CDEP Revised: 03/27/2006 Page 1 of 42
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool
BEDS Code: 04-35-01-06-0000
COMPREHENSIVE DISTRICT EDUCATION PLAN COMMITTEE
Directions: The Committee should be representative of all constituencies in the school community.Name / Title / Constituencies Represented
(If More Than One Applies, Please Indicate)
Bowen, Jeffery
Lucow, Michael
Thomson, Amy
Grajek, Terry
Kattermann, Neil
Kattermann, Pamela
Kirkwood, Debra
Munro, Kevin
Oar, Kim
Root, Ravo
Bernard, Lori
Bojanowski, Carol
Breen, Tim
Conroy, Mike
Edick, Michelle
Holbrook, Jill
Jordan, Stephanie
Kilburn, Kay
Ed Hazen
Milne, Jason
Morey, JoEllen
Ott, Wendy
Skeels, Pauline
Huff, Sharon
Chmiel, Lorrie
Sampson, Nancy / Superintendent
Director of Special Education
TeacherCenter -Director
Director of Special Projects
Reverend
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
College Professor
Elementary Principal
Assistant Director of Special Education
Middle School Principal
Student Information Services
Elementary teacher
High School Counselor
Board of Education President
Psychologist
Director of Computer Operations
High School Math Teacher
Director of A-OK Program
BOCES Staff & Curriculum Development Coordinator
High School Special Education Teacher
Board of Education Member
Board of Education Member
High School Principal
Parent
Middle School Assistant Principal / District
Special Education Teachers, Administration
Middle School Teachers, Staff Development
Administration
Board of Education
Administration
GCC Coordinator
Administration
Special Education Teachers, Administration
Administration
Clerical Staff, Parents
Teachers
Teachers
Board of Education
Teachers
Administration
Teachers, Parents
Administration, Teachers, Community
BOCES
Teachers
Parents
Parent, Board of Educaiton
Board of Education
Administration
Parents
Administration
SECTION I: BACKGROUND/DEMOGRAPHICS
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool
BEDS Code: 04-35-01-06-0000
Vision Statement:Our vision is a learning community proud of their commitment to excellence as reflected in the following:
- All students will achieve or exceed, to their maximum potential, all District, State, and Federal learning standards.
- All students consistently demonstrate the skills, knowledge and understandings to succeed in life as healthy satisfied adults who positively contribute to their community.
- Parents, students, staff and community are well informed and feel comfortable about participating as partners in continually improving the teaching/learning process.
- The learning environment is sound and perceived by all as safe, secure, welcoming, and student-centered.
Mission Statement:
- The PioneerCentralSchool district strives to be an inclusive community of curious minds, life-long learners, and critical thinkers. We provide a safe, comfortable and caring environment benefiting all students, promoting good character, and providing a strong foundation for all to achieve their maximum potential in school and beyond.
Belief Statements:
We believe that:
- Students’ learning needs are the primary focus of all decisions impacting the work of the school district.
- Students learn in different ways and must be provided with a variety of meaningful instructional approaches to support their learning and actively engage them in solving problems.
- The success of instructional practice is measured through continual evaluation of student achievement.
- Students learn to make appropriate decisions given a professional, supportive, and challenging learning environment.
- Success requires vision, risk-taking, and responsibility.
- All people need to feel accepted, safe, and valued.
- Students, school and district staff, parents and community share the responsibility for advancing the school district’s mission.
- It is important that all members of the school community are committed to life-long learning.
- Excellence is achievable, measurable, and always worth the investment.
- People achieve when expectations are high, and when effort and perseverance toward excellence are encouraged, supported, recognized and celebrated.
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool
BEDS Code: 04-35-01-06-0000
District Statement/Influencing Factors:PioneerCentralSchool District, located approximately 35 miles southeast of Buffalo, includes all or part of 12 communities in four counties, including Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming and Erie. The 250-square-mile district was formed in 1966 by the consolidation of two smaller districts, Arcade and Delevan-Machias, and later absorbed the former Sardinia school. Currently, the centralized district is home to a local population of approximately 17,000 with a student enrollment of approximately 2,875.
The district has two K-4 elementary schools, a 5-8 middle school and a 9-12 high school. The two elementary facilities are located in the villages of Arcade and Delevan, and the middle and high schools are adjacent on a 56-acre campus in the town of Yorkshire. Functioning with an annual budget of more than $40 million, and approximately 534 staff members, PioneerSchool District is one of the largest employers in the area.
The school facilities are a source of community pride. Several major reconstruction and retrofitting projects since the 1960s have kept the facilities sound and the grounds beautiful. Each school has become a year-round center for community educational, social, cultural, vocational and recreational activities. The general public—and especially local library patrons—appreciate convenient access to district technology and Internet services.
Over the last 15 years, Pioneer schools have enjoyed strong public budgetary support. Annual school budgets have been approved on initial public votes every year since 1991. State aid accounts for about 67 percent of the district’s revenues.
Regional Economy and Demography-
A snapshot of the economy within the PioneerSchool District would include traditional sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, but also call centers, small entrepreneurs, technology, retailers, service businesses, wood products, construction, hospitality, tourism, and non-profit agencies.
The local area is dotted with small towns. It is largely rural, sparsely populated, and identified with agriculture. More than half of the district is located in Appalachia, federally designated as an economically stressed region.
Unemployment and limited personal earnings present a constant challenge. Census 2000 figures indicate the median household income for the town of Yorkshire was $39,229, and was $42,668 in the village of Arcade.
At the same time, the regional economy is healthy in certain areas. The village and town of Arcade host several of the area’s largest employers, and have also seen the construction of multiple single-family homes in recent years.
A major reason for growth in the Pioneer-area economy since 1990 is infrastructure, particularly a municipal power system that offers electricity at a reduced rate compared to what major public utilities charge. While agriculture continues to shape many assumptions about the regional community and economy, many farms have consolidated and marginal farmland has been abandoned, thereby reducing the number of agribusinesses.
A combination of factors sheds light on Pioneer’s demographic challenges. The percentage of students who participate in the federal school lunch program varies from school to school, with the district average at 40 percent. Constant attention is given to assuring that appropriate health and human services are offered, made affordable, and made geographically accessible to district residents. Distances make it difficult for many to get to and from service points. What is more, multi-county jurisdictions complicate program coordination.
Distance definitely has an educational impact. Collectively, the students travel some 6,000 miles by school bus on a daily basis. The combined mileage exceeds 1,200,000 annually. Two different school-day start and end times, one for K-4 and another for 5-12, stem from a need to schedule two separate transportation cycles with the same buses. For all students, after-school activities are constrained by the late bus run.
CDEP Revised: 03/27/2006 Page 1 of 42
Pioneer Schools Reach Out To the WorldPioneer schools extensively share many of their educational resources by means of community partnerships. Illustrations include a job-shadowing program for high school students, an 8th grade Career Day, participation in an annual Community Fair, a school health fair, adult education programs, and substantial business community support for school events and student scholarships.
Pioneer has received regional and state recognition for its cooperative ventures in the visual and performing arts. One of our elementary schools has organized its curriculum around cultural themes, highlighting five major cultures in rotation over a five-year period. In recent years, the rate of middle school students electing to participate in music programs has necessitated additional equipment purchases and related staffing adjustments. The 7-12 marching band has been reborn, and competes on a level with the best in New YorkState. Student art exhibitions have been staged at the Albright-Knox Gallery and the Wyoming County Council for the Arts. Ceramics students have earned numerous prestigious awards.
Geographical access to cultural and other educational opportunities is always a challenge for Pioneer, so the district takes full advantage of technology to help students communicate around the world. All Pioneer classrooms are Internet-connected via our district network. Many of our classrooms are equipped with five or more computers to promote a learning lab environment and increase use of educational software. Our schools’ library media centers provide access to reference material throughout the state and around the world via the internet. Pioneer schools have two multi-point distance learning classrooms as well as portable point-to-point ISDN video conferencing capability, so our students have multiple routes to learning opportunities.
Academic cooperation between Pioneer and other educational institutions is thriving. Through Genesee (GCC) AND Jamestown (JCC) Community Colleges, Pioneer students can earn up to a full year of college credit at minimal cost before high school graduation. The Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES offers a GED program and works with Pioneer to coordinate occupational and technical education programs through which our students acquire specialized credentials enhancing their employability.
One very successful, nationally applauded Pioneer response to the comprehensive educational needs of students and families has been the district’s Even Start program. At least 325 families have enrolled since December 1991. In 2006, the program was serving 35 families, including 70 children. An Even Start Family Literacy Program, with Suburban Adult Services as partner, has helped sustain the program’s goals of improving parent literacy and career readiness, expanding educational opportunities provided by parents to improve children’s educational success, and enhancing parenting skills, including coping ability.
Pioneer’s Community of Learners
Pioneer schools emphasize clearly defined, fully aligned learning standards, innovative curriculum and instructional quality enriched by professional development opportunities. Multiage classrooms, multi-disciplinary projects, teaching teams, technology, and engagement in real-world learning tasks and assessments create an exciting variety of learning experiences.
The district is widely recognized for the quality and scope of its services to children with disabilities. A philosophy of inclusion guides the district. In recent years, progress has been made toward use of electronically individualized academic intervention plans to enable all students—especially those with learning difficulties—to meet or exceed state learning standards.
Like their students, Pioneer staff members are encouraged to put technology to work in the classroom in many different ways. Student and staff access to instructional technology and information management systems is state-of-the-art. Every classroom in the district is equipped with student computers, a teacher computer, internet access, the capacity to videoconference, and email. This rich mix, coupled with the latest in LAN/WAN connectivity, creates cutting-edge educational possibilities for all.
Professional staff development is the Pioneer catalyst for instructional change. Encouraged by contractual incentives, about half of the district’s professional staff members participate in professional learning communities to develop curriculum, assessment, and summer academic intervention services guided by individual student learning plans. Moreover, throughout the year, nearly all professional staff members participate indistrict-approved coursework, much of it offered by the Pioneer’s teacher center. Learning has become a lifelong endeavor for Pioneer’s entire school community.
Program evaluation and action planning guide Pioneer’s teaching and learning. Three of the district’s schools participate in the state’s Title I school improvement planning. Each school found the experience to be an intensive, rewarding staff development experience from which useful program guidance was gleaned. Finally, each school principal, assisted by schoolwide teams, develops and maintains a data-driven action plan as a tool for accountability and goal setting.
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool
BEDS Code: 04-35-01-06-0000
SECTION II : DATA ANALYSIS
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool
BEDS Code: 04-35-01-06-0000
Data Analysis: Procedure UsedTo develop plan priorities, the CDEP Committee followed a sequence of analytical steps through regular monthly meetings between August 2004 and May
2005. Key steps are listed below.
- Reviewed and developed a basic understanding of all PioneerSchool District data sources that illustrate Dr. Virginia Barnhardt’s model for multiple measures including i.g. demographic, student learning, perceptions, and school processes. Data sources include Pioneer’s Annual Report; State Report Cards; Data Warehouse information; longitudinal profile of Pioneer Assessment results and performance indicators compared with state benchmarks; professional development content analysis of coursework, projects, survey and focus group feedback; documentation on procedures for sharing information between special education and regular education teachers and professional support staff; curriculum maps for gaps and redundancies; sample standards based lessons and units; student aspiration surveys; homework policies and procedures; attendance records; outreach surveys; suspension records numbers and reasons; patterns of behavior; effective schools applied research results.
- Identified short and long-range priorities for data analysis and reviewed additional data focused on these priorities. Where there was insufficient information and data available the committee did not pursue problem areas.
- Received additional briefing on current NYS ELA and math assessment results and developed three-year “Goals for Meeting Pioneer School District Priority Needs” targeted on meeting NCLB requirements grades 3-12 by 2014.
- Developed statement of hunches, related questions, and data needed to address four key problems derived from District priority needs based upon disaggregation of report card and state benchmarks. The committee consolidated questions and made hunches compatible with root cause investigation related to Special Education enrollment numbers, performance on grade 4 and 8 assessments and Regents exams and suspension numbers.
- Identified key positive/negative contributors to academic success and essential influences for investigation.
- Using the priorities needs list developed by the committee it was determined what issues would be investigated more fully—curriculum alignment and articulation; early childhood programs and support; quality of teaching; referrals to special education; safe and supportive school and community environment. From the essential influences the committee agreed to focus on those areas of control.
- Assessed current practices and identified those areas that had evidence of successfully meeting goals and gaps in programming.
- Determined the common denominators of influences for further analysis and study.
- Root cause investigation occurred in three teams representing all levels and the community focusing on special education identification, student performance, and suspension rates.
- Recommendations made by teams on root causes and goal development were presented to the larger group for critical analysis and review and collaboration/coordination in the development of implementation plans.
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool
BEDS Code: 04-35-01-06-0000
CHECKLIST OF DATA USED: / School Report Card
/ New York: The State of Learning (Chapter 655 Report)
/ BEDS Data
/ The Local Assistance Plan (LAP)
/ Attendance Rates; students and teachers
/ Graduation and Drop-Out Rates
/ Special Populations, LEP, Individuals with Disabilities, Homeless
/ Teacher/Student Ratios
/ Number of Uncertified Teachers (Teachers teaching out of their certification area)
/ Student and Community Ethnic Data
/ Dominant Languages
/ Employment Rates
/ Enrollment
/ Immigration patterns
/ Longitudinal data
/ Major Employers
/ Makeup of Tax Base
/ Measures of Economic Wealth
/ Real Property: Tax Value
/ Sources of District Revenues
/ Special Designation Schools, SURR, Title I
/ LEAP/STEP
/ Other
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool
BEDS Code: 04-35-01-06-0000
Essential District Data
Student Racial/Ethnic Origin
2001-2002 / 2002-2003 / 2003-2004 / 2004-2005Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment / Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment / Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment / Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment
American Indian, Alaskan, Asian, or Pacific Islander / 40 / 1.30% / 41 / 0.40% / 39 / 0.40% / 34 / 1.18%
Black (not Hispanic) / 20 / 0.65% / 16 / 0.53% / 16 / 0.55% / 15 / 0.52%
Hispanic / 10 / 0.32% / 13 / 0.43% / 17 / 0.58% / 22 / 0.76%
White (not Hispanic) / 3018 / 97.73% / 2959 / 97.69% / 2856 / 97.54% / 2805 / 97.53%
Total / 3088 / 3029 / 2928 / 2876
Student Socioeconomic and Stability Indicators (Percent of Enrollment)
2001-02 / 2002-03 / 2003-04 / 2004-05
Free Lunch / 28.0% / 26.7% / 26.9% / 26.0%
Reduced Lunch / 15.8% / 15.9% / 14.7% / 13.0%
Public Assistance / NA / NA / NA / NA
Student Stability / NA / NA / NA / NA
Limited English Proficient Students (LEP)
2001-2002 / 2002-2003 / 2003-2004 / 2004-2005
Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment / Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment / Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment / Number of Students / Percent of Enrollment
0 / 0.00% / 0 / 0.00% / 0 / 0.00% / 2 / 0.07%
Yorkshire-PioneerCentralSchool