By Charles D. Brunt

Journal Staff Writer

About 300 New Mexico schools- nearly half of them- participate in Strengthening Quality in Schools programs. For students, the program involves four stages: Plan, Do, Study, Act. “That’s one of the processes we teach each school to use to improve student achievement,” said Laurel Moore, state director for the Strengthening Quality in Schools program. “Most people are used to planning and doing, but many times we don’t really study what we’ve done,” she said. Examining results to determine what worked and what didn’t makes it easier to expand  the program to other subjects, she said.

Planning starts by looking at data, such as standardized test scores, that help identify areas needing improvement.  Current teaching methods also are reviewed to determine whether they are effective or whether changes are needed.  The final step is deciding which teaching methods and materials will be used and setting up ways to measure the results.

The “Do” occurs when teachers and students put the plan into action. The “Study” component has students tracking their progress and posting results in the classroom.

Then it’s time to “Act” on what they have learned by making that information available to the rest of the school.  Acting also means applying the new knowledge to other areas of study. Renee Saucedo, who teaches  ninth-grade science at Rio Rancho High School, said, “We saw that our reading comprehension scores were low, and we knew that if we could impact our reading comprehension, then all of our scores should go up.” Saucedo focused on improving science reading comprehension.  The program then zeroed in on improving vocabulary. Students were intrigued with the idea that they were going to improve their vocabulary- and ultimately their understanding of what they read in their science books.

The students took frequent vocabulary tests during the program and posted their scores.  What resulted was an average 33 percent improvement in vocabulary test scores in a matter of weeks, Saucedo said.  Scores improved a minimum of 27 percent and up to 45 percent among the 60 students.