1 Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement Writing the School Improvement Plan

2 l NCA accreditation is based on a yearly review of the NCA CASI standard and engagement in a continuous school improvement process. l Schools must complete a five year documentation cycle of school improvement and a yearly review of membership and improvement criteria.

3 (5 year documentation cycle) Gaining Commitment Getting Started Collecting and Analyzing Data Mission and Writing Goals Preliminary Chair Contact/Visit Implement Improvement Plan Continue the Process Develop Improvement Plan Plan Validation Team Visit Monitor Implementation Document Improvement Documentation Team Visit Phases Protocol

4 Profiling l A profile is a concise, stand-alone document which gives a snapshot or picture of a school in data terms, as a cycle of school improvement begins.

5 Characteristics Profiles enable school staffs to identify needs. Profiles are the documents from which student performance goals emerge.

6 Profile Activities l Collecting the data l Determining the findings l Completing the analysis l Determining the implications l Writing the task lists l Triangulating the data

7 How Student Performance Goals Are Selected l Based upon at least three pieces of data from the school profile and supported by environmental scan data. l Goal Number 1 - All students will improve their reading comprehension skills across the curriculum.

8 Why we selected the reading goal. l 1. Our students did not score well on our norm referenced test which was the Stanford 9. l 2. Our survey of the business community indicated our students could not read on entry in to the world of work. l 3. Our locally developed criterion referenced test on reading showed our students were below acceptable levels.

9 Writing the Goals l This is a faculty activity which should help develop the ownership of the process that will be necessary for implementation of the plan later on.

10 Once the goals are written the plan is developed l In the NCA timeline this means that in a five year reporting period the plan is usually developed beginning in the second year of the process. l Implementation of a school improvement plan should occur no later than the start of the third year.

11 Phase Five: Developing the School Improvement Plan l Determine Interventions l Select Assessments l Prepare the Action Plans l Determine Staff Development

12 Interventions

13 The First Step to Good Interventions Examine research and/or best practice

14 NCA Web Site l NCA Web Address is l

15 Education Research Service l Will provide research to member schools on any topic requested Clarendon Road Arlington, VA

16 ASCD Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development 1703 North Beauregard Street Alexandria, Virginia Magazine: Educational Leadership

17 Northwest Regional Lab l l All regional labs available from this website

18 l Educational Best Practices l

19 Interventions l Let’s examine the criteria and rubric for writing good interventions found in the team chair software.

20 Assessments

21 Selecting/Creating Assessments Standardized Advantages: Greater possibility of validity and reliability Politically more acceptable to community Procedures are standardized Disadvantages: Cost Less likely to match your educational program or curriculum Appropriate common metric to measure your goal may not exist

22 Selecting/Creating Assessments Locally Developed Advantages: Can be built to directly match the target goal Can be built to match your program Disadvantages:Less likely to be valid and reliable Your staff has to develop rubrics and procedures

23 What will become part of your “body of evidence” l Our state assessment l Our standardized assessment l Our locally developed examinations

24 Buros Institute of Mental Measures If you want to examine the pedigree of assessments contact Buros Institute at the University of Nebraska

25 ERIC l

26 Northwest Regional Lab l l All regional labs available from this website

27 Data Analysis Data Analysis l Data is used to determine if there is student performance growth. l How will you analyze your data? What is your baseline data? What groups will you assess and compare? What types of data will you collect? Who will collect, graph and analyze the data? How will you present the data - what charts, graphs, etc.? How will you manage local data? What types of disaggregation will you use?

28 Steps in Data Analysis Steps in Data Analysis l Calculate the pre-test mean and the post-test mean l Convert the pre-test and post-test mean scores into standard scores l Find the standard score difference l Interpret the standard score difference l Write the narrative report

29 Victoria Bernhardt l Data Analysis for Comprehensive School- wide Improvement l Edie Holcomb Getting Excited About Data

30 (5 year documentation cycle) Gaining Commitment Getting Started Collecting and Analyzing Data Mission and Writing Goals Preliminary Chair Contact/Visit Implement Improvement Plan Continue the Process Develop Improvement Plan Plan Validation Team Visit Monitor Implementation Document Improvement Documentation Team Visit Phases Protocol

31 Creating the Written School Improvement Plan l The Goal Sheets l The Action Plans

32 Student Performance Goal #1 Support Data “Triangulation” 3. Interventions/Strategies Assessments: 1. Standardized 2. Locally Developed

33 Action Plans Action Plans l For every intervention in a school improvement plan there is created at least one action plan page. This page contains all the details that go into the plan. The important word here is details. Always provide more information than you think necessary.

34 School Improvement Plan Action Plan Pages Activities: What specific things are going to occur to make the intervention work? Timeline: When do you plan to start and complete the activities? Resources: What specific resources do you need to implement the intervention? Evidence of Attainment: What assessments you use to demonstrate student performance improvement? Person Responsible: Who has been designated to keep track of the activities and who has been assigned to keep the assessment data? Staff Development: What plan has been developed to assist the faculty implement the intervention?

35 Staff Development Staff Development l What staff development activities will move the faculty from awareness to actual transfer into the classroom? How will you know the plan is being implemented in the classroom?

36 Staff Development Staff Development l What staff development activities will move the faculty from awareness to actual transfer into the classroom? How will you know the plan is being implemented in the classroom?

37 Staff Development l Staff Development is often used to help the faculty learn about the new interventions and how to implement them.This is particularly helpful for staff members implementing activities out of their curricular area. l Staff Development needs to be directly linked to the school improvement plan.

38 NCA Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement l The Commission is here to assist and support you as you work on school improvement plans in your school. l Workshops l Fall Conferences in states l Annual Meeting April 7-10,2002 l State Committee l Ambassadors

39 NCA Ambassador l Leslie Ballard l Terre Haute South Vigo High School l l l NCA Office 7-11 am