An Investigation, Determination, and Destination for Calhan High School Regis ELDS 643

Premise: Unless your school is perfect, there are challenges that require solutions. When the current challenges are met, new ones will present. This is not unusual, unnatural, unexpected, or an aberration. We work in a fluid environment in which there is never just one solution. We must learn to embrace the chaos.

The Problem Solving Protocol 1.Identify the problem (Investigation) 2.Define possible solutions (Investigation) 3.Analyze the possible solutions (Determination) 4.Select the most likely solution (Determination) 5.Implement the solution (Direction)

Budget Discipline Parental Involvement School Culture Student Achievement

We are facing reductions and project further reductions in funding. The above graphic depicts the portion of the district budget earmarked for high school instruction. Budget Findings

The High School Portion of the district budget This is the money with which programs are funded. This is the money over which I have some control I am responsible for “dividing this pie”

Discipline Statistics Certainly areas to improve Trend is positive

Full compliment of chartered parent groups (SIC, Steering Committee, Booster Club) RtI Home Liaison established ‘11-’12 Attendance data (56 HS students with 8 or more absences in the 2 nd semester alone) supports the conclusion that parents to not value classroom instruction. Parental Involvement Findings

Culture Survey Student Response Mostly positive Note: “What I am learning is important to me”

Student Achievement Findings Reading and Writing Scores are trending Positively Math is not ACT math 28% against a state average of 37%

Baseline Conclusion: The students in my school demonstrate their lowest academic performance in math now I must identify why

Possible Solutions More instructional time More remediation needed Reduce scope of curriculum to allow slower pace

Current Math Offerings and Sequence Pre Algebra Algebra I Geometry Algebra II Pre Calc/Stats Calc/College Math 80%-100% 80%-100% 80%-100% 70%-100% 70%-100% 70%-100% 70%-80% 70%-80% 70%-80% 60%-80% 50%-70% 40%-70% 35%-65% N/A N/A

Possible Solutions More instructional time More remediation needed Reduce scope of curriculum to allow slower pace

Reconfigured Math Offerings and Sequence Pre Algebra Algebra I Intermediate Algebra Geometry Algebra II Pre Calc/Stats Calc/College Math

Problem solved! Right?

Class of ‘13

Class of ‘14

Class of ‘15

Class of ‘16

Connections

Budget: Not much opportunity to change Discipline: Trending better but disrespect still an issue Parents demonstrate a disregard for instruction Students do not think what they are learning is important Low math performance Connections

Budget: Not much opportunity to change Discipline: Trending better but disrespect still an issue Parents demonstrate a disregard for instruction Students do not think what they are learning is important Low math performance Relevance Connections

Important conclusions: Math improvement can not come at the expense of literacy performance Students do not see the relevance of most academic disciplines In elementary school and middle school where one room instruction and team teaching is presented, math trends are positive There is not one avenue of approach to improving math scores

Most important conclusion: Emphasis on skills alone will not (and has not) improve math performance. Application of skills must be incorporated into instruction. Application, or critical thinking, is hard to measure.

Most important conclusion: Emphasis on skills alone will not (and has not) improve math performance. Application of skills must be incorporated into instruction. Application, or critical thinking, is hard to measure. Therefore, we can anticipate that this approach will be outside the mainstream in an environment of increased pressure to quantitatively measure achievement.

Biggest student concern is relevance. My anecdotal observations are consistent with this finding. I believe student understanding of relevance is closely related to discipline issues. If we can approach math in relation to its application, we can increase our math proficiency without sacrificing reading proficiency. By including project based learning which will include math skills, we can address the question of relevance. By combining the overt teaching of research skills with a restructured math sequence, we can address lack of math skills and relevance, which should impact student achievement, culture, and parental “buy-in.”

Calhan High School 9 th and 10 th grade students will increase TCAP Math Proficient and Above Percentage from 31.5% to 40% including an increase math median growth percentile for free and reduced lunch students from 68 to 70 on the March 2013 TCAP. To provide students with the necessary instruction to meet this goal, math offerings will be restructured to accommodate differentiated levels of development, and math instruction will be reinforced with project based application of acquired skills beginning in August, 2012.

Pieces to put in place: 1.Redesign schedule to accommodate the new math sequence and academic application module (if you can’t schedule it, you can’t do it) 2.Acquire any instructional materials needed for Intermediate Algebra 3.Design and present the training for academic application teachers 4.Inform the community of the curricular changes

Schedule

Action Plan

Communication Plan