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'Looping' allows teachers to move on along with pupils
Tuesday, October 03, 2000 By Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Peek through the door, and Jane Rubin's fifth-grade classroom at Fort Pitt Elementary in Garfield looks like any other elementary classroom. Charts, posters and pupils' artwork brighten the white plaster walls; cursive notes in chalk on the blackboard remind pupils of classroom procedures and daily assignments.
What's striking is the close relationship between the pupils and their teacher -- even though the school year has been under way for little more than a month.
Lining up at the door at 10:30 a.m. for the short walk to the cafeteria for lunch, several pupils stop to hug Rubin or share a tidbit of news or gossip from the day before.
"I'm used to her and she's used to me," said Kayla Kohlman, 10, with a matter-of-fact nod of the head.
Ditto for her classmates.
Rather than separating into the cliques that inevitably form in many American classrooms, students -- no matter their race, academic ability or physical appearance -- have morphed into one big, happy, cohesive group, said Rubin. Or as Kohlman put it, "I feel like it's my family."
That's because the entire class, teacher included, was together last year for fourth grade -- an educational practice called looping.
Also called teacher-student progression and multiyear instruction, looping is advancing a teacher from one grade level to the next along with his or her class. It is most common in elementary grades, though in some districts, such as the Attleboro School District in Massachusetts and the Manatee Education Center in Naples, Fla., it can continue through grade eight.
While it's far from the norm in most American schools, looping is hardly a new concept.
Until 1848, when Quincy Grammar School in Boston opened, classrooms were not graded in the United States, according to Irv Richardson, associate executive director of staff development for educators in New Hampshire. It was only after education reformer and legislator Horace Mann visited European schools in 1843 and brought their methods back to American classrooms that today's rigidly organized school system emerged.
Looping started to fall out of favor in the late '30s and '40s, when reformers made the push toward age-specific, time-bound classes, said education consultant Jim Grant, co-founder of the National Alliance of Multiage Educators.
"People were looking for something new," he said. "They weren't valuing the concept of the relationship factor."
Long used in Japan and Germany and in the private Waldorf Schools, looping has been rediscovered by U.S. public schools, thanks to a growing body of research attesting to its educational benefits. Though it's hard to say how many schools are doing it -- no one keeps those kinds of statistics -- educators increasingly are expressing interest in it.
A national conference on looping sponsored by NAME drew teachers and administrators from 48 states and four foreign countries last year, said Richardson.
Acmetonia Primary in the Allegheny Valley School District offers a hybrid of looping. For the past four years, veteran teacher Judy Bouch has taught a group of first- and second-graders for two successive years.
One of the biggest benefits of looping, say proponents, is the sense of stability it provides students, particularly in the early years, when school can be a frightening place. Coming into the second year of the loop, kids don't have to worry if their new teacher is nice or if they'll fit in with a new group of kids; teachers know the pupils' routines and personal experiences that could affect learning, such as a divorce or death of a grandparent.
"You forget how scary it is for kids to start school each fall," said Karen Winters, principal of Garfield Elementary School in Livonia, Mich., where looping is mandated for all 16 teachers in grades K-6. "Anything we can do to make them more secure, the better."
That is especially true in schools with a large number of poor or transient pupils, as well as those that offer only half-day kindergarten programs, said Mike Bowman, principal of Lockwood Primary School in Billings, Mont., which started looping seven years ago.
"For them to know they can rely on one teacher to get them through, that's a real benefit," he said.
And that's just the beginning. Experts say teachers in the second year of a loop can gain upwards of six weeks of instructional time at the beginning of the school year because they don't have to start from scratch, learning a new set of names and personalities and going over classroom rules and expectations. They also don't have to waste time reassessing or diagnosing pupils' abilities, knowledge base and personal learning styles.
"You can read all you want in the file," said Rubin, "but [teachers who loop] know their pupils' strengths and weaknesses and can plan accordingly."
With the proper support, looping can also address one of teachers' biggest complaints: that they never have enough time with students.
In a traditional classroom, kids learn a set curriculum in a certain number of days. As a result, a child who doesn't "get it" by year's end might have to be held back or referred for learning support.
Teachers who loop, on the other hand, enjoy more flexibility in when and how that knowledge is mastered.
"There's no rush of, oh, it's January, I have to be at this point," said Trish Rygalski, a second-grade teacher at Fort Pitt. "Students who don't work up to their potential that first year can suddenly blossom in the second, and usually do."
Attleboro School District, which has looped since 1991, reports 43 percent fewer retentions and a 55 percent reduction in special-education referrals.
There is also some evidence that looping boosts pupil performance, because teachers are able to spend more time on individual instruction and feel more responsible for pupil success.
In a 1996 national survey by University of Florida education professor Paul S. George, 90 percent of those polled said that achievement improved for less successful pupils because teachers were better able to figure out what they needed; 93 percent said they were more likely to get in touch with a parent about a pupil who was having trouble.
When a teacher is with a child for 360 days instead of the usual 180, "you have more time to move them toward where they need to be," said Jerome Morris, administrative practitioner at Fort Pitt.
"When you have a kid in your life for two years, you're a real street fighter for that kid's needs," agreed Grant.
Because they're so comfortable with one another, pupils, too, are more likely to ask questions if they don't understand a concept or encourage a classmate who is having trouble.
"When kids trust you and feel comfortable with you, their performance is better," said Jessica Zahorchak, a fourth-grade teacher at Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary in the Greensburg Salem School District, which instituted looping in four classrooms this fall, including Zahorchak's.
Schools that loop also enjoy a continuity of learning from year to year that isn't always found in a conventional classroom. Rubin pointed out how her pupils discovered a reference to Mufaro's beautiful daughter, a story they studied in fourth grade, while reading the folk tale "The Talking Eggs" recently in class.
Schools that loop also experience better behavior and attitudes toward school. Since it started looping in 1990, Fort Pitt has enjoyed a large reduction in out-of-school suspensions. Other schools report improved attendance and increased parent involvement.
"You form relationships with the family and get to know them as people," said Rygalski.
Looping also gives a lot of bang for the buck.
Because it focuses on individual classrooms instead of the entire school, it is relatively low-risk. It is also relatively inexpensive to implement, except for teacher workshops in new content areas and team-building to ease the transition.
So why aren't more schools doing it?
"Tradition," said Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor of teaching and teacher education at Stanford University and executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. "People are most comfortable doing what they grew up with."
Also, many teachers and administrators -- and most parents -- aren't aware of the research into looping.
"Reforms need sirens and bells, and this is the wallflower at the dance," said Grant. "All you're selling is a strong bonded relationship over two years."
Another downside: Parents fear getting stuck with a weak teacher two years in a row, while teachers worry about a second year with a difficult child or miserable parent. But poor teachers, looping advocates point out, rarely volunteer for the job because it means learning two curriculums.
In some states, there could also be contractual issues, such as whether the job must be posted or if looping will affect seniority.
Like any educational practice, there is no one way to implement looping. And it won't necessarily work in every school. But educators can take certain steps to increase its success.
For starters, looping should never be mandated, either for children or teachers. Parents and pupils must also be allowed to opt out of the looped classroom if there's a personality clash.
In addition to a committed staff and administrators, there should be a good mix of children in each classroom. Principals need to make sure classes are balanced so one teacher doesn't get too many disciplinary problems or kids who need extra help.
Also, looping works only if teachers make valuable use of the additional time they get with students.
Another drawback, though a bittersweet one: After two or more years together, it's sometimes difficult to say goodbye -- for teacher and pupil alike.
"You're so attached," said Rubin, smiling.
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