School Improvement Plan 2011-2016

Creston Jr/Sr High School

School Improvement Plan 2011-2016

12/16/2013

Updated 1/5/15

Creston Jr-Sr High School

Overview:

Creston School District is located in Eastern Washington, approximately 60 miles west of Spokane on State Highway 2.One building serves approximately 103 students grades K-12. Ethnic profile is approximately 91% Caucasian and combined 9% other races. The free and reduced lunch rate is 36%.(2011)

Mission Statement:

The Creston School District will provide an equal opportunity for every student to be successful as responsible and contributing citizens, and master the knowledge and skills essential for life-long learning through a partnership with our staff, families and community.

Shared Vision/Guiding Principles:

Our Vision for Our School

We at Creston believe that a positive school environment, along with realistically high expectations, will foster positive self-esteem, pride, self-discipline, social skills, and independent students.

To achieve this environment we unite to offer opportunities for a variety of skills leading to avenues of success. Through teacher professional growth, we will stretch to meet the challenges presented by students.

We support family unity, community involvement, and efforts at developing partnerships with the business community that will enhance economic growth. We further know that this commitment will lead to achievement, hope, and success for the individual and the community.

School Board Goals:

The Creston School Board of Directors believes that the five most important goals for school year 2014-2016 are:

-Through purposeful planning and development of sound curriculum, instruction and assessments, Creston Schools will develop learning options for all students in K-12 grades so that each graduate will have the capacity to be successful in their lives after high school.

-Creston Schools will nurture creativity and a love of learning.

-Creston Schools will promote a sense of success and self-worth.

-Creston Schools will develop programs so that all students have the opportunity to practice skills and apply life skills.

-Creston Schools will maintain a system that is fiscally responsible and stable.

Goal Title: / Low Income (Poverty)
Smart Goal: / To create a diagnosis protocol to evaluate needs of low income (poverty) students on an annual basis. To utilize the data from the diagnosis tools to craft a course of remediation and/or extension that will place each student in a position to operate at grade level or above. The diagnosis tool will include content, social and emotional elements.
Group Narrative / Narratives
Low Income/Poverty/Migratory Students / As the trend data suggest that low income (poverty) students have a statistically significant decrease in MSP/HSPE met standard category, Creston Jr/Sr High School staff have developed assessments and supporting instructional aides to provide students with processes to succeed in the classroom and district and state standardized assessments. Creston Jr/Sr High School staff are developing instruments to determine 'holes' in migratory students' content, process and skill knowledge and ability. This process will continue throughout the term of this improvement plan. This process will be closely connected with the development of formative assessment strategies.
There is a negative correlation between MSP/HSPE met standard and students of poverty (low income) and the number of years the student attends Creston School District. There is a negative correlation between MSP/HSPE met standard and students with an IEP. The emerging data from the SBAC during 2014-2015 school year will be reviewed for trends and correlated to the MSP/HSPE data.
There is a negative correlation between students who are identified as low income (poverty) and the category of met standard in the MSP/HSPE assessments. There is also a negative correlation between students who are migratory or have been enrolled in Creston School District for five or more years and low income (poverty). The emerging data from the SBAC during 2014-2015 school year will be reviewed for trends and correlated to the MSP/HSPE data.
Goal Title: / Migratory Student Success
Smart Goal: / To create a diagnosis protocol to evaluate needs of migratory students on an annual basis. To utilize the data from the diagnosis tools to craft a course of remediation and/or extension that will place each student in a position to operate at grade level or above. The diagnosis tool will include content, social and emotional elements.
Group Narrative / Narratives
Low Income/Poverty/Migratory Students / As the trend data suggest that low income (poverty) students have a statistically significant decrease in MSP/HSPE met standard category, Creston Jr/Sr High School staff have developed assessments and supporting instructional aides to provide students with processes to succeed in the classroom and district and state standardized assessments. Creston Jr/Sr High School staff are developing instruments to determine 'holes' in migratory students' content, process and skill knowledge and ability. This process will continue throughout the term of this improvement plan. This process will be closely connected with the development of formative assessment strategies.
There is a negative correlation between MSP/HSPE met standard and students of poverty (low income) and the number of years the student attends Creston School District. There is a negative correlation between MSP/HSPE met standard and students with an IEP. The emerging data from the SBAC during 2014-2015 school year will be reviewed for trends and correlated to the MSP/HSPE data.
There is a negative correlation between students who are identified as low income (poverty) and the category of met standard in the MSP/HSPE assessments. There is also a negative correlation between students who are migratory or have been enrolled in Creston School District for five or more years and low income (poverty). The emerging data from the SBAC during 2014-2015 school year will be reviewed for trends and correlated to the MSP/HSPE data.
Goal Title: / On-time MSP/HSPE Met Standard
Smart Goal: / READING By the 2014-2015 school year all of the students who have been in the Creston School District for at least three years and not under an individual education plan will meet standard in the MSP/HSPE in Reading. MATH By the 2014-2015 school year ninety percent of the students who have been in the Creston School District for at least three years and not under an individual education plan will meet standard in the MSP/HSPE in Mathematics. SCIENCE By the 2014-2015 school year seventy-five of the students who have been in the Creston School District for at least three years and not under an individual education plan will meet standard in the MSP/HSPE in Science. The emerging data from the SBAC during 2014-2015 school year will be reviewed for trends and correlated to the MSP/HSPE data.
Group Narrative / Narratives
MSP/HSPE Met Standard / Due to constant review of student performance, Creston staffidentifies students who are struggling in a particular subject and provide them with additional individual or small group remediation. The details from MSP/HSPE assessments provide data for modifying curriculum and instruction. A focus on developing Formative Assessments within the classroom to better meet students' needs who have not met standard in the past has emerged and a focus for professional development in the 2010-2011 school year and was the focus for professional developments in school years 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014. While the focus of professional development remains on formative assessment, it is co-focused with CCSS and Evidence-based decision-making
Over the past four years (20010-2014) there has been a significant increase in the number of students who have met standard in grades 7 through nine in all of the subject areas except mathematics. Mathematics scores (MSP/HSPE and District Assessments) in grades 7 through 9 have indicated randomness and an absence of statistical significance. The only correlation that appeared to emerge from the data was one connected to the student year of arrival at Creston School and the dynamics of the small class groups represented by the data. In grade 10, there has been a consistent trend of increasing percent of students who meet standards. Over the past four years 100% of all seniors met all graduation standards. This is in great part to the remedial and re-teaching processes adopted by classroom teachers and codified by district procedure. In the area of mathematics, grade 10 students have not shown the same level of success in meeting standard by the end of tenth grade as in the area of reading. In all grades Science remains a challenge to discern any trend identifiable to a practice or strategy. While scores are near the state average in Science, the district data is inconsistent with trend analysis or other statistical treatment.
Goal Title: / Annual Yearly Progress
Smart Goal: / To refine the existing analysis of cohort and individual trend data to ensure that improvement of MSP/HSPE goals are met as a corollary to AYP for schools without the N
Group Narrative / Narratives
AYP / AYP is not a measured value due to the N
Goal Title / Research
Low Income (Poverty) / Title: / The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement
URL: /
Abstract: / Abstract Understanding the consequences of growing up poor for a child’s well-being is an important research question, but one that is difficult to answer due to the potential endogeneity of family income. Past estimates of the effect of family income on child development have often been plagued by omitted variable bias and measurement error. In this paper, we use a fixed effect instrumental variables strategy to estimate the causal effect of income on children’s math and reading achievement. Our primary source of identification comes from the large, non-linear changes in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) over the last two decades. The largest of these changes increased family income by as much as 20 percent, or approximately $2,100. Using a panel of over 6,000 children matched to their mothers from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth datasets allows us to address problems associated with unobserved heterogeneity and endogenous transitory income shocks as well as measurement error in income. Our baseline estimates imply that a $1,000 increase in income raises math test scores by 2.1 percent and reading test scores by 3.6 percent of a standard deviation. The results are even stronger when looking at children from disadvantaged families who are affected most by the large changes in the EITC, and are robust to a variety of alternative specifications.
Bibliography: / We thank Mark Bils, David Blau, David Dahl, Greg Duncan, Rick Hanushek, Shakeeb Khan, Uta Schoenberg, Todd Stinebrickner, Chris Taber, and Mo Xiao for helpful comments. We also thank seminar participants at Brigham Young University, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Institute for Research on Poverty Summer Workshop, the National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Meetings, Northwestern University, and the University of Toronto for their comments. Marina Renzo and Fernando Levia provided excellent research assistance. Both authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the William T. Grant Foundation. Lochner also acknowledges support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. IRP Publications (discussion papers, special reports, and the newsletter Focus) are available on the Internet. The IRP Web site can be accessed at the following address:
Comment: / Excellent website
Title: / A Framework for Understanding Poverty
URL: /
Abstract: / Payne tries to answer the question: “How does poverty impact learning, work habits, decision making?” She utilizes a workbook type approach and provides “practical yet compassionate strategies for addressing [poverty’s] impact on people’s lives.” The book is “carefully researched and filled with charts, tables and questionnaires.” Her audience is educators and those professionals in the social, health, or legal services.
Bibliography: / Bibliographical references (p. [187]-193)
Comment: / Author: Ruby K. Payne has been a professional educator since 1972 with her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Loyola, IL. She is considered an “expert on poverty and mindsets of economic classes.” She is a speaker, writer (written or co-authored more than a dozen books), business owner (founder and CEO of aha! Process, Inc.), and creator of the Crossing the TracksTM series. (back cover and aha! Process, Inc. website).
Migratory Student Success / Title: / Students on the Move: Reaching and Teaching Highly Mobile Children and Youth
URL: /
Abstract: / Personal Reflection As a teacher of students with special needs in a self-contained classroom in the 1980s, I vividly recall one of my greatest challenges—one that took consistent and extensive time and effort. It was not learning the curriculum expected for three to four grade levels; it was not juggling the special instructional needs and expectations of Individualized Education Plans; it was not teaching a class with the state maximum caseload; it was not even dealing with the challenging behaviors that can accompany disabilities and a child's frustration when trying to master difficult skills. The greatest challenge was adjusting my class to welcome and accommodate new students through the seemingly revolving door to my classroom. One of the most time-consuming and often frustrating challenges occurred when, to an outsider, things might have appeared easiest. The challenge occurred the year I started with an extremely small class of only four students. Administrators knew that additional students were likely to be placed during the year and my position was secure despite the small enrollment. Each month one or two new students were found eligible for the services provided in my classroom. Each month I was forced to rearrange my schedule, build rapport, identify needs and effective strategies, and re-create a sense of community among my students. It was a neverending cycle! I longed for the days when I started the year with a maximum caseload—a year that would have far fewer unknowns and much greater stability for my students and me. My personal frustrations as an educator twenty years ago have been shared by numerous teachers and administrators. No sooner does a state board of education adopt stringent graduation requirements tied to the state's standards than district superintendents with high student turnover begin raising questions of equity.1 Today, with the great emphasis on accountability, the role of mobility is beginning to gain greater attention in the literature and research on student achievement. The public is beginning to recognize the strong impact this variable can have on classrooms, schools, entire school districts, and the community as a whole. The issue of mobility in education is a complex one. Our right to move freely is part of the "American Dream." Furthermore, today's world of work has changed dramatically from earlier generations. In a 2001 issue of The Economist, Peter Drucker stated, "The knowledge society is the first human society where upward mobility is potentially unlimited…The knowledge society… considers every impediment to such mobility a form of discrimination." This aspect of the American Dream appears to have become the Educators' Nightmare. One reason for this negative transformation is the realization that most mobility experienced in schools is not the result of upward mobility and success. Rather, it is the result of poverty, lack of job stability, and even concerns about the safety and equitable treatment of students. History of the Project The idea for developing this document began with a presentation on student mobility by personnel from Emerson Elementary in Madison, Wisconsin, at the 1999 National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Conference. This school had collected and developed a variety of materials to support their staff as they faced the challenges of high student mobility—mobility that resulted from a variety of factors, including poverty and homelessness. At that time in Virginia, as in many other areas of the country, we were facing the challenge of gaining the attention of educators and schools who did not see homelessness as a critical issue in their community. We could present at conferences and do numerous mailings, but if the targeted audience thought, “Homeless? We don’t have homeless children here!” session attendance would be low and mailings could easily be passed over. We recognized that in addition to exposing educators to the legal requirements related to homeless education, we wanted to ensure that homeless students would experience success and that the strategies for achieving this would help a much broader population of students. We were looking for a way to develop this message when providence connected us with the Emerson staff. Discussing the issues of mobility with them would help us address a challenge faced by homeless students and reach the broader audience we were seeking. This led to the development of an information brief for Virginia on student mobility and a number of presentations at state and national conferences. Interest in the information brief has been strong, with many requests from principals to have copies to share with their entire staff (a PDF version is available at and increased attendance at conference sessions has shown that mobility is an issue our educators have come to see as meaningful in their work. Developing this handbook has been an opportunity to explore the topic in greater depth, to gain more understanding of the issues that must be addressed to reach different groups of students who move frequently, and to identify strategies that teachers, schools, school districts, states, and the nation have used to meet the needs of this diverse population of students. Purpose The purpose of this handbook it to synthesize research on the education of various subpopulations of students who tend to be highly mobile and to explore common characteristics and significant differences. While research studies may still be limited, practitioners have been addressing mobility on a variety of fronts. From classroom strategies to local, state, and federal policies, steps have been taken to foster the stability of students in schools and increase their academic success. The topics are organized around case studies. This structure provides a "workbook" format in which the concepts being presented can be applied to specific scenarios. In addition to the case studies, a number of children's books that deal with mobility have been reviewed with accompanying activities to be used with either students or educators. A variety of websites are included for additional information; since web addresses change frequently, a search by the site’s name may be necessary. Working with students experiencing high mobility requires the collaborative efforts of many individuals and agencies. Therefore, this workbook contains information that will, hopefully, be valuable to a large audience, including educators and other school-based personnel, administrators, policymakers, and other service providers in the community. While individuals interested in gaining more information on the topic can use this text, the format is designed to facilitate dialogue. The cases studies can be used in small faculty study groups or with task forces designing strategies and procedures tailored to a school community’s needs. The materials also include questions for discussion groups, a sample PowerPoint presentation that can be adapted for staff development, and resources that can be used directly with students. Organization of the Text The workbook is divided into chapters that provide summary information from the literature on student mobility. The chapters define mobility, describe specific subgroups of students who tend to be highly mobile, discuss how to reach mobile students to ensure that they enroll in school, and highlight successful strategies for the school and the classroom. Appendices include a variety of resources for further exploration of the topic and ready-to-use materials for students and professional development sessions. This workbook is available in hard copy and electronic versions. The electronic version will make it easy to tailor the sample materials to meet local needs.