Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette photos Carolyn Davis, right, talks with just hired teacher Sarah Ricketts among some of the unpacked boxes in the auditorium at Weil Accelerated Learning Academy. Weil is one of eight accelerated learning academies to open.

By Joe Smydo
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Before Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt called for using student test data to guide instruction, Cindi Muehlbauer was doing just that as principal of Burgwin Elementary School in Hazelwood.

She had her teachers analyze test scores to develop an "action plan" for each pupil. Each month, Dr. Muehlbauer examined test results and other pupil work from each classroom to assess the quality of instruction.

Her use of data to boost achievement was one reason the district named her principal of Arlington Accelerated Learning Academy, one of eight enhanced schools that open tomorrow for about 4,000 elementary and middle-grade pupils.

	Carolyn Davis laughs with Charlene Goodwine in the school's office. They were discussing and upcoming luncheon for parents of pupils at Weil Accelerated Learning Academy to be held Aug. 30. Ms. Goodwine is the parent and community engagement specialist. Click photo for larger image. Previous articles in this series: Nontraditional leader moves schools ahead in Philadelphia (08/13/06) All-new $8.4 million city school curriculum (07/16/06) Benefits seen putting middle schools into K-8's (06/25/06) All-in-one plan for reforming underachieving schools (06/11/06)

The accelerated learning academies are the heart of Mr. Roosevelt's plan to raise achievement across the district. Most are in disadvantaged neighborhoods. All were created from low-performing schools.

Though he joined the district last August, the Roosevelt era, in a sense, dawns tomorrow. As the academies roll out the first of the improvement programs he selected, Mr. Roosevelt assumes full responsibility for test scores and other measures of the district's performance.

"Learning, to me, is a journey. So every year, I tell my students, we have to figure out how we're going to travel," said Carolyn Davis, 49, principal of Weil Accelerated Learning Academy in the Hill District.

Dr. Davis, who has led two other schools in more than 25 years with the district, has selected an airplane and "Soaring to Excellence" theme this school year that complements Mr. Roosevelt's "Excellence for All" plan. She invited Air Force personnel to greet the school's 360 pupils tomorrow.

Operating from 8 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. through June 14, the academies will have a school day that's 45 minutes longer and school year 10 days longer than at other district schools. The other 57 schools open Aug. 31.

All of the academies will have the America's Choice package of teaching strategies and curriculum supplements, such as structured readers and writers workshops, buildingwide literacy campaigns and "ramp-up" courses for lagging pupils. The district will pay America's Choice $3.6 million to operate the program in the eight schools for three years.

In addition, elementary pupils at the academies and other schools will have a new reading program this year, while middle-grade pupils and high school students districtwide will get their first taste of the $8.4 million standardized curriculum written by Kaplan K12 Learning Services. It's a lot of change and requires a lot of pupils, teachers and principals.

"We have to be at the top of our game," Dr. Davis said.

The academies have principals whom the district considers stars. Besides Dr. Muehlbauer and Dr. Davis, they are Verna Arnold at Fort Pitt, Garfield; MiChele Holly at King, North Side; David May at Northview, North Side; David May-Stein at Colfax, Squirrel Hill; Merridith Murray at Rooney, Brighton Heights; and James Nath at Murray, Mount Oliver.

Fort Pitt and Northview are K-5 schools. Rooney is a middle school. The others are K-8 schools.

Some of the principals, such as Dr. Muehlbauer at Burgwin and Mr. Nath at Mann Elementary on the North Side, were credited with beginning turnarounds at low-performing schools.

Though the former Colfax Spanish Academy also was a low-performing school, Mr. May-Stein had turned it into one of the district's most popular schools, even luring pupils back to the district from private schools.

Ms. Arnold said she saw gains at the former Fort Pitt Elementary when a three-year grant funded the America's Choice program there from 1999-2000 to 2001-02. "We know that the model can be successful if implemented correctly," said Ms. Arnold, 55, who will have 500 pupils at the Fort Pitt academy.

Academy principals will be in the cross hairs, their schools the most widely watched component of Mr. Roosevelt's turnaround agenda. If the structure proves effective, other schools are likely to be remade in similar fashion.

"I like the idea of acceleration, versus remediation," said Mrs. Murray, 36, who will have 340 pupils at Rooney.

The academies will try to move all pupils forward at a faster pace than traditional schools, with struggling pupils, in many cases, getting extra help in the same classroom as higher-performing peers. Remedial programs often involve pulling low-performers out of a classroom to revisit old material, while their peers work on something new.

The district hopes a faster learning pace will come, in part, from extra class time, an additional 1.2 years of instruction for a pupil who attends an academy from kindergarten through fifth grade, and the intense nature of America's Choice. Teachers will spend much of the day working with small groups, requiring pupils to demonstrate knowledge and explain how they worked out problems.

Some parents have expressed concern that Mr. Roosevelt's district reorganization -- he closed 22 schools June 14 -- would boost class sizes at remaining schools. Ms. Holly, 35, who will have 740 pupils at King, said her average class size of 22 was a "good number to work with."

Academy principals are on pay-for-performance contracts. To help them meet goals on pupil achievement, attendance, discipline and community engagement, principals got to pick their teachers.

"I think, ultimately, we were looking for the extraordinary people who were willing to do whatever it takes," said Dr. Muehlbauer, 44, who will have 550 pupils at the Arlington academy.

The academies take their names from the schools they replaced, and they're in the same buildings. The district considers the academies new schools, however, and hopes new administrators, a new attitude and infusion of resources will help create a culture of excellence.

"We even have a parent liaison to just work with parents and bring them on board," Mr. Nath said. "That's amazing."

Mr. Nath said he didn't like what he saw when he arrived at the old Murray Elementary after the past school year, and he kept none of its teachers. He said he built a faculty with "deep content knowledge" and a can-do mindset

"You don't have any naysayers," said Mr. Nath, 47. The Murray academy's 540 pupils will get to select the new school's colors and mascot.

If extra learning time and the America's Choice structure are considered key to raising pupil achievement, so, too, are professional development and data analysis.

Academy teachers will be paid an extra $6,300 a year for working longer hours, plus they'll receive a per-diem rate for five more professional development days than were scheduled for teachers at other schools.

The teachers' demanding new role comes with supports. The America's Choice program requires that schools assign some teachers as full-time literacy and math coaches to help colleagues do a better job in the classroom.

As Mr. Nath tells it, teachers and administrators will be something like doctors hovering over patients. He said the year would mean "constant, constant monitoring" of data to get pupils extra help if they're falling behind or additional opportunities if they can leap ahead.

At Burgwin, Dr. Muehlbauer's staff compiled graphs that tracked individual pupils' literacy skills over a period of months. Teachers offered a written "reflection" about the statistics, and Dr. Muehlbauer provided feedback to each. The exchanges helped set an agenda for professional development.

"I truly believe that having the best teachers standing in front of kids every day really has a huge impact on student achievement," she said.