GAPSS Report

STRANDS NOT ADDRESSED NOT EVIDENTEMERGENTEMERGINGOPERATIONAL FULLY OPERATIONALEXEMPLARY Curriculum Curriculum Planning 0003 Assessment Instruction Planning & Organization Leadership Professional Learning Student, Family & Community Involvement Family & Community Engagement 0015 School Culture TOTAL Percentage/% 0% 12%2%61%35%27%63%

January 23-22, 2009January 15-16, 2015 Not Addressed0: 0% Emergent10: 12% Operational51: 61% Fully Operational23: 27% Not Evident0: 0% Emerging1: 2% Operational17: 35% Exemplary30: 63% 88% Operational/Fully Operational 98% Operational/Exemplary Operational/Exemplary

 Document and Data Analysis Review Summary  Self-Assessment  Classroom Observations  Interview Instruments to be utilized with a variety of individuals and/or groups. *Provides process data used to determine the level of implementation of each standard.

Curriculum Planning Standard 1: Ensures that teachers have a shared understanding of expectations for standards, curriculum, assessment, and instruction. COMMENDATION: It is evident that all faculty and staff across all grade levels and content areas have a clear understanding of expectations, standards, curriculum, assessment and instruction. Curriculum/Planning documents along with classroom visits exhibited a high level of consistency of rigor, practice and content.

Curriculum Planning Standard 2: Builds curriculum documents and aligns resources with the required standards. COMMENDATION: All curriculum documents have been clearly aligned with state standards and guide planning and instruction. Revisions are made often throughout the year (daily, weekly, and monthly). OPPORTUNITIES: Provide documentation that shows revisions made to curriculum documents.

Curriculum Planning Standard 3: Monitors curriculum implementation and revises, as needed, based on data analysis. COMMENDATION: The principal and teacher leaders continually monitor curriculum implementation in all content areas and grade levels. Data is systematically collected, analyzed and revised as needed in content areas and grade level. OPPORTUNITIES: Document and disseminate revisions made to school improvement documents.

Assessment Standard 1: Uses a balanced system of assessment including diagnostic, formative, and summative to monitor learning and inform instruction. COMMENDATION: Teachers are commended for their purposeful and consistent use of a rich variety of diagnostic and formative assessments to ensure the learning of all students. OPPORTUNITIES: Continue to develop the implementation of constructed responses and ensure it is reflected in instructional/assessment practices school wide.

Assessment Standard 2 : Aligns assessments with the required curriculum standards. COMMENDATION: Lesson plans and data reviewed indicate that a systematic process is in place to align assessments with required curriculum standards.

Assessment Standard 3 : Uses common assessments to monitor student progress, inform instruction, and improve practices. COMMENDATION: Teachers consistently use common assessments to monitor student progress, form and adjust flexible groups, and to improve instruction.

Assessment Standard 4 : Analyzes assessment results to provide feedback to students and to adjust instruction COMMENDATION: Teachers regularly adjust classroom instruction based on formative and summative assessment results. OPPORTUNITIES: Equip teachers to be self-sufficient in the analysis of student data and in the utilization of ALL student data, to include student growth models and CCRPI data, to provide meaningful feedback to students and parents to GROW student achievement.

Assessment Standard 5 : Implements assessment practices that provide an accurate indication of student progress on the required standards. COMMENDATION: Teachers provide an accurate indication of student progress to all stakeholders. OPPORTUNITIES: Ensure that there is consistency in grading school wide and that classroom grades are not an over- inflated representation when compared with ability and standardized assessment results.

Instruction Standard 1: Provides an orderly, well-managed learning environment. COMMENDATION: Classrooms provide motivational climates and cognitive environments to cultivate positive learning opportunities. Rules and procedures were interwoven into the conversations and directly impacted the learning environment.

Instruction Standard 2: Creates an academically- challenging environment that cultivates higher-order thinking skills and processes. COMMENDATION: Ruth Hill provides an orderly, well- managed, challenging learning environment that enables students to attain higher levels of understanding through implementation of varied instructional strategies.

Instruction Standard 3: Implements research- based instructional strategies. COMMENDATION: The school implements rigorous, systematic and objective strategies to enhance student achievement and make informed educational decisions.

Instruction Standard 4: Enables students to attain higher levels of learning through differentiated instruction. COMMENDATION: Differentiates instruction is based on student need, increasing student attainment of higher level thinking skills.

Instruction Standard 5: Engages students in setting learning targets aligned to curriculum standards. COMMENDATION: Ruth Hill deepens understanding by actively involving students in the learning experiences of the desired curriculum. OPPORTUNITIES: Provide professional learning opportunities on engaging students in the ownership of goal setting.

Instruction Standard 6: Establishes high expectations with students playing an active role in monitoring their own progress. COMMENDATION: The school has established a culture of success by requiring high academic performance determined by using individual student goals and continual monitoring through peer and teacher conferences. OPPORTUNITIES: Include students in the discussion of establishing goals to encourage ownership.

Instruction Standard 7: Integrates appropriate current technology into teaching and learning. COMMENDATION: Ruth Hill supports and energizes lessons by effectively engaging students through the incorporation of technology into teaching and learning. OPPORTUNITIES: Create a school wide focused goal towards the integration of technology.

Instruction Standard 8: Provides feedback to students on their performance on the standards or learning targets. COMMENDATION: Ruth Hill guides student learning by providing effective and engaging feedback designed to require students to articulate, self- monitor, and reinforce learning.

Instruction Standard 9: Provides timely, systematic, data-driven interventions. COMMENDATION: The school develops comprehensive, research based interventions tailored to meet the needs of students through collaborative vertical and horizontal discussions.

Planning and Organization Standard 1: Maintains the school building, campus, and equipment to ensure a safe, clean, and inviting learning environment for all staff and students. COMMENDATION: The classrooms and building was clean and orderly, all the materials on the wall were up to date, and students were comfortable in all classrooms allowing students to perform at their best.

Planning and Organization Standard 2: Shares a common vision/mission that defines the school culture and guides the continuous improvement process. COMMENDATION: There is a strong intent to make all students feel valued and important in the classroom. Also, the teachers feel valued and are a part of the team. Dr. Corley is leading students to understand every student has the capacity to achieve academically here and beyond. OPPORTUNITIES: Leadership team needs unified mission to guide the continuous improvement process. Faculty and staff need a clear understanding of the roles of each administrator in the building.

Planning and Organization Standard 3: Develops, communicates, and implements rules, policies, schedules, and procedures to maximize student learning and staff effectiveness. COMMENDATION: Every part of the day seems to be well planned, communicated, and maximized for student learning.

Planning and Organization Standard 4: Uses a data-driven and consensus- oriented process to develop and implement a school improvement plan that is focused on student performance. OPPORTUNITIES: Continue use of APTT – Academic Parent Teacher Teams. Increase student ownership of goals and goal setting. Students need to be able to articulate their own goals.

Planning and Organization Standard 5: Allocates and monitors available resources to support continuous improvement. COMMENDATION: Paraprofessional, ESOL, and other staff were actively engaged and supportive of the academic success of the students. Resources are used for embedded staff development and innovative practices.

Planning and Organization Standard 6: Monitors implementation of the school improvement plan and makes adjustments as needed. COMMENDATION: School improvement plan is part of the school culture at every grade level. OPPORTUNITIES: Formalized staff feedback on progress of school improvement plan.

Professional Learning Standard 1: Aligns professional learning with needs identified through analysis of a variety of data. COMMENDATIONS: There is evidence to support ongoing professional development to improve in the areas of math and science through STEM certification and opportunities. Participation in APTT pilot program meets the needs of stakeholders based on the Title I Annual Parent Survey. OPPORTUNITIES: Provide more professional development opportunities and documentation in the area of Reading and English/Language Arts to improve the achievement gap of students with disabilities.

Professional Learning Standard 2: Uses multiple professional learning designs to support the various learning needs of the staff. COMMENDATIONS: The school is commended for the collaborative planning among teams, vertical planning to the perspective feeder schools, and opportunities for teacher shadowing.

Professional Learning Standard 3: Allocates resources and establishes a support structure to ensure the effectiveness of professional learning. COMMENDATIONS: Funds are allocated to ensure professional opportunities are granted based on the needs of students as documented in the school improvement plan.

Professional Learning Standard 4: Cultivates collaborative inquiry and learning that enhance individual and collective performance. COMMENDATIONS: The school is to be commended for redelivery of professional development and learning opportunities to enhance individual and collective performance. OPPORTUNITIES: Provide evidence to support that professional development is being utilized by faculty, and document how it enhances individual and collective performance.

Professional Learning Standard 5: Communicates implementation expectations regarding teacher and staff practices and curriculum standards. COMMENDATIONS: There was evidence provided through teacher interviews and the administrator’s presentation of the expectations for the implementation of professional learning. Ex. STEM Training and Implementation, Tech Summit, RESA Technology Development, Tech Tuesday, and APTT.

Professional Learning Standard 6: Monitors and evaluates the impact of professional learning on staff practices and student learning. COMMENDATIONS: Dr. Corley is to be commended for his modeling practices and support as well as providing materials necessary to implement STEM activities. It is also acknowledged that Dr. Corley sets expectations for completion and feedback.

Leadership Standard 1: Builds and sustains relationships to improve student achievement. COMMENDATION: Dr. Corley has developed and continues to grow strong positive relationships with staff, students, parents, and community members.

Leadership Standard 2: Guides the school’s work in curriculum, assessment, instruction, and professional learning. COMMENDATION: Dr. Corley takes an active role in leading professional learning to improve instruction. He continuously shares assessment data with staff to improve implementation of curriculum to meet student learning needs. TARGET/RECOMMENDATION: The assistant principal’s active participation in guiding the school’s work in these areas will support faculty and staff in implementing strategies directly tied to improved student achievement outcomes.

Leadership Standard 3: Establishes and supports a data- driven school leadership team that is focused on student learning. OPPORTUNITIES: Utilize the strong positive relationships that have been established within the school leadership team to move forward with a more data guided instructional focus.

Leadership Standard 4: Implements collaborative, distributed leadership. COMMENDATION: Dr. Corley has worked diligently to involve all stakeholders to share decision making and problem solving opportunities to build leadership roles.

Leadership Standard 5: Initiates and manages change to improve staff performance and student learning. COMMENDATION: Dr. Corley creates and fosters a sense of urgency for change and effectively communicates the right vision to engage the staff which has created ownership and buy-in. OPPORTUNITIES: Sharing leadership roles between the Assistant Principal and Principal will help to sustain initiative for strategies to support student learning.

Leadership Standard 6: Provides ongoing performance feedback and support to teachers and other staff. OPPORTUNITIES: Teachers and staff receive ongoing performance feedback however; additional support for instructional strategies related to CCRPI will increase student achievement.

Leadership Standard 7: Leads the data analysis efforts of the school to improve student achievement. OPPORTUNITIES: Provide opportunities for all staff members to become actively involved and engaged in data analysis and its impact on instruction.

Leadership Standard 8: Monitors and evaluates the performance of teachers and other staff through observations, data, and documentation. OPPORTUNITIES: Continue to use the TKES process to provide effective feedback and promote the use of strong instructional strategies that will increase student success.

Family and Community Engagement Standard 1: Creates an environment that welcomes, encourages, and connects family and community members to the school. COMMENDATION: The community based approach that the school offers allows all stakeholders to be real partners in education. Students, parents and staff feel a genuine sense of family, pride and belonging to the school.

Family and Community Engagement Standard 2: Establishes partnerships and decision-making processes that build capacity for family and community engagement in the success of students. COMMENDATION: The organizational structures that are in place encourage the family- school partnerships to be supporters of learning from the cradle to career by providing educational opportunities for all children. The collective capacity- of the requisite skills of knowledge, confidence and belief systems has been implemented and is sustaining the home-school relationship.

Family and Community Engagement Standard 3: Cultivates meaningful two-way communication between the school and families as well as the school and the community. COMMENDATION: There is consistent communication in a myriad of forms to convey information. There is an open door policy that makes parents feel comfortable.

Family and Community Engagement Standard 4: Communicates the grade-level/course expectations and the current student achievement status to families. COMMENDATION: The participation in the APTT has been put in the forefront for the parents’ grade-level expectations and current student achievement. OPPORTUNITIES: Continue to engage the parents in the knowledge of their student’s achievement by providing additional information through various avenues.

Family and Community Engagement Standard 5: Collaborates about available school interventions as well as support strategies that can be used at home to enhance academic achievement. COMMENDATION: The school utilizes a school community based approach as an inclusive concept to include a number of diverse initiatives. OPPORTUNITIES: Strengthening partnerships with community services to allow more of an outreach to parents to include the Spanish community and provide parent trainings through these partnerships.

Family and Community Engagement Standard 6: Connects families with agencies and resources in the community to meet the needs of students. COMMENDATION: The faculty enthusiastically embraces providing needed supports for the students and their families.

School Culture Standard 1: Develops, communicates, and implements rules, practices, and procedures that ensure a safe, orderly learning environment. COMMENDATION: The school wide positive behavior intervention system is effectively communicated and used across grade levels and content areas to ensure a safe and positive learning environment. OPPORTUNITIES: Implement a more systematic approach in the development and revision of school wide initiatives.

School Culture Standard 2: Cultivates and sustains a culture of trust and respect that ensures positive interactions and promotes a sense of community. COMMENDATION: A culture of trust and respect has been developed throughout the school by creating a family atmosphere that carries over into the community.

School Culture Standard 3: Promotes the academic achievement and career readiness of all students. COMMENDATION: All students have opportunities to participate in remedial and advanced content as well as extracurricular activities, which support academic and career readiness goals.

School Culture Standard 4: Supports the personal growth and development of all students. COMMENDATION: School staff consistently provides learning opportunities that supports growth and development of all students, which is evident through counseling groups, personal accountability and mutual respect among staff and students.

School Culture Standard 5: Celebrates and recognizes achievements and accomplishments of students and staff. COMMENDATION: Student and staff accomplishments are recognized frequently within the school and community through faculty meeting high fives, “shout outs”, school displays, newspaper articles, Golden Eagle awards and Fly the Coup activities.