Norwich Public Schools District Improvement Plan

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1 Norwich Public Schools District Improvement Plan Abby I. Dolliver, Superintendent 90 Town Street, Norwich, CT

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3 Goals VISION To enable each child to reach his/her full potential. MISSION The Norwich Public Schools will provide each student a rigorous, effective teaching and learning environment where equity is the norm, excellence is the goal, and student health and safety is assured. BOARD OF EDUCATION GOALS The Board of Education believes that the ultimate goal of an education in the district schools should be to prepare each student for a world of rapid change and unforeseeable demands, while retaining the basic values and democratic principles of the American culture. Further, the district has outlined below student learning goals for our students and professional learning goals for us all as members of our educational community. STUDENT LEARNING GOALS All Norwich Public Schools students will be challenged to develop, embrace and attain learning goals that encapsulate the following essential elements as a means to prepare them to be independent thinkers and collaborative team players invested in building a better future. Inquiry: Students show intellectual curiosity and wonder about the world. Students ask thoughtful questions, and seek out answers.

4 Expression: Students communicate what they know and what they need to know. Students construct arguments with evidence and critique the reasoning of others. Critical Thinking: Students analyze, synthesize, and draw conclusions from information. Students generate solutions to problems using both creative and critical thought. Students keep an open mind to different viewpoints. Collaboration: Students contribute to the overall effort of the group. Students work well with diverse individuals in various situations. Students initiate and cultivate community partnerships. Organization: Students sift through ideas and data, arranging them wisely and make sense of them. Students set manageable goals, plan, and monitor time to achieve them. Attentiveness: Students focus on the task at hand and focus on details of their work. Perseverance: Students demonstrate tenacity in tackling tasks despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Reflection: Students review and think about their actions and work with the purpose of learning more about themselves. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING GOALS As a professional learning community we will ask thoughtful questions to analyze and draw conclusions while remaining curious about diverse student needs. The learning community fosters high expectations, effective communication, strong relationships and ownership of learning through engaged collaboration and inquiry. Inquiry: We observe and are curious about our students and their interests. We value quantitative and qualitative data, ask hard questions and collectively create solutions. We are in a constant state of inquiry about our own practice as educators modeling lifelong learning.

5 Expression: We communicate our professional learning needs as they relate to district goals and as part of creating a structure of support for our development of a unified mindset. Critical Thinking: We analyze, synthesize, and draw conclusions from multiple sources; utilizing this data to generate solutions to problems, rooted in best practice, through both creative and critical thought. Collaboration: We contribute to the overall effort of the group working well with diverse individuals in various situations. We initiate and cultivate partnerships between and amongst buildings and departments and the greater Norwich community. Attentiveness: We stay focused on the task at hand and on the details of our work while keeping clear of the greater district goals. Perseverance: We demonstrate, and model for our students, tenacity in tackling tasks despite difficulty or delay in achieving success, and recognizing the learning opportunities inherent in mistakes and the value of taking risks. Reflection: We review and think about our actions and work with the purpose of learning more about ourselves. Reference: Board Policy 000 Purposes-Goals-Objectives

6 Norwich Public School Community Philosophy Statements The Norwich Public School Community includes all students, families, staff, and community members. We believe that coherence is built from a unified mindset in all that we do. Our practices are grounded in our shared philosophies and guide the essential work we do with students. Culture and Climate: We cultivate a safe and positive school environment where we build a strong community through collaboration, communication and commitment. We are dedicated to advancing students academically and socially in preparation for success in school and beyond. Family and Community Engagement: We build positive and effective partnerships committed to the success of all students. We honor each others contributions to ensure a positive school community that fosters consistent communication and positive relationships. Curriculum: We believe that district curriculum is a blueprint for learning, driven by content, performance and practice standards, thoughtfully sequenced, paced and organized into units of study, planned with the end in mind. Our curriculum provides students with guaranteed experiences, leaves space for teacher creativity, specifies what the student will know and be able to do at each grade level, and centers the student as the worker of the content. Our curriculum provides teachers with a viable, understandable, user-friendly, relevant document as a basis for planning instruction for their individual students. Instruction: We believe all students can learn at high levels. We believe how our students succeed in school and beyond, is at the heart of teaching and learning. Across all content areas, teachers use workshop methods, as defined in the

7 Instructional Framework, to deliver instruction in a predictable structure with significant amounts of time for students to practice and for teachers to provide feedback. Teachers use curriculum, student interest and assessment to carefully design differentiated lessons to engage students in critical thinking, problem solving, cooperative learning, discourse and goal setting. Assessment: We define assessment as information that is collected, analyzed, organized and interpreted for a purpose. We believe there are multiple purposes for assessment: to inform instruction, measure progress, to enrich & intervene, to provide insight into strengths & weaknesses of students, to provide stakeholders with the information (academic, attendance and social emotional learning data) they need to set measurable and achievable goals, and to help make decisions about curriculum, instruction and programming. We believe to effectively use data we must collect the right information in the right way so it has timely and actionable value for all stakeholders. Professional Development: We believe professional learning provides each educator access to opportunities to engage in continuous, collaborative, career-long learning to refine and enhance practice. We believe high quality learning is a process that ensures all educators have equitable access to relevant professional practices which advance students academic and nonacademic outcomes.

8 District Improvement Plan District Data Team Members: Abby Dolliver, Tom Baird, Athena Nagel, Jamie Bender, Sarah Fuchs, Jody Lefkowitz, Kristie Bourdoulous, Kara Levenduski, Kaitlyn O Leary, Sarah Brouillier, Vanessa Lazine, Kristen Talley, Penny McLean, Bill Priest, Jessie Wraichette, Marc Gaudet, Kim Jacobs, Beth Belliveau, John Medvec, Kelsey Lofgren, Sarah Mackiewicz CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT: If we establish a curriculum and instructional framework, develop curriculum materials to support the framework including guaranteed experiences and shared assessments, and support teachers in bringing task-based instruction to the classroom Then students will be engaged through inquiry, expression, critical thinking, collaboration, organization, attentiveness, perseverance, and reflection while teachers are addressing gaps through ongoing formative assessment coupled with small group instruction And the impact will be high-quality instruction that fosters significant progress towards student outcomes where students are motivated to continue learning and mastering skills needed for 21 st century life. Strategy Develop district-wide curriculum in all content areas. Professional Development (PD), Data Sources, Action Steps Provide PD in curriculum writing for the district curriculum framework, performance assessments, guaranteed experiences. Provide specific content PD in implementation years as outlined below. Mid/End-year Impact and Recommended Action Steps Mid-year Update: K-5 Math and Science curriculum was drafted during summer 17 and is currently being implemented. Approximately twenty teachers worked on each content area. Specific grade level professional development is planned for

9 Develop and implement a district-wide general walkthrough tool for the instructional framework with content specific extensions. Develop K-5 Science and Math curriculum in Summer 2017 with implementation in Develop K-5 ELA and Social Studies Curriculum in Summer 2018 with implementation in Develop K-8 Extended Core curriculum ongoing. Schedule is to be determined. Develop 6-8 Core Curriculum on-going inclusive of Magnet Theme Integration. Schedule is to be determined. Impact Data: SBAC Growth Targets, State PE Test (Overall Score) Develop the walkthrough tool to answer the problem of practice: to what extent is our curriculum being implemented with clarity and at what depth of knowledge? Include walkthroughs as a key strategy in all School Improvement Plans around school specific problems of practice. Utilize data at the building level to develop and implement strategies for improving instruction connected to the Norwich Instructional Framework including PD for all staff and coaching cycles for teachers. math in grades 4 and 5. Summer curriculum will need to be adjusted with an accelerated paced curriculum development for both middle magnet schools. K-5 ELA curriculum development will be dependent on staffing to oversee the project and the rollout in the school year. The District Curriculum Council decided to slow down the development of K-5 social studies. The Council decided that elementary teachers needed professional development in social studies prior to being able to create a social studies curriculum aligned to the new state social studies standards. K-8 Extended Core Curriculum Scope and Sequences have begun to be constructed. Mid-year Update: Calibration and tool finetuning completed during September and October. Walk-through data is referenced in all School Improvement Plans with connections to school level action steps. Baseline data collection currently being collected in four walkthrough sessions at each school in December and January with different teachers and administrators participating at each session. District Data Team will review data in February and determine data trends and next steps.

10 Implement the Assessment Committee recommendations. Impact Data: Walkthrough Data, SBAC Growth Targets, State PE Test (Overall Score) Grow a shared understanding of the purpose of assessment in NPS with revisions to tier one assessment tools and calendar. Increase consistency in collecting, organizing, analyzing, sharing and reporting data to stakeholders. Build common language and practice around behavior/attendance frequency data. Implement online assessment tool and data management platform (scaffolded across multiple years). Implement consistent data management (entrance/exit criteria, cut points, graphs) around SRBI and SST. Develop a plan for Standards Based Report Cards 6-8 implementation. Impact Data: SBAC Growth Targets, State PE Test (Overall Score), CMT Science, Attendance/Behavioral Data Mid-year Update: New internal benchmark unit assessment reporting systems was developed during summer 17 and is currently being implemented. Competed shift from NWEA MAP to SBAC Interim System. These two shifts resulted in the district implementing a responsive assessment system. Building Instructional Specialists are partnering with Building Principals to use this system for grade level data team meetings with a focus on using data to plan for student interventions. The attendance handbook and the Board of Education Attendance Policy revisions will be completed in January/February with immediate implementation. Attention will then shift towards building new attendance and behavior data systems with implementation for the school year. A committee has been established to begin work on the Standards Based Report Cards for both magnet middle schools with a plan for a three year rolling implementation beginning in grade 6 in the school year, grade 7 in 19-20, and grade 8 in

11 Implement consistent district-wide practices for our high-needs population. Review building level SRBI (intervention) and SST (Student Support Team) practices. Develop and implement consistent districtwide SRBI and SST practices. Include English Learner and Special Education teachers in grade level datateam meetings in order to plan for specialized instruction for students. Provide PD for teachers on specialized instruction. Include English Learner and Special Education teachers in the curriculum development process in all content areas. Impact Data: SBAC Growth Targets, number of students no longer requiring services Mid-year Update: SST and SRBI existing practices were reviewed during fall 17. A new SST and SRBI Collaborative consisting of all Administrators, Instructional Specialists, and some pupil services staff, will begin working on creating consistent practices related to SST and SRBI systems in February. English Learner and Special Education teachers have been included in grade level data-team meetings in order to plan for specialized instruction for students. English Learner and Special Education teachers were involved in the curriculum development process this summer and will continue this upcoming summer. Professional Development for staff on specialized instruction is continuous. More specific professional development in specialized instruction for special education staff is currently being planned. CULTURE, CLIMATE AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT: If we collaborate with students, families, and our professional community to establish positive relationships coupled with clear expectations... Then students, families, and our professional community will feel welcomed, valued, and supported And the impact will be a positive culture and climate that fosters a safe school environment.

12 Strategy Implement consistent district-wide culture and climate practices. Professional Development, Data Sources, Action Steps Implement restorative practices, inclusive of trauma informed teaching strategies, district-wide during the school year. Train administration and select social workers, psychologist and teachers on advanced tiered restorative practices with implementation during the school year. Create district-wide structures for collecting and analyzing attendance and behavioral data with implementation during the school year. Monitor the implementation of the District Security and Safety Plan through the existing District Security and Safety Committee. Impact Data: Climate Survey, Attendance/Behavioral Data, Tiered intervention data Mid/End-year Impact and Recommended Action Steps Mid-year update: All initial professional development has been completed in restorative practices with all certified staff and paraprofessionals. Additional trauma informed professional development will be on-going. Monitoring through classroom observations and the district walkthrough tool has been implemented. District Data Team will review data in February and determine data trends and next steps. The attendance handbook and the Board of Education Attendance Policy revisions will be completed in January/February with immediate implementation. Attention will then shift towards building new attendance and behavior data systems with implementation for the school year. The District Security and Safety Plan has been updated and distributed. The Committee continues to meet quarterly to review the plan and incidents in order to continue to learn and make improvements to the plan.

13 Develop a unified mindset of social emotional learning with associated action steps towards implementing consistent district-wide practices. Train District Leadership Team and SEL curriculum team on Social Emotional Learning during school year. Develop a professional development plan for SEL with the SEL curriculum team. Write a Social Emotional Learning Curriculum during Summer 2018 with implementation during the school year. Impact Data: Climate Survey, Attendance/Behavioral Data Mid-year Update: Several schools have taken initial steps to pilot Social Emotional Learning programs with an eye towards building a district-wide Social Emotional Learning Curriculum in the future. The weekly Mindset Moment Newsletter includes a Social Emotional Learning section as a way to begin to set the stage for future work. Similar to K-5 Social Studies Curriculum, we see the need for more professional development in this area before starting the curriculum development process. We would most likely delay the curriculum development to summer 19. Implement initial districtwide practices for family engagement as we move to implement the new Board of Education (BOE) Policy on Parent and Family Engagement. Develop a school compact with families and schools. Revise the student and family handbook. Develop grade level, parent friendly, academic guides as district academic curricula is developed (tentative implementation for the school year). Develop School Improvement Plans in collaboration with families. Impact Data: Climate Survey, Attendance/Behavioral Data, Compacts, Attendance for conferences, audit family Mid-year Update: Most of this work was completed last summer (compacts and handbook). School Improvement Plans now include Title 1 plans/budgets, were shared with PTOs for input prior to being finalized, and have been posted on our website. This is a significant increase to the family involvement and transparency of our school improvement work. Mid-year updates to School Improvement Plans are currently being completed and then will be posted on-line. The academic guides will be drafted during the school year and implemented during the school year to coincide with the social studies curriculum development and implementation. At least one family engagement event took place at each

14 engagement events/meetings school this fall. SYSTEMS, SAFETY AND OPERATIONS: If we establish coherent practices across district departments, between the district and schools, and amongst schools... Then resources will be deployed consistently and efficiently And the impact will be that we maximized our ability, with the resources available, to achieve our District Student and Professional Learning Goals. Strategy Provide additional Magnet Pathways. Professional Development, Data Sources, Action Steps Expand Magnet pathways to the 6-8 level. Embed existing magnet curricula within district-wide curricular documents. Ensure sustainability of existing magnet themed curriculum supported by grant funding for specialized programs. Investigate new Magnet options for the K-5 level. Impact Data: School Choice Enrollment - reduction of NPS students choosing a non- NPS Middle School option, Increase minority enrollment in honors programs for Mid/End-year Impact and Recommended Action Steps Mid-year Update: Our efforts in this strategy began last summer to ensure additional support to Moriarty Environmental Magnet and Wequonnoc Arts and Technology Magnet with additional grant funding to support existing programing. We are now working to include magnet curriculum extensions/modifications within district curriculum documents to ease curriculum development moving forward. Many of the Moriarty and Wequonnoc staff participated in the science and math curriculum development last summer. Moving into the fall, we secured our Magnet Schools Assistance Program Grant to accelerate our transition to two magnet middle schools.

15 Connect Extended/After School and Summer Learning to our regular day operations to build coherence in our programming, create sustainability in programming, and to connect expertise of staff to student need. grade 9. Modify School Improvement Plans to mirror the District Improvement Plan and include budgets for Title 1. Combine Extended Learning Summer Program and Summer School in order to use economy of scale and shared resources in order to serve more students in both academic interventions and extended learning opportunities. Provide training for extended learning staff so they can target interventions for students who are in the extended learning program. Impact Data: SBAC Growth Targets, State PE Test (Overall Score), CMT Science, Attendance/Behavioral Data We have developed and submitted our year one implementation plans, secured several new staff members to lead the transition work at each school, planned for the placement of the existing staff, began the student recruitment process, facilitated several family information sessions, and began the professional development and curriculum planning. Mid-year Update: School Improvement Plans now include Title 1 plans/budgets, are shared with PTOs for input prior to being finalized, and have been posted on our website. This is a significant increase to the family involvement and transparency of our school improvement work. Mid-year updates to School Improvement Plans are currently being completed and then will be posted on-line. We completed a successful first summer school session last June where students enjoyed a full day program with small group interventions and enrichment programming. Our attendance was stronger as were our academic outcomes. While Veteran s students were able to continue with their summer program in July, our second summer session was cancelled for all other students due to concerns with the state budget. We are now planning a large scale June session with our summer school funding. The timing of the funding makes it very difficult to plan for

16 Improve recruitment and retention of staff. Develop and revise recruiting and interview protocols and procedures including interview rating sheets/rubrics, applications, and reference check forms. Create and implement new teacher orientation program. Execute the Memorandum of Understanding with Relay Connecticut and promote ARC/AARC to support existing staff in obtaining their teaching certification or a new certification. Update and revise Teacher Education and Mentor (TEAM) program. Impact Data: Reduction in staff turnover and increase number of minority teachers. a summer-long session. While some small scale afterschool intervention work began earlier this year, we are looking to expand this work now that we have secured our Priority and Alliance Funding. Mid-year Update: Over the summer we finalized our relationship with Relay and we currently have 13 candidates interested in the program. With a planned regional informational session, provided by Relay this spring. We connected with Three Rivers and Mitchell College to build community relationships and broaden our potential candidates. We created new interview questions to be used district-wide, reference check forms, and application protocols. Additional training in our on-line application platform will be done this spring prior to the hiring season. The New Teacher Orientation program was completed this past August. Overall, the feedback was very positive and allowed for new teachers to start with additional training. Our TEAM program is currently being updated to reflect the new state changes. TBD Facilities TBD Mid-year Update: Facilities continue to be an area of need based on enrollment projections and maintenance of many current buildings. Board of Education direction is needed as to what next steps

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