Making the Schoolwide Elementary Transition How we survived

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Making the Schoolwide Elementary Transition How
we survived

• Emerson Elementary
• Ionia, MI

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SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TOP 10Top 10 Signs You Know
Your School Is Going Through Schoolwide School
Improvement
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• 10 Your superintendent receives a phone call
  from MDE Field Services saying your highest
  economically disadvantaged school is NOT a
  Schoolwide Title I building.

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• 9 When your superintendent calls the building
  principal informing him/her that their building
  never had schoolwide status for the past 11 years!

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• 8 You search high and low for proof that you
  have always had schoolwide status.
• Have you seen our schoolwide plan from 1996?

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• 7 You start the search for a Schoolwide
  Planning Facilitator.
• Do I look under S or F?
• See also Good luck with that!

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• 6 You start putting together a schoolwide
  school improvement team.
• Will you PLEASE be on my team?
• (Begging is optional)

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• 5 You discover during the initial planning that
  you have 4 plans to drive school improvement.

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• 4 No one knows your current mission statement.
• It has something to do with kids, right?

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• 3 CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE!
• Need we say more?

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• 2 You find yourself humming
• Youve been working like a DAWG!

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• 1 You live to tell about it!
• Emerson Elementary has been awarded Exemplary
  status for their Schoolwide School Improvement
  Plan by MDE!

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Stumbling Blocks

• Understanding the difference between schoolwide
  and targeted assistance.
• Mission statement had no meaning, no purpose and
  no one knew it.
• Realizing that one school improvement plan will
  meet federal and state requirements as well as
  building needs.
• The school improvement plan is a working tool
  rather than a task that needs to be completed.
• Making sure parents and para-proffessionals are
  involved in the school improvement meeting.
• Follow through
• Time CommitmentMore than one hour meetings after
  school.

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The MOTHER of all Stumbling Blocks

• FINDING AND ANALYZING THE DATA

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• Oh, Yeah!
• The weather early dismissal!

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Positive PracticesThings we were doing well, but
not documenting

• Passionate about student achievement
• Despite high numbers of ED students in our
  school, students were achieving
• Positive school environmentparents feel welcome
• Open and willing to implement innovative
  instructional practices
• Parents participated in school sponsored
  activities

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Developing the Mission Statement

• Team members tried to state the mission
  statementand couldnt
• The importance of a mission statement
• It should be clear and concise
• You should be able to Learn it and Live by it
• Pair up and write onewho, what how
• Share out, discuss and refine into one new
  mission statement
• Activity

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Emerson Elementary Mission Statement

• Supporting a quality education for all
• learners through partnerships
• between families and staff.
• Can you identify
• The Who?
• The What?
• How?
• To What degree?

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Completing The Ten Components

• The team decided which parts to complete together
  and which could be divided to individuals or
  partners.
• The individual/partner work was shared with the
  team and agreed upon by the team.

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Who Did WhatThe Ten Components

1. Comprehensive Needs Assessment-Team
2. Schoolwide Reform Strategies-Team
3. Instruction by Highly Qualified Professional
   Staff-Individual
4. Strategies to Attract High-Quality Highly
   Qualified Teachers to High Needs Schools-Partners
5. High-quality and Ongoing Professional
   Development-Team
6. Strategies to Increase Parent Involvement-Team
7. Preschool Transition Strategies-Partners
8. Teacher Participation in Making Assessment
   Decisions-Partner
9. Timely and Additional Assistance to Students
   Having Difficulty Mastering the Standards-Team
10. Coordination and Integration of Federal, State
    and Local Programs and Resources-Partners

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Building Capacity

• Invited other building principals to observe the
  process to take back to their own buildings
• To create a cohesiveness between all school
  improvement plans in the district
• Sharing with other districts

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Greatest Areas of Focus

• 1. Comprehensive Needs Assessment
• 2. Schoolwide Reform Strategies
• 6. Strategies to Increase Parent Involvement
• 8. Teacher Participation in Making Assessment
  Decisions
• 10. Coordination and Integration of Federal,
  State and Local Programs and Resources

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Comprehensive Needs Assessment

• Grueling, time consuming process made better by
  teamwork
• Moved from administrative completion to
  individual school improvement team completion
• Using a data projector, the 40 indicators were
  projected on the wall and the team worked through
  each one

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Schoolwide Reform Strategies

• Used Data Analysis to determine school goals
• Each of the three goals contained
• Rationale
• SMART Goal
• Instructional Strategies (1 or 2)
• Research
• Professional Development
• Parent Involvement
• At-Risk Student Support
• Evaluation
• Evidence

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Strategies to Increase Parent Involvement

• What is Parent Involvement?
• Activity

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AR Reading Night
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Daddy-Daughter Date Night
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Breakfast Buddies
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Citizen of the Month
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Career Day
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Popcorn Sales
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6 Types of Parent Involvementby Joyce Epstein

• "Parent Involvement means different things to
  different people. How do we sort it all out?"
• One thing was clearthe term "Parent Involvement"
  can be confusing!

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Questions to discuss with the Team

• Can your school or district demonstrate that it
  takes parent
• involvement seriously? Ask yourself the following
  questions
• Is parental involvement included as a central
  element of any accountability plan?
• Is there funding and support to build the
  capacity of principals, teachers and parents to
  engage in effective parent involvement efforts
  designed to provide at-home and at-school support
  for underachieving students?
• Is there staff time dedicated to facilitating
  communications and engagement with low-income and
  non-English proficient parents with clear
  objectives linked to improving student
  performance?
• Are multiple, research-based outreach and
  communication strategies pursued in order to
  reach parents regarding student and school
  performance (including actions they should
  consider in response)?
• Are community resources leveraged in order to
  enhance the ability of schools to support parents
  and students in need?

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And the Winner Is.
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Teacher Participation in Making Assessment
Decisions

• Increasing teacher involvement in the creation of
  common assessments to improve learning for ALL
  students.

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Coordination and Integration of Federal, State
and Local Programs and Resources

• Title I Funds cant be used to pay for
  everything!
• Supplant vs. Supplement
• Table showing Schoolwide Component, Fund Source,
  and Program
• Each of these programs is intended to provide
  staff, parents, and students with the skills and
  resources necessary to be successful in their
  educational role.

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Our School Improvement Team

• Tonya Bell Parent
• Benjamin Kirby Associate Superintendent
• Julianne Klumpp ICT Facilitator
• Mitch Mercer Building Principal
• Julie Milewski State and Federal Programs
  Coordinator
• Cally Redder 3rd Grade Teacher
• Kelly Sandborn 5th Grade Teacher/Title I
  Literacy Coach
• Diane Seymour Paraprofessional
• Sara Shriver Schoolwide Facilitator
• Anne Stratton Kindergarten Teacher

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