East Middle School Improvement Plan
2015-2016
School Vision / MissionEast Middle School is a community of respectful, responsible, resilient learners striving for academic, professional, and personal success.
Respect
– We celebrate our diversity and uniqueness.
– We build positive relationships.
– We foster a safe and welcoming environment.
Responsibility
– We hold ourselves and each other accountable.
– We strive always to be better.
– We do the right thing, even when no one is looking.
Resilience
– We celebrate our successes.
– We learn from our failures.
– We never give up on ourselves or each other.
Bulldogs Rule with Respect, Responsibility, and Resilience.
Carroll County Public Schools Vision 2018: Focus on Excellence Objectives
Prepare Globally Competitive Students
Ø Fully implement a CCPS curriculum aligned with the Maryland State Standards.
Ø Partner with local institutions of higher education to ensure college readiness.
Ø Enhance programs to ensure career readiness for all students.
Meet Each Student’s Instructional Needs
Ø Close the achievement gap between highest achieving and most struggling students.
Ø Provide appropriate education services for students identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Ø Enhance alternative programs responsive to the needs of at-risk students.
Ø Implement a Gifted and Talented Program aligned with COMAR requirements.
Ø Enhance alternative learning opportunities through the use of digital resources.
Develop and Maintain an Effective Workforce
Ø Attract and retain highly qualified, effective, and diverse employees.
Ø Promote a culture of diversity in the workplace.
Ø Develop an electronic observation, evaluation, feedback, and professional development system.
Ø Continuously monitor the organizational structure to support the Vision 2018 Plan.
Provide a Secure, Orderly, Modern Environment
Ø Reduce incidents of bullying, violence, intolerance, and behavioral disruptions.
Ø Improve and modernize the environment within our school facilities and school buses.
Ø Enhance security for all CCPS students, staff, volunteers, and visitors.
School Needs Assessment
The School Improvement Team of East Middle decided to continue our focus on closing the achievement gap between our highest achieving and most struggling students. We continue to see students in need and are revising some of our current interventions as well as introducing new ones to better reach all learners. After launching a Math Resource class last year, we have decided to employ a similar strategy for supporting students in ELA , thus allowing our Reading Specialist to impact more students. We have struggled with our school attendance and saw our yearly average drop just below 95%. Improving our school attendance should have a positive impact on student achievement.
Secondly, we worked over the Summer of 2015 to revise our Vision / Mission statement. This was done through the work of our Leadership Retreat to better align with our PBIS motto and support CCPS Vision 2018. As a school, we believe that introducing and teaching the new statement to students, staff, and community stakeholders is of primary importance. We also began using PLCs as part of the professional development process during the 2014 – 2015. We learned a lot during the first year of the value of PLCs, but also heard from staff the need to maintain a school wide focus. This year we will be trying a PLC / faculty meeting hybrid model for delivering professional development so staff are exposed to a consistent message while also having the ability to differentiate and individualize their particular professional goals and needs.
Lastly, we saw an increase in the number of office referrals from our BEST population during the 2014 – 2015 school year for a variety of reasons. Mainstream office referrals were only slightly up from the previous year and the majority of our referrals were for disrespect and classroom disruption. We are planning to address these targeted behaviors more proactively this year by “reinvigorating” our PBIS program. We will continue to offer Character Education lessons in Flex on Friday afternoons, but plan to increase the number of lessons and use a new curriculum – Medal of Honor Character Development Program – across the school and in BEST. In addition, we will begin more intensive tracking at a team level of student behaviors and interventions to decrease our number of red and yellow zone students.
School Improvement Goals to Target Areas from Needs Assessment
1. Close the achievement gap between highest achieving and most struggling students.
2. Continuously monitor the organizational structure to support the Vision 2018 Plan.
3. Reduce incidents of disruptive behavior in the classroom, especially in the areas of insubordination and disrespect. Align Character Education Initiatives with the school’s Academic Improvement goals.
School Improvement Goal #1
1. Close the achievement gap between highest achieving and most struggling students.
Strategic Actions / Time Line / Measures of Success / Desired Performance Level
Utilize team based, homeroom, and individual student incentives to increase attendance. / Monthly / Improve attendance so that each month exceeds the state goal of 95%
Increase cross curricular connections through the use of Universal Thinking Verbs in all classrooms. / Quarterly / Administrators will look for teacher use of Universal Thinking Verbs as a part of walk-throughs and evaluations. At least 75% of teachers will be observed using Universal Thinking Verbs throughout the course of the year.
Provide teachers with additional professional development on BYOD & technology driven resources to engage and enrich student learning. / Quarterly / At least one PD opportunity (faculty meeting, PD inservice, etc.) will be technology driven. On year end survey, at least 75% will agree that they are more comfortable with using technology in their classrooms then at the beginning of the year.
Create workshops for parents about school and technology resources available to facilitate strong home/school collaboration. / Each Parent Conference Night / Attendance at each workshop will be measured as well as data collected on parent feedback to workshop relevance and quality.
Continuously revise Bulldog Learning Lab guidelines and procedures to make sure it is meeting the needs of our most struggling students. We will also utilize mentors from McDaniel College for some of these targeted students. / Quarterly / Cross reference students attending BDLL with interim and quarter grades to track progress made. Students with BDLL attendance of 80% or greater should be maintaining C’s or better in their courses.
Create a new section of ELA support for each grade level that will be offered during Related Arts and taught by our Reading Specialist. Students will be identified by ELA teachers for additional support and content will be flexible to meet individual and grade level needs. / Quarterly / ELA grades for students involved will be monitored for improvement on both summative assignments and work completion.
Use our Community Outreach Committee to identify needs and reach out to underrepresented students with activities and support (example: Harvest Festival, Movie Night, etc.) / At least one activity per quarter / Events will be held quarterly. Attendance of targeted student population as well as general attendance will be measured and analyzed.
School Improvement Goal #2
2. Continuously monitor the organizational structure to support the Vision 2018 Plan.
Strategic Actions / Time Line / Measures of Success / Desired Performance Level
Blend PLC and Faculty Meeting models to create a hybrid method of delivering professional development that both provide consistency while also meeting individual needs of teachers. / Monthly / PD goals will be gathered by administration in August. SIT will review PD quality and effectiveness mid-year and at year end. By the end of the year, at least 90% of teachers will have felt that their professional development had a positive impact on their instruction.
Teach the new vision / mission statement to students, staff, and community members through the use of posters, lessons, promo videos, etc. / Beginning of the year; maintain focus on 3 R’s through PBIS monthly / Informal observations and questioning of students and staff will demonstrate their ability to identify our vision and mission as a school.
School Improvement Goal #3
3. Reduce incidents of disruptive behavior in the classroom, especially in the areas of insubordination and disrespect. Align Character Education Initiatives with the school’s Academic Improvement goals.
Strategic Actions / Time Line / Measures of Success / Desired Performance Level
Develop character education lessons around Medal of Honor Character Development Program that supports our 3 R’s and PBIS initiatives. / Training in August
Monitor implementation of program monthly / Decrease the total number of referrals school wide from 2014 - 2015
Track team referral and office referral data through the team meeting process to create interventions and improve communication. / Monthly / Decrease the percentage of yellow zone and red zone kids from the 2014 – 2015 school year
Educate students on understanding diversity and respecting others by working with our Disability Express partners. / September / See a decrease in the number of bullying and teasing / taunting referrals from the 2014 – 2015 school year
Encourage staff to reward positive behaviors through our PBIS program / PD in August
Rewards for staff weekly
PD reminders during the year / Increase the percentage of teachers responding positively to PBIS program on the end of year staff survey