Comments on: Looping in Education – Time to Make It a Fundamental Practice?

By: Silvia cancila

Silvia cancila — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:22:32 +0000

I have been a looping 3rd and 4th grade teacher for 14 years in 2 diffewrent districts. I see so many benefits .

By: jeff mitchell

jeff mitchell — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:07:49 +0000

I have looped with classes twice in my academic careers, primarily because they were going to have sub-par teachers in the next grade level. This past year I taught 4th grade and asked to loop w/my class. Well my principal gave me about half of my previous class and some other 4th graders from other classes, two of which had documented behavior problems. Would that make for an inappropriate match?

By: Annie Conway

Annie Conway — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:08:58 +0000

Our district is piloting looping with hopes to expand k-3. Where can I find recent research on the effectiveness of looping? It seems, as a colleague stated earlier, that available data is prior to 2000. Any ideas on which grades work best with looping? We are trying k-1 and 2-3. What practices are used to support teachers? What are the challenges faced by experienced looping teachers?

By: Mary Ruzga

Mary Ruzga — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:37:19 +0000

The South Carolina State Department of Education established an Office of Innovation. One of the initiatives I coordinate in that office is teaming and looping which we are piloting in several schools. It is the combination of teaming and looping that has resulted in success. We have found that looping has a positive impact on parental involvement and the social and emotional growth of students. While teaming has a positive impact on student academic achievement. In our “team” two teachers in consecutive grades are identified as looping partners. They meet throughout the year for the main purpose of preparing each for the loop or grade exchange. Of course they are part of their grade level teams as well. However, the close relationship they form as looping partners helps them develop a clear vision of the vertical articulation of content for their two grades, an understanding of the social and emotional needs of students in the grades to which they will move (exchange/loop), a source for resources in the new grade, and a “go to” person for support once the loop has occurred. Our initial cohort of teachers participated in a day long orientation session and attended our first annual statewide follow-up last week. As a result of the data collected to date we have almost tripled the number of looping teams for this coming school year. Last year our focus was on elementary schools. This year we are including middle and secondary sites. Anything I can learn about looping at all grade levels from other states will help improve and support our efforts in SC. Please feel free to email me at mruzga@ed.sc.gov

By: Darcy Smith

Darcy Smith — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:59:13 +0000

I am a middle school principal and doctoral candidate interested in learning more about looping. I am finding that some schools who have adopted looping, at a later date, have reverted to traditional sheduling. I am interested in seeking to determine what sets sustainable looping programs apart from others that are abandoned and the “why” behind the move away from looping. I would appreciate the opportunity to exchange emails with anyone who has experience with looping who would be willing to share. Darcy Smith – darcy.smith@palmaccsd.org

By: Veronica Gaboury

Veronica Gaboury — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:08:30 +0000

Thank you for this article. I am looping with my current 9th graders next year and although I am very excited and feel this is a great opportunity, I still have to explain myself to cynics. I would love to pick your brain and read more ‘research’ based articles to support my discussions. If it is possible could you point me in that direction? Thank you.

By: Julia Nix

Julia Nix — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:58:42 +0000

Thank you for this information. I had been approached about looping with my students several times, but was concerned that the students would get my weakness two years in a row…although a good teacher, I do have them! This brought out several advantage points that I hadn’t considered, especially of providing that stability to the students. I am teaching on a military post, and our transition rate has been 60%… per year. I can now see that looping would be a great advantage to students who already have to face changes overy two to three years during their relocations without having to start midyear with one teacheror team, and then a few months later have another. I’m sure that the stability for students in high transitory situations would be the same. We may not be able to change their world, but we can provide them with some continuity and support!

By: Nicky

Nicky — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:55:07 +0000

I am doing a presentation on looping for one of my master classes. Any information you have that you could send me would be excellent, especially any graphs you may have that prove looping to be successful. Thank you for your time.

By: JOSH

JOSH — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:43:11 +0000

Our teachers are about to bring the idea of Looping at our elementary school. We haven’t settled on a 2 or 3 year loop yet. I teach at a small rural school in southern Nevada in which we only have one class per grade. If you anyone has some compelling research either way it would be incredibly useful. We need to have our ducks in a row before we propose it to the parents and administration.
Thanks!

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:39:40 +0000

Information about looping in an infant/toddler and preschool/Prek program