Breathitt County Schools

Superintendent Report

Project Summary

Report Date / Superintendent Report / Prepared By
April 26, 2016 / David Gibson /

Month in Review

Breathitt County Schools has now completed 151days of school. We are in the home stretch for the 15-16 school year. The most critical phase of our year is about to begin. Our school testing window will begin on May 9th and continue through the remainder of the year. Our teachers and students have been diligently preparing for this point in the year and we are excited about the growth our teachers and students have shown. With the support of our Education Recovery team and KDE we are going to harness the potential of our students to show the state what Breathitt County students are capable of.

The tremendous work that our students and staff have put in has begun to show itself. In just a very short period of time the work that has taking place at the high school is beginning to come through in student achievement. Our preliminary ACT scores have jump nearly two points this year from 16.7 to 18.6. The hard work and extra instructional time put in by our staff and the dedication of our students is really shining through. As we continue to implement best practices and better utilize the instructional day, and with a sustained focus on student achievement, Breathitt County Schools is poised for great things.

Our district leadership team continues to make progress toward implementing systematic processes that will provide both more transparency for everyone as to what each department is doing, but also more accountability for everyone to effectively meet the needs of our students. These new processes and systems also address deficiencies found in the 2014 state management audit. For this month’s State Management Audit Response, and for future responses, Mr. Hamm and I will collaborate to report to the board the great work that is going on, and the strong commitment we have from KDE as a true partner in taking Breathitt County School toward our vision of becoming a distinguished district.

State Management Audit Response

Mr. Hamm’s progress report on KDE support:

The Breathitt County School District in collaboration with the Educational Recovery Staff has the following process and protocols in place and/or in continuous development stage:

  • Academic and Learning Environment Review Team (A-LERT): District level Instructional Walk through Process (using the eleot® instrument) and Protocol with Coaching and Feedback to continuously monitor the Instructional Process. The district has completed Round 1 of all schools, and has begun the second round. *The district has one school left – scheduled for Thursday of this week, and round two will have been completed by the District ALERT Team.
  • Data collected from the ALERT rounds (have been placed in an excel sheet for comparison/growth needs as well as next steps/needs for professional development. *For example…from current district level walk through ALERT rounds, we have scheduled the following PD:•May 4, 2016 grades 7-12 (Middle High District Wide PLC) @ Breathitt County High School, 3:30 PM-5:30 PM •May 5, 2016 grades K-6 (Elementary District Wide PLC) @ LBJ Elementary, 4PM-6PM
  • COLT Team in place: The Central Office Leadership Team is in place based on a model from Lawrence County Visit with Dr. Fletcher and Team.
  • Strategic Plan Team in place meets every two weeks: Principals report on 30-60-90 day plans, Quarterly Reports and other data sets.
  • District Data Team meets once per month to review school data sets, RTI data, etc.
  • District Data Team members have been assigned a school to be a liaison and monthly monitor and support to the individual school.
  • District Monitoring Tool is in place for district level leadership to regularly (once per month-minimum) monitor 30-60-90 day plans, Principal’s percentage of walk through(s) with coaching and feedback in each building, ILP’s, CSIP’s, Novice Reduction plans, etc.
  • Counselors’ Cadre (District Assessment Coordinator lead meetings)
  • District Pulse Check: Counselors report Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) data in the District Pulse Check and review in counselors’ cadre quarterly. Data shared with Breathitt County BOE quarterly.
  • Principals’ Cadre (Principal lead meetings), *Shared leadership by the Superintendent
  • ALL schools have updated SBDM policies, trainings are up to date.
  • SBDM conducts working sessions with the Breathitt County BOE – allows BOE to ask questions, etc.
  • SBDM district coordinator conducts regular 30-60-90 day plans on intentionally addressing all improvement recommended via Management findings. *ALL SBDM recommendations addressed.
  • SBDM Coordinator attends at least one regular SBDM meeting.
  • Curriculum 30-60-90 day plan updated to ensure management findings.
  • Elementary District Wide PLC in place-monthly meetings to work on aligning of curriculum.
  • Middle-High district wide PLC in planning stage.
  • ALL schools have an RTI period (reflected in school schedule), process and protocol.
  • District has new Vision/Mission, Core Beliefs, Values, and Goals that are aligned with the district’s CDIP.
  • 5/5 schools have an updated Vision/Mission, Core Beliefs, Values, and Goals that are aligned with the school’s CSIP.
  • ALL schools have adopted PLC process and protocols
  • ALL schools have established a Leadership Team
  • PBIS @ SMS/BHS
  • Breathitt County High School revised Master Schedule
  • Bi-Weekly progress monitoring of students receiving interventions on reading and math
  • ALL schools have created data rooms/walls to analyze, review and monitor data.
  • ALL schools have “Support Staff PLC” in place.
  • Standard 3 Improvement Priorities in ALL schools have been placed in each school’s CSIP and 30-60-90 day plans and are regularly monitored for progress.
  • District’s Improvement Priorities are embedded within the district’s CDIP
  • Instructional Assistants’ PLC (developing)
  • Learning Walks (developing)
  • District COLT Team conducts monthly Shipley’s TEAM SYSTEMS check for progress monitoring of team development-(developing)
  • LINKAGE training has been completed (developing)
  • eleot® training has been completed at all levels of the system.
  • Breathitt County District has been approved 4 Curriculum and Instruction days May 26, 27, 31, and June 1. Educational Recovery Team facilitators in collaboration with district’s CAO has explicitly and strategically planned the days in order to obtain, a fully viable curriculum that is aligned horizontally and vertically.
  • Unit Plans/Pacing Guides and Common Assessments will be part of the end products expected for the 4 day Curriculum work.
  • District Level orientation to the AdvancED Self-Assessment has been completed. The district will complete all five standards of the Self-Assessment and begin a process of collecting and evaluating evidence. District level leadership will work continuously on identified gaps.(developing)
  • Professional Development Planning process and protocols are being developed for implementation for the 2016-17 school year.
  • Scheduled for a visit to “Best Practice HUB School and District – East Carter High School-a School of Distinction, Olive Hill Elementary School, East Carter District – (A district of distinction), on Friday, April 29, 2016. *State Manager will attend with Breathitt District as well as ER Staff.

As you can tell we are making tremendous progress towards student achievement and improving our district as a whole. As we go forward it is also very important to note the many struggles and obstacles we still have to overcome in regards to facilities, finances, teacher training, community relations, and most importantly student achievement. Together with all of our stakeholders, we will continue to get better every day for the betterment of the students of Breathitt County.

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