Transformational success: Kokomo School Corporation's TZ schools exceeding expectations

May 27—The Indiana Department of Education would like a word with Kokomo schools.

And for good reason.

Kokomo School Corporation's transformation zone schools — Bon Air Elementary and Middle schools and Pettit Park Elementary School — are exceeding expectations.

Student proficiency on the English portion of ILEARN is up 8% at Pettit Park since 2019. At Bon Air Middle School, it's 6% over the same time frame.

Perhaps more striking is the middle school only saw a 0.6% decrease in ILEARN math proficiency between 2019 and 2021. Given that schools experienced significant declines in ILEARN passing rates due to the pandemic, a less than 1% decrease at a school once flagged for repeatedly low accountability grades is certainly an outlier.

Kokomo school officials credit the turnaround of the three north-side schools to an intensive and deliberate planning process, teacher buy-in and a willingness to fine-tune teaching methods.

An intentional plan

The state identified Bon Air and Pettit schools as needing improvement due to low accountability grades and test scores in 2017.

A school improvement plan was approved in 2018 and turned the three schools into a transformation zone (TZ), also called a turnaround zone. The restructure gave the three schools flexibility with state rules.

Whereas other transformation zones have seen school corporations turn over control to outside entities, Kokomo went a different route.

A partnership was struck with Equitable Education Solutions, a school consulting firm, which helped add math and reading specialists at TZ schools. Kokomo schools also partnered with Indiana State University's education department. Evaluators from the department provided feedback and reviewed data.

"What stood ours apart was it was more comprehensive," said Kokomo Superintendent Mike Sargent.

A grant worth more than $6 million covered the five-year plan, plus one planning year.

The planning year involved an intensive review of curriculum to make sure it all tied back to state standards. Professional development was also a focus.

The preparatory year identified a key need: more time. This school year started on July 28, 2021. School days are also up to 40 minutes longer.

"The biggest comment was, 'we need more time,'" Sargent said.

The additional time is used to help students who need more practice on certain concepts and help other students build on the skills they've mastered.

Instruction with a purpose

There was much anticipation as the first year of the transformation zone unfolded.

Student assessment scores rose. Kokomo schools utilize i-Ready, a national assessment that measures student proficiency. It is not a state standardized test, but it is used to gauge how students will fare on those required assessments.

"We were a little surprised," Sargent said.

There are a lot of state standards. To tackle each one, one at a time, isn't feasible. Instead of bogging kids down with too much, teachers look at what standards are most important.

The philosophy is to teach standards that are going to make the most impact.

"If they can do this one, they'll get the others," as Lyndsi Smith, Pettit Park principal, explained it.

Examples include understanding how a non-fiction book is set up compared to a fiction one and the ability to pick out key details in a story.

In math, it's understanding concepts such as multiplication and what it actually means to multiply a number.

Sargent said it's one thing to know 2x2=4. Most students look at the equation and know it equals four. However, understanding that "2x2" means two groups of two is knowing the concept.

These can be considered building blocks. A strong foundation of building blocks gives students the ability to take their learning even further.

"When you understand the concept ... you can use those to solve higher-level problems," Amanda Landrum, Bon Air Middle School principal, said.

Data tracks student progression. A teacher has data on each of their students, and the kids know their data, too. Smith said students have taken ownership of their learning and will come to her excited when they see their own progress.

Teacher-student relationships are a vital part of the process. Both principals said teachers know what issues, academic or not, their students are dealing with and how those might impact learning. If a student misses time, they know exactly what they missed.

With the longer school day, time is built in to help a student catch up quickly.

"They've really done a fantastic job focusing on what kids need," Sargent said.

At the halfway point of the school year, Bon Air Elementary had 24% of its students at or above grade level proficiency in reading, according to i-Ready. The growth rate has staff hopeful they'll hit the 50% proficient mark when end-of-the-year results are in. A similar trend has been observed in math proficiency scores.

Landrum said they've seen the most growth in students who are two or more grade levels behind.

"We're making headway, especially with that group of students," she said.

Bon Air Middle School is also on track to meet its ILEARN benchmarks, based on i-Ready assessments.

ILEARN results for the current school year will be released later this summer.

Teacher buy-in

Teachers were looking forward to ILEARN in the spring of the first TZ year, but the coronavirus got in the way.

"They were excited to see the growth the kids were making," Smith said.

That excitement speaks to the buy-in administrators have received from teachers at TZ schools.

Plenty of Saturdays were spent preparing for the transformation zone roll out, but teachers weren't just asked to do more. They were given the resources they needed, such as professional development.

Collaboration is an important piece. Teachers are constantly talking with one another about what they are seeing, what is working and what isn't. Teaching methods are constantly refined.

Twice a year at Bon Air and Pettit Park schools, teacher groups peer-review classrooms, noting student engagement. Teachers are also permitted to observe other classrooms if they want to see something in action. Someone will cover their class to make it possible.

"I've never seen teachers have so many conversations ... about what's going on in our classrooms," Landrum said.

To enhance collaboration, the three schools were reconfigured for the 2021-22 school year.

Previously, both Pettit Park and Bon Air elementary schools had students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Now, students in pre-k through second grade go to Bon Air Elementary. Pettit Park serves third- through fifth-grade students.

The reconfiguration means all first-grade teachers are in one building, for example, instead of spread across two. The new setup also limits how often a child has to move schools. Those moves can be detrimental to academic progress.

Employability skills, sustainability

Employability skills is the next wrinkle in TZ school curriculum and will start next school year.

It's a recent addition to state standards, as well.

Standards are based on the National Employability Skill Standards from the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development's Employability Skills Benchmarks, the Governor's Work Ethic Certificate, and the IDOE's Social Emotional Learning Competencies, according to department of ed's website.

But what do employability skills look like at a third-grade level?

Essentially, students will learn the soft skills needed in any job: how to communicate, solve problems, work as a team.

School officials are still working on what the rollout of these lessons will look like, but they will have input from local businesses.

Kokomo schools met with local employers at Inventrek recently where employers discussed what skills they're looking for in employees. Kokomo Area Career Center students also attended and were able to tell employers what they would like in a job and work environment.

There are two years left for the transformation zone.

Grant funding will eventually run out. The goal is to ensure the practices and methods established in the five years of the transformation zone don't go away with it.

Professional development will continue to be emphasized, especially for new teachers.

Best practices, which will have been reviewed and refined for five years, will stick around, too.

"Everything we're doing is backed by research," Landrum said.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.