Lincoln Elementary School used unique approach to improve student test scores

REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) -- While technology can be a great tool for schools, sometimes all you need is a pencil and paper to make an impact.

A Reedley elementary school is proving that's true.

AnJanae Glaesman teaches at Lincoln Elementary School.

She says she enjoys teaching fifth grade because students are old enough to understand her humor, but also work independently.

"We have fun, but we also learn, and we get down to business," Glaesman said.

That business includes showing improvement through test scores for English Language Arts and math.

Principal Antia Elizondo keeps a close eye on the data.

But looking at bar graphs and numbers doesn't always tell the full story.

"We said we need to make sure that we put a face to the data, and it's not enough to just know '40% of our students are at this level', it's 'Which 40%? Who are those students?'" Elizondo said.

That's why Elizondo went back to the basics.

She created a visual with poster paper and post-its.

The school has about 300 students, and each one has a sticky note with their name on it.

"We just started looking at each kid individually, and it lends itself to having a conversation about what students need," Elizondo said.

Each grade is broken up into three sections of students.

Intensive for those who need added support.

Strategic for those who are in the middle and may go up or down.

And Benchmark for those performing where they should be.

From there, administrators and teachers like Glaesman come up with a game plan for the best approach.

Glaesman created interventions and supports for her students who hadn't reached the benchmark.

"The ones that are in after-school program, I provide after-school interventions for them and the ones that are not, I either utilize my intervention teacher or I provide those interventions within my classroom during the school day," Glaesman said.

Doing it "the old-fashioned way" worked.

The school was able to increase its test scores by double digits year over year.

"This is actually the best test scores that I have gotten as a fifth-grade teacher," Glaesman said.

The improvements didn't go unnoticed.

Earlier this year, Lincoln Elementary was named a California Distinguished School.

"We've just been very proud to see that the conversations that we're having. A silly idea of just putting kids' names up with sticky notes, how it can evolve to having really deep conversations and seeing big growth with our students," Elizondo said.

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