Blanchard getting federal funds for improvement plan

Looking to get back on track after being hit with educational sanctions, Blanchard Elementary School will draw on federal assistance and a comprehensive plan of action.

The Cape Girardeau School Board approved Monday the Blanchard School Improvement Plan, which relies heavily on stepped-up professional development for teachers, enhanced learning opportunities for students and increased parental involvement.

"I wish I wasn't here. I wish we didn't have a school improvement plan," Blanchard principal Barbara Kohlfeld told board members, apologizing that the school has been designated a school in need of improvement. "We know this is a really big deal."

Blanchard failed to meet adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act for two consecutive years. Among the sanctions issued was school choice, giving parents the right to transfer their children to schools meeting adequate progress. Jefferson Elementary is a Level II improvement school, although its status is "delayed" because it met progress standards in communication arts.

Blanchard will receive $20,000 from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement this year's plan.

"We're taking the advantages of having some extra federal funding to come our way," Kohlfeld said. "We have spent many a day and many a night trying to figure out what would be the most conscientious way to spend this money."

Much of the plan, per federal mandates, pushes research-based professional development. This year, fourth-grade teachers will attend conferences detailing strategies on how to identify and best serve students with learning challenges and how to handle disruptive and difficult students. Six elementary teachers will attend the Kagen Summer Academy, which focuses on engaging students in the classroom. A facilitator will be in the school for eight sessions throughout the year to strengthen best engagement practices.

The improvement plan also calls for new modes of tutoring and student assistance, drawing on the Breakaway Math and Breakaway Communication Arts models. The tutoring initiatives are designed to bolster learning and ultimately performance on the Missouri Assessment Program, where Blanchard has missed proficiency marks as a school.

"The tricky thing about tutoring is, if it's nothing more than an extension of the school day, the odds are it's not going to get anything that's moving-and-shaking success," Kohlfeld said. The program under the improvement plan includes pre- and post-testing.

"We will know at the end whether we have achieved the desired results," Kohlfeld said. "So it's very specific."

But the testing only goes so far in predicting success on MAP, administrators said. And that's really what concerns school board members.

Assistant superintendent Pat Fanger said there are several benchmarks to measure performance before the all-important MAP test, which is the ultimate arbiter of adequate yearly performance and whether schools effectively pass or fail under No Child Left Behind.

If that is the case, said board members Phil Moore and Tony Smee, shouldn't the assessments have predicted Blanchard's performance on MAP and its eventual fall to the improvement list?

"Didn't we have an indication last year we weren't going to do so well?" Smee asked.

Fanger said the assessments aren't always indicative of the outcome of MAP results. She said some students who perform well on the benchmark tests don't perform so well on MAP.

Success in moving Blanchard off the sanctions list, administrators said, will depend in large part on parental involvement. The improvement plan emphasizes young reading and language programs at school and at home, among other initiatives.

In other business. the board approved the district's five-year Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, which outlines five goals: raising student performance; developing a highly qualified staff; enhancing facilities, instructional programs, support; improving parent and community involvement; and improving district governance. The board also approved a districtwide professional development plan.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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