Wvde.state.wv.us
WEST VIRGINIA
1003(g) SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT
APPLICATION COVER
TIER I AND TIER II SCHOOLS
Southside K-8 School
County – McDowell County Schools
LEA Title I Director – Amanda L. Fragile E-mail – afragile@access.k12.wv.us
LEA Curriculum Director – Carolyn Falin E-mail – cfalin@access.k12.wv.us
LEA Special Education Director – Clinton Henry E-mail – cahenry@access.k12.wv.us
Superintendent Signature__________________________________________ Date____________
LEA Title I Director Signature ______________________________________Date____________
Southside K-8 School will utilize grant funding to commit to collaboratively identify, plan, implement, monitor, evaluate and communicate the changes that are necessary to increase student learning. The grant will allow for additional job-embedded professional development to sustain efforts to deliver a standards-focused curriculum which fosters leadership for administrators, teachers, and students.
The collaboration with the lead external partner, Edwards Educational Services, Inc. will be strengthened through grant monies. Teachers will design assessments and lesson plans to drive instruction for all students based on data.
Funding will support the addition of a K-2 after-school program. Currently the school has a program in place for 3rd-8th. Monies will allow for additional teacher salaries, supplies, and parent involvement activities which will assist the school in building culture and relationships identified as two of the areas of focus for the school. Six salaries for after-school will be funded through this grant.
Teachers will participate in high functioning professional learning communities to collaborate on the improvement of student learning through the study of relevant data, problem analysis, and the implementation of strategies that improve instructional practice.
A School Social Worker will be employed through grant funding. This individual will be a trained professional who works with students, teachers and parents to promote student success. This individual will act as a liaison between teachers, parents, students, administrators and the community. They will have a flexible schedule which will allow him/her to schedule home visits during the day and evening hours in order to work with schedules of working parents.
iLead will be implemented at the school to develop school leaders. Students form a company and progress through leadership problem-based leadership development tasks. As they earn tokens, they move up through 21 levels of the Leadership Development and refine skills needed to lead themselves and the world. iLeaders also join a closed networking site to collaborate virtually with leaders.
LEA APPLICATION
I. SCHOOLS TO BE SERVED: List each Tier I and Tier II school the LEA commits to serve, provide principal information and check the applicable box for the intervention model that the LEA will implement in each Tier I and Tier II school.
Tier I Schools:
|School Name/ |Principal |Email Address |Intervention |
|NCES ID# | | | |
| | | |Turn- |Restart |Closure |Transformation |
| | | |around | | | |
II. DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION: Address the following information in the LEA application for the 1003(g) school improvement grant.
A. The needs assessment and capacity index were previously provided in the letter of intent to apply. The letter of intent to apply has been evaluated according to the established criteria and if it was deemed to have met the standard, no further action is required. If revisions were required, attach a copy of the revised letter of intent with changes highlighted.
McDowell County Schools did not meet the minimum 20 points required on the District Capacity Index Rubric. Therefore, we are requesting technical assistance support from the West Virginia Department of Education in the following areas: grant planning and implementation, development of professional learning communities, professional development based on the needs assessment, grant evaluation, sustainability, and strengthening collaboration among the SEA, LEA, and local level stakeholders.
B. Provide a summary of the LEA consultation with relevant stakeholders regarding the LEA’s application and implementation of school improvement models in its Tier I and Tier II schools. Each LEA shall include a description of the meeting format, stakeholder groups consulted, key discussion points and the outcomes from the discussion.
The Title I Director attended the initial School Improvement Grant Writing Meeting on January 14th, 2011 held by the SEA. Application documents and guidance were provided to the LEA as well as the announcement of eligible schools. Specific guidance was provided referring to required changes to Round 2 monies including pre-implementation allowable activities. The ideas and information learned was shared at a District Leadership Team Meeting on January 18th, 2011. A list of stakeholders was developed and the members were invited by a letter to participate in the grant writing and implementation process.
Southside K-8 School actively participated in all WVDE School Improvement Conferences and collaborative conversations as a Tier III school for the 2010-2011 school year. A School Leadership Team is already established at the school. Parents were added, as well as a student representative. Information learned at the conferences is included within the contents of the grant application.
School Leadership Team Members from Southside K-8 School attended a meeting with District Leadership Team on February 3rd, 2011 to review the application and begin conducting the needs assessment and root cause. Teachers, parents, and administrators provided feedback concerning issues that have been identified as directly impacting student achievement at Southside K-8 School.
The District Leadership Team met with the school’s external provider, Edwards Educational Services Inc., on February 28, 2011 to review the needs assessment and determine what services would be provided to support the school new administrator and sustain efforts with Framing Your Success initiative with classroom teachers.
The School and District Leadership Teams came together on February 28, 2011 to review the submission of the district capacity index, preliminary budget, root causes, and needs assessment to the SEA which was due on March 1, 2011. Final edits and suggestions were made to the documentation before submittal.
The District Leadership Team met on March 10, 2011 with the SEA to review feedback provided on the aforementioned items. The SEA Coordinator provided face-to-face guidance concerning grant activities and permissible expenditures. The application process was reviewed in depth and additional resources were provided to the team.
Edwards Educational Services met with the District Learning Team via conference call on March 15, 2011 to review the grant application and further discuss the needs assessment for Southside K-8 School. Walk-though data, observations, and classroom assessment data were reviewed by the team.
A final meeting was held on April 12, 2011 with all stakeholders including parent representatives. The application including the budget was reviewed and final revisions were made.
As a response to the April 12, 2011 made by WVDE a forum was held at Southside K-8 where teachers and community members attended ad information session on the grant initiatives. This activity allowed the district and school leadership team to gather commitment and buy-in from teachers and parents.
The following members are identified as members of the District Leadership Team:
• Superintendent – James G. Brown
• Assistant Superintendent – Carolyn Falin
• Title I Director – Amanda L. Fragile
• Pre-K – 12 Curriculum Coordinator – Brenda Boyd
• Special Education Director – Clinton Henry
• External Service Partner, Edwards Educational Services, Inc. – Steve Edwards
• External Service Partner, Edwards Educational Services, Inc. – Ralph Schade
• RESA I Director – Keith Butcher
• EdVantia Consultant Resource Provider – Anita Deck
The following members are identified as members of the School Leadership Team:
• Principal – Florisha McGuire
• Curriculum and Instruction Supervisor – Cheryl Cruey
• Classroom Teacher – Vicki Galmish
• Title I Teacher – Michelle Billings
• School Transformation Coordinator – Mike Akers
• Parent Representative – Barbara Click
• Parent Representative - Beth Jenks
• Student Representative - Kyler Nunley
C1. Develop measurable summative and growth goals that will be used by the LEA to monitor progress of student achievement on the State’s assessments in both reading/language arts and mathematics. Annual growth goal example: “The percentage of students who exhibit typical growth in grades 6-8 in mathematics will increase annually as measured by the WESTEST 2.”
|School Name: Southside K-8 School |
|Annual Summative Achievement Goal for Reading/Language Arts: Increase the percentage of students scoring proficient in reading/language |
|arts in the “all” subgroup by 3% as measured by WESTEST2. |
| |
|Annual Growth Goal for Reading/Language Arts: The percentage of students who exhibit typical growth in grades 3-8 in reading/language |
|arts will increase annually as measured by WESTEST2. |
|Annual Summative Achievement Goal for Mathematics: Increase the percentage of students scoring proficient in mathematics in the “all” |
|subgroup by 3% as measured by WESTEST2. |
| |
|Annual Growth Goal for Mathematics: The percentage of students who exhibit typical growth in grades 3-8 in mathematics will increase |
|annually as measured by WESTEST2. |
The aforementioned goals for reading and mathematics were developed by the Five Year Strategic Planning Team. The team analyzed 2010 WESTEST2 scores and other achievement data to determine strengths and weaknesses across all subgroups and grade levels. In the fall, guidance was provided during the writing of the 1003(a) Grant from SEA Coordinator for the school to set an attainable goal for annual summative growth. The team determined that a 3% growth goal was attainable for both reading and mathematics.
Progress towards annual goals will be tracked through a series of short cycle common formative assessments administered school-wide for each grade level prior to every benchmark assessment. The short cycle assessments and benchmarks will be aligned to newly county-created curriculum and pacing maps. A school-wide, grade level and classroom data-tracking template will be maintained by each teacher in reading language arts and mathematics.
Southside K-8 School has identified three focus areas to guide the work of school improvement.
• Improve school climate and culture;
• Increase collaboration, and
• Develop instructional strategies to impact achievement.
C2. Describe below how the summative and growth goals will be utilized by the LEA to evaluate the school’s academic progress.
The District Leadership Team will utilize targets identified in the summative and growth goals to determine academic progress. Goals will be revised for years 2 and 3 based on data analysis at multiple levels and from multiple sources after receiving guidance from the Office of Research on the school’s expected growth rate based on scale scores from the WESTEST2. Once new WESTEST2 scores are received, the county and school leadership teams will analyze data and revise the strategic plan as needed to continue improvement.
III. TRANSFORMATION MODEL ACTIVITIES: Design interventions and establish timelines for implementation consistent with the final requirements for the selected intervention model(s) as directed below.
LEAs serving Tier I and Tier II schools implementing the transformation model shall address all items under Sections A through D.
TRANSFORMATION MODEL
A. Develop teacher and school leader effectiveness
1a. Replace the principal
McDowell County Schools has selected the following method to meet the transformation model requirement addressing the replacement of the principal. The new principal must be placed in this position on or before the first day of administrative employment for the 2011-2012 school year.
|School Name |Tier |Method of Replacement |Start Date |
| | |(Choose a, b, or c as described |of the Principal |
| | |below) | |
|Southside K-8 School | 1 | A |July 1, 2011 |
a. The principal has been replaced within the past two years, (defined by ED as the fall of 2008 or more recently), as required of an identified Title I school in years four and beyond placed in restructuring as defined in NCLB §1116(b)(8)(B)(ii). This change in leadership meets the requirement of restructuring the school governance for a fundamental reform. Evaluation of the individual’s performance will be conducted within the guidelines of WV Code §18A-2-12 and WV BOE Policy 5310.
b. The principal has been or will be replaced through a mutual agreement (i.e., voluntarily applies to transfer to another available position within the district) as outlined in WV Code §18A-2. Evaluation of the individual’s performance will be conducted within the guidelines of WV Code §18A-2-12 and WV BOE Policy 5310.
c. The principal has been or will be replaced through the performance evaluation of school personnel process as outlined in WV Code §18A-2-12 and WVBOE Policy 5310.
1b. Describe the leadership competencies the district will require for principals placed in the schools implementing the transformation model. See “School Turnaround Leaders: Selection Toolkit” as a resource:
The current school administrator was hired on November 1, 2010. He has since bid on another position, but will remain until the new principals starts at the school.
All principals hired are teamed with a veteran instructional leader as a mentor who exhibits professional knowledge, skills, and the disposition that reflect strong leadership and effective management of a school.
In order to further develop the school administrator, McDowell County Schools will continue to strengthen the county level leadership professional development series including a 360 leadership assessment conducted by the external partner to determine individual strengths and weaknesses in order to focus on the critical competencies as delineated below through the leadership of the Superintendent.
McDowell County Schools will focus on the following competencies: initiative and persistence, monitoring and directness, planning, team leadership, ability to develop others, analytical thinking, conceptual thinking and self-confidence and instructional leadership skills.
The District Leadership Team will also support and develop a principal who fosters distributed leadership among staff, students, and stakeholders in order to focus collective action for improved school performance. Specific job-embedded support will be provided by the district staff as well as the external partner to improve school performance.
According to Public Impact, there are several critical competencies which a turnaround leader must possess to improve a low-performing school. The following are the competencies which will be established or strengthened for the newly hired administrator at Southside K-8 School:
• Achievement: The drive and actions to set challenging goals and reach a high standard of performance despite barriers
• Impact and Influence: Acting with purpose of affecting the perceptions, thinking and actions of others
• Monitoring and Directness: The ability to set clear expectations and to hold others accountable for performance
• Team Leadership: Assuming authoritative leadership of a group for the benefit of the organization
• Self-Confidence: A personal belief in one’s ability to accomplish tasks and the actions that reflect that belief
To improve school leadership through the transformation process, the principal will receive support and training to build the following competencies as directed by the school’s root causes:
• Scheduling: WVIES training, support from the external partner and district leadership team, mentor support
• Communication: Support from external partner and district leadership team
• Tiered Instruction: Support from external partner and district leadership team, RESA and/or WVDE training
• School Culture and Climate: Support from external partner and district leadership team, Support from Anita Deck (Edvantia Appraisals and improvement plans), Implementation of Time to Teach
• Support and Monitoring of Professional Development: Support from external partner and district leadership team, 10 minute meetings, walkthroughs
2. Describe how each participating school will use rigorous, transparent and equitable evaluation systems that take into account data on student growth.
Evaluating staff is a critical component in an effective performance management system and should be connected to other areas of educator support which includes relevant data points. In particular, a rigorous approach to evaluation should be clearly connected to a district’s system for providing professional development so that growth opportunities are well-aligned with teachers’ and school leaders’ areas of weakness (Milanowski, Heneman, & Kimball, 2009). When professional evaluation systems are tied to compensation or other high-stakes outcomes, it is especially important that they be accurate, objective, fully transparent, and linked to growth opportunities.
Frequently, evaluation systems fail to adequately differentiate between teachers at different performance levels (Weisberg, Sexton, Mulhern, & Keeling, 2009), or to differentiate among teachers based on specialized roles and specific contexts (Chait, 2009; Toch & Rothman, 2008). To be effective, teacher evaluation systems must be understood by teachers and should result in the identification of actual differences in performance (Danielson & McGreal, 2000; Milanowski, Prince, & Koppich, 2007). Everyone involved in the evaluation process should undergo training in the use of the assessment instruments including the use of classroom observations, portfolio reviews, or other methods employed. In addition, evaluations should be conducted frequently, using multiple quantitative and qualitative measures, in order to gain a comprehensive and accurate picture of a teacher’s competencies. Those responsible for conducting classroom observations and evaluation should provide immediate formative feedback to improve a teacher’s instructional practices.
School administrators must also be evaluated. Their evaluations should be based on clear standards and objective criteria that are a matter of description and not assumption. Evaluations should be straightforward with specific outcome measures that can be supported with multiple data points, helping leaders to identify strengths as well as weaknesses. Administrators should be provided an opportunity to give feedback to the district and to shape the decisions that will improve their effectiveness (Reeves, 2009). For both teachers and school leaders, the evaluation system must be monitored for its perceived usefulness and to guide revisions to the evaluation process.
In order to meet this requirement for the 1003(g) SIG program, McDowell County Schools will become an “early adopter” of the WVDE revised educator performance evaluation system that takes into account data on student growth. To determine the adequacy of growth in Title I 1003(g) grant recipient schools, WVDE will first identify a suitable normative group to whom students in these schools can be compared. WVDE proposes that this normative group be composed of all students in the state of West Virginia. Furthermore, WVDE proposes that typical growth targets must be differentiated for students based upon their prior academic performance on WESTEST 2. This approach will allow WVDE to set realistic and individualized expectations for growth that are not based on subgroup membership. The process of documenting student growth in Title I 1003(g) grant recipient schools begins with identifying this normative group.
Each year, an LEA having a Title I 1003(g) grant recipient school will receive a school growth report from the WVDE containing: (1) a school-wide median growth percentile value for each assessed content area and (2) a median growth percentile value for each content area disaggregated by grade level. The report will also include the percentage of students who achieved at or above typical levels of growth. This information will be presented for each assessed content area and disaggregated by grade level. This report will be utilized as part of the WVDE revised educator performance evaluation system that takes into account data on student growth and to identify and reward school leaders and teachers who have increased student achievement.
The school growth report will be incorporated in evaluating teacher and school leader effectiveness as described below.
Tier I and Tier II schools accepting Title I 1003(g) funds will be required to adopt the newly developed framework for a multiple measure professional educator evaluation system. As a result, these schools will be labeled as “early adopters” in the timeline of implementing this framework. The timeline below illustrates the implementation stages for this new framework:
• 2009-2010: State task force was established to study the WV teacher and leader performance evaluation system and review the work that has been completed on the teaching standards.
• 2010-2011: State task force continues to meet and recommends revisions to Policy 5310 and WV teacher and leader performance evaluation system.
• Summer 2011: Professional development will be provided to teachers and administrators on the newly revised WV teacher and leader performance evaluation system.
• 2011-2012: Continued professional development and implementation of revised WV teacher and leader performance evaluation system as an “early adopter”.
3. Describe how the district will identify and reward school leaders, teachers and other staff who have increased student achievement and the graduation rate.
Nationally, reward-based compensation is becoming common as a school reform strategy because of an emphasis on teacher effectiveness and increased student achievement. The goal of this type of compensation structure is to significantly motivate employees to perform well and encourage the retention of highly effective teachers in low achieving schools. According to NCLB Section 1117, each state may financially reward schools that improve student achievement and help the school meet its goals for improvement. The rewards program may also recognize and provide financial rewards to teachers teaching in a Title I school identified for improvement that consistently makes significant gains in academic achievement in the areas in which the teacher provides instruction or to teachers or principals designated as distinguished.
While WV Code §18A-4-4 and§18A-4-5a limits the options for rewarding teachers, McDowell County Schools will implement the following procedures for meeting this criteria. The rewards will be based on student achievement results and implementation of individual measurable action steps to achieve the school goals. The information contained in the school growth report provided by the WVDE will be utilized to determine reward-based compensation.
All professional staff members will be part of a collaborative team (professional learning community) and participate in regularly scheduled team activities. As part of the team activities, each staff member will be asked to identify specific individual measurable action steps. The teacher will commit to completing the identified tasks as part of the overall strategies to achieve the school’s summative and growth goals for reading/language arts and mathematics. The completion of these individual action steps will be monitored every three weeks by the building administrator.
Each year, an LEA having a Title I 1003(g) grant recipient school will receive a school growth report from the WVDE. After reviewing the school growth report, the LEA will determine if the school met its summative and the annual school growth goals for reading/language arts and mathematics. Additionally, the building administrator will determine if the teachers completed his/her individual action steps. The administrator’s supervisor will in turn determine if the principal completed his/her individual measurable action steps.
If it is determined that the school met the summative and annual school growth goals for reading/language arts and mathematics and each professional completed their individual action steps, then the professional staff members (principal and teachers) will be rewarded. Current WV Code does not permit a bonus to be paid to individuals, thus the following options are being suggested as appropriate rewards.
Check the option(s) the county will use to provide rewards:
|Reward Options |Amount per Staff Member|
|ξ Materials or supplies for teachers’ classrooms |$250.00 |
|Attend an out of state conference | |
|Utilize the funds towards tuition for advanced coursework and LEA HQ teacher plan | |
|Other (specify) __________________________ | |
|SEA approval required | |
4. Describe how high quality, job-embedded professional development will be provided. Identify any activities that will be completed as ‘pre-implementation’ (see APPENDIX A if applicable).
a. All schools that receive a Title I 1003(g) school improvement grant will be required to have PLCs as a means for providing job-embedded, sustained professional development that will lead to lasting change. Describe the format for the professional learning communities in the district and further delineate where the individual school differs, if applicable. The description must address the following items:
Structure
The structure of the meetings will be by grade level for the elementary grades and by content area at the middle level grades. Administrators will model meeting structures for teachers with the goal being that teachers will ultimately be responsible for running their own meeting as instructional leadership develops. Distributing leadership to teachers is necessary for the overall effectiveness of the school. As time elapses, the administrator will take on the roll of participant in the meetings.
The Southside school leadership team will encourage consistent staff participation in professional development as it pertains to them. Only the principal and school leadership team will be involved with the Environmental Scan and data analysis scheduled for June 20, 2011. The July 7, 2011 training, Developing of Core Concepts of a PLC, will only involve the school administrators. Our monthly job-embedded support from Edwards Educational Services, Inc. will provide the sustained support for the effective development of PLCs.
Southside staff will be expected to fully participate in the planned vertical teaming scheduled after school. The principal will monitor participation and encourage attendance by offering flexible scheduling and providing stipends.
Frequency of Meetings
The master schedule will allow for meetings to take place on a weekly basis. After-school vertical teaming collaborations will also be regularly scheduled each week to allow for additional critical conversations centered on student achievement.
Major Areas of Focus for the Work of the PLCs
The focus of the meetings will be to examine multiple data points that results in a change in teacher practice. The PLC teams will look at assessment data both assessments of and for learning. Teachers will share best practices that have demonstrated measurable gains for individual students, sub-groups and entire grade levels or content areas. A particular area of focus specific to Southside K-8 School will be on utilizing best practices to increase students’ attendance, eliminate classroom behaviors which affect student work through effective teaching strategies, and develop goals for individual students to raise reading and mathematics achievement.
Monitoring the Effectiveness of the PLCs
The effectiveness of the PLC’s will be monitored through multiple measures including, but not limited to:
• Common Bell Ringers;
• Short Cycle Assessments;
• Examination of Student Work;
• Sharing of Lesson Plans;
• WESTEST2 Data;
• Acuity Data;
• Data Tracking System, and
• Teacher Feedback.
b. Provide an overall description of the professional development plan for the school that describes the focus of the Professional Development (PD) and how it will fundamentally change teaching and learning in the school.
The overall PD Plan for the school will focus on creating a Professional Learning Community. To achieve this it is first important for all stakeholders to have a working knowledge of a PLC. It is a term that is often referenced, but rarely understood. The PD will center on the following aspects of a PLC:
• Distributive Leadership;
• Data Driven Decision Making;
• Building a Collaborative Culture;
• Implementation of a System of Prevention and Intervention, and
• Engaging Parent and Community Support.
PD will focus on continuing strengthening the processes and structures to allow the above to take place through the efforts already established during the 2010-2011 school year in regards to the collaboration with Edwards Educational Services, Inc. through other braided federal funding. The funding from this grant will allow the Framing Your Success Team more time to specifically provide additional job-embedded support for the teachers and administrators. In addition, additional support will allow for creating a system to monitor, measure and evaluate on an on-going basis, linking all work to the schools vision, mission and strategic plan.
Additional monies are needed to increase the amount of job-embedded support from Carnegie Learning for Bridge to Algebra Program for 8th grade mathematic teachers. The 6th – 8th English Language Arts teachers are currently participating in a co-hort with other peers across the district which allows them to build relationships and develop writing expectations for students using the WV Writing Rubrics. Monies are needed from this grant to extend the amount of time for the job-embedded support from Terry Reale, Consultant.
Professional development to strengthen tiered instruction will be provided to all K-8 reading language arts teachers on four different dates throughout year one. This will supported and followed up on through in-classroom support provided by Kathy Snyder. The correlation will be directed and monitored by the Title I director and the assistant superintendent of curriculum.
The School Social Worker will need training in various areas including bullying prevention, safe and supportive schools, increasing student attendance, and parental communication including but not limited to how to make home visits. Additional training will be provided to teachers to build the strategies the staff members utilize from APL and Time to Teach.
Effective counselors are imperative to the success of children in the elementary and middle school setting. Intensive professional development will be provided and embedded into the work schedule for the school counselor.
Sustained efforts will be made using professional development monies to strengthen tiered instruction at the school. Training opportunities will begin for classroom and Title I Teachers in summer 2011. Additional sessions and job-embedded support will be provided on using data to drive the work and differentiating instruction to meet the needs for all students.
Teachers must be proficient in the delivery of 21st century learning to all students. Monies will be appropriated to trainings associated with engaging students through technology including Acuity, WV Writes, techSteps, Lexia Reading, and Headsprout. All K-8 classrooms will have a SMART Board installed by June 2011. In order to support the hardware, job-embedded professional development for teachers will be provided to increase the utilization of the boards from students and teachers.
i-Lead will be purchased through the use of grant funding to develop student leaders from within. Training will be provided for classroom teachers who will facilitate students enrolled in the program.
The School Leadership Team will also attend all WVDE sponsored team meetings throughout the life of the grant.
In the chart below specific sessions are outlined. A large number of the sessions will be in-class job –embedded support from consultants to strengthen the core. A large number of the teaching staff is utilized in the after-school program. Therefore, they are unable to attend after-school sessions. Also, there is a low attendance rate for teachers on Saturday sessions. This is attributed to the long distance teachers drive to work in the area. With job-embedded work sessions, the teachers are able to have model lessons and researched based in-classroom support for all teachers.
APL Strategies will be presented to 25 staff members during the month of July 2011 as a pre-implementation activity professional development session. The research-based strategies will improve classroom management and develop an understanding of teaching expectations to students.
The school and district leadership team reviewed the aforementioned professional development plan. Much of the professional development outlined in the grant is a continuation of best practices and in-classroom support initiated last school year, as the school participated in school improvement without SIG funding. Framing Your Success is a systematic and comprehensive approach to school change that permeates all levels of student performance. The process for each school is individualized based on need. Included within this approach is support and training for PLCs, interventions, and assessment. The only new addition is the implementation of i-Lead for students in grades 6-8. iLead will provide a progressive leadership development experience for Southside students , thus alleviating a weakness identified as a root cause. Therefore, the leadership teams feel the outlined professional development meets the needs of the school and is of high quality.
Both Southside K-8 and Welch Elementary are schools with severe weaknesses in the areas of reading and mathematics. The needs and demographics of the schools are similar. As previously mentioned, Framing Your Success is individualized involving school improvement processes and is not a “canned” program. The in-classroom support for reading and math provides individualized job-imbedded sustained support for teachers.
c. In addition, provide a specific description of professional development activities by year in the charts below. Note: All professional development must be both research-based and sustainable.
‘Pre-Implementation’ (see APPENDIX A): June 2011 - August 2011
|Date |Topic |Presenter(s) |
|June 20, 2011 |Environmental scan, review of multiple data sources including academic, |Edwards Educational |
| |social and behavioral, culture surveys, etc. |Services (EES) |
|June – August 2011 |WVDE School Improvement Conferences |WVDE |
|TBD | | |
|July 7,2011 |Determining core values and beliefs and training in the core concepts of a|EES |
| |PLC | |
|July 18-21, 2011 |APL Strategies |APL Associates |
|July 27-29, 2011 |Plan of action for 2011-2012 school year, linked to schools strategic plan|EES |
| |and based on data gathered above, determine data collection and tracking | |
| |system. Administer the ELI 360 to all administrators-provide feedback and| |
| |design plan based on results | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|August 1, 2011 |I-Lead training for classroom teachers who will facilitate the program at |EES |
| |the school | |
|August 9, 2011 |Teacher Evaluation Training |WVDE |
|August 11-12, 2011 |Strengthening Tiered Instruction |A. Fragile |
|August 8-10, 2011 |Framing Your Success Institute Year 2 |EES |
| |Building Common Formative Assessments | |
| |Data Analysis and Decision Making | |
| |Strengthening School Leadership | |
Year One: September 2011 - August 2012
|Date |Topic |Presenter(s) |
|September 6, 2011 |Train administration and staff in running effective PLC |EES |
| |collaborative meetings. Model meeting format for all parties. | |
|September 12, 2011 |Instructional Practices Inventory Training |WVDE School Transformation |
| |Howie Mitchel, Theresa Stillwell, Jeanie Starcher (2 teachers and |Specialists |
| |the principal have already been trained) | |
|Two Year Co-Hort |Transition to Teaching Co-Hort |Marshall University |
|September 16-18 2011 |Developing Effective Counselors |TBD |
|October 6-7, 2011 |Job Embedded & After School Sessions | |
|November 11-13, 2011 | | |
|December 8-9,2011 | | |
|September 5-7, 2011 |Engage Them! SMART Board Training |Deena Yensen, Pomeroy IT |
|October 12-14, 2011 |Job Embedded & After School Sessions |Solutions |
|November 14-15, 2011 | | |
|December 15-16, 2011 | | |
|October 18, 2011 |Creating Acuity Classroom Assessments | |
| | |Amanda Fragile |
|October 4, 2011 |Strengthening Tiered Instruction | |
|November 8,2011 | | |
|December 13, 2011 | | |
|January 9, 2012 | |WVDE/ Title I |
|October 20, 2011 |WVDE SIG Conference | |
| |Bridgeport, WV |WVDE |
|October 25, 2011 |Building Parental Relationships |Anita Deck, Edvantia |
|December 1, 2011 |Communication Skills | |
| |Welcoming School Environment | |
|October 2011 |Strengthening the Core –K-5 Reading Strategies | |
|December 2011 |Job Embedded & After- School Sessions | |
|February 2012 | | |
|March 2012 | |Kathy Snyder |
|May 2012 | | |
| | | |
| |Everyday Mathematics for Everyone | |
|September 8, 2011 |Job Embedded & After- School Sessions | |
|September 10, 2011 | |Heather Lash |
|November 3, 2011 | | |
|November 5, 2011 | | |
|March 15, 2012 | | |
|March 17, 2012 | | |
|April 19, 2012 | | |
|April 21, 2012 | | |
|Fall 2011 |Assist is the collection, tracking and monitoring of relevant data|EES |
| |to drive teacher practice | |
|November 23, 2011 |Taking techSteps into the Future | |
| | |Paige Perkins, School Kit |
|February 16-17, 2012 |WVDE SIG Conference | |
| |Bridgeport, WV |WVDE |
|Monthly |6th – 8th Grade Level English Language Arts Support |Terry Reale, Consultant |
|TBD |Job Embedded | |
|Monthly |Framing Your Success School Improvement | |
|September 12-14, 2011 |Job Embedded | |
|September 26-27, 2011 | | |
|October 3-5, 2011 |*Support Services are available for all administrators 24 hours a | |
|October 17-19, 2011 |day by email and conference calls. |EES |
|November 21-22, 2011 | | |
|December 5-7, 2011 | | |
|January 9-11,2012 | | |
|January 23-24, 2012 | | |
|February 6-8, 2012 | | |
|March 5-7, 2012 | | |
|April 9-11, 2012 | | |
|April 23-24, 2012 | | |
|April 19, 2012 |WVDE SIG Conference |WVDE |
| |Charleston, WV | |
|Bi-Monthly |School Leadership Series |EES |
|September 1, 2011 |School administrator will actively participate in a mini-series of|WVDE |
|November 1, 2011 |school leadership sessions scheduled by the Superintendent. The |Administration |
|January 9, 2012 |sessions will focus on building the required leadership | |
|March 1, 2012 |competencies leaders must possess in McDowell County Schools. | |
|May 1, 2012 | | |
|All Year |Assess the degree of modifications in teacher practice based on |EES |
| |data analysis, collaborative team meetings, classroom | |
| |observations, teacher reflections, and 10-minute meetings. | |
| |Continue to link all efforts to the strategic plan. Develop | |
| |assessments “for” learning to allow teachers to adjust their | |
| |professional practice based on data from the assessments. Provide| |
| |regular reports to the central office and state department of | |
| |education on progress. Continually adjust plans as new | |
| |information (data) become available | |
Year Two: September 2012 - August 2013
|Date |Topic |Presenter(s) |
|(month) | | |
|Sept 2012 |Assess progress to date, assimilate new staff and determine schedule for the year.|EES |
| |Continuation of initiatives from year one with modifications based on data | |
| |analysis. Adjust outcomes as needed | |
|Fall 2012 |Implementation of lab-classrooms, peer-to-peer observations, teacher data binders |EES |
| |and student data notebooks. Implementation of Focus Groups (parent support) | |
|Two Year Co-Hort |Transition to Teaching Co-Hort |Marshall University |
| |Job Embedded | |
|Spring 2013 |Student led conferences, building off of information gathered from the student |EES |
|(March) |data notebooks |Teachers |
| | |administrators |
Year Three: September 2013 - August 2014
|Date |Topic |Presenter(s) |
|(month) | | |
|Sept 2013 |Continuation of in initiatives from years 1 and 2. Shifting additional |EES |
| |responsibility to building level admin and teachers. Redefining outcomes based on|Teachers |
| |information gather from year one and two. Implementing a check and balance system|Administrators |
| |to ensure quality for all initiatives. | |
5. Describe the strategies the district staff will utilize to recruit, place and retain staff in the school served with the 1003(g) grant.
The district staff will use various strategies to recruit and retain staff at Southside K-8 School beginning with ensuring all data in West Virginia Education Information System (WVEIS) is entered accurately and accurate at all times through extensive training provided by RESA I. Southside K-8 School will begin the 2011-2012 school year with five vacant positions.
The following strategies will be utilized to recruit and retain staff at Southside K-8 School:
Recruit
• The District Leadership Team and Personnel Director met with representatives from the SEA to review the teacher shortages and the challenges the district is suffering from in the area of personnel recruitment. A co-hort is currently being developed which will assist individuals who are not highly qualified to complete a two-year program similar to the Transition to Teach Program. Funding from the grant will be earmarked for those individuals who will complete the program while working at Southside K-8 School;
• The Personnel Director will post job openings on the district and state web sites. College visits are scheduled to recruit college graduates. The Director has made efforts to broaden recruiting efforts to reach a wider audience;
• The district will provide funds to reimburse teachers who take and pass the Praxis Certification Examination in high need areas;
• The Personnel Director will provide opportunities for alternative certification through Transition to Teaching;
• Southside K-8 School brochures highlighting school events will be developed by the School Leadership Team and will be dispersed at career fairs, local hiring agencies, and community events;
• Counselors at both district high schools counsel students into the field of teaching, and
• Collaborate with Bluefield College and Virginia Intermont College to provide credit for students teaching via classroom experience.
Place and Retain Staff
• All staff members hired will receive a letter from the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction informing them of the district’s Tuition Reimbursement Policy;
• Support will be provided for new teachers through a beginning teacher mentor program;
• Support teachers seeking administrative certification through Title II funding;
• Provide opportunities for new teachers to attend both tracks of West Virginia Center for Professional Development’s Beginner Teacher Academy;
• Allow for reimbursement of teachers wanting to pursue National Board Certification;
• Create a Southside K-8 Teacher and Student Handbook will be issued to all new hires in order to allow the teacher to become familiar with the school.
• Encourage and promote teachers that are highly qualified in one core subject to become highly qualified in additional core subjects;
• Continue to provide support for Professional Learning Communities through Framing Your Success which established school teams focusing on improving instruction effectiveness and subject achievement;
• Maintain an individual plan for those teachers who are not highly qualified and provide guidance and progress checks for each;
• Recognize teachers for their efforts and accomplishments, and
• Reward teachers with a $250.00 incentive for meeting their summative and overall growth goals for reading/language arts and mathematics.
6. Describe other permissible activities, as defined in the regulations, the district staff chooses to implement in the school to develop teacher and school leader effectiveness.
The school administrator will participate in the leadership series hosted by McDowell County Schools which will focus on the critical competencies as delineated above. The Superintendent of McDowell County Schools will organize the series to transform the principals into instructional leaders of their schools.
Through the sustained support of Edwards Educational Services, the administrator will receive guidance and insight on instructional decision making practices through the liaison. Communication is on-going between both parties through email, phone, site visits, and webinars.
The School Leadership Team will meet bi-weekly to further develop ideas and strategies to improve the school. The School Leadership Team will meet with the District Leadership Team monthly to discuss progress and analyze data. Meetings will be held in a variety of methods including webinars to maximize time on task. Both the School Leadership Team and District Leadership Team will meet with the SEA regularly through collaborative conversations as scheduled by the WVDE.
Minutes from the School Leadership Team Meetings will be reviewed with the staff at collaboration meetings, School Messenger announcements, and email to ensure quality communication.
Ten-minute meetings will be conducted to focus on student and teacher work. The administrator will continue to receive job-embedded support from Edwards Educational Partners in the development and sustainability of the meetings. The District Leadership Team will monitor the implementation of the meetings and review evidence of the meetings and their framework monthly.
Southside K-8 School staff members are trained in using the Instructional Practices Inventory (IPI). This process develops a school wide picture of student learning practices that serve as the basis for faculty reflection and instructional improvement and to collect data used as a dependant variable to measure the impact of school improvement interventions. Additional staff members need to be trained to increase the number of teachers conducting IPI collections. The School Leadership Team will review each collection and present the findings to the District Leadership Team to monitor progress of school improvement. Four data collections are expected to be complete each school year.
Monies will be reserved for training and monitoring of the teacher evaluation procedures which are to be piloted by School Improvement Schools.
B. Comprehensive instructional reform programs. Identify any activities that will be completed as ‘pre-implementation’ (see APPENDIX A if applicable).
1. Describe how the school staff will use data to identify and implement an instructional program that is research-based and vertically aligned from one grade to the next as well as aligned with State academic standards.
In order to vertically align from one grade level to the next a 8-K approach rather than a K-8 model is needed. School leaders and teams will need to identify the skills, concepts and knowledge students must demonstrate at mastery at each grade level. Collaborative efforts from all stakeholders including external lead partner, Edwards Educational Services, Inc. will be devoted to creating a standards focused curriculum at Southside K-8 School. Work from classroom teachers in professional learning communities, teaming, and 10 minute meetings must center on the following conversations:
• What do we accept as mastery?;
• What are the essential skills?;
• How do we assess mastery of those essential skills?;
• What do these skills look like at each grade level?;
• Understanding and applying the skills embedded in the CSO’s, and
• Applying the Mastery Matrix.
Once each of these is determined then it will be necessary to identify what data (evidence) school and district administrators will accept as progress in student achievement for each. Evidence that will be monitored by all stakeholders will include, but not limited to:
• Common Bell Ringers;
• Short Cycle Assessments;
• Examination of Student Work;
• Lesson Plans;
• WESTEST2 Data;
• Acuity Data;
• DOK Matrixes;
• Data Tracking System, and
• Teacher Feedback.
Current assessment being utilized to evaluate student progress include DIBELS, Acuity, Lexia, Headsprout, WV Writes, Carnegie Assessments, IPAP, Everyday Mathematics checklist, classroom short cycle assessments, Scholastic Reading Inventories, and classroom observations.
2. Describe how the school will promote the continuous use of student data to inform and differentiate instruction.
The following activities will be embedded into practice at Southside K-8 School to inform and differentiate instruction based on continuous use of student data.
• Developing an assessment map;
• Assessments for learning;
• Private and public data walls;
• Utilize county developed Acuity Benchmarks and analyze data;
• Create common formative short-cycle assessments;
• Grading for mastery;
• Utilize bell ringers in all classrooms;
• Data at the classroom level is critical for ownership;
• Focused job-embedded staff development programs as an improvement strategy to address documented problems/needs;
• Organized factual reports to the community about the learning progress of students;
• Staff meetings that focus on strategies and issues raised by the local school’s data;
• Regular parent communication regarding the progress of their children, and
• Administrative team meetings that focus on measured progress toward data-based improvement goals.
School administrators will ensure the aforementioned practices are embedded into instructional practices through PLCs, 10-minute meetings, and observations. The district leadership will monitor and provide support. IPI data will be collected four times a year and analyzed to denote growth and areas of improvement. School administrators will be required to report on their growth regularly during principal meetings and will monitor progress through a strategic plan work tasks document.
3. Describe other permissible activities, as defined in the regulations, the school staff will implement as comprehensive instructional reform programs (if applicable).
• Each teacher will maintain an action plan for their efforts to increase reading, mathematics, and attendance at the classroom level. This plan will be fluid and monitored by the school administrator in 10 minute meetings;
• A Title I Intervention Facilitator will be hired using Title I funding to support and monitor tiered intervention for all students. This individual will assist teachers with strategies which will effectively provide instruction for a particular child based on data;
• Students in grades K-5 will receive 90 minutes of mathematics instruction and 120 minutes of reading language arts;
• Students in grades 6-8 will receive a double block of mathematics instruction;
• Those students needing additional reading support are enrolled in READ 180 and have a double block to allow for the writing and language component to be delivered;
• Teachers will utilize bell ringers which are created using the Acuity platform;
• Teachers will use the Rule of 3 – Depth of knowledge assessments will be created by asking questions 3 different ways on the three different levels to allow for students to be exposed to a variety of way the question is introduced;
• All teachers will actively participate in 10 minute meetings. The meetings will be student focused and data driven. Documentation of the meetings will be monitored by the district staff and external partner;
• The Accelerated Reader Program will be introduced and utilized by students for the 2011-2012 school year to assist with motivating young readers. The software will allow students to read both fiction and non-fiction books on his/her Lexile level. AR will provide books for students to read to develop a joy and love for reading by providing a variety of choices and genres. AR will build parent/student relationships and create successful reading experiences. AR is not a reading program and will in no way become the reading program;
• A new mobile lab will be purchased each year for the life of the grant to increase the student to computer ratio.
• Lexia Reading and Headsprout is available for teachers to utilize as a Tier 2 resource. The software allows for students who need intensive skill instruction. Each students needs are assessed with non-disruptive technology based on the individual needs of each child;
• Modern classroom libraries need improved to accommodate to the needs of the children in the classroom. Grant funding will allow for each classroom teacher to have new fiction and non-fiction books for small group and independent reading activities, and
• Students will maintain student data notebooks to monitor their progress on key areas in the classroom such as attendance, behavior, academic performance, and etc. This work will be guided by the external partner and supported by school administrator.
• Teachers will
C. Increasing learning time and creating community-oriented schools. Identify any activities that will be completed as ‘pre-implementation’ (see APPENDIX A if applicable).
1. Describe how the school staff will establish schedules and strategies that provide increased learning time and create community-oriented schools. An additional 300 hours per year is recommended by ED.
After-School Program: Currently Southside K-8 students in grades 3-8 participate in the DREAMS After-School Program. The District and School Leadership Teams determined it was necessary to use grant funding to ensure students in grades K-2 are also afforded the opportunity to attend an after-school program with specific skill instruction based on data. Additional teachers will be hired to expand the K-2 grade span after-school program. Based on student interest, additional teachers will be hired through grant funding to allow all students the opportunity to participate in the program. Six salaries will be funded through this grant. Transportation will be provided for students as well as a nutritious evening snack through blended federal funds.
The after-school program will be open to all students K-8. For summer school and after-school, instruction will be determined by each student’s intervention portfolio. Intervention portfolios are maintained for every student and include assessment and progress monitoring data for reading and math. Title I, classroom teachers, after-school teachers, and summer school teachers have access and contribute to the portfolio during collaboration. The after-school program will run two hours per day four days a week. Summer school will run for four hours a day for twenty days.
Critical Skills Summer Academy: A Summer Academy will be available for all students. The Academy will provide critical skill instruction for students based on student data. Engaging strategies and delivery instruction will be modified to support academic growth. The Academy will provide an opportunity for additional 24 instructional days to increase learning time.
2. Describe how the school will provide ongoing mechanisms for family and community engagement.
• Southside K-8 School receives Title I school-wide services. Family involvement activities are regularly scheduled throughout the school year. Family reading, mathematics, and technology nights provide parents with strategies that will empower support from home to increase academic achievement. Parent workshops will also be held during the Summer School Academy for all parents. County Title I Parent Trainings are also regularly scheduled and published on the county website, news media, and in print form;
• As a pre-implementation grant activity, a Summer Kick-Off is planned for August to assist to communicate to parents and the community about school status and improvement plans for the school;
• Title I Teachers will hold parent data analysis meetings for all parents after each benchmark period. This will allow for data to be interpreted in parent friendly language by the reading and math interventionists. Parents will sign up for the event and scheduled convenient to the parents’ work schedule;
• To promote the love of reading, a book festival will be held each quarter for parents and students. Each child at the school will receive the same book which will be utilized during the school day and at home in the evening for activities. Activities will be announced via school messenger to parents;
• During the 2010-2011 school year, the school was actively involved with the School Improvement Conferences led by WVDE. Culture and Climate survey results indicated a need for establishing school culture. The School Leadership Team will hold monthly forums with parent representation to establish school pride and values. School Messenger memos will be sent to parents encouraging attendance for forums. Student representatives will also be in attendance for input;
• A monthly parent newsletter will be distributed highlighting student achievement, upcoming school activities, helpful strategies, and more. The newsletter will also be available in electronic format for community members and distant family members;
• The school will open a new school website in August 2011. The site will be user friendly and contain pertinent up-to-date information regarding the school. Parents will have access to teacher email accounts and school assessment data;
• The school administrator nominated two parents to represent Southside K-8 School on the McDowell County Schools Title I Parent Advisory Council (PAC). The PAC will attend a meeting hosted by the McDowell County Schools Title I Program the first Thursday of every month. The PAC members will review and edit the Parental Involvement Policy, and act as an advocate for the Parent Involvement Program. Title I Teachers will work with the school’s principal and the PAC chairmen in developing the Title I Parent Policy for the school. All Title I Schools are required to hold an annual Title I meeting at the beginning of the school year. This affords the parents the opportunity to learn more about Title I and begins a communication process between parents, teachers, and school administrators. The PAC plans and carries out other Title I activities throughout the school year;
• The school administrator as well as classroom teachers will utilize School Messenger to send announcements of upcoming classroom and school activities.
• A data wall will be housed in the conference room for teachers and administrators to monitor positive communication with parents. This visual will allow for staff to clearly determine the students who are not receiving recognition and support. All students’ names will be listed on chart paper. A dot sticker will be added beside of the child’s name when a staff member makes a personal contact, conference, phone call, email, and written communication. Efforts will be made by the School Leadership Team to encourage staff to communicate with all parents regularly.
• Additional activities will be planned in the evening hours where both the parents and students can be involved including plays, student performances, community learning nights, sporting events, and more.
• Parent Literacy Assistants will be employed through Title I funding to build parental relationships and develop parental involvement activities for the school. The Parent Literacy Assistants will mentor students and monitor their independent reading.
• The computer lab will be available in the morning and evening hours to allow students and parents to work together on software to increase academic achievement including Accelerated Reader, Lexia Reading, and Headsprout.
• Student driven conferences will be planned at the end of each semester. Students will prepare their presentations for parents throughout the term. Parents will be invited to come to the school and will review their child’s progress while the student is leading his/her own presentation.
3. Describe other permissible activities, as defined in the regulations, the school staff will implement to increase learning time and create community-oriented schools (if applicable).
Currently Southside K-8 students in grades 3-8 participate in the DREAMS After-School Program. The District and School Leadership Teams determined it was necessary to use grant funding to ensure students in grades K-2 are also afforded the opportunity to attend an after-school program with specific skill instruction based on data. Additional teachers will be hired to expand the K-2 grade span after-school program. Based on student interest, additional teachers will be hired through grant funding to allow all students the opportunity to participate in the program. Six salaries will be funded through this grant. Transportation will be provided for students as well as a nutritious evening snack through blended federal funds.
A School Social Worker will be employed through grant funding. A Social Worker is a trained professional who works with students, teachers and parents to promote student success. This individual will act as a liaison between teachers, parents, students, administrators and the community. They will have a flexible schedule which will allow him/her to schedule home visits during the day and evening hours in order to work with schedules of working parents.
The School Social Worker is expected to:
• Provide support to students having difficulties with social, emotional and behavioral adjustments;
• Provide individual and group counseling;
• Provide crisis intervention;
• Link students and families to community resources/agencies;
• Advocate for students, parents, teachers and schools;
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop programs for children with special needs;
• Promote regular school attendance;
• Conduct home visits;
• Provide case management services to students and families;
• Conduct assessment of student/family need;
• Conduct classroom observations;
• Provide parent education, and
• Meet with parents to discuss concerns about their child and/or family situation.
D. Provide operating flexibility and sustained support.
1. Describe the operational flexibility (e.g., staffing, calendar, time, and budget) the school staff will be given in order to fully implement a comprehensive approach to substantially improve student achievement outcomes and increase the graduation rate.
In order for Southside K-8 School to fully implement a comprehensive approach to substantially improve student achievement outcomes and increase high school graduation rates, the following operational flexibility opportunities will be provided:
• McDowell County School’s Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction will ensure best practices are delivered with fidelity by engaging in dialogue and observations with teachers and principals during monthly administrator meetings, district leadership team meetings, and school visits;
• Dedicated time weekly for PLCs - Vertical and horizontal teaming by content areas;
• Braided funding for after-school professional development and teaming opportunities;
• Policy revision to support staff and students e.g. grading, attendance, and etc.;
• The development of an aligned curriculum that includes K-12 curriculum maps and sample instructional strategies aligned with WV CSOs;
• The creation of district-wide and school-level summative and formative assessments,
• Building leadership and instructional capacity through Framing Your Success.
District and school administrators will investigate altering the schedule of Title I Staff to better maximize time with students. Title I Teachers are permitted to start their day earlier or later than general education teachers. The Title I Teachers will also be employed for 215 contract days. This is an increase from the former 210 contract. This will allow for planning and preparation days which will be developed and monitored by the Title I Director. Title I Teachers will begin services on the first day of the school year with students.
Guidance counselors’ contract days will be increased by ten days to allow additional preparation and intensive professional development in the area of counseling. The goal of elementary and middle school counseling is to lay the foundation for our youth to grow and fill the positions of next generation citizens, parents and business leaders. It is the job of the school counselor to provide the knowledge and support that helps students who are dealing with diverse issues to develop positive decision-making skills, communication skills and to develop positive attitudes toward school, their peers and, most importantly, themselves.
A School Social Worker will be employed through grant funding. A Social Worker is a trained professional who works with students, teachers and parents to promote student success. This individual will act as a liaison between teachers, parents, students, administrators and the community. They will have a flexible schedule which will allow him/her to schedule home visits during the day and evening hours in order to work with schedules of working parents.
The School Social Worker is expected to:
• Provide support to students having difficulties with social, emotional and behavioral adjustments;
• Provide individual and group counseling;
• Provide crisis intervention;
• Link students and families to community resources/agencies;
• Advocate for students, parents, teachers and schools;
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop programs for children with special needs;
• Promote regular school attendance;
• Conduct home visits;
• Provide case management services to students and families;
• Conduct assessment of student/family need;
• Conduct classroom observations;
• Provide parent education, and
• Meet with parents to discuss concerns about their child and/or family situation.
2. Describe the ongoing, intensive technical assistance and related support from the SEA and LEA.
a. SEA Technical Assistance
The SEA will provide technical assistance to the LEA and the schools served with 1003(g) funding. The West Virginia Department of Education Title I school improvement coordinators will regularly monitor to ensure that each LEA receiving a grant is implementing a school intervention model fully and effectively in Tier I and Tier II schools.
As indicated in the WVDE State System of Support (SSOS) School Improvement Model, the grant effectiveness of Tier I and Tier II schools will be monitored by the Title I office as part of the SSOS process in conjunction with the Office of School Improvement. In addition, Tier I and Tier II schools will be assigned a SEA Title I school improvement coordinator who is responsible for continuous monitoring of each school’s grant implementation. The coordinators will report the school’s progress to the SSOS team on a monthly basis for Tier I and Tier II schools.
In addition, each school receiving a school improvement 1003(g) grant will be provided with statewide training and support to include six days during the 2011-2012 school year. Additional follow-up training to be announced for years 2 and 3.
b. LEA Technical Assistance: Provide a description of the ongoing, intensive technical assistance and related support the LEA staff will provide to the school.
• The Title I Director will provide direct and on-going assistance in the development and implementation of improvement strategies during monthly administrator meetings, district leadership team meetings, and school visits;
• Seek resources and investigate other funding to sustain and support efforts to improve the school including Title I, II, and Special Education;
• Facilitate the analysis of assessment data and assist county and school staff in the design and delivery of instruction to address identified deficiencies;
• Assist in the revision and implementation of the each school’s Five Year Strategic Plan;
• Facilitate staff development based on identified needs at each school, and
• Work collaboratively with WVDE staff, RESA I and other organizations to ensure school improvement.
The LEA will work to support the efforts of external lead partner described in the section below. On-going job-embedded professional development will be provided through and a reading and mathematics interventionist at each school.
2. Describe the intensive technical assistance and related support for the school staff that will be provided by a designated external lead partnership organization, if applicable.
Edwards Educational Services, Inc. has been selected as the external lead partnership organization for Southside K-8 School. The partnership has been in existence for two years with intensive job-embedded professional development for teachers, district and school administrators. Grant funding will allow for efforts to be sustained and on-going.
Key areas of technical assistance and related support which will be provided by the external lead partners will include:
• Assessment design;
• Training in become a PLC;
• Conducting highly effective collaborative team (grade level and content) meetings;
• Data analysis;
• Effective teaching strategies based on the data analysis;
• Monitoring system to report to the central office and state;
• Building vertical alignment of curriculum and assessments;
• Intervention model for students based on data analysis;
• Data driven PD;
• Establishing realistic targets (outcomes) for student achievement from year-to-year, and
• Implement a “train the trainers” model for sustainability.
3. Describe other permissible activities that the school staff will implement to provide operating flexibility and sustained support (e.g., staffing, scheduling, and budgeting) (if applicable).
District and school administrators will investigate altering the schedule of Title I Staff to better maximize time with students. Title I Teachers are permitted to start their day earlier or later than general education teachers. The Title I Teachers will also be employed for 215 contract days. This is an increase from the former 210 contract. This will allow for planning and preparation days which will be developed and monitored by the Title I Director. Title I Teachers will begin services on the first day of the school year with students.
Guidance counselors’ contract days will be increased by ten days to allow additional preparation and intensive professional development in the area of counseling. The goal of elementary and middle school counseling is to lay the foundation for our youth to grow and fill the positions of next generation citizens, parents and business leaders. It is the job of the school counselor to provide the knowledge and support that helps students who are dealing with diverse issues to develop positive decision-making skills, communication skills and to develop positive attitudes toward school, their peers and, most importantly, themselves.
A School Social Worker will be employed through grant funding. A Social Worker is a trained professional who works with students, teachers and parents to promote student success. This individual will act as a liaison between teachers, parents, students, administrators and the community. They will have a flexible schedule which will allow him/her to schedule home visits during the day and evening hours in order to work with schedules of working parents.
The School Social Worker is expected to:
• Provide support to students having difficulties with social, emotional and behavioral adjustments;
• Provide individual and group counseling;
• Provide crisis intervention;
• Link students and families to community resources/agencies;
• Advocate for students, parents, teachers and schools;
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop programs for children with special needs;
• Promote regular school attendance;
• Conduct home visits;
• Provide case management services to students and families;
• Conduct assessment of student/family need;
• Conduct classroom observations;
• Provide parent education, and
• Meet with parents to discuss concerns about their child and/or family situation.
IV. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: This section must be addressed for the school.
A. Procedures to recruit, screen, and select external partners, if applicable. Identify any activities that will be completed as ‘pre-implementation’ (see APPENDIX A if applicable).
Describe the procedures the LEA staff will use to recruit, screen, and select external partners. The process shall include input from a variety of stakeholders and a specific timeline for completion of activities.
During the 2009-2010 school year, McDowell County Schools began using Edwards Educational Services, Inc. for school improvement support. This provider is listed as an approved provider on the Approved List of External Support Partners. These services will be augmented with support from this grant.
The LEA will assess the effectiveness of the external provider through feedback during school and district leadership team collaboration, assessment data charts, improvement rubrics, and ultimately improved WESTEST2 scores, IPI data, and culture and climate surveys. Administrator and teacher feedback will be collected through surveys targeting the work of the external provider.
Provide a written explanation outlining the following items:
• How the selected external partner meets the identified needs of the school
• Projected work to be completed annually by the external partner
• A description of how the LEA staff will evaluate the effectiveness of the external partner
Edwards Educational Services, Inc. meets the identified needs of each school based on the work that has already started at each school during the 2009-2010 school year through braiding of federal funding. During the 2009-2010 school year, the foundation was laid for school reform with the implementation of teacher and school level action plans focused on three district-wide non-negotiable goals. Support is now focused on developing leadership capacity at each school via Professional Learning Communities focused on student work, regular walk-throughs, and teacher-principal ten minute meetings. The meetings use an inquiry process to focus on individual student achievement. The work will continue by developing short-cycle assessments and common bell ringers in all classrooms. Teachers will become standards-focused and facilitate engaging instructional experiences that enhance individual student progress in the mastery of the curriculum.
The LEA will evaluate the effectiveness of the external provider through regular feedback from principals and teachers, the artifacts and evidence collected by schools and individual teachers, increased student achievement on common formative assessment, and ultimately an increase in WESTEST2 performance.
B. Describe how the LEA staff and school staff will modify practices or policies to enable the school staff to implement the interventions fully and effectively. Identify barriers and discuss the willingness of the district to modify procedures as necessary. Identify any activities that will be completed as ‘pre-implementation’ (see APPENDIX A if applicable).
McDowell County is currently revising the county policy manual. Any barriers identified will be addressed during this process. School level policies and procedures will be reviewed for possible conflicts. Current policy barriers include the grading policy and school and staff attendance policies.
Others barriers include a lack of substitute teachers; therefore most professional development opportunities are embedded during the school day through in-classroom support. The Personnel Director will advertise and post substitute positions through the school year and increase recruitment.
Anita Deck, Director of West Virginia Parent Connections (WVPC) at Edvantia will assist the district and school administration in implementing structured parent involvement activities that lead to improved student achievement and stronger partnerships between families and educators at Southside K-8 School.
A Summer Kick-Off will be scheduled in early August to inform the community stakeholders of the schools achievement status and efforts which will be made to improve instruction at Southside K-8 School. The grant activities and contents of the Five Year Plan will be reviewed and shared in a way that is parent friendly. This activity will allow the school to gain the support of the community and build positive relationships.
C. Describe how the LEA staff and school staff will sustain the reform efforts after the funding period ends. Address funding, staffing and other resources that will be needed to sustain improvement efforts. Identify any activities that will be completed as ‘pre-implementation’ (see APPENDIX A if applicable).
Funding for this grant will be braided among the following programs: RLIS, Title II, Special Education, Title I, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and Step 7. The school improvement process used by both schools will be ground in professional learning communities, developing leadership capacity and action planning. Once established, sustainability will continue through the use of newly embedded practices that will require little funding. Time for planning and peer observations will be sustained through funding set aside for stipends and substitutes from the aforementioned programs. Additional personnel still needed after the grant funding period, will also be funded through other county/federal programs.
V. BUDGET: Include a budget and narrative indicating the amount of school improvement funds the LEA will allocate per year.
The LEA’s proposed budget will span a three-year period, (SY 11-12; SY 12-13; SY 13-14), as the SEA has applied for a waiver to extend the period of availability of funds. The overall LEA budget must indicate how it will allocate school improvement funds, over a three-year period, as well as any ‘pre-implementation’ activities, among the Tier I and Tier II schools it commits to serve.
Submit budget spreadsheets and narrative as specified below:
School-level Detail
a. Budget Spreadsheet: The LEA will complete a separate budget spreadsheet for each eligible school receiving school improvement funds.
The budget narrative shall include the following items:
• An overview of the activities included in the budget
• A description of how other federal, state, and local funds will be leveraged to further support school improvement plans
• A description of any broad items in the budget (e.g., personnel, contracted services, professional development, supplies, equipment, travel expenses)
Align other resources with the intervention as detailed in the budget and the budget narrative for each school.
• The detailed budget narrative provides evidence of how other sources (e.g., regular school Title I; Title I 1003(a); Title II, Part A; Title III, Part A; state/local commitment and community resources) are aligned with the selected interventions.
• Provide a narrative description of how the LEA allocates other resources (e.g., personnel, materials, services) to support the selected intervention model in the grant application.
BUDGET NARRATIVE
Instruction K-12 Category
Substitute Funding
• This expenditure will allow for on-site staff development by providing coverage for teachers not to interrupt classroom learning and to ensure coverage of core classroom during job-embedded professional development and IPI Collections. Funding will also include substitute for School Leadership Team members to travel to WVDE Conferences and ROUNDS.
Supplies (YR 1--$10,000; YR 2--$6121.00; YR 3--$10,000)
• Student data binders
• Chart paper
• After-School instructional supplies
Supplemental Books (YR 1--$20,000; YR 3--$10,000)
• Classroom library books
• I-Lead Student Reference books
Hardware
• Mobile laptop lab will be purchased to add additional machines for hands-on lessons to increase engagement which was found to be low on recent IPI collections (30,000 for 3 years).
• Laptop and printer for the School Social Worker
Professional Personnel Supplemental Salaries
• Six After-School Teacher Salaries
Funding will be blended to sustain efforts through Title I, II, and DREAMS Grant
Support Services – Attendance and Social Services
• School Social Worker
• Supplies
Professional Development
Stipends/Incentives
• Professional development and team meeting stipends
• Teacher incentive of $250.00
Funding will be blended to sustain efforts through Title I, II, and other federal sources.
External Lead Partner (YR 1—$150,000; YR 2—$120,000; YR 3--$75,000)
• Edwards Educational Services, Inc. organization will be on-site at each school 5-6 days each month. The focus of the work will be action plans and building effective professional learning communities.
Funding will be blended to sustain efforts through Title I, II, and other federal sources.
PD Consultants (YR 1 --85,260.00; YR 2—$67352.44; YR 3—$25,000)
• Monies are budgeted for consulting fees for the in-classroom support offerings for mathematics, reading, counseling, technology, and writing. Terry Reale, APL, Kathy Snyder, Pomeroy, and Carnegie will serve as consultants for professional development.
Funding will be blended to sustain efforts through Title I, II, and other federal sources.
Tuition Reimbursement
• Transition to Teach Co-Hort (Two Years)
Funding will be blended to sustain efforts through Title I, II, and other federal sources.
Travel
• Monies are budgeted for out of county travel including but not limited to School Transformation Team Meetings, School Retreat, and etc. Also included in this line will be costs associated with home visits made by the School Social Worker.
Funding will be blended to sustain efforts through Title I, II, and other federal sources.
Transportation
Service Personnel Salaries
• Two bus operators for after-school program bus
Fuel
• Fuel for the after-school program bus routes
VI. ASSURANCES: The LEA must include the following assurances in its application for a school improvement grant (check applicable boxes or indicate as “not applicable”).
The LEA assures it will adhere to the following actions:
ξ Replace the principal in each Tier I or Tier II School it commits to serve as per the regulations of the Title I 1003(g) grant program.
ξ Establish annual goals (summative and growth) for student achievement on the State’s assessments in both reading/language arts and mathematics and measure progress on the leading indicators in Section III of the final requirements in order to monitor the school.
ξ Use the school improvement grant to fully and effectively implement an intervention in the school consistent with the final requirements.
ξ Become an “early adopter” of a rigorous, transparent and equitable evaluation system that takes into account data on student growth as a significant part to educator performance evaluations.
ξ Organize the school staff into PLCs and provide high quality job-embedded professional development.
ξ Participate in the SEA on-site monitoring and technical assistance trainings.
❑ Include in the contract or agreement a provision that the education management organization will be held accountable for complying with the final requirements if implementing a restart model (if applicable).
ξ Comply with all state statutes and federal laws related to the Title I, Part A, 1003(g) program. Appropriate records will be provided to the State Educational Agency (SEA) as needed for fiscal audit and program evaluation.
ξ Assure that funds made available through this statute will be used to supplement and not supplant funds from non-federal sources.
ξ Maintain accurate program records which document progress in implementing the plans approved in this application.
ξ Report to the SEA the school-level data required under Section III of the final requirements upon request.
VII. WAIVERS: The SEA has obtained waivers of requirements applicable to the LEA’s school improvement grant. The LEA must indicate which of those waivers it intends to implement (check applicable boxes).
Extending the period of availability of school improvement funds.
❑ “Starting over” in the school improvement timeline for a school implementing a turnaround or restart model.
The LEA that chooses to implement one or more of these waivers will comply with section I.A.7 of the final requirements.
The LEA assures that it will implement the waiver(s) only if the LEA receives a school improvement grant and requests to implement the waiver(s) in its application. As such, the LEA will only implement the waivers(s) in the school, as applicable.
APPENDIX A
Pre-Implementation: As soon as it receives the funds, an LEA may use part of its first year allocation (2011-2012) during the (2010-2011 school year) for SIG-related “pre-implementation” activities. These pre-implementation activities shall be budgeted separately (see budget sheets). Pre-implementation activities must (1) support the full and effective implementation of the intervention model selected by the LEA, (2) address the needs identified by the LEA, (3) be reasonable and necessary for full implementation, and (4) help improve student achievement. Possible activities that an LEA may carry out during the spring or summer prior to full implementation may include the topics listed below. This list should not be considered as exhaustive or required.
Preparation for Accountability Measures:
• Analyze data on leading baseline indicators.
• Develop and adopt interim assessments for use in SIG-funded schools.
Professional Development and Support:
• Train staff on the implementation of new or revised instructional programs and policies aligned with the school’s comprehensive instructional plan and the school’s intervention model.
• Provide instructional support for returning staff members, such as classroom coaching, structured common planning time, mentoring, consultation with outside experts, and observations of classroom practice, that is aligned with the school’s comprehensive instructional plan and the school’s intervention model.
Instructional Programs:
• Provide remediation and enrichment to students in schools that will implement an intervention model at the start of the 2011-2012 school year through programs with evidence of raising student achievement (e.g., summer school for in-coming freshmen, summer school programs designed to prepare low achieving students to participate successfully in advanced coursework, such as Honors, AP or IB).
• Identify and purchase instructional materials that are research-based, aligned with State academic standards, and have data-based evidence of raising student achievement.
• Compensate staff for instructional planning, such as examining student data, developing a curriculum that is aligned to State standards and aligned vertically from one grade level to another, collaborating within and across disciplines, and devising student assessments.
Family and Community Engagement:
• Hold community meetings to review school performance.
• Discuss the school intervention model to be implemented.
• Develop school improvement plans in line with the intervention model selected.
• Survey students and parents to gauge needs of students, families, and the community.
• Communicate with parents and the community about school status, improvement plans, and local service providers for health, nutrition, or social services through press releases, newsletters, newspaper announcements, parent outreach coordinators, hotline, and direct mail.
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