10. Discipline incidents – number of suspensions and/or expulsions Baseline 109 of 475 = 23% of enrollment 109 (23%) 20% 17% 14% 11% 8% 11. Truants – number of unduplicated students who have received truancy letters or action, enter as a whole number 10 8 7 6 5 4 12. Distribution of teachers by performance level on LEA’s teacher evaluation system. (Please indicate individual number of Ineffective [IN], Improvement Necessary [IMP], Effective [EF], and Highly Effective [HEF].) Data will not be available until late summer, as evaluations include 2015 ISTEP+ performance & growth results. Tentative spring data shows: Highly-Effective 8 Effective 18 Improvement Needed 4 Ineffective 1 4 Highly Effective new principal & new expectations 25 Effective 2 Improvement Needed 0 Ineffective 5 Highly Effective 25Effective 1 Improvement Needed 0 Ineffective 6 Highly Effective 25Effective 0 Improvement Needed 0 Ineffective 7 Highly Effective 24 Effective 0 Improvement Needed 0 Ineffective 8 Highly Effective 23 Effective 0 Improvement Needed 0 Ineffective 13. Teacher attendance rate (must be a percentage between 0.00 and 100.00) 96.8% 97% 97.2% 97.4% 97.6% 98% For the following categories, please demonstrate (1) how the LEA has analyzed specific needs for instructional programs, school leadership, and school infrastructure and (2) justification for the selected interventions for these areas. Each area should be tied back to data above and address the subgroup needs identified. Instructional Programs
District leadership and Sunny Heights Elementary School staff identified strengths and weakness of existing practices in their examination (Self-Assessment) of practices commonly aligned to high-performing, high-need urban schools. Self-Assessment findings are reported in Table 11. These leadership findings also reflect those identified during year-long performance evaluations conducted by the Assistant to the Superintendent for Elementary Education, resulting in the district superintendent’s decision to replace the Sunny Heights principal at the end of the 2014-15 school year. The newly-appointed principal, Stephen Foster, brings a rich history of highly-successful leadership and will build a culture of collaboration, high expectations for teaching and learning, and a sense of urgency for significantly-increasing student achievement at Sunny Heights. For nearly a decade, Foster served as the principal of Warren’s Lakeside Elementary School, where under his leadership the school was selected by the Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School, an Indiana Distinguished Title I School, and a High-Performing Title I School. When asked by Warren Township’s superintendent to serve as the leader of the (then) new
Principal Changes and Flexibility Building Culture Replace Principal (Superintendent & Warren Board of Education) Principal replaced with one who has past track record of student success & the ability to lead turnaround effort (e.g., named IDOE Distinguished Principal; Received “A” school ratings at Lakeside Elementary and Creston Intermediate Academy) Provide Operational Flexibility & Support New turnaround principal given operational flexibility (Superintendent, Board of Education, Warren Education Association/union) Re-design the Current Leadership Structure to Create a Building-wide Team (Principal) LEA Provides Oversight & Support (Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement) Define district role in the planning process Designate central office staff member to be part of SIG process (Superintendent) Assign principal mentor (Superintendent) LEA Monitoring Process Established & included in Part 7, Item 7 of grant proposal (Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement) Phase one (1st quarter) May 2015 June 2015 Aug-Dec 2015 May- June 2015 July 2015-June 2016 Achievement data & performance evaluations led to removal of current principal Leadership skills, demonstrated abilities and evidence of success led to superintendent’s selection of Stephen Foster as new principal Warren Board of Education approved new principal appointment New principal replaces school dean with a proven leader for overseeing discipline & school culture Principal has the authority to hire teachers and to remove those found to be ineffective using process collaboratively developed by administrators & teachers; and to manage school schedule and budgets (with control of people, time, program and dollars) Principal is hiring several new classroom teachers over the summer to support the transformation work Principal and Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement have held stakeholder input & planning meetings with teachers, parents and community members Following discussions with staff and observations of strengths, the principal will identify administration staff and teacher leaders to serve on the Building Leadership Team The leadership team’s focus will be on building leadership capacity; developing teacher leadership across the building; and school improvement planning Roles, responsibilities and goals will be established for all members Superintendent, Board & Association (union) support all aspects of Sunny Height’s Transformation Model across the next five years (Letters of Support attached) LEA completes comprehensive analyses of Sunny Heights needs; justification for interventions (district leadership) Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement supports Sunny Heights in grant preparation Ryan Russell, Assistant to the Superintendent for Educator Effectiveness appointed as principal mentor; provides ongoing support across school year Monthly monitoring of SIG implementation; evaluation system; data review plan; special populations review to be fully-implemented in Year 1 (See Section 5c & Part 7, Item 7) No SIG funding No SIG funding
Effectiveness of Staff and Recruiting & Retaining Staff Professional Development Building mentor assigned to new teachers at beginning of year (principal) Teachers receive personal laptop Instructional Specialist (district-funded coach) supports all teachers with planning & instructional strategies across the school year Principal conducts classroom walkthroughs Principal conducts on-going teacher performance evaluations Principal & teacher identify supports needed for improved practices Conduct monthly Learning Log (data) meetings (principal) Time embedded into redesigned master schedule and/or extended-time for teacher PD and collaborative planning (principal) Sunny Heights Instructional Specialist coach) supports teacher needs Principal receives PD and networking opportunities with colleagues during district-wide leadership meetings (Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Schools) Principal’s assign mentor provides ongoing support across school year (Ryan Russell) Phase two (2nd quarter) 2015 August 2016 Teachers use personal laptop for easy access to SIS student info, PIVOT (for principal feedback from performance evaluations and access to student data), & Google Drive to instantaneously link with students & colleagues Principal conducts weekly classroom walkthroughs to provide teacher feedback and identify instructional needs Ongoing teacher performance evaluations are conducted by principal (& mid-year reviews) Use of PIVOT (district’s evaluation warehouse) enables real-time data entry & teacher feedback within 24 hours As identified, assistance provided to support struggling teachers’ improved instructional practice, classroom management, etc. (e.g., Instructional Specialist (coach); mentor teacher; teacher’s observation of other colleagues’ classroom practices) Patterns of findings inform PD needs of staff (principal & Instructional Specialist/coach) Grade-level teacher teams convene monthly to analyze formative assessment results, inform instructional adjustments needed, and re-group students for school-wide daily 30-minute remediation/enrichment “Success Periods” (8-Step Process) During embedded PD, CR-PBIS team shares outcomes from Tier II trainings with staff and solicits input from colleagues for developing and finalizing Tier II implementation plans District-funded instructional specialist (coach) provides embedded PD, aligned to staff needs, for school staff and for individual teachers needing targeted supports After-school PD on topics such as cultural competency; collaborative lesson planning; and SIOP Teacher stipends for after-school PD/collaborative time
Operational Flexibility for Principal Provided by District Transformation principal given autonomy and authority anticipated through SIG grant (Superintendent, School Board, Teachers Association/Union) LEA schedules Sunny Heights principal for School Board presentations (Superintendent) Principal has autonomy in development of school’s master schedule (e.g., Math & Literacy blocks; STEM rotation; extending day for afterschool program; embedded PD time) Principal has autonomy with budgetary decisions (e.g., ordering materials, PD initiatives specific to school needs); curriculum changes; & staffing changes Principal has authority to hire and remove staff that will be most effective in meeting challenging academic & behavioral needs of the school Twice, annually, the Sunny Heights principal will present updates and progress reports to the Warren Board of Education, in a pre-post manner Principal has autonomy in development of school’s master schedule (e.g., Math & Literacy blocks; STEM rotation; extending day for afterschool program; embedded PD time) Principal has autonomy with budgetary decisions (e.g., ordering materials, PD initiatives specific to school needs); curriculum changes; & staffing changes Principal has authority to hire and remove staff that will be most effective in meeting challenging academic & behavioral needs of the school Twice, annually, the Sunny Heights principal will present updates and progress reports to the Warren Board of Education, in a pre-post manner Principal has autonomy in development of school’s master schedule (e.g., Math & Literacy blocks; STEM rotation; extending day for afterschool program; embedded PD time) Principal has autonomy with budgetary decisions (e.g., ordering materials, PD initiatives specific to school needs); curriculum changes; & staffing changes Principal has authority to hire and remove staff that will be most effective in meeting challenging academic & behavioral needs of the school Twice, annually, the Sunny Heights principal will present updates and progress reports to the Warren Board of Education, in a pre-post manner
Part 5e: Selection of Improvement Model – DISTRICT Sustainability Year - SY 2020-2021 Complete the table below detailing the sustainability plan for AFTER SIG funding – indicate what areas and interventions the district plans to sustain AFTER grant funding, and with what funds the district plans to sustain said interventions. Focus Areas Action Steps and Person(s) Responsible Timeline Description and Details OTHER FUNDS & Budgeted Items NOTE: The following chart reflects only those Focus Areas that were SIG-funded during SY 2019-20, the final grant implementation year. All other Focus Areas continue to be funded by the district, as they were in 2019-20. Leadership Offer teacher incentive for teachers (Principal) External consultant supports district’s accountability requirements (Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement) July 2021 Team of effective/highly-effective teachers & leaders who are helping raise Sunny Height’s achievement & improve school culture attend Harvard’s summer Institute for Urban School Leaders to support professional growth & leadership (preferred Teacher Incentive) Experienced external consultant supports data analyses and evaluation reporting requirements and other SIG implementation accountability expectations, as assigned by the Assistant Superintendent for School Improvement Not funded. Professional growth & leadership gained through intensive PD experiences are applied in school or district leadership roles of participants External consultant no longer required, post SIG grant implementation
Maintaining Culture Family & Community Engagement Provide full-time Gallahue Life Skills Specialist to offer interventions for recurring high-need behavioral and mental health needs (Dean) Parents Are the Core trainings support parents’ needs (Principal) Student incentives provided (through school’s CR-PBIS “CORE” Store) July 2021 Sunny Heights is fully-implementing CR-PBIS Tier I classroom & behavioral expectations, consequences and rewards with fidelity; and Tier II interventions, using a school plan for identifying students and intervention strategies, support those who do not respond to Tier I interventions Over the past five years, suspension rates at Sunny Heights have been dramatically reduced As needed, students and families will be supported in their referral to additional supports offered through Gallahue Mental Health Counseling Services/Community Hospital, or other community resources Afterschool parent workshops offer sessions to support parents’ needs and provide families with opportunities to collaborate with staff and network with other parents and community services. Sunny Heights offers sessions on “Discipline: The Behaviors We Want at School and at Home.” Parents understand school expectations, are provided with strategies for use at home, and share successful practices among participants Incentives, identified by staff and students are used to recognize and reward desired student behaviors IF needed, Life Skills Specialist reduced to 2-days x week (SpEd Medicaid dollars) Gallahue Mental Health Counseling Services Therapist (school-based; insurance funded) Was not funded thru SIG grant Student incentives, e.g., pens, pencils, book bags (School Supply Funds or Community Partner donations) Effectiveness of staff Financial Incentive provided for teachers (Principal) July 2021 Sunny Heights’ teachers identify additional classroom resources as preferred financial incentive (e.g., dry-erase markers, easels, sticky notes, books/bags, etc.) Performance observations, classroom walkthroughs, achievement data, and work to further Sunny Heights’ goals will be criteria used to identify eligible teachers Selected teachers will identify preferred classroom incentive resources (e.g., dry-erase markers; easels; sticky notes; books/bags; etc.) Teacher incentive classroom supplies, e.g., dry-erase markers, easels, sticky notes, books/bags (School Supply Funds & State Incentive Grants)
learning instruction 2020) Instructional Programs & Aligned Professional Development Teachers effectively implement personalized, strategies (Principal, Coach) Math Interventionist to work in tandem with classroom teacher to further support struggling math students Classroom Teachers instruct PLTW Launch Program modules across the school day (Principal, Teachers) July 2021 Collaborative classroom environs support station-rotation model for delivering ELA and Mathematics instruction during 90-minute blocks After 3-years of professional development support through Education Elements (external partner), Sunny Heights teachers are now adept in their instructional use of the station-rotation model Classroom teachers group and give students assignments based on data analyses (via “Highlights” dashboard) and then rotate groups through independent work stations (e.g., personalized digital content work, specific to individual student needs); a small-group station (led by the teachers); and a collaboration station (student group work) Digital content effectively used to differentiate and personalize learning for all students Teachers needing additional assistance in their effective delivery of highly-effective practices are supported by the school’s district-funded Instructional Specialist (coach) Collaborative Teacher-Time, embedded into master schedule, and extended-time PD provide time for lesson designs, digital content & data work, and additional trainings on Cultural Competency and SIOP (provided by district EL Coordinator) After five years of implementation, new instructional station-rotation model instructional practices and support from math interventionist have resulted in significantly-increased student achievement in mathematics Classroom teachers support students who struggle within the 90-minute Math Block, during Small-Group Direct-Instruction station-rotation time, addressing individual student needs (identified in district/State formative assessment results & Highlights dashboard) STEM Teacher provides training sessions (either afterschool or summer/June 2020) for classroom teachers’ effective delivery of PLTW Launch Program modules (sustainability) Embedded into the master schedule, across the school day, teachers rotate their classrooms through the STEM Studio to provide instruction using the 24 PLTW Launch Program modules PLTW annual participation fees are sustained by the district Ed Elements facilitators & PD no longer funded (sustained as of Highlights Dashboard (District Technology funds) Site licenses for digital content (Textbook Rental Fees) Teacher stipends & benefits for PD (Titles II & III) Will no longer be needed, but could be funded Title I General funds PLTW participation fee (School Supply Fund)