Every six weeks, a thundering roar goes up from the gym of Freeport Intermediate School, where 580 rowdy middle schoolers let loose with cheers, chants, and songs. The storm of noise just grows louder as the students, clad in T-shirts bearing the school鈥檚 colors of black, red, and white, compete to outdo one another for highly coveted honors.
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What鈥檚 at stake isn鈥檛 a winning football or basketball team: It鈥檚 academics that sends Freeport students into a frenzy. Each of the school鈥檚 four 鈥渉ouses鈥� vies intensely for the honor of having the fewest discipline referrals, the highest attendance, and the best spirit.
The 7th and 8th graders here take turns planning the academic pep rallies, with such themes as the Flintstones or a circus. They never quite know what the adults have in store, though: Principal Clara Sale-Davis once rode in on a horse during a Wild West rally.
Students at the Freeport Intermediate School know they are expected to pass the Texas state assessment. With the support of the entire staff, they do.
Each year, it seems, there鈥檚 more to celebrate at Freeport Intermediate. The school has succeeded both in raising achievement to impressive heights on Texas鈥� state tests and in creating a welcoming environment that makes students want to give their all.
As 8th grade graduate Vanessa Silva puts it: 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard, but you learn it. In the beginning, they start out mild on homework, but then it gets harder and harder. The teachers are like, 鈥榃e know you can do it,鈥� and they are there to help us along the way.鈥�
鈥楴o Excuses鈥�
A national network of middle school reformers this year named Freeport Intermediate a School To Watch鈥攐ne of four in the nation to receive the honor for their commitment to academic excellence, responsiveness to the needs of young adolescents, and high expectations for all students.
The award was a feat for a school that still struggles to burnish its image in its own community. Freeport Intermediate serves a predominantly poor part of the Brazosport Independent School District, located 60 miles south of Houston. More than 65 percent of the school鈥檚 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches; 46 percent are Hispanic, 13 percent are black, and 41 percent are white.
But Freeport Intermediate鈥檚 achievements would be noteworthy anywhere: This past school year, 94.3 percent of its students passed the state reading test, 95.7 percent passed the 8th grade writing test, and 99.1 percent passed the math exam. The results make it a 鈥渞ecognized鈥� school under the Texas accountability system鈥攋ust shy of the 鈥渆xemplary鈥� status for which it strives. The entire 13,500-student Brazosport district produces similarly impressive results.
The landscape here, along Texas鈥� 鈥渃hemical coast,鈥� is dominated by the tangled silver and gray pipes of the sprawling Dow polymer and BASF plants. The factories provide jobs, a fat tax base, and inspiration for names like Chlorine and Glycol streets.
The district, where educators鈥� motto seems to be 鈥渘o excuses,鈥� has made a name for itself for using Total Quality Management techniques to hone its students鈥� skills and prepare them to master the tests.
Teachers at Freeport Intermediate conduct 鈥減lan-do- check鈥� cycles to make sure their instructional strategies are paying off. If not, they change them. And Freeport鈥檚 teachers are masters at breaking down and teaching the skills and knowledge required for the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills, or TAAS.
鈥淭he thing that impressed us most was the academic results they were showing, particularly with low-income students, over the last five years,鈥� says Teri West, the project director for the National Forum To Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, a network of educators, foundation officers, and state leaders interested in improving middle-grades education.
鈥淭he sound in the gym was deafening,鈥� she adds of her visit to a pep rally. 鈥淭hey were screaming and chanting and shaking their signs.鈥�
Rigorous Curriculum for All
Freeport Intermediate School occupies a brand-new building, opened last year, with shining white hallways punctuated with red doors. An enormous airbrushed painting of an American Indian astride a horse鈥擣reeport students are known as the 鈥淩owdy Redskins"鈥攄ominates one wall of the gym.
Students and teachers have strong affinities for their houses: the Karankawas and the Apaches in 7th grade and the Mayans and Cherokees in 8th. Each occupies a distinct wing of the building; students aren鈥檛 permitted to enter other houses鈥� territory.
Seven years ago, just 38.6 percent of the students passed the state math exam. Last year, 99.1 percent passed.
Secure in their own domains, Freeport students buckle down to work at 7:45 a.m. and don鈥檛 let up until 3:25 p.m. Classes are 90 minutes long, with math and English language arts every day and science and social studies rotating with art, music, physical education, and electives. The curriculum here is the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS, 鈥渋ntegrated with the words 鈥榝un鈥� and 鈥榗onnectivity,鈥欌�� Sale-Davis says.
For the last hour of the day, students attend 鈥渢eam time,鈥� a flexible period for watching the Channel One television news program, reading silently to earn their required 鈥渂ook points,鈥� and brushing up on academic skills. The hour also allows time for outside speakers and planning pep rallies鈥�"so we don鈥檛 steal any instructional time with all that frou-frou stuff,鈥� as Sale-Davis puts it.
In the months leading up to TAAS time, the school day stretches another hour for students who need extra help. Heather Melass, an 8th grade language arts teacher, has students practice composing a how-to paper by putting a Mr. Potato Head together the wrong way鈥攅yes in the ear holes鈥攁nd then writing directions for replicating the creature.
Teachers here share the view that to succeed with middle schoolers, they must act a bit like them鈥攐r at least relish the same energy and spirit.
Just as students are expected to produce, so are teachers. Each 鈥渢ribe鈥� has six teachers, who have common planning time every other day. On off days, teachers meet with others in their academic departments. Sale-Davis requires them to prepare agendas for their meetings, complete with information about who will carry out tasks, which she reviews at the close of each school day.
Teachers who are willing to go the extra mile are welcome, while those who put down Freeport or think minority and poor children can鈥檛 learn are not. In her five years as principal, Sale-Davis has seen about half the staff members leave for various reasons.
鈥淢y staff makes it miserable for people who just want to draw paychecks,鈥� she says bluntly. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e dead weight, they get the message that they don鈥檛 belong here, and they get the heck out. This is missionary work.鈥�
In keeping with the district鈥檚 philosophy of allowing schools to manage their own affairs, Sale-Davis and her staff have latitude to tailor their own professional-development programs. The agenda is driven by the school鈥檚 need, as identified by data, the principal notes, although teachers take part in some districtwide workshops. In contrast to schools that tack on program after program for targeted students, Freeport Intermediate teaches a rigorous core curriculum to all. The only students singled out are those identified as academically gifted, who by state law must be provided with higher-level classes. The vast majority of the school鈥檚 120 special education students are included in regular classrooms鈥攁 major focus of professional-development activities three years ago.
Teachers bend over backwards for students, whether that means accompanying them to academic competitions at their own expense on weekends or dressing up in wacky costumes to cheer them on academically.
The science teachers made a video of themselves as 鈥淭he Bubbas,鈥� complete with overalls, hats, and freckles, to teach a unit on measurement and estimation while throwing cow chips. The Cherokee teachers shot a video of themselves in red T-shirts astride horses at one teacher鈥檚 home, chanting a song to the tune of pop star Will Smith鈥檚 鈥淲ild Wild West,鈥� the theme to the movie of the same name.
鈥淭he key is the relationships with the students,鈥� says Kristi Traylor, an 8th grade math teacher. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not afraid to make fools of ourselves and show them we鈥檙e human, too.鈥�
The mathematics department formed the Totally Awesome Arithmetic Singers (or TAAS) to sing popular songs with instructional lyrics. And teachers feed their charges, encouraging them to 鈥淒ouble Stuff the TAAS鈥� with cookies during test-prep sessions and baking pigs-in-a-blanket at home to serve on the big day. The school raises about $1,000 a year to provide such snacks.
Teachers share the view that to succeed with middle schoolers, they must act a bit like them鈥攐r at least relish their distinctive energy and spirit.
For 8th grade graduate Amber Randon, the projects in history and science class are the best part of school. 鈥淚t鈥檚 better for you to learn when you are going and researching it yourself,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e have a lot of young teachers, and they understand that we don鈥檛 want to just sit there and listen to them talk on and on.鈥�
Teaching to TAAS
In the school鈥檚 multipurpose room鈥攚here Sale-Davis has pizza with students monthly as a way to find out their concerns鈥攊s a bulletin board detailing the eight strategies used by teachers here. First comes breaking down TAAS scores to identify students鈥� strengths and weaknesses, followed by an 鈥渋nstructional timeline,鈥� assessment, tutorial time for 鈥渘onmastered items,鈥� and the like.
The payoffs that teachers have seen from their intense focus on instruction are noteworthy: Five years ago, Freeport Intermediate bore the label 鈥渓ow performing鈥� for its students鈥� miserable TAAS scores. In 1992-93, just 38.6 percent of the students passed the math exam, and 62.7 percent passed reading. In addition to the gains in test scores, discipline referrals over the past four years have dropped 76 percent, down from nearly 3,000 a year.
In recognition of its progress, the Texas Education Agency has named Freeport Intermediate a 鈥渕entor school.鈥� A 鈥渃ampus advisory team,鈥� made up of representatives of six school committees鈥攃urriculum and instruction, staff development, planning, communication, technology, and school climate鈥攈elps govern the school, using the plan-do-check routines.
While Texas' high-profile accountability system is controversial, Freeport educators appear to view it as a welcome professional challenge.
While Texas鈥� high-profile accountability system is controversial, educators at Freeport appear to view it as a welcome professional challenge.
In addition to having a clear idea of their goals, teachers here know what their colleagues at the elementary level are teaching and what will be required of their students in high school. This teamwork, teachers say, means less remedial work, less review, and fewer low-level math classes in high school.
For Linda Dominguez, an African-American math teacher who recently left the school recently after 21 years to teach at an alternative school in the district, the state鈥檚 message that all children be taught and tested is good news. Before the advent of TAAS and the state鈥檚 requirement that scores be reported by race, ethnicity, and income, she says, 鈥測ou had schools that thought, 鈥楾hese kids will grow up to be maids, so it doesn鈥檛 matter.鈥� With TAAS, we are saying to schools that your children will learn material appropriate to the 7th grade.鈥�
Joan Lipsitz, a longtime middle school champion who heads the National Forum鈥檚 Schools To Watch subcommittee, says Freeport Intermediate is 鈥渃ompletely driven by the TAAS in probably the best way鈥攖hey are breaking predictions about who achieves and consistently improving. They feel when they are teaching to the test they are teaching to standards.鈥�
