Making the Grade: While Other Schools Struggle with Online Learning, Margate Elementary School Excels

SCHOOL NEWS Making the Grade: While Other Schools Struggle with Online Learning, Margate Elementary School Excels

BY: JOHN DUKA

When the pandemic hit earlier this year, many schools, particularly those serving high percentages of Black, Latino, and Indigenous students, as well as children from underserved households, experienced declines in performance. But Margate Elementary, led by Principal Thomas Schroeder and his excellent faculty, coun-

tered that trend.

Margate Elementary, a Title 1 school in the Broward County Public Schools district, was one of a select group of schools in low-income areas (198 out of 2,210) that experienced no declines in student success during the spring of 2020, according to a research brief by Curriculum Associates. The remarkable finding is supported by data from Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready system, which Margate Elementary uses for online lessons and assessments. The system is used by 25 percent of U.S. students. In this small but mighty cohort of 198 schools, on average 88 percent of students were connected, and they completed an average of 34 lessons in about eight weeks of instruction. The average lesson passing rate was 81 percent. None of the schools had a passing rate lower than 70 percent. The numbers were consistent with those before the pandemic hit. In describing how Margate Elementary achieved its success, Principal Thomas Schroeder noted that human connection was a major driver in maintaining student performance. He added that the school ensured that all students had computers, internet access, a variety of instructional supports, and, most importantly, daily interactions with teachers. Also, having used the i-Ready system before the pandemic, students were comfortable with online learning.

“Maintaining close contact with our students kept them engaged and monitoring their progress in the i-Ready system enabled teachers to help students quickly and efficiently,” Principal Schroeder said. “Recognizing progress on their lessons that included schoolwide celebrations such as ice cream socials provided further motivation.”

While ensuring that all students can connect, engage, and continue to learn is difficult these days, it is not insurmountable. Margate Elementary proves that all students can succeed — and even thrive — during this national crisis.

Margate Elementary School is part of Broward County Public Schools. It serves more than 1,000 children from a variety of walks of life. To learn more about the school visit www.browardschools.com/margateelem

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