Oak Park to group children into tighter pools, based on their academic abilities

Beginning next fall, Oak Park elementary school parents and kids should expect a possible change in the class day. Oak Park Unified School District (OPUSD) officials discussed the modification with parents last week.

Under a program called "Supporting Every Student," the school district will separate the students in each class according to their learning abilities.

District officials predict the classroom sub-groups will help students in reading and math.

While schools will continue to support heterogeneously grouped classrooms with children of mixed abilities and learning paces, "Supporting Every Student" includes creation of instructional time blocks for reading and math that will help teachers teach each child at his or her learning level. Students will move in and out of different groupings (or "learning centers") within the regular classrooms throughout the year, depending on individual needs.

The learning centers will provide students with the support they require whether or not they’re being served by a special program—be it GATE (gifted and talented education) or special education.

The No. 1 goal is to guarantee that each student will be able to read by the end of third grade.

Oak Park schools teach kids of varied abilities and learning paces, said OPUSD Superintendent Marilyn Lippiatt. "We don’t get students of one ability," she said. "Our objective is to meet the needs of all our students."

And while Oak Park schools might show high achievement in test scoring and with Blue Ribbon awards, Lippiatt said, that kind of recognition doesn’t take into account individual children. Twenty percent of Oak Park elementary students, sources said, have been identified as unable to meet grade level standards in at least one category.

"That worries us," Lippiatt told parents at the meeting last week.

Students are assessed on various parameters to determine the type of instruction they’ll get, according to Oak Hills Elementary School Principal and soon-to-be OPUSD Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tony Knight.

For most grades, Stanford 9 testing will help evaluate each child. Other factors will include the California Standards Test for grades two through five and the SAM (or Standards-based Assessment in Mathematics test) for grades one though five. Kindergarten students aren’t evaluated.

"The teachers also have a variety of assessments that they use," Knight said. "They’re able to determine whether (the child) is reading standards or not."

If a student is below the 40th percentile in any particular area, Knight said, " … we consider them to be at risk."

The "Supporting Every Student" program should help assure that each child meets the specified standard, Lippiatt said. It isn’t a program in which students can meet half the standard. If a child falls behind, he’ll can learn at his pace with the learning center process.

Specific instruction will be available to all students who need extra assistance in reading to meet the standards. Learning centers will be organized by the special education teacher at each school and be staffed with specialists and trained instructional assistants. Services will be provided in a separate learning center classroom and/or the regular classroom.

Learning center instruction in the regular classroom will consist of students working in small academically split groups under the direct supervision and guidance of a trained adult. GATE students, for example, might be working on an assignment while the teacher instructs or assigns the rest of the kids. Later on during class, the instruction will swap.

"We believe in a work-in-progress," Knight said. If students or parents have concerns, staff and administrators should listen and make possible adjustments to the program. And parents will be given updates. Knight wants to summarize "Supporting Every Student" and how it’s progressing in monthly school newsletters.

The program might not be discussed in every letter, but new information should appear often, Knight said.

This new model of instruction isn’t an experiment in Oak Park, Knight assured parents last week. It’s been proven successful in many California schools.

"You can’t teach students unless you’re teaching them at their level," Knight said. And that’s what OPUSD wants to do.

Some parents at last week’s meeting were concerned about potential social problems that might arise with "Supporting Every Student." Will other students, some parents asked, ridicule kids who are in the slower learning groups?

"We don’t anticipate that to be a problem," Knight said in an interview after the meeting. "We already have students moving around the schools for different kinds of things (such as reading support) and we’re not having that problem. So I’m not sure why we would have that problem now."

In fact, Knight said during an interview that social ridicule should occur less frequently under the new program.

"In fourth grade, when a teacher has a student read aloud and that student isn’t able to read fluently, that’s embarrassing for a child … This is what we’re trying to prevent," Knight said.

"Supporting Every Student" should help, Knight said. But it’s not guaranteed to be around five or 10 years from now, he said, because programs are always changing in California schools.

Time will tell if "Supporting Every Student" is successful.

The program requires additional teacher training. Once schools dismiss for the summer, teachers will begin working with researchers and practitioners to discuss instructional planning.

Students who need learning center services will be contacted, Knight said. Most parents already know if their children aren’t reading at grade level, he said after the meeting, and they’ve been recommended to attend summer school.

"So it wouldn’t be a big surprise," Knight said, for parents to learn their child is being recommended for a learning center.