Four years ago, Eastridge Elementary School in Amarillo, TX, was designated as Stage 1 by the State of Texas for low performance on state standardized assessments. At that time, Eastridge worked with an outside partner to begin the process of becoming a professional learning community. Visible Learning^plus was a natural next step for this campus to move from a focus on developing teacher efficacy to a focus on student learning and developing students as assessment-capable learners.

Principal Genie Baca shares her school's Visible Learning^plus story:

Photos: Progression walls allow students to track their own progress toward attaining learning objectives.

Eastridge is in the early stages of our Visible Learning^plus journey, with only four days of staff development to date. Visible Learning^plus is much more of a mind shift than expected, and very in depth. We expect the usefulness of the process to benefit our students more in the long term versus this early stage of the process; however, the focus on individual student learning has helped identify specific student needs. We are inspired by John Hattie’s work, and we are willing to commit to the process in order to develop students who are aware of where they are in their learning and are responsible for their next steps.

How did you introduce Visible Learning^plus to your staff?

The administration team prepared by going to Visible Learning^plus conferences in Fall 2013 and Summer 2014. The teachers read Visible Learning for Teachers as a summer book study. The first four days of staff development were conducted in Fall 2014 with our Visible Learning^plus consultant, Dr. Julie Smith.

What changes have you made as a result of Visible Learning^plus?

We have changed our weekly staff development from monologue to dialogue with a focus on Visible Learning. We are working to change the language of our school, we have changed our PDAS walk-through form, teachers are reflecting on videos of their own teaching to look for feedback, and some teachers have developed progression walls. Learning intentions and success criteria are posted in some classrooms. We are looking specifically at high-performing students and developing strategies to extend their learning.

What impact has Visible Learning^plus made?

Visible Learning^plus opened our eyes to student-focused learning and made teachers more aware of the types of feedback we are giving students.

Where to next?

We are just at the beginning of a years-long journey, but our plan is to stay committed to Corwin in a partnership that will last at least four to five years and to become the premier Visible Learning school in the United States.

Thank you Genie Baca and the staff at Eastridge Elementary for sharing your story!

Have a Visible Learning story to share? You can send us your experience here.