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Book says Children's Academy shows way |
New Albany school changed its focus |
| The Courier-Journal 2006-10-05 |
| By: Dick Kaukas |
| A new book on early-childhood education prominently mentions the Children's Academy of New Albany as an example of how to change a failing school and help students learn to read well.
Gene Maeroff, a senior fellow at the Hechinger Institute at the Teachers College of Columbia University in New York, writes approvingly of the academy's focus on students in pre-kindergarten through third grade. That, Maeroff said, has allowed the academy to "tighten its focus" on the lower grades with the goal of helping all students read at grade level before they leave the school and start fourth grade. "Students who come out of third grade as fluent readers," Maeroff said, "can approach much of the curriculum with confidence" and "shift from learning to read to reading to learn." His book is entitled "Building Blocks: Making Children Successful in the Early Years of School," and it begins with the story of the Children's Academy. As Maeroff notes, the school opened two years ago after its name was changed from Lillian Emery Elementary and its structure altered from kindergarten through fifth grade to pre-kindergarten through third. Fourth- and fifth-graders who would have attended Lillian Emery were sent to nearby schools instead. The changes were designed to address continuing problems at the school, which had large numbers of students from low-income families and few who passed annual achievement tests. The new grade structure, Maeroff said, changed the atmosphere in the school and allowed staff to "concentrate exclusively" on the needs of younger students. Teachers were able to seek training in early literacy. Full-time art, music and physical education teachers were added, and students put on regular performances for the school, with the goal of building confidence, Maeroff writes. He concludes that "the best way" to give students "the best possible start" is by focusing on pre-kindergarten through third grade, just as the academy does. Teresa Perkins, New Albany-Floyd County's assistant to the superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said yesterday that she is reading the book and has been "very pleased" with its conclusions. "He's using us as an example of one way" to try to fix a failing school, Perkins said. "It's one way. There are other ways to get it done." Sheila Rohr, the Children's Academy principal, said it will take several years before it's clear whether the new school is reaching its goals. Statewide test results from exams given in September are expected in the next few months. The book also refers to Kentucky, praising the Kentucky Education Reform Act for authorizing "ungraded primary programs" in which young students could be mixed together in classes instead of separated by grades. Maeroff writes that the Kennedy Montessori School in Louisville has used "multi-age" classes, enabling teachers to stay with the same students for several years. He singles out Blue Lick Elementary, also part the Jefferson County system, for organizing "vertical teams" of teachers who could follow the same students through the primary grades. The 256-page hardcover book, published by Palgrave Macmillan, costs $24.95. Reporter Dick Kaukas can be reached at (812) 949-4033. |
| Article retrieved from: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610050406 |