Grant School District substitute teacher Kathryn Manitsas attends seventh grade classes daily so she knows exactly what students are learning. She is also available to help the teachers with small-group lessons and class management. (Photo by Jake Arnold, OSBA)
This school year started out rough for seventh grader Danner Franklin. He was getting bad grades, and the more he tried to catch up and failed, the more stressed he became. His mom, Amy, was having a hard time, too.
“We had a lot of frustration between the two of us trying to do math homework,” she said. Amy said her anxiety would “go through the roof” every time the school called.
In December, she received a different kind of message from the Grant Union Jr/Sr High School in John Day. The school would be adding resources to institute intensive and immediate support for its seventh graders. Franklin was initially wary of negative consequences for Danner if the school paid closer attention to him. But watching her son blossom this year has her fully on board, and Danner says he is liking school now.
Seventh grade is the pivotal transition year for the Grant School District in the John Day area. Students go from a more structured elementary setting with a single classroom to the high school style of multiple teachers and classrooms daily.
Students often struggle initially but figure it out before the second quarter. This school year, that didn’t happen. At the end of the first quarter, half of the students’ grades in math, science, language arts and history were a D or F. By December, the class of about 40 was missing hundreds of assignments.
“They dug a hole so deep they stopped caring,” said teacher Kathryn Manitsas, who has been instrumental in Grant’s new approach.
Principal Jay Hummel consulted teachers to design a collaborative program of immediate and intensive student feedback and support.
“Before we ever started, we called every parent and told them what we planned to do and asked for their ongoing input,” said Hummel. “We met with all the students and told them why we were about to surround them with support.”
The school started issuing every seventh grader a daily tracking form to carry from class to class. Teachers see a real-time heads up about how their students are present that day, and students have feedback about how they are performing.
Teachers meet twice a week to discuss students’ needs and share approaches. School staff also call parents to let them know how things are going and to praise students’ successes.
The forms note any missing assignments. Students who are behind flex out of a fourth period elective class on either health or computers so a teacher can help them catch up.
“Immediacy is key,” Hummel said. “You can’t wait until Friday to catch up. Those gaps keep building up, and kids start feeling bad about themselves.”
At the end of the third quarter, 80% of students’ grades in the core classes were A’s or B’s. The class went from 40 failing grades to five. Fourth quarter grades aren’t final, but Hummel said they expect the good results to hold.
Fourth-period teachers were initially hesitant to see their class time sacrificed, but they say the overall improvement in student attitudes has made their classes more productive.
According to student surveys, students said they felt significantly more supported, successful and engaged and better situated to succeed in April than they did in January.
“The students know we see them,” Manitsas said.
Manitsas, hired in January as a long-term substitute teacher, took on managing the project. Every morning, she enters data from the sheets into spreadsheets that are available to students and parents. She said students are expected to act like kids from time to time and what teachers and administrators are really looking for are long-term patterns.
Manitsas does much of the tutoring during fourth period. She attends classes throughout the day so her help matches the lessons the students are receiving.
Hummel said that connection to daily work was key.
“When they realized we would immediately intervene and help them with assignments, the whole thing fell into place,” Hummel said. “All of the sudden they quit fighting and they got to work.”
Hummel credits the school board with providing the leadership and the resources to tackle their seventh graders’ struggles mid-year.
Board Chair Will Blood said that when the school board members saw the low grade reports, they started asking questions and urging action.
“It’s one of the wisest uses of money there can be,” Blood said. “We can’t leave these kids to fail. We have to help them.”
Blood praised the staff’s quick and thorough response.
Initially, all the seventh graders received a tracking paper, but most didn’t need them after getting caught up. About a dozen were still carrying papers by the end of the third quarter, mostly to help with ongoing education support plans.
Teachers, parents and school leaders worry about stigma being attached to the papers, but so far that doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Seventh grader Elizabeth Hall likes the immediate feedback.
“It lets me know how the teacher feels, and maybe I can do better next time,” she said.
Parent Maitland Ridenour was initially resistant to the system, but she is a fan now.
“It’s a night and day difference for my kids’ grades and their attitude about school,” she said.
The tracking system showed so much success, the school instituted it with selected eighth graders in April and ninth graders in May. The older grades use an electronic form that teachers fill out after every period. The electronic system has the advantage of being more discreet, but students lose the immediacy.
Justin Lieuallen will become the new Grant principal July 1. He said the program would continue in some form next year, although they are still working out the form and how it will apply in different grades. The district also may rework schedules so there is time to do catch-up work without missing another class, he said.
Amy Franklin said the extra attention has been transformative for Danner. He advocates for himself now, letting teachers know what he needs to complete assignments. He comes home from school in a better mood and without homework that frustrates Amy as much as Danner. Their household is a happier place. When the phone rings, it’s often good news.
“It’s been a long road, but it’s definitely a success,” Amy Franklin said.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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