Impact on Student Achievement

With the Four Worlds of History (4WH), partner teachers witnessed immediate positive impact on student performance-- for all students.

4WH results

♦ In a class of 6th grade Developing Readers & Writers (DRW), on average 40% of students earned a perfect score on their first chapter tests, only 10% scored Below Basic (BB), and no students scored Far Below Basic (FBB).  (DRW classes are comprised of students who had 5th grade CST scores of BB & FBB in English Language Arts.)  The 4WH writing prompt was used for each unit and supported students to respond with clear and substantive essays.  Karen West, Mulholland Middle School in LAUSD, had never seen test scores and writing samples of this caliber from DRW students. 

♦ In Gifted and Talented Education (GATE), 7th graders' use of social science factors was fast and fluid, and enabled them to quickly connect concepts and trace relationships.  Martha Infante and Jennifer Manning, LA Academy in LAUSD, explained that the 4WH model was the most powerful tool they have been able to give their students to achieve key GATE objectives of depth and complexity. 

♦ When CST scores were reported in August 2011, Olivia Naturman at Hesby Oaks attributed her results in history --the highest in LAUSD-- to the 4WH model.  Olivia's classes include English Learners, and students in GATE and Special Education.  94% of her 8th graders scored Proficient or Advanced; none scored Far Below Basic. She credits 4WH with her 20 point bump in 2011.  And in 2012, she went to 95% with 85% of students scoring Advanced and none scoring BB or FBB.

♦ Nancy Ruvalcaba teaches 8th grade US History at Bud Carson Middle School in Hawthorne USD. In August 2010, she attended a Saturday workshop on 4WH for 7th grade.  She knew the training would not cover specific 8th grade applications, but she was searching for new strategies to help her teach.  For the spring 2011 semester, she pioneered the 4WH model in her US history classes and saw immediate gains in language development and understanding of social science concepts across the board.  She attributes her 28 point bump in 2011 CST scores to the 4WH model.

The implications are profound.

If your students had CST gains in history in 2012, to what element of your teaching do you attribute your increased effectiveness?
If students had no gains or had losses, what strategies will you pursue this year that you feel will help you increase your effectiveness?

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