Further expansion of SLI reveals teacher commitment to students

Three years ago, the impending visit from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) had the school in a state of anxiety. The visiting committee was to evaluate the school’s capabilities to educate, and the results of the review would determine the school’s accreditation.

Fortunately, the school passed with a six-year accreditation, the highest that WASC grants. WASC was impressed with the school’s self-review and plans for its continual self-improvement— including the implementation of the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI).

SLI seeks to teach students active ways of engaging with their schoolwork. For the past few summers, the school has sent teachers to be trained with SLI strategies. By introducing the SLI program to every department, the school is demonstrating an admirable commitment to its students.

SLI may not have been the sole contributor to the school’s improved performance in statewide testing. However, its introduction in the ELD Department last year, followed by the significant improvement in ELD scores, shows that further SLI training may be beneficial.

Teachers already spend a lot of time on their jobs, whether they are correcting papers or designing lesson plans. It is admirable that teachers in every department attended the October SLI training because they believed that it could, even if only by a slight margin, benefit their students.

At times, it can seem as if teachers only emphasize what students can do to become better learners. By going the extra mile to improve as well, teachers dispel the illusion that students are fully responsible for their own education and self-improvement.

This year, the school’s Academic Performance Index (API) increased, a score given to schools based partially on a school’s test scores. This increase may have had a correlation to the SLI training. But even if the API does not further increase as a result of this year’s training, it is doubtless that SLI strategies are beneficial. The skill of being able to decipher a dense textbook is one that is applicable in history class as well as in science class.

Years from now, students might not remember (or care about) things like logarithms. However, if teachers can help students discover how they learn, the students will be able to apply that knowledge to any endeavor. In teaching students how to engage with their reading, SLI strategies provide a valuable first step in student learning.