How Mountain View Elementary Moved from Bottom Quarter to Top Tier — While Meeting a District Goal Other Schools Struggle to Measure
Three years ago, the Salt Lake City School District set a clear expectation: achieve 50/50 academic discourse in every classroom. For Jason Finch, principal of Mountain View Elementary, the goal made sense. His school serves 535 students — 58% English language learners across 20+ languages, 100% free and reduced lunch. Academic discourse isn't pedagogical theory for his population; it's an access issue.
But Finch faced the same problem as every other principal: how do you prove you're making progress?
"We're all struggling with accountability to this," Finch says. "How do we prove we're making progress? How do we include academic discourse in our faculty meetings, in our PLCs?"
Traditional walkthroughs weren't working. Finch couldn't be everywhere. Teachers would perform when he showed up. There was no consistent data to track improvement over time.
The Strategic Shift
Rather than treating 50/50 as a compliance checkbox, Finch built it into his school improvement plan alongside classroom discussions, cognitive task analysis, and feedback loops. He made discourse central to faculty meetings and PLC work. And critically, he found a way to measure it.
Mountain View adopted TeachFX through an initial district math grant — an AI tool that records lessons and analyzes talk time. One Spanish DLI teacher tried it. Word spread to math teachers, then language arts, then coaches. Finch made a decision: this wasn't optional. Every teacher, every subject, every language. The data would drive coaching and inform PLCs.
The Results
Three years later, Mountain View consistently hits the 50/50 benchmark. More importantly, reading outcomes have moved dramatically.
When the district set a goal for 70% of students reading at grade level, Mountain View was in the bottom quarter of Title I schools. Today, the school is at the top of the Title I tier.
Finch acknowledges Mountain View implemented multiple strategic initiatives simultaneously — a numeracy coach, better assessments, structured walkthroughs. But measured academic discourse was central. "It's all part of this real strategic picture," he notes. "I think being strategic is making the difference for kids."
The correlation is clear: vocabulary development (tracked in real time) accelerates reading fluency. Students who speak more acquire more language.
The Equity Argument
Today, Finch funds TeachFX through CSI funds targeted to students with disabilities — though the benefit extends to all students. Other principals don't have access to the same targeted funding streams, yet face the same district expectations.
"Why does Mountain View get this capacity to develop academic discourse skills, and other schools don't, because I have access to these funds?" he asks. "How is that equitable? Every student deserves that."
For district leaders weighing system-wide investments, Finch sees an opportunity: "The district has the expectation — we have academic discourse. Our students are widely diverse. We have DLI schools, students learning English, students with disabilities that need opportunities to speak and be successful."
The district already invests in teaching principals the research behind academic discourse and why it matters. Finch has taken the next step — implementing it, measuring it, and seeing results. Now he's asking: what would it take to give every principal the same capacity?
Mountain View Elementary serves 535 K-5 students on Salt Lake City's west side, operating both dual language immersion (Spanish) and traditional programs. With 58% ELL, 72% multilingual learners, and students from 20+ countries, Mountain View is the district's largest and most diverse elementary school.