Sparta schools thrown for a ‘loop'

Looping, an educational concept where students stay with the same classmates and teacher year to year, has been used for over a decade, yet many are unaware of the beneficial effect research says it has on children. According to Dr. Kathleen Monks, superintendent of Curriculum and Staff Development, the educational benefits are so great and have such a huge body of research to back it them up, that 99% of parents agree to the proposal when asked. “The teachers are excited about the differences they find when looping, in how much material they can cover in September. They know what they have taught the children the last year; no assessments are needed,” said Monks. The overwhelming benefits impact not only the job of the teachers, but as it is intended, the children feel it, too. Courtney Noone, an eighth grade Sparta student reflects on her experience while looping into fourth grade with teacher, Barbara Kostenko at Helen Morgan School, “Academically, it was helpful because right at the beginning of fourth grade we were able to start learning,” Noone said. “Socially, it helped because I already knew my whole class. I would recommend looping for others.” Her mother, Alyssa, agrees that the looping experience was a valuable one for her daughter. “As a parent, I thought looping was a very positive experience for both social and academic reasons. It alleviated any anxiety of the new year because the children, teacher and parents were familiar with one another as well as the classroom itself. The children learned to become more tolerant of one another and accepted each others’ behaviors,” the elder Noone said. “Academically, the school year began with minimal review allowing the focus to be on new learning material right from the start. Mrs. Kostenko became a wonderful household name. We are very thankful for her dedication to our community.” Despite the seemingly limitless upside, Monks admits the dynamics in the classroom have to be right for the situation to work this effectively. Jill Binder, Sparta resident and mother of four, is permitting her third child to loop from kindergarten to first grade come September. “I’m glad he’s looping in the younger grades because I was not completely satisfied when my older son looped from third to fourth grade,” Binder said. “I thought his fourth year resembled his third year too much.” In addition, some feel learning to cope with a different teacher each year is a part of the educational process and they are also missing an opportunity to get to know different classmates on a daily basis. According to Monks, the research shows that the beneficial impact looping has on children starts to deteriorate after the second year. If the students and teacher loop for a third year, the advantages decline as the teacher begins to compensate for the child. Although the academic advantages to looping are significant, Sparta school district only uses this concept at the elementary level. “We only do it in the elementary level in this district because of the set-up of teams in the middle school and the certification issues we run into,” said Monks. Some districts use this valuable learning method on a regular basis. Over the past five years, Sparta’s public elementary schools try to take advantage of it whenever they can, but it does not occur every year. They use it when a teacher requests a grade change or they have a need for a teacher elsewhere. Being the number of students at each grade level is different and the number of children within the same grade level fluctuates every year, the district’s need for the number of teachers in each grade varies accordingly. The district always gives the parent the option to either participate in the program or opt out. “Every child is different and it only works when the dynamics are specifically working well,” said Monks. “For all of the years we’ve been doing it, no one has ever been sorry with the situation once the school year begins.”