just from reading. In fact, the range of new words acquired by most students reading a million words a year is between 1,000 and 4,000. Interestingly, Anderson also outlines the research on vocabulary development in general for children between kindergarten and grade 12. Children entering kindergarten or grade one command a vocabulary of about 5,000 words. At grade 12, they know flora 50,000 to 80,000 words.

* Problem: Low student engagement

Inoculation: Conduct one-on-one academic conferences or data chats with all students using performance data, interim assessments and STAR results to establish achievement goals for the month of quarter. These conversations should be brief and to the point. They are not focused on what the student cannot do; rather, the emphasis is on their strengths. The questions are, "What would help them make progress toward proficiency?" "What actions would be necessary?" "Can the school supply the support?"

Make the best agreement possible with the student. Congratulate students on their willingness to try to make progress. In my experience, 90 percent of the students will agree. If the teachers follow up regularly with the students, 80 percent will meet their goals.

Students need to be engaged meaningfully in school to do the work schools require. Meaning begins with relationships. Building the relationship ensures inclusion that connects the student pro-socially. Setting the goals establishes a level of competence to be achieved. From these steps, a new kind of attitude about learning can be developed. This process targets the will and skill issues that students present. "Will" describes the affective domain, relationships, inclusion and attitude. "Skill" describes what students can do, what they think is meaningful and what they need help to master.

Research base: The data emphasis is an integration of the work by Reeves and Schmoker (Schmoker, 1999; Reeves, 2000, 2004). Presenting the data to the students is an action documented by Gottfredsen in the youth literature regarding responsibility and self-management (Gottfredsen, 1988).

Research literature from several disciplines and theorists representing a range of ethnic and cultural perspectives have agreed on four key motivational conditions that, when consistently present, support student motivation, achievement and academic growth within and between cultural groups (Ladson-Billings, 1995, Ginsberg & Wlodkowski, 2000).

These four conditions comprise the "Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching:" establishing inclusion, developing a positive attitude, enhancing meaning and engendering competence. They provide the basis for research-based national and international school improvement initiatives committed to culturally responsive, high-quality academic success for all students.

* Problem: Classroom management in elementary school 

Inoculation: Play the Good Behavior Game, a process that teaches children to inhibit negative behavior. The students work on teams and peer pressure helps shape their behavior. The game is played for 30 minutes a day. To play the game, the students identify behaviors that disrupt learning. The teacher monitors these behaviors during game time. If a student disrupts learning time with an identified behavior, a point is given to the team. After game time has ended, the teacher announces the points she has assigned to the teams. The team with the fewest points for the week wins. The winning team receives a predetermined reward.

Advantages of the game include a reduction of aggressive tendencies, improved prosocial interactions in the classroom, increased time and attention for academic work, increased self-control of impulsive students and expanded leadership skills of shy students.

Research base: The program was first tested in 1969; several research articles have confirmed that the GBG is an effective means of increasing the rate of on-task behaviors while reducing disruptions in the classroom (Barrish, Saunders & Wold, 1969; Harris & Sherman, 1973; Medland & Stachnik, 1972).

The long-term impact of the game was examined in well-controlled studies by Johns Hopkins University in 19 Baltimore schools for a decade (Kellam & Anthony, 1998; Kellam et al., 1998; and others). Without the game, highly aggressive children had 70-to-1 odds of developing serious trouble in middle school. With the game, their odds were dramatically improved for the better, to only about 3-to-1.

These area few of the inoculations that are working for schools in California. I selected them because they represent different kinds of problems often confronted by schools having difficulty meeting achievement goals. The interventions summarized have been selected for the same reason. They are the best possible options for some of the subgroups most often reported as having difficulty.

Interventions

* Target population: Students performing below grade level

Intervention: Standards Plus[TM]

Rationale: The K-12 mini-lessons in language arts and math provide ample opportunities to provide remediation packets for students to "catch up." Students can use the mini-lessons to work independently or with mentors and tutors. The assessment and maintenance lessons are great ways to check for content areas that need more study, as well as for noting those that have been mastered (Learning Plus Associates: [phone]; www.standardsplus.org).

* Target population: African American students

Intervention: Reinforcement Protocol

Rationale: (Note: This is a protocol that will work with all students, for those inclined to try it.) African American students often do not get the kinds of-feed-back and support necessary to correct errors and sustain motivation. This is a simple process. Notice the student. Call the student by name. Identify correct answers specifically and provide corrective feedback as necessary. Wait until the corrections arc made. Validate. Reinforce. Acknowledge. Wait For answers. When giving homework, take the time to give examples of the expected work. Show the student how to be successful. Reinforce all effort (Box, Schumm and Vaughn, 2000).

* Target population: English language learners and students impacted by poverty

Intervention: Visual representations

Rationale: The more pictures or visuals, doodling, body language and props that we can use for vocabulary, context, theme and story, the easier it is for students to understand and retain what they have learned. "Seeing" the lesson provides students who don't have the prior knowledge, language or life experience to make sense of what we are teaching. It creates a model from whicb they can build new learning (SEDL, 1994; Marzano et al, 200l).

* Target population: Students having difficulty comprehending text (grades 2-8)

Intervention: Read Naturally

Rationale: Read Naturally is a well-developed program that can be used in a variety of ways to build fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. The procedures utilized are very attractive to students, who will clamor to use the program. The self-competition is beneficial and helps underscore that success is possible! The Read Naturally strategy was originally developed by reading teacher Candyce Ihnot in 1989. Call [phone]; www.readnaturally.com.

* Target population: Students with language difficulty

Intervention: Class-Wide Peer Tutoring 

Rationale: The Class-Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) protocol demonstrates that trained peer interaction can benefit students instructionally. In fact, using these strategies can be more effective than teacher-led instruction (Greenwood, C., 1988). Contact Class-Wide Peer Tutoring--Learning Management System at www.lsi.ukans.edu/jgprojects/cwptlms/html2002.

Taking on the achievement gap

Taking on the achievement gap is a serious undertaking requiring commitment from the faculty, continuity in the delivery of the inoculations and interventions chosen, and celebration of the incremental successes. It is the people who make schools successful, not programs. However, heartfelt commitment can only go so far. You need instructional methods that will work with the students who are sitting in front of you. You will have greatest success using research-based strategies.

Closing the achievement gap is one of the biggest challenges of our time. No other school system in the world has taken it on for such a diverse population as ours. With nearly 5,000 high-poverty, high-performing schools on record (www.edtrust.org), we now know it can be done. But because there is still truth in the statement, "Tell me your zip code and I'll tell you your API," the medical model suggested here can serve as a good blueprint for beating the odds.

To prevent cases of highly predictable poor achievement, we use inoculations schoolwide to provide the best possible chance to stabilize school culture, motivate students and eliminate obstacles to learning. Even the best inoculations do not work 100 percent of the time, so we take recourse in effective interventions for selected groups of students. And most importantly, by using this approach we do not have to waste time and emotional energy blaming anyone. Just find the best response For the symptom and everyone wins.

References

Standards Plus model:

Anderson, Gerald and Davenport, Patricia. (2002). No Excuses: Closing the Achievement Gap. ASCD.

Levine, D. U., and Lezotte, L. W. (1990). Unusually Effective Schools: A Review and Analysis of Research and Practice. Madison, WI: The National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development (ED 330 032).

Levine, D. U., and Lezotte, L. W. (1995). "Effective Schools Research." In Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, edited by J. A. Banks and C. A. Banks. New York: Macmillan.

Lezotte, L. W., and Bancroft, B. A. (1985). "School Improvement Based on Effective Schools Research: A Promising Approach for Economically Disadvantaged and Minority Students." Journal of Education.

Voluntary reading campaign:

Anderson, R. C. (1992). Research Foundations for Wide Reading. Paper commissioned by the World Bank. Urbana, IL: Center for the Study of Reading.

Low student engagement:

Ginsberg, Margery B. & Wlodkowski, Raymond J. (2000). Creating Highly Motivational Classrooms for All Students: A Schoolwide Approach to Powerful Teaching with Diverse Learners. Josey-Bass, San Francisco.

Gottfredson, G.D. (1988). "An evaluation of an organizational development approach to reducing school disorder." Evaluation Review.

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. (Fall 1995). "Toward A Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy." American Educational Research Journal.

Schmoker, Mike. (1999). Results: The Key, to Continuous School Improvement, 2nd edition. ASCD.

Reeves, Douglas B. (2004). Accountability in Action: A Blueprint for Learning Organizations. Advanced Learning Press, 2nd Edition.

Good Behavior Game:

Kellam, S.G., Rebok, G.W., Ialongo, N., & Mayer, L.S. (1994). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Kellam, S., Ling, X., Merisca, R., Brown, C.B., & Ialongo, N. (1998). Development and Psychopathology.

Kellam, S.G., Mayer, L.S., Rebok, G.W. & Hawkins, W.E. (1998). In Dohrenwend, B. (Ed.) "Adversity, stress, and psychopathology." American Psychiatric Press.

African American students:

Box, Candace; Shay Schumm, Jeanne; & Vaughn, Sharon. (1997, 2000). Teaching Exceptional, Diverse, and At-Risk Students In The General Education Classroom (Second Edition). Allyn & Bacon.

Visual representations for ELL impacted by poverty:

Marzano, Robert; Pickering, Debra and Pollock, Jane. (2001). Classroom Instruction That Works. ASCD.

SEDL. Jones, Nancy Baker and Pollard, Joyce S. (1994). "Teaching for Diversity." Networkshop, Summer. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, www.sedl.org.

Class-Wide Peer Tutoring:

Greenwood, Charles R.; Carta, Judith J. and Hall, Vance. (1988). "The Use of Peer Tutoring Strategies in Classroom Management and Educational Instruction." School Psychology Review.

Greenwood, Charles. (April-June 1991). "Classwide peer tutoring: Longitudinal effects on the reading, language and mathematics achievement of at-risk students." Journal of Reading, Writing, & Learning Disabilities International.

Greenwood, Charles. (May 1991). "Longitudinal analysis of time, engagement, and achievement in at-risk versus non-risk students. Exceptional Children."

Michelle Karns is an author and school improvement consultant. She can be reached at [e-mail].