Easing the Toll on Teachers' Checkbooks

Baker's Boost classes, along with the efforts of other Wheaton Woods teachers and Principal Judith Lewis, seem to be elevating performance throughout the school.

Passing rates on the state reading tests have more than doubled, from 42 percent in the 2002-03 school year to 92 percent last school year, and passing rates for students of limited English proficiency and low-income students are nearly as high.

Passing rates in math have risen from 50 to 82 percent.

"Any intelligent approach focuses on what your greatest area of need is," Lewis said.

Last year, the focus was on training Wheaton Woods staff members to teach English-learners, a group that has grown from one-tenth of the school population to half in nine years.

Staff efforts, including by Baker, paid off so well that the school's reading performance outstrips math progress, and Lewis has shifted focus this year from phonics to figures.

Baker pulls several students from each class in grades 3 through 5 for an hour of daily instruction. Students are selected based on test scores, teacher recommendations and other assessments.

"We sit together and say, 'Who are we not sure of?' " Baker said.

The goal of the program is to improve reading skills.

Baker also serves as the science and social studies teacher for her students. She uses content from those subject areas to build literacy, a strategy that supplements the two hours of language arts instruction delivered daily to Wheaton Woods students.

Her strategies have changed over time. Five years ago, when she started Boost, students needed help with the rudiments of reading.

Today, students arrive in third grade as stronger readers, so Baker focuses on the more sophisticated matters of comprehension and organizational strategy.

Each child keeps a data notebook, charting progress on the statewide test and other indicators.

Because Baker has no full-time students, her classroom does not benefit from the supplies provided by parents at the start of the school year. She spent $700 of her own money on supplies last year.

The donated goods from OfficeMax include a digital camera, a swivel chair and piles of pencils, pens, markers, Post-its, scissors, magnets and other items.

"There's a lot of stuff that we never saw before," said Christian Arvealo, 8, a Wheaton Woods third-grader. "A lot of stuff that I can't wait to use."