Walter Jackson Elementary selected as National Blue Ribbon School

Wes Tomlinson, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·3 min read

Sep. 22—Walter Jackson Elementary is one of five Alabama schools named as a 2022 National Blue Ribbon School, Decatur City Schools recently announced, and Principal Tamara Caudle attributes her school's success to a science-based approach to teaching reading.

Caudle said state-mandated phonics instruction has been crucial in helping students at her Southeast Decatur school close achievement gaps, helping it attain National Blue Ribbon status.

The state Legislature passed the Alabama Literacy Act in 2019. It required elementary teachers across the state to implement the science of reading in their curriculum, which is scientifically-based research that teaches language and word recognition by using awareness of the differences in syllable sounds.

"This will be year two of really following (the science of reading) to a T, between our data check-ins and progress monitoring...," Caudle said. "That's what the Literacy Act wants: to have a strong foundation so later they can be reading fluently."

Second grade teacher Alexis Sprung credits the districtwide reading program FluencyRev with improving her students' reading proficiency.

"(FluencyRev) has really helped boost our reading scores," Sprung said.

Students use FluencyRev on their electronic devices by reading books out loud while wearing a microphone and headset. The program listens to each word the student says and displays the words they struggle with so they know where to focus their attention.

Sprung said her students have learned to work harder after having to face challenging obstacles in virtual classrooms during the onset of the pandemic.

"I think kids have gained a lot more independence and responsibility when they do work at home now," Sprung said. "They're expected to know what to do because we've had so much practice."

Fourth grade teacher Megan Youngblood said she and other educators at Walter Jackson wanted to reach out to more students so they formed a "problem solving team" a few years ago to research and follow students' progress.

"We meet together and discuss students and their achievements and academics and how we can help close those achievement gaps," Youngblood said. "We're always looking at formative assessments and weekly tests and we can review what we've already taught and pre-teach what is coming up."

The school's scores on the English language arts portion of the Alabama Comprehensive Reading Assessment taken in the spring showed proficiency in second through fifth grades. The assessment is part of the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP), which is aligned with the Literacy Act. Students in grades 2-8 are required by the state to take the assessment, which covers math, English language arts and science.

In English language arts, the second grade tested 63% proficient, third grade tested 53% proficient, fourth grade tested 71% proficient, and fifth grade tested 59% proficient. In math, over half the students in second through fifth grades tested proficient except third grade, which tested 47% proficient.

Walter Jackson Elementary is the second school in the Decatur system to have National Blue Ribbon status. In 2017, Leon Sheffield Magnet School was one of five schools in the state selected to be a National Blue Ribbon School. Schools that earn National Blue Ribbon status retain that status for five years.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.