Student success starts with a school-wide approach

Educator. It is a straightforward title, but the role and responsibilities accompanying it encompass much more. Teachers are instructors and mentors. For many children, they also serve as safe spaces for freely sharing hopes and concerns. Equally important, effective educators are adept problem solvers willing to think outside the box to support the shared goal of advancing student learning.

As we have witnessed firsthand at Lowell Elementary, supporting our students takes more than a single staffer, classroom or instructional approach. Setting a foundation for their learning success requires collective buy-in and action. Through our experience, we have found that the first—and perhaps the most crucial — step to ensuring whole-school alignment is a clear roadmap that outlines building-wide expectations, practices, and policies.

Since January, Lowell Elementary has participated in Forward Arkansas’s LeARner Collective, working alongside fellow educators in the region to tackle our common challenges. We have gathered for in-person convenings, received technical support and benefited from regular expert coaching from 2Revolutions, all to answer the question, “How might we create sustainable conditions to improve learning for all students?”

We have gleaned countless lessons from our involvement in Phase I of Forward’s LeARner Collective. Most illuminatingly, we have uncovered an opportunity for continuous improvement within our school’s walls—the chance to develop a cohesive standard and system, including our response to intervention (RTI) process that helps students experiencing learning or behavioral issues.

Under the leadership of our teacher team, now proudly called the “Tribe Guide,” Lowell Elementary is hard at work. We have formed in-school committees and are consistently soliciting input from all staffers to ensure everyone within our building has a hand in our LeARner Collective-fueled improvement efforts. And just four months in, we are seeing tangible progress.

Already, we are working to develop a streamlined RTI process, complete with an identification flowchart, proven intervention strategies and a school-wide tracking system, which will be maintained year-to-year. We have also identified and brought additional priority areas into one silo, so teachers and staff can access the needed standards and remain aligned around academic and behavioral expectations. Soon, we plan to assemble these materials into a digital resource for teachers and, ultimately, students and their families.

We understand that the mechanics or implementation of these new practices and procedures may seem complex to those outside our school walls. However, everyone can recognize the importance of promoting educator efficiency and efficacy.

Like other schools across Northwest Arkansas, Lowell Elementary is fortunate to have teachers and staff with a wealth of expertise and a steadfast commitment to supporting students. By helping these school teams institute universal systems with clearly defined standards and processes, we can enable them to focus on what they do best — educating our region’s future generations so they are prepared for success in college, workplace and life.

Stephen Bowman is the principal of Lowell Elementary School, which is part of Rogers Public Schools (RPS). For more information about RPS and its mission to provide an environment of educational excellence, visit rogersschools.net. The opinions expressed are those of the author.