Week Three Assignment, Part 1 – CARE Model Analysis of District/Campus Improvement Initiatives or Action Research Plans
Please review your intern plan. In the first course, students were encouraged to engage in some action research, or participate in district or campus improvement initiatives. Each of you has had some experiences with such initiatives or action plans. Please review those experiences and complete the following analysis:
Concerns – Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research, and list at least three concerns that you have identified from these experiences – a concern may be any matter that engages your attention or interest.
1. Increase the level of rigor and level of Blooms Taxonomy questioning used in all classrooms district wide to help prepare students for upcoming STAAR assessment. This is evident from several meetings/conversations with Superintendent, Curriculum Director, Principal’s, Instructional Specialist and teachers.
2. Implementation of aligning district wide curriculum horizontally and vertically – at all campuses, specifically in the area of math and science. In studying district wide data and trends this is an area of concern.
3. Active participation and implementation by all stakeholders (site based decision making committees) in developing district and campus improvement plans, including district vision and goals.
Affirmations - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research, and affirm or identify at least 3 actions that must be sustained and supported to achieve the District/Campus improvement initiatives.
1. I participated in the implementation and planning for district wide implementation of Phil Schlechty Working on the Work Framework. It is critical this process continue to increase the level of engagement in classrooms.
2. I participated on the District Leadership Team. We recommended submitting a staff development waiver to allow focus on professional development aligned with our district vision/goals.
3. I interviewed our Director of District Operations regarding student attendance rate. We must continue to improve overall student attendance in an effort to obtain the financial benefits.
Recommendations - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research and describe at least 3 recommendations you would make regarding the District/Campus Improvement plans or action research plans.
1. Use current data along with new information in an effort to continue preparing for STAAR assessments and End of Course exams.
2. Alignment of district wide curriculum focused on updated grade level TEKS and Standards.
3. Continue to improve in the area of economically disadvantaged sub population. This is the largest sub population in our district.
Evaluate - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research and identify at least 3 strategies for evaluating the improvement plans or recommendations.
1. Results compared to District and Campus Improvement Plans. Are plans being used?
2. Data – District wide data, Campus data, district assessments and benchmarks, released test, classroom walk through data
3. Surveys – staff surveys, parent surveys, student surveys, community surveys.
I have identified areas of concerns, areas of affirmation, recommendations and a way to evaluate them all. All these steps of the CARE Model assisted me in designing a district improvement initiative research plan.
My three areas of concern are closely related and correlate with each other. District wide, we must increase the rigor and level of Bloom’s Taxonomy questioning being used in our classrooms on a daily basis, this must be occurring in all classrooms; kindergarten – 12th grade, in order for students to be successful on upcoming STAAR assessments. Although this needs to be occurring for all subject levels it is crucial that our district focus our efforts on the math and science subject area as this is an area we are already struggling at several grade levels under the previous accountability system. It is also critical that all stakeholders, specifically members of the site based decision making committees understand their role and impact they play in developing and communicating district wide decisions, including vision, goals and district improvement plan. I have learned how important it is to have a clear vision and goals in leading a school district or campus. Often times CIP or DIP are just documents on paper and never viewed by other staff members.
I believe our district needs to continue moving forward with the Phil Schlechty Working on the Work framework. The framework is all focused on creating and designing engaging work, work in which students enjoy and work hard on. A higher level of student engagement will lead to increased rigor, including Bloom’s Taxonomy, inside the classroom. In my opinion this increase in student engagement will help students be successful on state assessments. It will also have a positive impact on students attending school. Students will “want” to attend school. This will also impact staff and teacher moral, if students see teachers excited about designing engaging lessons, they are then engaged in the lesson, which in turn should have a direct correlation with classroom discipline. Students (and teachers) will look forward to coming to school, resulting in an increase in attendance (funding). This will begin to exhibit a source of pride which will then filter into homes and the community, all continuing to spread the districts vision and goals.
Our district must also focus our efforts aligning math and science curriculum district wide, especially as students move from campus to campus. Our district has the measures in place to design district wide curriculum but we must do a better job being sure ALL teachers are implementing it. We must do a better job at making data driven decisions using the data we have, including utilizing state and district assessments in Eduphoria. Teachers must understand how to access and analyze student data. It is crucial that all teachers understand and know their grade level or subject TEKS as well as what is expected of them in the next grade level.
Our staff development efforts need to not only focus on the above two categories but also reaching our economically disadvantaged sub population. Economically disadvantaged is our district’s largest sub population. We must continue to focus efforts in strategies which increase student performance in this area.
The coursework and internship activities have allowed me the opportunity to evaluate several key components from a district level standpoint. I feel our school district has a lot of great things happening. We are constantly seeking improvement in the area of student performance.
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