COBB COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

 

McCleskey Middle School

 

 

  SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

2007-2010

 

 

Revisions

 

 

9/26/2007

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

Table of Contents

		Pages
PART 1	PROFILE………………………………………………………………………………	3
Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………………………		3
Significant Accomplishments…………………………………………………………………..		5
Significant Challenges………………………………………………………………………….		5
Organizational Characteristics…………………………………………………………………		6
Student Performance Data Analysis ……………………..…………………………………..		6
Stakeholder Perceptual Data Analysis …..…………………………………………………..		7
PART 2	SCHOOL MISSION AND BELIEFS………………………………………………...	8
PART 3	ACTION PLAN ……………………………………………………………………….	9
Priorities………………………………………………………………………………………….		9
School Performance Action Plan: Goal ……………………………………………………		10
School Performance Action Plan: Resource Plan …………………………………………		11
Student Performance Action Plan: Goal 1 …………………………………………………		13
Student Performance Action Plan: Resource Plan …………………………………………		15
Student Performance Action Plan: Goal 2…………………………………………………..		18
School Performance Action Plan: Resource Plan …………………………………………..		20
PART 4	RESULTS ……………………………………………………………………………..
Strategy Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………
Georgia Performance Standards Implementation …………………………………………
Benchmark Reporting …………………………………………………………………………
Reflections on Lessons Learned ……………………………………………………………..
Next Steps ……………………………………………………………………………………...
APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………………………………….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROFILE TC "Profile" \f C \l "1"

 

Executive Summary

 

The members of the School Improvement Planning Committee will meet monthly (1^st Wednesday of each month) to develop a plan for continuous improvement for McCleskey Middle School. Gathering data and receiving feedback from staff, parents, and students, the committee provides updates throughout the year on the accomplishment of our goals. During the 2007-08 school year, we will continue with our two Student Achievement Goals and our one School Performance Goal of: 1) Students will perform at or above grade level in Reading.  It is our goal to ensure that 73.7% of all students and subgroups meet or exceed standards on the spring administration of the CRCT.  2) Students will perform at or above grade level in Math.  It is our goal to ensure that 66% of all students and subgroups meet or exceed standards on the spring administration of the CRCT, and 3) Utilize school-focused collaboration to improve student learning.

 

With the implementation of Curriculum Mapping during the 2005-06 school year and a continued focus on research based strategies that improve student learning, McCleskey administrators and staff are working towards developing a more succinct systematic set of procedures for developing a collaborative learning environment for the 2007-08 school year.  We hope that as the school develops into a Professional Learning Community, collaboration will become embedded into every aspect of the school’s culture. We will continue with the implementation of Curriculum Mapping (referred to as Unit Planning for the 2007-08 school year), incorporating the use of technology with Tech Paths as the accountability piece. In addition, focused Unit Planning Days are included in our local school Professional Development Plan, with two goals in mind.  First, we want to give teachers time to effectively plan units together in order to change how instruction looks in our building.  Secondly, we will begin benchmark testing in Math and Reading/Language Arts and we will use the time during unit planning days to look at our data and determine to what extent all of our students and subgroups are mastering standards.   In an effort to continue to foster collaboration, teachers were given the opportunity to volunteer for one of our many school committees, such as: Data Team, Professional Learning, Technology, Hospitality, School Climate/Recognitions, Public Relations, Curriculum Mapping, and Curriculum and Instruction.

 

In an effort to address student achievement concerns, sixth and seventh grade academic classes changed to a seventy –minute block during the 2005-2006 school year, from the previous ninety – minute one implemented during the 2004-2005 school year. This change was a result of data gathered from teachers, students, and parents.  We will continue with this schedule for sixth and seventh grade classes for the 2007-2008 school year. The majority felt this schedule was more beneficial because each content area had an opportunity to meet everyday.  Academic classes for eighth grade students will remain with the traditional fifty-minute class schedule to meet the needs of students enrolled in advanced courses for high school credit.

 

Since our 2004-05 did not include a literacy class for students, there were fewer opportunities for Sustained Silent Reading (SSR).  During the second semester of the 2006-07 school year, we implemented a school-wide SSR program.  Reading in twenty minute blocks in one academic class, four days a week, was structured into the daily schedule.  We will continue implementing this plan for SSR for grades 6 and 7 during the 2007-08 school year as well as continue to evaluate the programs effectiveness.

 

 

 TC "Executive Summary" \f C \l "2"  TOC \f \h \z

 

During the 2005-06 school year, four teachers volunteered to pilot a behavior management program based on the works of Dr. Marvin Marshall, in his book, Discipline Without Stress.  The philosophy of this program is making students more responsible for their behaviors. At the end of the year, these teachers presented an overview of the program and their recommendations about it.  Books were purchased for teachers to read over the summer to become more familiar with the program. Upon returning to school for the 2006-07 school year, all teachers agreed to implement the new behavior management system school-wide, even though our original goal was for a gradual transition for implementation.  As I met with teachers during the summer of the 2007-08 school year, many teachers expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the implementation of this initiative.  To begin the 2007-08 school year, each grade level has implemented their own grade level plan and we will continue to look at effective discipline strategies through our Discipline Committee which meets on the 4^th Wednesday of each month.

 

Classroom walkthroughs were introduced to the faculty during the second semester of the 2005-06 school year, and will continue during the 2007-08 school year as a mechanism to monitor student achievement. During these class visits, information was gathered in five areas:  Objective, Performance Task, Thinking Level, Performance Standard, and Student Engagement.  Since this practice was introduced to teachers two years ago, they now have a better understanding of the purpose for the classroom walk-throughs and are beginning to believe that it is not about them, but the students and what they are learning.  For the 2007-08 school year, all teachers will have the standard they are working on as well as the essential question posted.  As administrators conduct walk throughs and ask students questions; it is an expectation that students are able to articulate what standard they are working on and be able to discuss why or why not their work meets the standard.

 

For the 2007-08 school year the School Improvement Committee will have the task of developing and redefining the  School Improvement Plan to more accurately reflect our CRCT data.  We will review and revise our plan as needed as we work towards increased student achievement and continuous school improvement.

 SIP Team Members

Dr. Chris Richie                    Sylvia Controy

Susan DeBardeleben          Nancy Pierce        

Claire Lyons                        Judy Anderton

Sharon Bonney                    Tom Hawley

D’Nena Mock                        Becky Levine

Nancy Johnston                    Tom Jones

 

 

Significant Accomplishments

 

·        Continued a modified version of School wide philosophy for behavior,

 Discipline Without Stress by Marvin Marshall with emphasis on positive behavior

·        Increased percentage of 6^th grade students scoring Meets/Exceeds in Reading CRCT from 91% (2005-6) to 95% (2006-7); additionally, 7^th grade students increased from 86% to 87%.

·        Increased percentage of 6^th grade students scoring Meets/Exceeds in Mathematics CRCT from 77% to 79%; 8^th grade students increased from 88% to 90%.

·        Increased percentage of 6^th grade students scoring Meets/Exceeds in Science CRCT from 74% to 79%; 7^TH grade increased from 72% to 81%.

·        Teachers electronically input curriculum maps into a web-based system, TechPaths, which will be used as an accountability system for instructional planning.

·        Initiated implementation of Professional Learning Communities by establishing norms first month of school.

 

Significant Challenges

 

·        Formalized collaborative planning to focus on student learning rather than teacher training.

·        Change the paradigm of teacher collaboration based on sharing lessons to that of focus on student performance

·        Achievement of all students, especially that of our subgroups.

·        Refine implementation of Data Team process

 

 

Organizational Characteristics

 

The principal and assistant principals solicit input from the faculty via several committees:  Technology, Curriculum and Instruction, Data Team, Staff Development, School Climate and Recognition, AVID, Hospitality, and Public Relations.  The administrators support an “open door” policy, and welcome suggestions from faculty and staff in order to enhance the success of McCleskey Middle School.

 

Students are heterogeneously grouped by grade level; sixth through eighth grades.  Each grade level of teachers work as a team and collaboratively plan instruction by content areas, grade levels, as well as, school-wide regardless of academic level (Target, Special or Regular education). For 2007-2008 we will continue Curriculum Planning Days, and use our Professional Learning Communities as the focus for increasing student achievement through instructional plans based on student data.

 

We have an active PTSA and School Council at McCleskey Middle School where the combined efforts of students, parents, and staff work collaboratively for overall school improvement. 

 

 

Student Performance Data Analysis

 

 

In 2006-7, classroom walk throughs were based on the county model and targeted objective, level of Bloom and level of engagement. Because of this change in format, reading strategies were not documented through this process. However, according to CRCT data reading scores are inconsistent by grade level and remain a focus of reading in the content area.  Several studies  shown that specific reading instruction in areas such as science, social studies and math leads to improved reading comprehension in students; to this end, we are focusing on pre-reading strategies.

Even though students made progress in the area of math, we find that some of our subgroups are struggling in math.  We will continue this goal emphasizing inductive reasoning and problem solving through performance based instruction.

 

As the research of DuFour and Fullan shows, structured collaborative planning positively impacts student learning.  Our focus will be on collaborative unit planning that uses data in making instructional decisions. In order to optimize the benefits of this model, teachers have received training to become active participants in a Professional Learning Community to set norms for conducting meetings that focus on student learning.

 

Student successes and challenges found in our 2006-2007 CRCT results:

 

In math the number of general education students achieving Meets or Exceeds Standard in sixth grade increased from 77% to 88% and in 8th grade from 88% to 96%.

 

In reading the number of general education students achieving Meets or Exceeds Standard in sixth grade increased from 94%- 98%. In reading the number of special education students achieving Meets or Exceeds Standard in sixth grade increased from 73% to 80% and in 7^th grade from 57% to 65%.

 

 

 

 

In math the number general education seventh grade scores for Meets or Exceeds Standard dropped from 89% to 85%, and math scores for students with disabilities who scored Meets or Exceeds Standard declined in all three grades: 6^th from 43% to 40%; 7^th from 57% to 50%; and 8^th from 68% to 58%.

 

Teachers and administrators are analyzing raw-score domain results to pinpoint instruction in order to address these deficiencies and make these students successful.

 

Stakeholder Perceptual Data Analysis

 

For the school year 2006-2007 data indicate:

 

73.3% of students agree or strongly agree that they are satisfied with the quality of the instructional process offered to students at this school.

81.9 % of parents or strongly agree that they are satisfied with the quality of the instructional process offered to students at this school.

80% of teachers agree or strongly agree that they are satisfied with the quality of the instructional process offered to students at this school.

 

94.9% of teachers agree or strongly agree that safety is a priority at McCleskey; 89.4 % of our parents responded in like manner; yet students have overall agreement of only 75%.

 

 

Academics related to School Improvement Plan:

 

96.8% of parents agree or strongly agree that McCleskey Middle School has an effective program in the areas of English/Language Arts/Reading.

93.6% of staff or strongly agree that McCleskey Middle School has an effective program in the areas of English/Language Arts/Reading.

 

91.5% of parents agree or strongly agree that McCleskey Middle School has an effective program in the area of Mathematics.

90.9% of staff agree or strongly agree that McCleskey Middle School has an effective program in the area of Mathematics.

 

 

 

  SCHOOL MISSION AND BELIEFS

 

INTRODUCTION

We revisit the mission and beliefs statement yearly. This past year the SIP Committee made a few changes, and then they solicited feedback from the staff regarding the proposed refinements. They incorporated suggestions into the final version.

 

MISSION

 

At McCleskey, our students will become critical thinkers who are responsible, knowledgeable, and successful as life-long learners in a richly diverse society.

 

BELIEFS

1.                  We believe that the teaching of reading and writing is the foundation in every content area.

 

2.                  We believe every student has the right to an instructional program that reflects an understanding of the unique intellectual, physical, social, and emotional characteristics of the middle school child.

 

3.                  We believe each student has the right to a challenging, structured curriculum, which promotes critical thinking skills.

 

4.                  We believe our students should become effective decision-makers through the skills and values developed through our instructional program.

 

5.                  We believe staff members should create a stimulating environment that offers challenge, support, and success for all students.

 

6.                  We believe that the school, home, and community share the responsibility to teach respect for the rights of others and responsibilities of citizenship.

 

7.                  We believe staff and students should work together to maintain classrooms that have a climate of warmth, respect, and understanding.

 

8.                  We believe that students achieve best in an atmosphere where continuous communication and support exist among the parents, teachers, and community.

 

 

ACTION PLAN

Priorities

 

STUDENT LEARNING PRIORITY

Increase achievement in mathematics

Increase achievement in reading

 

Based on the research of Stall and Nagay (2005) on the “value of strategic grouping of words”, Steven Stall (1998) on the “relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension”, and Heidi Hayes Jacobs (2006) on active literacy, we will train the staff on ways to help students derive meaning from informational texts. We feel this emphasis will improve math and reading scores based on the NASSP Bulletin (Barton, 1997), which reported “35% of all achievement test errors were fundamental reading errors.”

 

Additionally, with the continued unpacking of math standards, we support the recommendations of Brown and Smith [1997]; Putman and Borko [2000] Principles and Standard for School Mathematics that “teachers must help students be confident, engaged mathematics learners… work to keep students involved in relevant classroom activities, assign projects that make connections between mathematics and students’ daily lives…”  

 

 

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE PRIORITY

Utilize school-focused collaboration to improve student learning

 

Today’s national trend leans toward teacher collaboration to improve student achievement. DuFour (1998) states “That if schools want to enhance their organizational capacity to boost student learning, they should work on building a professional community that is characterized by shared purpose, collaborative activity and collective responsibility among staff”.

 

When teachers are not held accountable for collaboration about instructional practices, they associate “collaboration with congeniality …secret Santa exchanges, recognition of birthdays…” (DuFour 2003). Based on these findings, leaders need to define and to promote organized collaboration on a regular basis, and he urges them not to settle for collaboration masked as social activities. The more teachers collaborate over instruction the more student’s improve.

 

Through structured and protected collaborative sessions, through focused staff development, and through emphasis on instructional alignment, we feel we are adhering to the principles of current research. Therefore, our goal for improving school performance states we will utilize school-focused collaboration to improve student learning.