"We've had such tremendous student improvement; I feel bad that my own daughter didn't experience the new materials and the new approach to teaching reading when she attended school."

—Carrie Aguas, Principal, New Plymouth Elementary School

About New Plymouth Elementary School
Located in the northwestern United States, New Plymouth, Idaho, is a rural district fifty miles outside of Boise. New Plymouth Elementary is the district's only elementary school, serving approximately 400 students in pre-K through grade 5, with a 19:1 student to teacher ratio. Of all students, 65% receive free or reduced-price lunches, and 15% are Hispanic. The majority of learners are from low-income families.

The Challenge
New Plymouth Elementary was faced with a common challenge: to increase student achievement with limited resources. For years, children entering kindergarten were only meeting 35% of state proficiency standards. By the end of each school year, students were making gains, but on average, the gains were not nearly enough. Many students moved on to the first grade with only 55–58% mastery of grade-level standards, setting a low bar for future success in later grades.

Keys to Success
Commit to highest priority goal
New Plymouth Elementary developed a plan to put 85% of students at grade level in three years. Carrie Aguas, principal of New Plymouth Elementary, states, "This goal informs every decision we make. Now, instead of talking about what we can't do, all of our talk is focused on what we can do—how we can make this happen for each child."

Collaborate on grade-level meetings
A major part of this plan involves teachers pooling their knowledge and skills to best serve the needs of their students. Professional development and mentoring opportunities can be costly and typically are only available on a limited basis. New Plymouth Elementary has leveraged its in-house knowledge and facilitated weekly teacher meetings in an effort to improve the teaching process.

Curriculum pacing calendars and formative assessments are used in conjunction with each other to ensure that students test on the same materials and on the same day. Results are interpreted and students are grouped according to their needs as determined by the data. Based on their strengths or areas of expertise, teachers are assigned to help these different groups on "focus days." Test results are tracked over the course of the school year, and teachers collaborate to determine when a student is ready to move to a different group. In addition, a reading coach helps with data collection, interpretation, and instructional guidance. By utilizing the strengths of each teacher in the school, and not limiting students only to their classroom teacher, New Plymouth Elementary addresses the diverse needs of its student population.

Use integrated curriculum content
The challenge in raising student achievement often means finding the time in which to do it. It can be difficult to give each subject the attention required to increase test scores. New Plymouth Elementary faced this problem and approached it in a unique way. By choosing an integrated, research-based reading program that was carefully checked against Idaho state standards, the district was able to incorporate extensive science and social studies teachings into its reading lessons.

"Because we have such limited classroom time, we decided, as a staff, to review how well our new reading program correlates to the Idaho standards for social studies and science," said Aguas. "There is so much science and social studies covered in the program, and these subject areas are integrated so nicely that not only are we spending more time on reading, we are teaching more social studies and science content than before."

Implement creative solutions
The plan also develops students' sense of accountability and self-confidence while maintaining one-to-one contact and support of their learning by adults. Each child has a homework folder that needs to be checked and signed by parents on a nightly basis. Students without someone at home to check their work have been paired with school secretaries, custodians, and support staff so that every New Plymouth Elementary student has an adult dedicated to their success. As a result, students have better attitudes towards learning and have increased their self-confidence and motivation.

Have faith in curriculum program
Aguas believes that the school district's faith in the new researched-based reading program is an important part of her school's success. Buy-in from teachers, parents, and students has helped create a climate of trust, collaboration, and shared purpose, allowing New Plymouth's school community to stay on target with their highest goal: to increase student achievement.

Results
"State assessment results showed that the use of our integrated reading program led to positive spillover effects in areas we were not even expecting," said Aguas. Last year, the first year of using the new program, each grade level on average made a 39% gain in reading proficiency. Scores in language arts and math increased significantly as well. The staff attributes the gains to the change in attitude of students and the adoption of a brisk instructional pace. By using a pacing calendar, along with ancillary program materials to preteach or reteach lessons, New Plymouth Elementary teachers were able to give all student sub-populations the chance for success. Today, students entering first grade met 86% of reading proficiency standards compared to 40–50% last year. "We believe these gains are due to the extra emphasis on phonics and extra practice opportunities with decodable text," Aguas shares.

Conclusion
Success at New Plymouth Elementary has been fueled by a consistent focus on student needs, ongoing assessment, and curriculum fidelity, all within a resource and time-constrained environment. A team effort by teachers to provide the most focused instruction possible has put the school on track to becoming one of the fastest improving schools in the state of Idaho.