Teacbrevard Public Schools
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teacBrevard Public Schools School Improvement Plan 2015 – 2016
Name of School: Area:
Principal: Area Superintendent:
SAC Chairperson:
Superintendent: Dr. Desmond Blackburn
Mission Statement: Our mission for Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School is to foster learning in all students by recognizing and addressing their individual strengths, needs, learning styles, cultures, and goals. With respect and care, we will guide them to become independent, responsible, productive citizens in our changing and complex global society.
Vision Statement: 1. Our Vision: 2. 1. Learning is the heart of our school. 3. 2. All students can learn when they are actively engaged in a challenging learning environment with a variety of instructional approaches. 4. 3. All students are unique persons with various proficiencies, learning styles, and needs. 5. 4. Students should be guided with care, compassion, and respect for their diverse learning styles by utilizing a variety of curriculum and instructional practices. 6. 5. The school atmosphere should foster mutual respect, responsibility, tolerance, and independent thinking. 7. 6. The continued success of our school’s mission involves all stakeholders: students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members. 8. 7. The commitment to ongoing school improvement is vital to the success of our mission.
Stakeholder Involvement in School Improvement Planning: Briefly explain how stakeholders are involved in the development, review, and communication of the SIP. Cocoa Beach is committed to involving all stakeholders in the School Improvement Planning Process. Over the summer, the School Improvement Committee, made up of teachers, administrators, and support staff met to review the previous year’s School Improvement Plan. They spent time disaggregating the data in order to determine whether or not the school accomplished the objectives and goals outlined in the 2014-2015 SIP. They also utilized the data to outline strategies and propose a school based objective for the 2015-2016 School Improvement. This data was presented to school faculty by departments during preplanning and suggestions were solicited. All departments were given time to reflect on the data, collaborate, and provide suggestions for additional strategies and input. The School Improvement Plan was presented to the School Advisory Committee on August 17, 2015 for review. Using the input of the School Improvement Committee, administration, teachers, and the parents and community of the School Advisory Committee,
1 | P a g e the School Improvement Plan was revised and updated to reflect the voice of all stakeholders. The updated School Improvement Plan was distributed via email to all staff and also posted on the Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School Edline site, to allow for parents and the community to access it. The Assistant Principal for Curriculum will share information about the School Improvement Plan goals at with families at the orientation in August. Not only is the SIP shared with all stakeholders, but the School Improvement Plan is also revisited throughout the year and the goals outlined in it are identified on meeting agendas and also discussed during staff professional development time. The staff utilizes the goals and strategies outlined in the School Improvement Plan in order to develop and implement their own Professional Growth Plans. The goals and objectives outlined in this plan will be reviewed at least twice a year by the School Advisory Committee to ensure that the school is on target to accomplish the SIP goals.
Brevard Public Schools School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
Part 1: Planning for Student Achievement RATIONALE – Continuous Improvement Cycle Process
Data Analysis from multiple data sources: What are the areas of successful professional practices and what data shows evidence of improvements? What are the concerns with professional practices and how are they revealed with data?
Successful Professional Practices Writing Across the Curriculum Successful Professional Practice- Writing Across the Curriculum: During the 2014-2015 school year, all teachers participated in a Writing Across the Curriculum Initiative. Each quarter each department tasked students with writing an essay, utilizing informational text within their content. Departments collaborated together to plan for these writing prompts and to select appropriate text. This practice will be continued during the 2015-2016 school year with a greater emphasis on reading and writing in each content area. Evidence of Improvement in the Data: The 2015 10th Grade Florida Standards Assessment Data indicates a seven percentage point increase from the 10th grade FCAT Writing Data in 2014. Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School will further examine the impact of the Writing Across the Curriculum initiative once the 7th, 8th, and 9th Grade FSA data is released later this year.
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge and Instructional Rigor Successful Professional Practice- Increasing Depth of Knowledge for High Achieving Students: Professional development about Webb’s Depth of Knowledge was provided to all teachers during the 2014-2015 school year and was a goal outlined in the 2014-2016 School Improvement Plan. The goal was to increase rigor for all students, especially in AP and IB classes. During the 2014-20156 school year, teachers utilized Webb’s Depth of Knowledge to plan units, lessons, and assessments that contained rigor and increased depth of knowledge through higher order/critical thinking. Evidence of Improvement in the Data: Many of the high achieving students participate in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programme data show evidence of increase student achievement during the 2014-2015 school year. See data summary of page 4, International Baccalaureate Data.
Collaborative Planning Among Teachers Successful Professional Practice- Collaborative Planning: All Diploma Programme (DP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) teachers collaboratively planned during the 2014-2015 school year on a monthly basis by department and grade level. Teachers also participated in half day collaborative planning days to plan together 2 | P a g e and develop units. Evidence of Improvement in the Data: The MYP Evaluation Report for Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School states, “collaborative planning and reflection ensures that all teachers have an overview of students’ learning experience,” and also recommends the “school should continue to develop strategies to use assessment of student work to inform collaborative planning and reflection.” It also recommended that the school allocate additional meeting time to provide all teachers the opportunity to collaborate. The creation of an additional hour of early release time each Wednesday by the district will support the collaborative planning and unit planning processes at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School for all teachers.
Concerns With Professional Practice Planning for Instruction Evidence of Area of Concern in the Data: Walkthrough and evaluation data provided by the administration show evidence of a need to streamline planning for all teachers. While one third of the teachers engage in IB unit planning, many teacher’s plans reflect a need to implement a planning process that utilizes the standards and prepares students for assessments. In the Insight Survey Data, teachers expressed a desire for time to collaborate to develop lesson plans that reflect the standards. Plan for Improvement of Professional Practice: This will be addressed through the use of Understanding by Design (UbD). UbD is a school wide planning process to ensure that all teachers plan for deep understanding, with the standards as the underpinning for all instructional decisions. Professional development will be provided to teachers during professional development days, early release professional time, and also in departmental meetings. Teachers will have opportunities to collaborate on early release days and also during monthly department planning times. Further strategies are outlined in the strategies section of this document. What are the areas of successful student achievements and what data shows evidence of improvements? What are the concerns with student achievements and how are they revealed to the data?
Successful Student Achievement The assessment data from the 2014-2015 school year shows that Cocoa Beach has many areas of successful student achievement. This is exhibited in the 10th Grade Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), 8th Grade FCAT Science, US History End of Course, Civics End of Course, Advanced Placement Exams, and International Baccalaureate Exams. Outlined below is specific evidence showcasing improvements from previous school years.
10 th Grade Florida Standards Assessment: 78% of students were proficient on the 2015 10th Grade FSA. This assessment includes both reading and writing components. The School Improvement Committee compared the 10th Grade FSA data with the 2013-2014 10th Grade FCAT Reading Data (71% proficient) and 10th Grade FCAT Writing Data (71% proficient). This shows a seven percentage point increase from 2014 to 2015.
8 th Grade FCAT Science: 67% of Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School students were proficient on the 8th Grade Science FCAT in 2015. This is significantly higher than the district average of 55% proficiency and the state average of 48% proficiency. This is also a seven percentage point increase from Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School’s previous year’s results. Consistently, for the past four years, Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School has outperformed the district and state results in 8th Grade Science.
US History End of Course Exam: 82% of Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School students passed the History End of Course exam in 2015. This is considerably above the district average of 70% and the state average of 66%. The percent proficiency for Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School juniors decreased by three percentage points and the percent proficiency of sophomores decreased by one percent. Despite these slight declines, the school still maintained the third highest ranked school for all secondary schools in Brevard County.
Civics End of Course Exam: 78% of Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School students were proficient on the Civics End of Course exam in 2015. This shows a nine percentage point increase from the previous school year. Cocoa Beach students also outperformed the district and state averages and ranked fourth in Brevard County.
3 | P a g e Algebra 1 End of Course Exam: 73% of students in grades seven to eleven passed the Algebra 1 End of Course Exam in 2015. 100% of 7th grade students, 82% of 8th grade students, 59% of 9th grade students, 64% of 10th grade students, and 0% of 11th grade students passed the Algebra 1 End of Course Exam. Only two students in 11th grade took the Algebra 1 End of Course Exam. Examining the Algebra 1 End of Course data for the past few years and also comparing it to the district and state, reflects some areas of concern and some areas of achievement. 7th and 8th grade Algebra 1 End of Course Exam data reflects high levels of achievement for the students taking Algebra 1 in middle school, outperforming district and state averages and showing high proficiency for the past four years. 10th grade Algebra 1 results also show an increase in achievement for students for the past three years. In 2013 only 29% of 10th grade students were proficient on the Algebra 1 End of Couse Exam. By 2014, that number had increased to 44%, an increase of 15 percentage points in one year. By 2015, that number increased by another 20 percentage points from 44% to 64%. Clearly, gains are being made for 10th grade Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School students taking the Algebra 1 End of Course exam.
Advanced Placement Data: Based on the 2015 data, the percentage of total AP students with scores of three or above is 78.7% for Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School. This is well above the state of Florida average of 48.5% and also above the global average of 60.2%. The following AP courses also showed increases in the percent of students with a three or above from 2014 to 2015: AP Biology, AP English Literature, AP European History, AP French, AP Statistics, and AP US History. The following AP courses increased the average score on the test from 2014-2015: AP Biology, AP European History, AP French, AP Human Geography, and AP US History. 15 students earned the AP Diploma in 2015, which was the largest amount of AP Diplomas ever awarded at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School.
International Baccalaureate Data: 80% of Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School International Baccalaureate students earned the IB Diploma in 2015. This is an eight percentage point decrease from the 2014 IB Diploma rate of 88%. This is attributed to a change in the requirements for earning the IB Diploma. Despite this decrease, the Diploma rates for the past five years have consistently ranged from 80-88% for Cocoa Beach, scoring on par with or above the IB Global and IB Americas diploma rates. In fact, this year, the global diploma rate was 80% and the IB America Diploma rate was 71.5%. The average points obtained by candidates who earned the diploma was thirty-one points, which is higher than the IB Global score of thirty points and the score of the IB Americas, which was 28 points. Also, the average test score (on a range of 1-7, with 4 indicating passing) was 4.95 for Cocoa Beach, higher than the IB Americas score of 4.47 and the global score of 4.83. The following IB subjects experienced an increased percentage of students proficient in 2015 when compared to 2014: French B SL, Spanish B HL, Spanish B SL, Psychology HL, Chemistry SL, Environmental Systems SL, Math Studies SL, Mathematics SL, and Theatre HL. In following subjects students scored an average grade that exceeded the world wide average grade in 2015: English A HL, Spanish B HL, Spanish B SL, Environmental Systems SL, History of Americas HL, Psychology HL, Psychology SL, Biology SL, Math Studies SL, and Mathematics SL.
Concerns with Student Achievements The assessment data from the 2014-2015 school year shows that Cocoa Beach has some areas of concern regarding student achievement. This is reflected in the Biology End of Course Exam data and also the Algebra 1 End of Course exam data.
Biology End of Course Exam: 75% of Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School students were proficient on the Biology End of Course exam in 2015. This was a seventeen percentage point decrease from the 2014 Biology EOC results. While this data shows regression in proficiency from 2014 to 2015, district and state data reflect a similar decline over the same period over 10%. This trend exhibited by Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School, Brevard County, and also the state of Florida could be attributed to expanding the group of students being tested to include not only advanced and IB students, but also students enrolled in Integrated Science courses.
Algebra 1 End of Course Exam: 73% of students in grades seven to eleven passed the Algebra 1 End of Course Exam in 2015. 100% of 7th grade students, 82% of 8th grade students, 59% of 9th grade students, 64% of 10th grade students, and 0% of 11th grade students (2 students) passed the Algebra 1 End of Course Exam. Examining the Algebra 1 End of Course data for the past few years and also comparing it to the district and state, reflects some areas of concern and some areas of achievement. 9th grade Algebra 1 End of Course data reflects an area of concern. The proficiency of students decreased from 78% proficient in 2014 to only 59% proficient in 2015. This is a 19 percentage point decline. Algebra 1 is an especially critical area for students to be proficient, as it is a graduation requirement.
4 | P a g e Learning Gains for the Lowest 25%: While there is no data from the 2015 school year to reflect this, historical data for Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School shows significant attention must be paid to the students in the lowest 25%. In fact, the 2013-2014 school data showed that only 50 points were awarded to Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School for learning gains for the lowest 25% in math. This was a 12 point decline from the previous year and also reflects an area of concern. For the 2013-2014 school year, Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School earned 67 points for learning gains in the lowest 25% in reading. What other areas of strength or opportunity are revealed in data from leading indicators?
Areas of Strength
Highly Qualified Experienced Staff and Low Turn Over: Last year, there were 73 teachers and four administrators on staff at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School. 94.7% of teachers were teaching in field and 46.3% of staff have advanced degrees. Only four staff were newly hired for last school year, which contributes to a high level of consistency in the staff and also a high level of experienced, highly qualified instructional staff teaching at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School.
Areas Showing Opportunities for Improvement Strengthening Our Approach to Changing Demographics in the Past Six Years: In examining the School Public Accountability Report (SPAR) for the past years at Cocoa Beach, it is evident that the demographics of the school are changing and the enrollment is declining. During the 2009 school year, there were 1,470 students. This number has steadily decreased to our current number of approximately 1,100 students. As the enrollment has decreased these past six years, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students has increased steadily. During the 2009 school year, there was only 12.3% of students that were identified as economically disadvantaged, or 176 students. That number steadily increased each subsequent year and during the 2013-2014 school year 246 or 22.4% of students were identified as economically disadvantaged. This is equivalent to 256 students, an increase of eighty students over those six years. Also reflected in the data is an increase in the percentage of Students with Disabilities. This number increased from 6.8% of students in 2009 to 8.5% of students in 2014. As the school population changes, instructional strategies and school based decisions must also shift to better serve our current population of students.
Increase in Discipline Referrals during the 2014-2015 School Year: During the 2014-2015 school year, Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School processed 3,529 discipline referrals. This was an increase of 1,142 referrals from the 2013-2014 school year when 2,387 referrals were processed. This was due to a more consistent enforcement of the rules by the Assistant Principal/Dean and a commitment on the part of all staff to purposefully address tardies and skipping. 7th grade had 557 referrals, 8th grade had 636 referrals, 9th grade had 855 referrals, 10th grade had 578 referrals, 11th grade had 516 referrals, and 12th grade had 387 referrals. The greatest number of referrals, 1,884, were for being tardy to class. The second largest category of referrals was for being out of assigned area or skipping class with 192 referrals. The 9th grade group of students, who had 855 referrals, had significantly more referrals than any other grade level. Strategies must be addressed this year to reduce the number of discipline referrals school wide, while keeping students in school. Since the majority of referrals are for tardies and skipping, consequences must be changed to ensure that students do not continue to miss class even more. The school will also pilot PBS with the 7th and 8th grade middle school teams.
Decreasing Enrollment in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes: Looking at the state and global averages, enrollment in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes continues to grow; however, this is not happening at Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School. In fact, the enrollment has been declining since 2013. In 2013, the total number of students taking AP exams was 346. This number decreased to 332 students in 2014 and further decreased to 303 students in 2015. This declining trend is also exhibited in the Cocoa Beach IB data, as the number of exams given in 2013 was 623 exams and that number has decreased to 452 exams given in 2015. The number of candidates attempting the IB Diploma was 85 in 2013, but was only 59 in 2015. The school will recruit outside of the school and also within the traditional population of students in order to encourage more Cocoa Beach students to enroll in the IB Programme.
Teacher Insight Survey Data: The Insight Survey provides opportunities for growth. 78% of Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School teachers responded to the survey, however only 19% of teachers are satisfied with the support they receive for instructional planning. Furthermore, only 23% of teachers agreed that a leader at the school regularly helps them to
5 | P a g e improve their lesson plans and only 31% of teachers agree that they regularly meet with other teachers throughout the school to plan and share resources. This clearly shows the teachers’ desire for more support and guidance in lesson planning and also a need for a common planning approach with feedback. Understanding by Design will be an effective way to meet the needs of the teachers on instructional planning as identified in the Insight survey.
Attendance Rates of Students: The 180 Day Average Attendance Comparison Report for the 2014-2015 School Year shows that Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School had 4,028 excused student absences and 6,530 unexcused student absences from August 18, 2014 to June 1, 2015. The attendance percentage was 94.71% for the 2014-2015 school year. This was a slight decrease from the 2013-2014 school year when the attendance rate was 95.1%
Analysis of Current Practices: refecl Describe action steps that have become non-negotiable, things that you will continue doing. Essential Questions: For the past two years, Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School teachers have incorporated essential questions into the instructional design. These essential questions have been aligned to Webb’s Depth of Knowledge to incorporate rigor and higher order thinking skills. Not only are they outlined in lesson and unit plans, but they are also posted in teachers’ classrooms to guide classroom instruction. Essential questions are an important component of Understanding by Design and will continue to be incorporated into the new unit plans. Writing Across the Curriculum: During the 2014-2015 school year, Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School implemented a Writing Across the Curriculum Initiative. Departments purposely chose texts and writing prompts to align with the new English Language Arts Florida Standards Assessment (ELA FSA). This year departments will continue to utilize reading and writing across the curriculum on a more regular basis and tailor it to their department’s unique needs. Unit Planning Teachers who teach IB classes have written unit plans consistently for the past five years. However, this only reflects some of the Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School teachers. Now all teachers will use the same Understanding by Design (UbD) unit planning process and all teachers will consistently implement the use of rigorous standards framed through the unit planning process.
Best Practice: Based on research, as it relates to the data analysis above, what should be best practices in the class room?
This year Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School will implement stages one and two of the Understanding by Design (UbD) instructional planning process. UbD is a way for teachers to think purposefully about curricular planning. The primary goal of UbD is developing and deepening student understanding by making meaning of learning through big ideas and transfer learning. Teachers will utilize UbD to unpack and transform content standards into appropriate assessments and learning goals that promote transference and deep understanding of content. UbD offers three critical elements in the planning process:
Stage 1: Desired Results / Unpacking the Standards
Stage 2: Evidence / Assessments
Stage 3: Learning Activities aligned with the Standards and Assessment (Wiggins & McTighe, 2001, p. 1)
Educational research supports the Understanding by Design unit planning process because it is grounded in developing deep understandings and authentic, real world connections. Judy Willis, an educational researcher and neurologist states that “the best remembered information is learned through multiple and varied exposures followed by authentic use of the knowledge” (Wiggings & McTighe, 2001, p. 6). UbD assesses this learning through authentic assessments, which is also supported by research by Bransford, Brown, and Cocking. Their work shows that “many assessments measure only recently taught content, but never ask for authentic performance, which leads to poor test results because students do not recognize prior learning in unfamiliar-looking test questions. Understanding by Design focuses on the standards that the tests will assess and plans backwards from the assessment to the learning plan to ensure that students have a deep 6 | P a g e understanding of the material being assessed (Wigging & McTighe, 2001, p. 5).
School-Based Goal: What can be done to improve instructional effectiveness?
Instructional staff at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School will implement rigorous standards-based instruction, beginning with consistent and pervasive use of Understanding by Design stages 1 and 2.
Strategies: Small number of action oriented staff performance objectives. Barrier Action Steps Person Timetable Budget In-Process Responsible Measure Lack of Step 1: Principal August 10, 2015 None Sign In Sheets Training Professional Understanding by Design will show Development will Assistant Principal (UbD) Professional attendance of be provided to the for Curriculum Development teachers at staff initially on professional August 10, 2015. Assistant Principal August 11, 2015- October development for Facilities 15, 2015 days and early Step 2: Department Chairs will train release in-service Department heads Assistant Principal their departments on subject trainings. will follow up and Dean specific guidance for UbD. work within their Department meetings and Meeting agendas department to Department Chairs early release time will be will show provide additional utilized for unit training and evidence of UbD training. collaborative planning. Stage 1 and 2 discussions and Step 3: October 16, 2015 planning. Administrators will Professional Development conduct classroom Day: UbD unit will be walkthroughs and shared with the faculty. Classroom provide feedback to Feedback on strengths, walkthroughs teachers based on challenges, and pitfalls will will show the UbD unit that be discussed. evidence of the they write. full depth of the October 17, 2015 – standards being Step 4: February 14, 2016 taught. Additional Administrators will observe professional and provide feedback Classroom development will regarding their UbD unit in walkthroughs be provided their informal and formal and unit plans throughout the observations. will show school year to evidence of support teachers in February 15, 2016 stages 1 and 2 of this process. Schools will share their the unit planning UbD unit with the faculty process. Step 5: and will collaborate to Teams of teachers review, modify and adapt will share units at their UbD unit as needed. faculty meetings. Teams will have time to Additional work so that they may professional explore what is working. development will be provided based on teacher needs. 7 | P a g e Lack of Step 1: Principal August 26 -May 4, 2016 None Sign In Sheets Common Beginning with the All teachers will utilize will show Planning Time 2015-2016 school Assistant Principal early release time each attendance of year, every for Curriculum Wednesday, beginning teachers at Wednesday is an August 26, 2015 and ending common early release day. Assistant Principal May 4, 2015 to planning times Teachers will have for Facilities collaboratively plan. and departmental the opportunity to meetings. plan together as Department Chairs August 25-April 12, 2015 departments, each Monthly departmental Meeting agendas week during early meetings will take place the will show release time, with second Tuesday of each evidence of UbD the exception of month for departments to Stage 1 and 2 one Wednesday a plan together and discuss discussions and month, allocated for Understanding by Design. planning. professional development. Classroom Step 2: walkthroughs Departmental will show Meetings will also evidence of the serve as time to full depth of the collaborate on standards being standards and the taught. UbD process. Departmental meetings will take place monthly to ensure that all teachers have time to collaboratively plan.
Strengthening Step 1: Principal August 7, 2015 $13, Sign In Sheets the Staff School Wide An overview of discipline 830.69 will show Response and Expectations for Assistant Principal data trends and professional attendance of Approach to Discipline and for Curriculum development on new teachers at Changing Classroom strategies for classroom professional Demographics Management will Assistant Principal management was provided development be established and for Facilities to all teachers by the days and early training will be Assistant Principal/Dean. release in-service provided to all staff Assistant trainings. by the Assistant Principal/Dean August 2015-May 2016 Principal/Dean Alternative To In School Meeting agendas ESE Department Suspension (ATISS) will be will show Step 2: Chair utilized as an afterschool evidence of Positive Behavior suspension, rather than professional Strategy having students miss class development in Professional with an In School ESE, Ruby Development will Suspension for tardies and Payne, PBS, and be provided to all skipping. school wide staff and be piloted discipline with the 7th and 8th Professional Development initiatives. grade teams. will be provided during the monthly early release time
8 | P a g e Step 3: allocated to professional Classroom Professional time in ESE, Ruby Payne walkthroughs Development in Strategies, and PBS. will show Ruby Payne and evidence of Strategies for Algebra 1 Bootcamp and students engaged teaching low before and after school in class. socioeconomic tutoring will be provided for students will be students needing Quarterly and provided to all remediation. annual reports instructional staff. will show Training will also be evidence of Step 4: provided to teachers in decreased Exceptional Student MTSS referrals. Education Training during Early A computer lab Release Time by will be open to the ESE students who do Department Chair not have internet access in the Step 5: mornings for All teams of printing and use teachers will of the computers establish by grade and Internet. level a consistent discipline plan, including: warning, conference, call home, timeout, detention, guidance referral, parent/team conference, discipline referral, and behavior intervention plans prior to writing referrals.
Organizational Step 1: Each Principal August 2015-May 2016 None Sign In Sheets Resistance to department will be Faculty meetings will take will show Change assigned a different Assistant Principal place monthly. Each attendance of month’s faculty for Curriculum department will be assigned teachers at meeting and will one month’s meeting to faculty meetings. present, sharing a Assistant Principal share their positive unit plan they for Facilities experiences at. Meeting agendas developed and will show positive benefits Assistant At monthly Department evidence of each they experienced Principal/Dean Head meetings, a member department’s with the of the leadership team will understanding of Understanding by share a chapter from UbD to UbD. Design process. build understanding within the Department Heads. Step 2: All Department Heads will then Classroom professional share new learnings with walkthroughs
9 | P a g e development and their departments at will show meetings will be monthly department evidence of UbD. focused around meetings. Understanding by Teacher Design to ensure evaluations will that faculty sees the reflect relevance. implementation of unit planning. Step 3: Time will be devoted to allow all faculty to participate in collaborative planning and professional development and to ensure that they understand the process fully.
Step 4: Administration will conduct walkthroughs, provide feedback, and reflect with teachers on progress in unit planning.
Step 5: Leadership team members will visit collaborative planning meetings and provide support to teachers throughout the process.
EVALUATION – Outcome Measures and Reflection- begin with the end in mind .
Qualitative and Quantitative Professional Practice Outcomes: Measures the level of implementation of professional practices throughout your school. Where do you want your teachers to be? What tools will you use to measure the implementation of your strategies? What tool will be used to measure progress throughout the year? Use real percentages and numbers. 100% of teachers will have developed, taught, and reflected on at least one Understanding by Design unit plan by May 2016, as evidenced by written unit plans with reflections collected by Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School administration. This will be a 100 percentage point increase for those teachers who have not developed unit plans previously within the MYP unit planning process. 90% of classroom walkthroughs will show evidence of a distinguished level of rigorous standards being taught, as evidenced in informal and formal observations data in the Brevard County Instructional Personnel Performance Appraisal System (IPPAS). This would be a 37 percentage point increase from last year’s walkthrough data in which only 53% of walk through showed that teachers delivered engaging, challenging and relevant lessons. 90% of instructional staff will respond to the Brevard County Teacher Insight Survey that they have an increased
10 | P a g e understanding of the standards. This will be a 42 percentage point increase from last year’s survey in which only 48% of teachers responded that they had an increased understanding of the standards.
Qualitative and Quantitative Student Achievement Expectations: Measures student achievement. Where do you want your students to be? What will student achievement look like at the end of the school year 2015-16? What tools will be used to measure progress throughout the year?
83% of 10th grade Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School students will be proficient on the spring 2016 Florida Standards Assessment in English Language Arts, showing a five percentage point increase from the previous year’s results. 78% of Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School students will be proficient on the spring 2016 Algebra 1 End of Course Exam, showing a five percentage point increase from the previous year’s results.
Part 2: Support Systems for Student Achievement (Federal, State, and District Mandates)
For the following areas, please write a brief narrative that includes the data from the year 2014-2015 and a description of changes you intend to incorporate to improve the data for the year 2015-2016.
MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS MTSS/RtI This section meets the requirements of Sections 1114(b)(1)(B)(i)-(iv) and 1115(c)(1)(A)-(C), P.L. 107-110, NCLB, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 6314(b) and Senate Bill 850. 1. Describe the process through which school leadership identifies and aligns all available resources (e.g., personnel, instructional, curricular) in order to meet the needs of all students. Include the methodology for coordinating the use of federal, state and local funds, services, and programs.
2. Describe your school’s data-based problem-solving process: including types of data used to monitor effectiveness of core, supplemental, and intensive instruction; and school based structures in place to address MTSS implementation.
Identification and Alignment of Resources
There is a team of staff member that identify the students who will receive MTSS interventions. This is made up of a district resource teacher, ESE specialists, the Assistant Principal for Curriculum, Guidance Counselors, the Literacy Coach, and also classroom teachers. Students are placed in classes according to their standardized tests scores and receive interventions based on data from Read 180, FAIR Data, and FCAT/FSA ELA data. Tier 1 students are served in all of the classes by trained teachers. Tier 2 and Tier 3 students are closely monitored by the school’s data-based problem-solving team. Tier 2 students receive more targeted instruction, but are still placed in all Tier 1 classrooms for core content classes. These students receive differentiated instruction in class and support through Individual Education Plans, Behavior Plans, ESE teachers, and their guidance counselors. Tier three students receive two periods of Intensive
11 | P a g e Language Arts instruction and additional after school tutoring in core content areas, in addition to the supports given to Tier 1 and Tier 2 students. For all three tiers of instruction, teachers differentiate instruction based on student levels. Each teacher is responsible for identifying students in the lowest 25%, being aware of each student’s test score data, and creating seating charts and lessons based on that data. Teachers will also embed ESE and ESOL strategies within their classrooms to support individual student learning needs. Using post-secondary remediation funds, training will be provided for teachers in Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) and tutoring will be provided to students before and after school. Positive Behavior Supports will also be utilized, beginning during the 2015-2016 school year to support all middle school students.
PARENT AND FAMILY INVOLVEMENT: (Parent Survey Data must be referenced) Title I Schools may use the Parent Involvement Plan to meet the requirements of Sections 1114(b)(1)(F) and 1115(c)(1)(G), P.L. 107-110, NCLB, codified at 20 U.S.C. § 6314(b). Consider the level of family and community involvement at your school and parent survey data collected. Respond to the following questions. What are best practices that are strengths and how will they be sustained? What are areas of weaknesses and how are they being addressed?
Parent Survey Data Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School offers many opportunities for parents to be engaged in their child’s education. In fact, 88% of parents surveyed indicated that they have attended informational meetings or academic events at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School. 94% of these parents that attended meetings or academic events indicated that the information was useful. Those who rarely attend informational meetings indicated that the main reason was that the meetings were not held at convenient times. The majority of parents are satisfied with the instructional materials, classroom instruction, school activities, and homework that their children receive. The majority of parents also believe Cocoa Beach to be a clean, safe school environment.
Best Practices and Sustainability Plan for Parent Communication Blackboard Connect will be utilized to call parents and inform them of important upcoming parent meetings, issuing of interims/report cards, and also regarding important school events. Edline will be utilized weekly by teachers to update parents on grades and classroom information. Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School’s website is updated on a regular basis with upcoming events and information. All departments have a webpage on the school website to communicate with parents. Monthly IB Parent Connect Meetings will be continued for the 2015-2016 school year to ensure parents are informed about their students’ education. MeMail, a monthly parent newsletter, will continue to be distributed via the Media Center to inform parents of events and news items on a monthly basis at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School. Individual Plans for Success (IPS) Meeting will be held by guidance counselors with parents of all 10th grade students.
Areas of Weakness and Improvement Plan Meeting Times: The majority of parents who rarely attend meetings indicated that the main reason was that meeting times are not held at convenient times. To improve this, the school will offer options for daytime and nighttime meetings to ensure that all parents have an opportunity to attend relevant workshops. Meetings that Address Parent Needs: 63% of parents indicated that they would attend workshops that presented information about college preparation information and college entrance exams, such as ACT and SAT. Guidance currently holds a financial aid meeting and a college fair; however, these could be advertised more on our website and through Blackboard Connect. STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS (Required): Address Elements of Student Survey Results found in the District Strategic Plan and describe how you will improve student perceptions of these indicators. Strategic Plan Indicators: Promotes 21st Century Skills 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 1.4.4, 1.4.5
12 | P a g e Safe Learning Environment 2.2.3, 2.2.4, 2.2.5 The data for the Strategic Plan Indicators can be located on the following survey pages. Secondary Student Survey: 21st Century Skills – Refer results pages 4 – 6 Online Safety – Refer results pages 6 – 7 School Safety – Refer results pages 7 – 8
Student Survey Data: The student survey was taken during the 2014-2015 school year by 930 students which is 85% of the total student body. The majority of the student responses were positive and many of the students agreed that the schoolwork that they receive is academically challenging and in the comments section reported that the thing they love most about school is the academically challenging classes.
Of the students surveyed, 91% have computer and internet access at home. Additionally, 75% of those students said they learned about internet safety at school. Furthermore, 83% of the students felt that school work would help them later in life, and 73% said they plan to attend college after high school.
When asked about learning 21st Century Skills, the majority of the students replied positively indicating that they are receiving instruction in skills such as teamwork, organizational skills, personal character, how to research, effective communication, and practical use of technology. However, they expressed lack of knowledge of “real-world” issues and organizational skills.
The remainder of the survey regarded school safety and bullying. The majority of the students surveyed said they had not experienced any type of bullying and 8% responded they had been cyber-bullied, a decrease by three percentage points from last year. Furthermore, 58% indicated that they have not experienced bullying at school. When asked if they felt safe at school, 78% indicated that they did feel safe. Of the 18% that indicated that they didn’t feel safe at school, the majority said they felt most unsafe in the hallways and restrooms.
Plan to Improve Student Perceptions of these Indicators: Media Specialist will provide instruction to students in Internet safety through their Language Arts classes. Increased teacher and administrator monitoring of the hallways and restrooms. Reporting process for bullying will be explained by the Assistant Principal/Dean to ensure that all students are aware of how to report bullying and types of behaviors that are considered bullying. Handbook of rules and school safety will be reviewed by classes by the Assistant Principal/Dean. Assistant Principal/Dean will investigate any incident of bullying. Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) will be implemented in the 7th and 8th grade classrooms.
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS (SB 850) Please complete 1 – 3
1. List any additional early warning system indicators and describe the school’s early warning system.
SECONDARY
Attendance below 90 percent, regardless of whether absence is excused or a result of out-of-school suspension
One or more suspensions, whether in school or out of school
Course failure in English Language Arts or mathematics
Level 1 score on the statewide, standardized assessments in English Language Arts or mathematics
Other
13 | P a g e Add any additional EWS indicators here. In addition to examining course failures in English Language Arts or Mathematics, the team of teachers and administrators also identifies students who show course failures in any core academic classes. The team is made up of the middle school guidance counselor, the middle school reading teacher, the high school reading teacher, and the assistant principal for curriculum. They meet at least once every nine weeks to discuss student data.
Description of early warning system. Middle school students were identified by the Early Warning Committee based on the following criteria: Attendance below 90 percent, regardless of whether absence is excused or a result of out-of-school suspension One or more suspensions, whether in school or out of school A Course failure in English Language Arts or mathematics Level 1 score on the statewide, standardized assessments in English Language Arts or mathematics Failure in any core academic course 1 or more ISS or OSS Exhibiting 2 or more indicators Interventions were provided to these students to ensure that they would be able to increase their academic achievement.
2. This section captures a snapshot of the total number of students exhibiting a respective indicator or set of indicators during the 2014-15 school year. These data should be used as part of the needs assessment to identify potential problem areas and inform the school’s planning and problem solving for 2015-16.:
The number of students by grade level that exhibit each early warning indicator listed above.
Fill in BLANKS with data from 2014-15 School Year - Number of Students Grade Level K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total Attendance <90 37 13 17 16 22 17 122 1 or more ISS or 7 27 42 39 22 17 154 OSS Level 1 in ELA 5 8 17 13 6 5 54 or Math Course Failure in 1 14 27 23 13 9 87 ELA or Math Students 29 54 84 92 79 59 397 exhibiting 2 or more indicators
3. Describe all intervention strategies employed by the school to improve the academic performance of students identified by the early warning system (i.e., those exhibiting two or more early warning indicators).
The Early Warning System Committee chose to identify and focus on middle school students, as required by Senate Bill 850. All students that qualified for the above indicators received a parent letter from the Assistant Principal of Curriculum. This letter informed parents of upcoming parent meetings they could attend to learn how to support their student and improve his or her academic performance. The students were also invited to participate in after school tutoring in math, reading, social studies, science, and language arts throughout the second semester. A specific Algebra 1 boot
14 | P a g e camp was held to prepare students who repeatedly failed the Algebra 1 EOC for the makeup Algebra 1 EOC. Individual parent meetings took place for students. The Middle School Guidance Counselor also identified repeat failure students with discipline issues to take Florida Virtual School courses so that they could better engage with the curriculum that would fit their needs. PBS is also used for all 7th and 8th grade students.
STUDENT TRANSITION AND READINESS
Describe the strategies the school employs to support incoming and outgoing cohorts of students in transition from one school level to another. Incoming Cohorts Incoming IB students are welcomed into the school and supported through their transition by the IB Coordinator with a kickoff camp prior to the start of their transition. The Middle School Guidance Counselor also provides seminars each semester tailored to middle school students to ease their transition and provide with support. During the second week of school, the Assistant Principal/Dean holds team meetings and meets with each grade level to address grade level specific transitions.
Outgoing Cohorts
1. PreK-12 TRANSITION This section used to meet requirements of 20 U.S.C 6314(b)(1)(g).
2. COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS This section is required for schools with 9, 10, 11 or 12. This section meets the requirements of Sections 20 U.S.C. § 6314(b).
15 | P a g e Describe the strategies the school uses to support college and career awareness, which may include establishing partnerships with business, industry or community organizations.
Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School offers a very successful Career and Technology Education (CTE) program. Students can choose from four different CTE programs, including: Marketing, the Academy of International Business, Fashion Design and Global Information Systems (GIS).
Though the offering of CTE at CBJSHS, our students are gaining experiences that will follow them throughout their lives. These programs offer real-world job shadowing trips, guest speakers and entrepreneurship seminars at Eastern Florida State College that will benefit our students not only in college, but also in their chosen careers. Our Academy of International Business Advisory Committee consists of a dozen major corporations and businesses including the Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce, IAP Worldwide Services, Lockheed Martin, the Courtyard at Marriott, Florida Power and Light, the Canaveral Port Authority and Wells Fargo Bank, just to name a few. These business partners attend four meetings at the school each year to suggest speakers, discuss community service activities, fund field trips and offer job shadowing suggestions. Each year, these business professionals also dedicate their time at the school in March as part of the Mock Job Interview day. They serve as interviewers and also participate as judges in the District competition for the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club.
FBLA is the largest student organization in the country and CBJSHS hosts a chapter that is open to students in grades 7 through 12. Our FBLA students consistently excel in District and State competitions and have received awards and recognitions in multiple business categories. Each year, we have had more than a dozen students participate in the FBLA State Leadership Conference in Orlando where they compete and network with business leaders and keynote speakers at workshops and various presentations. In June of 2015, our District FBLA student president was selected as a CTE Innovator and invited by the national FBLA office to the White House. She joined our District FBLA Adviser at an award presentation to hear First Lady Michelle Obama speak about the importance of CTE in a new initiative called Reach Higher.
Identify the career and technical education programs available to students and industry certifications that may be earned through those respective programs.
16 | P a g e Describe efforts the school has taken to integrate career and technical education with academic courses (e.g. industrial biotechnology) to support student achievement.
Career and Technical Education classes have been incorporated with the academic courses to support student achievement at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School. In fact, International Baccalaureate Programme students now are required to take career and technical education courses in 9th and 10th grade, as a technology component within the International Baccalaureate Programme. They have the option to take Computing for College and Careers, International Business, and/or Global Information Systems. Furthermore, for traditional students, certain courses in the CTE programs are also offered as substitutions for Performing & Fine Arts credit, as a four Science credit or as a four Social Studies credit. In this way, the CTE programs are continuing to expand at Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High
Describe strategies for improving student readiness for the public postsecondary level based on annual analysis of the High School Feedback Report ( http://data.fldoe.org/readiness/). As required by section 1008.37(4), FL Statutes.
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