Schoolteachers Are Getting in the Loop

Teachers often complain that just as they are really getting to know their students, the school year ends and--presto!--it’s time to pass the little dears to another instructor, who will then have to spend a month or more tuning in to varying attitudes and learning styles.

But what if a teacher had the chance to stay with the same children for two, three or even more years? Would there be any benefits?

Plenty, say advocates of “looping,” the practice of advancing a teacher from one grade level to the next along with his or her class.

Though as old as the one-room schoolhouse, the concept is used rarely enough these days that it is considered innovative.

Looping is a key component of the Waldorf schools, which include a campus in Costa Mesa, and is common in Germany and Japan.

And now it is popping up in a smattering of public schools in Sacramento, Long Beach and Pasadena as well as Ohio, Georgia, Massachusetts and other states. The concept is sometimes used by schools that also offer multi-age classrooms that group children for two or three years.

“The whole idea behind looping is that teachers start the second year already knowing the student’s [standardized test] profile, family background, home situation and behavior,” said Frank J. Lawler Jr., principal of Lisbon Elementary School in Sacramento, where several teachers loop. “It probably saves 1 1/2 to two months.”

Bonuses Suggested

Aware of such benefits, Howard Miller, chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Unified School District, floated the idea of asking teachers to volunteer as loopers in schools scoring at the bottom of the state’s Academic Performance Index. In a commentary piece earlier this year, Miller suggested that if a teacher stayed with the same students for four years, starting in kindergarten, and taught 80% of them to read at a third-grade level, the teacher should get a $50,000 bonus.

Teachers have discounted the idea as unworkable, citing, among other obstacles, the district’s high student-transiency rates. But Miller, who found only a few examples of looping in the district’s schools, said he hopes the idea will eventually find favor as a way to hold teachers accountable for children’s learning and to reward them if appropriate.

“There appear to be real educational advantages,” he said. “It’s certainly something to have further discussions about.”

Enthusiastic practitioners say looping provides stability and helps build a sense of community, allowing children to blossom socially and academically. The concept particularly helps shy youngsters because they have more time to develop self-confidence and close peer relationships. Students who know their teacher and classmates tend to hit the ground running at the start of a new school year, without experiencing the usual apprehension.

Meanwhile, teachers get a better handle on students’ learning needs, abilities and interests. They can also provide more time for slower students to learn basic skills without having to resort to holding them back.

“You make a bigger investment but you have a bigger return,” said Christiane Bohr, who teaches art in kindergarten through eighth grade at Costa Mesa’s Waldorf School. “You really invest a lot of energy making relationships with the children and between them. And you know what you don’t take care of one year you’re going to have to take care of in the next year.”

With looping, said one Waldorf mother, a child’s development is cared for along academic and emotional axes.

“Your child gets to grow along with a really caring adult in their life,” said Andy Jacobson, an Irvine mother whose daughter is a sixth-grader. “You’ve got somebody who really understands your child.”

Researchers say looping also has positive effects on children’s behavior. At schools in Attleboro, Mass., where looping in two-year segments is required from first through eighth grades, officials have reported improved attendance and test scores, fewer discipline problems and fewer referrals to special education.

In East Cleveland, Ohio, a low-income, largely African American suburb of Cleveland, an experimental looping program resulted in “spectacular” improvements in student achievement, said Frederick M. Hampton, an associate professor of education at Cleveland State University who devised the pilot program in 1993.

The program, called Project FAST (Families Are Students and Teachers), featured several components beyond looping, notably an insistence on effective teachers, parental involvement and an enrichment camp, where looping teachers worked with their students over the summer.

Hampton’s research indicated that all concerned--students, families and teachers--reaped benefits from the project, particularly from looping.

“I think it works terribly well for children who experience inconsistency at home,” Hampton said. “For a lot of our children, school was the most stable place.”

Despite its success, the project hit a stumbling block. When the school district reorganized recently, some of the most effective looping teachers moved into administrative jobs. Hampton has put the project on hold but plans to revive it.

The Downside

Looping does have potential disadvantages. A personality clash between a child and a teacher or a teacher and a parent can lead to tension, but most schools say such situations are rare and can be resolved by moving the child to another classroom.

Bohr said knowing she must spend future years with her students provides an incentive for making the relationships work.

Another downside is that newcomers who enter a closely knit looping class can often feel disconnected for a time. And teachers must take the extra time to get up to speed on another year’s curriculum. If they don’t, instructional weaknesses could sorely hamper pupils.

Some teachers appreciate this challenge and prefer it to lecturing with the same material year after year.

“Nothing gets stale,” Bohr said. “After my fourth year of teaching third grade in public schools, I felt like, ‘OK, what do I need to change?’ ”

And perhaps the biggest compliment to looping comes from Jacobson’s 11-year-old daughter, Talia, who on occasion accidentally refers to her teacher as “Mom.”

“She’ll casually go, ‘Mom, I mean, Mr. Knauss,’ ” Jacobson said. “It just shows what an integral part he is in her life.”

Times staff writer Ann L. Kim contributed to this story.