Signal Hill Elementary School A School in the Long Beach Unified School District

How Signal Hill Creates a Team Environment

• Build trust: Principal Williams believes trust is established by having the same goals in mind, never wavering from putting the children first, and promoting open communication.
• Make decisions that are in the best interests of the children: Signal Hill’s philosophy is aligned with the superintendent’s philosophy of always putting the children first. The principal and staff always make decisions based on how they will affect student learning.
• Promote openness and communication: At Signal Hill, “everybody feels responsible for everybody;” teachers feel they are working on the same team to promote student achievement. It is not uncommon for teachers to develop connections with students outside of their classrooms.

How Signal Hill is Like a Team:

“You have to create a climate where ‘we’re all in this together.’ It’s hard work but we have fun and we celebrate the successes, and we trust each other.”

—Karen Williams, Principal

How Signal Hill Teachers Collaborate

• Share successful strategies at grade level meetings: At grade level meetings, which occur twice a month, teachers push each other by viewing each student’s progress by class. Teachers analyze test data and share successful strategies with each other.
• Articulate across grade levels at the end of the year: At the end of each school year, teachers meet with the grade above and below them to talk about strengths and challenges for each student, as well as what type of learning evidence they need from the previous year to understand where their incoming students are academically, behaviorally, and socially.
• Promote professional conversations: Signal Hill offers many opportunities for informal collaboration—in the office, in the copy room, at lunchtime, walking across the playground. These types of conversations are promoted through the atmosphere of teamwork and trust that is a part of the climate and culture of the school.

How Long Beach Unified Supports Its Schools

• Provide an array of comprehensive staff development: The district provides many different types of professional development, from how to develop academic vocabulary (based on Robert Marzano’s work), to how to deliver math instruction innovatively (developed by the district). The district offers staff development so that each individual principal does not have to provide it on his/her own. The assistant superintendent also typically provides trainings at principal meetings for them to take back to their schools.
• Use Essential Elements of Effective Instruction (EEEI): The Essential Elements of Effective Instruction is one of several required professional development courses for first and second year K-12 teachers in Long Beach and is incorporated into all direct instruction. These research-based principles set clear objectives, establish a purpose for learning and delineate specific behaviors to evaluate whether the objective was met. EEEI offers a framework for systematic instruction that includes task analysis input, modeling, guided practice monitoring and adjusting instruction, and closure.
• Create and disseminate a clear vision throughout the district: The superintendent conveys a clear vision of student achievement across the district toward which all schools are working, according to Principal Williams.