Quality tools help Junction Elementary improve learning

"The school and home will create a learning environment which promotes productivity, responsibility, and self-reliance in each child."

Description

Junction Elementary is an urban neighborhood school setting and one of five elementary schools in the Turner School District in Kansas City, KS. Through their involvement with Koalaty Kid, the staff has created an environment for continuous improvement, recognizing rising test scores and individual students’ grade improvement, and an ever-improving safe and orderly learning climate.

Demographics

• 50% eligible for free or reduced-price lunches
• 60% kindergarten students in the school are at-risk

Improvement (since ASQ Koalaty Kid training, 1996)

• A reduction from 13.9% to 4% of fourth grade students scoring unsatisfactory on the Kansas Math Assessment Test
• Students receiving basic or above score on the Kansas Reading Assessment Test increased from 71.2% to 91.0%
• Students receiving basic or above score on the Kansas Writing Assessment Test increased from 89.1% to 99.0%
• Twenty-percentile improvement in Iowa Test of Basic Skills scores over a five-year period in fifth grade reading and math

Achievement (since ASQ Koalaty Kid training, 1996)

• Received the 2000 Kansas Award for Excellence, Level II
• 90% of third graders score in the top three quartiles on the ITBS integrated writing
• 98% of third graders score in the top three quartiles on the ITBS total math
• 90% of third graders score in the top three quartiles on the ITBS total reading
• 86% of fifth graders score in the top three quartiles on the ITBS integrated writing
• 99% of fifth graders score in the top three quartiles on the ITBS total math
• 91% of fifth graders score in the top three quartiles on the ITBS total reading
• 96% of 4th grade students scoring above or at Basic Level on the Kansas Math Assessment Test
• 99% of fifth graders scoring above or at basic level on the Kansas Writing Assessment Test
• 91% of fifth graders above or at basic level on the Kansas Reading Assessment Test
• A 50% reduction in discipline office referrals over a three-year period
• All staff contributing to the school improvement process
• Self-directed staff improvement teams are leading the implementation of improvement plans
• Formative reading, math, and writing assessments in place at grades 1-5
• Instructional decisions are data driven
• Meet all Kansas and North Central Accreditation requirements
• Reading, writing, and math assessment scores exceed both the district and state averages

Trained by Cherry Woodburn, 1995-96

Koalaty Kid based on Process and Tools Training

Koalaty Kid is a customized systematic approach to continuous improvement based on Process and Tools Training. PQ Systems sponsors this national quality in education initiative in conjunction with the American Society for Quality. Process and Tools Training helps schools apply proven quality techniques to improve classroom learning and school operations. Using a combination of theory, process, and tools, it helps schools focus on improvement plan needs to meet Baldrige criteria or other standards for excellence.