2008 Alternative Governance for School Improvement
1. MSDE Cover PageSchool Contact Information
School Name and Number: Dr. Ernest Everett Just Middle School / 1348
School Address: 1300 Campus Way North, Mitchellville, MD 20721
2007-2008 School Principal: Carlton Carter
· Principal’s Phone: (301) 808.4040 Fax Number: (301) 808.4050
· Principal’s Email:
· Principal’s Signature: ______
LEA Contact InformationLocal Educational Agency (LEA): Prince George’s County Public Schools
LEA Contact Person Name and Title: Debra Mahone, Director, Department of School Improvement and Accountability
· Phone Number: (301) 740-4743 Fax Number: (301) 749-4749
· Email: dmahone@ pgcps.org
· Contact Person’s Signature: ______
Local Board of Education ApprovalLocal Board Approval Date:
______
Superintendent’s Printed Name
______Date______
Superintendent’s Signature
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Alternative Governance Proposal, January 2008 Ernest Everett Just Middle School/PGCPS
2. ALTERNATIVE GOVERNANCE SELECTIONCheck which of the following alternative governance options was selected. Refer to Attachment A for a more detailed description of each of these options and to Attachment A1 for option specific questions that must be answered.
X / 1 / Replace all or most of the school staff
· Replace those staff members not deemed Highly Qualified as defined by High, Objective, Uniform State Standard Evaluation (HOUSSE) with Highly Qualified personnel
· Implement America’s Choice model (Year 2 – partial implementation) in reading & mathematics
· Provide additional (special education and mathematics) specialists and professional development in areas of academic needs
· Develop and implement additional quarterly benchmarks/milestones for special education students to gauge proficiency and make appropriate modifications
2 / Contract with a private management company
3 / Re-open the school as a public charter school
4 / Appoint/employ a distinguished principal from another school district OR a graduate from New Leaders for New Schools
3. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS
Corrective Actions
1. Provide for all relevant staff, appropriate, scientifically research-based professional development, aligned with the Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards that is likely to improve the academic achievement of low-performing students:
In the 2006-2007 school year Ernest Everett Just engaged into book studies. Book study one: A Framework for Understanding Poverty, by Ruby Payne. Selected staff members participated in a monthly book study to understand the impact different forms of poverty have on student achievement and teacher-student interaction.
Successes: Book studies provided a foundation for the development of professional learning communities. Staff became more aware of various socio-economic levels and cultural diversity. Teachers benefited from the collegiality of this book study and gained knowledge of reading strategies for struggling readers (summarizing, paraphrasing, and vocabulary development) to implement in their classrooms. Over the course of several meetings, teachers shared the strategies they implemented. More than ten percent of students receiving special education services improved their MSA reading scores from basic the previous year to proficient in 2007. Furthermore, special education students achieved annual yearly progress (AYP) in reading on the 2007 MSA. Participants adjusted their approach to instruction, teacher-student interaction, and school management. Initially, there was a large staff interest on this topic.
Failures: Staff felt there was a lack of tangible follow-up from the previous administration. Also, the purpose of this book study was not shared with participants, so the action had very little sustained staff “buy-in”. Some participants did not attend the study sessions regularly. In addition, some staff members did not effectively implement the strategies discussed which resulted in classroom management issues.
Lessons Learned: Outcomes and objectives for book studies need to be articulated with participants from the beginning. Staff members need to commit to fully participate for the duration of book studies.
The second book study: “When Kids Can’t Read” by Kylene Beers: Special educators met monthly from November 2006 through April 2007 and reviewed portions of Beers’ text and discussed strategies that could be practically implemented. The school will establish opportunities for teachers to have input in determining appropriate professional development. Also teacher incentives will be established to encourage ongoing and long term participation. The school will implement ongoing assessments to measure student achievement and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies prescribed in the book study. This will enable special education teachers to address the needs of their students more successfully.
The school developed a partnership with Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to implement the explicit instruction model (“I Do, We do, You Do”) in Reading/English Language Arts (R/ELA) and social studies teachers engaged in co-planning, model instruction, and analyze data on a monthly basis.
Successes: Teachers collaborated to plan lessons using the explicit instruction model (“I Do, We Do, You Do”). In addition, teachers were able to better understand the brief constructed response/extended constructed response (BCR/ECR) rubric for reading to be informed and learned how to re-teach concepts and skills; teachers had rich discussions on the BCR rubric. The data from MSA 2006-2007 showed modest overall gains in reading (2.5%) with a significant increase in free and reduced meals (FARMS) subgroups (8%). Analysis of student work indicated improvement in areas such as identifying main idea, making inferences, and summarizing. Also, collegial discussions sparked creative ideas in lesson design.
Failures: Teachers did not consistently take advantage of the information gleaned from debriefing sessions. Also, teacher absenteeism and a lack of buy-in from some R/ELA teachers contributed to lowered expectations for this partnership. In addition, there was inconsistent monitoring and limited follow-up by the administration. The master schedule did not provide sufficient collaborative planning time.
Lessons Learned: The administration and leadership team will discuss how to make the analysis of data meaningful with stakeholders understanding the relevancy of the task. This will ensure school-wide involvement using data. Teachers will be included in the discussion on how to conduct data utilization sessions to ensure stakeholder buy-in. Also, faculty members will receive professional development to learn how to implement a model for peer coaching. An observation tool/checklist will be developed in collaboration with MSDE to use in debriefings of modeled lessons. The school will create a master schedule that provides bi-weekly co-planning opportunities for general education and special education teachers.
Another professional development opportunity was training in the use of United Streaming offered by Prince George’s County Public Schools: Teachers gained multi-disciplinary knowledge of classroom application using this technology.
Successes: Classroom visits revealed that teachers were able use the knowledge to immediately implement this technology in their lessons. Math teachers consistently integrated United Streaming into weekly math lessons.
Failures: The program did not provide an evaluation after a United Streaming presentation. There was little follow-up from the school system to ensure teachers were effectively using United Streaming in their instruction.
Lessons Learned: More professional development on integrating United Streaming will be planned for all departments.
The Regional Special Education Instructional Specialist conducted “Collaborative Planning Coaching” workshops from January 2007 through May 2007. Various co-teaching models, co-planning techniques, and effective methods of differentiation were shared.
Successes: Content area teachers and special educators were able to plan one or more lessons per month together. More than 10% of students receiving special education services moved from basic to proficient on their reading benchmarks.
Failures: Due to time constraints and/or scheduling conflicts, special education teachers were unable to meet consistently with content teachers.
Lessons Learned: The school will create a master schedule that provides bi-weekly co-planning opportunities for general education and special education teachers.
2. Institute a new curriculum grounded in scientifically based research and provide appropriate professional development to support its implementation: One America’s Choice Ramp Up to Literacy class was implemented in 7th and 8th grade; one 8th grade Ramp Up to Algebra class was implemented.
Successes: Informal student surveys revealed an increased understanding of mathematical concepts due to frequent opportunities for peer-to-peer accountable talk embedded in the America’s Choice model.
Failures: The program was implemented mid-way through the school year. Many students were incorrectly placed in the 8th grade Ramp-up to Algebra class. Initially the school system and America’s Choice provided limited professional development impacting teaches’ ability to implement effectively.
Lessons Learned: Teachers would benefit from a jump start summer training in all America’s Choice program courses followed by quarterly sessions designed to refine and clarify instructional techniques. Parent workshops will be conducted to provide parents with strategies to assist their children at home.
3. Extend the length of the school year or school day.
One extended learning opportunity (ELO) program was held during the school year offering three weekday sessions in reading and mathematics for two hours per session. Students receiving special education services and students receiving Free or Reduced Meals (FARMS) were targeted to participate. The scientifically research based curriculums Moving With Math and Navigator were used in the ELO program.
The summer school ELO, held during July, offered a four-day weekly program from 9 am – 1 pm. Reading and mathematics instruction was provided for the targeted subgroup of special education and general education students scoring below proficient on MSA.
Successes: Approximately sixty students were enrolled in the after school ELO from December to March. Weekly attendance for the summer ELO program averaged ninety-five percent. Students regularly attending both ELO programs demonstrated positive attitudes toward learning.
Failures: Special education attendance was low for both the after-school and summer ELO programs. Inconsistent record keeping by the ELO coordinator contributed to a lack of supportive data from the after school ELO. Data from the summer ELO was used to evaluated the effectiveness of the overall program but did not provide individual student performance data.
Lessons Learned: In the future the ELO coordinator will be trained in record keeping and accountability procedures. A reciprocal reporting system will be developed to ensure collaboration between classroom teachers and ELO teachers. Incentives will be created to increase participation of targeted subgroups. Pupil personnel worker, parent liaison and the professional school counselor (P Team) will develop strategies to improve home-school communication.
4. Appoint one or more outside experts to advise the school on: (a) how to revise and strengthen the improvement plan while in school improvement status; and (b) how to address the specific issues underlying the school’s continued inability to make AYP.
Personnel from the Department of School Improvement and Accountability (DSIA) provided technical assistance and guidance at meetings on the 10 Step Process, evaluation of the action steps of the school improvement plan, completion of the monitoring tool. To provide ongoing site-based support for MSDE and systemic professional development, funds from the Increasing Proficiency for All Students (I-PAS)/Challenge coaches, to build teacher capacity to teach the VSC and assess student learning.
Successes: As the school’s needs, evolved, regional DSIA staff assisted the school in more accurately documenting and evaluating stakeholder involvement through the Accountability Portfolios. Additionally teachers were better able to monitor progress towards meeting identified goals in the school improvement plan. Teachers developed the ability to use benchmark data to group students appropriately in R/ELA and mathematics classes and plan lessons incorporating small group instruction and the use of manipulative tools.
Failures: The school had difficulty utilizing specific data on targeted sub-groups and effectively implementing activities to improve subgroup performance as outlined in the school improvement plan. Teachers did not utilize classroom data (i.e. chapter or unit test, writing assignments, formative assessments) to gauge student achievement and adjust instruction.
Lessons Learned: Professional development will be provided to school staff on effective utilization and analysis of triangulated data to target subgroups and modify instruction. The school will create opportunities across grade levels and content for teachers to discuss specific goals and objectives targeting identified subgroups. Regional staff will collaborate with the mathematics, R/ELA and data coach to ensure appropriate monitoring and instructional adjustments occur bi-monthly.
4. RATIONALE FOR ALTERNATIVE GOVERNANCE SELECTION1. Attachment C – Top Ten Action Steps
2. Attachment E - Priority Areas of Need
3. On what basis was the decision made to select this particular alternative governance option?
The decision was made after carefully analyzing the Maryland School Assessment (MSA), benchmark, attendance, and suspension data. Beginning in June 2007, the Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, Chief of Accountability, Director of Human Resources, Director of School Improvement, the Regional Assistant Superintendent and the Regional Director met to discuss restructuring options for Ernest Everett Just. The school has demonstrated continuous overall growth in reading. There has been a slight growth in special education reading by 10%; this enabled the school to meet safe harbor. Although, there has been a slight overall increase in mathematics proficiency, there was a 3% decrease in special education proficiency in mathematics.
The current principal was assigned to the school during the 2007-2008 school year and will not be replaced. However, staff relevant to the school not making AYP will be replaced. The decision came after extensive reviews by the staff of Region III and after meetings held by the school’s Alternative Governance Team with their stakeholder groups. By consensus of the group, the decision has been made to recommend Option #1. A plan was devised to identify timelines and to solicit additional input from the school planning and management team (SPMT), the PTSA Executive Board and general public, and the faculty. In order to create a more focused, rigorous instructional program, an increase of highly qualified staff was recommended. Collective accountability and shared decision-making inclusive of all stakeholders will be integral parts of the school culture.
Stakeholder meetings to discuss Alternative Governance options occurred on 06/18/07, 08/09/07, 09/07with staff, 10/07, 11/08/07 with AG Teams, 12/11/07 with RAS, Regional Director (RD), regional staff and school staff, 1/7/08 with Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) Executive Board, and the most recent meeting with parents occurred on 1/8/08.
The Department of Human Resources will assist with implementing the recommended option by identifying this school as a priority school, which will group this school in the first stage of schools to be staffed with a highly qualified workforce. Additionally, the Human Resource department will ensure that the school will receive teachers who have the capacity/experience in classroom management, differentiated instruction, data analysis, and flexible group instruction to work with the demographics, goals, and mission of Ernest Everett Just Middle School.