DATA RETREAT PRINCIPAL’S MID-YEAR

REPORT 2009-10

Vandercook Lake High School

Principal: Mark Schonhard

Subject Area: Writing

GOAL All teaching staff at VCL will improve skills in the

writing process in all ELA grade levels 6-12, so that 80% of students show proficient and advanced levels on the 7th grade 2010 MEAP Writing while accelerating the performance of students with disabilities so that 60% show proficient and advanced levels. In addition, 61% of students in 11th grade will achieve proficiency in order to reach AYP, while accelerating the performance of students with disabilities so that a 15% raise from 2009 will be seen in the writing proficiency in 2010 MME. Also, our district will administer a writing assessment three times each year in grades 6-12 (7th grade will test twice). The average score should increase one rubric level between the pre and post test.

What group of students is targeted with this goal:All students in grades 6-12

Objective 1

All ELA teachers in grades 9-12 will develop and implement a writing assessment which will be administered three times during the school year to measure improvement in the writing process.

Evidence of Action

• Common Theme for the Writing Prompts: CHOICES

• K-6 = Narrative Prompt• 7-12 = Persuasive Prompt• September (Pre Assessment) = Prompt A• February (Mid Assessment) = Prompt B• May (Post Assessment) = Either A or B

Evidence of Action (continued)

Writing Prompts: Choice

September9th Grade: How do cell phones affect the atmosphere of a classroom? Pick a side and support your answer with specific details.

10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade: Many educators debate the use of cell phones in class. Some feel that cell phone use in class interrupts the learning process. They feel that cell phones are distracting and could be used for inappropriate reasons. Others feel that cell phones could be used for curricular reasons and contribute to the learning process. In your opinion, should you be allowed to use your cell phone in class? In your essay, take a position on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

Evidence of Action (continued)

Writing Prompts: Choice

February9th Grade:This year Vandercook Lake Schools decided to eliminate nutrition break. Do you feel that nutrition break was a benefit to your education and well being or do you think eliminating this break was the right decision? Pick a side and support your answer with specific details.

10th, 11th, and 12th Grade:This year Vandercook Lake Schools decided to eliminate nutrition break. Many educators felt that nutrition break provided students a nutritional boost to enhance their academic performance while holding them over till lunch. Other educators felt that nutrition break became a social opportunity that was often abused. In your opinion, should VCL reinstate nutrition break?In your essay, take a position on this question. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

Evidence of Action (continued)

• Writing prompts given on Sept. 21-25• Staff training on scoring prompts

using the ACT Rubric• Writing prompts scored by entire staff

using the ACT Rubric (grades 7-12), and MEAP Rubric (grade 6)

• Future prompts given in February and May

Is It Working?

• Common Initiative Among All Staff

• Writing Data For This Year (no MEAP Scores)

• Evaluation of Scores and Discussion of Possible Interventions

• Will Be Added to Data Director

Objective 2

Teachers will create a common format 6-12, which will unify teaching practices within the writing process as assessed through the MEAP and MME.

Evidence of Action

• Discussion/notes from monthly meetings

• In-progress for 2nd semester

• Research on different types of writing processes through conference attendance

Is It Working?

• Discussion / Ideas during monthly meetings

Objective 3

ELA teachers will develop an organizational structure for teaching grammar in grades1-11, to improve the grammar portion on the ACT.

Evidence of Action

• Structure for teaching grammar created in November.

• GLCE’s/HSCE’s used as a reference for this structure.

Grammar Structure Grades 1-11

GRADE1 Capital letters Question Marks Capitalizing Names

Periods Exclamation Points Pronoun "I"

2 Nouns Commas Colons (denoting time)Verbs Contractions Capitalizing Proper Nouns

3 Subjects/Verbs in Agreement Commas in a SeriesVerb Tenses Begin use of Quotation MarksNouns and Possessives Capitalization in Dialogue

4 Simple/Compound sentences Common and Proper Nouns Apostrophes in ContractionsDirect/Indirect Objects Pronouns as Antecedents Commas in SalutationsPrepositional Phrases Regular and Irregular Verbs Quotation Marks and ItalicsAdjectives Hyphens between Syllables

5 Compound Subjects/Predicates Hyphens in Compounds Commas Between Indpendent ClausesProper Nouns/Pronouns Hyphens in Number WordsArticles ClausesConjunctions Colons

Grammar Structure Grades 1-11 continued

6 Indefinite pronouns Predicate pronouns Superlatives CommasTransitive Verbs Intransitive Verbs Conjunctions Quotation MarksAdjective Phrase Adverbial Phrase Compound Sentences Underlining and ItalicsAdjective Subordinate Clause Adverbial Subordinate Clause AppositivesComparative Adverbs Comparative Adjectives Independent ClausesDependent Clause Introductory Phrases Periods

7 Participial Phrase Adverbial Subordinate Clause Superlative AdjectivesSuperlative Adverbs Present,past, future continuous verb tensesParentheses Singular Possessive Forms Plural Possessive FormsIndefinite Pronouns

8 Infinitives GerundsParticipial Phrases DashesEllipses

9 HSCE'sDemonstrate use of conventions of grammar, usage, and mechanics in written texts, including parts of speech,sentence structure and variety, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

10 HSCE'sReorganize sentence elements as needed and choose grammatical and stylistic options that provide sentencevariety, fluency, and flow.

11 HSCE's

Is It Working?

• Teachers planning curriculum maps for implementation in 2010-11

• Sharing of creative ideas in teaching grammar.

What’s Next?

• Evaluation of writing prompt scores

• Progress Monitoring Visit