Examining Student Achievement Data

By Dr. Dorinne Dorfman, Principal

It’s hard to imagine a time when schools did not review or report student achievement data. While many concerns have been raised about the federal reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2001, better known as No Child Left Behind, the law now requires every public school to publish student learning achievement. President Bush’s remark, “The soft prejudice of low expectations,” hit home across the country, as school officials had to admit that students from low-income or minority backgrounds or eligible for special education performed considerably below grade level. And the gap only widened as they rose through the grades. Controversy over the value of student achievement on standardized tests continues, though no one disputes that huge learning gaps exist and that only a few schools have succeeded in closing the gap.

In November, Vermont’s Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca spoke at the annual meeting of the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators, attended by our superintendent, Dr. Steven John. There Commissioner Vilaseca shared the persistent shortcomings of Vermont schools:

• Girls outperform boys in nearly every subject tested.
• High school boys overall score very low.
• Those from low-income families perform far lower than middle - or high-income students.
• While Vermont has the second highest high school graduation rate in the country, only 45% go on to postsecondary education. About half of them earn a bachelor’s degree in four years, which is just 23% of all Vermont students.

The Commissioner went on to say that schools should prepare all students for postsecondary education, even those who choose not to pursue the opportunity. Further, to raise expectations and connect to the wider world, schools should consider requiring foreign language.

Along with 44 other states, Vermont has adopted the Common Core State Standards for reading, writing, and mathematics. The new standards go into effect in fall 2014.

Central to the Common Core is teaching all students on grade level and providing direct academic support to help struggling students succeed. Last fall, Leland and Gray began offering regular education English and mathematics support classes in grades 7 and 8. We plan to expand these support classes into 9th grade in the fall of 2012. Elementary schools have provided such interventions for decades, since without the basics, students had no chance. Since No Child Left Behind, middle and high schools have increasingly funded licensed teachers to give more instruction to struggling students. With nearly every Vermont high school now identified as not attaining “Adequate Yearly Progress” on state tests, school officials can no longer ignore the achievement gaps.

As required by NCLB, each year Leland and Gray publishes our scores on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) exams for each student group. Students who are eligible for free - or reduced-priced meals (FRM) perform lower than middle - and high-income students, though L&G’s FRM students perform better than the state average. Yet these data only scratch the surface. How are these students doing in their classes? Which courses do they take? Course enrollment and achievement data by gender and FRM eligibility paint a clearer picture about our students’ choices. At this level of detail, maintaining confidentiality about individual students is critical, which all teachers are trained to uphold.

How does reviewing data improve education? When administrators and teachers examine the demographics of student enrollment in accelerated and below-grade level courses, they recognize patterns that mirror poor performance on the NEACP exam. But isn’t that the difference between elementary and secondary school, that teenagers get to pick their classes? To improve student achievement, would Leland and Gray actually stop students from taking below grade-level classes?

Yes. Now that FRM eligibility has grown by 24% over last year, educators must encourage more students to choose an academically challenging path to graduation. Reduced family income for teens often leads to more stress, less time for studies, greater need for a job in high school, and reduced academic ambitions. Due to the recession, educators throughout the entire United States need to work very hard to prevent so many newly poor children from choosing low expectations for themselves and their futures. Given the global competition, could there be a worse time for students to avoid grade-level and Advanced Placement courses or, after graduation, refuse to attend professional training or college?

In my travels, I have visited high schools where every section of core subjects except one was taught below grade-level. I have seen whole schools of low-income youth with no college-preparatory courses offered at all. With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, perhaps the Obama administration has set its sights on competing with high-achieving nations such as Finland, South Korea, and China. These countries not only scored the highest in the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment, but had the narrowest achievement gap by income level. The report, Disadvantaged Students who Succeed at School, includes the English-speaking countries Canada, Australia, and New Zealand among those who have been the most successful in reaching students from low-income families. These high-performing disadvantaged students are called “resilient.” Worldwide, 40% of girls but only 23% of boys are resilient (OECD 50). The OECD found two factors that contributed to these students’ success in science achievement:

• Students maintained a positive attitude towards learning.
• Schools allocated significantly more time to science lessons in regular education classes than in other schools.

In fact, “it appears that while all students benefit from attending compulsory science courses, in several countries disadvantaged students benefit more than more advantaged students from attending compulsory courses” (OECD 83).

Back in our small part of the planet, what does all this mean?

• It means that L&G and Vermont are not alone with the challenge of educating children, particularly boys, from low-income backgrounds.
• It means that, with rising unemployment and poverty levels, public schools will experience higher failure and dropout rates, unless educators provide significant interventions.
• It means that L&G and Vermont must take real action, program and course changes, to improve the achievement of these and all students.
• It means that parents/guardians, students, and community members can expect changes from the way things used to be at school. Specifically, course requirements and academic support will increase so that virtually all students participate in grade-level and Advanced Placement learning.
• It means that educators at L&G and local elementary schools will increase coordination of curriculum and instruction, leaving no gaps in information or skill development.
• It means that, while supporting students’ healthy social and emotional development, school counselors will continually challenge them to learn to use their minds well by thinking abstractly in Algebra II through Calculus, by writing expressively and accurately in English, by analyzing critically in social studies, by problem-solving in science, and practicing intrepidly in foreign language.
• It means that all L&G and local elementary teachers will instruct reading and writing, which is the most effective way to improve student learning.

Now in my second year at Leland and Gray, I continue to be deeply impressed by the caring and commitment of our teachers. From the recession and Irene to Community Prevention Night and Feed the Thousands, their first instinct is to support our students. They know that the future of our community and, more broadly, of our country, rests in the minds, hands, and hearts of our youth. In sum, L&G will make much bigger deposits in many more students’ brains than before.

Works Cited

OECD. PISA 2009 at a Glance. OECD Publishing, 2010. Web. 1 January 2012.

OECD. Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School. OECD Publishing. 2011. Web. 1 January 2012.

Vilaseca, Armando. Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators. Montpelier, VT 29 November 2011. Presentation.

Students at work: seventh graders Willie Bush, Walker Hamer and senior Caitlin Persa

Life after Leland and Gray: English 12 Talks with Recent Alumni

By Ann C. Landenberger, English Teacher

What types of activities happen during non-class hours? How often do you come home? Do you feel like you were well prepared for college? What kind of equipment do you work on? How hard is the work? These were several among a range of questions penned in advance on index cards by my English 12 students for a Q&A session with Colin Nystrom, Josh Fontaine, and Ryan McGrath (Class of 2011), all currently students at SUNY/Cobbleskill. They spent over a half hour talking with curious seniors on December 21st.

Many seniors wanted to know what the campus was like; others were happy to hear about making new friends, about playing soccer on campus, about the freedom – and about the good hunting one can find nearby. Others perked at the panelists’ discussion of time and money management. Did Leland and Gray prepare you well? Yes, they all agreed—and all cautioned that some professors will accept late work; others won’t. It’s better to get work done and in on time.

Colin and Ryan are each pursuing an associate’s degree in diesel mechanics; Josh in turf management. Work prospects for each after completion of his two-year program are furthered with support of the university’s career development office. Josh is now, for instance, doing an internship at a golf course—which is well-suited to his career goal.

Of all the questions asked that day, the most direct was, “Why did you decide to go to college?” The answers were equally pithy: “To get a better-paying job.” “To pursue a career.” “To earn the training I need to make more money.”

Whether applying for a one-year certificate program, a two-year associate’s or a four-year bachelor’s program, L&G seniors are encouraged and supported by counseling staff and their teachers. For those not yet focused on life after Leland and Gray, conversations like December’s in English 12 provide food for thought. Many thanks to Josh, Colin and Ryan.

Come to the Parent Advisory!

Voice your views, say what you think –
make a difference!

Hear it straight from the principal – issues raised and questions answered.

We meet the third Tuesday each month. All parents and guardians welcome!

The next meeting is Tuesday, February 28th at 7-8pm.

The Leland & Gray Library Experience

By Barbara G. Marchant, Librarian

When seventh graders first come to the Leland & Gray library, most will experience a different kind of library than the one they left behind in elementary school. Whereas elementary students typically see their librarian for a class period once or twice a week, L&G librarian Barbara Marchant is available to assist students all day, every day as they come and go through the large and busy library.

Managing the details of a school library is a nonstop activity for a librarian, but the most rewarding and favorite part of my job is helping students find the resources needed for schoolwork and personal pursuits. This includes help finding books, magazines, and databases and searching the Internet. I am also happy to help with writing and creating bibliographies.

Pressured, Stupid, Dumb...I Don’t Care.

By Sarah Grasso, School Counselor

These are the words of a few students to describe themselves in the classroom. As part of an Academic Counseling group that meets once a week for identified 7th and 8th graders, I asked the following questions: “How do you feel about yourself? How would you describe yourself outside of these walls?” Without hesitation, volume control, or traditional conversation etiquette, the answers invaded the room.

“Funny, loud, athletic, awesome.” The list of healthy-ego adjectives continued. They settled and I asked another question, “How do you feel about yourself when you walk into a classroom, sit down and begin to learn?” The silence was uncomfortable and their faces were pained. The answers given are the title of this piece, and were shared by all in the room.

It is the intention of this group to address just that – the silent pain some students experience when they are asked to learn. Through laughter, stress balls, and a little bit of prodding, we give voice to the struggles and wrestle with resolution. We identify their professional interests and goals, and tie them to the work they are doing now in middle school.

Though in its trial stages, this group aims to address the current academic needs of students by providing extra skills such as time management, organization, and focus. The hope is to see a measured difference in students’ attendance, grades, and attitudes. It will take time and flexibility to “get it right,” but guided by these brave student voices, a healthier academic self-concept is in the future for all students.

Parents/guardians and students view the Student Art Exhibition in December.

If you know L&G alumni doing well and wanting to share, please contact English teacher Ann Landenberger.

Later Start of the School Day? By Dr. Dorinne Dorfman, Principal

In December, after Monday Notes featured the possibility of a later start time of the school day, a number of parents have contacted the school to voice their support, concerns, and questions. Monday Notes included conclusive research on the topic, with compelling reasons for starting school 30-45 minutes later. Here is an update on the topic from the WCSU Superintendent Dr. Steven John:

At this point, the Windham Central administration and school principals are reviewing the possibility of an earlier start time and collaborating with the bus contractor, West River Transportation, to propose a workable schedule and other logistics. These factors will contribute to deciding whether or not a 15-30 minute later start time for Leland and Gray is possible for fall 2012.

To see the original article, visit www.lelandandgray.org. Click on Monday Notes on December 5, 2011 or call 365-7355 for a printed copy to be mailed home.

Detail of Plaster Relief by Senior Caitlin Persa

Art Department News

By Stephanie Nyzio, Art Teacher

Winter Student Art Show

Thank you to all family and friends that attended the student art exhibit on December 15th. It takes hard work and many hands to hang the show, and we appreciate you coming out and supporting us.

Field Trip to the Clark Museum of Art

L&G received many compliments from the staff at the Clark Museum of Art. Students participated in a portrait workshop and group tours with attentiveness and respect.

Student Art Show

The art show opens on March 2nd at 5-8pm at Through The Music Gallery and Vermont Artisans Design Gallery in Brattleboro. The public is invited to view student art from the region.

Going to Italy!

April vacation, 2013. There is still plenty of time to sign up for the Bell’ Italia Tour. The discount of $200 is good until February 29, 2012. Quick itinerary highlights include Venice, Florence and Rome. This is a must for art enthusiasts and food lovers! See Ms. Nyzio for details.

IN Program’s Holiday Bazaar Proves to be a Gift that Keeps on Giving

By Prudence Baird, Intensive Needs Program Assistant

When Leland and Gray’s Intensive Needs Program students started planning to hold a holiday bazaar in mid-December, they had no idea that their teachers were incorporating math, social skills, time management, science, economics, social studies and art lessons into the process of making and selling holiday crafts and baked goods.

Students and instructors began planning the bazaar in late October by creating an easily followed, colorful timeline with the many steps needed to make dozens of cookies, chocolate-dipped pretzels, jewelry, wreaths, and holiday ornaments.

Students chose recipes and did all the cooking, which included measuring, setting oven controls, and doubling and tripling recipes. Students learned how to design and make jewelry—dozens of earrings, necklaces, beaded spectacle straps and bracelets. Walks in the woods looking for greens became science lessons.

Prior to the three-day event, IN Program students read about different cultures’ holiday traditions, including gift-giving, and filled out illustrated lesson plans with their teachers.

On Wednesday, December 14th, the first day of the bazaar held just outside the cafeteria, IN Program students put on their Santa hats and reindeer antlers, and took their places behind their wares. Within moments of the first lunch period, the bazaar was swamped with eager customers snapping up affordable gifts for the holidays. IN Program students sold goods, made change, and helped package goodies in holiday wrapping.

The IN Program students gave 100 percent of the last day’s sales—$120—to Project Feed the Thousands, a local non-profit organization that helps Vermont families in economic crisis.

During the coming months, IN Program students will use the remainder of the proceeds from the Holiday Bazaar to pay for their participation in outings that are part of Leland and Gray’s eight-week long Winter Activities programming, a fitting and tangible reward for all their efforts in brightening the holidays for others.

Para-educator Mike Lasch and Natalie Cullen

Emily Sorrell and Jacob Gagnon

Ben Davis

 Teacher Dan DeWaltWoodworking Apprenticeship By Dan DeWalt, Woodworking Teacher

The Leland and Gray Union High School Woodworking Program has been expanded to include a woodworking apprenticeship that will prepare students to enter directly into the workplace and create a bridge between school and the local economy.

Apprenticeships are available to ninth graders who agree to undertake a 1,000 hour multi-year commitment. The Hand Woodworking/Traditional Fine Woodworking program teaches hand tool expertise and joinery methods enabling students to design and build furniture in the course of a semester-long class. Students are assigned their own set of tools: chisels, block plane, bench plane, sharpening and polishing stones, and a double-edged Ryoba Japanese woodworking saw. With these tools, they can build anything from a simple box to elaborate cabinetry. The course is taught by fourth generation cabinetmaker Dan DeWalt who also has been operating a woodworking shop in Newfane since 1980.

Leland and Gray apprentices will use the Fine Woodworking program as a starting point to fully explore and master many different aspects of furniture building as well as furniture and antique repair and restoration. Apprentices will be held to the highest standards of excellence and will fully master all aspects of meticulous hand-tool joinery. By the time that they graduate, successful candidates will have written a detailed procedural journal outlining all of the methodology that they have learned.

Successful completion of the program will also involve a juried show of work produced along with an oral exam where the candidate will explain and defend his or her body of work. In addition to the class-time involved, apprentices will participate in internships with one or more local woodworkers, getting a sense of the different business models that currently exist in the world of Windham County woodworking. The impetus of the program is to give selected students a skill set that makes them more valuable in the woodworking job marketplace, as well as giving them enough knowledge to start their own business if they so choose.

What’s New with the Leland and Gray Players?

By Ann Landenberger, English Teacher and Theatre Director

Mark your calendars! The Leland and Gray Players will present Mary Zimmerman’s METAMORPHOSES on March 15 through 17 in Dutton Gym. The second show in the Players’ 16th season, Zimmerman’s adaptation of several myths found in ancient Roman poet Ovid’s fifteen-volume work of transformation myths is, in turns, wry, farcical, satirical and tragic. A roller coaster of change, the script is an exploration of the poignancies and foibles of humankind.

Zimmerman’s work was originally designed to take place in and around a large pool on the stage. The Players’ production will instead play on a set designed by sophomore Maezie Cramp, which allows venues for the various myths to emerge and recede as the scenes and situations change. Juxtaposing the ancient and the contemporary in both language and image, the play’s tone echoes themes of change and contrast from the humor of Phaeton’s therapy session to the tragedy of Midas and his daughter. A cast of 25 and a crew/design team of nearly the same size have begun work on staging and scenic production as well as on analysis and interpretation of the many characters that comprise the myths.

Various productions of this play have been awarded five Los Angeles Drama Critics Awards, the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work/Adaptation and several Bay Area Theatre Critics Awards including Best Production. METAMORPHOSES played around the United States and Off Broadway before moving to Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre in March 2002.

Each L&G Players’ season is designed to bring audiences a range of entertainment from, for example, the parodic antics of THE DROWSY CHAPERONE to more thought-provoking material such as METAMORPHOSES to a range of vignettes – zany to poignant, song to dance – in the Players annual cabaret, HATS OFF, slated for May 24-26, 2012.

For more information on the March performance of METAMORPHOSES, visit the Players’ website at www.lgplayers.webs.com, write me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call 365-7355.

SPAE 2012: Leland and Gray Players’ fifth annual Summer Performing Arts Exploration camp for students entering grades 5 through 8 will be held July 22 through August 4, 2012. For information and a brochure, write This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. now or find it in early February on the Players and Leland and Gray websites.

Journey East 2012 By Tom Connor, Director

Begun in 1999, this spring’s Journey East Program includes 13 students from host Leland and Gray and 5 students from area schools, including Brattleboro and Green Mountain High School. The 18 students will participate in a full load of courses in preparation for their month-long study and performance tour of China in March and April of 2012. All students will be enrolled in the following courses: Chinese Language, Chinese Cultural Studies, Chorus, and Production Workshop. They will work with directors Ron Kelley and Jennifer Connor to prepare pieces created specifically for non- or limited-English-speaking audiences. The ensemble will interact with and perform for thousands of Chinese students and teachers as they travel to Beijing, Chongqing and Chengdu in Southwest China, Qufu and Jinan in Shandong Province, and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia. Students will connect with old friends from The Arts College of Inner Mongolia University as they collaborate for 9 days with students from that prestigious university.

This spring features many Journey East activities open to the school community. Please feel free to come watch a film, hear a speaker, or learn more about Leland and Gray’s longstanding American-Chinese educational partnership. For more information, contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 365-7355, or keep checking our website at www.lelandandgray.org.

Dear Leland and Gray,

Am I the only freshman who hates winter? All my friends go to the mountain and freeze for fun, but that’s way too hard. Still I’m left with nothing to do. Half the time the Internet doesn’t even work at my house. I know there’s stuff after school, but none of my friends go. And I need a ride anyway.

From,

Bored by Winter

Dear Bored by Winter,

I sent your question to L&G’s HEY coordinator to give you the most up-to-date information on new programs. Here it is!

I have a good deal of sympathy for your Internet woes – my family still has dial-up and no television! And I do have some thoughts. Have you ever done something that was really hard, either physically hard, or emotionally hard, or just hard because it was so different from anything you had ever done before? And maybe, while you were doing it, some of those difficult feelings stayed with you, but then afterwards, when you looked back on it, you noticed that you kind’a liked it, or at least felt proud of yourself for doing something new and unfamiliar? And maybe you even noticed that some of the people you had never liked before were actually not as weird as you once thought? This sort of thing happened to me all the time in my young adult years, but I must say, I don’t think I was brave enough to venture out when I was your age. Happily, I have a bit more faith in your generation…

The HEY! and Lafter Programs are offering many new activities once the second semester starts. I really think there’s something for everyone – yoga will be offered, and a kind of junk sculpture building class as well as robotics. There will be a very cool knitting class as well as international cooking, photography, and bowling. A brochure may be out by the time you read this where you can see everything else we’ve put together, but if you don’t find something you like, come meet with me and bring any of your own ideas. If there’s something you want, we’ll try to deliver!

And please don’t worry about the ride home. On our busiest after-school days, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, a bus leaves here at 4:30. And asfar as I know, all the programs are indoors.

Warmly,

Susan Gunther-Mohr

College Acceptances

Caleb Bristol University of Vermont

Isaac Cohen Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Sarah Dickson University of Vermont, Tulane University

Krista Gay Cedarville University

Phoebe Gunther-Mohr Bard College

Emmet Mahdavi University of Vermont

Samantha Russ UVM, Uni. of New Hampshire, Uni. of New Haven

Heidi Snell Veterinary Tech Institute

New Worlds Discovered

By Paul Paytas, Science Teacher

“Let’s get small and really see what is in this pond water. Wow, look at that!” You might have heard this several times on Friday, December 10th in Ms. Jerz’s grade 5/6 class at Townshend Elementary School. On that day, the Leland and Gray Advanced Placement Biology class brought surplus compound microscopes to the class as a donation. The class members, Drew Barnum, Michael Bergeron, Wade Beattie, Olivia Capponcelli, Carla Jaudenes Cumia, Peng Gao and Nicole Sherman, also brought their enthusiasm for science and their knowledge of microscopes to give Ms. Jerz’s students a short workshop on both.

After a quick hello and a brief discussion about how microscopes are used to understand our world, two to three elementary students were grouped with one of the AP students. The AP students, now acting as teachers, showed the elementary students how to use the microscopes, and helped them focus on a variety of objects, including pond water, hair, clothing, paper, and coins. The elementary students were amazed at what they saw and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to learn from high school students, some of whom sat in that very room five or six years ago. On the other hand, the AP students matched that appreciation by sharing the wonderful discoveries of science.

I was proud of the way our AP students interacted with the elementary students and happy with the reactions of both groups. The elementary students got to know some high school students and stepped into a new world of elemental organisms, while the high school students experienced the joy of sharing knowledge with an appreciative audience.