• apply what they are learning

• reinforce lessons using different learning styles

• relate knowledge to the real world

• accelerate achievement at all levels, from non-responders to the gifted

This teaching technique is called a Fitzell Acceleration Center™.

An Acceleration Center™ is a designated area, file crate, file drawer, or pocketed bulletin board that provides students with standards-based learning activities, at a range of ability levels, so that students can focus on accelerating achievement towards meeting the standards. Acceleration Centers™ are not more worksheets. Rather, they are activities at varying levels where student learning style is taken into consideration.

Activities may be hands-on, involve manipulatives, include creativity, or come in the form of investigations or challenges that require critical thinking skills. Ideally, Acceleration Centers™ incorporate computer based instruction, often utilizing the one or two computers in the classroom in a way that is impractical with a whole class teaching model. The Acceleration Center™ may be focused on a particular skill area or weakness extracted from the school’s previous years state test data.

For example, secondary students are consistently weak in the areas of fractions and measurements. An Acceleration Center™ may focus completely on fractions and decimals and include activities as basic as matching numeric fractions to a fraction pie or as advanced as the use of decimals in calculus. This fraction / decimal-based Acceleration Center™ provides students who are not making adequate yearly progress with a forum for accelerating those skills as well as providing students who are at the highest level of achievement the opportunity to challenge their potential.

Co-teachers choose pockets of time during the week to assign students to work with the Acceleration Center™. Students can visit the center to complete activities assigned to them based on current assessment data (for example, exit cards or current curriculum-based measurement). Acceleration Centers™ provide teachers with a minimum prep solution to vary levels in the classroom. Students are provided time to work, at their ability level, in small groups or independently, to meet standards.

Acceleration Centers™ are governed by pre-taught and practiced rules and procedures that require students to be responsible and accountable for their own growth. A major advantage of Acceleration Centers™ is the opportunity to give struggling learners a double dose of academic support when they’re struggling to grasp a previously taught concept. It also provides a forum for presenting information to students in a way that is not necessarily possible with a whole class lesson. Acceleration Centers™ provide teachers with a format conducive to spending time with students individually or in small groups. It also opens up an opportunity for teachers to do action research, observations of student learning and behavior, or ongoing immediate assessment.

Tips for Successful Acceleration Centers™

• Reassign partners every four to five weeks.

• Don’t change partners in response to student requests or complaints. Doing so opens up a Pandora’s Box of potential problems.

• Acceleration Center™ assignments must be able to be managed and completed independently. If students cannot manage the assignments by themselves, they will often stop completely or interrupt the teachers and/or other small groups for help. The goal of the center is for students to be able to increase achievement but also for teachers to gain valuable conferencing time or small group work time uninterrupted. Teachers must be able to optimize Acceleration Center™ time.

• Acceleration Centers™ are not thematic nor do they become obsolete at any point during school year. Avoid any seasonal connotation. They are set up for sustainability, requiring minimal prep work when prep for the centers is viewed in light of creating lesson plans suitable for an entire school year.

• Use Acceleration Centers™ to support state standards or curriculum goals from basic to proficient.

• Create procedures and rules for utilizing Acceleration Centers™ with students as part of the process. By doing so, teachers engage students in the process so they are more likely to buy into it.

• If setting up more than one center, start with the first one and practice the rules and procedures using it as a teaching tool.

• As silly as it may sound to a secondary teacher, whether middle school, junior high, or high school, it is imperative to have students practice moving from their seats to the Acceleration Center™ to choose an activity and back to their seats or small groups until they can do it quietly and efficiently. This will typically take 10 or 15 minutes of practice, set up as a timed contest. Use a stop watch and practice until students can run the procedure in three minutes or less. It may be beneficial to incorporate a reward system to maintain proper behavior and efficiency over the course of the school year.

• Keep records of completed assignments and how those assignments align to state standards or curriculum goals.

• Train one or two “student experts” on how the Acceleration Centers™ function. They do not need to know how to do the academic portion of the center; rather, they need to teach other students how to follow the instructions in the folders, how to keep the center organized, and how to explain the logistics of the center to other students. The “student expert” makes it possible for students to work without interrupting the teacher while the teacher is coaching others.

Acceleration Center™ Components

Individualized student goal charts: Goal charts are divided into three sections: required, optional, and choose 1, 2, or 3. There are two chart levels; one for self-starters, and a different one for students who need more support. Charts for students who need more support, especially reading support, might include illustrations, have additional required components, and have fewer optional activities. Do not reduce choices for students who need more support because choices are motivational. (Goal Chart Symbols: LS= Learning Support, IL= Independent Learner.)

Coaching session: Teacher conferencing or teacher led small-group. Coaching sessions offer teachers the opportunity to lead individuals or small groups of students in assignments appropriate to their achievement level.

Written response journals: This component allows students the opportunity to practice written response skills required to meet state standards and written response goals for math, English, language arts, social studies, or science.

Independent reading or study: This option provides students with the opportunity to improve reading skills and/or provide time to study. (Vocabulary words, flash cards, etc.) If this option is used for study, students should use strategies based on their learning style. It would be a waste of Acceleration Center™ time to have students study ineffectively. Avoid having students study by completing worksheets, staring at their book, writing things three times each, or using any number of ineffective strategies that student typically use to fail. Students who are working on reading skills should be using materials at, or just slightly above, their reading level.

It is imperative that teachers know the readability levels of the texts that students are reading.

Acceleration component: Assignments in this component is targeted to address student difficulties and accelerate student learning.

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10 Tips for Successful Acceleration Centers

1. Reassign partners every four to five weeks when station teaching with partners or small groups.
2. Don’t change partners in response to student requests or complaints. Doing so opens up a Pandora’s box of potential problems.
3. Acceleration Center assignments must be able to be managed and completed independently. If students cannot manage the assignments by themselves they will often stop completely or interrupt the teachers and/or other small groups for help. The goal of the center is for students to be able to increase achievement but also for teachers to gain valuable conferencing time or small group work time uninterrupted. Teachers must be able to optimize Acceleration Center time.
4. Acceleration Centers are not thematic nor do they become obsolete at any point during school year. Avoid any seasonal connotation. They are set up for sustainability, requiring minimal prep work when prep for the centers is viewed in light of creating lesson plans suitable for an entire school year.
5. Use Acceleration Centers to support state standards or curriculum goals from basic to proficient.
6. Create procedures and rules for utilizing the Acceleration Centers with students as part of the process. By doing so, teachers engage students in the process they are more likely to buy into.
7. If setting up more than one center, start with the first one and practice the rules and procedures using the first one as a teaching tool.
8. As silly as it may sound to a secondary teacher, whether middle school, junior high, or high school, it is imperative to have students practice moving from their seats to the Acceleration Center to choose an activity and back to their seats or small groups until they can do it quietly and efficiently. This typically will take 10 or 15 minutes of practice, set up as a timed contest. Use a stopwatch and practice until students can run the procedure in three minutes or less. It may be beneficial to incorporate a reward system to maintain proper behavior and efficiency over the course of the school year.
9. Keep records of completed assignments and how those assignments align to state standards or curriculum goals.
10. Train one or two “student experts” on how the Acceleration Centers function. They do not need to know how to do the academic portion of the center; rather, they need to teach other students how to follow the instructions in the folders, how to keep the center organized, and how to explain the logistics of the center to other students. The “student expert” makes it possible for students to work without interrupting the teacher while the teacher is coaching others.

Watch the Video: Own Learning Quickly And Easily With Student Made Learning Centers (A Time Saving Station Teaching Strategy)

From Co-Teaching and Collaboration in the Classroom: Practical Strategies for Success

Optimize your Co-teaching Partnerships with Susan’s Customized Training!

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Co-teaching Strategies to Exceed Standards in the Differentiated Classroom

For Hundreds Of Co-teaching Strategies… So Your Students Are Top Performers Get this Book Now! Gain more knowledge on co-teaching strategies to reach ALL learners Get Susan Fitzell’s book Now. Don’t waste any time Co-teaching and Collaboration in The Classroom: Strategies That Make It Work . Available in both print and electronic versions! Want quality professional development you can afford? Save time with this popular PD option: A Professional Development Kit, for all teachers, with a Graduate Credit Option!

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Student Built Learning Centers

In this video, Becky Ramirez from Odessa, Texas talks about a great idea she’s implemented in her classroom – student-built learning stations! Often we think of station teaching as a strategy for teaching elementary school students. I’ve always encouraged teachers to use stations for classes at every grade level, and Becky’s use of stations with her freshman English classes is a great example – with a “novel” twist.

Student Built Learning Centers Incorporates Group Problem Solving Skills

Becky’s class is split into groups; as they work through a unit, each group puts together a station for their fellow students on an assigned portion of the material. One of the rules – and I think this is one of the most important things in implementing stations in the classroom – is that the Center must not be a worksheet. The point of station teaching is getting students involved with the material in unique ways, and worksheets just aren’t effective in engaging students.

Once the stations are ready, each group rotates to work on the activities at the other groups’ centers. Becky’s class had come up with some great ideas for stations; “I’ve had vocabulary quilts, I’ve had timed quizzes, we’ve had Twister with different things, Monopoly-based games on short stories.”

Student Built Learning Centers Fosters Critical Thinking Skills

Like all group activities, grading can be a challenge. In Becky’s class, goals for each station are established from the beginning. Once students have finished their stations and visited each of the other stations, the class discusses each station’s activity, pointing out the things they really enjoyed and learned from and providing constructive ideas for how the stations could be more effective. Students grade each others’ work as well as their own, and the final grades take into account how well the students worked together in their groups. As new students come into the classroom, they see examples of previous students’ work so they know what’s expected of them when they create their own stations.

Student Built Learning Centers Save Teachers Time!

Many teachers don’t implement stations because they can take a considerable amount of time – and creativity – to put together. By allowing students to teach each other by constructing centers for their classmates, this burden is lifted and students become much more deeply engaged with the material as they think up ideas to teach their classmates. As Becky says, “Their ideas are much better than anything I could have come up with, and they love it because they’re ‘owning’ their products.”

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Response to Intervention is a process that involves providing struggling learners with academic interventions that match their needs in order to help all students master the curriculum. My experience in secondary education has convinced me that every secondary classroom needs to begin Response to Intervention at the Secondary Level at Tier One of RTI: differentiated instruction.

Essentially, differentiating instruction means using a variety of methods within a lesson plan to reach multiple ability levels and learning styles. When teachers differentiate instruction, 80% to 90% of students successfully meet achievement benchmarks (Hanson, 2009). In this way, RTI simply becomes “Really Terrific Instruction,” allowing every student to benefit from differentiated instruction strategies.

RTI is Really Terrific Instruction

As a high school special education teacher and a co-teacher working within the inclusion model, I noticed that RTI must consider the very nature of secondary education. For example, RTI interventions must be used across the curriculum at the secondary level since high school students take classes on a variety of subjects. Also, middle and high school students are more socially aware – they are much more reluctant to be pulled out of a class or singled out. This means that interventions need to be implemented during class time.

One way to provide RTI interventions in the general classroom is through the use of acceleration centers (Nilson, 1998). Since they address a wide range of abilities, they are an effective tool for delivering Tier Two and, possibly, Tier Three interventions. They also help to encourage student engagement and combat the apathy so often found at the secondary level.

The acceleration center I’ve developed is not the same as an elementary learning center. I have taken several “station” methods, combined them into a model appropriate for secondary students, and created what I call the Fitzell Acceleration Center. It’s not a product to be purchased; rather, it is a way of using center teaching at the secondary level.

What are Fitzell Acceleration Centers?

Fitzell Acceleration Centers are similar to the concept of a learning center except that teachers do not create a separate center for every unit they teach. There is no holiday center, for example, or math center created for a specific lesson plan. Instead, teachers focus on a curriculum strand taken from their state standard that aligns with the Tier Two intervention needs of students in their classroom.

That strand might address the standards with which your students had trouble on the state test the year before. The activities in the center range from the very basic skills in the strand (Tier Two interventions for struggling students) to high-level skills (Tier One activities and strategies for all students), and possibly even college-level material (enrichment curricula). Overall, though, the focus of the center should be based on assessment data collected by the general education teacher and, if there is one, the RTI team.

A Fitzell Acceleration Center is a designated area, crate, file drawer, or pocketed bulletin board that provides students with standards-based learning activities at a range of ability levels. These centers are not just more worksheets. Rather, they are hands-on activities that may involve creative tasks, research, or challenges that require critical thinking at varying levels, taking into consideration student learning style. Ideally, they also incorporate computer-based instruction, taking advantage of any computers the classroom might have.

Once developed, each center remains in place for the entire year. The center only needs to be prepped once and then activities can be added or changed throughout the year. The only continuous management is student assignment and assessment. The goal of RTI is to give all students the opportunity to succeed. The Fitzell Acceleration Center is a useful tool for supporting this goal within the general classroom.

Watch the Video: How To Engage In Their Own Learning Quickly And Easily With Student Made Learning Centers

Here are some links to help you get started:
1. Fitzell Acceleration Centers
2. Implementing Fitzell Acceleration Centers – Addressing the Challenges
3. Accelerate Learning in Your Classroom

RTI and Accleration Center Resources:

Fitzell, S. G. (2011). RTI Strategies for Secondary Teachers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Hanson, H. M. (Director). (2009). RTI and DI: Response to Intervention and Differentiated Instruction [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][DVD]. Port Chester, NY: National Professional Resources. Available at http://www.nprinc.com/rti/drtd.htm.
Nilson, L. B. (1998). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors. Bolton, MA: Anker.

For more information on differentiation and Response to Intervention, see Susan Fitzell’s book, RTI Strategies for Secondary Teachers.

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Co-teaching, Personality Styles and Flexible Grouping were topics for seminars at Woodington Middle School

For the past two days, I’ve had the pleasure of working with dedicated teachers Co-teaching at Woodington Middle School. Their Principal, Diane Heath, is doing her best to support the teachers through their Inclusion and Co-teaching initiative. Yesterday, we covered co-teaching strategies and personality styles. Everyone dug right in and worked with the material finding ways to use the information in their classrooms. I love it when I have the opportunity to work with motivated teachers!

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The Fitzell Acceleration Center™ as an RTI Strategy

The Fitzell Acceleration Center™ is not a product that can be purchased; rather it is a concept and process for center teaching at the secondary level.

The benefit of the acceleration center model is that it’s a powerful RTI strategy for:
• Differentiation
• Response to student learning (or non-learning)
• The inclusive classroom
• Addressing multiple ability levels in the classroom
• Correcting student apathy and lack of motivation

Acceleration center teaching is an advanced teaching structure. It can be combined with any other pedagogy or teaching method.
In broad terms, acceleration centers incorporate a ‘station’ in a corner of the room, a piece of the room, a setup in the room, or a crate in the room. Its purpose is to have students focus on one topic.

That topic might address the standards in which your students did not do well on the state test last year. On the other hand, it might be an aspect of your curriculum that you need to repeat for some students who struggle, while at the same time provide advanced material for those students that need to be challenged beyond the standard curriculum.

The goal is to give all your students an opportunity to succeed. It’s also a perfect structure for delivering Tier Two interventions as well as supporting Tier One (the general classroom) and, where possible, Tier Three interventions.

No Teacher Has Time to Create Old Fashioned Learning Centers Anymore!

I remember spending an entire week creating a learning center on plants many years ago. Every single night I was cutting out leaves, flowers, and petals. I made hands-on activities using clothespins and construction paper. I spent hours upon hours on this learning center. Friday was the big day. I introduced the center to the students, and explained the instructions. I had that sense of excitement and fulfillment a teacher experiences after having worked so hard to create what they feel should be an award-winning lesson plan. My students finished the center in 45 minutes. All those hours of prep work and it was over in 45 minutes!

Who has the time for that today? My observation is that, generally speaking, teachers do not center-teach anymore. We just don’t have the time to prepare learning centers using this paradigm. Additionally, secondary teachers rarely use centers. They may be used in some science classes, but for the most part, it’s a foreign concept and considered ‘elementary’.

Watch the Video: How To Engage In Their Own Learning Quickly And Easily With Student Made Learning Centers

How is an Acceleration Center DIFFERENT from a Learning Center?

An acceleration center is not the same as an elementary learning center, however. It’s a combination of several “station” methods. If you have ever created a learning center, implemented an Accelerated Reader™ program, or if you are familiar with SRA (Science Research Associates) Individualized Direct Instruction for Reading Mastery, you have worked with different types of centers. The acceleration center takes the best of each of these models and combines them into a model that is appropriate at the secondary level.

Acceleration centers are similar to the concept of a learning center except that teachers do not create a separate center for every unit they are teaching. They don’t have a holiday center, for example, or a math center created for a specific lesson plan. Instead, teachers focus on a curriculum strand taken from their state standard that aligns with the Tier Two intervention needs of students in the general classroom.

The activities in the center range from the very basic skills in the strand (Tier Two interventions for struggling students) to the highest level skills (Tier One activities and strategies for all students) and, possibly even college-level material (enrichment curricula) if students can reach that far.

Tier Two Interventions Made Possible in a Full Class Period with Acceleration Centers

For students who need Tier Two interventions, the focus of the center could be based on one of their areas of difficulty: finding similarities and differences, understanding cause and effect, foundational concepts required for algebra, etc. The focus of the center is based on assessment data collected by the general education teacher and the RTI team where applicable.

Once developed, each center remains for the entire year, and beyond.
• You make it once and use it all year.
• You prep it once and possibly add to it during the year.
• The only maintenance required is student assessment and re-assignment.

For Dozens of Lesson Planning Ideas… For Your Differentiated or Response to Intervention Classroom

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Easy-to-implement and practical interventions

Sample lesson plans and visual models

Examples of how to address budgeting, staffing, performance, and student culture constraints

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Keeping students occupied – For acceleration centers to work effectively, teachers need to have options for students who finish early. If we try to make sure that students are finishing their assignment at the same time, we will become frustrated with the process. It is simply not possible for all students to finish their center activities at the same time. When a student finishes their goal chart and they’ve done the things they’re supposed to accomplish, have options available for them to choose from.

Wide range of abilities – You might have one or more groups of students working independently from the teacher, so if four or five different levels of students are working on different levels of assignments and there is only one adult in the room, you will have students working on their own. If you have a co-teacher or specialists pushing in to provide either Special Education services or RTI interventions, the other adults’ skills are maximized with the center approach. I realize that the option for collaborative teaching may or may not be viable in your classroom or school. Success depends on student behavior, initiative, ability to focus, and student understanding of teacher expectations and related consequences.

Behavior management – Teachers must have a good handle on discipline and strict rules about how time is managed and how students should behave during center time. Students need to be taught how to behave when working with Fitzell Acceleration Centers™. Otherwise, and especially if they have never worked with centers before, they might think it’s a free-for-all. We really need to be clear about our expectations and enforce them.

Noise level – During station teaching, teachers may experience a higher level of noise in the classroom than usual. Decide which students should be partners; ascertain which students will mix best, and put them together deliberately. I may say, “You can work with so-and-so.” Or, “I don’t want you working with so-and-so.” You can separate the talkative students and keep them apart.  The trade-off for a quiet classroom is having students who are engaged in the learning process rather than experiencing frustration in their learning.

Excerpted from RTI Strategies for Secondary Schools.

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A poem about small group work sung to the tune of Singing in the Rain.

Written by Susan Heath, Kellie Wolfe, Linda Smith, and Judy Burkett

We are the groupies and we’ll help you with your lengthy hour if you’ll pay attention to our flower power.

Today I am going to see in which groupie you will be. I’ve had a chance to look at last year’s EOG. (North Carolina’s End Of Grade test.)

There is a test we will use to see the various aspects of your personality.

I’ve observed you in the classroom and various other places so you may not be with your friends today but brand new smiling faces.

Your academic abilities may not be the same, combine your strengths and weaknesses you’re sure to win the game.

The interest you have is sure to grow as you share with each other the knowledge you know.

You may not be quite ready for the task that is at hand but after class instruction now you’ve got it man.

In a small group there is no time to sleep recorder, reporter or the time you will keep.

Some of you learn better by listening to what I say. Others learn by touching or in a visual kind of way.

Self-assessment is a valuable tool so leave your exit card with me and you’ll definitely be cool.

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