ACTION PLAN

STUDENT LEARNING PRIORITIES

     Evidence from a variety of sources makes it clear that many students are not learning the mathematics they need or are expected to learn. Significant changes have taken place in recent years.  The Georgia Department of Education website explains the changes in this way:

“Although extensive re-teaching and review were common in the previous curriculum and were well meant, they resulted in minimal       learning for too many students….the new performance standards address fewer topics at each grade level. Each concept is to be taught and learned with both rigor and depth, building on previous concepts and skills and employing them in the service of new ideas. When students are using mathematics to solve challenging problems, they have natural opportunities to review the mathematics they have learned, and their teachers can assess their grasp of that mathematics. Fewer topics, together with sample tasks, student work, and commentary, provide clear expectations for student performance, guide instruction, and allow for a careful alignment of instruction and assessment.” (www.georgiastandards.org)

Therefore, our priority for students' learning is that Palmer students will demonstrate proficiency in mathematics.

     According to research cited by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) (http://www.sedl.org/ws/writing.html), student performance in reading and writing improves when students spend more time writing across all content areas. These research studies also indicate that schools that spend more time each day on writing have better writing scores on assessments, which is particularly true for students of diverse backgrounds and English Language Learners.  Additionally, this research indicates that writing across the curriculum benefits comprehension and retention of content. The International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Commission on Writing, and the National Writing Project all endorse the integration of writing and content instruction in all grades and subjects. 

     The Palmer staff recognizes the importance of writing to help students internalize what they read and learn.  Additionally, we recognize that although 83% of the 8^th grade students who took the Middle Grades Writing Assessment in the spring of 2008 met or exceeded expectations, writing will be a continued focus for students.   

 SCHOOL PERFORMANCE PRIORITY
     In order to ensure that our students are provided with a world class education that meets the needs of the 21^st century student, we understand that a curriculum that challenges all learners to demonstrate depth of understanding, use interpretation, analysis, empathy, synthesis, application, and other higher order thinking skills is rooted in lessons that are characterized by increased rigor.  Consequently, our school performance priority is to embed more rigor and higher order thinking skills within unit.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE ACTION PLAN: GOALS
Student Performance Goal	Performance Indicators	Current Performance Levels	Benchmarks
Palmer students shall demonstrate proficiency in mathematics.	Meet and/or exceed standards on the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade CRCT.	·        88% of Palmer students who took the CRCT in Spring of 2008 met or exceeded standards in math.	90% of Palmer students who will take the CRCT in spring of 2009 will meet or exceed standards in math.
	Students make connections to other disciplines through performance tasks.		100% of Palmer students will apply mathematical concepts as they relate to disciplines other than math.
	Students engage in math-related activities in other subjects		100% of Palmer students will complete a math related activity in other disciplines.

 

STUDENT PERFORMANCE ACTION PLAN:  RESOURCE PLAN
Strategy# 1- Collaborate on the implementation of the math Georgia Performance Standards at all grade levels.
What Teachers Will Do	Professional Development	Financial Resources	Monitoring Plan
1. Continue GPS implementation at all grades 2. Homeroom teachers administer Palmer Panther Problems twice weekly The first 9 weeks will emphasize numbers and operations. The remainder of the year will be on current GPS. 3. Sixth grade teachers will engage in teacher rounds 4. Math teachers at grades 7 and 8 will engage in horizontal collaboration at each grade level with an emphasis on data analysis to drive instruction. 5. Math teachers will review the Palmer Panther Problems for accuracy.	Training on Math GPS	·       County provided	ALT and Administrators will complete 2 Learning Walks per Math teacher during the first semester to determine level  use of GPS.  The results will be shared with the math teachers to set goals for instruction. Checklist for teacher rounds (see SFSD Plan Syllabus) Students will complete Math challenges to help improve computation GPS skills twice a week during homeroom. Teachers in their classes will review the challenges  bi- weekly The math teachers will use the data to determine future instructional needs, remediate, differentiate instruction and identify areas of improvement. The math teachers will discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the students at their monthly vertical math meetings. | Math teachers will administer twice quarterly quizzes over the P3   challenges.
	Data Team Training	Training by ALT's and county personnel
	Teacher Rounds Training	Local School
		SFSD

 

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE ACTION PLAN: GOALS
School Performance Goal	Performance Indicators	Current Performance Levels	Benchmarks
Implement the recommendations of the GAPSS review team.	·         Georgia Keys governance model	·        New school governance in place	100% participation
		“Key” teams a minimum of one a month
	·     Teachers assigned to “Key” teams	First quarterly action plans analyzed, revised, and posted on the T drive	100% implementation of action plans.
	·     Teachers meet to create, plan, determine implementation, analyze, and reflect on quarterly action plans. (see attached action plans)	Data from the 2007-2008 Learning Walks indicated that 18% of the time students were engaged in lessons that incorporated higher level thinking.	80% of the collaborative lessons created will incorporate higher order thinking skills.

 

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE ACTION PLAN:  RESOURCE PLAN
Strategy# 1- Collaborate on the implementation of the math Georgia Performance Standards at all grade levels.
What teachers will do	Professional Development	Financial Resources	Monitoring Plan
1. Collaborate bimonthly to create units using the backward design model (UBD)	Teachers will continue to create units that incorporate differentiation.	·       SFSD funds and Local School funds.	Meeting minutes, collaborative logs   Administrators will monitor unit plans through tech paths, provide productive feedback, and encourage teachers to create lessons that are more rigorous.   Learning Walks (minimum 2 per semester per teacher)   4 ½ week data analysis reports to records students’ current mastery/deficits of standards.   Common assessment data
2. Collaborate to utilize assessment data to align and adjust instruction.	Teachers will receive training to on how to create common assessments through our SFSD course,”Improving Student Achievement Through Research Based Strategies.” Collaborative data teams will receive training on the collection and analysis of student data.	ALTs
3. Include AVID methods.	Teachers will be trained on how to present and utilize Cornell Notes and Costa’s Levels of Thinking (Bloom’s) in their units. Provide professional learning in co-teaching for both regular and special education teachers to enhance student learning.	AVID Site Team Members Special Education Lead Teacher Special Education Supervisors