There was good reason to institute a school improvement program in Harvey, Illinois, a suburb south of Chicago, a few years back. The signs of a school system at risk were all present.

Student scores on mandated state tests were falling. A large number of teachers were retiring, and the district found it difficult to recruit new teachers. At the same time, the State Board of Education was developing rigorous academic standards and developing an academic watch system for “low-performing” schools.

The Harvey Education Association (HEA), working with the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and NEA, took the lead in the school improvement effort. With KEYS, an Association systemic approach to revitalizing schools, as the cornerstone of their work, leaders and UniServ staff began by building relationships with the school superintendent and school board members. They presented the concepts of KEYS to the school board during a public meeting.

The Association also introduced the school district to the Consortium for Educational Change (CEC) and created a district leadership team. After developing a working relationship with other local affiliates in the district, the Association participated in leadership training for change.

Continuing to move the agenda, Association leaders made presentations on KEYS to school leadership teams (SLTs). The SLTs then worked to get buy-ins from their school staffs to utilize the KEYS concepts. A KEYS training for four south suburban schools resulted in a five-member cadre of trainers.

Jo Anderson, director of IEA’s Center for Education Innovation, with support from UniServ Director Christine Woods, conducted school leadership team training and helped coordinate the process. NEA provided critical funding for KEYS.

Holmes Elementary School in Harvey offers a textbook example of how KEYS is making a difference in student achievement.

Holmes serves kindergartners through sixth graders, 95 percent of whom are eligible for a free or reduced- price lunch. Six in 10 students are African-American. Hispanic children comprise a fast-growing 40 percent of the student population.

Like other schools in the district, student performance had not been acceptable. It was time to try something new. Working collaboratively with a site-based leadership team and HEA, the school administration obtained a school reform grant from the State Board of Education, which HEA matched.

Following the KEYS model, administrators, teachers, staff, and parents assessed weaknesses and strengths at Holmes, then determined their goals.

What helped to cement the KEYS buy-in for members of the staff was their input and ownership over the process. The KEYS assessment pointed in one clear direction: Make reading improvement the priority.

After researching school reform models, attending a design fair, and conducting site visits, the Holmes community decided to implement the “Success for All/Roots and Wings” reading program. The adoption required secret ballot approval by 80 percent of the teachers and staff. The vote was unanimous.

Under “Success for All,” students are grouped by reading ability across grade levels. They receive 90 minutes of reading instruction each day, and they must spend 20 minutes a night reading to their parents. Every eight weeks, the students are evaluated and then regrouped according to their new level.

“Success for All” ensures consistency of instruction from kindergarten through sixth grade. It lets children know they are students of all the teachers and also requires students to work cooperatively with each other, building important socialization skills.

Perhaps most important are the eight-week assessments that provide students with a strong motivation to improve. They are regularly armed with information on how they are doing and what they must focus on to reach the next level. This empowers children in their own learning.

What impact has “Success for All” had on students? The eight-week assessments reveal that student reading performance is improving far beyond previous years. Under the cooperative learning program, student behavior is much improved. And teachers are more willing to try new things.

Some teachers have acknowledged that initially the changes were intimidating. The new processes required a different way to structure teaching, how students work together, and how students interact with their teachers. Once into the process, however—with a change in style and method of teaching— most classroom teachers achieve a comfort level and are very satisfied with the process.

Most important, Holmes students are taking more responsibility for their own performance. The process appears to be working.