Teamwork Helps Glendale's Copper Canyon High School Beat the Odds

GLENDALE - Feb. 12, 2009 - A little teamwork can go a really long way. For one Glendale high school, it helped administrators, teachers and students "Beat the Odds."

When teachers at Copper Canyon High School began collaborating on lesson plans and classroom activities, their creativity and individuality blossomed. So did their students' test scores.

The school, part of the Tolleson Union High School District, is one of 59 Maricopa County schools participating in the Beat the Odds School Partners Program - a school-based initiative of the Center for the Future of Arizona. A culture of collaboration is one of the six Beat the Odds keys to improving individual student achievement.

"When hiring, we let teachers know that we are a community of learners so they come to the job with the right attitude," said Principal Lloyd Willis.

Copper Canyon High School opened in August 2004 and became a four-year high school in the 2007-2008 academic year. Currently, it serves more than 1,800 freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Minorities make up 85 percent of the student population. Seventy-two percent of the total student population is Hispanic.

One of the challenges Principal Willis initially faced was that many of the teachers, including the department chairs, were just starting their teaching careers. New teachers are typically overwhelmed and sometimes have concerns about spreading themselves too thin by participating on a collaborative team. Once they had experienced being on a collaborative team, however, they enthusiastically embraced them.

"Don't be afraid of being on a team," said Lynn Duffy, a member of the integrated science team. "Although we do individual lesson plans together and decide what activities we'll develop, individuality and creativity are enhanced."

"Being on a team helped a lot," added Diana Given, the school's geometry team leader. "I learned a lot of new ideas. It keeps you from getting in a rut. Every person brings something new to the team. Also, by discussing the material, you get a lot deeper understanding of the material."

Copper Canyon's 10th grade AIMS scores in reading, writing and math showed considerable improvement of four to nine percentage points between 2007and 2008. Teachers attribute increased scores and student success to collaborative efforts and improved school climate.

Clearly, teacher collaboration is making an impact for both students and teachers. Principal Willis said putting the right people together was vitally important. And once the right teams are in place, his advice is simple - get out of the way.

The result of following his advice? A school just might find itself "Beating the Odds."