SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
2008-2011
New Hanover
County Schools
Executive Summary
Laney's School
Improvement Plan was developed by the School Improvement Team using input from
all staff members. The School
Improvement Team presented the final draft and it was approved by a total faculty
vote. Laney’s School Improvement Team
consists of representatives from each grade level, each department, support staff, custodial staff,
administration, guidance, students and four parents representing the diversity
of our student population. All
departments worked collaboratively with department heads and administration to
design action plans to support the goals that were formulated by the School
Improvement Team.
The goals
designed by the School Improvement Team were formulated from the review of
relevant school data. The following
pieces of data were used in this endeavor:
End of Course test scores from all tested subjects for the past two
years (Alg. 2, Biology, Physical Science, Physics, Chemistry not included in
ABC growth for 2007 -2008) Annual Yearly Progress data, parent and student
surveys, Teacher Working Condition Survey and relevant school data (EC
referrals, discipline data, volunteer hours, etc.). An analysis of the data indicates that Laney
has performed both above and below the state average in end of course testing. Specifically, Laney showed an overall
increase in proficiencies in all areas with the exception of Civics and US
History. The overall school composite
increased almost 5%. Laney also saw an
increase on our graduation cohort rate of almost 7% as indicated on Laney’s AYP
report. Laney scored above the state
average in all tested areas except Algebra 1.
It is important to note that despite these
gains, Laney failed to meet several AYP goals and ABC growth goals. A closer look at the data indicates that only
Geometry met the required growth goal and only 44% of our students met the
expected ABC growth goal as a whole, based on the total composite. A review of Laney’s AYP data demonstrates
that achievement gaps are present with black students, economically
disadvantaged students and EC students in both reading and math. Laney also failed to meet the 95% attendance
testing standard in five areas. In
addition to our achievement goals, it is Laney’s goal to meet all attendance goals
by 2009-2010. It is our goal to stretch
every learner academically and score above the state level in all tested areas,
as well as meeting or exceeding growth goals in all tested areas. It is our goal to increase overall student
growth percentiles by 25%. Laney will
also use priority money to hire “At Risk Teachers” to work specifically with
targeted students from targeted subgroups in specific tested areas. These monies will also be used to reduce
suspension rates in all areas.
The Laney
staff will address these issues through the use of rigorous instructional
practices and research based instructional programs that are relevant to
student achievement. Laney will utilize
072 remediation money to purchase new technology, additional instructional supplies and
tutoring services. These resources will
be used directly with our level one and level two students. We are offering services to these students
during the day and afterschool through tutoring and Novanet. Students in academic jeopardy have been
identified and are attending remediation groups in EOC areas through the
Novanet program during the day and afterschool.
Laney will continue to remediate students prior to the end of the
semester and the EOC testing period, as well as Saturday tutoring sessions. At Risk classes have been created to provide
academic support to students in English 1 & 2 and Algebra. Laney’s EC resource classes have been
restructured to include EOC review. It
is our intention that this remediation plan will help students prior to testing
and course failure, helping both test scores and student success rates. Additional spending of all school dollars
will be directed toward student and teacher needs.
In addition,
all of our staff is participating in a Best Practices Professional Learning
Community to help raise student achievement.
Laney Staff development dollars will be used to support specific staff
development opportunities directly related to the School Improvement Plan. Laney has collaborated with all of the 9-12
schools in the county and the staff development department to host Larry Bell
to conduct staff development on reducing the achievement gap. Laney will strive to stretch all learners
academically and promote social development during the course of each
instructional day.
The administration
of Laney will continue to improve school climate and unify school staff through
an open door policy and through empowerment of teachers by using the North
Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey.
The administration is using the Teacher Working Condition Survey to
drive staff development needs and to improve teacher working conditions. Laney's School Improvement Team will meet
monthly throughout the year to review, maintain focus and reevaluate school
wide needs for improvement. In addition,
the administration will meet with department heads on a monthly basis to maintain
focus on school improvement goals and to seek input on school wide issues. Administration wil also meet monthly, and
more frequently if needed, with EOC
cluster groups to discuss progress on NCSCOS and mastery of these goals. The administration will work closely with
teachers to facilitate the use of best practices that have been offered during
staff development.
Laney will
also seek ways to increase safety and wellness standards for students and staff. Laney will continue to use parent conferences
on a regular basis as well as In School Suspension to decrease out of school
suspension. Laney has also created a
Family Involvement Team to work with students that are struggling in school. Laney
will also strive to improve building cleanliness.
Laney is
confident that these school improvement efforts will increase overall student
achievement. Laney’s plan was approved
by the faculty 86 – 1, by secret ballot voting.
Strategic
Planning
Instructions for
School
Goal established by
the Ž School’s Priority Ž
Result State Board of
Education Improvement
Goals Measures
|
Goal 1 Globally Competitive
Students |
a) Increase AYP
proficiency (goals met) by 30 % evident by 2008-2009 AYP report. b) Decrease achievement gap by 25% among
subgroups evident by 2008-2009 report. c) Increase ABC growth rate by 25% evident by
ABC summary report. |
AYP summary report EOC Testing Data Teacher Assessments ClassScapes AYP summary report ABC summary report |
SBE
Goal: Globally Competitive Students
School Priority
Goal: 1a, 1b, 1c,
|
Strategies/Activities |
Name
of Responsible Person |
Timeline |
Monitoring
Method |
|
Regular cluster
meetings to discuss instructional goals based on NCSCOS. All Laney teachers will
participate in Best Practices Professional Learning Community. Reducing Achievement
Gap staff development with Larry Bell. ClassScapes will be
used to diagnose student achievement and direct instruction for mastery level
learning in EOC exit standard areas. Administration will
regularly monitor testing audits to ensure 95% attendance in tested areas. At Risk Teacher will
work with repeating 10th graders and identified 9th
graders from AYP subgroups to increase proficiency. Implementation of AVID
teaching practices. Formative assessment
training with Marzano. |
Department Chairs and
administration. Teachers, Principal Principal Alg. 1, Biology,
Civics, English 1, US History teachers, Dept. Chairs, administration. NCWise coordinator,
counselors, Testing coordinator, Principal At Risk teachers,
administration AVID Site Team,
Administration Laney teachers
attending training and provide staff development. |
Ongoing through June
2009 Ongoing through June
2009 November 2008 Ongoing through June
2009 Monthly through June
2009 January 2009 & June
2009 October 31, 2008 October 9, 2008 |
Administration will
attend cluster meetings. Agendas. Reflections Staff development
rosters ClassScape reports,
computer lab schedules Testing Audits Teacher records Staff dev. rosters Cluster agendas and
meeting notes. |
Strategic
Planning
Instructions for
School
Goal established by
the Ž School’s
Priority Ž Result
State Board of Education
Improvement
Goals Measures
|
Goal 2 21sst Century
Professionals |
a)
90%of staff
development monies will be spent to support School Improvement goals. b) Increase community and business
partnerships. |
Quarterly Finance
reports Subcommittee meeting
notes Requisition forms Increase by 3 by
June2009 |
SBE
Goal: 21st century professionals
School Priority
Goal: 2a, 2b
|
Strategies/Activities |
Name
of Responsible Person |
Timeline |
Monitoring
Method |
|
Staff development
subcommittee will be formed to review and approve staff development requests
to ensure spending supports school improvement goals. Requisitions forms will
be aligned to school improvement goals to demonstrate alignment to school
improvement plan. Department Chairs will
continue to monitor departmental spending and monitor departmental needs and
report monthly to administration. Administration will
actively look for community and business partnerships for |
Administration, staff
development subcommittee, school finance person Principal, school
finance person Department Chairs Administration |
Ongoing through June
2009 June 2009 June 2009 June 2009 |
Mid and end of year
review. Requisition forms Requisition forms Evidence of established
partnerships. |
Strategic
Planning
Instructions for
School
Goal established by
the Ž School’s
Priority Ž
Result State Board of
Education Improvement
Goals Measures
|
Goal 3 Healthy responsible
students & Safe and Orderly Environment |
a)
Laney will
reduce suspensions of all students by 25%. b)
Improve
cleanliness of school and improve overall cleanliness ratings. c)
Improve
building safety for students and staff. d)
Improve
outside and hallway monitoring of students e)
Use of
Family Intervention Team to assist students having difficulty finding
success. |
Monthly suspension data Daily suspension goals Building inspections Monthly drill reports Work Order Completions Duty Schedules |
SBE
Goal: Healthy Responsible Students
School Priority
Goal: 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d
|
Strategies/Activities |
Name
of Responsible Person |
Timeline |
Monitoring
Method |
|
Reducing Achievement
Gap staff development with Larry Bell. Classroom Management
Staff Development Creation of In School Suspension
to reduce Out of School Suspensions Monthly and quarterly
safety drills. Mindset staff
development for staff. Daily building inspections Random metal
detector screenings Increased supervision
of students during non-instructional times. |
Principal Principal, Staff
Development Dept. Principal, ISS Teacher,
Dean of Students Principal, teachers Principal, teachers Safety team, administration Laney Mindset Trainers Administration,
custodians Safety team Administration, duty
teachers |
November 9, 2008 September 2008 Monthly monitoring May 2009 March 2009 Ongoing June 2009 Ongoing As needed daily |
Schoollinks Schoollimks Monthly reports Schoollinks Teacher reflections Monthly reports Staff development
rosters Quarterly building
reports Safety reports Duty rosters |
Strategic
Planning
Instructions for
School
Goal established by
the Ž School’s
Priority Ž
Result State Board of
Education Improvement
Goals Measures
|
Goal 4 Leadership for
Innovation |
a) Create Transparency in school spending
through communication and staff development. b) 90 percent of resources will be spent by
teachers through Dept. chairs and administration. c) Increase teacher input into site based
decisions impacting d) Increase parent participation at |
Teacher Working
Condition Survey Staff development
rosters Quarterly finance
reports School Improvement
Meeting Notes, Department Chair Meeting Notes Volunteer hours and
rosters of booster groups |
SBE
Goal: Leadership for innovation
School Priority
Goal: 4a ,4b, 4c, 4d
|
Strategies/Activities |
Name
of Responsible Person |
Timeline |
Monitoring
Method |
|
Monthly school
leadership meetings Monthly Dept. Chair
meetings Weekly, biweekly, and
monthly cluster meetings. Use of news letter ,
web pages and Alert Now to increase parental participation in booster groups
and volunteering. |
Principal, SLT chair Principal, Dept Chairs Administration, Dept.
Chairs, Lead teachers of clusters Administration,
Directors, Parent Leaders |
June 2009 June 2009 June 2009 Ongoing |
Agendas, minutes Agendas, meeting notes Agendas, meeting notes Meeting Notes, AlertNow
reports, volunteer hours |
Strategic
Planning
Instructions for
School
Goal established by
the Ž School’s
Priority Ž
Result State Board of
Education Improvement
Goals Measures
|
Goal 5 Planning and
operational effectiveness |
a)
By the end
of 2008-2009, Laney will improve building cleanliness ratings to a 3.3 or
lower as determined by quarterly building reports. b)
School
spending will be proportionally spent throughout the course of the school
year to prevent return unused funds |
Building Inspection
Reports Quarterly finance
reports |
SBE
Goal: Planning and operational
effectiveness
School Priority
Goal: 5a, 5b
|
Strategies/Activities |
Name
of Responsible Person |
Timeline |
Monitoring
Method |
|
Daily building needs
assessments conducted by administration and shared with custodial staff. Reorganization of
custodial staff into teams to maximize cleaning efficiency. Utilization of
quarterly building reports to drive building cleanliness improvements. Monitor staff
development and instructional spending to prevent return of state and federal
funds. |
Laney Administration Laney Administration,
head custodian Custodial inspectors,
head custodian, Laney Administration Principal, school
finance person, staff development subcommittee. |
Quarterly cleaning
reports. September 2008 June 2009 Monthly |
Administration Administration Administration Building inspectors Health Departments Teacher feedback Parent feedback Monthly financial
updates |
School-Based Management and Accountability Plan
WAIVER REQUEST
LEA NAME New
1.
Identify the State laws, rules, or policies which inhibit the school’s
ability to improve student performance.
N.C. G. S. 115C - 301
N.C. G.S.
115C - 98
Identify the waiver you are requesting.
Class size and text book monies
2.
Specify how the waiver will be used.
To exceed state
class size minimums when appropriate.
To move textbook
monies, if needed, to purchase instructional supplies and offset the costs of
staff development.
3.
Explain how the waiver will permit the school to improve student
performance.
The class size
waiver will allow for the prevention of disruption of the school environment
due to master schedule constraints. The waiver will allow for some teachers to
remain in teams and preserve the teamingconcept for 9th graders. Allowing the school to move textbook monies gives
additional flexibility to purchase needed supplies when instructional dollars
are depleted.