Building: Arlington Elementary School Tacoma School District SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2017-2018 IMPROVEMENT GOAL: Academic Excellence Target Areas: Reading Our Current Reality: As of Fall 2017 iready Diagnostic screener, 15% (41) of Arlington students are in Tier 1 performing on or above level. 46% (124) are in tier 2 (level below) and 39% (106) are at risk (2 or more levels below) in grades First through Fifth in Reading. Our SMART Goal: Currently Arlington has 230 out of 271 (84%) students performing one to two grade levels below standards per the iready diagnostic screener in fall 2017. By May 2018, 95 (35%) students will be performing at or above grade level in Reading. In the Fall 2017, 26% of Third grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 52% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. In the Fall 2017, 15% of Fourth grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 33% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. In the Fall 2017, 11% of Fifth grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 44% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY What strategy are you using to achieve the academic excellence goal? TIMELINE When will this activity begin and end? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? Who will provide the leadership for this activity? RESOURCES NEEDED What are the existing and/or new resources that will be used to accomplish this activity? MONITORING PROGRESS What ongoing formative evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning?
Whole group Instruction on Common Core Priority standards at grade level with Guided Reading Instruction in Small Groups to develop student skills. Multi-Tier Intervention Blocks 30 minutes Reading in conjunction with 60 minute ELA block Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) Afterschool Support UWT All Star Readers Read to Me Common Formative Assessment CFA development Marzano s Highly Effective Classroom strategies and CEL 5D+ Instructional Framework November to June October May to Classroom Teacher and Support Staff (Title I, LAP, ELL and LRC) MTSS team; Classroom teachers and support staffing General Education staff; Instructional Coach; UWT tutors and Read to Me volunteers Instructional Coach; Classroom and Support teachers; Principal and Principal designee Principal; Instructional Coach; Arlington Staff Common Core Priority standards; Release time for grade level planning; MTSS data team Meetings Monthly MTSS data team Meetings Monthly release time for General Education teachers to attend a 60 minute meetings during the school day. Classroom Teachers; UWT students and an onsite coordinator; Read to Me Training and volunteers; space within the Arlington school CFA Data; Success data on ELA priority standards; Assessment building resources from C&I /Prof. library Review of Highly Effective Strategies; Teacher grade level planning with Instructional Coach Teacher will gather formative assessment data throughout instruction and report to the principal student assessment growth and the MTSS team to plan for Interventions to ensure success. General Education and support staff will report on interventions and student progress; the team will discuss and devise an action plan for those still in need of support. Pre-and Post-tests from Classroom Teachers; iready diagnostic and istandards Mastery data; Reading survey data from student participants In planning sessions, teacher have determined CFAs Monthly and will compare student work to inform instruction and determine next steps. Instructional Walkthroughs with Principal and Instructional Coach First semester the concentration will be on Note taking and summarizing; 2 nd semester- Nonlinguistic representation and 3 rd
trimester Advanced Organizers. Reading Screener- i-ready Lessons- Reading September to June 2017-2018 All staff i-ready Reading Lessons Students will complete lessons to fill in gaps of Learning a minimum of 45 minutes weekly Target Areas: Math Our Current Reality: As of Fall 2017 iready Diagnostic screener, 9% (24) of Arlington students are in Tier 1 performing on or above level, 54% (152) are in tier 2 (level below) and 37% (102) are at risk (2 or more levels below) in grades First through Fifth in Math. Our SMART Goal: Currently Arlington has 255 out of 279 (94%) students preforming one to two grade levels below standards per the iready diagnostic screener in fall 2017. By May 2018, 92 (30%) students will be performing at or above grade level in Math. In the Fall 2017, 5% of Third grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 28% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. In the Fall 2017, 19% of Fourth grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 43% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. In the Fall 2017, 17% of Fifth grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 41% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY What strategy are you using to achieve the academic excellence goal? Math Screener- i-ready Math Lessons Whole group Instruction on Common Core standards at grade level with Small Groups to develop student skills. TIMELINE When will this activity begin and end? September to June 2017-2018 WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? Who will provide the leadership for this activity? All staff Classroom Teacher and Support Staff (Title I, LAP, ELL RESOURCES NEEDED What are the existing and/or new resources that will be used to accomplish this activity? i-ready Math Lessons Common Core Math standards; Math Expressions curriculum and MONITORING PROGRESS What ongoing FORMATIVE or SUMMATIVE evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning? Students will complete lessons to fill in gaps of Learning a minimum of 45 minutes weekly Teacher will gather formative assessment data throughout instruction and report to the principal student assessment
Multi-Tier Intervention Blocks 30 minutes Math in conjunction with 60-minute Math block Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) Afterschool Support Common Formative Assessment CFA development Marzano s Highly Effective Classroom strategies and CEL 5D+ Instructional Framework November to June October May to and LRC) map; Release time for grade level planning; MTSS data team Meetings Monthly MTSS team; Classroom teachers and support staffing General Education staff; Instructional Coach; Instructional Coach; Classroom and Support teachers; Principal and Principal designee Principal; Instructional Coach; Arlington Staff MTSS data team Meetings Monthly release time for General Education teachers to attend a 60 minute meetings during the school day. Discretionary funds were used to provide staff for support. Classroom Teachers; space within the Arlington school CFA Data; Success data on Math standards; Assessment building resources from C and I/Prof. library Review of Highly Effective Strategies; Teacher grade level planning with Instructional Coach growth and the MTSS team to plan for Interventions to ensure success. General Education and support staff will report on interventions and student progress; the team will discuss and devise an action plan for those still in need of support. Pre-and Posttests from Classroom Teachers; iready diagnostic and istandards Mastery data In planning sessions, teacher have determined CFA Monthly and will compare student work to inform instruction and determine next steps. Instructional Walkthroughs with Principal and Instructional Coach First semester the concentration will be on Note taking and summarizing; 2 nd semester- Nonlinguistic representation and 3 rd trimester Advanced Organizers. i-ready Screener- % of students proficient Grade ELA Math 1 st - Fall 13% 2%
1 st - Winter 1 st - Spring 2 nd - Fall 10% 2% 2 nd - Winter 2 nd - Spring 3 rd - Fall 26% 5% 3 rd - Winter 3 rd - Spring 4 th - Fall 15% 19% 4 th - Winter 4 th - Spring 5 th - Fall 11% 17% 5 th - Winter 5 th Spring IMPROVEMENT GOAL: Partnerships SMART GOALS: Our Current Reality: Our Arlington Booster Club which supports students across the academic setting needs members to help support the various events SMART Goal: Currently the groups consists of a core group of consistent participants (7) the goal is to increase the number of consistent participants by 7. IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY What strategies are you using to achieve the academic excellence goal, the collaboration goal, or the safety goal? Annual Title I parent Meeting/ Open House October Partnership Conferencing Lunch with the Law TIMELINE When will this activity begin and end? September/ October October 10,11,12 2017 4-7 pm Twice a month WHO IS RESPONSIBLE Who will provide the leadership for this activity? Principal/ Designee Classroom Teachers, Parents and Students Booster and Tacoma Police Department RESOURCES / PROF DEV NEEDED What are the existing and/or new resources that will be used to accomplish this activity? Power point from Title I with information to provide to parents. Building release days; Student data to share with parents and students Tacoma Police officers MONITORING PROGRESS What ongoing formative evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning? Parent feedback forms The parent and student set goals for the different reporting periods throughout the year. Student feedback via observations will be collected to attain success.
Watch D.O.G.S. Dads of Great Students Wildlife Champions Grant with Tacoma Metro Parks, (Point Defiance Zoo, Northwest Trek and Tacoma Parks and Rec.) Sept. to June Principal; WATCH Dog Committee Point Defiance Zoo, Northwest Trek and Tacoma Parks and Rec.; Arlington steering committee; Ryan Patterson Community Male role models; National Organization; Boosters Release time for Steering Committee; Science Priority standards Monitoring the number of office referrals on days in which Watch DOGS are in attendance vs. Non-Watch Dog days. Teacher attendance at events; Unit outlines and Lessons for grades K-5 IMPROVEMENT GOAL: Early Learning Target Areas: Retention of Preschoolers at Arlington Our Current Reality: Although Arlington has three different community based preschool programs, (5 sessions) most students do not live in the Arlington catchment area. Students therefore return to their home school after attending at Arlington. Our SMART Goal: Currently of the 83 families attending preschool at Arlington, we would like to retain 7 families to attend Arlington for Kindergarten. As per the Kindergarten portfolio, September 2017, 0 out of 65 students demonstrated the skill of counting to 100 with accuracy. By May 2018 50 out of 65 students will be able to count to 100 with accuracy. In the Fall 2017, 13% of First grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 53% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. In the Fall 2017, 10% of Second grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 53% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. As per kindergarten portfolio recorded data in September 2017, 0 out of 65 students have demonstrated identification of sight words. By May 2018, 35 out of 65 students will identify the first 50 Fry sight words. In the Fall 2017, 1% of First grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 59% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener. In the Fall 2017, 1% of Second grade students were reading at or above grade level as per the Iready diagnostic screener. By May 2018, 51% will be performing at or above grade level in reading as per the Iready Diagnostic screener.
IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY What strategies are you using to achieve the academic excellence goal, the collaboration goal, or the safety goal? Involve parents as partners in all Preschool Programs and K-2 learning Frequently assess and monitor continued progress of Kindergarten students in math and reading Provide intervention for Kindergarten students needing support in literacy TIMELINE When will this activity begin and end? Sept. to June 10/2017-06- 2018 10/2017-06/2018 WHO IS RESPONSIBLE Who will provide the leadership for this activity? Pre-K-2 staff; office staff; Principal Kindergarten Teachers, LAP and Title I staff, Principal; Instructional Coach Kindergarten Teachers, LAP and Title I staff, Principal; Instructional Coach RESOURCES / PROF DEV NEEDED What are the existing and/or new resources that will be used to accomplish this activity? Multiple conference times available for parents at all hours, Interpreter; volunteer opportunities for cleared guardians. WaKIDS assessment; Kinder reading portfolios; report card standards Guided reading small group interventions MONITORING PROGRESS What ongoing formative evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning? Conference tallies; number of families attending 2018-2019 Kindergarten from Arlington Preschool. Kindergarten reading portfolio data; teacher designed CFA s in literacy and Math; iready Data Kinder portfolio data, running records and observations IMPROVEMENT GOAL: Safety To create and maintain safe learning environments that promote positive social/emotional development. Target Areas: Increase student social emotional wellbeing. Our SMART Goal: Decrease student discipline referrals schoolwide. IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY What strategies are you using to achieve the academic excellence goal, the collaboration goal, or the safety goal? TIMELINE When will this activity begin and end? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE Who will provide the leadership for this activity? RESOURCES / PROF DEV NEEDED What are the existing and/or new resources that will be used to accomplish this activity? MONITORING PROGRESS What ongoing formative evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning?
Tacoma Whole Child Initiative (TWCI); PBiS; RTI Restorative Justice Practices and Book Study Cultural Competency Teaching and Learning Referrals Month September October November December January February March April May # of Referrals Ongoing MTSS team; counselor; Principal; all Arlington staff Training; Expectations reviewed daily in all school Morning Meeting; Monthly afterschool meetings with the MTSS team; Student recognition assemblies All Arlington Staff Training; OSPI Coach, Dr. Brooks-Rollins; Book- Carrots and Sticks Equity Team Training by the District at the Equity and Diversity Department # of Suspensions June Review of school wide discipline data at monthly MTSS meetings; planning with MTSS team on strategies/ groups to support grade level needs; share data with staff at staff meetings for input Monitor strategies being used by staff across settings Shared and implemented strategies at monthly staff meetings Attendance Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Staff Title I Schoolwide Components 1. Comprehensive Needs Assessment: MISSION STATEMENT: Arlington is dedicated to creating a safe community which enriches and inspires the academic, social, physical and emotional development of every child. VISION: Arlington students will develop skills and strategies essential to be productive, compassionate and responsible life-long learners in an ever-changing society. VALUE STATEMENT:
Everyone is accepted and valued for their diversity. Arlington Tigers are Respectful, Responsible Safe, Kind Learners! Arlington Elementary School is a small community school located in the historic South Tacoma area of Tacoma. The neighborhood contains classic craftsman homes. Arlington is in between the Washington Interstate Five Freeway, adjacent to Tacoma Mall Boulevard. and the South Tacoma Way business district. The building was reopened after being demolished at the end of the 2015-2016 school year. The brand-new facility is state of the art in the areas of technology and innovative teaching spaces. The building has opened to a higher enrollment rate (430 students Pre-K to 5). The leadership team has been working to build school culture and establishing new routines throughout the school. 2. Schoolwide Reform Strategies: Arlington has created a Priority Indistar Plan using the state components for effective schools. The Priority Indistar plan outlines specific principles and strategies to improve academic achievement, partnerships and safety. The staff members consistently analyze data and periodically review the plan to make sure the identified strategies are achieving the desired results. Arlington Elementary is a school with several strengths such as shared leadership team which created several committees throughout the building. The MTSS team whose focus is on the Whole child which includes academics and behavior. The team consists of a grade level representative, LRC teacher, Principal and Instructional Coach. The Data teams, whose focus is on increasing student achievement as well as supporting the development of strong instructional leaders. The team is made up of the Instructional Coach, a Principal, grade level teachers and Arlington support staff. Arlington Elementary is a small neighborhood elementary school in the Tacoma School District. The building was reopened after being demolished at the end of the 2015-2016 school year. The brand-new facility is state of the art in the areas of technology and innovative teaching spaces. The building has opened to a higher enrollment rate. The leadership team has been working to build school culture and establishing new routines throughout the school. The English Language Learners (ELL) services have been increased due to the recent influx of ELL students. Services have been increased to help to meet the needs of a diverse population. Other areas of concern include: outside environmental factors causing safety and security issues; premature projections that do not accurately reflect student enrollment which lead to insufficient staffing and student materials at the beginning of the year; building costs incurred by the need to pay for services such as interpreters. The school-wide program is monitored monthly throughout the year. Data in reading and math is collected by classroom and support staff. The data is analyzed and adjustments are made as needed. 3. Instruction by Highly-Qualified Staff: All teachers in Tacoma are required to meet the ESSA highly qualified teacher requirement. Human Resources send each school a list of the teachers with their teaching qualifications. Arlington s principal signs an attestation form to confirm all staff is highly qualified. In the event a staff member does not meet the highly-qualified requirements, an ESSA Plan of Assistance is developed for the teacher. To support teachers working to achieve highly qualified status along with all staff striving to provide excellent
instruction. Our school s professional development/training focus is on best practices in reading and math. Parents have a right to know their teachers and paraprofessionals qualifications. Para educators and other staff receive workshop pay to attend both district and school workshops. Administration and teachers work with para educators to focus on successful student performance on Priority and State Standards. All para educators that work with students in an instructional setting meet ESSA highly qualified requirements. They can demonstrate knowledge in instructing reading and math. As an integral part of staff they are encouraged to attend Arlington s training. 4. Professional Development Activities: Arlington Elementary school-wide professional development activities are focused on helping students meet state standards in math, reading, writing, and technology. Our professional development on standards-based classroom instruction is an example of our work to align curriculum, instruction and assessment with the Common Core State Standards. Teachers are invited to plan for a half day with the Instructional Coach, principal and grade level team mates for 12 weeks. During these planning days, teams will build 12 week units based on priority standards ELA and Math units. Teams will determine CFA s for monthly data collection. The data will be reviewed during Data team meetings with classroom teachers and support staff in 60-minute meeting monthly. Student progress will then be discussed in detail with the principal and/or principal designee to plan for individual interventions. CFA meeting will be offered twice a month for teachers to collaborate with teams to design CFA s in ELA and math. Technology training will be offered through the building MIE to meet staff needs. 5. Attract High-Quality, Highly-Qualified Teachers: Tacoma actively recruits highly qualified staff with our job fair, letters of intent, recommendations to hire and applicant searches. We seek to attract and keep highly-qualified staff at our school by providing opportunities for quality staff development and professional growth. Through the Professional Learning Community, staff has a voice. Our goal to provide a supportive learning environment includes support for staff. 6. Strategies to Increase Parent Involvement: We believe strongly in the power of parent and family involvement in our school and have worked hard over the years to have developed a strong parent involvement component into our school program. We are fortunate to enjoy a rich and intentional support from our Booster Club as they funnel their energies and resources directly back to students and learning. Additionally, we have used our Title I money to provide for family curriculum nights and other family activities. We know that many of our parents work and are unable to volunteer in the classroom so we provide these opportunities so parents can be involved in other the very meaningful ways in their child s education. It s great to see more dads become involved at Arlington through the WATCH D.O.G.S. program supporting the learning of our students in class as well as on the playground and lunchroom. Beyond working with families, we regularly seek out ways to partner with our greater community through such strategies as mentors from the neighborhood church, Good News Club, University of Washington students in collaboration with Communities in Schools partner to bring us an afterschool program, All Star Readers. In addition, we have mentors from Bellarmine High School, retired educators and local business representatives participate in the Read 2 Me program. This year we have established two new partnerships, Lunch with a Cop twice a month and Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium Wildlife developing units of studies using common core standards, for a unique way to bring learning to life.
Ongoing activities with an academic emphasis are scheduled to provide opportunities for parents to meet and interact with school personnel. Communications home and Partnership Conferences also allow for interaction between parents and staff. Information about our Title I School Wide Improvement status, Parent Involvement Policy, and Highly Qualified staff are shared during September s Open House Curriculum Night. Tacoma School District encourages parents to participate in the annual parent/community survey. A copy of the survey and results are used as part of our goal setting efforts Arlington s Title 1 Compacts are reviewed and revised with input from parents each spring in preparation for the upcoming school year. The compacts are included in our Student/ Parent Handbook and distributed to all parents and families at the beginning of the school year. The compact is discussed with parents and students during the first session of October Partnership Conferencing. Student academic progress is shared with parents during Partnership Conferencing in October, December and March. At these times academic goals are set, assessments and report cards explained and expectations shared. The PAWPRINT is our monthly newsletters with information about upcoming events, items of concern and opportunities for involvement. Teachers send home progress reports, and provide information on their SWIFT websites. The district also has in place a communication system that allows our school to send personalized voice messages to parents to encourage parents and families to be actively involved in their children's education. Arlington s counselor works with local county programs to help families connect with needed health and social services. The district McKinney-Vento Act liaison connects homeless families in our school with social services and provides ongoing support. 7. Transition Plans for Preschools and Between Grade Levels: Research tells us that students who struggle with school are most likely to fall through the cracks when transitioning from one grade span to the next. Arlington has will have a school wide atmosphere that supports transition from Preschool to Kindergarten, Kindergarten to first grade, grade to grade, and 5th grade to Middle school. Transition activities include: The WaKIDs program for kindergarten families has been added in order to assess skills and readiness of kindergarten students and to give a starting point for teachers to work with students on necessary skills. The program also includes: Kindergarten parent meetings to discuss transitions; Classroom Visits for Students and Parents during kindergarten orientation and Jump Start; Curriculum and expectation discussions at parent meetings. All Arlington kindergarten classes participate in an extensive assessment of student skill levels in the following areas: Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy and Mathematics. The information offers classroom teachers instructional insight into both students strengths and challenges. Fifth grade students are introduced and given support for their transition to middle school. Transitions include: Fifth grade visit to middle school; Parent Meetings; Band and Choir Programs initiated at the elementary level from the middle school; Transitional Summer School program to provide extra support. Fifth grade teachers attend transition training through the district to assist fifth graders with their transition to Middle School. 8. Teacher Included in Assessment Decision:
Grade/ Testing 2014-2015 #of SS/% 2015-2016 #of SS/% 2016-2017 #of SS/% 3 rd ELA 49/ 20% 38/ 24% 42/ 21% 3 rd Math 49/ 33% 38/ 42% 42/ 29% 4 th ELA 38/ 34% 45/27% 43/ 28% 4 th Math 38/ 53% 46/ 28% 43/ 40% 5 th ELA 42/ 43% 40/ 40% 40/ 30% 5 th Math 42/ 31% 40/ 40% 40/ 30% 5 th Science 42/ 28.5% 40/ 53.6% 40/ 33% Our work in this area will be for teachers to come together to review student work and review ongoing formative assessments to make instructional decisions that support student learning in the classrooms and layers of intervention that are provided through our Title I, LAP, ELL and LRC programs, for identified children based on these assessments. We will review data at monthly MTSS meeting for 60 minutes with each grade level and supporting staff. Our instructional focus will be on Marzano s Highly Effective Classroom strategies and CEL 5D+ framework. 9. Provide Assistance to Students Experiencing Difficulty: Our work on interventions will be for grade level teachers and support staff to come together to review student work and review ongoing formative assessments to make instructional decisions that support student learning in the classrooms and layers of intervention that are provided through our Title I, LAP, ELL and LRC programs, for identified children based on these assessments. We will review data at monthly MTSS meeting for 60 minutes with each grade level and supporting staff. 10. Coordination and Integration of Federal, State and local services: Arlington's School Improvement Plan aligns with Tacoma's District Improvement Plan. The staff at Arlington work to support the school's and district's improvement efforts. Title I, Special Ed. and Basic Ed. staff members work in collaboration to provide an instructional program and intervention services to meet the needs of all Arlington students. While categorical and basic education funds are tracked separately in Tacoma, the following programs work together to meet the needs of all students and support the school-wide program goals Priority Indistar Team, SCDM, Title I, LAP, Special Education, Homeless Liaison, Health Services and ELL. To support school-wide implementation, Title I/ LAP provides technical assistance and ESSA support, Curriculum & Instruction provides professional development, research and instructional support, purchasing supports expenditures, Human Resources facilitates staffing and provides Highly Qualified information, Research & Evaluation provides data. The Tacoma School District provides the following technical assistance for school improvement planning in addition to the Title I/LAP Program Specialist: Curriculum & Instruction; School, Family and Community Partnership liaisons; Health Services, Human Resources Department; Finance Department; Elementary Directors; Instructional Coaches. Title I staff and Instructional Coach assist
teachers to coordinate intervention and instructional services for our students with high academic needs. Title I also works closely with services within the district.