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Things are happening in Mobile.

The Alabama district mounted an innovative public engagement campaign early this decade, and student performance has been rising ever since.

Though the district has a larger share of low-income students than does Alabama as a whole, it boasts higher scores on state assessments. We recently profiled two very successful Mobile County public elementary schools—George Hall and Mary B. Austin—on our Success Stories Page.

Last week, we caught up with Mary B. Austin principal Jacquelyn Zeigler, who has worked with dedicated staff and parents to narrow achievement gaps dramatically. She described the ingredients of her success:

Public School Insights: We've heard a lot about Mary B. Austin School, but I thought I'd give you an opportunity to say in your own words what kind of a school it is. Describe the sort of students you serve.

Jacquelyn Zeigler: There are no -- or very few -- new families coming in. So to keep my doors open, 80 percent of the children are on transfer. We get them from all over Mobile County. And because of that, we are right at 50/50 boy/girl, 50/50 black/white, and about 34 percent free and reduced [lunch program]. We have a wonderful cross-section of society.

Right across the street is Springfield College, and then just down the street is the University of South Alabama, so I'm very fortunate because I am able to get their student teachers and their interns; a lot of the volunteers to come and work with my school.

Public School Insights: I've heard a lot about Mobile, the district, and its ability to engage a broader community in the success of the schools. Do you think that's part of what's going on at Mary B. Austin?

Jacquelyn Zeigler: I think we, in Mobile County, have done an absolutely wonderful job in looking at our warts. [Normally you don’t] want a lot of people to look at your warts, especially during times when you're trying to getting the community on board and you want them to think that you are doing fabulous things. [Y]ou don't want to show them too many warts because then they're thinking, well, you're not doing with our tax dollars as you should.

And I do think we need to do a better job of telling the community how well we're doing. This is what is reality: yes, we have some deficiencies, but look where we're coming [from and consider] where we're going.

So many times wepush for the community support because we need it. The tax referendum passes And then we don't talk to [the community] again for ten years. [In Mobile],we have continued with our liaison [between] community and schools, and that has been very helpful. We've understood from the very beginning, that we must keep those lines of communication open. [That way] they're not thinking we're hiding anything , or that we're not willing to listen when they have a grievance or even a suggestion.

Even though we're in this terrible recession, we are doing fine economically, and that's [thanks in part to] the German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp…coming in, and then the Aerospace [program]. We have [also] gotten some major manufacturing situations [and] shipbuilding. All of it because of our diversity. We are appealing to many cross-sections throughout the nation and internationally.

Public School Insights: Mary B. Austin has been recognized for success in student performance and also for narrowing achievement gaps. What have your major strategies for achieving those goals?

Jacquelyn Zeigler: I think my parental involvement is very, very strong, and we utilize our parents' talents in our school to match their talents with our children's needs.

I am also a firm believer in the integration of the fine arts. And I think that has made its greatest impact on our achievement.

Public School Insights: It's interesting you should mention the importance of parent involvement, given that your students are from such a broad geographic [area]. Do you think you've managed, then, to get the involvement of parents throughout the county?

Jacquelyn Zeigler: Yes, I have. And I think a benefit in my particular situation is that the parents want to be at my school. They have chosen me among the other 107 schools of Mobile County, and therefore they understand the need of the totality of the parent/school/home triangle, and they are willing to embrace it and come forth not only [with] funding but, more importantly, with their time and energy.

Public School Insights: As you may know, a lot of people -- parents and educators alike -- have worried that the arts have been losing their place in the public schools, especially as schools have focused on very critical basic skills, like reading and mathematics. So how have you used the arts at Mary B. Austin to enhance all kinds of other areas?

Jacquelyn Zeigler: Because of budget cuts, I have gone through the process of writing grants, getting matching grants, appealing to the community, various legislative bodies, and our PTA. We have gone for a matching grant with the Mobile Symphony to provide us the music, [from] which we have the violin and now the cello, as well as the Preludes Program. [T]his year we got a matching grant with the Mobile Museum of Art, and they have provided us art educators who have come in to provide art the entire year for every child.

Public School Insights: So they're getting a much more advanced art lesson than most students do in the country.

Jacquelyn Zeigler: I think so. And then with the music, we start with the little ones with the theory at the Instrument Zoo, where they actually touch instruments, and then they advance [to] where [they]'re actually playing the instrument…with the Mobile Symphony. [The Mobile Symphony has] opened the doors to us to be part of a gathering of children that can play the instruments after school.

Public School Insights: You've mentioned that this is something [of] an integration program. And I was wondering exactly how you then integrate arts into the other aspects of what happens at the school.

Jacquelyn Zeigler: [There are] always those who figure we don't need one more thing on our plate to do. Especially with all the standardized testing. We have discovered how to integrate arts across the curriculum …through professional development…you show [teachers and staff] the tools and show them how to get it done. You [also] have to do it ahead of time and get them to be favorable towards the idea. And once …you have buy-in, then when you provide the professional and staff development and how to do it… it makes a natural progression.

Public School Insights: And as part of this also ensuring that there's really interesting content that students can deal with when they learn to read?

Jacquelyn Zeigler: Right. Now, with the integration of the technology, the whole world is opening up -- that maintains the students' involvement; they're engaged. Who wins? The children and their academic progress.

Public School Insights: I've also been told that one of the reasons why Mary B. Austin is so successful is that you are sure to give struggling students the extra help that they need--that you really intervene early and often.

Jacquelyn Zeigler: We have established an intervention program, and I also have a reading intervention teacher. When you talk about a struggling reader, you need to find out what exactly it is that they're struggling [with], and not just to make it a broad generalization.

With the intervention we have found that you must have an absolute intervention time--that is, it's never to be moved. It's an absolute: every-day intervention at this time, and that means no interruptions, no changing it to another time or, “oh, let's not do it today.”

Teachers, we have this tendency to [say], “oh, we got 'em, let's hit reading, and then, oh, let's do comprehension, and then fluency, and while we're at it let's do a little vocabulary.” We found out that just muddies the water. You find out where [the problem] is, hit it -- hit it hard, hit it often. Then, when they master, go on to the next. And it works the same way in math.

One thing Mobile County has done in a response to No Child Left Behind is that we have criterion and reference tests at the end of every quarter. And what we have found out is that too many times people would wait until the end of the year to find out exactly [whether they have had] success. It's better to find out the end of every nine weeks instead of waiting to the end of the year.

People are so hung up on “too much testing, too much testing, not enough time teaching,” that they almost -- and don't get me wrong, we are testing too much -- but I sometimes think they throw out the baby with the bathwater by not understanding that there are very important assessments that need to be done…to determine growth.