Improving Groton Schools: Pleasant Valley Elementary

Every month, Principal Kathleen Miner calls students before a school wide assembly to recognize children who have met her challenge: 100 math facts, six minutes, no mistakes.

“Parents are invited, which is really a nice connection to home,” said Miner. “The kids love it.”

The math masters program is one of several steps the school has taken to reward mastery of facts, improve academic achievement and encourage positive behavior.

This year, Miner organized the staff at Pleasant Valley into three departments or “committees” focused on the three areas of student growth: math, reading, and behavior.

Full-Time Math Coach

Ada Allen, math coach and instructor, sees 64 students each week for 40-minute lessons. The math specialist used to be a part-time job.

Now it’s full time.

“Part of our intervention is targeting economically-disadvantaged students who are falling below proficiency,” she said.  “We’re upping the ante to bring them up to proficiency.”

The school’s goal is to increase the percentage of students scoring at proficiency or better by 15 percent. To this end, students are given 5 to 10-minute assessments to determine what they know and what they don’t. Then they're reassessed every six to eight weeks.

Full-time Reading Coach

Monica Beaugrand works as a full-time reading coach. The job at Pleasant Valley, as in other Groton Schools, became full-time this year. Schools are also given remedial teachers depending on the need.

Pleasant Valley has two. Remedial teachers pull students out of the classrooms for instruction; Beaugrand goes into classrooms, tests students, evaluates results and meets with teachers.

Her goal, she said, is to reach those students who are “almost there” and bring them over the cusp.

Rewarding Good Behavior

The school is also working to encourage good behavior. The "Catch a Wave" program rewards children with slips for doing things like using "kind words and actions," taking turns and being organized.

After 100 slips, children receive a dolphin charm and chain for every 25 slips earned. The children display the beads on a necklace.

“It’s kind of like a challenge for the kids,” said Allysa Hug, school psychologist.

 The Improvement Plan

Pleasant Valley's goals for the next three years are listed below:

•  Increase reading proficiency for students in all grades by a minimum of 15 percent, as measured by tests including the Connecticut Mastery Test.

•  Increase math proficiency for students in all grades by a minimum of 15 percent.

•  Create a school-wide environment that is positive, predictable and effective for behavior of all the children.

The Targets

Below are the percentage of third, fourth and fifth graders at Pleasant Valley Elementary who demonstrated proficiency or better in reading and math on the Connecticut Mastery Tests.  The federal goal for 2011 was 89 percent in reading and 91 percent in math.

Test results for specific groups of students, such as black students, Hispanic students or those receiving free or reduced lunch were not listed if there were fewer than 40 students in those categories.