Winning school strategist

Retired U.S. Army colonol helps boost student test scores

Advertisement

After 26 years in the United States Army, including service in Vietnam, Col. Jimmie Jones retired in the mid-1990s and quickly found his way into another field -- education.

Now he's planning to retire on April 14, although he'll do some consulting about education issues.

The principal at West Middle School, operated by Edison Schools, would appear to have reason to be proud of his accomplishments at the 2050 Saphire Stone Ave. facility.

He was only there for about two years, but his efforts made a difference.

"West Middle School is one that traditionally had trouble, did not perform academically," said Jones, a Ph.D., who added that he won't be back after spring break and will move east to Jacksonville, Fla., to enjoy retirement.

In 2002-03, adequate yearly progress tests revealed an unhappy situation at the West Las Vegas school, which teaches grades 6-8. The Nevada State Criterion Reference Tests scores revealed some severe inadequacies: in mathematics, 17 percent of eighth-graders tested proficient, 44 percent of them showed proficiency in writing, and 15 percent tested proficient in reading.

"West started at a lower point to move up from. It is an at-risk school and had a very bad reputation," Jones said.

During his first full year at West Middle, eighth-grade math scores rose to 18.3 percent. But performance in writing plunged to 30.1 percent. Reading jumped up to 19.2 percent.

In the past year, however, the proficiency levels leaped by an average of 10 points, to 30 percent in math, back up to 44 percent in writing, and to 29 percent in reading -- improvements ranging from 25 percent to 35 percent.

"We are testing this week to see what the scores are going to be this year," he said during a recent interview.

A state education official took note of the academic gains the school was making.

"They showed some significant improvement," said Gloria Dopf, state deputy superintendent for instruction, research and evaluation.

She said it is heartening to see this sort of improvement in test scores over a short period.

And the strides were attributed in large part to Jones' efforts.

"I think he's done a wonderful job," said Billie Rayford, assistant regional superintendent for the northwest region of the Clark County School District. "He has really worked with the community. He's just made instruction his focus."

As to the improvements in testing, she added, "That was certainly his mission, to raise the student test scores."

What made the environment Jones found in 2003 even more challenging was a high rate of teacher turnover.

"The last year before I came here, 25 teachers did not return at the end of summer vacation. After my first year, only three didn't come back," Jones said.

Jones said he believes the working conditions and lack of morale at the school caused staff to flee for greener pastures.

The 900-student school, Jones explained, carries 43 licensed staff members.

"I changed the climate and working conditions," he said. "With better conditions, you increase efficiency, you have more pride and job satisfaction. We let everyone know what the expectations were. We stress one team. We are all one team, and the strongest part of this school is its weakest link, so we know we must all pull together. We became stronger by increasing the strength of that weak link. 'We're not going to let you pull us down, we're going to pull you up.' "

In the past, he said, "The only thing that had happened was that this school had been beat up and beat up and beat up. Over the past two years, we have not had a negative reportable incident in the newspaper. They needed someone to believe in them, and I did, and I told them so."

Jones said a core group of teachers has gone out of its way to continue the momentum, coming in on Saturdays to help the students.

He also has instituted his own Saturday School for students who have been cited for minor infractions. Each Saturday, he said, he comes in and spends two hours teaching them -- one hour for math, one for English.

"Some even ask to come back," he added.

With degrees ranging from chemistry to educational management and long experience in military leadership, Jones believes he has brought West Middle School a balance of style and technique that works.

And that doesn't allow for failure. "If a student fails to learn, that's like losing a soldier in battle, and you can't afford it," he said. "I don't like to lose. And to me, if you're not achieving, you're losing."

Jones has had a history of success in different fields.

He coached the Army team in the Boston Marathon in 1993, when it took fourth place in the world.

"I've run it four times," he said.

In 1997, he was the Arizona Coach of the Year in girls track and field, and in 2003 he took part in the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Redesigning American Schools Institute.

Coming from several years in school administration in Baltimore, Md., he looks back and said he is pleased with what was accomplished at West Middle School.

"I never saw people work so hard and get so little recognition as the staff here," he said.