School Type: Public	School Setting: Rural
Level: K-12	School Design: Traditional
Content Presented By:
National Awards Program for Model Professional Development

Results

Attention to student learning styles and an understanding of strategies effective for meeting the needs of diverse learners that has resulted from multiple years in Learning Styles professional development is also meeting with success. Between the 1995-96 and 1996-97 school years, the number of students dropping out declined by more than 50% (currently a four-year low of 1.9% or 14 students) with even sharper declines in ethnic minority dropouts. Teachers interviewed across grade levels and subjects reported that while they are changing they noticed that more students are achieving gains in test scores, are motivated to learn, take greater responsibility for their own learning, and are increasingly self-disciplined.

The district found that once children were identified for and entered the Title I program, few were able to obtain the requisite scores to leave the program. Teachers piloted a number of computer-assisted instructional programs, and after adopting one they felt was most appropriate for their students during 1994-95, there has been a dramatic rise in exit rates. During 1995-96, 70% of the 244 Title I students had raised their achievement scores enough to leave the program. Of the 72 students remaining in the program, 36 exited the program during the 1996-97 year, and only 31 students have re-entered the program. In math, 77% of the students have left the program and have not re-entered. For all students district-wide, the percentage of students passing the New York State third grade reading exam had been declining from 1993 to 1996. After an analysis of student needs and implementation of a new professional development program, 99% of all students (including special education students) passed the exam in 1997.

By February of 1997, all elementary students in first through fifth grades were using the CCC math program 15 minutes each day in addition to the normal instructional time for math. T-test analysis of scores indicated significant learning gains for grades one and four. There was improvement in the other grade levels but it was not statistically significant.

An example of how professional development has been used to produce excellent results in solving a major issue in one of our elementary schools is in the use of "Learning Styles" and early literary practices based on "Reading Recovery" theory. For three consecutive years, the percent of students passing the NYS third grade reading exam had been declining (1993-94: 93 percent, 1994-95: 87 percent, 1995-96: 77 percent). These results did not include our special education students' test scores because these were not required by the state.

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