• Category 1

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: k - 6
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 118,000
    Student Enrollment: 310
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 43.8%
    White/Caucasian: 32.5%
    Hispanic: 14.9%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.3%
    Asian: 6.5%
    Native American: 1.9%
    Other: 0.1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 63.9%
    % ELL Learners: 27%
    Founded: 1956
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jay Bedwell
  • CONTACT:
    5240 W 22nd St
    Speedway, IN , IN 46224
    317-244-9836
    jbedwell@speedwayschools.org
James A. Allison Elementary School
Speedway, IN , IN
We believe in developing structures that work and implementing them with fidelity over a significant period of time. We attack school change and improvement by defining what works and sticking to that path.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
We begin the year with an Ice Cream Social/Meet the Teacher Night before the first day of school. At this event not only do parents meet their child's teacher for the school year, they also hear about our Title I program and how it works in our school. Also, throughout the year, we invite parents to various events including a Literature Night, Family Math Night, and a STEM Night. These special evenings are designed to involve parents in their child's education. We also include parents in our monthly Team Time events where students receive acknowledgements for academic success and attendance. In addition to the events held at the school, home visits to families are common practice in our building. A visit to a student’s home may occur for a variety of reasons, but the purpose is always to ensure that we are reaching our families and building a stronger partnership with them for the success of the child.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Allison Elementary employs a full-time Home/School Advisor that works as a liaison between the community and the school. In addition to the vast array of supports she provides to students through counseling, social groups, etc., she also helps to organize outreach programs to help families in our community. For example, she works with various businesses and organizations within the town of Speedway to form partnerships that help provide our families with meeting their basic needs. She's been able to provide families with beds, clothes, eye glasses and food. The bridge she supports between school, family, and community is an integral part to meeting the needs of children across our town.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
In the current state of education it can be tempting to veer from the course of action and constantly try new initiatives, programs, products, etc. without ever getting really good at any one thing. At Allison, we consciously try to maintain focus on our priorities and not get sidetracked. Our instructional focus surrounds high quality curriculum and instruction. All initiatives and supports we then attach support that core instruction. We believe in developing structures that work, and then implementing them with fidelity over a significant period of time. School change and improvement can take time, but we attack it by defining the course that works and then sticking to that path while eliminating as much distraction from the equation as possible.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Our top two goals for next year are to continue our path with implementing best practices and process standards within our new math series that were adopted in 2016-2017 and to successfully implement the Indiana College and Career Readiness Standards. We've provided professional development not only with the publishing companies, but we've also made arrangements to provide training through Math Solutions, as we have seen success with this in the past. The Instructional Coach will provide on-going professional development in staff meetings as well as with grade level teams and individuals as needed.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
Our success does not come from one single activity. Rather, the success of James A. Allison Elementary lies in the fact that we do not waiver from our main goals. We research best practices very carefully to find what works, implement what is necessary with fidelity, and then stick to the plan with consistency. We seek professional development to assist us in our goals, we monitor our progress, and make changes only when needed. With our sights always set on our goals, we do not jump around from one program to another, hoping to possibly find success. Instead, we find success in sticking with what is working, reflecting on our practices, and then only tweaking what is not quite where we want it. This is what makes us successful.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
When Speedway Schools first made the steps to receive Title I funding, it was determined that Instructional Coaches were needed to ensure success of the program. Having an Instructional Coach in the building has been extremely important to our achievements. The coach sets the intervention schedule, trains paraprofessionals to provide interventions, trains teachers with professional development geared towards our school goals and individual teacher needs, and seeks professional development for herself so that she can be successful with all of her responsibilities. With all of these parts in place, we are able to meet student needs and help them to close their achievement gaps.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Our Title I funds are used to ensure that we have necessary staff and resources in place to enhance our successful programs. The bulk of our Title I funds are allocated to the salaries of our Instructional Coach and our Title I paraprofessionals. These individuals greatly enhance our Tier II interventions. The interventions have helped close many students' achievement gaps over the years. Title I funds are also used to purchase supplemental materials for interventions and instruction that further enhance learning opportunities for our students.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
We have various structures in place for professional development in our building. One such structure is monthly staff meetings provided by the school principal. The content of the meetings vary, depending on our needs and goals for the school year. Professional development for our goals is embedded into those meetings throughout the year. Beyond monthly meetings, The Instructional Coach plays a key role in providing critical professional development. This PD may include whole staff training at staff meetings, training for a grade level team, or individual teacher training, depending on their needs. Our school is selective and focused when selecting professional development topics and believes in supporting follow-through of implementation after the PD. This leads to implementing initiatives or learned skills with fidelity and, therefore, improved instruction.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Data drives the decisions we make about instruction at Allison Elementary. We have a core RtI team (Principal, Special Education teacher, Instructional Coach, EL teacher) that meets at least three times a year with each grade level team after benchmark testing is complete. The team discusses the data with each grade level team, and decisions are made for interventions in and out of the classroom. We also look for trends in data, and we discuss what is and is not working in tier I instruction. The structure and format of our RtI and Data teams has proven effective in strengthening core instruction and providing quality supports through flexible grouping to meet the needs of our diverse population.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
The existing school culture at Allison is one that took a couple of years to develop when I came to be the principal thirteen years ago. Now that our culture is established, we work towards continued refinement and improvement. Our school culture is one that embraces the diversity that comprises our student body. We have a culture that practices what we call “Speedway Excellence” and this drives our academic and social/behavioral expectations. Our high expectations exist for our leadership, staff members, and students and then we all work to achieve those high expectations together. We create a precedence of maintaining a safe environment for children and prioritizing the value of quality instructional time.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: k - 6
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 118,000
    Student Enrollment: 310
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 43.8%
    White/Caucasian: 32.5%
    Hispanic: 14.9%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.3%
    Asian: 6.5%
    Native American: 1.9%
    Other: 0.1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 63.9%
    % ELL Learners: 27%
    Founded: 1956
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jay Bedwell
  • CONTACT:
    5240 W 22nd St
    Speedway, IN , IN 46224
    317-244-9836
    jbedwell@speedwayschools.org