Brent Walker

Recipe for a Blue Ribbon School: a Step-by-step Guide to Creating a Positive School Climate While Improving Student Achievement Brent Walker

If you keep doing what you have always done,you will continue to get what you have always gotten. Westside Elementary in Powell, Wyoming, went from mediocre scores on the Wyoming State Test to being one of the top academic schools in the state. In Recipe for a Blue Ribbon School, author and school principal Brent Walker details different interventions that resulted in Westside being recognized as a No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School. Real change requires you to start using what you already have differently. In most cases the changes were not new but a different way of doing things. The staff started using assessment data to drive the schedules, programs, use of time, collaboration, and use of technology to truly focus on each child becoming proficient in reading, math, and writing. In addition, different amounts of learning time were provided for every student. These two paradigm shifts allowed Westside's staff to prove their philosophy: All kids can learn. True change requires trust, courage, and stamina. By working together as a team using a unique collaboration model, the staff of Westside made passive learners into active learners. Discover how you too can help your students achieve academic greatness!