How Chess Makes a Difference in School Curriculum

By Stephen F. Lampkin
Chess Life Magazine (September 2000)

This is the story of how the North Tonawanda School District successfully integrated chess into its curriculum. The program started in 1991 while I was a member of the North Tonawanda Board of Education and my son was in fifth grade. Kelly Simon, the gifted and talented teacher at my son's school, approached me about teaching chess in her critical thinking skills and advanced math classes.

During these lessons it soon became apparent that chess could benefit all students in more areas than just math and critical thinking. I thought it was important that chess become part of the curriculum and not just an extra curricular activity. The other gifted and talented teachers in the district agreed and I helped them start a chess program in each of the six elementary schools in the district.

North Tonawanda is a small city located between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York. It has a population of approximately 35,000 with 5,600 students in six elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. Each elementary school is assigned one gifted and talented teacher and the two middle schools share one teacher. Every child in each building gets time with a gifted and talented teacher either through whole classroom instruction or in smaller specialized pullout groups.

Different Uses

Not all buildings use chess the same way. Each gifted and talented teacher has flexibility in how to implement their thinking skills curriculum. At Ohio Elementary School, gifted and talented teacher Janice Dalbo runs a 40-minute pullout chess class for each grade (second through fifth) once a week. Since she cannot accommodate all the kids who want to be involved in chess classes the classroom teachers use the opportunity to go to chess class as a reward. Mrs. Dalbo estimates that between ISO and 200 different kids are involved in her chess classes during the school year. Ohio also runs an annual adults vs. kids chess night, which is well attended by adults trying to best their children.

Three other elementary schools decided to use chess as a vehicle to teach critical thinking skills by teaching all third graders how to play chess. This is followed up in the fourth and fifth grades with smaller pullout groups getting more advanced instruction on chess strategies and problems. Drake Elementary School gifted and talented teacher Kelly Simon not only has pullout groups in Grades 3-5, but also has found chess helpful in teaching thinking skills to special education students. Ms. Simon also runs a very popular lunchtime chess program where anyone in Grades 3-5 can play chess during their lunch period.

Tournaments

During every school year there is a dis- trict wide tournament where each of the six elementary schools sends a team of 10 students who compete for team and individual prizes. The kids intensely compete for the honor of having the revolving trophy at their school for the coming year. Every year each school has a long waiting list of kids who want to be on the chess team, but space limitations only allow 10 students per team.

Success stories are many. Debbie DiBernardo, gifted and talented teacher at Gilmore Elementary, tells of a time when a classroom teacher didn't want a student pulled out of class for chess. This teacher said the student was behind in his classroom work as well as disruptive and "just could not afford this time away from his classroom studies." Ms. DiBernardo tells us that after two months of chess class the teacher came back to her. This teacher said that since the student's involvement with chess, his performance in the classroom had improved remarkably and he no longer was a disruptive student or behind in his classroom studies.

Relunctant Teachers

I believe many educators are reluctant to accept chess as a tool that increases student's thinking skills as well as academic performance. Credit needs to be given to the six gifted and talented teachers in North Tonawanda for being open minded in trying chess and then recognizing the positive results. Since its infusion into the curriculum eight years ago North Tonawanda has seen a dramatic increase in its standardized test scores at the elementary school level. Dr. Calvin Deyermond, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, says "We have seen improvement in mathematical reasoning skills as well as critical thinking as a result of this program." These results were shown this year on New York's new fourth grade test on problem solving and thinking skills as North Tonawanda's students scored well above the state standard.

A Most Valuable Tool

With the demands put on schools by state mandated curriculums North Tonawanda has found chess to be a most valuable tool to help meet these requirements. The success of chess in the curriculum has also spilled over into the community with the local newspaper regularly having articles about chess activities in the schools and community. The library also runs summer and winter chess programs and sponsors a USCF rated tournament each spring. I believe North Tonawanda has shown not only how to successfully integrate chess into the curriculum, but also why chess should be part of every school's goal to improve thinking skills, increase self esteem, and add to the overall enjoyment of a child's education.