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Local Education Agency Information
School Name: Otwell Middle School
School Mailing Address:
605 Tribble Gap Road
Cumming, GA, 30040
LEA Name: Forsyth County School System, Cumming, GA
LEA Title One Director/Coordinator: Ms. Fonda Harrison
Signature of LEA Title One Director: ______________________________Date: _____________
LEA Title One Director/Coordinator Mailing Address:
1120 Dahlonega Highway
Cumming, GA 30040
Email Address: fharrison@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Telephone: 770-887-2461 x. 202243
Fax: 770-887- 1158
FY 2015 Planning Team Members
• Mr. Steve Miller, Principal, OMS
• Ms. Auburn Keaveney, Assistant Principal, OMS
• Ms. Amy Reutter, Forsyth County Federal Programs Specialist
• Mr. David Miller, ITS, OMS
• Ms. Michele Luthart, Title I Lead Teacher, Title I Mathematics Teacher, 6th Grade, OMS
• Ms. Ali Cregan, Parent Engagement Coordinator, OMS
• Ms. Catherine Keyser, Band Director, OMS
• Mr. Chuck Shadburn, Graduation Coach, OMS
• Ms. Heather Roth, Counselor, OMS
• Ms. Jeanna Black, Mathematics, Grade 8, OMS
Section I – Comprehensive Needs Assessment
Otwell Middle School is one of nine middle schools in the Forsyth County School District in Cumming, Georgia. Located approximately twenty-five miles north of Atlanta and thirty miles south of the Appalachian Mountains, Otwell Middle School is home to 1,167 students and 100 faculty and staff for the 2014-2015 school year. Our sixth grade students join Otwell primarily from four elementary schools: Whitlow, Cumming, Kelly Mill, and Sawnee. Our students continue to Forsyth Central High School after completion of their eighth grade year. Otwell offers competitive athletic teams in football, basketball, competition cheerleading, dance team, track and field, golf, wrestling, cross-country, and intramural soccer. Connections classes offered are musical theater, band, health, PE, science literacy, art, skills for adolescents (6th grade), innovations in technology, and computer literacy. We offer a wide variety of extracurricular clubs and activities, including but not limited to: Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Jr. Beta Club, Art Club, yearbook, chorus, Science Night, Robotics Club, and Technology Club. Otwell’s school mission and motto sum up who we are and who we strive to be: Every child, every day, no excuses!
For the 2014-2015 school year, Otwell’s free and reduced lunch percentage is 36.44 %.
A primary component of school improvement lies in understanding the population of all students being served. To target the needs of the student population at Otwell, our school and planning committee have reviewed the changing demographic patterns that have developed in the past five years. The following table was retrieved September 2, 2014 from the Georgia Department of Education’s website. This represents the most FTE count for March 6, 2014.
|Gender | Ethnicity/Race |TOTAL |Grade 06 |Grade 07 |Grade 08 |
|Female |Hispanic |140 |49 |51 |40 |
|Female |American Indian |4 |1 |2 |1 |
|Female |Asian |19 |7 |5 |7 |
|Female |Black |15 |6 |3 |6 |
|Female |Pacific Islander |2 |0 |0 |2 |
|Female |White |346 |107 |124 |115 |
|Female |Two or More Races |15 |3 |8 |4 |
|Female |Subtotal |541 |173 |193 |175 |
|Male |Hispanic |168 |54 |61 |53 |
|Male |American Indian |2 |1 |0 |1 |
|Male |Asian |17 |6 |8 |3 |
|Male |Black |16 |5 |8 |3 |
|Male |Pacific Islander |0 |0 |0 |0 |
|Male |White |341 |113 |115 |113 |
|Male |Two or More Races |11 |5 |4 |2 |
|Male |Subtotal |555 |184 |196 |175 |
|School Total |School Total |1096 |357 |389 |350 |
Currently Otwell also has zero enrolled migrant students. When we do have migrant students, they are served through the ELL program, Title I, special education, and general education programs. The Migrant Education Office at the Georgia Department of Education provides a Current Enrollment Report (CER) and New Participant Report (NPR) each month of the school year (if the system has new migrant students enrolled). Ms. Kathy Jolly, Forsyth County’s Title III Coordinator, completes a Priority for Services (PFS) form for each new student and submits it to the MEP office at GaDOE for review. PFS students are identified per their academic needs, including mobility and EL status. All PFS students are given priority for supplemental tutoring services based on the district's Implementation Plans approved by the state. In addition, Ms. Jolly checks the national Migrant MSIX data base provided by USED's Migrant Education office to review assessment and enrollment data for the student. The Georgia State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) in Infinite Campus also provides assessment information. Locally, the district's Comprehensive Needs Assessment committee reviews student attendance and grades at the end of each grading period and makes recommendations to school-based counselors and Title I teachers for adjustments to tutoring or other support services as deemed necessary. Ms. Jolly contacts ELL Coordinators at each school, as well as ESOL teachers to notify them when new migrant students arrive. They also are notified if the GaDOE MEP office designates a migrant student as PFS.
The following chart represents the steady increase in the economically disadvantaged subgroup as measured by free and reduced lunch rates. Otwell serves the second highest free and reduced lunch population in Forsyth County. The free and reduced lunch population from 2013-2014 was 36.44%.
Based on the population we serve, we have determined the following as our strengths and areas for improvement.
Otwell’s strengths include the following:
• Recognized as a Georgia Top 5% Highest Performing Title I Reward School.
• Designated a Title I Distinguished School for eight consecutive years.
• Recognized as a 2008 Georgia School of Excellence.
• Achieved 99% passing for reading section of the CRCT for 6th, 7th, and 8th for 2011-2012 school year.
• Commended in the GAPSS Analysis for the school faculty and staff’s commitment to exhibit a positive commitment to student academic, social, and emotional growth.
• Commended in the GAPSS Analysis for having teachers who feel empowered by school leadership to initiate improvement efforts, and the leadership team participates in shared decision-making and distributive leadership.
• Continued achievement meeting target performance levels for the Georgia Alternative Assessment program In Special Education.
• Produced four Forsyth County Teachers of the Year winners in the past nine years: Ronnie McNeese, 2005; Mike Sloop, 2006; Melissa Sessa, 2007; and Jenna Ward, 2009. One of these county winners, Sessa, continue to teach at Otwell, while Mr. Sloop and Mr. McNeese currently serve as administrators within the county.
• Received the Golden Plate award for two consecutive years for the cafeteria workers’ outstanding service in providing school lunches.
• Earned State Counselor of The Year Award, Ms. Heather Roth.
• Placed first and second in the 2012 Georgia E-cyber Mission challenge with Ms. Ward as the science teacher sponsor.
Otwell’s areas for improvement include the following:
• To continuously improve CRCT scores for all grades on the math subsection of the CRCT, with a concentration on 8th grade which notably decreased from 96% meets and exceeds to 80% from 2011 to 2012, respectively.
• To close the achievement gap as compared to the eight other Forsyth County middle schools for mean CRCT scores in Reading, English/ Language Arts, and Math.
• To increase the mean score on the 8th Grade Georgia Writing Assessment Meeting Standards percentage scores. These scores have remained stagnant, while the category for the percentage of students exceeding has continued to decrease since 2009.
• To provide staff development to reflect relevant content based on the school’s needs and student population.
• To increase the parent involvement percentage through PTSA meeting attendance, parent-teacher conferences, Title I parent meetings, and parent support sessions.
• To improve the attendance rate for all students for increased student achievement.
• To increase differentiation and higher-order thinking strategies for increased depth of knowledge and student rigor.
Through the analysis of data and the identification of areas for improvement, Otwell has identified the following as the root causes of these weaknesses:
a) changing demographic in student population,
b) a need to align professional development for teachers relating to the school’s areas of weakness,
c) a lack of parent involvement in school functions.
Otwell’s student demographic shift correlates with CRCT scores that have been falling below the county average and closer to the state average since 2008. With a collapse in the American economy, Otwell’s student population has simply been changing faster than we have provided for through professional development.
The need for professional development with our changing demographic becomes even more needed with the continued implementation of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, the new Georgia Milestone, and the Student Learning Objective Assessments. The Common Core standards require increased depth of knowledge, analysis and synthesis of information, and complexity of text in fiction and non-fiction reading. The complexity and rigor of these standards present continued challenges as the test scores at Otwell have already fallen closer to the state average in the past five years.
The free and reduced lunch percentage has increased from 30% to over 50% since 2008, with the Hispanic population’s rate increasing from 14% to 26% in the same time period. Current data reflects Otwell’s free and reduced lunch population has decreased to 38.44% for the 2013-2014 school year. Otwell’s attendance data shows a decrease of students with 10 or more absences form 2012-2013 to 2013-2014 with the percentage of students with only 1-5 absences increasing from 43% to 51%. Our goal is to continually minimize student absences to increase academic achievement.
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Based on our areas for improvement, we have broken down our subgroups to address the learning needs of all students, along with identifying our at-risk population. Below are graphs representing the eighth grade scores in reading and math.
With a passing rate of 99 percent, the data show that the few students not passing are identified as special needs.
In math, the data show that math is historically weaker at Otwell with students identified as special needs, ELL, and Title I as the students who are most at-risk of not passing.
To address the weaknesses described above, Otwell develops the Forsyth County School Improvement Plan (see Appendix A for the 2013-2014 Executive Summary) at the beginning of each school year. Each department works together to set goals for its content area with all students being included in the plan for improvement. These goals are put together with support staff goals to create the School Wide Plan. The academic content areas set goals with CRCT data targets, while support staff work with ESOL, Title I, and Special Education to create goals for their students within the executive summary. The Connections teachers support improved school attendance along with the Guidance Department and graduation coach to increase oversight of students with the goal of having a positive impact on academic performance. The Connections department will also implement close reads to support reading and ELA content areas by increasing exposure to non-fiction text. This year Otwell’s staff and leadership team determined the School Improvement goals as follows:
Note: The final CRCT administration was in the Spring of 2014. A new measure, the Georgia Milestone, or End of Grade (EOG) Test, will be implemented for the first time in the Spring of 2015. This has impacted the data used to determine school improvement goals and Otwell will be focusing on increasing the CCRPI for the 2014-2015 school year.
• To increase points earned from 47.2 in Achievement for Content Mastery towards the maximum possible points of 50 points.
• To increase points earned from 11 on the Achievement Gap in all areas, with a focus on ELA/Reading and Science, towards the maximum possible points of 15.
• To maintain existing Performance Flags for all subgroups meeting Participation Rate, Subgroup and State Performance Targets in all content areas.
• To improve the Performance Flags English Learners and Students with Disabilities subgroups to meet Participation Rate, State Performance Target and Subgroup Performance Target in Reading.
• To improve the Performance Flag in the Hispanic and English Learners subgroups to meet the Participation Rate, Subgroup Performance Target and/or State Performance Target in Science.
• To improve the Performance Flag in the Multi-Racial, English Learners, and students with Disabilities subgroup to meet the Participation Rate, Subgroup Performance Target and/or State Performance Target in Social Studies.
Accompanied by the data above, Otwell uses the federal survey, TINA, to rank order every student at Otwell in relation to at-risk factors impacting academic student achievement. Every spring, fall, and winter, teachers complete a digital survey for every student taught. (In the spring, an administrator visits each of the primary three feeder elementary schools to complete the survey for the rising sixth graders.) This survey asks questions to identify needs, including:
• If a student is served in the McKinney-Vento (Homeless), Migrant, Special Education, or Early Intervention programs.
• If a student has excessive absences or has been retained/placed.
• If a teacher or parent requests extra support for the student.
• If the student has failing grades or did not pass the Forsyth County Interim Assessment.
• If the student has low passing score or did not pass the CRCT.
The results of this survey assign point values based on the risk factors. The administrator and teachers review the results and provide Title I program support to the students identified as most at-risk with the highest need for supplemental academic support.
As a district, Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) have been prioritized for teachers, including frameworks for guiding instruction to target the needs of our learners. Teachers at Otwell are using the prioritized standards to target student needs through the implementation of data teams and common formative assessments (CFA) for all students this year. Content teachers plan with one another within the same grade level creating CFAs, which are ten question pre-assessments given to students prior to instruction of a particular unit. Student needs are determined through teacher analysis of these data, with teachers planning strategies and interventions for each subset of students to guide instruction for the unit. After instruction, a post-assessment is given to determine student gains, while also preparing for re-teach opportunities prior to a summative assessment. Teachers use the final instructional day(s) prior to a summative assessment to reinforce the defined areas provided from the Common Formative post-assessment data. The purpose of this cycle is to allow for more purposeful instruction for each subset of students to meet incremental gains towards the year long A.I.M. School Improvement Plan.
For the 2014-2015 school year, Otwell Middle School will address the needs of our students and families by working towards the following goals from the executive summary for schoolwide improvement:
• To increase Otwell’s CCRPI score from 88.7 to a 93.7 over the next 3 years.
o Continued guidance from Academics & Accountability on the latest instructional strategies & Data resources.
o A continual push from Human Resources to increase our allotments so we can hire the best out there.
o Support from Technology and Information Services so we can continue to engage our students with the best we can offer.
• To maintain and improve upon the culture and climate of Otwell Middle School.
o Continued guidance from Educational Leadership providing supervision in developing, achieving and maintaining the best possible educational systems
o Our image is so important in our community and we could always use help from Public Information and Communications to promote the positive aspects of being in the Central cluster.
o The Superintendent should continue to inspire the vision for our system and we will fall in line with that vision – Quality learning and superior performance for ALL – just like our vision at Otwell – Teach, Inspire, Motivate - Every child, every day!
• To increase parent involvement through PTO meeting attendance, parent-teacher conferences, Title I parent meetings, and parent support sessions.
• To decrease the percentage of students with 10 or more absences from 15% to 13% for the 2014-2015 school year.
• To focus on the implementation of the CCGPS by increasing student rigor with differentiation, higher-order thinking strategies, and depth of knowledge as measured by administrative Focused Walk teacher observations and common assessments, created by classroom teachers, to be reviewed by administrators.
• To provide purposeful professional learning opportunities for all personnel as measured by a staff survey.
Note: Parent and staff surveys were conducted in the spring of 2014. The surveys completed by the parents indicate areas of focus to strengthen communication and provide student learning support to families in the Otwell community. The staff surveys indicate a need for professional learning and other resources needed by the staff to support our at-risk students.
Testing information provided through Otwell students' 2014 CRCT results and the
TINA spreadsheets have been used to determine the direction of the Title I Reading Program. The 2014 CRCT results reflect a Meets percentage of 98.1% for Otwell in reading, a decrease from 98.6% in 2013. Testing information provided through Otwell students' 2014 CRCT results and the TINA spreadsheets have been used to determine the direction of the Title I Reading Program. The 2014 CRCT results reflect a Meets percentage of 98.1% for Otwell in reading, a decrease from 98.6% in 2013. Of note, the 6th grade TI CRCT reading scores increased from 4% to 37% exceeds. With the end of the CRCT, and the release of the Georgia Milestones, Otwell’s goal is to maintain, to the extent possible, current levels of performance based on a prediction of decreased scores from the relational comparison charts. Based on the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, Otwell will concentrate on maintaining current performance of subgroups meeting performance indicators on the CCRPI and improving performance for the subgroups identified from the CCRPI in the school improvement plan.
Testing information provided through Otwell students' 2014 CRCT results, as well as other identified
risk factors included in the Title I TINA spreadsheets, have been used to design the OMS Title I Math
program. The CRCT results from spring 2013 to 2014 show that Otwell decreased passing by 3% from a 96.5% passing average to 93.6% . With the end of the CRCT, and the release of the Georgia Milestones, Otwell’s goal is to maintain, to the extent possible, current levels of performance based on a prediction of decreased scores from the relational comparison charts. Using the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, the Title I teachers, as well as math content teachers, will concentrate on maintaining current performance of subgroups meeting performance indicators on the CCRPI and improving performance for the subgroups identified from the CCRPI in the school improvement plan.
Section II – Schoolwide Reform Strategies
Within the school’s Improvement Plan (See Appendix A) for improvement are the strategies and interventions used to support student instruction towards meeting the school’s annual targets. These annual targets are set in accordance with Forsyth County’s systematic agreement with the state of Georgia’s Individualized Excellence in Education’s (IE2) compact, as well as the newly outlined College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI). This new indicator is the school-level accountability measure to which Georgia schools will be held in response to the NCLB waiver approval. The CCRPI accounts for current CRCT state assessment, along with indicators including fine arts and physical education courses, attendance, 21st Century skills for eighth graders, and student Lexile levels.
Otwell’s specific plan for professional learning and school improvement in the A.I.M. plan this year is to implement the Data Teams model within grade level content areas to define student learning needs and provide differentiation to support student learning. The purpose of Data Teams is to “use a systematic process to look at student learning and student evidence” (Allison, Besser, et al, 2010, p. 2). Each staff member is assigned to a grade level, content specific team to collaborate. Using the five-step process, with the sixth step being continual monitoring and evaluation of results, defined in Data Teams: The Big Picture (2010), teachers will collaborate in the following ways:
1) Collecting and charting data: Teachers conduct pre-assessments to determine student needs for the coming unit of study.
2) Analyzing data and prioritizing needs: Teachers collaborate to determine student grouping and focus for instruction.
3) Establishing SMART goals: Teachers create attainable goals for each of the student group learning needs.
4) Selecting instructional strategies : Teachers determine strategies to use to target learner needs.
5) Determining results indicators: Teachers review student learning to determine results of chosen strategies and student progress.
6) Monitoring and evaluating results: There is a continual cycle of collecting and analyzing data to determine student learning needs and progress.
The data team cycle is designed for all learners to show growth based on defined learning needs indicated through a continual assessment cycle.
Differentiation is a key tenet in making data teams effective for improving student achievement. Per Tomlinson, the focus for increasing differentiation in the classroom is to provide opportunities for learning that address student learning needs through varying the content, process, product, and learning environment (). Among the many strategies for differentiation being covered in professional learning for translation into classroom implementation are grouping based on ability, interest, and topic; allowing for flexible seating in the classroom; and allowing for student-choice in product of learning. Differentiation is individual to the abilities of the teacher and the needs of the learner, because “there is no one-size-fits-all model for differentiated instruction; it looks different depending on the prior knowledge, interests, and abilities students bring to a learning situation” (Huebner, 2010, p. 79-81).
Teachers at Otwell will incorporate the differentiation model into the data teams model by using the unpacked standards of the CCGPS to first determine the unit of study. Teachers will then collaborate with conversation centered on the unit and determine the focus on what students should “know, understand, and be able to do” (). Teachers will develop pre-assessments, always beginning with the end in mind, to gather baseline data of students’ current knowledge of a topic. These data are used to inform instruction by guiding learning tasks, grouping of students, products to be developed by students, and further on-going assessment of work. As educators engaged in the differentiation model, we know that:
Students come to our classrooms with unique differences as people and, therefore, as learners. Our students have varied degrees of background knowledge and readiness to learn, different life experiences, cultural orientations, languages, interests, preferences for how they learn best, and different feelings about themselves as learners and about school. Just as medical doctors don't prescribe the same medications for every one of their patients, teachers who differentiate instruction are mindful of the varied learning needs of their students and plan instruction accordingly. (Tomlinson & Parrish, )
Together, data teams and differentiation are the focal points for continued student growth and achievement at Otwell for meeting the needs of all learners.
Among the instructional strategies and interventions listed in theSchoolwide Plan, the Reading and English Language Arts Department has addressed student learning needs by providing separate reading and English Language Arts classes to all sixth and seventh grade students. The purpose for splitting this content into two separate courses is to allow more instructional time for reading and ELA content throughout the school with the overall goal to improve eighth grade writing scores by increasing our meets and exceeds categories to 92% or above and increasing our reading CRCT scores from 99% passing in 2012 to 99.1% in 2013. Science and Social Studies are also supporting the school’s writing goal by increasing non-fiction reading and writing within these content areas, along with a novel study being completed in the advanced courses.
With the use of the CCGPS, there is a continued emphasis being placed on non-fiction text in all content areas, as well as an increase in text complexity for all students to reach college and career readiness. To address this schoolwide, the Literacy Design Collaborative, a group of four teachers from Otwell serving on a county committee, has worked during the past year to create modules for instruction in science, social studies, and technical courses. These modules are lessons provided to guide units of learning in these content areas with the purpose of teaching students how to read technical subject text with increasing text complexity.
In math, three of the five Title I teachers have been assigned to teach Title I math in order to serve a larger percentage of at-risk students. One teacher is assigned to each of the grade levels, while in eighth grade, our largest area of weakness with CRCT test scores, one Title class is co-taught with a general education teacher to further target student needs. The Title I math teachers collaborate with the general education teachers to plan remediated instruction for the students we serve based on the Common Core standards and detected areas of weaknesses for students in mathematical foundations. To address all learners, the math courses are differentiated in each grade level with on-level and advanced courses. Our goal is for all students to, at a minimum, meet standards on the CRCT and increase our percentage of students who exceed on the CRCT.
Note: During the 2014-2015 school year, instructional models include small group instruction delivered in the regular scheduled class rotation. Title I reading services will be provided in 6th grade, addressing reading comprehension and related reading skills necessary throughout all core academic areas. Title I math services will address the students’ identified needs essential to success in middle school mathematics classes. Students are selected using the TINA multiple criteria sheet.
Along with planning instruction and collaborating with general education teachers, Title I uses Skills Tutor and Reading Assistant, purchased programs designed to remediate basic skills and monitor progress towards goals, as supplemental support for content mastery in their classrooms. Skills Tutor is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and is a “flexible online curriculum provide[ing] differentiated instruction and intervention for the classroom” (, 2009). Otwell’s Title I mathematics teachers use this program as a targeted intervention to reinforce foundational math skills for students to complete at their identified level and pace through the student management system provided. The program also provides a basic math section that is utilized for students who are well below grade level standards, as well as an intermediate section that is utilized for students who are prepared to work ahead in the curriculum. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt states that for Title I students, the program provides “targeted instruction” with an “interactive curriculum” that “walks students through core skills in reading, language arts, writing, math and science” (, 2009). Within the content area of mathematics, the Title I teachers use the program to have students remediate and practice:
• Proportions and percentages
• Word problems and problem solving skills
• Algebra I
• Geometry
• Statistics and probability
• Decimals, fractions, and percentages
The Title I math teachers review student progress in each of the strands and use this information to plan for further instruction.
The Title I team also integrates technology through the use of Nooks, iPads, Netbooks, and laptops to increase student engagement and promote the creation of projects and presentations. Other resources to support teaching the Common Core standards include novel guides, class sets of novels, teaching guides, and Common Core student workbooks for home practice. The Title I teachers provide Homework Help before school every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to allow students extra time to review and practice any classroom work they bring to the Title I teachers.
Instructional Strategies for Reading (2014-2015)
QAR (Question-Answer Relationships)
Students often assume that most questions following a reading selection are fact- related. The QAR (Raphael, 1982) design teaches the four different types of questions possible in comprehensive assessment. QAR identifies them as Right There (fact in the text); Think and Search (in the text, but must be synthesized through the use of multiple ideas across paragraphs or pages), Author and You (author’s information plus the student’s personal frame of reference combined); and In My Head or On My Own (expository related).
StrataLogica
Using StrataLogica, students will improve their background knowledge and academic vocabulary. Robert Marzano concluded in one of his studies that over 50% of students' academic vocabulary is built from history, geography, civics, and economics. The Common Core Georgia Performance standards require an increase in non-fiction text, which is often best supported through an integration of social studies and science study. StrataLogica will support reading by building vocabulary for improved reading comprehension. Stratalogica also allows students to write in a digital format via informational and non-fiction text. Students will have access to atlases and maps digitally with these resources providing supportive text throughout the visual graphics. Teachers will have access to aligned lessons, activities, and tasks for student learning.
Triumph Learning
An online subscription to the book series of Triumph Learning include, Triumph Online, Coach, Readiness, ebooks, Buckle Down, Options, and The BookJam. This variety of e-books provides text in fiction and non-fiction, pre-assessments, post-assessments, and progress monitoring tools. Teachers have the ability to create classes, manage student learning assignments, and monitor student use of programs towards content mastery. Triumph Learning prides itself on being “committed to serving 21st-century learners with a mix of interactive digital tools and innovative student texts.”
Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop and Vocabulary for Success Workbooks
The Vocabulary Common Core Enriched Edition introduces high-utility and academic vocabulary in context and promotes students’ understanding of these words with multiple exposures. In addition, this program builds Word Study skills through reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities. Vocabulary for Success helps middle school students who are at or nearing grade level proficiency and English Language Learners meet the Common Core State Standards. This program also teaches academic and domain-specific vocabulary that is vital to comprehension using explicit instruction and the Gradual Release of Responsibility model.
Content Area Reading
Additional support in the area of content reading is provided by the use of NookCOLOR (Barnes & Noble) to enable students to access books, newspapers, Internet support sites, etc. Books will be downloaded to the Nooks for students to access. This resource is intended to increase their vocabulary and build their background knowledge thereby contributing to their comprehension of a wider range of reading material. Students will also read various class novels (Freak the Mighty, We Beat the Streets, Peak, Cracker Jackson, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Outsiders, and And Then There Were None) as part of their fiction unit. In addition, Plugged-In To Reading, a reading program for middle and high school students from literacy expert Dr. Janet Allen, is used in the ELA/reading classrooms to enhance the reading instruction of both fiction and nonfiction.
Spanish Language Book Sets for Curriculum Content Areas
Research shows that ELL students who can learn or read about the concepts in their native language will enhance their understanding of the curriculum. As the students who speak very little English have to learn harder concepts, especially in 7th and 8th grade (with minimal support in the classroom), it would be beneficial for them to first read about it in Spanish. Many of Otwell’s Title I students are also ELLS and can be better supported by providing books in their first language.
Interact Simulation Teacher Guides
Eighth grade ELA teachers utilize this resource to guide units for writing and public speaking. The guides provide learning modules with scenarios to which students respond. These scenarios build upon one another to assist students with taking a single idea and building it into a written essay and/or public speaking speech.
Instructional Strategies for Math (2014-2015)
SkillsTutor
This is a research- based computer program supporting the growth of students’ basic to intermediate math skills. Specific assignments and skills are assigned to each student based on his/her strengths and weaknesses. Through SkillsTutor, students are able to receive more practice and review of concepts most needed. It also provides ongoing information regarding each student’s progress.
Penda Learning
Penda is an avatar-based online math and science program that incorporates the latest brain research to engage students. Penda assigns homework on the teacher’s behalf, tailored to the district’s curriculum map. Weekly progress monitoring of subgroups and classes is automated without requiring a separate test. Penda provides weekly progress monitoring data, by subgroup and class, through completion of homework. Students are motivated to work in Penda because the lessons are personalized to their learning level, goal setting and mastery are required before a student may progress to a new concept, and participation is required.
Technology
NookCOLOR’s, Netbooks, Apple iPads, and the classroom laptop computers are used to access applications addressing the learning and practicing of math skills necessary for lasting math competency. Apple cards will be used for the teacher to purchase Apps throughout the school year for math instruction.
The students’ use of classroom sets of iPads in the Title I classroom will greatly increase the hands-on learning that occurs because it provides a safe environment to research, manipulate, and synthesize information. Applications are available that allow students to visualize difficult science and mathematical concepts, that, otherwise, they would may not be able to explore individually. In addition, there are a multitude of apps that allow students to create digital products to demonstrate their understanding of specific concepts and vocabulary in any content area. By effectively using technology, in the simplified format of an iPad, students are given a whole new canvas to synthesize and create their own learning.
iPad cases will be purchased to protect the iPads during student use.
Teachers will have iPads with AV cables that will be used to enhance the learning experience of each student through the use of iPad applications, including Educreations, GoodNotes, ShowMe, ScreenChomp, Pic Stitch. These applications allow for student interpretation of math standards with technology enhancement.
Laptop Carts – Laptops will be used by students to enhance classroom learning. Using a printer networked to the laptop carts, students will be able to publish their work to share with peers for review and editing or to share with teachers for feedback purposes. Additionally, a mobile laptop cart will be purchased to securely store the laptops when not in use.
ACTIVSLATES will be utilized by both the teachers and the students. Using the ACTIVslate means that the teacher will be able to achieve the freedom to move around the room and interact with the students. The students will benefit from the opportunity to interact with the ACTIVboard without even leaving their seats.
With students using a variety of technology to create project-based learning, the printers on the existing laptop carts require toner cartridges. In addition, two carts do not have printers at all. These items are requested to support the use of technology in the building. Some programs utilized by the Title I programs require that student listen to the program to enhance the learning experience. Because of this, headphones will be used by students who are working on differentiated lessons independently.
TI-30XS Scientific Calculators are requested to support math instruction for student learning.
Playing Cards – Playing cards be used as a learning extension in math support class when learning about inequalities, integers, statistics and probability.
Student math curriculum support books for lessons, reteach, and review.
Updated atlases are also required to assist both the SS teachers and the ELA teachers to visualize a geographic region of the world while studying the literature and culture from that area.
Many of our Title I students also receive supportive instruction through the English Language Learner (ELL) program. Otwell’s ELL program uses the support instruction model within the general education classroom for students. As stated previously, Otwell also serves seven migrant students. These students’ learning needs, along with those of the ELL population, are coordinated at the district level by Ms. Kathy Jolly. Ms. Jolly works with Otwell to ensure county resources, such as translation services, tutoring, parent communication, and parent involvement needs are being met. General education and ELL teachers collaborate to plan for instruction for students, as well as modify and make accommodations for students based on their ELL needs. Students served in this program, as determined by the federal Title III guidelines outlined on page three of Section I, also attend a Literacy class during the day as a segment to review and support their language learning in academic content. While in the classroom, the ELL teacher and general education teacher collaborate to provide slotted notes, simplified writing assignments, reading of text and tests, multiple examples, paraphrasing, visuals, and word-to-word dictionaries to students for increased language understanding of content material. In the pull-out literacy support classes, the ELL students receive targeted instruction in receptive and expressive language acquisition, specifically related to academic language and vocabulary. Students participate in Rosetta Stone on the computer, and the ELL teachers use the Inside textbook series by Harcourt and National Geographic publishers for small group language instruction.
In order to reach every student, students at Otwell are provided ample opportunities before, during, and after school for extra academic assistance. Zeroes are not an option! Our teachers work with students in every way possible to ensure all work is completed. Every Thursday the entire school has Relearn/Recovery (R&R). R&R is a thirty minute period built into the school day to provide students with extra time to complete work, re-take tests, and participate in teacher-led re-teach sessions. In addition, teachers also provide sessions before and after school, scheduled and upon student request, for tutoring time. Instructional Extension, another tutorial opportunity for students, is funded by the District. It is primarily offered to students who are at-risk, including special education and Title I students, based on teacher recommendation and available student achievement data. Instructional Extension tutoring is provided prior to the CRCT. In order to maximize the tutoring provided to students, upon the depletion of these funds the tutoring will continue via Title I funds. This ensures students are offered small group tutoring twice a week with certified teachers in reading/ELA and math instruction.
Supplemental Instructional Activities (2014-2015)
Bulldog Bridge Camp
Summer camp provided to rising sixth graders, current seventh and eighth graders with instruction provided by certified teachers. The camp includes a teacher work day to plan and prepare and three days of instruction provided to students. Bus transportation is provided to students for this learning opportunity. Students are selected to attend this program based on at-risk factors, including teacher input, TINA surveys, student test scores, and current programs services receiving. Refer to page 54 for further explanation.
H2 (Homework Help)
This is a program offered before school three mornings a week at Title I teacher and content area classroom teachers’ discretion throughout the entire school year. It is for the purpose of assisting Title I students with their homework requirements across the curriculum. H2 supplies instructional support in all academic areas, as well as materials for projects (poster board, markers, etc.). Students will have a permanent pass in their OMS Agenda and may participate as they feel necessary. Note: There are no budgetary expenses associated with H2.
Instructional Extension Tutoring
Otwell is provided instructional extension money to provide before and after school instruction to at-risk students, including those who did not pass/are at-risk of not passing the CRCT, Title I students, ED, SWD, and ELL students. This money was used from November through February. At the depletion of this money, Otwell will continue tutoring for at-risk students for the month of March, leading up to the CRCT in April, and for reteach and remediation for 8th grade students who do not pass the CRCT. Twelve teachers provide sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays from 8:00 – 8:50 a.m. and from 4:15-5:15 p.m. to approximately 150 students.
ITS LEARNING will be used by parents and students to view links assigned by the teacher for various learning activities, such as websites providing step-by-step instruction in math and reading; practice sites to reinforce new information; CRCT practice sites; and textbook links for all grade levels and subject areas.
OMS Title I Homepage ( under Student and Academic Support) lists websites that can be used by students to improve their work in all content areas. It also lists materials available to them through the OMS Title I: Family Resource Room that can be used in the home for additional development of improved skills and additional knowledge in all content areas.
To further support classroom instruction, Otwell’s counselors and graduation coach provide assistance for all students, extending outside the classroom to build partnerships with families and reach beyond academic needs. Otwell’s graduation coach, Coach Shadburn, leads the Response to Intervention (RTI) program for the school. Response to Intervention is “a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs” (RTI Action Network, 2013). Students who have difficulty meeting proficiency within the grade-level content and curriculum are identified by the classroom teacher and referred to the Instructional Support Team (IST) as requiring extra educational support with research-based strategies and interventions. The progress of the students is closely monitored using research-based strategies and interventions determined by the instructional team. Teachers, parents, administrators, and other school personnel are involved in making instructional decisions for the students based on data collected via progress monitoring. This process is in place “when making decisions in both general education and special education, creating a well-integrated system of instruction and intervention guided by child outcome data” (RTI Action Network, 2013). Coach Shadburn sets up and ensures fidelity of interventions and monitors progress of interventions for the students who have been identified as requiring Tier 2 and Tier 3 support. Coach Shadburn also maintains regular “check-ins” with students who need help with organizational skills, require behavior plans/contracts, or simply need an extra adult at school for moral support. (Refer to Section IX for further information regarding RTI.)
Otwell also has an excellent counseling department that provides extra support for students in school by leading small groups for many students, including divorce, new students, social skills, and managing stress. The counseling department also collects yearly data and creates a plan to improve school attendance (see Appendix B). Our identified students with 15 or more absences are assigned an administrator, social worker, or guidance counselor with whom to check-in on a regular basis. The school personnel and students set goals for attendance each month, provide incentives for meeting goals, as well as trouble-shoot to improve attendance when the goal is missed. To further the emphasis on student support, Otwell’s administrative team, counselors, social worker, and graduation coach meet monthly to monitor the progress of at-risk students and collaborate on how to provide resources to assist these students and their families. This can range from a phone call home by a member of the team to ask how the school can best support the family, to the school social worker making home visits, and following up with the court system to ensure parents are abiding by the law in regards to their children and school.
The counselors coordinate and manage a mentoring program, pairing trained adults one-on-one with at-risk students. In addition to supporting at-risk students, they also lead groups of model students to serve as peer tutors to the elementary school adjacent to our campus. Otwell students are teamed up with elementary students to practice reading and math. In addition, Otwell has a Compass Program. The Compass Program is a mentoring program led by a Title I teacher. This program pairs teachers and instructional assistants with identified at-risk students. The teacher becomes a mentor to a student to develop and strengthen the positive impact of the school, increasing the investment for the student to do well in school. Students are chosen based on academic need, SST or IST status, and teacher referral. Not only do the students’ achievement in their classes increase, but their social interaction with other students and adults is also enhanced.
At Otwell, we want students to be invested in our school to increase attendance, academic performance, and a sense of belonging at our school. Among these initiatives, the Otwell Science Department has put on five annual Family Science Nights for the school and local community. Although this is an ongoing project, we are expanding, refining, and enhancing Science Night each year to make it more effective for our student population. The goal of this event is to promote and demonstrate the joy and thrill of science through hands-on activities as they relate to everyday activities, expanding beyond simply impacting our student population but affecting our local community!
Otwell’s Science Night stands out from many others in that it involves a majority of students at every grade level in a profound way. Students in each of our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science classrooms are invited to be an integral part of the event. Our students, not our teachers, are in charge of each of the nearly twenty-five sessions. They develop and practice the presentations, decorate the rooms, and organize the materials and supplies needed for the hands-on demonstrations. On the night of the event, our students shine as the stars of the evening. Our students practice presentation skills, cross-curricular learning with English Language Arts, and demonstrate science principles to the attendees of their session. This evening is a high-leverage learning strategy for our students to become the teacher of science concepts that they learned earlier in the year and will be seen again on the CRCT with the majority of the activities based around the science standards that are taught in each grade level. Since the students are the teachers, this evening allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts by becoming the teacher to their peers, as well as younger, elementary-aged children. Each year, students from each of our feeder elementary schools are invited to participate. It is our hope to get younger students excited about science even before they enter middle school. This event is a yearly highlight for our student as a way to extend learning beyond the classroom in the field of science.
With our focus on making all students feel connected and involved, as well as improving daily school attendance, Otwell also offers intramurals in the fall, winter, and spring for any student interested in participating! Each intramural sport lasts for six weeks with practice occurring two days a week either before or after school. The sports offered are basketball and soccer. Basketball takes place in the fall, and soccer is in the winter and spring. There is a soccer intramural tournament in the spring, played on a Saturday at Forsyth Central High School, to end the soccer season.
Otwell’s effort to support students in academic, athletic, extracurricular, and innovative reform strategies reflects our teaching and learning mission: Every Child, Every Day, No Excuses! Our administrators, counselors, graduation coach, instructional technology specialist, teachers, and paraprofessionals all work together to problem-solve for effective teaching and learning throughout the school year.
Section III - Highly Qualified Instructional Staff
The Forsyth County School System is committed to providing the best education possible for all students by assuring that all children have equitable opportunities to receive quality instruction from highly qualified, effective teachers. District data providing information on class size, teacher quality, and equity is analyzed and interpreted, and discussions are held with key central office support staff, school administrators, and professional learning representatives. These discussions center around the equitable access to highly qualified teachers and paraprofessionals, equity in teacher experience, equity in teacher training to meet the diverse needs of students, and equity in class sizes as well as discussions around the needs that the system may have based upon the results obtained in student test scores and data from AYP, formerly, now CCRPI.
Otwell Middle School has eighty-six (86) certified staff members and 100% are highly qualified in their field of experience. The average teaching experience is 13.46 years. The chart below categorizes the qualifications of our teachers from 2013-2014. Statistics for 2014-2015 will not be available until October 2014.
|Educational Degree Level |Number of Teachers |% of Teacher Population |
|Bachelor |17 |22.7% |
|Master |40 |53.3% |
|Specialist |18 |24% |
|Total |75 |100% Highly Qualified |
Teachers are highly encouraged to continue their education, either through additional degrees, endorsements, or through professional development courses. Over 250 unique courses were offered last year in the district, and training included coursework to add the ESOL endorsement, gifted endorsement, online teaching endorsement, and courses related to the Common Core Curriculum Performance Standards. The Exceptional Children and Youth course is offered annually at no charge to Forsyth County teachers. The Otwell Middle School Professional Development Team also collaborates with administrators and the leadership team to provide professional learning opportunities for the staff which coincide with school goals as outlined in our A.I.M. and Schoolwide Improvement Plan. In addition to continuing their education, teachers are also encouraged to seek leadership positions within the school and county.
Every effort is made in Forsyth County Schools to insure that all students are taught by highly qualified, experienced, and effective teachers. Before a teacher is approved for employment or approved for a transfer, his/her certification for the assignment is verified. If the teacher does not hold the appropriate certification for the assignment, the request for employment or transfer is not approved. The county and school work together to do the following:
• Assist teachers in becoming or continuing to be highly qualified and effective:
o Providing a Coordinator of Highly Qualified Staffing position to assure compliance with NCLB requirements;
o Reimbursing for the costs of GACE tests;
o Providing a stipend to special education teachers for adding content fields to their certificate and to regular education teachers who add special education fields;
o Working in partnership with MRESA to provide alternative teacher preparation programs for critical need fields or for converting permits to clear, renewable certificates;
o Providing scholarships to teachers completing approved preparation programs through colleges or universities in critical need fields;
o Providing endorsement classes in ESOL, gifted, reading, math and science;
o Providing assistance to principals in determining the effectiveness of their teachers.
• Assist paraprofessionals in becoming or continuing to be highly qualified:
o Providing staff development opportunities for paraprofessional participation to assist them in maintaining their certification;
o Working with qualified paraprofessionals in helping them to become certified teachers.
• Support school improvement efforts in all schools:
o Providing on-going systemic and targeted professional learning to ensure teacher quality;
o Providing consultants who will train teachers in schoolwide writing initiatives at all levels;
o Providing support for RTI and differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students;
o Providing training to teachers in writing evaluation and assessment;
o Providing a Leader Mentor to coordinate leadership development and coaching of aspiring, new, and veteran administrators.
The recruitment pool for educators wanting to work in Forsyth County is rich in both number and talent. Even areas that many systems find hard to staff have many qualified applicants in our pool of prospective teachers. Because of the reduction in some staff positions due to the economy, many qualified and certified teachers have accepted assignments as paraprofessionals in our system. The system is committed to retaining its highly qualified teachers and has instituted a number of strategies including offering a very competitive salary and benefits package. Forsyth County Schools has a very liberal transfer policy that helps with the retention of quality teachers in our schools. In addition, all new teachers are assigned a school-based mentor and receive support from their mentor and school/system administrators throughout the year. New teachers are provided with three days of New Teacher Orientation to acclimate them to the system and are provided additional training as needed throughout the year. Professional learning opportunities are offered to all staff throughout the year at no cost to system employees.
Efforts are ongoing to “grow our own” teachers from our current staff of paraprofessionals. By participating in approved alternative education programs, paraprofessionals who hold degrees in areas related to a critical need teaching field can become teachers at the completion of the program. Several of our paraprofessionals have recently become teachers in our school. Substitute teachers also contribute to our pool of applicants. When substitute teachers attend their county-level training session, certification requirements are discussed, and many are recruited to fill teaching vacancies. Colleges and universities are great partners with Forsyth County Schools in their recruitment efforts. Otwell Middle School fosters a close relationship with several local colleges and universities which offers many opportunities for finding talent. We have many student teachers throughout the year, and several are recruited for permanent positions when their degrees are completed.
Technological advances have made it possible for the system to advertise vacancies across the country and around the world. By posting vacancies on both the school system and state websites, applicants interested in relocating to Forsyth County can easily find any job opportunity available to them. Of course, the best recruiters are our employees, and many people who relocate to Forsyth County bring other family, friends, and neighbors to this area as well. We at Otwell are able to attract highly qualified personnel as our culture and climate are positive and well-known throughout the community and county. Our staff is exceptionally talented and inspiring in its effort to guide learners.
Forsyth County prides itself on providing a solid, viable living community for all of its residents. We were recently named as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People by America’s Promise Alliance. Because of the positive relationship between the school system, along with being the largest employer in the county, and the local businesses, attracting highly qualified personnel to teach in our school is successful as this is a community in which people want to work and live.
When a new employee is hired, documentation is gathered to determine whether or not the person is highly qualified to fill the position for which he/she has been recommended. If the person cannot be considered as highly qualified, a Career Remediation Plan is developed that details the requirements that must be met in order for the person to become highly qualified within the first year of employment with FCS. The plan includes any tests that are required, coursework that may be required, completion of any approved teacher education program, etc. The plan is signed at the time of Intake and specifies the condition that if the person does not meet the requirements set forth in the plan by June 30 of the next year, the teacher will resign the position with FCS. Constant monitoring by the Coordinator of Highly Qualified Staffing is done throughout the year to insure that the person is on-track to meet the deadline. If the person is not on-track or if the person cannot meet the requirements by the specified deadline, counseling sessions are held to determine whether or not to accept the resignation of the teacher. If the teacher is in an approved program and has been making progress toward completing the program but may need additional time to finish, a Continued Employment Agreement is initiated if the certification held by the teacher has been valid for three years or less. As the Otwell administration identifies teachers who may need additional training in order to increase their effectiveness, professional development and other strategies are implemented to assist the teacher. If these strategies are successful, the teacher may remain in the classroom. If the strategies are not successful, steps are taken to terminate this teacher.
Title IIA funds are used to reimburse teachers for the costs of any GACE tests that may be required for them to obtain highly qualified status or to reimburse teachers for the costs of GACE tests that an administrator may ask a teacher to take in order to fill a particular need in a school. Title IIA funds are set aside to support people who may have to complete an approved program for certification requirements in hard to staff areas. In addition, teachers who are enrolled in approved programs through local colleges or universities are offered scholarships on an annual basis to help defray the costs associated with that program if the teacher is on-track to complete their program by a specified deadline.
In conjunction with the policies of the Forsyth County School System, all teachers at Otwell Middle School are highly qualified in their area of expertise. We attract quality professionals by maintaining a positive and supportive working environment. Many levels of professional development are provided to encourage teachers to continue to improve their teaching methods for the benefit of all learners. Otwell prides itself on having the most solid, hardworking faculty and staff in the system.
Section IV – Professional Development
Professional development at Otwell is an integral aspect of student achievement. In identifying the professional development needs for Otwell, the work occurs on multiple levels beginning with the district level down to individual teachers for personal growth. Each staff member in the building, including paraprofessionals and support staff, is expected to participate in professional development. Professional learning begins at the district level with Forsyth County’s belief and commitment to develop teacher leaders. The district recruits teachers from each school in the district and trains these teachers in order for them to return to the school to re-deliver for the entire staff. The current county initiative for professional learning is supporting the implementation of the new Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS). Forsyth County district personnel, including Ms. Lynn Seay, Ms. Erin Zitka, and Ms. Nita Giddish are available to help plan professional learning and to present learning at the school’s request. These district staff members are invaluable resources in supporting school administrators and teachers with professional learning needs.
The 2013 – 2014 focus for professional development via the county office was for Performance-Based Assessments lead by Kathy Matthews from Metro RESA. A total of seven teachers from different content areas and one administrator attended this training, four each semester. Re-delivery of this training occurred on early release days for professional learning. The trained teachers presented to the staff and worked at the application level within their grade level and content areas to implement these changes. Within the grade level content teams, teachers worked to transform multiple-choice assessments into assessments requiring constructed and extended response items, as well as creating and implementing task-based activities to reflect student learning and performance. Data teams utilized this data to guide discussion for student growth.
When looking at the needs of our students, teachers use many forms of data, including assessment scores, teacher input (including paraprofessionals, counselors, and office staff), parent, and student input. Our assessment data from 2013 reveal that with a schoolwide 98.2% passing score for the CRCT in reading, our goal is to continually strive for 100% passing with an increased focus on increasing our Exceeds percentage in order to close the average score gap with our neighboring middle schools within Forsyth County. In math, our data show with a 93.6% meets and exceeds rate that professional learning is needed for an overall increase in passing percentage.
Otwell’s leadership team meets weekly to discuss the needs of the school. In each weekly meeting, one content area is asked to share highlights concerning what is taking place in its classrooms. This allows members of the team to hear what is happening in the school and requires each member increased accountability to continually work toward the common goals for Otwell. The team also conducts a weekly “pulse check” to review the status of schoolwide initiatives, including professional learning needs throughout the school. The leadership team constantly refers to the school improvement plan, orSchoolwide Improvement Goals, to analyze where we are and how to provide continued support for these goals. It is the responsibility of each leadership team member to share this information with his/her designated team to increase accountability for all. The principal also meets with the Local School Council to receive input on the needs of the community and their needs for the school to address for college and career readiness of students and how this impacts the classroom. Otwell’s PTO and Title I Planning Committee meet to discuss in the needs of the learners in our school.
A separate teacher survey was also conducted to offer teachers input in regards to Title I. The results revealed that our staff is most confident about the “caring,” committed,” and “dedicated” staff we have who provide quality instruction daily. The staff feels the Title I team is effective in providing the supplemental instruction to our at-risk students and “build[ing] strong relationship[s] between the school and the students/parents.” The staff survey also indicated that the majority of teachers request more parental involvement and how to “get students more involved in their own learning.”
In an effort to include students in our decision-making process and receive input and feedback, the administrators meets with two different groups of students at Otwell each month and draw on their input for school improvement. One group, Shining Star students, is selected based on a teacher recommendation for outstanding effort in the classroom. This rotating group of students enjoys lunch with administrators and share their likes and dislikes for Otwell. The other students, Principal’s Roundtable, are a set group of students with whom administrators meet monthly to review school improvement goals and solicit input. Based on their input, these students recommend teachers do more with Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) and request more interactive and engaging work in the classroom. This information is shared with our staff to plan for professional learning that meets the requested needs of our students.
Based on the wealth of information collected through qualitative and quantitative needs assessment data, Otwell’s current professional development centers on implementing data teams to drive differentiated instruction and increase instructional strategies to meet our individual student needs and school improvement goals. Our most important commodity is the expert staff members within our building who assist in facilitating the majority of our professional learning. Weekly professional development sessions are held during personnel planning time within the school day. Otwell’s Instructional Technology Specialist, Mr. David Miller, and assistant principal, Ms. Auburn Keaveney, coordinate the professional learning based on the needs of the staff. Ms. Keaveney and Mr. Miller, along with various staff members with specific expertise, rotate weekly sessions presenting pertinent information to the staff.
Note: The staff survey completed in the spring of 2014 shows that teachers request the most support in the following two areas:
1) Learning at Home: Providing resources to families; help with homework and other academic needs. (42%)
2) Collaborating with the Community: Using resources to strengthen student learning at home. (44%)
With physical scheduling of student classes, we have re-grouped our students into teams to give teachers and students more consistency and to make scheduling meeting more convenient. This also supports students to stay within one cluster in the hallway throughout the school day. Otwell’s ITS has led monthly professional learning for teachers on using its learning to communicate classroom learning to parents. Its Learning has also been a focus for parents to learn about at Title I monthly parent meetings. The Title I team has shared with teachers resources available to parents and students to support the home-school partnership, and the PIC coordinates a newsletter to send to staff with tips and strategies. Otwell provided a Curriculum Night for all parents in August to become familiar with the content and curriculum. Each grade level sends home a weekly newsletter to families, informing them of the events taking place in classrooms and the school.
The Title I team attends each of these sessions, as well as hosting professional learning sessions pertaining to the work they do with Title I students. Bi-monthly sessions have been provided to inform teachers and ask input in regards to the schoolwide improvement plan, as well as updating them on our status with transitioning from a targeted-assistance to a schoolwide service school. Our Title I teachers provide information schoolwide concerning the Title I program to review the federal guidelines, program purpose, identification of students, data supporting and explaining the risk factors of our students, instructional strategies and programs used with these students, and information to explain difficulties impacting parental involvement and how to increase parental involvement. Excerpts from professional development and information books which are in the Title I: Teacher Resource Center in the teacher workroom will be the focus of the ‘Title I: Bulletin to Teachers – Title I Tidbits’. As a computer based bimonthly newsletter sent to the OMS staff, it will present topics of importance to teachers working with at-risk students in a diverse school population. The bulletins will be designed to encourage teachers to make full use of the Title I: Teacher Resource Center. Additions to the teacher resource area will support reading and math instruction. Examples available for teachers include: “Motivating students 25 strategies to light the Fire Engagement”, “Successful Strategies for Reading in the Content Area”, “Higher Order Thinking Skills”, “Let’s Talk Title I: Everything You Need to Know”, “Succeeding with English Language Learners.” Title I funds will be used to purchase additional resources for the Title I: Teacher Resource Center to keep up to date with research based strategies and intervention to help struggling students increase their achievement.
Early release days and district professional development days are also used to collaborate with the middle schools in the county to develop and discuss implementation of the CCGPS, create learning tasks, and develop pre- and post assessments for consistency among schools. Overall, our teachers maximize their time and resources to grow as educators and to provide superior teaching and learning opportunities for their growth and the growth of our students.
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Section V – Parent Involvement
Parent involvement is a critical component in improving student achievement at Otwell. In order to address parent needs and positively impact student learning, the Title I parent committee was formed, as described in section I, at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year. This team, including the principal, an assistant principal, two non-Title I parents, two Title I parents, two Title I teachers, and three non-Title I teachers, meets monthly to discuss our school’s needs and areas for growth (Refer to Appendix C). Our parent committee revealed that home-school communication is difficult as the information seems to get “lost” from the students’ backpacks to home, as well as the structure of the middle school is not as “welcoming” as an elementary school. We see this impact in Title I, and the school in general, as reflected in parent turnout for PTSA meetings and Title I meetings. Our Spanish-speaking Title I parents reaffirmed this information, as well as sharing their fears with their personal immigration status and deportation, and difficulty with transportation due to a lack of having a driver’s license. After gathering this input from parents and our committee, the suggestions for improvement are as follows:
• Exploring different ways to communicate information to parents;
• Offering student incentives for parent attendance at meetings;
• Increasing collaboration and communication with Cumming Elementary School, a primary feeder school of Otwell and a fellow Title I school;
• Hiring a part-time parent liaison coordinator;
• Holding parent meetings off-site, such as churches, to increase parent turnout at meetings;
• Hosting a family night, including sports and activities, to make school feel more welcoming.
In response to these suggestions, Otwell hired a bi-lingual front office receptionist, Ms. Fabiola Rodriguez. Ms. Rodriguez is the smiling face parents see when they come to Otwell. Her reputation has spread quickly, and she has experienced an increase in Spanish-speaking parents seeking help and resources from the school. Mrs. Rodriguez personally calls each of the Spanish-speaking parents prior to Title I parent classes and parent meetings in response to the feedback from Otwell parents who stated that the automated phone call system the school uses to share information in large numbers did not translate into intelligible Spanish for them to understand the phone call. We also began mailing home Title I meeting notices to all parents in response to their concern that their children were not bringing the information home. Our students earn free frosty fruit or ice cream during lunch and “buddy passes” to sit with friends and/or sit outside during lunch as increased incentives for parent participation. We are working on implementing the other suggestions on our list for this and the next school year.
Our Title I team has also worked to respond to the needs of parents in regards to our programs and services. We review the Title I Parent Involvement checklist (Appendix D) with county level representatives on a monthly basis to ensure we are meeting the standards necessary while checking the folders for appropriate documentation. On a school level, our Title I team meets on a regular basis to brainstorm how to improve to meet the needs of our parents in conjunction with the Parent Involvement checklist. For example, after our first parent meeting in August, our English and Spanish speaking parents requested we separate the groups in order to allow for the information to be shared in their primary language without having to wait for the translation of the other language in the room. With the mailing of invitations and separation of rooms for language needs, our parent turnout has increased from less than 20 parents at our August meeting to over 40 parents at our November meeting! At each of our meetings, the Title I team shares information with parents concerning the standards being taught in the classroom, progress of the schoolwide plan, academic progress of our students, assessment results, testing policy and procedures, and other information relevant to Otwell’s school improvement plan. We allow time for parents to ask questions, offer input, and suggestions for improvement.
In compliance with Title I regulations, our parents were presented with the forms and policies for the teacher, parent, student, and administrator compact; complaint form; and parent involvement plan at the August Annual Meeting (Appendices E, F, G). Drafts of these documents were given to parents and feedback was requested at this time. This information was shared on our webpage and emailed in a Title I email list serve. At our September meeting, we made a final request for feedback. These documents were approved by our parents at that time. Each student and parent received a copy of each document, and these are posted on our Title I webpage. Compacts have been signed and collected. Also available in the parent resource room are drafts of the schoolwide plan for parents to review for input, with a final copy that will be reviewed annually and is available upon completion. Please see the following table for specific information regarding our completed meetings and projected remaining meetings for the year:
|Meeting Date |Topics Covered and By Whom |Dinner Provided By |
|Monday, August 27 |Auburn Hemsley |No dinner provided |
| |-Introduction to Title I and Title III | |
| |-Teacher Roles and Duties | |
| |-New secretary who speaks Spanish | |
| |-Parent Portal and how to get signed up for it | |
| |-Parent Involvement Plan – input needed, write feedback on butcher | |
| |paper in back of cafeteria | |
| |Michele Luthart | |
| |-Reading format for the year | |
| |-Parent teacher compacts: Feedback is accepted. | |
| |Compacts will be reviewed again in September. | |
| | | |
| |Breanna Thomas | |
| |-Math overview | |
| |-Morning help sessions | |
| | | |
| |Mitch Brotherton | |
| |- Home Team Advantage Bags – will be handed out to 6th graders in | |
| |September | |
| |-OMS Title I webpage-shared how to get there and updates | |
| |-BYOT technology and classroom Title I technology | |
|Meeting Date |Topics Covered and By Whom |Dinner Provided By |
|Thursday, September 27 |Auburn Hemsley |Spaghetti and Salad provided by |
| |-New CCRPI index |Cumming Baptist Church |
| |-Schoolwide CRCT results from last year | |
| |- Information about becoming a schoolwide Title I Program next year | |
| | | |
| |Michele Luthart | |
| |-Overview of Program | |
| |-Parent Resources Available | |
| |-Parent Compact | |
| |-Parent Involvement Plan | |
| |-Complaint Procedure | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |Mitch Brotherton and Breanna Thomas | |
| |- distribution of Home Team Advantage Bags | |
| |- Ideas for helping students study at home | |
| | | |
| |Tony Jones and Lindsey Tumaliuan | |
| |-Curriculum Overview | |
| |-Title I Math Common Core | |
| |-Title I Reading Common Core | |
| | | |
| |Mary Ann Douglas | |
| |-ESOL Progress Reports | |
| |-Parent Conferences | |
| |-Writing Test on October 17th | |
|Meeting Date |Topics Covered and By Whom |Dinner Provided By |
|Wednesday, November 28 |Auburn Hemsley and Michele Luthart |Soup and Subs provided by OMS |
| |- Discussed targeted assistance vs. schoolwide |Leadership Team |
| |Plan is being written now for schoolwide application | |
| |-Areas of strength (Title I Award School!) and areas of improvement | |
| |(increase parent involvement) | |
| |-Differences between AYP and CCRPI | |
| |-What we are doing to meet our needs | |
| |-What improvements we’ve made this year based on parent feedback | |
| |-Suggestions and more feedback | |
| |- Information about Monday Parent Classes- feedback from parents | |
| |about what topics they would like covered and when they would like it| |
| |-Shared binder with community resources with Spanish speaking parents| |
|Meeting Date |Topics Covered and By Whom |Dinner Provided By |
|Monday, January 28 |CRCT information night |OMS – Lasagna and garlic bread |
| |-schoolwide CRCT data (strengths and weaknesses) | |
| |-how to interpret individual CRCT scores | |
| |-how to help students prepare for CRCT | |
| |-CRCT practice websites | |
| |-Tips for the week of testing | |
| |-Assessment Calendar handed to parents | |
| |-other assessments used to measure student progress (AIMSweb, Skills | |
| |Tutor…) | |
|Meeting Date |Topics Covered and By Whom |Dinner Provided By |
|Wednesday, February 27 |Common Core Standards |Wing Zone and CiCi’s Pizza |
| |-National Education Goals, | |
| |-OMS webpage with calendars and agendas, | |
| |-assessment calendar, | |
| |-county webpage | |
| | | |
| |Information on Parent Conferences | |
| |-what to expect | |
| |-how to request a conference | |
| |-SST and IST meetings | |
| |-successful Work Habits on report card | |
| | | |
| |Reading Tips for Parents presented by Karen Griffey | |
|Meeting Date |Topics Covered and By Whom |Dinner Provided By |
|Wednesday, March 27 |Parent Survey Discussion Groups |Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt |
| |-parents are given several topics are responded to the topics and | |
| |give feedback | |
| | | |
| |Update on Schoolwide Plan from Auburn Hemsley | |
| |Ice cream social and bingo | |
|Meeting Date |Topics Covered and By Whom |Dinner Provided By |
|Thursday, May 9 |-Introduction of Title I Team for 2013-2014 | |
| |-Glance Ahead to School Wide Plan for next year | |
| |-Parent’s Guide to Summer Academics for Title I students | |
| |-Comprehensive LEA Implementation Plan (or Consolidated Application) | |
| |overview | |
| |-parent feedback for Title I Compact for 2013-2014 | |
Note: Monthly Lunch and Learn meetings, in conjunction with Cumming Elementary School, are offered by the PIC in the media center. This hour-long parent learning opportunity allows for a small group setting of parents to meet and cover topics to assist their students to be successful learners. Workshops will include math skills, homework help, technology used academically, CRCT Prep, educational websites and resources for the summer.
The Parent Involvement Coordinator, National Youth At Risk Conference in Savannah, GA. Attending this conference will help us share information learned with others to better support our families at OMS.
A Collaboration will take place with Neglected Facilities, Title I schools OMS and Little Mill, FCS student Services, FCS homeless Education, FCS Migrant and ELL Programs. The purpose for this meeting is to discuss; the use of title I funds at Neglected Facilities, Title I Parent Involvement services/resources available from OMS and LLMS, parent resource room/ communication/meetings at OMS and LLMS.
We are also working with a local agency, Literacy Forsyth, to expand our course offerings to parents, including English language classes and GED coursework. These classes are held Monday evenings from 6-8 p.m. for the spring semester. We have shared information with our feeder schools to expand the adults to whom it is offered. Literacy Forsyth, a non-profit organization in Forsyth County, provides free materials and tutoring to adults and parents at a pace conducive to their learning needs to improve conversational English skills and prepare for each section of the GED. With enough interest, Literacy Forsyth will also offer U.S. Citizenship courses. In conjunction with our adult education, our Title I teachers rotate to still provide our parents math help on these evenings. The students in our school’s Jr. Beta Club, along with a supervising teacher or administrative adult, provide free childcare during the parent meetings, and assist with enrichment opportunities, such as homework help, story time, and athletics to the children of the adult learners.
In addition to increasing parental involvement, we are working to communicate with parents concerning their individual child’s progress in the school, as well as communicating assessment data and making this information available to our parents and community. As stated in previous sections, Otwell completes this Schoolwide Plan for the school year. These plans are turned in to the county office and posted on the county’s website, accessible to the public. They are also communicated to the Local School Council for Otwell, and the minutes from these meeting are also posted on the county’s website. As part of the monthly Title I meetings, these resources are also explained via translator.
As for individual students, Parent Portal is an online website accessible through Infinite Campus in which parents have access to student grades and assessment results at all times. Teachers and parents use frequent email communication to express highlights and concerns for student progress. Sixth and seventh grade also send a weekly newsletter to parents including information occurring around the school, as well as information being studied for each content area. After the first grading period ends in October, parent-teacher conferences are scheduled. Teachers in each content area schedule conferences for the students for whom they are concerned, and invitations are extended to every parent to schedule a conference at their behest. In regards to standardized assessments, eighth graders participate in the state writing assessment in February, and all students participate in the CRCT in April. Letters are sent home to parents prior to the assessments stating the purpose and assessment dates. The results for the sixth grade student CogAT stanines and eighth grade writing assessment results are sent home with parents with a letter of explanation. The student CRCT score reports are sent home with the students’ end of year report cards. At our Title I meetings, the assistant principal and teachers prepare presentations to explain and interpret these score reports prior to the assessments occurring. (See table above with monthly meetings and topics covered.)
Note: Parent meetings are also offered to parents to provide training on using itslearning to communicate with their child’s teacher and support student achievement in academic classes.
A needs assessment is conducted in the spring of each year. This information is used to determine what parent involvement activities should be included in the yearly plan. The needs assessment from last year indicated the following:
Increasing Parental Involvement in 2014-2015
• Monthly Title I: Parents’ Meetings are held on various days of the week and during both the morning and evening hours to address the educational, social, and personal challenges met by middle school students and their parents. The OMS Title I Program will reach out to concerned parents through presentations built around the ‘Parents On Board’ Active Parenting DVDs and books for Middle School (Spanish and English), including: Preparing Your Child to Succeed; Encouraging Positive Behavior; Reinforcing Your Child’s Academic Skills; Sidestepping the Power Struggle; and Effective Discipline. The meetings will also include “Lunch & Learn”, where parents will learn how to actively communicate and discipline with their child. The meetings also include topics necessary for understanding the scope of Title I Federal Programs such as: Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCPRI), the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1995 (ESEA), Parent Compacts, etc. A speaker will be provided to present to parents about Encouraging Their Child in School. Translators and childcare Supervision are present at every meeting.Taxis will be provided for the parents for these meetings.
• A parent involvement coordinator is needed to work with the district level and within Otwell to provide support to the parents in the Otwell community. This part-time position, 40%, will provide support hours in the parent resource room, coordinate monthly Title I meetings, managing documentation to meet the federal guideline requirements, attend district and state conferences to better provide support to teachers and parents and work with the Title I teachers and staff to communicate with families. In order for the PIC to best manage documentation and contact parents, it is necessary to purchase envelopes, labels and assorted color files with file cart.
• OMS is the districted middle school for the two Neglected and Delinquent Facilities (Bald Ridge Lodge and Jesse’s House) in Forsyth County. Otwell’s counselors work with facility staff to review each student’s needs when he/she is enrolled. This ensures proper placement into the appropriate programs. Both Bald Ridge Lodge and Jesse’s House are on OMS’s email list serve to receive information from the school regarding activities, meetings, and course updates. These facilities are included in all parental involvement correspondence and activities. To support individual students, OMS teachers communicate with counselors who then communicate with facility staff members.
• Parents who are unable to attend the monthly meetings will be able to find each meeting’s agenda, summaries of the topics discussed, and any Powerpoints used at the school website under Student and Academic Support. They will also be able to check out the DVD’s, tapes, and books used during the meetings from the Title I: Family Resource Room and view them in their own home.
• Childcare, transportation, and translation services will be available to parents in order to make meetings more accessible to them.
• The ‘OMS Title I: Newsletter’ will be published bimonthly in English and Spanish. It will keep parents in touch with the OMS Title I Program as well as with dates and events that they may need to be aware of such as Parent/Teacher Conference dates, testing dates, etc. It will be sent home as a hard copy and will be found on the OMS webpage under Student Support at Title I.
• The OMS Title I: Parent Resource Room offers parenting books, pamphlets, DVD's, audio tapes, and video tapes through a check-out system. The parent resource room is open daily in Room 325. In order to assist parents to promote a supportive atmosphere for reading and math learning in the home, there are also learning games, audio books, student resource books for all content areas, puzzles, and many other family involvement materials that may be checked out for home use.
• The Parent Institute is a resource that OMS Title I will provide to support students as they make a successful transition to the middle grades by encouraging parents engaged and involved. Provides handouts such as, newsletters, letters and checklists are provided for both parents and students in English and Spanish. They can be found on the OMS Title I website and a hard copy can be mailed home, as well as available in the Parent Resource Room.
• Joyce Epstein’s Six Keys to Parent Involvement Framework will be used to develop productive programs that involve family and community partners in ways that boost student success in school. OMS Title I will use this Framework for technical assistance in using research-based approaches to improve policies and practices of school, family, and community partnerships.
• ETA/Cuisenaire Home Team Advantage Goal Achievement Packs Level 6th are available in the parent resource room at the school for parents to take home and work with students in (English and Spanish) with cross-curricular sets of hands-on materials and activities per grade level to promote standards-based skill mastery in reading, writing, math, and science. There are daily standards-based cross-curricular activities and materials involving the family in both remediation and enrichment.
• Parent Portal Registration and Training The Parent Portal system allows parents to keep track of their child’s grades, attendance, homework assignments, test schedules, and behavioral record online. It also notifies the parents if work is not submitted, as well as, any failing grades the student may have. Otwell personnel will be available for parents to register for Parent Portal at the Title I monthly meetings. The Title I team will train parents in how to use this resource to benefit student learning and communicating with the school.
• The parent compact, parent involvement plan, and the schedule of the parent involvement meetings are attached.
Resources below from the Channing=Bete Publishing Company:
• Get Ready For Middle School Summer Calendar - Helps students enjoy their summer vacation -- and still prepare for middle school! This interactive tool enhances academic, organizational, and time-management skills by encouraging students to set goals. Includes activities that students and their families can do together to build the critical skills needed for middle school success.
• Parent Involvement Magnet - Raise awareness of the importance of parent involvement! A way to remind parents that the more active a role they play in their child's education, the more likely their child will be to succeed in school provided by Title I Parent- Set Aside Funding.
• Parent/Student Education Center Posters - Inspire parents to get involved in their child's education with this eye-catching poster!
• 12 Ways To Help Your Child Do Well In Middle School and Preparing your Child for Middle School - A go-to resource for all parents of students preparing to start middle school! Easy-reading text encourages parents to stay positive about the changes ahead, get acquainted with the school and staff, set up a study space, help their child get organized.
Resources for helping to advertise to parents about OMS Parent Meetings
• School Specialty: Provides presentation boards, easels, easel pads and directional signs for displaying parent meetings.
Audio Resource Group:
The Translation devices will be used for Spanish speaking parents to be able to hear the presentations translated in their language to better understand the information presented to parents at the parent meetings.
Section VI – Transition
Every spring, Otwell works with our elementary feeder schools to provide a seamless transition from elementary to middle school. The assistant principal, Ms. Auburn Keaveney, and guidance counselor, Ms. Heather Roth, plan meetings with the elementary schools to provide information sessions to parents, tours for rising sixth graders, and question and answer sessions for fifth graders that are led by Otwell student ambassadors. Ms. Keaveney meets with the fifth grade teachers at each of the schools to complete recommendations for coursework and scheduling, as well as to complete the federal TINA surveys for all students. Each fifth grade team allots a block of time in the spring to complete the TINA surveys for each student with the assistant principal present to model, assist, and answer teacher questions for survey completion. The full fifth to sixth grade transition plan for Forsyth County with timeline and procedures is attached as Appendix H.
In an effort to improve our communication with parents and students and to make middle school a more welcoming environment, Otwell also offers a sixth grade only Open House in August, the Saturday prior to the first day of school, known as “Pup Camp.” At our Pup Camp, students and parents are separated to allow for more individualized attention about what to expect in middle school. Administrators and counselors introduce parents to the middle school format, discipline procedures, content and curriculum, and allow time for parents to ask questions. For students, our sixth grade teachers lead the children through getting to know you games, introducing the policies and procedures for students, and allowing time for students to ask questions.
Prior to Pup Camp, the Title I Team will also offer a three- day summer instruction program, “Bulldog Bridge Camp,” for at-risk rising sixth graders, rising seventh and eighth graders at the end of July. Otwell’s Title I Team will use the results of the spring administration of the federal TINA questionnaire, as well as consult with current classroom teachers, to generate a list of at-risk students who would benefit from summer instruction. Invitations will be mailed home to the families of the students by June 1. The students attending the Bulldog Bridge Camp will receive eight days of instruction at Otwell with transportation provided by Title I funds. This instruction will include remediation of reading and mathematics. Two teachers will provide mathematics instruction, and two teachers will provide reading instruction. The students will rotate to each teacher on each of the three days to receive four 40- minute learning sessions per day, totaling 80 minutes of math and 80 minutes of reading per day. The teachers will utilize technology via iPads, Nooks, and laptop computers to provide applicable experience for the students to engage. This experience is intended to begin forging relationships with parents and students, while providing remedial instruction to rising sixth graders.
In response to our parent feedback and needs assessment, Otwell administrators and guidance counselors plan on attending fifth grade events, meetings, and Title I meetings at our main feeder elementary school and also a Title I school, Cumming Elementary, in the spring. We hope to begin building relationships and making the transition from elementary to middle school easier for parents and students.
For students who enter Otwell after the beginning of the school year, including private school transfers and students arriving from other districts, our guidance counselors meet with every family, offering tours and a meeting time to help parents with the transition. We review student records, including assessment data, to ensure the best placement for each student. Our guidance counselors lead small groups for new students to help with the transition, and all students are allowed to participate in extracurricular clubs and activities offered.
Otwell also has a transition plan in place for students completing eighth grade at Otwell and moving across the street to Forsyth Central High School. Ms. Holder, assistant principal, and Otwell’s guidance counselors coordinate with the high school to provide a timeline and schedule for registering for classes, touring the high school, and parent meetings with high school administrators. See the table below for the events coordinated with Forsyth Central High School.
|DATE |TIME |PLACE |EVENT |
|January 14, 2013 |6:30 pm |East Cafeteria |*FCHS Advanced Placement Night |
|January 17, 2013 |2:45 pm |FCHS |OMS and FCHS administration, counselors, and teachers meet to discuss|
| | | |registration process |
|February 8, 2013 |4:00 pm |OMS |Deadline for making Academic Recommendations |
|February 13, 2013 |2:45 pm |OMS |Information on FCHS course offerings presented to OMS 8th grade |
| | | |students |
|February 19, 2013 | |OMS |Registration Packets Delivery |
|February 20, 2013 | |OMS |Registration Packets given to students to take home |
|February 20, 2013 |8:00 am |Parent Portal |Parent Portal opens for 8th grade middle school students |
|February 21, 2013 |6:30 pm |East Cafeteria |*Rising 9th Grade Parent Meeting |
| | | |Open Lab and time with Counselors prior to meeting from 4:00-6:00 |
|March 8, 2013 |4:00 pm |Parent Portal |Parent Portal closes |
|March 5, 2013 |9:30 am |FCHS |Otwell students tour FCHS |
|March 13, 2013 |2:45 |OMS |FCHS counselors follow up with Otwell students about their course |
| | | |selections |
|March 21, 2013 |6:30 pm |New Gym |*Bulldog 101/ Rising Night Grade Night |
|March 27, 2013 | | |Printed final course verifications sent home for middle school |
| | | |students |
|April 12, 2013 | | |Course Waiver Deadline |
Section VII – Assessment
Assessment data is a driving force in how Otwell improves instruction for our students. At the district level, Forsyth County utilizes teacher leaders from within each individual elementary, middle, and high school building to develop curricula and instructional materials. As described in Sections I and II , the county’s focus for professional development this past school year was on selecting power standards from the new CCGPS. With these standards as the focus for instruction, teacher leaders developed modules to guide classroom teachers with Common Core instruction. The teacher leaders then created common summative assessments for each unit of study. These resources are available on itslearning, an online database for teachers to access information. The teacher leaders are responsible for re-delivering the information created at their individual schools. The district also shares the work of these teacher leaders with administrators at meetings.
In addition to common summative assessments, our school’s professional learning this year (refer to Sections I, II, and IV) focuses on data teams to drive instructional strategies and differentiation within the classroom. Our teachers meet regularly to plan instruction for new material being taught. Prior to teaching, our teachers develop common pre-formative assessments. Teachers review these ten question assessments to determine baseline data to plan for the unit of instruction. Teachers plan instructional strategies and differentiate the unit of instruction based on this common pre-formative assessment. The unit is then taught with the common formative post-assessment given after instruction. These results are used to determine student growth in an informal, yet consistent, manner for teachers to analyze group and individual student progress. With this information, our teachers take ownership for instructional decisions for students.
Grade level content areas compile various data as part of the Data Team initiative and discuss data findings and instructional improvement in planning meetings. Every week, at our school’s leadership team meeting, one content area shares current data, classroom strategies, and programs in use for student learning. The goal is to build our school’s mutual responsibility for teaching ALL students and increasing student achievement. These discussions guide our school learning goals.
For students who consistently perform poorly on common post-assessments and summative assessments, Otwell’s Response to Intervention (RTI) process is in place. Otwell’s graduation coach, Mr. Chuck Shadburn, manages the students monitored at Tier II and Tier III of the RTI pyramid. Mr. Shadburn hosts meetings with an identified student’s parents, administrator, school psychologist, and students’ teachers. The team discusses a student’s progress and puts a plan in place with strategies and interventions to help a student be more successful. The student’s progress is monitored every two weeks within this model. The extra support will continue as long as the student requires it. If these extra strategies and interventions do not yield sufficient progress, the team may then make a referral for further screening and/or psycho-educational evaluation to determine special education eligibility.
Section VIII – Coordination and Integration of Federal, State, and Local Services and Programs
Otwell collaborates with Ms. Ann Reutter, Ms. Fonda Harrison, and Ms. Christine Snead at the Forsyth County office to coordinate the allocation and expenditure of funds for Title I use. (On the following page is a table which describes the allocation of the funds.) Otwell uses its assigned Title I funds to support supplemental instruction in reading and mathematics for identified Title I students. Title I teachers purchase materials and resources approved in the yearly plan and budget to support learning for students in the Title I program. Items purchased with Otwell’s allocated funds include the following:
• Four full-time Title I teachers with benefits (three math, one reading)
• One part-time Parent Involvement Coordinator
• Technology resources ( iPads and docking stations)
• Technology programs (Skills Tutor and Stratalogica)
• Childcare providers and translators for parent meetings
• Curriculum support (novels, test preparation, non-fiction text, teacher and student study guides)
• Parent involvement (student take home backpacks with learning resources)
|Otwell Middle School |Amount |Description of Services |
| | |Show how the funds are coordinated for the improvement of the |
| | |entire school. |
|Title I |Title I – A |District: |Parent Involvement |
| | |$2,489,371 |Technology Purchases |
| | | |After School, Saturday, and Summer Programs: Kinder Camp, Book |
| | | |Clubs |
| | | |Professional Learning |
| | | |Instructional Resources |
| | |School Allocation: |Resource Materials and Supplies |
| | |$384,997 |Tutors |
| | | |Transportation for Parents to Meetings |
| | | |Parent Training Materials |
| | |Parent Involvement: | |
| | |$4780 |Salaries and Benefits |
| | | |Skills Tutor, Reading Assistant |
| | | |Additional Technology for Students |
| | | |Class sets of Novels, Anthologies, to Supplement Reading |
| | | |Selections |
| | | | |
| | | |Speaker for Parent Meeting |
| | | |Handouts (Books, Pamphlets, DVDs) |
| | | |Family Engagement Conference |
|Grant |Homeless Grant |District: |Tutors (only in non-Title I schools) and Tutoring Supplies |
| | |$53,917 |Supplies for Parent Meetings |
| | | |Transportation for Parents |
| | | |Packets with resources sent home |
|Title II |Title II-A |District: |Travel |
| | |$368,633 |Registration, materials, |
| | | |Consultants |
|Title III |Title III-LEP |District: |Teachers, |
| | |$236,310 |Tutors, Supplies, Materials |
| | | |Professional Learning |
| | | |Parent Involvement |
|Migrant |Migrant |District: |Supplemental Tutoring |
| | |$32,090 |Parent Outreach |
Along with the Title I funds, Otwell receives and uses funds for the following:
• Special Education receives limited monies that are allocated for instructional materials to support achievement for students with disabilities based on their IEPs and are aligned to the Georgia Alternative Assessment standards for high school graduation. Support materials and resources include math curriculum, workbooks, manipulatives, medical supplies, cause and effect toys, social skills stories, and reproducibles. Otwell hosts six self-contained classrooms for mild, moderate, severe and profound intellectual disabilities.
• The Horizons (Gifted) program purchased literacy materials to help support the increased rigor and relevance that the new CCGPS present in the social studies curriculum. These materials provide primary documents and non-fiction works that not only provide information about historical events but also provide primary textual and visual sources for analysis and discussion.
• Instructional Extension – Otwell receives funds each year, based on our student population, which are allocated for before and/or after school CRCT preparation. Students are identified through data, including CRCT, classroom grades, program services, and at-risk factors, for consideration of these services. Identified students meet before or after school one day a week with an Otwell teacher to receive reading and/or mathematics support. Teachers are reimbursed at their hourly rate with benefits.
• PTO has provided $500 grants to content teams for student learning materials and resources, including teacher guides for novel studies, supplies for science experiments, an iPad for the ESOL program, and a video library for social studies. They will continue to do the same this year.
• Title III uses funds available from two sources; local school funds and funds from the Forsyth County School district office. A predetermined amount is designated by the central office for the purchase of educational materials to be used for ESOL students. These materials include items such as, classroom library books, content related books, computer programs, workbooks, posters and other supplemental learning materials designated only for use with ESOL students. Local funds are used as needed for school and office supplies.
• General funds are acquired locally and used at the discretion of the principal to support student learning in all content areas, including fine arts and physical education. Purchases include professional development for teachers, sports equipment, consumables for art projects, and office supplies.
Section IX – Activities for Students Having Difficulty Mastering Standards
Otwell strives for student achievement and individual mastery of prescribed content and curriculum; however, in the event a student experiences difficulty mastering standards, the Response to Intervention (RTI) process is in place to support student learning. Response to Intervention strives for early identification of students who may require extra support to meet learning goals and objectives in a timely manner. This model identifies students through a pyramid, or steps for interventions. The pyramid contains four tiers for monitoring student progress.
[pic]
The first tier applies to all students receiving standards-based, differentiated instruction through daily classroom teaching. Teachers frequently monitor student progress of the content and curriculum, including, but not limited to: daily assignments, homework, projects, quizzes, observations, and formative and summative assessments. Through these daily activities, the teacher collects data on each student, using this data to plan instruction to meet the needs of learners and monitor student growth. This cycle occurs on a daily basis with teachers monitoring student progress through the aforementioned measures. As a targeted-assistance Title I school, also among the data collected cyclically are the spring, fall, and winter TINA surveys. Teachers complete these surveys for every student, placing them in a rank order based on at-risk factors. For students who experience difficulty within this model of instruction and are identified as requiring extra support, teachers meet to discuss these students for implementation of more intensive strategies and interventions in tier two.
In our schoolwide 2014-2015 program, the Title I team meets with grade level reading and math teachers to review TINA spreadsheets and to identify at risk students who will benefit from supplemental instruction in the Title I program.
Teachers conduct monthly meetings, Instructional Support Teams (IST), to discuss the at-risk learners who are not making adequate progress towards proficiency within the standards. Teachers communicate the learning difficulty with the parents of the student and determine the needs-based learning strategies that will be employed to assist the learner. These activities include, but are not limited to extra morning or afternoon study sessions provided by the classroom teacher; academic and behavior check-ins with Mr. Chuck Shadburn, graduation coach, for reward system and monitoring; assigning a peer buddy or mentor; consideration for reading and/or math literacy classes for supplemental instruction. Once interventions are in place, the student is progress monitored on a monthly basis to determine if he/she is responding to the extra support. If the student is making progress, the interventions continue. If a student is not responding, the team considers further support.
Further support for students who do not respond to initial interventions in tier two are reviewed for tier three, or Student Support Team (SST). A formal meeting is held with parents, classroom teachers, administrator, graduation coach, and school psychologist. The team reviews the student’s academic history and current concerns in the classroom. The team decides on an appropriate plan of action to best support the student. Once in SST, a student is provided with more intensive research-based programs to target the student’s learning needs, including, Reading Assistant, Read Naturally, and Skills Tutor for math. The student is progress monitored twice a month to collect data based on the student’s response to these intensive programs. If a student makes progress, the team continues with the current intervention. If a student fails to make adequate progress with the interventions prescribed, the team reviews the data to determine possible psycho-educational evaluation and the need for Special Education services. Refer to appendices I and J for a comprehensive list of interventions within the pyramid.
To make this process as effective as possible and to ensure timely interventions are provided to students, teachers receive ongoing professional development for effective instruction with differentiated instruction and the Data Teams process. (Refer to Section II for detailed research and information.) These two areas of professional development are intended to broaden and deepen teachers’ ability to use common assessments to guide instruction and provide targeted, purposeful instruction for student learning needs. These two components are critical for successful implementation of RTI. Mr. Shadburn meets with teachers monthly to review the progress of at-risk learners at each grade level and the implementation of the pyramid of interventions.
Section X – Individual Student Assessment Results and Interpretation Provided to Parents
Assessment is an integral aspect of school improvement. To communicate assessments and results to parents, Otwell works in conjunction with the county office to provide timely notice of assessments taking place for student groups on the schedule and providing parents with the results of these assessments. On Otwell’s Internet website is a link containing the Forsyth County assessment calendar for middle school for the year (Appendix K). Prior to each individual assessment date, Otwell communicates via letters home (Appendix L for an example letter). After the assessment occurs, paper copies of individual student results are sent home via the student. Each grade level has an email distribution list that is used to alert parents to score reports being sent home. Individual results are also posted on Infinite Campus’s Parent Portal. Parents have an electronic account which allows them access to assessment results, as well as their student’s daily classroom grades and assessments. Alerts are also provided through this electronic system to increase communication to parents. In addition, itslearning is a tool that can be used for communication from the teachers to the students and parents.
Individual student grades are reported quarterly with October and March dates recorded as mid-term grades, and December and May posted on transcripts as summative student grades. Otwell hosts parent conferences in October and March to meet with parents to review student progress, as needed. Outside of formal conference, teachers communicate with parents regularly via phone and email. A variety of electronic medium, including, Edmodo, itslearning, and Parent Portal through Infinite Campus, are used to alert parents to assignments, assessments, and projects.
At the Title I monthly parent meetings, our teachers inform parents, in English and Spanish, of upcoming assessments, offering tips and strategies to prepare. The Title I parent involvement coordinator has open hours during the school day to allow parents time to use school computers and become comfortable with the programs in use.
Section XI - Collection and Disaggregation of Data
Georgia has begun implementation of the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards this school year. With this new curriculum, a new school-wide accountability measure is being implemented. As described in Section II, the NCLB AYP has been replaced with the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI). This new indicator is the school-level accountability measure to which Georgia schools will be held in response to the NCLB waiver approval. The CCRPI accounts for current CRCT state assessment, along with indicators including fine arts and physical education courses, attendance, 21st Century skills for eighth graders, and student Lexile levels.
Once this report is available, Otwell’s administration and leadership team will review the strengths and areas for improvement in regards to student achievement. Administrators will review teacher allotments, scheduling for all courses, electives offered, and implementation of program services. The leadership team will meet to review assessment data to improve instruction for student learning needs. Administrators and the leadership will communicate this information to the faculty and use this information to plan for professional development and resources for teachers to impact student growth. Once goals have been determined for student growth, Otwell’s administration will disseminate this information to its families, community, and stakeholders.
Section XII – Disaggregated Assessment Results
Otwell receives all validated assessment results from the Georgia Department of Education for the CRCT, as well as validated Forsyth County interim assessment data from the district. With these assessment results, along with school-level formative and summative assessment data, Otwell’s administrators meet with program and content teachers (ESOL, Special Education, Title I, Gifted) to review results and guide instructional decisions for student learning.
Section XIII – Public Reporting of Data
Otwell provides timely data to parents and the community through the school’s website, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and Infinite Campus email and phone messenger. All county and state information is housed on the Forsyth County and Georgia Department of Education websites, respectively.
Section XIV – One-Year Planning
The Title I Schoolwide/School Improvement Plan was revised during the 2014-2015 school year. Ms. Auburn Keaveney, Assistant Principal, coordinated Otwell’s school, parent, and teacher efforts to collect, organize, and communicate the plan throughout its development. A digital copy will be posted on the school’s website, and paper-based copies will be available upon request. A hard copy will also be available in the Parent Resource Room for public review. Once completed and approved, this plan will be reviewed and revised annually by the administration and leadership team with input from involved stakeholders.
Section XV – Community Involvement of the Plan and Who Will Implement the Plan
The plan was primarily developed through a school-based team including: two administrators, two Title I teachers, two general education teachers, two Title I parents, two non-Title I parents, county office personnel, and a consultant. Input was gathered from the community at PTSA meetings and Title I parent meetings. Refer to Appendix C for a timeline of planning with parents, teachers, Local School Council, and all other stakeholders.
Section XVI – Sharing the Plan
Once completed, Otwell will share the plan in the school newsletter with access for all to review. Contact information will be provided for the public to comment and offer input for the next annual revision of the plan. The plan will also be available on Otwell’s website, and a hard copy is available in the Parent Resource room.
Section XVII – Translation
The plan has been explained and described at Title I meetings with translators to relay the information in Spanish. Once approved, the plan will be translated into Spanish, to the extent feasible, as this is the primary secondary language served at Otwell. Upon request and with the use of Title I fund, sections of the plan will be translated to the extent possible.
Section XVIII – School Improvement Provisions
The Title I Schoolwide Improvement Plan is a working document that will be updated and revised annually to support the needs of the Otwell community. The plan is subject to the school improvement provisions of Section 1116.
References
Allison, E., Besser, L, Campsen, L, et al. (2010). Data teams: The big picture. United States of America: Lead + Learn Press, a division of Advanced Learning Centers, Inc.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Skills Tutor. (2009). Retrieved from .
Huebner, T.A. (2010). Differentiated learning. Educational Leadership, 67 (5), 79-81. doi: .
National Center for Learning Disabilities: RTI Action Network. (2013). What is RTI? Retrieved from:
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Scientific Learning Reading Assistant™. (2013). Retrieved from .
Tomlinson, C. & Parrish, W. C. (2009-2010). The differentiated instruction model. In What is differentiated instruction? Retrieved from .
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