Kim Kilbride and Amanda Gray, South Bend Tribune
John Young Middle School Principal Mike Fisher credits the turnaround the school is achieving to an increase in student-teacher face time and better use of achievement data.
For four school years, Young was deemed a “D” school by the state. Now, it’s earned a “B.”
After tabling the issue at its meeting last month, the Indiana State Board of Education approved A-F grades for schools this afternoon.
At Young, Fisher said, a switch last school year to a seven-period day from block scheduling means students see their core-subject teachers daily. “It’s easier for students to remember what took place yesterday and build upon those concepts,” he said.
And now, teachers are digging into data, he said, studying the results of ISTEP-predictor tests to see precisely what areas students are having difficulty with. Then, instruction is focused on those concepts.
All that work, he said, paid off.