Selected Practices and Characteristics of Highly Effective Elementary Schools

The federal government, through NCLB legislation, has provided target proficiency goals schools will be accountable to meet. Missouri public elementary schools use these target goals to determine their success. The focus of this study was to examine the highly effective public elementary schools in Missouri that met or exceeded the 2011 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets and determine the practices that contributed to their success. The overarching questions were: Can the actions, performance, and knowledge of schools achieving AYP assist other schools to improve their performance on AYP targets? Do Lezotte\u27s correlates of effective schools provide a framework to view successful school performance? With these questions in mind, the purpose of the study was to explore the researched-based programs, characteristics, or reforms used by highly effective elementary schools in Missouri that mirror Lezotte’s (2011) correlates of effective schools and comply with NCLB. It was determined that the principals\u27 and teachers\u27 high expectations for themselves and their students were a significant contributor to effective school results. The areas of school focus outlined in the correlates closely matches the goals and procedures effective schools are meeting to be successful. Principals and teachers reported communication arts programs were based on textbooks, with guided reading used to support reading instruction. The math program most used was also the adopted textbook series