The 100 Club - No Child Left Behind - For Real

In the year 2014 (frighteningly close...) 100% of students in the United States will be proficient on their state standardized school achievement test. Skeptical? That's the goal of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. In fact, it's not just a goal, but an expectation that comes with negative consequences if not met. One would be hard-pressed to find an educator anywhere who thinks this goal is achievable, yet it's admirable. We can debate its realism, or decide to attack the problem in the spirit of really leaving no child behind - we've decided to attack the problem.

Over the summer, while reviewing our state test scores, I started seriously thinking about the possibility of 100% of our students achieving mastery of our state standards. As a teacher, I taught for ten years in a school of fewer than 400 students. Because we knew all of our students well, and had the opportunity to spend a lot off individual time with them in relatively small classes, it was significantly easier to see major improvements in achievement. It occurred to me that making our school "smaller" might be an answer.

Research and experience show that making real connections between student and teacher is one of the critical pieces in achievement. In small schools this is a much simpler proposition. With more than 1400 students in our building, and 350 plus juniors who will take the MME, we have to take active measures to make our school seem smaller. We want to include every educator in the building in school improvement, and reach every student. From this concept the idea of the 100 Club was born.

On a very small scale, working with students one on one, achievement gains happen more rapidly. I thought that if we could figure out a way to have teachers responsible for a small group - say five or six students, we could cultivate such a one on one type atmosphere. Working with our administrative team, and our building leadership team, we came up with a plan. We have approximately eighty professional staff in our building, and 360 juniors. If every educator is responsible for five students, that is a plan that will include every student in the junior class.

On the first day for staff, we discussed our ideas, and laid out a plan. We posted lists of all the juniors in the building, and asked our teachers to volunteer to work with five students by putting their own name next to the students' names on the list. On the lists we indicated whether students had passed their 8th grade MEAP, and whether they were in support classes. We also included the students' lunch hours. We wanted staff people to choose students they knew, who have the same lunch hour as they do to find additional meeting time, and to pick students with whom they thought they could have success. We're looking to establish personal connections.

The role of the mentor teacher or coach in the 100 Club is to meet regularly with his/her five students and monitor their progress. The coach will act as a liaison with other teachers, help find additional help in areas where the student struggles, provide MME and ACT resources and practice tests, provide encouragement and keep contact with parents. The teacher is taking some of the responsibility for the MME success of his or her "team" of students.

Some teachers will set aside time during late start Mondays, some during lunches, before or after school, during tutorials, or at other agreed upon times. We will ask every student and parent to sign a letter of commitment to mastering the state standards. Every student who attends all meetings with his/her mentor will receive rewards, and have their name entered in drawings for prizes. In March, they will all take the MME, and we will see if it's possible to have 100% of our students meet the standards the MME tests.

We've provided all of our teachers resource materials, and will be updating a "manual" for them throughout the year. We have established a social network group online for our teachers to use to exchange ideas for working with their students. We will meet with all of our juniors during their class meeting this week and roll out the plan for them. We will establish incentives and short term goals for juniors throughout the year. Our teachers and administrators are teaming with our students to work together towards a goal of 100% of our students achieving mastery on the MME.

As the old adage goes, "Shoot for the moon, and if you miss you still end up among the stars...". We're shooting for the moon with the 100 Club - a partnership of students, parents and staff. Watch for more updates, and contact us with questions or comments about this program.