Joseph Block Middle School’s rating might still be low when ISTEP scores are released, but teachers and parents want the East Chicago school to continue on its current trajectory.
Block Middle School Principal Dee-Etta Wright presented the school’s case as to why it should remain under local control at a hearing Thursday night to Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz and State Board of Education member Eddie Melton, of Merrillville. Wright said that while her administration is responsible for the low grades it’s been given the past five years, changes during the 2015-16 school year have improved the school’s culture, which in turn is slowly but surely raising the grades.
Ritz attended a similar hearing Wednesday night in Gary for Beveridge School.
Using the Indiana Department of Education’s recommendations – one of the seven options for which schools that become turnaround academies are eligible – Wright said she and her team spent last year observing academic and behavioral situations in the classrooms so often that the students didn’t look up at them when they visited classrooms after a while. From there, they implemented such suggestions as introducing one or two critical standards per week and bringing in a math coach two or three days a week.
Teachers were also required to use a lesson plan template and turn in their plans to the administration for review and critique each Monday, Wright said. Small-group instruction was instituted as well, as were 90-minute block classes for English/Language Arts and math classes and paraprofessionals for core classes.
To improve discipline, Wright used a combination of attendance officers, a counselor and a social worker to combat truancy and classroom attendance. For mischief, Wright implemented “restorative justice,” where students would spend time with a special instructor talking through what they did and why; for more serious infractions, progressive discipline was used, she said.
As a result, incidents of fighting dropped dramatically to 65 in 2015, down from 260 in 2014; while incidents of abusive language dropped to 125 in 2015 from 300 the previous year, Wright said. Referrals to the office, meanwhile, decreased to 986 from 2,092 in 2014.
“Learning doesn’t happen in chaos,” Wright said.
Wright said she’s seen the preliminary data for this past year’s test scores, and they’re still lower than she and her team would like. The improvements they’ve made, however, show that of 54 students scoring in the bottom 25 percent, between 20 and 25 of them improved their scores between 20 and 30 points, and 11 improved between 35 and 59 points.
School City of East Chicago Superintendent Paige McNulty said improving a school riddled with issues like Block’s takes several years to rectify, but that Wright and her team have “done a yeoman’s job of moving it in the right direction.”
“We knocked on 3,500 doors asking parents to volunteer and get involved with the school and asking to allow us to continue what we’re doing,” McNulty said.
Community members overwhelmingly supported Wright and her changes during the public comment period. The Rev. Cheryl Rivera, executive director for the Northwest Indiana Federation of Interfaith Organizations, said she has seen “tremendous changes” in both the staff and students.
Kristin Todd Frank, a lifelong resident of East Chicago and former teacher in the School City, said she feels a “whole child approach” is crucial to success and teachers need to be honored more than they need to be data number crunchers. School Board of Trustee Vice President Stephanie Ramos, meanwhile, said the testimony from everyone solidified her support of continuing with what Block’s doing.
“I can’t speak to the administration three years ago, but we’re on the right path,” added Block teacher Judith Florczak. “You can see the difference in the students, the positive attitudes. Let’s keep up the momentum.”
No decisions with regard to Block’s status were made at Thursday night’s meeting, and parents are encouraged to offer suggestions for Block at [email protected].
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.