BRENTWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT Proposed School Improvement Plan

The categories below were compared to five other districts over a period of five years. The proposed improvement plan for Brentwood School District address categories that would have the most impact on improving student outcomes. To simplify the analysis, the 2007 school year was chosen for comparison as it is the most recent. Brentwood ENG Regents HS 78.10% Bio Regents HS 82.90% GR 8 SS 48.00% GR 5 SS 76% Class Size 24 Ed Level Teachers Mstr + 63 % Free Reduced Lunch 72 Income per pupil $55,596 Per pupil expenditures $17,198 % of suspensions 8% % w/IEP diplomas 22% State Revenue Per Pupil $16,932 Mean of Five successful districts ENG Regents HS 95.20% Bio Regents HS 92.86% GR 8 SS 90% GR 5 SS 95% Class Size 22 Ed Level Teachers Mstr + 52 % Free Reduced Lunch 5% Income per pupil $177, *Cold Spring Harbor has double the income compared to the other four districts. Per pupil expenditures $19,319 % of suspensions 3% % w/IEP diplomas 3% State Revenue Per Pupil $19,762

Highlighted in blue are the categories that the school cannot control, or have not proved to be influential in student outcomes when compared to five successful districts Brentwood ENG Regents HS 78.10% Bio Regents HS 82.90% GR 8 SS 48.00% GR 5 SS 76% Class Size 24 Ed Level Teachers Mstr + 63 % Free Reduced Lunch 72 Income per pupil $55,596 Per pupil expenditures $17,198 % of suspensions 8% % w/IEP diplomas 22% State Revenue Per Pupil $16,932 Highlighted in red are the categories that the school can control, within limitations; demonstrate an attempt to improve upon and influence

School Improvement Goals  Implementing various clubs and programs to decrease the amount of students unsupervised afterschool  For students to become actively involved in their own education  Improve student self-esteem and academic outcomes  Increase parental involvement  Provide a positive and supportive atmosphere in the school  Influence teachers and parents to volunteer their time to a good cause  Increase state revenue and fiscal income  Improve graduation outcome rate for ESE population  Increase learning gains  Help students learn the English language more rapidly  Decrease suspension rates and provide alternative consequences that teach responsibility instead of providing time out of school unsupervised  Provide additional support for teachers and students working in inclusion classrooms

Specific Areas in Need of Improvement Suspension Rate State revenue/spending per student Additional assistance to help students with IEP’s graduate high school with a regular high school diploma or IEP diploma Regents state scores in the areas of: – Social Studies 5 th grade – Social Studies 8 th grade – English Regents High School – Biology Regents High School

Suspension Rate Implementation of afterschool support and activity clubs – Peer Leadership Program – Community Project Clean-up Club – Guidance Department Counseling and Support Groups – Creativity and Culture Art Club – Monthly Family Food and Movie Night – Student Positive Recognition Bulletin boards posting student achievements in areas of academics or citizenship Free vouchers to various food businesses for good behavior Alternative consequences to suspension such as campus cleaning, assisting the janitors, cleaning graffiti, community service, and mandatory counseling with guidance counselor or school social worker

Increase Percentage of IEP Students Receiving Regular or IEP High School Diplomas Hire additional teacher assistants in inclusion classrooms for additional individualized attention and/or re-direct those assigned in other classrooms to spend more time assisting IEP students Increase amount of child-study team meetings to monitor learning gaps and IEP implementation in the classroom Provide stipend for ESE teachers willing to tutor small groups of IEP students during 9 th period or home tutoring Require monthly parent-teacher meetings for all students with an IEP

Amount of Spending per Student Request for increased state revenue per student – Fund raisers for extra fiscal support – Teacher and/or teacher assistant stipend to supervise clubs and programs – Parent volunteer groups – Grant writing to request support for various support plans

Regents state scores in the areas of: Social Studies 5 th grade Social Studies 8 th grade English Regents High School Biology Regents High School Increase access to additional instruction – Afterschool or 9 th period English language instruction – Afterschool tutoring program offered to students who receive free/reduced lunch-parent pick-up or late bus home. – Proposed 9 th period added onto school day to provide students with afterschool assistance, teachers have rotating schedule. – Reading recovery program – Peer tutoring – matching study halls

 The proposed solutions may not be fiscally feasible, however; with proper grant writing and contact with state legislature some increases might be possible with persistence.  Local revenue is low and the free or reduced lunch population is high- this factor is not under school control and therefore not addressed  The percentage of teachers with additional education is higher in Brentwood than other districts, so I concluded this was not a factor influencing student outcomes, and therefore logical to explore other possible reasons for lower student achievement and a higher suspension rate