“Five Strategies to Ensure Student Learning”

Here is an interesting piece on an elementary school in Arizona, Mesquite Elementary School.  It went from an average school to an excelling school after adopting a program called, Reteach and Enrich.  Below is a video describing the school and what it did to generate high levels of success.

Here is a summary of their Reteach and Enrich program.  There is an element of simplicity in what they are implementing for their students.

1. Each week has defined curricular objectives.
2. Teachers assess students on objectives at the end of the week.
3. Based on assessment results, teachers assign students to either reteach or enrich sessions for the following week.
4. Beginning the following Monday, students attend either a 30-minute reteach or enrich session every day.
   • Reteach: Teachers reteach objectives using different lessons for students who need additional time for mastery.
   • Enrich: Teachers expand on objectives for students who have mastered the basics. Students in the enrich class rotate to a different teacher each day so they can experience varying teaching styles as well as learn with different peers.

The authors define a set of variables that must be in place within a school to allow for the successful implementation of Reteach and Enrich.  These are their five essential variables:

1. A curriculum calendar
2. dedicated time
3. collaboration
4. formative assessment and data analysis
5. involved, informed, and supportive leadership

Are you surprised by any of these variables?  I’m not.  They come up over and over again when we learn about what good schools do to help students achievement at the highest level.

Take a look at the video and read the short article that appears on Edutopia’s website.