Midterm Group Data Improvement Plan

1. Midterm Group Data Improvement Plan Elizabeth Barr Marisa Mathews-Michaels Nicolette Taylor Kathryn Thomas Shawnette Williams

2. ABC High SchoolSchool Improvement PlanReading/Language Arts Comprehensive Needs Assessment

3. Narrative – overview of school • ABC High School prepares students for careers in technology and to go on to college. ABC High School comprises of students from every community in its City. • ABC High School caters to students who apply to attend and are chosen by lottery, not by entry requirements. • Students major in one of four career and technology programs: Information Support and Services, Programming, Networking, and Interactive Media and Video. Other subjects taught are English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, World Languages, Health, Physical Education and Fine Arts. • ABC High School students earn a State diploma. Students who complete four or six credits in their technology pathway are also awarded a career and technology (CTE) completer certificate endorsed by the State Department of Education.

4. Narrative – overview of School • ABC High School has a full-inclusion model in which all Special Education students are taught in regular education classrooms. • The full inclusion model at ABC High School supports 12.2% Special Education students and 1.8% 504 Plan students. Limited English Proficient students comprise 3.3% of the student population and are enrolled in the ESOL program. Free and reduced meals are provided for 67.6% of the students. • ABC High School is one of the safest high schools in the City. High expectations for behavior, strict rules (including uniforms) and discipline policies implemented by teachers and administrators contribute to the overall learning environment. • The continuous assistance of the school’s psychologist, child study team and social worker enable cohesion and effective behavior intervention for students who need help are identified by administrators and teachers. • Administrators, hall monitors, teachers and school police work together to maintain safety.

5. Narrative – overview of school • The school tries to maintain safety by the continuous installation of video surveillance throughout the building, allowing for immediate identification of students and assessing possible interventions. • Parents endorse the mission of ABC High School and are supportive of their sons and daughters. They attend meetings, conferences and school activities and are in frequent contact with teachers, often by e-mail. • ABC High School holds quarterly Parent Workshops and sends 20 written communications related to Attendance, Behavior, and Credits/achievement to all families per year. • ABC High School has a combination of 20 community partners, who support the school’s mission and provide opportunities for staff and students.

6. Narrative – overview of school

7. Narrative – overview of school

8. Narrative – overview of school

9. Goal/descriptions The goals set by schools should be done in order to facilitate measurable outcomes. There should be correlation with variables in order to observe and assess trends. The trends and outcomes are the data used to confirm if the objectives are met; what improvements should be implemented to improve student and school performance. The Institute of Education Services, in one of its assessments, posits “strategies - a collective understanding of the needs of individual students in their school, so that they can work as an organization to provide support for all students” (IES, 2009). ABC High School’s Master Goals are as follows:

10. Goal/descriptions • Goal 1: By 2013-2014, all students will reach high standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading/language arts. • Goal 2: All limited English proficient students will become proficient in English and reach high academic standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading/language arts. • Goal 3: All students will be educated in learning environments that are safe, drug-free, and conducive to learning. • Goal 4: All students will graduate from high school. • Goal 5: Effective management systems will support student achievement.

11. Instructional Needs(Page 25 of SIP) • Special Education students are performing at a level below their regular-education peers, with only 60% of Special Education students passing the HSA compared to 77.6% of regular-education students, a difference of 17.6%. • Scores of first-time test-takers continue to stay in the 40% - 50% proficiency range, with 41% of first-time 10th-grade students passing the English HSA in May 2009. • Relatively few students are passing or showing up to take the HSA during their junior and senior years. Only 62.7% of current members of the class of 2010 have met the HSA proficiency standard. AYP will be difficult to meet because more students will end up completing bridge projects to fulfill their graduation requirements. • Non-FARMs students dropped from 75% passing in 2008 to 72.7% passing in 2009.

12. Evidence of Instructional Needs

13. Instructional Initiatives • Provide more small-group and one-on-one instruction for Special Education students. Although ABC believes in full-inclusion classes (SIP, p. 9), these students may benefit from more individualized instruction in order for them to reach their full potential on the HSA exam. This can happen within the traditional classroom with a Special Education co-teacher, after school, or by pulling students from their traditional English/Language Arts classroom once a week. • Begin an early-intervention program to identify at-risk, non-FARMs students. Not only has their passing rate on the HSA dropped in recent years, these students have a lower graduation rate than FARMs students (p. 14). Each of these students should be required to meet with a guidance counselor when they enter ABC to determine their high school plan and should meet with the guidance counselor or an advisory teacher regularly to ensure that he/she is staying on track to complete his/her high school goals. • Create incentives for students to continue taking the HSA exam after their 10th-grade year. Because the bridge projects for graduation do not factor into our AYP, we need to limit the amount of these projects completed. If older students are willing to take a HSA refresher course after school to help them prepare and they successfully take and pass the HSA, they should be eligible for some sort of reward, whether it be instructional (extra credit) or a tangible item (iPod). The class could also help more students sign up as they will be with their peers and not feel as alone in the process.

14. Implementation Committee Members • Principal- Elizabeth Barr • Assistant Principal- Marisa Mathews-Michaels • Teacher- Melissa Gordon • BTU Rep- Ayanna Williams • Student- Kentrese Neal • Student Support Services- Kathryn Thomas • Parent- Shawnette Williams • Community Partnership- Sweet Hope Baptist Church • Paraprofessional- Nicolette Taylor

15. Ideas for Implementation Implementations of policies and programs for improvement of performance are influenced by: Attendance, Proficiency, and requirements for Graduation. In order to increase performance proficiency in Reading/Language Arts, the following will be necessary: • Increase the attendance rate of Special Education Students to 95 % and decrease lateness. • Employ special education teachers and Reading Specialists to conduct one-on-one sessions to prepare students for the English HSA. • Decrease the drop out rate to 4%among non-FARMs students to encourage and increase the graduation rate. • Implement a strong English curriculum that provides students with a full year of 90 minute classes in English I and English II. This extra time in English class provides teachers the opportunity to conduct a more individualized program that focuses on specific student needs so they are better prepared for the HSA. • Develop common assessments that the teachers use as tools to study data and establish best teaching practices so all students can meet the core learning goals. • Conduct an awards program which fosters students participating in study groups and doing the HSA exam as a final component in their 11th and 12th grade year.. The awards are iPods contributed from one of the business technology partners of the school.

16. Acquisition of Data The acquisition of data is more effective when there is a team in place specifically for that purpose. “Having a few people responsible for organizing and preparing data means that you can dedicate the full faculty’s time to discussing the data”(Boudett, City, & Murnane, 2008). • School Improvement Team collects data from HSA English scores. • School Improvement Team assesses students’ proficiency levels in relation to gender, socio-economic status, learning disabilities, ethnicity, and attendance. • School Improvement Team conducts internal and external surveys for school climate in relation to performance. • Head of Department compiles complete data of all student scores from English classes. • Teachers provide quarterly data of English scores for class work, tests, projects, etc.. • Attendance monitor gives quarterly attendance data. • Teacher and Administrators participate and collect data through visiting and observing classes in progress.

17. Short Term Measure and monitor progress in 90-minute English classes Do students become bored? Is too little information covered in each class? Spreadsheets should be used to easily track individual student progress. Ensure teachers are spending time with students individually to work out problems. Monitor attendance Follow up on students who miss more than a day. Require phone or face-to-face conversations with parents/guardians of chronically absent students. Monitor class participation of each student. Evidence of Implementation

18. Medium Term Benchmark Assessments Given to all students in extended English classes. Compare: classes, demographics, skill level. Creation of common assessments Teachers create assessment(s) as a group. “Test-drive” a few lessons to ensure proper data is gathered from assessment. Compare: classes, demographics, skill level. One-on-one preparation for English HSAs Use spreadsheets to track individual student progress. Note problem areas for individual students. Ensure each student has at least a single one-on-one meeting. Evidence of Implementation

19. Evidence of Implementation • Long Term • Compare statewide assessment data from the past year to the current year. • Note differences in: • Scores of Special Education students. • Scores of students in extended English classes. • Attendance rates. • Also compare this data to other schools in the area • For example, is our drop out rate significantly lower/higher than other high schools in the area?

20. References Baltimore City Public Schools.  (2009).  High school school improvement plan 2009-2011: Digital harbor high school #416. Baltimore, Maryland. Boudett, K.P., City, E.A., & Murnane, R.J. (2008). Data wise: A step-by-step guide to using assessment resultsto improve teaching and learning. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Education Press. Institute of Education Sciences (2009). Using student achievement data to support instructional decision making. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/dddm_pg_092909.pdf. National Center for Education Statistics (2011). Graphing tutorial. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/help/user_guide/graph/index.asp.