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Pete Hall
Anderson (Elementary)
Dynamic Instructional Leadership
Reversing the direction of a school in academic decline is a daunting challenge, but Pete Hall put Anderson Elementary in Reno, Nevada on a success course in just two short years. This remarkable feat has been recognized nationally and Pete was awarded ASCD’s prestigious “Outstanding Young Educator of 2004”.
Anderson Elementary had a track record of achievement until 1984-2004 when a dramatic change in demographics impacted scores. The school’s population changed from 5%-60% ELL and up to 91% low income designation.
As a 30 year old “newbie”, Hall was hired as the principal with a mandate to systemically change the school. Understanding that staff support and buy-in were critical to the change, he charted the following steps to writing and implementing a School Improvement Plan.
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Pete interviewed every existing staff member and challenged them to rededicate themselves to the mission of the school.
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He hired 13 new teachers, including an additional literacy coordinator and 3 reading specialists.
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He identified a school district with high achieving schools whose demographics mirrored those of Anderson’s and took faculty members to visit those schools for 9 days, allowing for observation and discussion.
When the staff returned, they voted that literacy would take precedence over every other activity in the school and began to write the plan. Changes included:
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Increasing literacy instructional time from 90 minutes to 180 minutes daily.
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Creating a balanced literacy curriculum for the additional 90 minute literacy block (in addition to their Success for All program).
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Using assessment data to guide instructional decisions
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Creating time for teacher collaboration.
To allow for collaborative time, Pete and his Dean involved all students in whole school activities, every Wednesday allowing for 1 hour and 15 minutes of teacher time.
All teachers in the school were also assigned to complete an action research project.
The results were immediate. Anderson made Adequate Yearly Progress for two years in a row. The percent of students passing the state assessments has improved from:
24.3% to 38.6% for whole school and 23% - 39% for low income and Latino students.
An interesting bonus was how improving reading impacted math scores. ELL math pass rates changed from 5% to 56% of students.
Pete has made a career change and is now the principal of Sheridan Elementary in Spokane Washington. He is available for consulting/presentations and can be contacted through his website:
( nominated by Lynnette Johnson , administrator)
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