Improving Groton Schools: S.B. Butler Elementary

Proficiency is not something Principal Monson Lane celebrates.

It's not enough, he said. Instead, he believes the bar should be set at "goal" or better, or level 4 out of 5 on the Connecticut Mastery Test.

"The federal government is making decisions about what states are high performing based on the percentage who are proficient? You've got to be kidding me," he said.

The standard of "adequate yearly progress" is based on proficiency, but at this school and others in Groton, expectations are higher.

Lane said he tries to avoid focusing attention solely on one group of children, but to look at progress across the school.

"It's our job to look at all students," he said. "I don't care if that's your lowest performer or your highest performer. It's our job to look at them all."

High performers

For the first time this year, Media Specialist Debra Foster has a day set aside for the school's highest achieving students.

Each Monday, she takes a group of children by grade - 4 to 17 students at a time - and works with them on a project for 40 minutes. Kindergarteners are read books and discussing, like in a book club; first graders are writing a school newspaper; fourth graders are studying characters.

Foster said she's worked with talented students before, but in a less formal arrangement. Now students are identified by their classroom teachers and sent to her regularly.

"They come in here and they're enthusiastic," she said.

Expectations

Fourth grade teacher Sheryl Genovese sends six students to Foster.

Genovese said her goal for all the children in her class is to teach them independence, so they can be more involved in their own learning.

"I feel that if you set high expectations, the students will rise to those expectations," she said.

Kindergarten teacher Jacquelyn Bishel said it's important for young children to understand more than the basics of what they're being taught. "Goal" is a better standard than proficiency, she said.

In math, for example, it's not enough for students to be able to recite their numbers well, she said. They need to understand that numbers work in groups and are part of a whole; that five ones equal five, for instance. Then they can learn later to count by fives and tens.

"Even if they're struggling, you get them the extra support so they can get the whole concept, not just part of the idea," she said.

The improvement plan

S.B. Butler's improvement plan is similar to Groton's districtwide plan, in that it seeks to boost reading scores for specific groups. Lane said the school also wants to improve overall performance.

The goals are listed below:

•  Increase the percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch who score at goal or better in reading by 5 percent in one year, as measured by the Connecticut Mastery Test.

•  Increase the percentage of special education students who score at goal or better in reading by 5 percent in one year, as measured by the Connecticut Mastery Test.

•  Reduce office referrals for discipline by 50 percent.

The Targets

Below are the percentage of third, fourth and fifth graders at S.B. Butler  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.