|
|
Fenway High School's Literacy Program
Boston, MA
School Type: Public
|
School Setting: Urban
|
Level: High
|
School Design: Small School
|
|
Content Presented By:
|
|
Jobs for the Future
|
|
|
Fenway High School
|
|
Summary
The practice: Creating a Student-Centered Classroom
- 58% of Fenway High School's 270 students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and 8.2% are English language learners.
- Over the past five years, the faculty and administration at Fenway High School have worked hard to create a school-wide culture of literacy.
- A Foundations of Literacy course helps ninth graders to develop reading and writing skills through a variety of student-centered activities.
- Since the inception of its literacy program, students' performance on the English Language Arts test of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) has risen steadily. The school consistently ranks among the top performing urban high schools in the state.
Fenway High School is a small, urban, public high school that has been recognized as a New American High School by the United States Department of Education and won recognition from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and other outside institutions. Its literacy program has evolved over the past five years and will continue to be adjusted to enable it to better meet the needs of students.
The literacy program at Fenway consists of three main components:
- a year-long Foundations of Literacy course, which all ninth graders take three times per week in addition to their humanities course;
- in-service workshops for faculty; and
- co-teaching by the literacy coordinator and core subject area teachers to incorporate literacy strategies and skills.
The school's staff and students also participate in two 30-minute periods of sustained, silent reading ("Drop Everything and Read") each week.
Humanities, science, and math teachers use strategies introduced during in-service workshops, either on their own or through co-teaching experiences with the literacy coordinator in their classrooms. The literacy coordinator attributes the rising scores on the statewide assessment to the focus of the humanities department on literacy skill development; the Foundations of Literacy course, which provides ninth graders with more time for reading and writing and with individualized assessment of their progress; and the school's culture, in which literacy is valued.
This site also exemplifies the following practice(s):
- Creating Responsive Classrooms
- Roles of the Teacher
- Reading and Writing
- An Emphasis on Thinking
- Supporting the English classroom through literacy development
- Supporting the math classroom through literacy development
- Meets the goals for adolescents in that particular community and its various constituents.
- Articulates, communicates, and actualizes a vision of literacy as a priority.
- Utilizes best practices in the area of systemic educational reform.
- Is defined in a way that connects to the larger educational program.
- Involves ongoing support for teacher professional development.
[Top]
[Next]
|
