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Middle School Improvement Plan

Page history last edited by Mike King 13 years, 7 months ago

School Improvement Process

School improvement at our school has become a continuous process. This process has included many relevant strategies to ensure successful change. These include the clarification of our mission (2008), collaborative planning, sharing information, and planning for a transition. Our school leadership team has been the key to this reorganization process. They have been responsible for facilitating the change and assisting the staff in planning and implementing the reorganization process. Their leadership coupled with important change processes has enabled our school to move forward to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. These change processes included staff development programs designed to meet site goals, school profile information, planning committees (parents and teachers), implementation procedures (professional guide), and continuous evaluation of program progression. Our school has changed significantly over the past year. These changes have occurred because of the dedication and ownership provided to all members who were willing to take the challenge. This change has become a total school effort with a high percentage of participation and energy being dedicated to a collaborative process toward change.

   

 

 

 


 

 


Accountability

The No Child Left Behind Act holds all schools accountable for raising achievement and it will continue to focus greater attention on closing persistent achievement gaps among disadvantaged students. The accountability requires schools to report the results for each subgroup and an annual improvement by each group or attach consequences for schools that fail to show improvement within identified student sub groups.


RESPONSE2INTERVENTION

Dodge City Middle School is dedicated in finding ways to motivate at-risk students and help them to remain in school. Identifying at-risk students is a complex, difficult task, especially in secondary schools, since students can become lost in the maze of day-to-day activities. In elementary settings, the task is easier because the teacher spends all day with the students and can easily identify students who are potentially at risk. Our school uses the team concept that allows teachers to have time within the regular school day to meet and discuss student concerns. In addition, with the development of our student advisory program “SMART Advisory” is made available, therefore, our students will have more opportunities to communicate through the advisor-advisee relationship and intervention time.

 

At Dodge City Middle School we take pride in being proactive in identifying at-risk students. We recognize that if at-risk students are not identified early and provided with the necessary assistance and intervention, they develop habitual behaviors that are difficult to change. At-risk students are defined as individuals whose present status (economic, social, academic, and/or health) indicates that they might fail to successfully complete their education. They may be deemed at risk if any of the following characteristics apply to them:

  • They are members of a household or family whose income is at or below the poverty level.
  • They have not made substantial progress in mastering the basic academic skills that are appropriate for students of their age.
  • Their grades reflect significant underachievement.
  • They have excessive absences from school.

 

Motivating the at-risk student to study and learn presents a demanding challenge. Finding ways for these students to experience success at school will involve the efforts of the administration, the faculty, the parents, and the community. Business people have a tremendous interest in the general improvement of the schools in their communities, since students are tomorrow's work force. Also, when students fail at school and drop out, the entire community is affected, not only through higher unemployment rates but also through other factors often associated with dropouts, such as alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, and family neglect and abuse. 


Three Tier Intervention Program

Identifying at-risk students is a complex, difficult task, especially in secondary schools, since students can become lost in the maze of day-to-day activities. In elementary settings, the task is easier because the teacher spends all day with the students and can easily identify students who are potentially at risk. Our school uses the team concept that allows teachers to have time within the regular school day to meet and discuss student concerns. Our school uses the team concept that allows teachers to have time within the regular school day to meet and discuss student concerns.


Mini Assessments and Re-assessment

Benchmark assessments are tests administered every four weeks to give math, science, reading and social studies teachers’ immediate, formative feedback on how their students are performing. The formative benchmark assessments process is designed to help teachers target instructional practices to meet specific student needs and monitor and support student progress through intervention and enrichment. Benchmark Assessments have been designed to advance teaching and learning in several important ways.

·         First, they provide teachers with quick, reliable monthly feedback on how students are progressing toward state standards.

·         Second, they provide schools with timely information about the strengths and weaknesses of classes and grade levels on the major standards of each content area.

·         Third, and most importantly, they provide teachers with targeted strategies for helping students learn those things that the Benchmarks indicate they still need to master.

 

Mini Assessment and Re-assessment Time Line

·         First Mini Assessment:  (August 18th through September 16th) - Mini Test I – September 17th

·         After School Session I: Start September 28th and Post Test October 9th

·         Second Mini Assessment:  (September 17th through October 14th) - Mini Test II – October 15th

·         After School Session II:  Start November 2nd and Post Test November 13th                            

·         Third Mini Assessment:  (October 15th through November 18th)- Mini Test III – November 19th

·         After School Session III: Start December 7th and Post Test December 18th

·         Fourth Mini Assessment:  (November 19th through December 17th) - Mini Test IV – December 18th

·         After School Session IV: Start January 11th and Post Test January 22nd

·         Fifth Mini Assessment:  (December 18th through January 26) - Mini Test IV – January 27th

·         After School Session V: Start February 8th and Post Test February 19th


Professional Learning Communities (PLC)

During regularly scheduled PLC meetings the mini assessments are compare to an individual student’s performance to a specific performance standard after the selected standards have been taught. These performance standards are articulated through a pacing guide distributed at the first of the school year.  At the PLC meetings Reading and Math PLC teams are given a Formative Assessment results chart to determine the percentage of students meeting or falling below state proficiencies. Students not meeting proficiency levels are referred to the after school intervention program. Students who do not meet state proficiencies are then administered the Post Assessment for the second time after a two week intervention has occurred.


Content Analysis

This type information is valuable as baseline data to measure the effects of the school improvement plan as it is tracked from one year to the next. For example, the shift in the percentage of students scoring limited and unsatisfactory would be reduced. A second type of data analysis tool is one that reports overall student performances in specific content areas. This analyses specific content areas by units of learning. The content analysis chart in Reading and Math displays student proficiency percentages within specific reading or math content areas tested. The content analysis chart is helpful in identifying specific content areas that are, over time, showing weakness in student performances within specific content areas of the curriculum. The benchmark for proficiency should be set at 70% for each content area.


Pacing Guide

The Pacing Guides for Math Reading Science (under development) and Social Studies (under development) are created for the purpose of planning curriculum for the year in order to include all of the necessary material for meeting Kansas State Standards.  These guides are designed to help coordinate teaching efforts for our school and district wide. Pacing Guides are a tool to help concentrate time, effort, and resources to maximize student learning.


 

 


 

 

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