Three Kansas schools recently received 2022 National Blue Ribbon Schools awards for having high scores on state and national tests. I sat down with leaders at the three schools to find out how they were getting those results and what are the biggest challenges they face.
Today, we look at R.L. Wright Elementary School, Sedgwick USD 439
Although just 25 miles north of Wichita, the town of Sedgwick and its 1,600 residents seems like a typical small town in rural Kansas. After a sandwich lunch at the downtown convenience store, I found the single elementary school, junior-senior high school and district office all next to each other and under renovation thanks to a recent bond issue.
After navigating a plywood construction tunnel and lunch time in the combined cafeteria/auditorium (with a real stage, not a cafetorium), I sat down with Principal Julie Scott, now in her fifth year at R.L Wright Elementary and asked why she believes her school was one of the three Blue Ribbon schools in Kansas this year.
“I think the biggest thing that we do -- and I know a lot of other schools do too, but it's kind of been a shift from the past -- is we have worked really hard and been very intentional about building relationships,” she said.
She noted that every student is greeted by staff when they walk into school; every adult in the building has a group of kids within what are called “Fab Families,” and high school students mentor younger students in a program called Champs that is modeled after Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
“I think all of our kids know that there are many, many staff members that really care about them” she continued. “Of course, having rigorous and intentional lessons following state standards, all of those things are really important, but I think I think it comes down to relationships to set the foundation.”
I expressed some surprise that Principal Scott would start with relationships. Having lived in larger communities all my life, I said the stereotypical reaction might be: well, you're a small town, a small community, don't you already have all these connections? Why did you find that was important?
She said, “Traditionally, that might be correct. However, more and more families may believe education is important but many are under stress, often financial, and are unable to emphasize education as much as they would like. I was in a meeting the other day with a parent who said, ‘You know, I haven't seen my child except for the 10 minutes before school starts every morning this week.’ I think the pandemic has certainly caused more people to be without jobs and having to work more than one job. We try to work with those parents to help meet their students’ needs.”
Scott continued, “I think our staff has bought into that message. We started professional learning communities the last few years so all of our staff meet together in in teams weekly, and while many of those discussions are about academic data, there's a lot of social emotional needs that we are able to talk about, and we can provide support.”
I asked about concerns over whether such a focus on relationships and social emotional learning was detracting from academic learning.
“There has to be a balance,” she said. “The relationship part of it, to me, must be the first piece and then the teacher professional development, collaboration. Data analysis is that second piece and I feel like we've got those two pieces in place pretty well.”
Like other Blue Ribbon schools, Principal Scott praised the state’s Multi-Tier System of Support and Alignment. “I just think that every kid can learn, and we may have to stand on our heads to get him there. But we're going to do whatever it takes and if this isn't working, then we're going to try something else. MTSS gives you a framework for that.” MTSS is a way for teachers to quickly address academic and behavioral needs of students.
Among the challenges to improving student results is the educator staff shortage – especially when providing additional help to students usually requires more people. “Our biggest challenge right now is finding subs,” said Scott. “I told my husband last night I feel like 50 percent of my job the last six months or so has been trying to find coverage for everybody.
“My kindergartens are combined today. I’ve got a teacher and two parents trying to teach 40 kindergarteners because we've got three open positions in the district today. I've had to put my intervention staff that usually work with my struggling students covering classes. In the last two years, everybody's burnout has been a battle. Yes, we've got extra money to do some after school programs and some cool stuff, but everybody is so exhausted; teachers have given so much in trying to teach online and together. I think we're starting to bounce back, but I don't think that's something you do overnight.”
Principal Scott says additional funding from state and federal aid under the Gannon school finance plan and COVID relief have made a difference. “One of the things that I'm trying to figure out is a way to keep going after COVID money (runs out), because our data didn't tank like a lot of districts did over the last two years. One of the things we put in place last year was an after-school program, we call it Boost. It has been tremendous for some of our at-risk kids.”
I asked about another frequent topic in evaluation Kansas education: have the challenges facing students grown more serious, and if so, why?
“Well, I would say, look at how our society has changed drastically in the last 10-15 years,” said Scott. “I don't think I realized it until probably about five years ago. Social media is a challenge: the hurtful things that kids are saying, and seeing are what parents used to be able to overhear when their kids were playing.”
“Honestly, I think the biggest bang for our buck, is the initiative we're doing for early childhood,” said Scott. “I think we've got to start getting these kids and these families when they have infants, like with Parents as Teachers. It’s an incredible program.”
I also talked with Mary Kaufman, a fourth-grade teacher who echoed those thoughts. “Also, I think the family unit isn't there, so a lot of these kids don't know how to process feelings. They're not secure anymore. They're not feeling safe. This (school) is their safe spot. So, then they let their feelings out here more than they would have. And honestly, the curriculum is a lot harder. What we're asking the kids to do; it's harder.”
I asked for examples. “A child gets hurt feelings because she thinks someone was rude to her. She’s crying. She can't do the work because she’s so upset someone was mean. Then someone else gets upset. it's not ‘he took a swing at me.’ No, no, it is ‘I can't concentrate.’ Because I'm upset because someone was mean to me.
“This group of kids is our COVID group; they spin and just struggle with how to handle those issues,” said Kaufman.
What Kaufman was explaining is the impact of non-classroom factors on classroom learning. These issues aren’t going to be addressed by a better science or reading program or supplemental math instruction, or even more small group learning or summer school. All such programs may help a child do better in mastering academic skills, but they won’t matter if a child can’t concentrate, or is distracted by behavior of others, or won’t come to school. Yet expectations for students, measured by test scores, career planning and other ways, have never been higher. “It's almost like we're trying to put more stress on kids who have less ability to handle stress,” she said.
As a Blue Ribbon school, R.L. Wright is getting better results even with these challenges. As a teacher, Kaufman stressed three things: listening to community and parents; teaching working together; and strong leadership for improvement. “I think you have to constantly look at your community and adapt to what your community needs.”
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