One of the strengths of the Success for All model is that it builds continuity into the academic program. If students start using SFA programs in kindergarten, it is far more likely that they will become successful readers as they progress through elementary school and beyond.

 

Lackland Elementary, a SFA school located within the U.S. Air Force Base in Lackland, Texas, does not have the luxury of continuity: most of their students stay for only two years before their parents’ next transfer. It’s one of the unique challenges of running a school on a military base, where change is always looming on the horizon. For parents and students who have left the confines of Lackland AFB for a new school in another city, however, there is soon a common realization—nothing compares to SFA.

 

“We get tons of e-mail from former parents saying, ‘We miss Success for All,’” says Principal Terry Leija.

 

There’s good reason to miss Lackland AFB and Success for All programs: The percentage of students reading at or above grade level at Lackland has hovered in the upper 90s during the past decade. Ask the officials at Lackland AFB the secret of their success, and they have a simple answer: constant review of students’ progress. Students from all over the world shuffle in and out of enrollment, and the school is lucky to have a small group of students make it from kindergarten to third grade. Given this small window, Lackland teachers and administrators have to continually monitor the effectiveness of their approach.

“The data piece of SFA is huge,” said Miles Payne, Lackland’s facilitator. “You use it to try and get the most out of your students that you can.”
 

SFAF’s data-analysis portion utilizes six to eight classroom metrics along with several nonacademic metrics, such as attendance and disciplinary citations, to determine which intervention methods will help struggling students. To ensure that staff members utilize these metrics effectively in an environment with high attrition, Lackland conducts professional-development meetings once or twice a month depending on the need.

“PLCs should be focused instead of broad,” said Payne. “And when someone is still not comfortable with a part of a lesson, they go watch a colleague teach it in the classroom.”
 

According to Leija, the ability to monitor growth with a number of identifiable metrics, coupled with a professional-development program that helps teachers to determine the right interventions, is the major difference between SFA and the previous instructional approaches used by Lackland AFB.

“Before, we spread ourselves thin. It was like spraying Pam everywhere trying to find a solution.”

Both Leija and Payne agree that regular training and the formation and usage of PLCs are essential for the new schools using SFA this year in Texas as part of the i3 grant:
 

“They have to work hard and be consistent. Continually re-examine the program, and make sure the fidelity of the program is intact,” said Payne.

Perhaps the most tell-tale sign of SFAF’s success at Lackland AFB, according to Leija, is the lack of discipline issues during SFA classes in the beginning of the day. In a school environment faced with a constant turnover of students and the behavioral issues that follow, there’s surprisingly little commotion when students settle into their SFA reading groups.

“For the first ninety minutes, the principal’s office is quiet,” said Leija.