GCS Online

Guilford County Board of Education
Regular Meeting
February 19, 2008

To:	Members, Board of Education
From:	Terry B. Grier, Ed.D.
Date:	February 15, 2008
RE:	Academic Improvement Update

STRATEGIES: Three stages of academic improvement strategies have been implemented to differentiate district support to schools:

Improvement strategies for all schools
1st semester: “Above and Beyond” services for priority (high needs) schools. Some are included in “bubble” schools below, others continue to receive support
2nd semester: “Bubble” schools with best potential to make AYP with targeted assistance

1. Improvement Strategies for All Schools:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Revised school improvement plans: setting clear priorities and improvement strategies	Completed 9/30/2007
Data Wise: training and follow-up to help principals increase capacity to translate data analysis into plan of action	Incorporated into every principals’ meeting and Formative Assessment site-based training in how to analyze/use data
Training in analysis and use of quarterly benchmarks and subgroup/individual student focus for making AYP	Formative Assessment team members offer training in after-school workshops, site-based training during the day; protocols for principals to lead teacher analysis and use of benchmarks to inform interventions and instruction

Elementary READING:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Develop shared understanding and teacher planning to teach all components of literacy (literacy framework)	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Direct instruction in academic vocabulary K-5	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Pilot Intervention/Prevention approach and technology-assisted screening in 12 pilot schools	Curriculum and Organizational Development division

Elementary WRITING:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
School-specific plan with input from curriculum, IIO	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Training for 4th grade teachers and CFs	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Two writing institutes	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Monthly teaching and learning sessions	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Incorporation of writing into curriculum guides	Curriculum and Organizational Development division

Elementary MATH:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Lessons and center activities developed by curriculum and teacher-leaders grades 3-5 (expanding to 2nd grade), for instruction and differentiation	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Mini-assessments incorporated into lessons	Provided as part of lessons created by 3-5 math teacher leaders. Formative Assessment team provides ongoing training in creating assessments from shared databases.
Promoted teacher leadership through regular meetings with 3-5 math representatives from each school	Curriculum and Organizational Development division

Middle School ALL:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
High School Ahead for over-age 8th/7th graders	Transitioned 80 over-age 8th graders to high school or middle college/academies. Currently serving 80 over-age students.

Middle School READING:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Comprehensive curriculum guide including power objectives	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Springboard (College Board rigorous curriculum): year 2	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Additional daytime tutoring	Extended Learning plan approved by IIO

Middle School WRITING:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Daily grammar	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Lead writing teachers each building organize benchmarks and collaborative scoring	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
30 day 7th grade writing “blitz”	Curriculum and Organizational Development division

Middle School MATH:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Mastery Learning: summer institute, lesson planning	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Comprehensive curriculum guide/power objectives	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
District-wide consistent/increased time for math (90 minutes daily)	Completed 9/1/07
District-wide template for daily re-teaching	Curriculum and Organizational Development division

High School ALL:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Leadership development for APs, CFs: to facilitate collaborative planning and assessment among teachers	2 sessions completed, 2 more scheduled.

High School WRITING:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Comprehensive curriculum guide including power objectives	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Lead writing teachers each building organize benchmarks and collaborative scoring	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
30 day 10th grade writing “blitz”	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Strategic reading before English 9 for students reading below grade level	Completed 9/1/07 IIO approval of schedules. Gates-McGinitie test used to identify and schedule students needing Strategic Reading.

High School MATH:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Mastery Learning: summer institute, lesson planning (Algebra I)	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Comprehensive curriculum guide including power objectives	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Pre-Algebra course for low performing 9th graders (TAMS in Talent Development HS, Tech Math I in all other HS)	Completed first semester IIO review with principal of student math scores and placement. Repeat second semester in block HS.

High School US History, Civics and Economics:

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Comprehensive curriculum guide including power objectives	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Quarterly teaching and learning sessions	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
US History grant: professional development, 5 coaches, building teacher leaders in 5 high needs schools	Curriculum and Organizational Development division

High School Biology

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Comprehensive curriculum guide including power objectives	Curriculum and Organizational Development division
Quarterly teaching and learning sessions	Curriculum and Organizational Development division

High School Graduation on Time

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Graduation coaches	Completed 8/07: fifteen graduation coaches placed in all regular (non middle/early college) HS
Assignment of cabinet/senior staff to high schools to monitor no shows/dropouts	Ongoing weekly updates with principal, graduation coach and cabinet member
Twilight High School	Opened beginning of second semester serving 125 students grades 9-12
Credit recovery/PLATO	168 credits recovered as of 2/11/08

2. “Above and Beyond” services for priority (high needs) schools (1st semester)

18 schools identified as most in need of district support
Cabinet agreed to avoid meetings involving IIOs Tuesday-Thursday to concentrate their time in these schools
Bi-monthly updates to cross-departmental cabinet to ensure progress, rapid response to needs

Elementary

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Organize cross-departmental teams from curriculum, formative assessment, AL, EC, ESOL to target assistance to teachers in these schools 2-3 days/week	Organized & continuing to function at a reduced level to priority schools to provide increased support to Bubble Schools
Create formative assessments each 3 weeks in reading and math grades 3-5, train principals and CFs to lead teacher collaboration to differentiate instruction	Formative Assessment has provided support and training in the creation of formative assessments using Achievement Series for individual schools.
Regular meetings with principals of these schools regarding use of assessment process, turnaround process	Two Turn Around Panel meetings have been held to facilitate sharing between principals who have significantly improved student achievement and principals who are serving in high priority schools. Ongoing meetings with select cross-departmental team (CDT) members and IIO have been held monthly.
Train trainers to implement guided reading grades 2-3	C & I provided Guided Reading training at sites in High Point and Greensboro which are ongoing. Two have been completed to date.
Pilot K-2 literacy assessments	Intervention Prevention Pilot is implemented in 13 schools of the Phase I Literacy Framework Schools. The screeners being piloted include DIBELS, AimsWeb, and TPRI.
Deploy SSOs to free assist principals to conduct grade level meetings as needed	Completed for Gilliespie and Kirkman Park early in the year. Bessemer was originally targeted for this assistance but did not need it. This service has not been requested again.

Middle

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Weekly meetings with math and English-language arts coaches, principals and math or English teachers to plan, use subgroup data, monitor progress, identify best practices, support mastery learning	Math coaches conducted weekly content meetings first semester. After hiring the ELA coach 2nd quarter, the ELA coach conducted weekly content meetings. Teacher leaders have been established on each grade level to continue the planning process, use of subgroup data, identifying best practices, and supporting mastery learning. IIO’s have engaged principals and teacher leaders in owning their role in continued school improvement.
Create 3 week (math), 4 ½ week (English) formative assessments to inform teachers of student mastery and learning needs	Math 3 week assessments have been and will continue to be created by the Math coaches. Formative Assessment created the first English (Language Arts) assessment, thereafter, the schools created their own 4 ½ week English (Language Arts) assessment. The 4 ½ week English (Language Arts) assessment has been suspended for the 3rd quarter due to the writing test. All schools will administer a mock EOG in Math and Reading midway through the 4th quarter to inform cumulative remediation and review efforts.

High

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Weekly walk-throughs by IIOs, involving principals, with an emphasis on the Big 5 EOC courses. Monitored progress, used benchmark data, and identified best practices.	Completed as of January 3, 2008. Focus moved to Bubble Schools.
Create central office support teams from curriculum, formative assessment, DPI facilitators to provide targeted support as needed	Formative Assessment team meets with principals, assistant principals, location controllers, CFs, and groups of teachers. Completed as of January 3. 2008. Focus moved to Bubble Schools.
“Cumulative Effect” math improvement initiative to provide summer training, one-on-one mentor with weekly contact, monthly training and technology to 80 high school math teachers in 12 schools: Smith, Dudley, Andrews, High Point Central, Academy at Central, Academy at Smith, Middle College at Bennett, Middle College at NC A&T, Southern, Eastern	Summer training and assignment of mentors completed 9/30/07 Monthly sessions followed up by mentors and math coaches in three Talent Development schools. Laptop, Promethean white board, Bluetooth slates, and student response phone system provided to all 80 teachers.

3. “Bubble” schools with best potential to make AYP with targeted assistance (2nd semester)

43 schools initially identified that will need additional support for targeted subgroups if they are to make AYP
Schools may change depending on subsequent results of benchmark tests
Some priority schools included
Greater involvement of principals and leadership teams in developing and implementing targeted assistance
District prioritization of goals, services to schools with ESOL populations
EC provided training to classroom and EC teachers in inclusion practices, monitoring of new EC teacher attendance at training sessions
Bi-monthly updates to cross-departmental cabinet to ensure progress, rapid response to needs

All

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Fund additional tutoring services for targeted students/subgroups.	*Completed 2/7/08* almost $300,000 from state funds for Level I,II students. Plan developed with principal and IIO based on each school’s needs assessment.

Elementary

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Redeployment of cross-departmental teams to provide focused intervention assistance Cross departmental teams will provide modeling lessons, coaching, team teaching, on-site training, assistance with grade level planning, analyzing student data to drive instruction as determined by IIO and principal	Full participation by the FA team members. (Wes)

Middle

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Bi-weekly meetings among IIOs, math/ELA coaches, principals, CFs to examine subgroup data and profess, identify best practices	Four bi-monthly meetings have occurred to date with IIOs, math/ELA coaches, principals, and CF’s to share best practices and analyze AYP data. Site visits are being conducted by coaches and IIO’s to monitor content meetings and observe instruction.
Monitor diagnostic and formative assessments to gather real-time information on student master to inform instruction	During site visits, formative assessments and response plans to assessment data are reviewed and discussed with teachers and principal. Instructional audits have been scheduled by the Exceptional Children’s department to diagnose Exceptional Children instructional needs and provide recommendations for improvement.
Redeploy coaches beginning 2nd semester	Site visits are being conducted on a bi-monthly basis by coaches and IIO’s at both Bubble and Above and Beyond schools (except Hairston Middle) to monitor content meetings and observe instruction.

High

*Strategy*	*Status 02/19/08*
Organize cross-departmental teams to provide concentrated support to math and English teachers within targeted schools	Meetings occurred week of 1-14-08, and 1-22-08. Services ongoing.
Weekly debriefing sessions with teams	Meeting occurred on 2-6-08. Services are ongoing.
Train teachers of repeating 9th graders in math/English to unpack standards	Completed week of 2-8-08
Utilize goal summary results to inform instructional practice	Completed 2-7-08 at principal meeting. Completed 2-12/2-13-08 at assistant principal training.
Ensure accurate identification and use of updated 10th grade student cohort data, transcripts to meet AYP testing requirements	Began week of 2-6-08, review is ongoing.
Assist efforts to encourage attendance, track down missing students on EOC test days	Process began week of 2-6-08 and will be ongoing during the semester.
Monitor identification and PLATO enrollment of seniors needing credit recovery to graduate	Ongoing since November 1, 2007. Collaborative effort with graduation coach, counselor and principal.
Additional funding of attendance incentives focused on meeting writing test requirements.	Additional funding and plan of action completed 2/08/08.

In compliance with federal laws, Guilford County Schools administers all educational programs, employment activities and admissions without discrimination because of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, color, age, military service, disability or gender, except where exemption is appropriate and allowed by law. Refer to the Board of Education's Discrimination Free Environment Policy AC for a complete statement. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the Guilford County Schools Compliance Officer, 120 Franklin Boulevard, Greensboro, NC 27401; 336.370.2323.

All Guilford County Schools facilities, both educational and athletic, are tobacco-free learning environments.