Bailey Station Elementary (2023)

  1. PLC Story
  2. PLC Practices
  3. Achievement Data
  4. Awards
  5. Resources

Bailey Station Elementary School

Bailey Station Elementary School, located in Collierville, Tennessee, is actively working towards becoming a Model Professional Learning Community (PLC) school. Our school has an enrollment of 843 students, and we take pride in creating an environment where "Children are Loved and Love to Learn." Our primary focus is on continuous growth and achieving high levels of student success.

Commitment to Professional Learning Communities

In 2010, our staff embarked on a journey by delving into the book, "Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work®." This book study transformed our staff from merely being interested in PLCs to becoming deeply committed to the concept. This commitment led to teachers learning new strategies, tools, and best practices for building high-performing professional learning communities.

Over the years, our PLCs have evolved into weekly meetings that provide educators with opportunities to directly enhance teaching and learning. These meetings serve as a platform for sharing best practices, brainstorming innovative ways to improve learning, and driving student achievement. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that each student experiences at least one year's worth of academic growth.

The Importance of Understanding Standards

Before fully implementing the PLC at Work process, we recognized the importance of ensuring that our teachers had a solid understanding of educational standards. In the 2020-2021 school year, a new principal took the helm at Bailey Station Elementary, and under this leadership team, implementing the PLC process with fidelity became a school-wide focus.

Key Strategies for Improvement

Several key strategies were employed to drive improvement:

  1. Vertical Alignment Ins and Outs: This strategy involved groups of teachers identifying specific skills to emphasize and ensure that students master them. It facilitated alignment across grade levels in the same subject area.

  2. Mind the Gaps Series: We embarked on a three-year journey with intervention expert Mike Mattos, focusing on:

    • Identifying Essential Standards
    • Meeting the Rigor of Essential Standards
    • Creating Assessment Practices That Build Confidence and Success

  3. Implementing the PLC Process with Fidelity: These strategies enabled us to implement the PLC process effectively and fostered a conducive learning environment in our classrooms.

Professional Development and Recognition

At the start of the school year, we had the privilege of learning from Dr. Pam Liebenberg, who provided in-person, full-day professional development titled "The Power of Collaboration & Response to Intervention." Dr. Liebenberg affirmed our work in areas such as data team meetings, data analysis, differentiation strategies, and progress monitoring.

As a result of our dedicated efforts, Bailey Station Elementary is recognized as an exceptionally high-performing school. We received the distinction of being named a Reward School by the state of Tennessee for the 2022-2023 school year. Initially, teachers participated in PLCs for compliance, but there has been a remarkable shift towards teachers collaborating in PLCs due to their commitment to our students' social, emotional, and academic well-being.

 

 

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Bailey Station Elementary follows a structured and systematic approach to develop and implement a guaranteed and viable curriculum, ensuring consistent and essential learning experiences for all students. The process involves several key steps and strategies to monitor student learning effectively and in a timely manner. Over the past four years, Bailey Station has been dedicated to fostering collaboration among our teachers, emphasizing the power of collective teacher efficacy. This paradigm shift has shown that the most significant impact on student achievement can be achieved through data analysis and collaborative planning.

Continuous professional development, led by expert Mike Mattos through the "Mind the Gap" program, has had a profound influence on our teaching and assessment practices.  As a result of this professional development, PLC groups across grade levels and subject areas collaborate to unpack standards and identify all the concepts and skills embedded in each standard as teachers must deeply understand each standard before they can determine if it is essential. Once all standards have been unpacked, PLCs identify the “essential standards” that will be prioritized by determining if the standard has endurance, leverage, and readiness for the next level of learning. Educators then invest time and effort to ensure that the essential standards are taught and assessed with the appropriate depth and rigor of the standard. This meticulous process guarantees the consistency and quality of our curriculum across classrooms, ensuring that every student receives the education they deserve.

Formative and summative assessments are given during the instructional cycle to monitor student progress, identify learning gaps, and adjust teaching strategies in real-time. Each week, PLCs meet to analyze student data and answer the 4 essential PLC questions: 

  1. What do we want students to learn? 
  2. How will we know if they have learned it? 
  3. What will we do if they haven’t learned it? 
  4. What will we do if they already know it? 

PLCs also utilize district mapping and pacing guides that outline the scope and sequence of instruction for each subject area and grade level, ensuring that all essential content is covered during the school year. Our teachers rely on the Tennessee Math Instructional Focus Document and Foundational Reading Instructional Practice Guide as resources to guide their delivery of essential standards. To maintain the quality of our instructional practices, administrators and instructional coaches regularly visit classrooms to provide constructive feedback to teachers. 

At Bailey Station, we've established a Student Response to Intervention Team (SRTI) that meets weekly before school. This proactive approach aims to address academic and behavioral challenges before they escalate to the point of requiring special education placement. Our Response to Intervention initiative centers on timely and targeted support for struggling students, emphasizing the importance of early intervention.

Furthermore, Bailey Station maintains a close partnership with district leaders, aligning our efforts with both our School Improvement Plan goals and the district's overarching strategic plan. This collaborative approach ensures that we are continuously working toward the improvement and success of our school and students.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Bailey Station is a special place, where the halls echo with the eager footsteps of young learners and teachers working to make learning meaningful. Every adult in the building is focused on continuous improvement for our students. At Bailey Station we have crafted and embraced a system of intervention and enrichment that has solidified our commitment to education.

Assessment and Data Analysis: Bailey Station meets weekly in grade-level Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Here, dedicated teachers gather to assess the needs of their students. Armed with a diverse array of data, including state and district assessments, classroom observations, and the insights of seasoned educators, we embark on a journey of understanding. This journey isn't always about grades or numbers; it is about identifying the unique learning needs and circumstances of each child. Bailey Station teachers know that tracking progress is as crucial as setting the course. Data collection and analysis is a regular, weekly process in our PLC meetings; teachers use the data to make adjustments that strengthen intervention and enrichment plans.

Response to Intervention: The State of Tennessee has implemented a tiered system of support, that we have fully embraced at Bailey Station. All learners begin with the firm foundation of Tier 1 instruction, high-quality education that sets the standard. But education is not a one size fits all approach and for some, it isn't enough. Tier 2 and Tier 3 support offers intensive, personalized instruction to bridge the gaps that hinders individual student progress. Students are identified and discussed in those very grade-level PLCs we just discussed. PLCs meet with our two interventionists regularly to discuss data and progress to ensure we are meeting the needs of the students in intervention, identifying students who need intervention, and celebrating when students are ready to “graduate” from intervention.

Personalized Learning Plans: With the data as their guide, personalized learning plans are created for targeted students. Each student in a subgroup, those who struggle, and those who soar above expectation, received a tailored learning plan. Goals, strategies, and resources—carefully curated to address individual learning needs—are woven into these plans. For some, it means accommodations, while others need one on one tutoring with an educational assistant before classes begin each day, and for those whose minds hunger for more, enrichment activities are implemented.

Enrichment Groups: A select group of students, identified through data analysis during the weekly PLC process, are invited to participate in a monthly enrichment choice board. Our gifted teacher and the Instructional Technology Facilitator provide mentorship, support, and motivation through this enrichment program.

At Bailey Station, we view intervention as a collective effort between administration, educators, students, and families to ensure that every child has the chance to shine, and to not only realize student potential, but nurture it. We understand that creating equitable educational opportunities is not just a goal, but intrinsic to who we are as a school. 

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

At Bailey Station, the PLC process is not just an educational framework; it's a way of life. PLCs, within our school, have proven to enhance teacher capacity and become the heartbeat of our educational mission. Seeing the growth our school has made in embracing the PLC process is a testament to our unwavering dedication to teaching and our belief that every student can reach new heights. Together, we forge a path toward better learning outcomes, one shared vision, one data-driven decision, one collaborative planning session, and one reflective practice at a time.

Shared Vision and Mission: Each school year, the teachers at Bailey Station, along with administration, embark on a unique journey within our grade-level PLCs. We craft a shared vision, mission, and norms for each grade level that guides us toward the common goal of enhancing learning for all our students. This shared purpose rekindles our collective mission, setting our course for the year ahead.

Data-Driven Decision Making: The heart of our transformative process is data. In our PLCs, we meticulously analyze student performance data, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas in need of support. This data-driven approach ensures that our interventions and instructional strategies are evidence-based and free from bias.

Collaborative Planning and Resource Sharing: Collaboration is our foundation. We collaborate within our PLCs to design curriculum, assessments, interventions, enrichment activities, and instructional strategies. Ideas flow freely, resources are shared, and best practices become communal knowledge. Together, we achieve more than we could individually. Our PLCs serve as a beneficial resource to our teachers and students as instructional materials, strategies, and assessment tools are all readily shared. Resource sharing ensures every teacher has access to high-quality teaching materials. At Bailey Station, every child, in every classroom, receives a consistent and high-quality education, there are no Vegas odds.

Ongoing Professional Development: Continuous learning thrives within our PLCs. Professional development is not just a duty but a vital component that keeps our skills sharp and our expertise evolving. Each session directly addresses our students' needs, ensuring we adapt to the ever-changing educational landscape. Administration also supports professional development to improve the PLC process for teachers. During in-service this year, our entire faculty got to work with Dr. Pam Liebenberg from Solution Tree to become further invested in the PLC process.

Differentiated Instruction: Recognizing the diversity in our classrooms, we embrace it. Through our PLCs, we hone our skills in differentiated instruction, tailoring our approaches to meet each student's unique needs. Every student receives the support or enrichment they require.

Reflective Practice: We're practitioners of reflection, always striving to improve. We evaluate the effectiveness of our instruction with a critical eye, making necessary adjustments. This cycle of reflection and improvement is the secret to our students' success.

Achievement Data Files

Additional Achievement Data

Our data for kindergarten and first grade is limited because the 2022-2023 school year was our first time implementing the Aimsweb Benchmark Assessment. Previously, we collected benchmark data using Easy CBM and Star Reading and Math, but unfortunately, we don't have access to this data to facilitate comparisons. Not all districts in the state administer Aimsweb, so we do not have state level data.  We have added 2nd grade TCAP.  We have provided the exact data that our sister school, Crosswind Elementary, has provided who was recently designated an Model PLC School.  We did add additional data for 2nd Grade TCAP.

 
 
 

Designated Tennessee Reward School, 2017-Present, for demonstrating high levels of performance and/or growth across all indicators.

Apple Distinguished School, 2023, for cultivating an environment in which students are excited about learning, curiosity is fostered, and learning is a personal experience, while using technology to enhance instruction.

Distinguished Launch School, 2022-2023 Project Lead the Way is part of our STEM curriculum.  We received the banner as a PLTW Distinguished Launch School for 2022-2023 over the summer.  

Lowest Chronic Absenteeism Rate in Collierville Schools, 2022-2023, Bailey Station had the lowest rate of chronic absenteeism in the entire school district for the 2022-2023 school year. 

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