Edison Elementary School

Centralia, Washington

Edison Elementary School in Centralia, Washington, is a great example of implementation of the Success for All program in all the traditional ways. The school performs several points above the state average in reading proficiency, despite eighty percent of students being economically disadvantaged. In 2009, Edison was one of six elementary schools in Washington to win the Title One Academic Achievement award from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

A closer look, however, reveals that the staff of Edison have implemented SFA in ways that are anything but traditional.

Spurred on by an innovative facilitator, Delynn Dietz, Edison motivates the students using homework-completion contests.  But instead of being rewarded with gold stars, the winning classes are offered a plethora of reward options from which to select.

Sometimes, the rewards are innocuous: an extra five minutes of recess or tickets to the end-of-school-year carnival. Other times, however, the students are given a chance to turn the tables on the school staff:

“The class will take a vote, and the teacher that is chosen by the majority will run laps while the students squirt water on him or her, or they will throw water on the principal, or someone will have to spend a day on the roof,” Dietz said.

This method of student motivation is just another of many to bring about successful classroom performance, according to Dietz.

“You’re using ideas to get them to read, but not letting up on the academics by any means,” she said.

The success of Edison Elementary is the culmination of years of crafting and honing SFA to the culture of the school.  Edison’s current principal, Neal Kirby, took his position in 1999, one year after the SFA program was first implemented.  For Kirby, there was an adjustment period:

“They sent me to Maryland for training. At first, it was an overwhelming program…an awful lot of details,” he said. 

One of the initial problems for Edison was cooperative learning. At first, teachers and the staff had trouble applying the full breadth of cooperative-learning concepts. After Kirby solicited some outside consultation, however, the school hit its stride. The staff realized cooperative learning wasn’t just a way to instruct students; it was also a method of professional development:

“Teachers agreed to observe each other and learned most from that, by working in their grade-level teams and observing themselves,” Kirby said.

By applying the concepts of cooperative learning throughout the entire school culture, Edison Elementary became a tight-knit operation, which allowed for some eccentric ways of releasing the tension, such as the aforementioned rewards options.

“She [Dietz] finds all kinds of ways to entice students,” said Kirby. “She’s a fantastic facilitator. She brings people into the program.”

Dietz’s methods have been honed through ten years as a facilitator. She’s had plenty of experience collaborating with teachers, going to conferences, and getting her share of praise and criticism from SFAF area managers. Although she’s been through the requisite ups and downs of her position, she appreciates that communication with SFAF is a two-way street.

“The thing that is nice is that SFAF continually updates its programs. I like that they listen to feedback and improve the curriculum.”  

In the never-ending circus of school reform, twelve years of using a program can feel like a century. The success of the Edison Elementary-SFAF partnership demonstrates true collaboration, with both sides continually adjusting their approach to keep the pairing from going stale. In the end, the efforts benefit all the students, including those who are most in need of intervention…even if a few teachers have to get their clothes wet.