Wake County Public School System

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wake County Public School System Board Update // July 21, 2015

Table of Contents Strategic Plan Update 2 Vision 2020 Delivery Report 3 Learning and Teaching: To provide educators and students with the opportunity to participate in a relevant, rigorous, innovative, and comprehensive learning environment 5 Achievement: To increase proficiency and growth rates across all groups and eliminate predictability of achievement 8 Balanced Assessment: To develop and implement a balanced assessment system that accurately reflects students knowledge of core curriculum standards as well as the ability to collaborate, be creative, communicate, and think critically 10 Human Capital: To identify, recruit, develop and retain highly effective talent 12 Community Engagement: To foster shared responsibility for student success by building trust, collaboration, and engagement among staff, families and community partners 2 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Delivery Report Progress Indicators STRATEGIES STATUS Learning and Teaching To provide educators and students with the opportunity to participate in a relevant, rigorous, innovative, and comprehensive learning environment. Cultivate environments of inquiry that enhance the unique skills and abilities of educators and students through collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking Ensure standards that provide infrastructure that supports innovative learning regardless of location or age of facility Provide dynamic and wide-ranging curriculum that ensures access to coursework reflecting the diversity of the school community and changing demands of career and college Redesign and create systems and structures that empower students and teachers to take responsibility for continuous growth through resilience and self-awareness Develop and implement a differentiated model to allocate and align resources to schools based on need and performance Design progressive learning environments that strategically integrate digital resources and emerging technologies Achievement To increase proficiency and growth rates across all groups and eliminate predictability of achievement Improve access to high quality curriculum and instruction (Provide all students with a rigorous, high quality curriculum taught by effective teachers in a safe and nurturing learning environment) Provide differentiated, effective, job embedded professional development to build our capacity to teach all students Develop and expand extended learning opportunities to include early learning, nontraditional learning, summer and intercession learning, and alternatives to suspension to reduce learning loss and address diverse learning needs Provide wrap around support to meet the needs of the whole child (counseling, social work, mental health, mentoring, nursing, etc.) Implement with fidelity multi-tiered systems of support for academics and behavior Increase access to college and career readiness counseling and resources 3 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

STRATEGIES STATUS Balanced Assessment To develop and implement a balanced assessment system that accurately reflects students knowledge of core curriculum standards as well as the ability to collaborate, be creative, communicate and think critically. Define and Communicate Standards for Collaboration, Creativity, Communication, and Critical Thinking Create a balanced PreK-12 district assessment framework to include measurement of the 4Cs PreK-12 Digital Portfolio Solution Human Capital To identify, recruit, develop, and retain highly effective talent. Continuously attract and acquire talent throughout the organization to impact learning and teaching Develop career pathways that will support personnel at all levels of the organization to enhance and build the skills necessary for professional growth, leadership opportunities, or career advancement Enhance the process by which employees are recognized and rewarded for continued exemplary and innovative performance Through ongoing review and analysis, both internally and externally, develop and maintain a competitive salary structure that supports the district s mission to attract, recruit, and retain our employees Identify human capital best practices from school districts and private organizations in order to transition WCPSS to a human-capital focused organization Community Engagement To foster shared responsibility for student success by building trust, collaboration, and engagement among staff, families, and community partners. Increase community volunteers from areas such as business, faith-based and civic groups to be trained to match school needs Strengthen parent engagement and related programs by offering them in multiple languages, venues and channels Require School Improvement Plans to include a community engagement component supporting student achievement Strengthen customer service, especially in areas with a high volume of parent calls and visits Formal rollout of strategic plan to schools with sustained emphasis throughout the year 4 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Status Report Learning and Teaching To provide educators and students with the opportunity to participate in a relevant, rigorous, innovative, and comprehensive learning environment Date: July 21, 2015 Submitted by: Karen Hamilton, Steve Moore, and Dr. Todd Wirt KEY STRATEGIES STATUS A. Cultivate environments of inquiry that enhance the unique skills and abilities of educators and students through collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking B. Ensure standards that provide infrastructure that supports innovative learning regardless of location or age of facility C. Provide dynamic and wide-ranging curriculum that ensures access to coursework reflecting the diversity of the school community and changing demands of career and college D. Redesign and create systems and structures that empower students and teachers to take responsibility for continuous growth through resilience and self-awareness E. Develop and implement a differentiated model to allocate and align resources to schools based on need and performance F. Design progressive learning environments that strategically integrate digital resources and emerging technologies 5 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Learning and Teaching KEY STRATEGIES UPDATE Progress report of plans and action steps taken toward key strategies are identified below. a. Cultivate environments of inquiry that enhance the unique skills and abilities of educators and students through collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking Developed presentations, professional learning, and resources for Professional Learning Team support Design future professional learning to be delivered to all school-based instructional coaches to build capacity that directs and facilitates the coaches to embed the language of inquiry, collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking into coaching cycles with educators b. Ensure standards that provide infrastructure that supports innovative learning regardless of location or age of facility Began process to involve stakeholders (elementary, middle, and high school principals, teachers, etc.) Hired consultant to revise Education Specifications and Design Guidelines Funded position for additional facility planner Collected photographs, renderings, and videos of collaborative learning environments from consulting architects, other schools systems and Council of Educational Facility Planners International c. Provide dynamic and wide-ranging curriculum that ensures access to coursework reflecting the diversity of the school community and changing demands of career and college Updated CMAPP template design to reflect principles of Understanding by Design (UbD) Developed and shared timeline for course development in CMAPP Created consistent curricular resources provided by the district through the redesign of the curriculum management system to include: o Completed 1 st and 2 nd quarter revisions to CMAPP o Trained content specialist curriculum writers in Curriculum Design Elements o Creating Camtasia video of training for content area specialists to use with curriculum writers Held an Academic Symposium in June to build capacity for writers of curriculum d. Redesign and create systems and structures that empower students and teachers to take responsibility for continuous growth through resilience and self-awareness Presented first set of grading practice exemplars to middle and high school principals Developed Mindset trainings for school leaders and teachers Developed a position to support district-wide co-teaching Collaborated with staff from Student Support Services, Special Programs and Academics to develop a co-teaching model 6 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

e. Develop and implement a differentiated model to allocate and align resources to schools based on need and performance A draft of non negotiables has been shared between Academic Advancement leaders A draft of Academic levels of support developed Elementary Support Model (ESM) schools identified and a support system is being deployed f. Design progressive learning environments that strategically integrate digital resources and emerging technologies Staff is reviewing unit plans and will provide examples of how to integrate digital resources in order to help build future collaborations Learning Management System (LMS) that integrates the majority teacher/district resources (such as grading, lessons, attendance, assessment, growth, etc.) and allows for the creation of projects that can be assessed anytime and anywhere is in the contract approval process (Canvas Learning) Access to single sign on for all stakeholders is in progress with information distributed to Technology Contacts and Library Media Coordinators 7 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Status Report Achievement To increase proficiency and growth rates across all groups and eliminate predictability of achievement Date: July 21, 2015 Submitted by: Brenda Elliott and Dr. James Hedrick KEY STRATEGIES STATUS A. Improve access to high quality curriculum and instruction. (Provide all students with a rigorous, high quality curriculum taught by effective teachers in a safe and nurturing learning environment) B. Provide differentiated, effective, job-embedded professional development to build our capacity to teach all students C. Develop and expand extended learning opportunities to include early learning, nontraditional learning, summer and intercession learning, and alternatives to suspension to reduce learning loss and address diverse learning needs. D. Provide wraparound support to meet the needs of the whole child (counseling, social work, mental health, mentoring, nursing, etc.) E. Implement with fidelity multi-tiered systems of support for academics and behavior F. Increase access to college and career readiness counseling and resources 8 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Achievement KEY STRATEGIES UPDATE Progress report of plans and action steps taken toward key strategies are identified below. a. Improve access to high quality curriculum and instruction Launching AP Capstone to provide a rigorous curriculum that provides access to an AP diploma Providing Equity Audit Datasets to support the examination of inequities in program participation Piloting Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) in several high schools to address disparities in AP and IB course enrollment Refocusing the expectations for Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) in order to provide consistent language and support to impact high quality teams that positively impact students Providing coaching and support to schools and school leaders in expanding practices that support academic success for all students o Develop modules to support school leaders in implementing equitable practices o Expand training to support developing a growth mindset for staff and students o Provide training to support students in building social-emotional competencies, character and citizenship skills Providing professional learning to instructional coaches, IRTs, APIs and other school-based leaders on how to maximize the use of the revised curriculum design within CMAPP b. Provide differentiated, effective, job-embedded professional development to build our capacity to teach all students Developed the Effective Teaching Framework (EFT) Community and provided professional learning to principals, assistant principals, and senior-level central services staff on the framework In the process of developing a consistent and cohesive coaching framework to align roles, responsibilities, and expectations for all coaches in WCPSS in order to increase student achievement and improve reflective and collaborative cultures in schools Working to align professional learning offered throughout WCPSS to the specific objectives and strategies within the strategic plan and also developing training to support schools and school leaders in expanding practices that support academic success for all students by: o Providing support to implement school specific staff development o Creating a tiered professional development model for schools based on disparities in performance among subgroups o Providing cultural competency and equity training to schools o Developing training modules to support schools and school leaders in expanding equitable practices o Creating a district professional development plan aligned to ETF and MTSS o Providing training in the Effective Teacher Framework for all faculty and staff to promote a growth mindset Deploying professional learning for all coaches and create a consistent hiring process for all coaches Creating a Professional Learning Advisory Council that will inform future professional learning initiatives as well as create connections between major district Professional Learning implementations 9 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Protect professional development time as a district in schools to include workdays and early release days c. Develop and expand extended learning opportunities to include early learning, nontraditional learning, summer and intersession learning and alternatives to suspension to reduce learning loss and diverse learning needs. Opening an Acceleration Academy to re-engage and graduate WCPSS students who have previously dropped out of school Will expand rising 9 th grade transition summer programs for at-promise 8 th graders Identifying resources needed to address gaps in academic proficiency and student discipline Expanding summer intervention for incoming 2 nd graders and middle school students below proficiency in ELA or math Developing specifications for a physical site to provide alternative educational services to students in lieu of long-term suspension Expanded Early Start Summer Programs from 17 sites in 2014 to 31 sites in 2015 in order to support Pre-K students to be better prepared for kindergarten. Will study the implications of opening Pre-K classes for the base students at ESM schools Researching strategies that would help build citizenship skills and improve student engagement Investigating opportunities for students to develop positive character and to be engaged in service-learning and volunteering, and understanding baseline for participation. Studying and exploring the implications of providing non-traditional learning options Assessing readiness and priorities for non-traditional learning options d. Provide wrap around support to meet the needs of the whole child. Researching effective dropout prevention strategies being implemented in other school districts Developing and launching a Graduation Cohort Program to better track students at risk for falling behind their graduation peer group and target early interventions Began to identify gaps in the district s ability to quantify impact of Student Support Services Connect student health records to the EASi system to monitor, evaluate, and improve effectiveness of nursing resources Improve systems that track data regarding student interventions suicide interventions, McKinney-Vento services, homebound services, mental health services, counseling services In collaboration with YouThrive, Healthiest Capital County, Juvenile Court, and other community organizations and initiatives, will identify ways that the community can support non-academic barriers to school success In collaboration with Wake County Health Services, Wake County government and community partners, expand resources to address student nutritional needs backpack buddies, summer feeding programs, and universal breakfast.in Process In collaboration with Alliance Mental Health and Wake County government, developing a comprehensive continuum of services to support student mental health needs In collaboration with Judge Rozier s Taskforce, supporting the development of additional juvenile diversion programs Provided full-time social workers at ESM schools Investigating the use of Student Support Services staff at the school-level and develop consistent expectations across the district 10 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

e. Implement multi-tiered systems of support for academics and behavior with fidelity. Launched training to support the implementation of MTSS at schools o In 2014-15, launched Cohort 1 28 schools o In 2015-16, will launch Cohort 2 44 schools Providing training to build central services staff capacity to support MTSS implementation at the school level Participating in NCDPI MTSS Cohort 1 training for district leadership Participating in a research study to assess the effectiveness of our MTSS model Developed an online tool that integrates student data sources and intervention plan development Piloting an Early Warning System and EdPlan to allow for core, group, and individual behavioral and academic intervention plans with Cohort 1 schools Developed a logic model and evaluation plan for assessing the impact and fidelity of the implementation of the MTSS framework f. Increase access to college and career readiness counseling and resources. Identified gaps in current college and career readiness resources and evaluated the efficiency of resources being used in other school districts Piloting a robust and comprehensive web-based college and career readiness platform that requires all high school students to have a four-year plan that is connected to post-secondary goals and that is monitored by school staff Researched and reviewed what is means to be college and career ready as defined by the College Board, ACT, and Common Core Standards Preparing to implement and socialize a definition of college and career readiness aligned with state standards and Future Ready Core Providing additional coaching and support to first-generation and at-promise future college attendees through Gradúate!, graduation coaches, and other school-based programs Examining gaps in college enrollment and strengthen our partnerships with organizations that support college and career readiness o Strengthen our partnership with the Raleigh Colleges and Community Collaborative 11 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Status Report Balanced Assessment To develop and implement a balanced assessment system that accurately reflects students knowledge of core curriculum standards as well as the ability to collaborate, be creative, communicate and think critically Date: July 21, 2015 Submitted by: Mary Bohr and Dr. Brad McMillen KEY STRATEGIES STATUS A. Define and Communicate Standards for Collaboration, Creativity, Communication, and Critical Thinking (i.e., the 4Cs) B. Create a balanced PreK-12 district assessment framework to include measurement of the 4Cs. C. PreK-12 Digital Portfolio Solution 12 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Balanced Assessment KEY STRATEGIES UPDATE Progress report of action steps taken toward key strategies are identified below. a. Define and communicate ctandards for Collaboration, Creativity, Communication, and Critical Thinking (i.e., the 4Cs) Reviewed existing resources and frameworks related to the 4Cs Defined the 4Cs competencies in terms of a graduating student Completed draft 4C competencies Plans to share draft 4C competencies with a wider audience for feedback Will incorporate feedback from stakeholders and finalize 4Cs standards b. Create a balanced PreK-12 district assessment framework to include measurement of the 4Cs Defined key filters and criteria to use to evaluate current assessment system Completed an assessment inventory to document current districtwide assessment practices Researching other state/district assessment plans for benchmarking Determining specific modifications that need to be made to align the district assessment system to our ideal system c. Create and deploy digital portfolios for students PreK-12 Plans to Evaluate options for digital portfolios for WCPSS Will collect data from vendors and other school districts to define a range of options available Will gather detailed business requirements based on identified uses and purposes o Will convene a diverse group of relevant stakeholders to create evaluative criteria and to measure various options against those criteria 13 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Status Report Human Capital To identify, recruit, develop and retain highly effective talent. Date: July 21, 2015 Submitted by: Dr. Mark Savage and Doug Thilman KEY STRATEGIES STATUS A. Continuously attract and acquire talent throughout the organization to impact learning and teaching B. Develop career pathways that will support personnel at all levels of the organization to enhance and build the skills necessary for professional growth, leadership opportunities, or career advancement C. Enhance the process by which employees are recognized and rewarded for continued exemplary and innovative performance D. Through ongoing review and analysis, both internally and externally, develop and maintain a competitive salary structure that supports the district s mission to attract, recruit, and retain our employees E. Identify human capital best practices from school districts and private organizations in order to transition WCPSS to a human-capital focused organization 14 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Human Capital KEY STRATEGIES UPDATE Progress report of plans and action steps taken toward key strategies are identified below. a. Continuously attract and acquire talent throughout the organization to impact learning and teaching. Benchmarking Applitrack screening and recruitment with both in-state and out-of-state school districts Created a new instrument and process for exit surveys Selected first teacher cohort of WCPSS Future Teachers 2015 high school graduates b. Develop career pathways that will support personnel at all levels of the organization to enhance and build the skills necessary for professional growth, leadership opportunities, or career advancement. Creating Growing Your Capacity template to track staff development towards career strands. Developing From Beginner to Board Certified pathway for teachers Implementing leadership development program for school leaders Designed templates aligning NCEES standards to the strategic plan c. Enhance the process by which employees are recognized and rewarded for continued exemplary and innovative performance. Increase the number of employees who are recognized for their contribution to the school system through the Employee Excellence Program Develop a process by which employees are recognized for continued service with the school system in an incremental format d. Through ongoing review and analysis, both internally and externally, develop and maintain a competitive salary structure that supports the district s mission to attract, recruit, and retain our employees. Conduct market comparability study Restructure extra-duty pay schedule Continue to collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders who play a key role in the budget development process e. Identify human capital best practices from school districts and private organizations in order to transition WCPSS to a human-capital focused organization Benchmarking current practices and quantifying new practices through collaboration with: o Current districts in the beginning to middle stages of their transitions o Human Capital Academy Districts that WCPSS has connected with during earlier stages of Human Capital work in the district o Other non-educational organizations 15 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Status Report Community Engagement To foster shared responsibility for student success by building trust, collaboration, and engagement among staff, families, and community partners. Date: July 21, 2015 Submitted by: Tim Simmons and Muriel Summers KEY STRATEGIES STATUS A. Increase community volunteers from areas such as business, faith-based and civic groups to be trained to match school needs B. Strengthen parent engagement and related programs by offering them in multiple languages, venues and channels C. Require School Improvement Plans to include community engagement component supporting student achievement D. Strengthen customer service, especially in areas with a routine high volume of parent calls and visits E. Formal rollout of strategic plan to schools with sustained emphasis throughout the year 16 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

Community Engagement KEY STRATEGIES UPDATE Progress report of action steps taken toward key strategies are identified below. a. Increase community volunteers from areas such as business, faith-based and civic groups to be trained to match school needs. Continuing discussions with tech services regarding 2015-16 improvements on technical changes to make the registration process more convenient. Developing system protocol and FAQs for schools on existing routines about who to register and how, as a first step in increasing minimum standards of quality. Developing long-term options for increasing volunteers that combine more robust community engagement with convenient registration options balanced against the needs of student safety. b. Strengthen parent engagement and related programs. Offer them in multiple languages, venues and channels. Finishing work that settles on a community engagement model with a likely focus on literacy, especially in the early grades. Created 2015-16 lineup of Parent Academy offerings organized among clusters of schools with similar needs. c. Require School Improvement Plans to include community engagement component supporting student achievement. Created a subgroup to work directly with SIP planning. In the role of consultant, review and refine SIP plans to better match the desired outcome of the community engagement component supporting student achievement. Begin the process of carrying out the SIP elements related to community engagement informed by the settled-upon community engagement model. d. Strengthen customer service, especially in areas with a routine high volume of parent calls and visits. Create uniform protocol for the reception of all parents and guests at each school. Continue investigation of ways in which software can help to better address, track and improve customer relations Use work from settled-upon community engagement model to also broaden the meaning of customer service. e. Formal rollout of strategic plan to schools with sustained emphasis throughout the year. Coordinating work of all significant conferences, training sessions and annual publications to overtly and directly connect the purpose of each to elements of the strategic plan. Using constant visual themes and phrases, the mission, vision, core beliefs and goal of the strategic plan is being pushed through senior leadership to principals, coaches and teachers. By the end of the 2015-2016 academic year, teachers who currently practice the key components of the strategic plan will understand why their work is consistent with the goal and pertinent objectives. Others will know who in their schools are exemplars of the strategies described in the document. 17 // STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE