Friendship Valley Elementary School

Friendship Valley Elementary School

Friendship Valley Elementary School

School Improvement Plan

2015-2016

Carroll County Public Schools Vision 2018: Focus on Excellence Objectives
Prepare Globally Competitive Students
Fully implement a CCPS curriculum aligned with the Maryland State Standards.
Partner with local institutions of higher education to ensure college readiness.
Enhance programs to ensure career readiness for all students.
Meet Each Student’s Instructional Needs
Close the achievement gap between highest achieving and most struggling students.
Provide appropriate education services for students identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Enhance alternative programs responsive to the needs of at-risk students.
Implement a Gifted and Talented Program aligned with COMAR requirements.
Enhance alternative learning opportunities through the use of digital resources.
Develop and Maintain an Effective Workforce
Attract and retain highly qualified, effective, and diverse employees.
Promote a culture of diversity in the workplace.
Develop an electronic observation, evaluation, feedback, and professional development system.
Continuously monitor the organizational structure to support the Vision 2018 Plan.
Provide a Secure, Orderly, Modern Environment
Reduce incidents of bullying, violence, intolerance, and behavioral disruptions.
Improve and modernize the environment within our school facilities and school buses.
Enhance security for all CCPS students, staff, volunteers, and visitors.
Friendship Valley Elementary Vision / Mission
Vision:
Our students will become respectful, responsible, independent thinkers and collaborative problem solvers who are prepared to adapt to a continuously changing world.
Learning for Today, Ready for the Future!
Mission:
We are here to educate all students academically and socially, developing and supporting the whole child. We do that through the use of data, deliberate strategic planning and collaborative problem solving. We do this in partnership with students, teachers, and parents.
School Needs Assessment
Based on a comparison of data from January 2015 to June 2015 and from January and June of 2014: All students, grades k to 5, are not consistently meeting proficiency levels on county based mid-year and end of year assessments. Additionally, students meeting proficiency on mid-year assessments do not always sustain or exceed met proficiency levels on end of year assessments.

Students in kindergarten met or exceeded proficiency levels in reading on only 1 of 6 measures in January and only 1 of 6 measures in May. In math, 92% of students were proficient aligning with the county average of 92% in January but did meet the county average of 89% students meeting proficiency in May (88%).
Grade 1 students met or exceeded proficiency levels in reading on 2 of 5 measure in January and 2 out of 6 measures in May. In math, 94% of FVE students met proficiency which was higher than the county average of 88% (all students) meeting proficiency. In May, 95% of FVE first grade students met proficiency while 94% of all county students met proficiency. Results of an end of year qualitative survey from classroom teachers identified phonic skills, sight words, and main idea related to higher level non-fiction as areas of need for all students in basic reading and reading comprehension skills. In math, teachers identified operation sense and solving story problems as well as fact fluency as needs for all students.
Students in grade 2 met or exceeded proficiency levels in 2 out of 6 measures in January and 3 out of 6 measures in May. In math, 85% of FVE students met proficiency which was slightly higher than the county average of 82%; and in May FVE students met the county average of 84% students meeting proficiency. Results of an end of year qualitative survey from classroom teachers identified vowel teams and multi-syllabic words as an area of phonics need and understanding main idea in both fiction and non-fiction as a reading comprehension need. In math, teachers identified mastery of addition facts (40% of students not mastered) and solving story problems as areas of need. Additionally, telling time was not mastered by all students.
Grade 3 students met or exceeded proficiency levels in reading on 3 out of 3 measures in January and only 1 of 2 measures in May. In math, FVE students met the county average of 71% students meeting proficiency andin May 90% of FVE students met proficiency exceeding the county average of 75% of all students. Results of an end of year qualitative survey from classroom teachers identified needs in reading as identifying and understanding main idea, using supporting details as text evidence and using resources. Written language needs included organization and expansion of ideas in narrative writing. In math, teachers identified graphing and geometry concepts, telling time and elapsed time and fact fluency as areas of need.
Students in grade 4 met or exceeded proficiency levels in 2 out of 2 measures in January and 0 out of 2 measures in May. In math, 67% of FVE fourth graders met proficiency while 64% of all county students met proficiency. In May, only 62% of FVE students met proficiency which was below the county average of 69%. Results of an end of year qualitative survey from classroom teachers identified narrative writing as an area of need as well as comprehension of non-fiction and informational text. Grammar and mechanics were also identified for improvement. In the math, teachers identified geometry and multi-step word problems as areas of need.
Grade 5 students met or exceeded proficiency levels in 1 of 2 measures in January and 1 of 2 in May. In math, 72% of students met proficiency which was below the 80% of all county students meeting proficiency. In May, only 34% of students met proficiency while 46% of all county students met the proficiency level. Results of an end of year qualitative survey from classroom teachers identified geometry and multi-step word problems and multiplication fact efficiency as areas of need.
In the area of student behavior86students (66 males; 20 females)received discipline referrals during the 2014-2015 school year. Of those 86 students, 14 received 6 or greater referrals, 32 received between 2 and 5 referrals; and, 38 students received 1 referral each. While our student population is 51% male and 49% female, our disciplinary data continues to document a higher percentage of male (78%) versus female (22%) referrals. School leadership teams (Instructional Leadership Team; PBIS Team) engaged in a book study of The Leader in Me in 2014-2015 to begin the thinking about an alternative school-wide program to PBIS to impact students socially and academically. The teams agreed to move forward with a school-wide book study for 2015-2016 and action planning for implementation of the strategies and tenets of student leadership and critical thinking and problem-solving.
School Improvement Goals to Target Areas from Needs Assessment
ELA:Students in grades kindergarten through grade five will meet or exceed 80% proficiency on all mid-year (November or January) and end of year (March or May) CCPS curriculum based assessments in English Language Arts (phonics, vocabulary, basic reading, reading comprehension, and writing). Students in grades kindergarten through grade five will sustain or increase their earned proficiency level on CCPS curriculum based assessments from mid-year (November or January) to end of year (March or May) assessments.
MATH: Students in grades kindergarten through grade 5 will meet or exceed 80% proficiency on all mid-year and end of year CCPS curriculum based assessments in mathematics. Students in grades kindergarten through grade five willdemonstrate growth in their earned proficiency level on CCPS curriculum based assessments from mid-year (January) to end of year (May) assessments.
ETM:Students in grades kindergarten through grade 5 will demonstrate the skills and self-confidence to succeed as leaders in the 21st century. Students will demonstrate behavior that results in a decrease in the overall number of discipline referrals for all grade levels.
School Improvement Goal 1
Academic: ELA -1. All students in grades kindergarten through grade five will meet or exceed 80% proficiency on all mid-year (November or January) and end of year (March or May) CCPS curriculum based assessments in English Language Arts (phonics, vocabulary, basic reading, reading comprehension, and writing). 2. All students in grades kindergarten through grade five will sustain or increase their earned proficiency level on CCPS curriculum based assessments from mid-year (November or January) to end of year (March or May) assessments.
Strategic Actions- / Time Line / Measures of Success/ Desired Performance Level
1.1Instructional staff will assess, teach, and reteach high frequency words explicitly and consistently across grades kindergarten through second grade.
1.2Instructional staff will provide parents/parent volunteers with sight word lists, games and activities to support practice and reinforcement in classroom small groups and at home.
1.3Instructional staff grades k thru 2nd will partner with instructional staff grades 3rd thru 5th to identify and schedule student ‘phonics’ leaders and ‘readers’ to engage and motivate younger students for sight word practice and story read alouds
1.4Instructional staff will plan and deliver explicit and embedded whole group and small group instruction that integrates phonics teaching.
1.5Students with parent and teacher support will utilize web resources (Tumblebooks, for example) to practice and monitor reading comprehension skills at home.
1.6Instructional staff will utilize a variety of strategies (preteaching vocabulary and content; anchor charts, cross-curricular integration, for example) to build and deepen student understanding of text
1.7Instructional staff will plan and deliver explicit and embedded whole group and small group instruction that deepens understanding of literary and informational text.
1.8Grade level teams will utilize the CFIProcess to monitor student learning in order to adjust instruction and strategies to meet student needs. / September then Ongoing
September then Ongoing
September, Ongoing
August,
Ongoing
Back-to-School Night, Ongoing
August,
Ongoing
August,
Ongoing
Monthly / Teacher made assessments, formative assessments, running records, vertical teaming conferences to monitor instructional consistency; Student notebooks/charting, progress monitoring charts/tallies
Schedules, student notebooks/charting, progress monitoring charts/tallies
Collaborative planning, teaming notes, teacher made assessments, formative assessments, running records, vertical teaming conferences to monitor instructional consistency
Sched
Schedules, student notebooks/charting, progress monitoring charts/tallies
Collaborative planning, teaming notes, teacher made assessments, formative assessments, running records, vertical teaming conferences to monitor instructional consistency
Collaborative planning, teaming notes, teacher made assessments, formative assessments, running records, vertical teaming conferences to monitor instructional consistency
Classroom Focused Improvement Process artifacts – meeting notes, action plans; Collaborative planning
School Improvement Goal 2
Academic: MATH - 1. Students in grades kindergarten through grade 5 will meet or exceed 80% proficiency on all mid-year and end of year CCPS curriculum based assessments in mathematics. 2. Students in grades kindergarten through grade five will sustain or increase in their earned proficiency level on CCPS curriculum based assessments from mid-year (January) to end of year (May) assessments.
Strategic Actions / Time Line / Measures of Success / Desired Performance Level
2.1 Teachers will utilize a concrete-pictorial abstract approach to build conceptual understanding of number and computation strategies based on place value
2.2Students will apply place value understanding and strategies to solve problems using all four math operations. Instructional emphasis will be placed on interpreting and representing context based problems using bar models
2.3Teachers will conduct Number Talks at least twice per week to facilitate mathematical discourse and promote flexible use of place value strategies.
2.4An established vertical alignment team will: establish coherence within and across grades regarding NBT (Numbers Base Ten) domain understanding and best practices and develop effective use of progressions and serve to build math leadership
2.5Grade level teams will utilize the CFIProcess to monitor student learning in order to adjust instruction and strategies to meet student needs. / Ongoing
Ongoing
Ongoing
Established September
Quarterly
Monthly / Exit passes, formative assessments, math journal tasks, unit assessments
Exit passes, formative assessments, math journal tasks, unit assessments
Record of Number Talks; Evidence of student performance to include verbal responses and written application of strategies in journals or formative assessments
Team membership; meeting agenda artifacts; progress monitoring record; end of year survey
Classroom Focused Improvement Process artifacts – meeting notes, action plans; Collaborative planning
School Improvement Goal 3
ETM: Students in grades kindergarten through grade 5 will demonstrate the skills and self-confidence to succeed as leaders in the 21stcentury by utilizing the 7 Habits (Independence- Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind; Put First Things First; Interdependence - Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, Synergize; The Whole Person - Sharpen the Saw) Students will demonstrate behavior that results in a decrease in the overall number of discipline referrals for all grade levels.
Strategic Actions / Time Line / Measures of Success / Desired Performance Level
3.1Staff will engage in a book study, Leader inMe in preparation to understand the desired culture shift to a school mission that focuses on developing ‘future’ leaders – students with confidence and skills to succeed academically and in understanding others
3.2A team will be established that includes key staff and a parent to develop and initiate an action plan for implementation of the 7Habits (Covey) as a school-wide success and achievement paradigm
3.3Identify and facilitate opportunities for student empowerment and leadership within all grade levels
3.4Student Services Team will progress monitor students identified at-risk by classroom teachers and/or parents based on referral / August
September
September/October
Monthly
September/October
Monthly
Monthly / Agenda artifact; teacher discussions
Plan development and implementation; Timeline
Plan development and implementation; Timeline
Notes, action plans, progress monitoring notes

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