Making Research a Reality in Schools
Alyse Zeffiro • Cahn Fellow 2023
When teaching and learning became organized and intentional, while developing the shared belief that teachers have the skills to impact student outcomes positively, great things began to happen at Kerrydale Elementary School! With deep implementation of teacher clarity an effect size of 0.84 and collective teacher efficacy an effect size of 1.34, which are arguably the most influential educational research-based strategies, there has been a significant increase in academic achievement and closing the achievement gap for all student groups for a small but mighty Title I Visible Learning Certified School.
In this narrative, we will explain the journey and the critical role that Visible Learning has played in allowing us to teach all students at high levels. At Kerrydale Elementary, we were persistent and confident that embarking on this Visible Learning journey was essential for learning and achievement to continue. Visible Learning became the key factor in minimizing the learning gaps and allowing us to continue to soar academically as demonstrated by the 2023-2024 achievement data.
Historically, Kerrydale has had difficulty maintaining high achievement for all compared to other Title I schools within the Division and the State. Despite having highly qualified, dedicated, and loving staff to teach our diverse population of students, we were consistently missing the mark on providing rigorous, challenging, and targeted instruction to meet the unique needs of our students. Although our student population continued to grow in diversity, our high expectations for students have always remained the same.
