Literacy Improvement Plan for 6th Grade Math/Science Presented by Packy Flynn

Parkrose Middle School 813 Students 281 Sixth Grade Students 8 Sixth Grade Teachers 4 Math/Science Teachers Average Class Size – 35 students Projected Number of Incoming 5 th grade students – 275 *

Teacher Quote One good thing about this year is that you can have confidence that it will get worse before it gets better.

Demographics

Demographics cont. Student Program Enrollment Free and Reduced Lunch – 68.8% English Language Learner – 14.9% Special Education – 13.8% Talented and Gifted – 5.8%

Faculty Information Teachers’ average years of experience Teachers with master’s degree - 70% Teachers meeting Highly Qualified status - 100% 1 full and 1 ½ time ELL teacher –Pull out students for one to two periods a day 3 Special Education teachers –Pull out students for one to two periods a day 1 Instruction/Literacy Coach –Job description and responsibilities to be determined

School Report Card Attendance Rate - Outstanding Participation Rate - Outstanding Achievement Index - Satisfactory Overall School Rating - Satisfactory AYP Status - NOT MET

School Report Card cont. Academic Status All StudentsNOT MET Economically DisadvantagedNOT MET Limited English ProficientNOT MET Students with disabilitiesNOT MET Asian/Pacific IslanderMET BlackNOT MET HispanicNOT MET American Indian/AK NativeNA WhiteMET Multi-RacialMET

Current Test Scores for 6 th Grade Reading Does Nearly Not Meet Meeting Meeting Exceeding Overall 10% 21% 53% 16% Black 24% 34% 37% 5% Multi-Racial 11% 22% 57% 10% White 3% 14% 55% 28% Special Ed. 23% 49% 23% 5% LEP 35% 35% 29% 0% Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander data not available from OAKS

Issues Large class sizes Lack of time for planning with other teachers High stress levels Need to implement reading and writing strategies throughout the curriculum

Quotes from teachers If I teach them what’s in the book and they pay attention, they’ll have no problem learning. We need to hold students accountable for bad writing. If we set a high standard and they know that we’ll hold them to it they will improve. As long as I don’t have to spend any extra time preparing it.

Needs Assessment HELP !!!

Current resources Science textbook, condensed version on tape in both English and Spanish, and accompanying activities and materials on cd Online materials researched by teacher Class set of 30 Netbooks for use 1 day per week Supplemental book room with leveled reading materials on a variety of topics

Professional Development Menu Professional Development Menu Cornell Notes Scaffolding Summarizing Formative Assessments Creating Reading Strategies Marking the Text Frayer Diagram Content area AVID strategies Data Analysis Organizing Using to identify interventions Using to identify effective strategies Writing Content area strategies Chunk paragraph District Writing Expectations Inquiry Implementing Costa’s levels of questioning Philosophical chairs Socratic Seminar Collaboration Think-Pair-Share Jigsaw Reading Work Samples Technology Google apps

More Quotes from Teachers We’re not reading teachers. We need to have a few proven strategies spelled out for us. We need scaffolded lessons prepared for us. Can we please just stick with the same focus for awhile? This year I’ve become the Sheriff of Shut Up. How do we get our students to turn on their brains? They are unwilling to think. I would like them to be able to work in pairs or in small groups. This year they are not able to do that without getting off task.

Quotes from Principal I’m not going to say worse. This year has been hard. Next year may be even harder. We have a strong staff that can accomplish amazing things.

6 th Math Science recommendation Endorsed by our principal and our instructional coach. Cornell Notes – Scaffolding Cornell Notes – Summarizing Inquiry – Levels of Questioning Collaboration – Think/Pair/Share

6 th Math Science plan cont. “I don’t need her to come in and teach a lesson. I know how to teach. I want the materials that provide support for students that need it.” 6 th Grade Teacher I beg to differ! Schedule instructional coach to co-teach a lesson at least two times this year, once in the first trimester. Teachers will participate in 2- ½-day trainings on implementing classroom AVID/Differentiated Instruction strategies and 2- ½-day trainings on SIOP.

6 th Math Science recommendation cont. Schedule at least one class session in the library to make use of leveled reading material in the first trimester Students learn and remember new information best when it is linked to relevant prior knowledge. (Beyer, 1991) Begin discussions about community outreach with administrators, instruction coach and ELL teachers Research indicates that family involvement in schools increases student achievement (Henderson & Berla, 1994; Ballen & Moles, 1994; Epstein, 1995).

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