Middle school evaluates ‘looping teacher’ program

From the minute Lona Brannon saw her eighth-grade students this year, she knew their names. She knew which ones needed extra help in social studies, and which ones liked to speak up in class.

She knew, because she’d also taught them the year before.

Most of the eighth-graders in Mrs. Brannon’s class, as well as those in Wendy Hamilton, Gail Schulte and Kelly Scheunemann’s, spent their seventh-grade year in the same classrooms, with the same teachers.

The history, algebra, physical science and language arts instructors, respectively, are called “looping teachers.” They are part of a pilot reform program at Ooltewah Middle School paid for by the Middle Schools for a New Society grant. The reform program now is in its second year in Hamilton County’s 21 middle schools.

Mrs. Brannon said the biggest benefit of the looping experiment is the familiarity she has with all her students.

“You don’t lose time having to learn your students all over again,” she said. “We (teachers) need them to know us, and we need to know them. You kind of jump that hurdle the second year and you start off much better.”

With a four-year, $6 million grant from the Lyndhurst Foundation, each middle school created a reform plan for their school, with a specific focus on math, literacy and smooth grade-to-grade transitions.

Like other middle schools across the district, Ooltewah is in the planning stages for next year’s grant, and must submit an initial application by the end of April.

Teachers, principals and change coaches met last week at the Chattanoogan hotel to discuss which ideas worked last year, which didn’t and which must be tweaked. Single-gender classes and alternative schedules are on the drawing board, along with looping teachers, but so far Ooltewah is the only middle school that has used grant money to experiment with assigning teachers to the same group of students for two years.

Proponents of the looping plan say teachers spend less time at the beginning of the year re-teaching old material since they already know their students. As a result, teachers say students are further ahead academically, and perform better in class because they know their instructors and the subject matter more intimately.

Although several Hamilton County elementary schools have looping teachers, Ismahen Kangles, director of the middle school initiative, said teacher certification can make looping an impractical option at the middle school level. An elementary certification — which some middle school teachers have — allows instructors to teach up to sixth grade, but not seventh and eighth, so some middle school teachers cannot move from sixth to seventh grade.

Mrs. Schulte said she thinks she is a more effective teacher because of the two years she’s had to cultivate relationships with her students.

“You know you’re going to have them for two years, so the investment seems to be much greater, and you seem to plan a lot more at the beginning,” she said.

Because Mrs. Hamilton has the same students for two successive years of math, she said knows exactly which math concepts they learned the previous year, and is able to build on that foundation.

“There’s a little more accountability there,” she said.

Ms. Sheunemann said the two years of instruction gives her a chance to cover a broad topic such as language arts in greater depth.

“I think, ‘OK, I’m going to tackle this (concept) in seventh grade, but if we don’t get to it in seventh grade, we’ll hit in eighth grade,’” she said.

Students who are part of the looping team, called the Talons, recognize that academically they are ahead of their peers. They also say having a teacher who understands their individual learning style is helpful. Still, some said they wouldn’t want to try looping again.

“If you like the teacher, it’s a good thing, but it can be boring,” said Tanner Hancock, 13. “You already know how (your teacher) teaches and you’re stuck with the same group of kids.”

Eighth-grader Alysha Norwood’s concern is that at the start of a new year, teachers already have students pegged, and “know how they act.”

But classmate Gary Price, 14, says being part of the Talons has made school easier for him, and he feels more prepared for ninth grade.

“We’re a smart group, but we got off to a good start because we started learning on the first day (of eighth grade) instead of the second or third week,” he said.

After students at Ooltewah Middle take the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests in a couple of weeks, administrators will evaluate the Talons’ results to determine the effectiveness of looping, and whether the school will try the program again next year.