Running head: SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN 1

PEDU 671
School Improvement Plan
Jennifer McMichael
Longwood University
May 5, 2018
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Vision Statement

Lee Hill Elementary School serves 666 students in grades K through 5 and is fully

accredited. Our student body includes 47.1% of students that are economically disadvantaged,

9% of students receiving services under IDEA, and 10.2% of students that are English Language

Learners. Our vision for Lee Hill is “We will help our lions succeed by working as ONE to

understand, guide, inform, and grow them.”

Our vision statement was drafting during the summer of 2017 to reflect the changing

needs of our students and values of the community. Lee Hill has increasingly encompassed a

whole-child approach as we move away from a strict focus on state and district reported test

scores. We have worked relentlessly to increase shared ownership of all students and build our

school as a community with students and staff. The prominence of “ONE” to emphasize our role

in supporting every single student, through the vision statement and actions of leaders within the

school, has created a broad and dedicated support network for our students.

In completing this school improvement plan, including a review of the mission statement,

I would maintain this statement to continue with efforts as we are one year in and see the vision

and mission come to fruition as staff and students send increasing years in this climate. I would

also keep this vision statement to highlight the important work we do to serve our students. We

aim to understand our students by learning about trauma informed practices, special education

needs, functional analysis of behavior, English language learners, gifted learners, and increase

community outreach and relationships. We will guide our lions in not only academic needs, but

in self-regulation, relationship building, community and school service, and extension projects.

Informing our lions is critical through providing high-quality instruction, implementing evidence

based practices addressing a variety of needs, and ongoing use of plan-do-study-act in planning
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and teaching. Through all of this we grow our students to successfully meet the challenges of a

global 21st century society. Lastly, a unique strength of this statement is the use of the wording

“our lions;” our lions are not only our students but also ourselves and our community. Through a

relentless pursuit for learning we focus our professional development and all team meetings to

highlight information to speak to each of these four components.

Needs Assessment Including Data Collection and Analysis

As a division we are completing a comprehensive needs assessment (CNA) at each

school as part of our continuous school improvement plan (CSIP). In creating our CSIP, as a

division, we have targeted eight specific areas that are critical to student success. Our CNA

evaluates the data available in each area and guides us forward in developing goals and

strategies. The eight areas that are being evaluated are interdisciplinary literacy, mathematics/

problem-solving, science/ inquiry, history and social sciences, leadership and governance,

commitment to professional learning, safe and orderly environment, and family and community

engagement. We have thus far compiled data from the last 3- 5 years in these domains,

identified factual and measurable trends, categorized these trends as positive or negative, listed

contributing factors, and classified each factor into standardized categories. As we continue

digging into this data we will have a better picture of the needs of our students at each specific

school and be able to develop goals as part of our CSIP to address them.

CAN results from reading indicate positives in a 21 point increase in students reading at

or above grade level in grades K and 1 based on Fountas and Pinnell assessments (F&P BAS),

along with decreasing numbers of students identified in kindergarten based on PALS

(Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening). Needs identified were a level trend in SOL

performance for grades 3-5, but no decline over the past 3 years. Another need was an increase
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in 1st grade students identified in PALS from the beginning to the end of the year in 1st grade, a

critical growth year for reading. The math subgroup identified that LHES had a positive trend

line for 3 years, but in the most recent year had a significant drop with declines in almost all

subgroups. They noted strengths in the division assessments as indicators of performance on

SOLs and improvement with the addition of a math specialist and consistent staffing for special

education. Areas of need they reported were the lack of data regarding preparation or impact on

CAT testing and training on tools. They attributed some of the decline to a sharp increase in

behavior needs disrupting instruction and making identified students unavailable for instruction

when in crisis. We also identified a need to utilize data from previous grades to shape our

instruction for students.

The science subcommittee found a positive trend in science scores during recent years,

but reported that there was not sufficient data collected by our school to provide an in depth

analysis as data was limited to SOL scores for 5th grade students. They attributed the growth to

vertical teaming and collaboration, including collaboration on 4th and 5th grade science

interactive notebooks and nightly science questions. History found that adjusted and unadjusted

pass rates (88% and 80%) were comparable to average division rates and surpassed the state rate.

They also identified needs in the insufficient collection of data on student achievement.

As the team lead for leadership and governance we found that the teacher walkthrough

and observation form provided by the division was consistent in providing feedback, but is not

measurable or concrete and adds a level of subjectivity and interpretation. The 10-day plan is

which is formulated from an in-depth analysis of student data and implemented to intervene for

students on specific skills keeping them from achieving expected standards; it is implemented

from 10 days prior to SOL testing through the end of the year for all grades. The team found
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strengths in the consistency of implementation for grades K-2 and 3-5, with benefits in the depth

of analysis and planning of specific strategies and interventions based on student specific needs.

The commitment to professional learning team revealed positives in staff participation in

professional learning opportunities averaging at 91%. Professional learning trainings are

relevant and teachers report that they want to participate, citing also a variety of instructional

delivery methods blended with engaging activities. Negatives seen in the review of data

indicates a low participation by paraprofessional in professional learning as it is not required or

compensated.

Positives seen by the safe and orderly climate committee included review of our fourth

year of implementation of PBIS and noted an overall positive environment, consistent

recognition for students, and regular reinforcement of expectations with a common vocabulary.

Negatives noted were an observed lack of social skills in students, through reporting on referrals

and staff observation, and inconsistent consequences. Also reported was the correlation of

increases in academic demands with increases in behaviors warranting major or minor office

referrals. The results from the family and community engagement subgroup were extremely

limited due to little to no data for this area. With a calendar of events it was seen that events

were offered, but with less than hoped for attendance reported and no consistent procedure for

tracking attendance during events. Student surveys were utilized but do not report on or reflect

family engagement.

Based on the analysis of school data and consultation with administration I selected three

goals for school improvement. With the most significant needs discovered through the CNA in

math performance and family and community engagement I targeted two goals to address these

areas. With the introduction of Kagan strategies to our staff in order to support the division
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initiative of visible learning and success criteria I felt it was important to focus our effort on this

area through a SIP goal. We know that the effect size for student engagement is .89, while

students traditionally performing in the 50% percentile increase to the 81%st percentile with

Kagan structures. Districts using Kagan report sizable gains on standardized tests in all content

areas after only two years using Kagan. We know with Kagan positive behavior referrals

increase dramatically and discipline referrals steadily decline each year for 4 or more years after

implementation. Recorded behavior incidents drop in schools from an average of 25-30 per

trimester to below 15 in year one and averaging 10 in later years. With the impact of this data on

the school climate and instruction in numerous subject areas full implementation of Kagan

structures was also selected as a goal for school improvement. The selected goals include:

1. By June 2019, grades 3-5 will achieve an unadjusted pass rate of 80% or higher

on the Math SOL.

2. By June 2019, Lee Hill Elementary will have full implementation of Kagan

structures evidenced by learning intentions and student engagement/ opportunities

to respond, as measured by classroom walk through form, present on 90% of

walkthroughs.

3. By June 2019, Lee Hill Elementary will increase family and community

engagement to reach participation rates of 75% of enrolled students, through

inclusion of no-cost events, provision of dinner/ popsicles, and purposeful

inclusion of unique groups (foster parents, grandparents raising grandchildren,

bilingual).

Assessment in Relation to Our Vision

Our vision is to help our lions succeed by working as ONE to understand, guide, inform,

and grow them. In order to better inform our lions we are responsible to improve our practices in

math instruction, especially for our students with disabilities. We must also inform our teachers

(our big lions) in providing services and evidence based practices specifically for our SWD.

To grow our lions in academic achievement and behavior we have chosen to focus on

student engagement utilizing Kagan structures. While we know that in education no one

initiative is implemented at a time the results from schools utilizing Kagan structures, even in our

own division, are extremely encouraging. Along with the research to support this, we must also

include this in our SIP in order to give adequate time to see the impact of this change over

several years before fully evaluating its effectiveness.

To better understand and then guide our lions increasing support of family and

community engagement is a top priority as it directly impacts student grades, attendance,

enrollment in higher level courses, and dropouts. As new accreditation standards are

implemented statewide with requirements for attendance and student performance growth these

factors will be directly reflected in our accreditation. The NEA provides a policy brief that

outlines six types of family involvement that are essential for schools. Schools must provide

support to parents in parenting by assisting families in understanding development and creating

home conditions that support learning, in addition to assisting school staff in understanding

families’ backgrounds and goals. We must establish effective two-way communication between

homes and school. Opportunities to improve recruitment and training to volunteer including

meaningful tasks and flexible scheduling are important to offer. We must involve families in

curriculum-based learning at home. Engaging families as participants in school based decisions

and advocacy must be encouraged. Schools must work to coordinate resources for families and
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students by collaborating with the community, including businesses, agencies, colleges, and

other community groups (NEA Education Policy and Practice Department, 2008).

School Improvement Plan Document and Implementation

The school improvement plan document, as attached, includes the three SMART goals

selected for Lee Hill Elementary School. To substantiate our need for the specified goal and

current state supporting data, state/ division assessment data, and other assessment data is

included for each goal. Each goal is also aligned with our strategic plan within Spotsylvania

County Schools to reach our overall vision: Together, we prepare our students for their future.

Each goal incorporates objectives in order to reach the target, as well as tasks included

for each objective. Each task is specific, with a timeline for completion, persons responsible for

task completion, required resources, anticipated results, and space left for actual results and

evaluation as we continue to monitor our progress towards each goal. By embedding key parties

and timelines the implementation of the plan is ensured with shared ownership from relevant

personnel. As part of the implementation a roll out will occur with our faculty and staff at the

beginning of the year through review of the previous year’s data and engaging activities. Work

week meetings will center around the use of Kagan structures to engage our staff while

presenting required information, and staff will be able to use the electronic walk through form to

provide us with feedback regarding our use of structures. Staff will also participate in a team

building scavenger hunt around our community to begin thinking about family and community

engagement by seeing where our students live and play.

Resource Management

Funding at Lee Hill Elementary is not broken down into specific instructional areas, but

goes into a single line item for ‘instruction.’ Our instructional budget for all grades for 2017-18
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is $12,015 at the school level. We receive Envision textbooks from the division, along with

funding for a math specialist. In order to improve math skills we have much of the resources

needed, but require a review of our practices especially for students with disabilities and

management of our resources.

In working with our internal self-audit completed by our Office of Student Support

Services we are restructuring programs for students with disabilities, moving students back to

home schools when they are able to access the general curriculum and general education

environment. This will remove programs for developmentally delayed, mild intellectual

disabilities, and autism resource, while maintaining low-incidence programs for students with

greater needs. The timing of this change aligns with a dire need to modify our service delivery at

Lee Hill for our students with disabilities. Our SWD who are not achieving at expected rates are

brought up in data meetings and PLCs as not being successful in the grade level classroom, yet

we only provide collaborative services for all students (not in a low-incidence program). With

incoming students that were previously served in a specialized program and student not

succeeding in the general education classroom it is a critical time for us to restructure services

and class placements to arrange for pull-out services to target skill deficits and provide the small

group instruction needed. In order to purposefully target instruction for our students with

disabilities professional development will be needed, as seen in the proposed budget, to support

special education and general education teachers in effective interventions based on the effects

and manifestations of individual disabilities. We will maintain the funding of Dream Box and

Reflex math as computer-based interventions, with funding from instruction and PTO donation.

Spending for Kagan will be extremely limited as we have covered the high initial cost

with the year one implementation in 2017-18. In 2017-18 we budgeted $17,179 on professional
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development which included a one-time allowance from the division of $10,000 for Kagan

coaching and our initial training cost. Included in our initial training were books for each teacher

attending, which I would like to expand to cover the cost of books for new positions to our

school. These materials are owned by the school and with any turnover will carry over to the

new teacher. Because of the effectiveness of Kagan, as described in the power point

presentation, we should see improvement over the next three years in achievement in all

academic areas for all students, including critical subgroups. The only cost I am requesting for

the upcoming year is to begin a peer observation program, requiring funding for 5 days of a

substitute teacher in this first year as we gain buy-in from teachers. Continuing on we can use

professional development subs already in our allocated amount, administrator coverage, and

arrange for coverage with specialists to support this valuable professional development

opportunity utilizing our exceptional in-house resources.

Our PTO is our primary funding provider for family and community engagement, with no

money budgeted in district funds. This year our PTO has donated $1,317 to the school, but much

of this has been donated specifically for chromebooks or specific computer programs (Lexia and

BrainPop). The PTO has worked with school administration to support community engagement

with several free events such as movie night and the fall festival, and has solicited and collected

prizes for school organized curriculum nights. Through discussions with parents with children in

other schools in our division I learned of unique events PTOs at other school have organized,

including community dinner, popsicles and playgrounds, multicultural night, parent information

sessions, and reading nights with pajamas. Still, many events organized by the PTO are

fundraisers and preclude participation by some families, such as bingo night and bowling.
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In order to create a sustainable program for family and community engagement financial

accountability and responsibility will be critical. As an administrative team we will need to

develop a financial accountability plan for this initiative to monitor, evaluate, and revise finances

on a continual basis ensuring the sustainability of our strategies. A priority in planning and

hosting events to increase community engagement will be to develop events that utilize resources

we already have available, such as instructional materials for curriculum nights, existing

playground equipment for popsicles and playgrounds, and existing projection equipment for

movie nights.

In addition to utilizing existing resources we will need to access resources available

through our community to support our families, such as requesting consumables, such as dinner

and drinks, through our division business partners. Much of the funding provided by the division

specifically states that it may not be used for food or drink, so using other funding streams and

sponsors will allow us to set up relationships with local businesses that can be sustained in future

years. I received feedback from parents and feedback relayed by staff in completing the needs

assessment in planning for this goal. One recurring theme mentioned the success in other

schools and potential for our school in providing food or other needs, such as school supplies, to

families. This has increased participation in other schools and events where we have provided

items at no cost in the past have anecdotally increased participation. We will also work with our

PTO in designating funds to support this collaborative initiative. There are several grant

opportunities available to increase family and community engagement and the committee will

explore, select, and apply for related grants.

Budgeting for each event will occur at the beginning of the year and available to

stakeholders for review in order to remain transparent. All expenses for events will go through
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school based purchase orders submitted to the bookkeeper and signed by the principal. Funding

for continuing projects will maintain through current streams (One School One Book, Back to

School Night, End of Year celebrations). All funding communications, POs, numbered checks,

and receipts will be maintained by the principal and bookkeeper for annual audit and regular

review of expenditures and bank statements.

At our quarterly review meetings with the family and community engagement committee

we will review funding and the benefit (as measured by progress towards our SMART goals) of

dollars spent to evaluate effectiveness and plan for upcoming events and the next year. Events

where greater expenditures were seen with no greater return in participation will be reviewed to

make changes for future years, and events with the highest rates of participation will be analyzed

in order to replicate their success. Before the 2018-2019 school year committee members will

work to design a parental survey distributed at the beginning and end of the school year. This

will allow families to provide input and respond to a likert scale used as a baseline and to

measure growth of families’ perception of the school and community engagement. Data will

also be collected on participation in these events through informal attendance count. School

based staff can make anecdotal reports on any subgroups with low participation in order to work

to support all students and their families.

Monitoring Progress

Monitoring is essential for our SIP as we must ensure we are making appropriate progress

towards our goals and demonstrate integrity and transparency in our use of resources to account

for success for all of our students. Review meetings with the parties listed as responsible for

each task will occur monthly at a minimum, with more frequent meetings during initial

implementation and larger events related to the goal (assessments for math, community events
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for family and community engagement). Progress towards our goals will be shared out and

feedback solicited monthly at leadership team meetings, PTO meetings, and faculty meetings.

Google docs will be utilized to create master data boards to track progress in math achievement

and to disaggregate data collected in electronic walk-through forms to monitor Kagan structures.

This information will be reviewed at a minimum of bi-weekly meetings with administration.

In monitoring our progress it is essential that meaningful data collection systems are in

place from the onset so that we can accurately measure our current levels, track our progress

towards goals, and make necessary adjustments as we use the plan, do, study, act (PDSA) model.

As we represent transparency, work to engage the community, and value collaboration we will

regularly include a variety of stakeholders in our monthly review meetings including teachers,

school staff, PTO, parents, division representatives, community representatives, and students as

appropriate. By involving all parties in sharing our vision, monitoring our data, and working

towards our goal, each group will invest their energy for us all to engage in a focused effort to

ensure our lions succeed. During each step we will review how to ensure the sustainability of

our growth in future years and embed structures to ensure this occurs.

Presentation

Attached to this paper is a powerpoint presentation intended to present our school

improvement plan. It summarizes the process of the comprehensive needs assessment and

development of our continuous school improvement plan, along with the data discovered during

our assessment. Along with sharing the success of Lee Hill Elementary School it describes how

our SIP will target our areas for growth in order to help our lions succeed by working as ONE to

understand, guide, inform, and grow them.

References

Acheson, K. A., & Gall, M. D. (2011). Clinical supervision and teacher development. (6th Ed.)

John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ.

Kagan Publishing & Professional Development. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.kaganonline.com/power_of_kagan.php

Parent, Family, Community Involvement in Education [PDF]. (2008). Washington, D.C.: NEA

Education Policy and Practice Department.

Virginia Department of Education (2018). School Quality Profiles: Lee Hill Elementary

School. Retrieved from www.doe.virginia.gov