Learn more about the Excellence in Education Awards Additional profiles: Carthay Center Elementary Wonderland Avenue Elementary Irving Middle School White House Place Primary Center Community Magnet School Lowman Special Education Center Magnolia Avenue School Elizabeth Learning Center Park Western Place Elementary Coeur d'Alene Elementary

Excellence in Education Awards Naomi Glickfeld, Marcia Koff and Linda Weissler Welby Way Gifted Magnet 23456 Welby Way, West Hills Gigi Elder, Principal A LEARN School Canoga Park/Taft/El Camino Cluster -- Joseph Lushkin, Cluster Administrator RESULTS: Standardized test scores are high for fourth-grade students at Welby Way Gifted Magnet with median percentiles ranging from 89 to 91 across subjects; scores improved last year over the year before. Each year a committee of parents, teachers and administrators examine a random selection of writing samples across grade levels and rate them on a four-point scale. Last year, 99 percent of the samples were rated at the two highest levels. The fourth-grade teaching team works together to provide an enriched and challenging curriculum for their gifted students with clear goals, multiple methods of assessment and extensive communication with parents and other stakeholders. The writing program is integrated across the curriculum and strives to engage students in authentic writing experiences. An important building block in the program is the "Sentence Expansion Program" which develops narrative writing skills while giving an insight into the structure of language. Students use the techniques learned through sentence expansion for narrative, descriptive, informative and expository essays, stories and book reports. "Readers are Learners," a creative book report program, allows students to put themselves in the role of historical characters in their biographical book reports. Reports are displayed on a classroom wall, documenting progress. The Writer's Workshop gives students the freedom to choose their own topics and work at their own pace while they develop their skills through all the steps of the writing process. Goals are set forth in the school's Site Action Plan and are communicated to parents in the form of a Grade Level Brochure. Initial baselines are established on each student and a variety of instructional strategies and interventions are used to help students progress to where they need to be in the educational continuum. Intervention with students having difficulty achieving may include tutoring or modification of assignments so that a student can be successful.