Closing the Gap, Child by Child

In 2004, Gates, the principal, was stunned by scores showing that just two-fifths of his black students had passed the state reading test, compared with three-fourths of his white students.

Even before that year, the school had sought to raise minority student performance. (Scores among Hispanics at the school and others in the county were also a problem.) Hollin Meadows offered after-school tutoring and recruited volunteers to mentor selected students. Gates said the school had energetic teachers. But it wasn't enough.

In retrospect, Gates blamed a tendency to "teach to the middle." He said lessons too often were aimed toward the majority and were not tailored enough to individual students. So teachers generally would march through the curriculum on the assumption that students would either learn the material or eventually catch up.

For most children, that approach worked. But in an increasingly diverse school, some fell through the cracks. "We had kids coming in with different needs, and we didn't say, 'We have to meet you where you are at,' " Gates said.

Gloria Ladson-Billings, a University of Wisconsin-Madison education professor who works with a group called the Minority Student Achievement Network, said that many schools in high-performing districts have had similar experiences. Experts say that family income, parental education levels and other variables outside school contribute to the achievement gap. But Ladson-Billings said classroom lessons are also a factor.

Ladson-Billings cited an elementary school in Madison where black students trailed white students. She found that some basic lessons -- such as learning sounds that correspond with letters -- went untaught.

"What teachers said to us is, 'We don't actually teach that,' " Ladson-Billings said. "Most middle-class kids were learning that at home."

As Hollin Meadows tackled the problem anew in fall 2004, teachers in each grade began weekly 80-minute meetings to plan lessons, discuss techniques and review results from periodic mini-tests of students.

On one of those tests, third-graders struggled to answer questions on a short passage about a "plant" where crayons are made. They didn't think of a factory. Instead, teacher Yvonne Brandon said, "all the kids were picturing this big green plant."

When teachers found that certain students had stumbled, they reworked their lessons. They gathered materials to help children learn unfamiliar words. Then they started over in the classroom.

School officials said the mini-tests have sparked similar changes across the county. Patrick Murphy, Fairfax's assistant superintendent for accountability, said that the feedback is invaluable. Teachers can be sure children "get" each lesson, he said. When students falter, teachers can step in rapidly.

This spring, 74 percent of the black students at Hollin Meadows passed the state reading test. That was up sharply from 2004. And it just edged the statewide passing rate for black students, 73 percent. Hispanic and white students also did better.

The giant "curriculum maps" that Hollin Meadows teachers created with tape and scissors two years ago are now tracked by computers and continually fine-tuned. So in third-grade social studies, students cover Christopher Columbus and Juan Ponce de Leon just as they always have. But the school also wedges in a language arts lesson at the same time, asking students to write short books about the explorers to stretch their reading and writing skills.

Teacher Melissa Hentges said she and her colleagues collaborate more, swapping work sheets and ideas. Recently, one teacher created a math game to help children practice rounding off numbers and shared it with other teachers.

"All the teachers talk to each other and say, 'What's working for you?' or 'My kids didn't get it, and here's what I did,' " Hentges said. "We will do what it takes for a student, despite what they bring to the table. I feel more like I can make that happen every year."