Case Story: Templeton Middle School

Templeton Middle School is growing while the community it serves is changing Templeton Middle School is a small but growing public school that was reconstituted before the 2009-2010 school year began. Being a believer of the power of the professional learning collaborative format, the principal set up weekly subject-area PLCs almost immediately. The PLCs often discuss lesson plans and individual students. When asked what the her PLC was intended to accomplish, one teacher simply replied “Time to plan…and to gripe a little.” You are a new Assistant Principal at Templeton Middle School. Upon observing the Math and Reading PLCs for the first time last week, you think that they aren’t being used to their fullest potential. The principal made a big deal two months ago, at the start of the school year, about new achievement goals for Templeton’s students. You want to use the PLC to help teachers assess progress toward that goal. You are sitting down with the Math and Reading PLCs this week to talk about current data and agree on progress towards the principal’s goals with the Math and Reading teams.

Here is some more information about the school’s teachers, leaders, and culture” Templeton serves mostly African American students, but the Hispanic population is growing. The school takes pride in its recent success with its African American students. The principal has always emphasized the importance of disaggregating achievement data to understand which students need the most attention The principal expects that all teachers use a tiered RTI model to meet student needs with appropriate interventions. She also requires teachers to collect data on the number of students in each tier. The teaching staff would be described – by the principal, APs, and the teachers themselves – as a competent and energetic group. School leadership regards its teaching staff as well above average. While the teachers are hold the principal in high esteem generally, they are growing frustrated with the extra amount of work required to administer interventions to tier II and tier III students. The principal’s enthusiasm for new ideas has led to a lot of programs being offered – and some confusion among the staff when asked which programs they should be focusing on.

The targets call for substantial increases in proficiency for all student groups 2014 proficiency and 2015 proficiency targets for math and reading Black Black White White SWD = students with disabilities

Cox Middle School has been growing and its student population is changing (1/2) Students attending Templeton Middle School by race/ethnicity White Black

Cox Middle School has been growing and its student population is changing (2/2) Students attending Templeton Middle School by student group

Proficiency patterns look different among student groups (1/2) Percent of students proficient in math and reading by race/ethnicity White Black

Proficiency patterns look different among student groups (2/2) Percent of students proficient in math and reading by student group

So far this year, formative assessments show that there has been some progress made Percent of students hitting formative assessment benchmark in math White Black

Teachers are worried about the amount of time spent on remediation and discipline in order to hit the targets Current rates of remediation and disciplinary incidents