2013 Pathways to the Prize - School Winners | Page 30

Pathways to the Prize
Lessons from the 2011 SCORE Prize School Winners

Pathways to the Prize
Lessons from the 2011 SCORE Prize School Winners

rectly in that area or not. For example, when writing emerged as an area in need of improvement, all teachers—not
just English teachers—were asked by the leadership to require students to write at least once a week. This strategy
engendered staff ownership and responsibility for student success. The school leaders reformulated professional
development activities and priorities to link more closely to improvement goals.
The balance between caring and professionalism. While Mt. Juliet features a lot of personal attention, the

school atmosphere also feels business-like and professional. Conversations in the hall and faculty work rooms focus
on education—how to help specific students, how to teach a concept better, or how to devise an engaging lesson.
“Our principal sets the tone, and we all have come on board,” Ms. Angle said.
Leadership is encouraged at many levels. Assistant principals take on responsibility for a huge spectrum of
tasks—beyond the stereotypical disciplinary roles—to prepare them for becoming a principal. The school
invests department heads with the power to make decisions for
Video:
improving academic performance. Teachers have the autonomy
“Using Data to
to teach as they wish, as long as there is clear evidence that their
Drive Instruction”
strategies help students perform at high levels.
youtu.be/t3gweY6nNfw

Ensuring excellent teaching
The Mt. Juliet faculty believes that the foundation for good teaching had been in place for many
years. The teachers have a long, deep base of experience and content expertise and work collaboratively to share knowledge. Additionally, they use formative instructional practices, such as re-teaching
areas, that were identified as challenges for students by benchmark tests.
However, an analysis of instructional practices during the past few years found that some teachers
were not sufficiently effective at classroom management, and some did not differentiate their instruction. Some had expectations for student performance that were too low, and some offered instruction
that did not engage all students. To address these concerns, leadership placed a strong emphasis on
excellent teaching.
As mentioned earlier, the leadership asks teachers to discuss state performance indicators (SPIs) as part
of each lesson. Leaders also expect ongoing use of assessment results to improve instruction and guide
any re-teaching that has to take place. To that end, teachers now administer weekly tests and quizzes
aligned with the SPIs, and they conduct both pre-assessment and diagnostic testing.
Differentiated instruction—with writing for all. To differentiate instruction, teachers effectively
group students so that all students’ strengths are recognized and used. Additionally, Advanced Placement and Honors classes are offered, and teachers conduct departmental analyses of test scores to identify
student needs. Teachers use pacing guides to confirm and meet rigor and sequencing expectations. An
academic decathlon, portfolios, hands-on projects, field experiences, and work-based learning enrich and
differentiate instruction. Teachers use visuals, movement, reciprocal teaching, music, drawing, discussion, and
project-based instruction. Mt. Juliet’s extracurricular program includes more than 80 clubs and organizations
that are supported by the board of education and booster groups, tutoring, intersession, mentoring, and graduation programs.
Prepared for the test. Mt. Juliet has taken the concept of differentiation

beyond instruction to exam preparation. Students take a practice EOC test
and each student’s non-mastered standards are reported to the student in
an individual document. Teachers prepare a customized packet of review
materials that explicitly address the list of non-mastered standards. Every

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2011 SCORE Prize High School Winner: Mt. Juliet High School

“Mt. Juliet
Promising Practice”

day, after regular classroom hours, students work on their customize \