An educator praised for “juggling people out of their complacency,” Dan Alderson has a dogged determination to help ensure that every student succeeds. Whip-smart and ambitious, he sees the big picture while keeping an eye trained on the finer points of instruction.
Alderson focuses on standards-based learning and assessments -- and promotes that approach at the school level. Differentiated instruction forms the foundation of his project- and task-based lessons, in which students must master one level in order to move up to the next. Alderson extends the day beyond school hours with his Blackboard Learning System, posting lessons online and administering a student-centered discussion board. Employing data to determine where students stand, Alderson tracks all of his 150 students to ensure they are meeting the standard.
Tenth-grade reading scores stand at 89 percent proficient (10 percent above the state average); writing is 95 percent proficient (nine percent above state). Scores also jumped from 68 percent to 95 percent in writing and from 60 percent to 89.3 percent in reading. SAT critical reading and writing also exceed the national average.
Seizing every leadership opportunity, Alderson does classroom- based assessments (CBAs) in reading and writing to give the school useful, ongoing formative assessment data. He created a data tool for a colleague and teaches Jump Start for professional certificate candidates. Alderson also directs countless staff development sessions at Lake Stevens High, including a Writing Calibration Seminar. A member of the School Improvement and Tech committees, he presented 15 lectures in the past year on ways to help improve instructional practice.
