In Likiep, which at the time had slid to #85 out of 88 public schools, the

Maryknoll sisters:
1) made sure that there were 18 school days each year
!) made sure that the teachers were showin" up e#eryday
$) made sure they were teachin" 5 days a week
%) made sure they were teachin" & hours a day
5) made sure that e#ery teacher went into class each day with a lesson
plan ' ()I* I* +,-., +,-. important ' the teacher needs to be prepared
to teach each day ' not /ust win" it0
&) 1I know this is hard, but) teachers should not "et paid when they don2t
show up0
3) 4indin" a "ood principal is key ' a school is led by its principal ' )e 1or
she) is the most important position ' look at the schools that are successful
and you will almost always find a "ood principal ' think of ,#elyn 5onou0
(he other most important thin" is the community2s in#ol#ement0 I cannot
o#er emphasi6e this point ' If the community supports the school, the
school will thri#e0 7n 8ilin"laplap, when the Maryknoll sisters went out to
#isit the first time at the re9uest of the 8ilin"laplap community, the sisters
looked at the roof of the school and said: :;e2ll make you a deal0 .ou fi<
the roof of your school, and we will come out and administrate your school0:
(he mayor said, :*ister, we ha#e been waitin" for years for M7, to come
out and fi< the roof0: *ister, responded, :;ell, if school is that important to
your kids, why do you wait for M7, to come out= ;hy don2t you fi< it
yoursel#es= (hey are your children, after all0 (hen we will know that you
are serious about wantin" our help0: ;ith $ months, the community had
the roof repaired, and the sisters went out to help0 I know the Maryknoll
sisters can2t "o to >amdik, but it is an e<ample of /ust how a community
can pull to"ether to help their school0
(he teachers also need to know how to :mana"e: their classroom0 (hey
need a set of rules that the students understand, for how to beha#e in the
classroom, how to ask to use the restroom, how to raise hands to offer an
answer to a 9uestion, how to sit still at their desk, and focus on the work to
be done0 (he teacher has to keep practicin" these rules o#er and o#er
durin" the first days and weeks of classes0 Until the classroom has
order, no student learning can take place.
Lastly, make sure that the !nd and $rd "rade teachers ha#e drilled, drilled,
drilled the Multiplication Tables into the kids heads0 (his is not a difficult
task, but will make all the difference in the world0 >o student should be
allowed out of $rd "rade who hasn2t memorized the math table0 18nd I
don2t mean usin" their fin"ers?) It should be 9uick, and automatic0 8ll other
math depends on the math table ' it should be drilled daily for months at a
time, until it is /ust memori6ed ' and then re#iewed on a re"ular basis ' by
the time they finish 3rd grade, they should be able to do it in their
sleep!
(he same is true with :Phonics0: Make sure that the teachers are able to
teach phonics 1how to sound out sounds of words broken into syllables0 8t
8ssumption, the students learned phonics so well, that by &th "rade, the
students could "et up in front of a class and teach phonics0 7nce kids
know how to sound out and pronounce words in ,n"lish, they can be"in to
learn to read ' and once they be"in to read, it opens up a whole new world
to them0
I am sure, that if you can do these thin"s, the >amdik scores on
standardi6ed tests will impro#e dramatically0