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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Teamwork Among Eldorado Teachers Is Showing Results

By Hailey Heinz
Journal Staff Writer
       Eldorado High principal Martin Sandoval decided he'd had it with lousy math scores.
    So Sandoval stepped into the day-to-day workings of the math department and, with the help of his teachers, found a way to make a dramatic change — without spending a lot of money.
    Although Eldorado generally scores well on standardized tests, Sandoval saw in 2008 that Hispanic and low-income children were lagging in math. His method, which involves encouraging a culture of teamwork and using common standards, is now paying off.
    In fact, some of the students are now finding math fun.
    "Math is really my new favorite subject," said freshman Taylor Weldon.
    In 2008, 43.8 percent of Hispanic students at Eldorado were proficient in math, according to state tests. Of the students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, only 22.2 percent were proficient.
    A year later, those numbers jumped dramatically to 62.9 percent for Hispanic students and 41.7 percent for poorer students.
    Sandoval's methods have become a model for other local high schools, particularly Highland, Manzano and Albuquerque High. The district says what he has accomplished at Eldorado may help close the achievement gap at less affluent schools.
    "A big part of this was the principal-leadership piece," said Eddie Soto, an Albuquerque Public Schools associate superintendent. "Now we've got three other high schools looking at this model, looking to see what strategies they put into place and how they were able to accomplish this."
    Sandoval set up his math teachers in teams according to subject. All the geometry teachers, for example, formed a group that worked together and coordinated their curriculum more closely than they had before.
    The teachers created and used the same tests and compared how their students scored. If one class mastered simple equations more quickly than the rest, that teacher would share teaching strategies with the others.
    "The dialogue between teachers was just incredible," Sandoval said. "They started sharing ideas and getting on the same page."
    Mark Piccioni, who teaches and co-chairs the math department, also used the "same page" metaphor but emphasized that teachers still have autonomy.
    "I don't mean literally on the same page in the book," he said. "But we're starting and ending at the same places, agreeing on what's important to teach, what we're going to emphasize, what the major standards should be, cooperating on writing the assessments, agreeing that we'll all give the same tests so we can look at how the students are doing."
    Teachers used that data to get individual help for students, sometimes giving them different work based on ability or offering tutoring services and one-on-one help. Sandoval said the school also tightened its policies on placing students in the right math level, which helps ensure that students don't get lost or bored.
    Quint Seckler teaches a class at Eldorado that exemplifies careful student placement. The freshmen in his class all struggled with math in middle school and spent the fall semester learning math techniques and reviewing basic concepts. The second semester, they moved on to standard Algebra I curriculum.
    For Weldon, that first semester built her confidence and changed her view of math.
    "I used to need to have every single step explained to me," she said. "But I don't need a lot of help anymore."
    Seckler's class is double-length, which means he sees his students every day despite the alternating block schedule. But Weldon said the time flies by because the class is so interactive.
    On Friday, the students were working in pairs, solving single-variable algebra problems and helping check each other's work.
    "I'm not doing this right, I can already tell," Weldon laughed as she started a problem. But within minutes she was on track and had correctly solved for "x."
    Seckler is somewhat dismissive of Eldorado's leap in test scores, saying he is more focused on what happens with each student.
    "What happens in here on a day-to-day basis is really the most important thing," he said.
    Sandoval initially used grant money to pay for substitute teachers so the math faculty could meet during the day. After a while, he said they started meeting on their own at lunchtime and after school.
    "The teachers should get the credit," he said. "I just provided the direction and support."
    Starting this school year, APS adopted a common schedule for high schools, with collaboration time built in so teachers no longer have to meet on their own. Soto said that may make it easier for other schools to follow Eldorado's example, including those with more poor and minority students.
    "Having a lower student-teacher ratio for struggling students, bringing them in for tutoring, working during lunch, you hear that across our schools," he said. "So even though they may have more struggling students, say at Highland, they're directing the resources to meet the students with the greatest need."

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