Comprehensive Planning (CP)
School Improvement Offline Planning Guide
Research Study
During the spring of 2010, PDE commissioned a research study to analyze and make recommendations regarding the current planning processes and tools used by LEAs and their alignment with the school improvement processes and tools. The study identified the need for a comprehensive process and tool that aligns LEA planning and school-level planning.
Comprehensive Planning Project
Under the direction of PDE, Capital Area Intermediate Unit and Delaware County Intermediate Unit are collaborating to design and develop a single, streamlined, yet systemic, comprehensive planning process and plan management system for LEAs and schools within the Commonwealth to ensure that:
· LEAs and their schools are using the same proven planning practices.
· All planning is collaborative, coordinated and representative of the participation of all stakeholders.
· School-level data analysis informs district-level planning; and district resources and activities directly support school improvement.
Contributors to Project
Bureau of Teaching and Learning Support, Bureau of Special Education, Bureau of Assessment & Accountability, Bureau of Career & Technical Education, Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality, Center for Data Quality & Information Technology, Pennsylvania Intermediate Unit-Curriculum and Student Services Coordinators, PAIMS, IU 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20, 24, 25 & 27 Personnel, Pennsylvania Association for School Administrators, and The Education Policy and Leadership Center.
Profile
School Name:Street Address:
Post Office (City/Town):
Zip Code: / Phone Number:
Principal:
Principal’s Email Address:
District: / CP Phase Number:
Superintendent:
Superintendent’s Email Address:
Federal Accountability Designation:
Title I Status:
NOTE!
On the CP Web App:
The demographic information listed on the page is populated fromPDE's EdNA database. If this information is incorrect, it must be first corrected in EdNA. Please visit EdNA to make the changes and then the new demographic information will be reflected in Comprehensive Planning after the next update.
School Level Planning Team
The ESEA Flexibility Waiver requires that Title I schools develop improvement plans in “consultation with parents, school staff, the local educational agency serving the school and outside experts” --all should be represented in the planning teams of Title I schools. The Pennsylvania Department of Education encourages all schools to maximize the contributions of outside experts and all of the school’s stakeholder groups in the development of improvement plans and believes that the Principal or CAO should be an essential member if not the leader of a planning team.
Minimally, a Title I school's planning committee must be comprised of the building principal, 1 administrator or board member, 1 teacher or educational specialist, 1 community, business representative or intermediate unit staff member and 1 parent. If a school is designated as a Priority School, an Academic Recovery Liason (ARL) must be part of the school’s planning committee. If a school is designated as a Focus School, a CP Intermediate Unit contact must be a part of the school’s planning committee.
Name of Team Member / Team Member’s RoleAssurances
Assurances for Title I Schools
Title I schools that have been federally designated as Priority or Focus or schools that are implementing a Schoolwide program are required to create a school level plan. School Level Plans must assure to the Pennsylvania Department of Education the school’s compliance with the following expectations by developing and implementing an improvement plan or otherwise taking actions that meet the expectations described by the Assurances listed below.
If a school is implementing a Title I Schoolwide program, indicate this intent and upload the completed Title I Schoolwide Program Planning Addendum. Please note a complete school level plan must accompany the addendum. The Title I Schoolwide Program Planning Addendum must be updated on a yearly basis.
By checking the following box, the school assures all of the following statements.
Title I Assurance 1: This School Improvement Plan contains Action Plans that address each reason why this school failed to make Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) and/or is identified in the lowest 10% of Title I schools.Title I Assurance 2: The resources needed for full implementation of the action plans herein documented have been identified and the necessary approvals obtained to allow the procurement and allocation of these resources.
Title I Assurance 3: Documentation of the resources needed for full implementation of the action plans herein documented; including specific, related budgetary information, is available for review upon request by the LEA or SEA.
Title I Assurance 4: If designated as a Priority or Focus School the district has determined whole-school meaningful interventions directly associated with the unmet AMO(s).
Title I Assurance 5: The school improvement plan covers a two-year period.
Title I Assurance 6: The school has adopted and/or continued policies and practices concerning the school's core academic subjects that have the greatest likelihood of improving student achievement.
Title I Assurance 7: High performing LEAs with varied demographic conditions have shown they share common characteristics. The following nine characteristics are embedded in the plan:
· Clear and Shared Focus
· High Standards and Expectations
· Effective Leadership
· High Levels of Collaboration and Communication
· Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Aligned with Standards
· Frequent Monitoring of Teaching and Learning
· Focused Professional Development
· Supportive Learning Environment
· High Levels of Community and Parent Involvement
Title I Assurance 8: Focus Schools must implement locally developed interventions associated with a minimum of one of the Seven turnaround principles, while Priority Schools must incorporate all seven turnaround principles as listed below:
Principle 1: Providing strong leadership by: (1) reviewing the performance of the current principal; (2) either replacing the principal if such a change is necessary to ensure strong and effective leadership, or demonstrating to the State Education Agency that the current principal has a track record in improving achievement and has the ability to lead the turnaround effort; and (3) providing the principal with operational flexibility in the areas of scheduling, staff, curriculum and budget.
Principle 2: Ensuring that teachers are effective and able to improve instruction by: (1) reviewing the quality of all staff and retaining only those who are determined to be effective and have the ability to be successful in the turnaround effort; and (2) preventing ineffective teachers from transferring to these schools.
Principle 3: Redesign the school day, week, or year to include additional time for student learning and teacher collaboration.
Principle 4: Strengthen the school’s instructional program based on student needs and ensuring that the instructional program is research-based, rigorous, and aligned with state academic content standards.
Principle 5: Use data to inform instruction and for continuous improvement, including providing time for collaboration on the use of data.
Principle 6: Establish a school environment that improves school safety and discipline and addresses other non-academic factors that impact student achievement, such as students’ social, emotional and health needs.
Principle 7: Provide ongoing mechanisms for family and community engagement.
Title I Assurance 9: The school improvement plan delineates responsibilities fulfilled by the school, the LEA and the SEA serving the school under the plan.
Title I Assurance 10: Establish specific annual, measurable targets for continuous and substantial progress by each relevant subgroup, which will ensure all such groups of students, update to align with the new AMOs to close the achievement gap.
Title I Assurance 11: A mentoring/induction program used with teachers new to the school exists; the essential elements of the mentoring/induction program are documented and the documentation is available for review upon request by LEA or SEA authorities.
Title I Assurance 12: All parents with enrolled students will receive an annual notification letter which includes the reasons for its identification as Priority or Focus and the school’s plan to improve student achievement.
Title I Assurance 13: Identify the ways in which the school is communicating with parents regarding school improvement efforts will occur via the following strategies:
School web site
School Newsletter
PTA website
District web page
WikiSpaces, Yahoo, Facebook, etc.
Board meeting presentations
Town hall meetings
District’s annual report
District report card
Press releases to local media
Yearly letter to parents
Periodic mailings/letters, postcards, etc.
Short Message Systems (phone blasts)
Short Message Systems (email blasts)
Invitations to planning (etc.) meetings
Family Night/ Open House / Back to School Night/ Meet-the-Teachers Night, etc.
Special all-school evening event to present improvement plan
Monthly PTO meetings
Regular Title I meetings
Parent advisory committee meetings
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Home-school visits
School Improvement Brochure
Student Handbook
Schoolwide Program Assurance
Do you intend to run a Title I Schoolwide program for the first time next school year?
Yes, the school intends to run a Title I Schoolwide program for the first time next school yearA completed Title I Schoolwide program planning addendum is required if the school is running a Title I Schoolwide program for the first time.
Upload the Title I Schoolwide program planning addendum
Needs Assessment
Data can tell a district’s story. Collecting and using information about the district and the community moves the message from feelings to facts. What are the district’s strengths? Which programs and services have the greatest potential for growth based on current data? Gathering the right data from a variety of sources can:
· Create a baseline on student skills and stakeholders’ attitudes and beliefs
· Provide an accurate picture of current district processes and programs
· Guide actions taken to change outcomes
· Allow district staff to measure progress over time
Data can be collected in four different domains: Demographics, Perceptions, Contextual Data and Achievement. Data will need to be disaggregated at a granular level to help district Level Planning Teams make prudent decisions. At a minimum, data will need to be disaggregated by:
· Ethnicity
· Mobility
· Gender
· Limited English Proficiency
· Social Economic Status
· Special Education
The needs assessment is a comprehensive evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the district with the expressed goal of determining how the district can best build on its strengths and improves on challenged areas in order to enhance student learning in the district.
A good needs assessment:
· Is based on clearly presented, valid and reliable data
· Includes a variety of sources of information (e.g. teachers, parents, students, administrators, counselors, community members)
· Includes a balance of different types of data measuring the pulse of current district status compared with similar data over periods of time(e.g., student achievement scores, perceptions of stakeholders, behavioral and attitudinal patterns, district programs and processes including resource allocations, demographic patterns all in current and longitudinal representation)
· Accurately interprets the data to identify both strengths and challenges
· Detects needs from identified strengths and challenges
· Sets priorities for needs in a manner that addresses student learning
Data Walkthroughs
The purpose of this “off-ramp” is to assist schools in analyzing their data for the purposes of Schools Level planning. This “off-ramp” includes worksheets that walk a schools step-by-step through the data analysis process.
While the process is designed to be sequential, schools may opt to skip data sets that have already been analyzed or are not relevant to them. If multiple data sets provide similar information, the data set with the most detailed and most recent data is used for analysis. It should be noted that if a step in the process is omitted, informative data may be missed.
Each data set follows a specific pattern for analysis. Each section includes introductory statements about a particular data set. Directions on how to access this data are included. Following the introductory statements, are a series of yes/no guiding questions and a location for supporting evidence with each question. Each document provides an opportunity for reflective statements about the section.
At the conclusion of each data set review, Charter Schools identify strengths and weaknesses and write 2-3 reflective statements about the data.
PA School Performance Profile / The Pennsylvania School Performance Profile offers a web-based resource for districts/schools to communicate performance results to various constituencies and assist districts and schools in aligning and focusing resources for continuous improvement.Other Advanced Data Sources / This optional section is designed for LEAs interested in deeper analysis of student learning data or analysis of school processes, perceptions or demographics. LEAs may explore other detailed reports from eMetric and/or PVAAS, or they may upload locally relevant data sets for analysis.
eMetric / eMetric provides valuable information about your district’s
performance on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment
(PSSA), including the alternate and modified assessments.
High School Feedback / The intent of these reports is to provide actionable data to high school educators and school administrators to inform and improve their instructional practice, curriculum, etc.
The MILE Guide / Developed by Partnership for 21st Century Skills, it is designed to help Charter Schools determine where they are on the spectrum of ensuring 21st century readiness for every student. It helps schools and Charter Schools measure where they are in terms of student knowledge and skills; education support systems; leading and teaching; policy-making; partnering and continuous improvement/strategic planning.
PVAAS / Four (4) PVAAS (PA Value-Added Assessment System) reports offer valuable information about the effectiveness of your district/schools in addressing the academic needs of students.
Special Education / Several data sets relate specifically to an LEA’s work with special
education students. The section provides a step-by-step process for working through the following data sets.
Technology Infrastructure / The PATI data show your network connectivity, as well as the types and quantities of equipment in your schools. Please note that the connectivity standards referenced below represent statewide medians.
Identification of School Accomplishments and Concerns:
· Review all data identified as being relevant to the systems
· Identify data-substantiated results that represent student achievement and/or performance accomplishments
· Identify the accomplishments that the committee deems to be the most significant