State of Education in Tennessee Executive Summary – 2011-12 | Page 9

PROMISING PRACTICES
SECTION 1: Year-in-Revi ew

Fairview Elementary / More than a wall

SECTION 1: Ye a r- i n - R e v i e w

Two years ago, it was a wall. Now it’s a student progress monitoring center, showing
teachers and staff the proficiency levels of every student in the building at a glance.
The “assessment wall” at Fairview Elementary in Heiskell, TN is a large, visually impressive
display of a teaching culture driven by data and innovation. It includes moveable, brightly
colored cards for every child, providing a real-time proficiency snapshot in reading,
math, and writing. The assessment wall is updated at least every few days by all staff
members, not just teachers, using data from classroom observations, anecdotal records,
and benchmark tests. The wall also includes feedback from all staff members outside
of the classroom. School staff says the constant access to proficiency data has had a
transformative effect on the way they work with students.

“If you’re not looking at what children have done — what they’ve done
today and what your expectations are for tomorrow — these children
have no chance,” said Fairview teacher Theresa Barrington.
In addition to helping teachers make changes in their classrooms, the wall also fuels a
comprehensive early intervention program referring students to the school’s Response
to Intervention (RTI) team of teachers, specialists, and administrators who work together
to determine appropriate responses to student needs. And every day, a school-wide
30-minute intervention period provides all students an opportunity for one-on-one
enrichment from faculty and staff throughout the building. The school librarian, for
example, leads two 30-minute daily intervention groups focused on reading, with
no more than four students in each group. A music teacher with free time during her
planning period provides a 30-minute reading and writing intervention period for a
handful of fifth-graders. When students no longer require interventions for particular
skills, group members and subject focuses are changed.
This involvement of related arts instructors with core subject instruction is part of
Fairview’s culture of staff collaboration. Al