Brevard County Public Schools

School Improvement Plan

2013-2014

Name of School: Area:

Page 4

Principal: Area Superintendent:

SAC Chairperson:

Superintendent: Dr. Brian Binggeli

Mission Statement:

The Melbourne High School community empowers students to strive for excellence and to become lifelong learners.

Vision Statement:

Students of Melbourne High School will make a positive contribution to society; become lifelong learners; and ethical, responsible, and articulate citizens, capable of living, working, and achieving in a highly technological world.
Page 4

Brevard County Public Schools

School Improvement Plan

2013-2014

RATIONALE – Continuous Improvement Cycle Process

Data Analysis from multiple data sources: (Needs assessment that supports the need for improvement-Examples may be, but are NOT limited to survey data, walk-through data, minutes from PLC’s or Dept. Mtgs. Move away from talking about every single data source and determine your rationale. Much like the PGP, what is your focus and why?)

Considerations/Examples:
With the ever increasing national and local concern towards developing stronger academic students and the implementation of the upcoming Common Core Standards, Melbourne High School has placed a great emphasis on assisting our struggling students to succeed, as well as improving the classroom rigor across the board.
Using AS400 data, we looked at the incoming 9th grade class of 2012-13 and the number of course failures that occurred. We noticed that during the fall semester, 42 students (9%) failed at least two courses. The total combined number of courses failed was 130. During the spring semester, 52 students (11%) failed at least two courses. The total combined number of courses failed was 187. Overall, that is 317 courses that will need to be made up within the next three years – all while still attempting the normal course load.
Since Closing the Achievement Gap is one of the goals of this year’s plan, we looked at the number of minority students who failed courses as 9th graders. We noticed that during the fall semester, 11 minority students (2.3%) failed at least two courses. The total combined number of courses failed was 31. During the spring semester, 15 minority students (3%) failed at least two courses. The total combined number of courses failed was 45. Overall, that is 78 courses that will need to be made up within the next three years – all while still attempting the normal course load.
Our intention, with the incoming 9th grade class of 2013-14, is to reduce the number of students who fail courses by 5%. If all of the CMA groups, which comprise the entire faculty, implement the strategies they set forth in their PGP, we should also notice that the overall 9th grade failure rate is reduced from the 2012-13 school year. In addition, we should see an overall increase in performance of the lowest 25% throughout the entire school.
In 2013-14, of the 484 students who entered ninth grade, 30 of them were retained due to not having earned at least five overall credits, or not passing English and/or Math. To help these students, as well as upperclassmen, get on track to graduate within four years, we are in the process of opening a second credit retrieval lab to be used throughout the school day.
In talking with many teachers and department heads, both in group and individual settings, a common theme arose – many of the incoming 9th graders are not prepared for the challenge of high school. Many lack the necessary skills needed to be successful. Things such as poor time management, poor study skills, poor attendance rates, and a feeling of being overwhelmed seem to be a very common theme among the weaker academic students.
Two other topics stood out within these meetings, as well as on our year-end teacher survey. Many teachers expressed interest in learning how to incorporate more meaningful technology in their classes, but did not have the time, or knowledge, to sift through all of the things out there. It seemed that most teachers were comfortable with using MS Office Suite, clickers and an iPad (if they had one). These would all be considered basic technology that should be used regularly, so the interest in using more advanced technology is welcomed. In addition, several teachers stated that they needed assistance with implementing differentiated instruction within their courses. This can be done in several ways – there is no one correct method. In fact, technology is just one method of differentiating instruction. The ultimate goal is to have a good classroom full of exemplary teaching.

Analysis of Current Practice: (How do we currently conduct business?)

During the latter part of the 2012-13 school years, we surveyed our faculty and asked for their input, both positive and negative, with regard to how well our previous year PLC’s were coming along. They asked for more clear direction from the leadership team with regard to what should be addressed during each meeting. This has led us to developing clearer outcomes for this year’s SIP and the leadership team will become more involved with the groups this year. During the past year, more teachers observed each other and found that they gained some valuable knowledge with regard to best teaching practices as a result.
As the 2013-14 school years began, the leadership team hosted small teacher-led introductory sessions that covered five topics: 9th grade Transition Program, Formative/ Summative Assessment Tests, Closing the Achievement Gap, Technology in the Classroom, and Differentiated Instruction. At the end of the sessions, the teachers were asked to rank the topic that they would like to work most closely with during the coming year. These topics have become our Collaborative Mutual Accountability groups.
The expected outcome is to strengthen the capacity of the school staff so that they all share the common goal of ensuring student success and can make continual progress toward that goal.

Best Practice: (What does research tell us we should be doing as it relates to data analysis above?)

Research has shown that 9th grade students are 3-5 times more likely to fail a course than students in any other grade level (Southern Regional Educational Board (2002), Opening Doors to the Future: Preparing Low-achieving Middle Grades Students to Succeed in High School). Improving student achievement in the ninth grade can lead to improved graduation rates and improved readiness for college and careers. In a recent study, 45 percent of dropouts reported that they entered high school unprepared for rigorous studies (Bridgeland, John M., Karen Burke Morison, and John J. DiIulio Jr. The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts. Civic Enterprises, 2006). Research has also shown that a school is on its way to having an effective 9th grade experience when students leave the 9th grade having completed college-preparatory English and at least Algebra (Southern Regional Education Board, Redesigning the Ninth-Grade Experience - Reduce Failure, Improve Achievement and Increase High School Graduation Rates).
According to an article published in the Washington Post on June 30, 2013, Washington DC school officials are currently overhauling the current approach to 9th grade education. Due to the fact that students who have to repeat 9th grade courses at least once, and quite possibly twice, have a much greater tendency to become disengaged in school, they are beginning to separate the repeat 9th graders from the current incoming class. The goal is to place the incoming class in ninth-grade academies - small schools-within-a-school dedicated to providing extra support for first-time freshmen, while not allowing repeat students into the academy. At the same time, the plan is to provide more successful opportunities for those who are falling behind – things such as twilight academies, credit recovery programs, etc., since the current school model is not working for them.
Kerr and Letgers (2002) reported that many 9th graders have a difficult time adjusting to the demands of high school, resulting in lower grades, more disciplinary problems, higher failure rates, and feelings that they do not belong to the high school community. Other researchers have identified 9th grade as the most critical point to intervene and to prevent students from losing motivation, failing, and dropping out of school (Reents, 2002).
With regard to differentiated instruction, Tony Wagner, Innovation Education Fellow at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University says “students need to be able to make significant choices” in order to practice the critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed in the current economy. He believes technology will make differentiating instruction easier (Harvard Education Letter, Volume 27, Number 3 May/June 2011).
As a result of numerous discussions among faculty and administration, we have decided to create small groups of teachers who will work on issues such as 9th grade Transition Program, Formative/ Summative Assessment Tests, Closing the Achievement Gap, Technology in the Classroom, and Differentiated Instruction.

CONTENT AREA:

Reading / Math / Writing / Science / Parental Involvement / Drop-out Prevention Programs
Language Arts / Social Studies / Arts/PE / Other:

School Based Objective: (Action statement: What will we do to improve programmatic and/or instructional effectiveness?)

Melbourne High School will have collaborative mutual accountability groups (CMA’s) address five areas of focus: 9th grade Transition Program, Formative/ Summative Assessment Tests, Closing the Achievement Gap, Technology in the Classroom, and Differentiated Instruction.
The faculty will be divided evenly amongst each group, with each group being overseen by a single administrator.

Strategies:

Barrier / Action Steps / Person Responsible / Timetable / Budget / In-Process
Measure
1. 9th Grade Transition / 1. Establish and maintain close parental contact. / Diana Bassett & Lynne Kane
Admin & CMA leaders / August – April / Parent contact logs, Edline account activations.
2. Formative/ Summative Assessments / 2. Collect examples of formative and summative assessment templates that teachers will be able to access, adapt, and use. / Cassie Gonyer & Jennifer Mikenas
Admin & CMA leaders / August – April / Notebooks and/or electronic shared folders for templates.
3. Achievement Gap / 3. Promote community and school services to increase student access and use of available resources. / Terese Braun & Mike Soliven
Admin & CMA leaders / August – April / Newsletters, Edline postings, and notices on bulletin boards.
4. Technology in the Classroom / 4. Share software applications (Class Dojo, Edmodo, Google Drive) to save teachers’ time and enhance educational experiences for students. / Paul Mucci & Erik Perna
Admin & CMA leaders / August – April / Increased use of software within classrooms.
5. Differentiated Instruction / 5. Collect examples of successful collaborative and differentiated instruction models to share with faculty. / Billy Booth & Kathy Fleig
Admin & CMA leaders / August – April / Notebooks and/or electronic shared folders for models.

EVALUATION – Outcome Measures and Reflection-begin with the end in mind.

Qualitative and Quantitative Professional Practice Outcomes: (Measures the level of implementation of professional practices throughout the school)

We will measure the implementation of the School Improvement Plan’s (SIP) goal while grading each teacher’s Professional Growth Plan. They must address how they will incorporate it within their teaching throughout the school year. When we meet to review their plan in mid year, and follow up the next school year, we will be able to see how well they did. Since the 2012-13 teacher survey guided us towards our 2013-14 SIP goals, we will continue to administer a teacher survey. In May 2014, our teachers will be administered a survey through Survey Monkey to assess how well they were able to implement the strategies learned within their CMA groups. The minutes and attendance from the CMA meetings will be reviewed monthly. Group feedback from the CMA meetings will be shared amongst the faculty and administration.

Qualitative and Quantitative Student Achievement Expectations: (Measures student achievement)

To measure students’ achievement throughout the school year, the administration will continue to perform classroom walkthroughs and share the data with each other, as well as the individual teacher. The administration will be constantly monitoring how many students are engaged, as well as noting if the teacher has posted, or otherwise shared, the daily objective or “essential” question for that particular topic. If all of the CMA groups, which comprise the entire faculty, implement the strategies they set forth in their PGP, we should see an overall increase in performance of the lowest 25% within their classes, as well as the entire school. We should also notice that the overall 9th grade failure rate is reduced from the 2012-13 school year.

For the following areas, please write a brief narrative that includes the data for the year 2012-13 and a description of changes you intend to incorporate to improve the data for the year 2013-14.

MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS (MTSS)/RtI This section meets the requirements of Sections 1114(b)(1)(B)(i)-(iv) and 1115(c)(1)(A)-(C), P.L. 107-110, NCLB, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 6314(b).
a)Describe your school’s data-based problem-solving processes for the implementation and monitoring of your MTSS and SIP structures to address effectiveness of core instruction, resource allocation (funding and staffing), teacher support systems, and small group and individual student needs.
MTSS is a system of support used to help students who are struggling in their classes. Most students who struggle due to a disability have already been identified and are being served through ESE or 504 services by the time they reach high school. Therefore, the MTSS process is generally needed on only a handful of students per year.
If a student is identified by teacher, parent, and or counselor as needing help, the counselor will come before the IPS team and describe the problem. If the team decides a MTSS plan is called for, the counselor will begin the process of gathering data from the student, teachers and sometimes academic testing such as FAIR, FCAT or Reading Plus scores. A level 1 support plan is devised and implemented. The results of the added support are monitored by the student’s counselor and teachers. If further intervention is warranted the IPS team meets and creates a level two intervention. After time, if needed the team then creates a highly specialized one on one intervention (level 3). If the student shows need of specific accommodations the team may move to develop a 504 plan or recommend them for ESE testing and possible services.