CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN

2015

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School Committee Members

Chair: Mrs. Margeaux Weber

Vice Chair: Mrs. Stephanie Ellis

Member: Mr. Chris Joyce

Member: Dr. Francis McDonald

Member: Mr. R. Patrick Murphy

Superintendent

Mary Czajkowski, Ed.D

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VISION

Provide a common, standards-based educational program that will enable EVERY student to achieve rigorous performance standards in order to graduate college and career ready.

CORE VALUES

1. All children have the right to every opportunity to achieve their full potential. 2. Each person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. 3. Integrity and personal responsibility are the hallmarks of our daily interactions.

DISTRICT STANDARDS

• Leadership and Governance • Curriculum and Instruction • Assessment • Human Resources and Professional Development • Student Support • Financial and Asset Management

CONDITIONS FOR DISTRICT AND SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS

• Effective district systems for school support and intervention • Effective school leadership • Aligned curriculum • Effective instruction • Student assessment • Principal’s staffing authority • Professional development and structures for collaboration • Tiered instruction and adequate learning time • Students’ social, emotional, and health needs • Family-school engagement • Strategic use of resources and adequate budget authority

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TIGHTLY COUPLED LEADERSHIP

Support for tightly coupled leadership and student achievement is found in the research on high-reliability organizations and in the highest-performing schools systems in the world.1 The Barnstable Public Schools combines strong central and site-based leadership in order to:

• Develop aligned goals • Promote shared responsibility, shared ownership, and shared accountability • Recruit, hire, support, and retain highly qualified staff • Develop and share evidence-based instructional practices • Ensure appropriate facilities for teaching and learning • Align PreK-12 curriculum to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks and the

Common Core

CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS

• Goals are Understood and Committed To • Climate of Trust; Assume Positive Intent • High Expectations • Sense of Belonging • Open, Honest, and Direct Communication • Diversity of Opinions & Ideas is Encouraged • Embrace Conflict • Deal with Concerns Immediately • Focus on Solving Problems Analytically, Not Personally • Put Yourself in Other Person’s Shoes • Value Team First, Your Specialty Area Second • How Do I Contribute to the Problem

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SCHOOL COMMITTEE GOALS

1. Ensure the safety and security of our students 2. Improve the academic rigor of our instructional programs 3. Expand the opportunities for students to participate in extra and co-curricular

programs 4. Adhere to our commitment to fiscal responsibility and policy development 5. Optimize our facilities and technology resources 6. Improve and advance the administrative leadership capacity throughout the

district 7. Strengthen recruitment, retention, and engagement practices for students and staff

SUPERINTENDENT GOALS, 2014-2015

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

1. I will visit schools two days per month, observing instruction in classrooms or attending data team meetings with the Principal and Assistant Superintendent.

DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT

1. By June 30, 2015, District Determined Measures (DDMs) will be identified for every grade and subject for teachers and DDMs will be identified for all administrators in accordance with Educator Evaluation regulations.

2. By June 30, 2015, continue to focus 50% of leadership team meetings on supporting administrators to calibrate observations, develop a common language regarding collections of evidence as part of the educator evaluation, and set meaningful goals which impact student learning.

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3. By June 30, 2015, complete District Review and present District Review findings to School Committee.

STANDARD I: INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

1. Begin the two-year process to develop a multi-tier system of supports that includes evidence-based instruction, universal screening, progress monitoring, formative assessment, research-based interventions matched to student needs, and educational decision-making using student outcome data.

2. Increase the median Student Growth Percentile (SGP) in Grade 4 Math from 32 to 34.

STANDARD II: MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

1. Improve the teaching and learning environment for our integrated Pre-K program for all students and teachers through the construction of a new Early Learning Center (ELC) with an occupancy date of February 2015.

2. Based upon the 2013-2014 School Safety and Discipline Report, reduce the number of school days missed in lost instructional time by 10% at Barnstable Intermediate School.

3. As part of the July 2014 School Safety and Security Report develop and communicate to staff a protocol to identify and intervene with students struggling socially and emotionally.

4. The recruitment and retention of 12 new administrators in Barnstable effective July 2014. Incorporate a retention rate of 75% or greater within three years of those new administrators. This will involve facilitating between six and eight coaching meetings focusing on Educator Evaluation, data-based decision making, and opportunities for professional growth.

5. Develop a program for training paraprofessional staff working in inclusive classrooms, concentrating on the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals.

STANDARD III: FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

1. Engage community and business leaders in order to increase awareness of our schools through school visits and participation in school events.

2. Partner with Cape Cod Broadcasting to market our schools for the purpose of increasing student enrollment.

STANDARD IV: PROFESSIONAL CULTURE

1. Continued communication and collaboration with the Special Education Parent Advisory Council.

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DISTRICT PERFORMANCE TARGETS

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2014 ACCOUNTABILITY LEVEL

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THEORY OF ACTION

Theory of Action is comprised of a set of strategic actions that are intentionally used for continuous improvement. The leadership decisions underlying these actions have emerged through analysis, discussions, and reflections on the work of school and district improvement over time, and best practices in district leadership and related evidence-based research.

If we…..

then student engagement and learning will improve.

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STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT THE THEORY OF ACTION

• Build school and district leadership capacity with highly qualified administrators.

• Build district capacity to collect, analyze and use student performance data at the

school, classroom, and district levels.

• Provide principals, directors, and curriculum coordinators with the professional

development to understand how to analyze school and district data and to share this

data with classroom teachers to adjust and improve their practice through ongoing

reflection and assessments.

• Expect that all central office administrators, directors, principals, and curriculum

coordinators establish weekly school visits for the purpose of developing our own

capacity and understanding of effective instructional practices and to model the

importance of actually “looking at” teaching and learning to better understand best

practices.

• Model and further develop a district and school culture of self-reflection and request

for feedback in a non-threatening and non-judgmental manner.

• When we demonstrate the non-negotiable practices and maintain the five standards

and components of MTSS, we will attain student academic achievement and social-

emotional competencies for ALL students.

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APPENDIX A – PRIORITIES AND ACTIONS 2011

“BUILDING A BRIDGE” 2012

“CHALLLENGE AND CHANGE” 2013

“LEADING ALL STUDENTS: REFLECTION AND COURAGE”

2014 “TEACHING, LEADING, AND LEARNING: WHAT MATTERS

MOST” • Superintendent’s 90-Day Plan

• Introduction of Six District

Standards and Eleven Conditions for Effective Schools

• Conditions for Effective Schools Self-Assessment

• School Facilities Advisory

Committee

• Superintendent House Calls

• National Institute of School Leadership Cohort I

• Recruitment, Retention, and

Engagement Plan: “You Belong in Barnstable”

• Implementation of MMSI

• Implementation of Educator Evaluation System: 9 Elements

• K-12 Insight Staff Survey

• Characteristics of Positive

Behavioral and Intervention Supports

• College and Career Readiness

Program Review

• Assessment of Behavioral and Therapeutic Services, Grades PreK-4

• Health Services Program Review

• Development of School

Committee Goals aligned with District Goals

• Elementary Curriculum Leader,

K-5

• Expansion of Data Available to Teachers and Creation of School-based Data Teams

• Pilot PARCC • Formation of new SEPAC and

Administrative Training • SEPAC Action Plan • iPad Initiative, 7th Grade • Clinical and Educational Services

Analysis of Special Education Related Services

• Evaluation of Team Chairs, Special Education

• Gateway (Gifted and Talented Program) Review

• Approval for Funding a new Early Learning Center

• Professional Development: Educator Evaluation, Baseline Edge, Edwin Teaching and Learning, District Determined Measures, Truancy Prevention, Assessment Inventory

• CIA Teams for Standards-Based Unit Development (K-5)

• Coaching Program for New Administrators

• Implementation of all elements of Educator Evaluation System

• Action Plan for District Determined Measures (DDMs)

• District Review • Partnership with National Center

for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) for “Schools that Work” project to develop action plan for Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS)

• Preparation of Students and Teachers for PARCC

• Review for Use of Time-Out and Seclusion

• SEI Endorsement Training • Develop Non-negotiables for

Instruction and Student Achievement

• Professional Development: Educator Evaluation, Baseline Edge, Chapter 222

• Jumpstart to Grade 4 • Jumpstart to Kindergarten (HyW)

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APPENDIX B - PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE FOR ALL EDUCATORS

Barth, Roland and Rebecca DuFour, On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities (2005) Bennis, Warren G., Organizing Genius: Secrets of Creative Collaboration (1997) City, Elizabeth A., Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improve Teaching and Learning (2009) Collins, Jim, Good to Great and the Social Sectors (2006) Crane, Thomas G., The Heart of Coaching: Using Transformational Coaching to Create A High Performance Coaching Culture (2002) Curtis, Richard and Elizabeth A. City, Strategy in Action: How School Systems Can Support Powerful Learning and Teaching (2009) Elmore, Richard F., Building a New Structure for School Leadership (2000) Freidman, Thomas, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (2005) Greene, Ross W., Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them (2014) Knoff, Howard M., School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self- Management (2012) Kotter, John, Leading Change: An Action Plan from the World’s Foremost Expert on Business Leadership (1996) 1Marzano, Robert J., District Leadership that Works: Striking the Right Balance (2009) Michelli, Joseph A., The Starbucks Experience: Five Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary (2009) Stigler, James and James E. Hiebert, The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World’s Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom (2009) Stone, Douglas, Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (2014) Staver, Mike, Leadership Isn’t For Cowards: How to Drive Performance by Challenging People and Confronting Problems (2012)

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APPENDIX C – NON-NEGOTIABLE PRACTICES FOR ACHIEVEMENT AND INSTRUCTION

• Student needs and performance data will drive the district's financial processes; the

district will provide sufficient financial resources to ensure educationally sound programs and facilities for ALL stakeholders.

• The district will support professional development designed to ensure fidelity of curriculum and intervention implementation, attain student achievement and a safe learning environment in order to ensure equity, access, and success for ALL students, while supporting instructional program goals.

• ALL educators will work collaboratively, frequently and effectively to develop, implement, and monitor curriculum and interventions and adjust practice based on summative and formative assessment data.

• ALL district stakeholders will share responsibility, ownership, and accountability to increase opportunities and achievement for ALL students.

• ALL district schools will maintain a safe learning environment and make effective use of a positive tiered system of supports for addressing the social, emotional, and health needs of students that incorporates a strong working relationship with families and appropriate community partners.