Implementation
in Newburgh, NY,
serving a multi-ethnic population, New
York’s tenth largest school district, took place from
1999 to 2002. During that time
curriculum was written for English Language Arts (Summer of 1999), Math,
Science (During the school year 1999-2000) and Social Studies (Summer of
2001). After designing the
English/Language Arts curriculum in the summer of 1999, implementation began in
the fall. Implementation was monitored
by one Program
Specialist in each school working with the principal. Principals incorporated curriculum
implementation into their yearly improvement plans. Program specialists indicated implementation
across schools, with Elementary Schools implementing at a higher level than the
Middle Schools. The district
administered the Terra Nova standardized test in the fall and again in the
spring. Normal growth is .6 of one grade
equivalent, as there was 6 months between the fall and spring testing
dates.
Figure 9:
|
Newburgh Enlarged School District
1999-2000 Results of Fall to Spring Testing on the Terra
Nova
|
Reading Growth in Grade Equivalents (Expected growth = .6)
|
Language Arts Growth in Grade Equivalents (Expected growth
= .6)
|
|
Grade 3
|
1.7
|
1.3
|
|
Grade 4
|
1.8
|
1.6
|
|
Grade 5
|
1.5
|
1.4
|
|
Grade 6
|
1.5
|
1.4
|
|
Grade 7
|
.8
|
.8
|
|
Grade 8
|
.9
|
.9
|
For grades 3 through 6 across the district, grade
equivalent improvement ranged from a low of 1.3 (7 months more growth than
expected) to 1.8 (one year and two months more growth than expected). Grades 7 and 8 had growth above expectations
also, scoring as a district, a grade equivalent improvement of .8 to .9.
