Brevard County Public Schools

School Improvement Plan

2013-2014

Name of School: Area:

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Principal: Area Superintendent:

SAC Chairperson:

Superintendent: Dr. Brian Binggeli

Mission Statement:

To maintain a high performing learning culture for all students, involving all stakeholders.

Vision Statement:

Ronald McNair Magnet School will provide opportunities for all students to excel through the continuous improvement model and by delivering an innovative arts- and technology-infused curriculum.
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Brevard County Public Schools

School Improvement Plan

2013-2014

RATIONALE – Continuous Improvement Cycle Process

Data Analysis from multiple data sources: (Needs assessment that supports the need for improvement-Examples may be, but are NOT limited to survey data, walk-through data, minutes from PLC’s or Dept. Mtgs. Move away from talking about every single data source and determine your rationale. Much like the PGP, what is your focus and why?)

Considerations/Examples: What are the areas of success? Where are concerns? What trends do you see? What kind of data are you looking at within your school? What data do you use for teacher practice? How are teachers planning? Are plans Standards Driven? Are Essential Questions meaningful? What do CWT tell you about instruction? How will you monitor the depth of implementation?
Most McNair students feel safe, connected, and happy; seem to love their teachers and classes, and parents report a high degree of satisfaction as well, according to the 2013 student and client surveys. There is a very close, caring, “family” feeling on our campus among teacher teams and departments, as well as among students. Toxic and negative behavior is not tolerated and administrators, teachers and staff model courtesy and positivity, and affirm those behaviors in students. Discipline data reveal that students are generally very well-behaved, and the few problems we have with student conduct are dealt with immediately and effectively. Parent volunteers are active throughout the school; we had 3600 VIPS hours logged for 2012-13. We have made great efforts to encourage reading and our Library circulation numbers indicated a great deal of reading activity for our 2013 student population of 558: Accelerated Reader school-wide summary for 2012-2013 was21,872 points, and total Library circulation for 2012-2013 was 9,061.
Student achievement is our major goal and purpose, but 2013 FCAT scores were not as high as we had hoped, especially in Science and Math, and after nine consecutive years as an “A” School, McNair earned a “B” in 2013. Algebra (88%) and Geometry EOC (95%) pass rates were excellent, however.
Reading % Satisfactory or Higher =70
Math % Satisfactory or Higher = 63
Writing % Satisfactory or Higher = 69
Science % Satisfactory or Higher =61
Reading Points for Gains = 64
Math Points for Gains =57
Reading Gains for Lowest 25% = 63
Math Gains for Lowest 25% = 40
Reading Gains for Lowest 25%, at Least 50 Points in 2013 = YES
Math Gains for Lowest 25%, at Least 50 Points in 2013 = NO
Adjusted Reading % Satisfactory or Higher = 70
Adjusted Math % Satisfactory or Higher = 63
Adjusted Writing % Satisfactory or Higher = 69
Classroom walkthroughs in math classes and throughout the school reveal mainly whole and small group instruction; therefore this year’s staff development will focus on differentiating instruction. Instruction is both data-driven and standards-driven, and meaningful essential questions are posted daily in every classroom. Our teachers are hardworking and committed to excellence despite the loss of a planning period and increased class sizes. However, the diversity of McNair students, and our small staff will present extra challenges as we try to serve each student with excellence every day.
Our Magnet Programs previously helped to boost declining enrollment, racially balance the school, and improve academic achievement. However, without the corridor bussing, fewer students from out of area are able to attend McNair. Consequently, our total enrollment has declined to 509, while our minority population has increased slightly, to 52%, and we have 179 or 35% ESE students with diverse instructional, medical, and therapeutic needs.
ESE CODES / # Students / Notes
D=Occupational Therapy / 5
E=Physical Therapy / 1
F=Speech Impaired / 6
G=Language Impaired / 39
H=Deaf, Hearing Impaired / 2
J=Emotionally Handicapped / 6
K=Specific Learning Disabled / 50
L=Gifted / 51 / 45 are gifted only
P=Autism Spectrum Disorder / 9
S=Traumatic Brain Injured / 0
V=Other Health Impaired / 11
W=Intellectual Disability / 5
In addition to the ESE counts in the table above, we have 7 English Language Learners designated LY, and 29 students (5.6%) with 504 Plans. Several students also have behavior plans due to their conduct disorders. Many (43 students or 8.4%) also have the IEP accommodation of “verbatim reading” for classwork and testing because of their reading disabilities. It will be very difficult to monitor these students’ special individual requirements and meet all their needs in regular education classrooms, but we are committed to doing our best. More teacher assistants and smaller classes, especially for selected ESE/504 students, would be beneficial in order to serve them effectively.
Of the 509 enrolled students, 148 scored at Levels 1- 2 on FCAT Reading in 2013, which means that 29% of our students are significantly below grade level in Reading. Also, 188 scored at Level 1-2 on FCAT Math in 2013, which means that 37% are significantly below grade level in Mathematics. The Math Chair attended a Math Conference over the summer about teaching with manipulatives and plans to incorporate manipulatives in her instruction for every new concept, and for student practice. She will encourage and coach the other teachers in the math department to do so as well.

Analysis of Current Practice: (How do we currently conduct business?)

Move any Action Steps that have become standard practice to this section.
Our faculty has a “continuous quality improvement” orientation, and we refine and renew our efforts each year to excel, with specific individual plans outlined in our PGPs. Teacher attitudes are positive and collaboration among them is strong and frequent, teacher behaviors reveal:
·  We had a grant funded in 2013 by Lowe’s, and an outdoor solar-powered classroom is currently under construction.
·  Our Science department is looking forward to instructional hands-on activities with Florida native plants to landscape and beautify the area when it is completed.
·  Our Media Specialist is committed to improving technological literacy and continues to train students and teachers on new technology applications and to coaching teachers as they develop skills and practice these skills to achieve proficiency.
·  Our Reading Coach, shared with Rockledge High School but on our campus every Thursday, monitors FAIR testing and reading achievement. She and other members of the Literacy Team also plan Literacy events and promote reading.
·  Our Drama Teacher has offered to model techniques from Sean Layne’s Classroom Management through Drama for every teacher who is interested. She will model them in her classroom every period during the week of August 19 – 23 and after that by appointment. She finds them highly effective and encourages the rest of the faculty to take her training so that school-wide we will have a common language (couched in drama terms/techniques which is so appropriate for our Performing Arts School), about controlling and appropriately using the tools of Body, Voice, Imagination, Concentration, and Cooperation.
·  Department chairs meet with their teachers at least twice a month in Professional Learning Communities as a means of focusing on continuous improvement, coaching and mentoring. They also discuss student concerns, share effective research-based strategies, and collaborate with curriculum planning.
The McNair culture has always been diverse, and friendships flourish across racial, ethnic, and economic lines. We are engaged in a continuous quality improvement model for students as well as faculty. We revere data and examine the Reading and Math FCAT strand data from the previous spring, as well as pre- and post tests for curriculum units across the various disciplines. Each teacher receives a list of ESE, 504, and ELL students, and their required accommodations. They must document proof of compliance. Furthermore, teachers must document interventions in A3 Vision and be prepared to discuss student data at MTSS meetings.
Language Arts and Math teachers are provided goal-setting sheets for each student with his/her FCAT strand data on it from the previous year. Early in the school year, these teachers lead a data examination and goal setting lesson with each of their classes. They confer with students, review their FCAT strand data, and help them set realistic stretch goals for the current year. These goals and one’s responsibility to strive, learn and achieve are referred to regularly throughout the year, as we continue to build a high-performing learning culture at McNair.
We provide Academic Support before school for any student who wants help. Although we have many Level 1-2 students who need this support, few attend, which may be due to transportation issues or simply a lack of motivation. Letters and calls home, newsletter articles, synervoice messages and face-to-face invitations from collaborative teacher teams with our lowest 25% have not yielded much change in attendance behavior for the Academic Support Program.
Teachers work hard to adapt their curriculum and modes of teaching so that all children can be successful. Learning mainly through print, lecture and discussion does not meet all students’ needs or tap into their non-linguistic strengths. The Arts infusion curriculum model, for which we have become renowned, addresses those strengths, improves our teaching effectiveness and increases student enthusiasm and academic success. Every teacher, in every subject area, is expected to infuse the Arts and visitors will see evidence of this in all classrooms and multi-use spaces throughout the school. Creating diagrams, maps, graphs, dioramas, and various 2- and 3- dimensional models or art objects make concepts concretely understandable and much more memorable for our students. Our AVID teacher makes use of the Arts in songs, student-created videos, tableaux, pictures, and college banners designed by students.
McNair students thrive on activity, and visitors will find our band, orchestra and dance concerts, plays and musicals as well as sports events filled to capacity. In classes, our students may use movement or tableaux to depict ideas, feelings, or processes and to show understanding of concepts or skills. Mock trials, philosophical chairs, period music and dance, as well as cultural crafts are frequently seen by any visitor to our social studies classes.
Hands-on activities and experimentation are regularly done in all science classes. McNair teachers and students also use a variety of technology tools; and students regularly show their learning with technology generated products.
Through our magnet programs and intensive professional development, we work diligently to increase the basic reading, writing, math and science skills of all our students by using the Arts and Technology as pathways for learning, and by promoting reading and vocabulary building via direct instruction. These are foundational for academic success. Our emphasis on reading should be evident to any visitor in our media center as well as most of our classrooms, where bookshelves are filled with attractive and appropriate teen fiction and non-fiction literature and supplementary curriculum materials. When class work or seatwork is finished early, students are expected to read, and are directed to have a magazine or library book with them every day.
Our laser focus on reading has been effective and our FCAT scores have shown slow but steady improvement over the years. McNair has earned an “A” School Grade from 2003 – 2012, but in 2013 we earned a “B”. Students need time to read within the school day, and encouragement and support for choosing reading as a leisure activity. A visitor to our campus just before Thanksgiving break would experience our READ-IN day, where students bring their library books and a beach towel to sit on, and language arts classes are held outdoors. The objective is to re-discover how wonderful it is to read simply for enjoyment. This popular annual event brings many parents and community visitors, and we appreciate the adults who help us model engaged reading behavior. We also have a Book Fair twice a year, and encourage parents to support their child’s reading for pleasure by purchasing at least one book. Teacher mentors also purchase books for our lowest 25% of readers, which the students have chosen and want to read.
Exciting independent reading materials for our media center are terribly important to achieve our reading goals, and visitors will notice the great diverisity in our media collection. We have students with a wide range of reading levels, as well as varied interests and academic needs. We have a school-wide reading incentive program, called SHARP (Students with the Hightest Accelerated Reader Points). Accelerated Reader points are a measure of how many students are reading, and how many books they read (with 80% or higher comprehension) at their appropriate levels of book complexity. AR data shows that our children are reading more and understanding better, which is reflected in our increasing annual tallies of AR points. At any tme in the day, visitors may see students come with a pass from the language arts teacher to the media center to take an AR test on the computer, and check out a new book for pleasure reading. Once per grading period, the top 25% in AR points on each team are given special recognition and some small rewards (certificate of achievement, ice cream sandwich, pencils, a SHARP STUDENT T-shirt). In this way, students are competing against students of similar abilty/achievement levels, and so have an equal chance to excel.
Our visitor would also notice the many trophies, banners, plaques and other awards atop the bookcases in the front office and encircling our media center, for District, State and National competitions. We offer many extracurricular activities such as LEGO Robotics League, Science Fair, Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, Science Challenge, Solar Car Sprint, Spelling Bee, Geography Bee, Current Events League, Math Bowl, Duke TIP, Future Problem Solving, Spanish Club, World Drummers, Drama Festival, Music Festival, Art Fairs, All County and All-State Band, Chorus, and Orchestra, and other events. Our students enter and succeed in these events, as well as in athletic events such as Basketball and Track, or poster, poetry, and essay contests. Our magnet programs attract students with talent, motivation and ability; we teach, encourage, provide ways for them to shine, and rejoice in their accomplishments.