Raising the Bar, Closing the Gap: Intervention and Enrichment at Canyon Lake

Over the past several years, Rapid City Area Schools educators have been engaged in the work of becoming a Professional Learning Community. This means that during our early release Wednesdays (and other common planning times), we've been determining essential outcomes for all students in each grade level and content area, developing common pacing guides for each team of teachers to follow, and creating common assessments to measure student progress; the work has been difficult, but rewarding. Now, we're turning our attention to two critical questions:

1. How do we respond when kids don't learn?
2. How do we enrich and extend learning for kids who are already proficient?

At Canyon Lake, and across the school district, our daily schedule includes an intervention and enrichment block. During this hour-long time period, groups of students are meeting in small groups with certified teachers; we're providing additional time and support for students who are struggling, and enriching learning for students who've already demonstrated proficiency at a significantly lower student-to-teacher ratio than we're able to provide in regular classroom instruction. 

This is a different approach than schools have traditionally used when students have struggled. In the past, schools have relied on summer school, possibly remedial courses, or retention. At Canyon Lake, our approach is systematic, meaning that we respond to students' needs based on a school-wide plan, using a wide range of data sources to identify the academic needs of our students in specific areas. Once we've identified the needs of students, we're able to create groups of students with similar needs. These intervention and enrichment cycles are six weeks in length, and we embrace the notion that we are ALL responsible for ALL of our students. Classroom teachers and instructional support teachers work with students from across the grade level to provide "point of need" teaching for students for four hours each week. 

Our Mission at Canyon Lake is, "Collaborating to ensure academic, social, and emotional growth for every student, every day," and we take our Mission seriously. Over the course of the year, we will continue to expand and deepen the opportunities that we provide to all of our students. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Source: DuFour,Richard, DuFour, Rebecca, Eaker, R. & Karhanek, G.A. (2010). Raising the bar and closing the gap: Whatever it takes. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.