Implementation Description

Alamance Community School (ACS) opened its doors to students in the Fall of 2020. They serve a diverse student population from kindergarten to third grade, and forty-three percent of their students qualify as Educationally Disadvantaged (ED). The school’s leadership team wanted to meet the needs of all learners, especially students in poverty, and knew that creating a supportive environment for students is essential for student success. After much research, the leadership chose to implement Responsive Classroom (RC) practices to build a foundation for a positive and safe learning environment.

Studies have shown that students living in poverty experience higher levels of stress and need to feel affirmation and stability from school leaders before they can successfully engage in their education (Jensen, 2013). The Responsive Classroom addresses these needs by creating classrooms in which classroom management strategies are explicitly taught, and staff actively work to build positive classroom communities. Providing routine and structure for students has been shown to help them feel safe and increases the likelihood of learning (Hemmeter, Ostrosky, & Fox, 2006/2020) A 2007 study across six different schools found “that teachers' use of RC practices was associated with students' improved reading achievement, greater closeness between teachers and children, better pro-social skills, more assertiveness, and less fearfulness” (Rimm-Kaufman & Chiu, 2007). 

Alamance Community Schools used NC ACCESS funding to finance the costs associated with Responsive Classroom, including curriculum, materials, and staff professional development. The school purchased instructional guides, interactive reading guides, chimes to signal quiet time, and digital subscriptions for students. Additionally, the staff participated in two days of professional development prior to the start of the school year. This training focused on how to implement Responsive Classroom practices for the first six weeks of school. Topics addressed included how to establish classroom routines and procedures and how to launch Morning Meetings. After ACS staff was trained, school leadership wanted to involve families by inviting them to participate in a virtual Morning Meeting. During this time, parents learned about the school and experienced what their children would experience each day in the classroom. Research has shown that parental involvement in their child(ren)’s education can increase the likelihood of student engagement and success (Bogenschneider & Johnson, 2004). These sessions with families also provided an opportunity for school staff who were experienced in Responsive Classroom practices to model the implementation of Morning Meetings for new staff with little or no experience with RC. 

Once the school year began, students quickly learned class routines and eagerly participated in morning meetings. During bimonthly curriculum meetings, teachers participated in additional training addressing specific strategies, such as redirecting language and logical consequences. As the Curriculum Director and the Principal visited classrooms, they observed which practices needed additional support to improve classroom implementation. These strategies became the targeted topic during the next Curriculum Meeting in order to refine teacher’s skills with Responsive Classroom strategies.

Results

The school Principal reported that she believes the school successfully created a kind, inclusive, safe environment for students where everybody felt valued. Students reported feeling scared on the first day of school, but over time, classmates and staff began to feel like family. One teacher reported that students thought the last day of school was bittersweet, because they did not want the year to end. Families also reported seeing changes in their students. Late in the school year, the principal called the parent of a third grader to discuss a student’s infraction and consequence. The child’s mother was supportive and expressed her thanks for implementing logical consequences. She shared that her child’s behavior had improved greatly over the course of the year and that, in fact, this was the best school year her child had experienced. The principal attributes the staff’s success with Responsive Classroom practices for empowering the student to improve throughout the year.

Challenges

During virtual learning, ACS found it to be difficult to implement some responsive classroom practices, such as using reinforcing language. Additionally, it was difficult to establish Responsive Classroom routines and procedures during hybrid learning, because students were only present two days a week. ACS teachers knew prioritizing these practices was critical to the success of Responsive Classroom, so they maintained Morning Meetings throughout the year and adapted their virtual learning schedule so afternoon sessions were used for small group instruction. 

Future Modifications

Responsive Classroom is scheduled to deliver a two-day, in-person school-wide training in August and a two-day virtual training in September. ACS’s Curriculum Director will offer ongoing support during the school year by providing more classroom modeling of teacher language, closing circles, and conflict resolution for teachers.

Critical Components

Getting Started

School leadership commented that their NC ACCESS funding was essential in enabling the school to purchase Responsive Classroom curriculum and materials. They also commented on the importance of having seven Responsive Classroom trained staff members already employed by ACS who were able to support their colleagues throughout the year. 

Ongoing Supports

Having the ACS teachers and support staff engage in the 4 days of Responsive Classroom PD has been critical for the beginning of the year.  During the first six weeks of school, students and staff discussed their hopes and dreams for the school year. This helps the ACS community of learners get excited about what they will learn and also makes a personal connection.  By inviting students (and staff) to name their hopes and dreams (learning goals) for the year, shows them that they are valued members of the classroom, that school is a safe place, and that they will have a lot of fun and challenging learning to do this year. Creating a tone of trust and respect is one of the most important things we do at the beginning of the year.  After they determined their hopes and dreams, the students and the teacher create the classroom rules.  These are the rules that need to be in place so that everyone can achieve their hopes and dreams.  Rules and routines that are reasonable and fair give children a sense of security and belonging.  We know that children will break the rules (adults do too).  Sometimes children forget, become unsure, and sometimes they want to test limits. Because the ACS staff will have spent weeks building a strong foundation for a caring learning community, we are able to follow up with effective strategies and most importantly, the use of logical consequences.  Logical consequences help to fix the problems that result from children’s words and actions when they break or forget the rules. Logical consequences help children regain self-control, reflect on their mistakes, and make amends for them.  They should always be respectful of the child, relevant to the situation, and reasonable in scale. 

ACS staff will continue to attend on-going professional development to ensure the successful implementation of Responsive Classroom practices throughout the year.  For example, the counselor and the curriculum director will provide Responsive Classroom “re-boot” PD after holiday breaks, etc.

Equity Connections

Students who are experiencing poverty are in greater need of social and emotional support for the development of positive relational skills and academic success (Jensen, 2013). ACS implemented Responsive Classroom practices in order to provide a more welcoming and safe environment, in which educationally disadvantaged students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

Research

1.     Bogenschneider, K. & Johnson, C. (February, 2004). “Family Involvement in Education: How Important Is It? What Can Legislators Do?”. University of Wisconsin-Madison

University Extension. Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars. P. 1. Accessed on June 21, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/hdfs/fii/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/fia_brchapter_20c02.pdf 

2.     Hemmeter, M.L., Ostrosky, M., & Fox, L. (2006; updated July 13, 2020). “Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning: A Conceptual Model for Intervention”. School Psychology Review 35(4) (2006): 583–601. Accessed on June 21, 2021. Retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/importance-schedules-routines 

3.     Jensen, Eric. (May 2013). “How Poverty Affects Classroom Engagement”. Educational Leadership. Volume 70 | Number 8 Faces of Poverty Pages 24-30. Accessed June 21, 2021. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx 

4.     Rimm-Kaufman, S.E. & Chiu, Y.I. (March 16, 2007). “Promoting social and academic competence in the classroom: An intervention study examining the contribution of the Responsive Classroom approach”. Psychology in the Schools. Volume44, Issue 4. Pages 397-413. Accessed June 21, 2021. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pits.20231

5.     United States Census Bureau, Quick Facts North Carolina, Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NC/PST045219

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