District strives to help every student achieve

Final part of a three-part series.

“It really starts from a strong district-wide emphasis on open instruction,” said Dr. Thomas Triosi, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Valley Stream Central High School District, when it comes to narrowing and closing any achievement gaps among various racial groups.

There are not specific, specialized programs, but instead a network of initiatives that all work together to improve student performance. But work without faith is dead, as the biblical saying goes, so administrators have high expectations and confidence in students. It’s called setting the bar high, said Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich, meaning that if you give students something to aspire to, they will achieve it. And the reverse is also true. “If you set the bar low, people have nothing to reach,” he said.

Students are exposed to the most rigorous curriculum, thanks to an open enrollment policy, allowing students to take an array of course from standard to advanced. The district has a “most challenging program,” which encourages students to take demanding courses. They also must take four years of math and science at the high school level, Heidenreich said.

But in order to tackle challenging material, there must be an arsenal of weapons designed to help students learn and navigate through the material, with attention paid to the differences in learning styles among students. As a result of using those tools, administrators explained, the achievement gap has narrowed, though there are not specific initiatives focusing solely on the gap.

Differentiation of instruction

Teachers use a variety of techniques, content and educational materials to address the different needs of children, Troisi said.

For example, students can access Castle Learning Online, which supports classroom instruction with content-related review work, practice sessions and testing, through the district’s website. It allows for self-paced study, so students can log in with an username and password to learn material on their own time. And they get immediate feedback on their assignments, which they can create and tailor just for them.