WPHS Standards of Quality Self-Assessment Standard 1 The school maintains and communicates a purpose and direction that commit to high expectations for learning as well as shared values and beliefs about teaching and learning. Indicator 1.1: 3 The school engages in a systematic, inclusive and comprehensive process to review, revise and communicate a school purpose for student success Indicator 1.2: 4 The school leadership and staff commit to a culture that is based on shared values and beliefs about teaching and learning and supports challenging, equitable educational programs and learning experiences for all students that include achievement of learning, thinking and life skills. Indicator 1.3: 4 The school s leadership implements a continuous improvement process that provides clear direction for improving conditions that support student learning. Overall Rating: 4 Although the school s mission, vision and values focus on student success, the process to review and revise them has not involved a wide variety of stakeholders selected at random. The mission, vision, and beliefs is communicated to staff through Wolverine Weekly, e-mails (Need to Know, Principal s messages), Staff handbook, to parents through the school s web site, e-mails (KIT), and regular presentations to PTSA, and to students through school web site, http://www.fcps.edu/westpotomachs/. A process for continuous school improvement is in place that occurs on an annual basis and is updated on an interim basis throughout the school year. Standard 2 The school operates under governance and leadership that promote and support student performance and school effectiveness. Indicator 2.1: 4 The governing body establishes policies and support practices that ensure effective administration of the school. Indicator 2.2: 3 The governing body operates responsibly and functions effectively. Indicator 2.3: 3 The governing body ensures that the school leadership has the autonomy to meet goals for achievement and instruction and to manage day-to-day operations effectively. Indicator 2.4: 3 Leadership and staff foster a culture consistent with the school s purpose and direction. Page 1 of 5
Indicator 2.5: 3 Leadership engages stakeholders effectively in support of the school s purpose and direction. Indicator 2.6: 3 Leadership and staff supervision and evaluation processes result in improved professional practice and student success. West Potomac is three years into a new administration that established three clear focus areas for the school: 1) Engaged Learning, 2) Systems of Support, and 3) Community. The focus areas have remained consistent since the administration introduced them in 2013, and administrators and teacher leaders both consider alignment with the focus areas when making decisions. The focus areas guide the work of the school internally and externally with parents and community stakeholders, and while communication with stakeholders is consistent, external stakeholders do not yet have much opportunity for direct input into school improvement plans. Instructional and operational decisions are made through dialogue that link the final decision with one (or more) of the three focus areas. While the system of evaluation is set by the state and school division, administrators use it effectively alongside the three focus areas to work to improve instructional practices in the school. Standard 3 The school s curriculum, instructional design and assessment practices guide and ensure teacher effectiveness and student learning. Indicator 3.1: 3 The school s curriculum provides equitable and challenging learning experiences that ensure all students have sufficient opportunities to develop learning, thinking and life skills that lead to success at the next level. Indicator 3.2: 4 Curriculum, instruction and assessment are monitored and adjusted systematically in response to data from multiple assessments of student learning and an examination of professional practice. Indicator 3.3: 3 Teachers engage students in their learning through instructional strategies that ensure achievement of learning expectations. Indicator 3.4: 3 School leaders monitor and support the improvement of instructional practices of teachers to ensure student success. Indicator 3.5: 4 Teachers participate in collaborative learning communities to improve instruction and student learning. Indicator 3.6: 3 Teachers implement the school s instructional process in support of student learning. Page 2 of 5
Indicator 3.7: 4 Mentoring, coaching and induction programs support instructional improvement consistent with the school s values and beliefs about teaching and learning. Indicator 3.8: 4 The school engages families in meaningful ways in their children s education and keeps them informed of their children s learning progress. Indicator 3.9: 3 The school has a formal structure whereby each student is well known by at least one adult advocate in the school who supports that student s educational experience. Indicator 3.10: 3 Grading and reporting are based on clearly defined criteria that represent the attainment of content knowledge and skills and are consistent across grade levels and courses. Indicator 3.11: 4 All staff members participate in a continuous program of professional learning. Indicator 3.12: 4 The school provides and coordinates learning support services to meet the unique learning needs of students. The school s instructional program offers students plentiful choices to pursue individual areas of interest alongside the core academic program. Although students can self-select the level of rigor in many courses (honors, Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment), teacher recommendations are a crucial part of the course registration process as they are based on relationships developed in the classroom and feedback from assessments. Multiple instructors of the same course work in teams to develop common pacing, syllabi, assessments, and to develop intervention and remediation plans for groups and individual students. Teachers individually, and with mentors, self-identify professional learning needs alongside the school-wide learning on literacy and engagement strategies. Strike teams of administrators and counselors meet weekly to monitor students identified as at risk for not graduating, or for any other reason. Standard 4 The school has resources and provides services that support its purpose and direction to ensure success for all students. Indicator 4.1: 3 Qualified professional and support staff are sufficient in number to fulfill their roles and responsibilities necessary to support the school s purpose, direction and the educational program. Indicator 4.2: 4 Instructional time, material resources and fiscal resources are sufficient to support the purpose and direction of the school. Page 3 of 5
Indicator 4.3: 3 The school maintains facilities, services and equipment to provide a safe, clean and healthy environment for all students and staff. Indicator 4.4: 4 Students and school personnel use a range of media and information resources to support the school s educational programs. Indicator 4.5: 3 The technology infrastructure supports the school s teaching, learning and operational needs. Indicator 4.6: 4 The school provides support services to meet the physical, social and emotional needs of the student population being served. Indicator 4.7: 3 The school provides services that support the counseling, assessment, referral, educational and career planning needs of all students. The school has implemented internal procedures to complement established processes of the division s Human Resource department. Each school year a comprehensive process to gather student interests and needs determines staffing allocations for the upcoming year within the budget provided by FCPS. Instructional time is prioritized in the decision-making process and protected, in part, through a calendar provided at the start of the year. The West Potomac Custodial Staff maintains a high standard for cleanliness for the entire building, both inside and outside throughout the property. Students and staff have access to a wide range of electronic and print resources, for example Noodle tools, databases, maintained by our library staff who also work with teachers and teams to plan, develop, and instruct. The technology committee has recently assessed the technology needs of the school building and personnel. Equipment purchases and cross leveling of resources were accomplished to provide collaborative teams the ability to utilize ecart/horizon software for team assessments and data collection to support the analysis of students by name and by need for response to interventions. The technology committee conducted a survey of staff development needs, and it is currently developing a professional learning plan to support the needs of the faculty and staff. Technology team members represent all areas of the school and provide technology support to their department for SIS gradebook, Blackboard, ecart/horizon, google docs, and other software. West Potomac Student Services provides a comprehensive data driven school counseling program to support the socioemotional needs of its students, and West Potomac is part of the FCPS Project AWARE Grant which provides support student overall faculty and student wellness in the building. This program includes a school wide Wellness Referral used for concerns regarding individual students. School-wide needs are determined using the Youth Survey results as well as other reports. Student Services personnel regularly connect with students to address individual needs to identify necessary interventions. Through collaboration through the counselors and the college and career center specialist, students are educated on all post-secondary opportunities. Page 4 of 5
Standard 5 The school implements a comprehensive assessment system that generates a range of data about student learning and school effectiveness and uses the results to guide continuous improvement. Indicator 5.1: 4 The school establishes and maintains a clearly defined and comprehensive student assessment system. Indicator 5.2: 4 Professional and support staff continuously collect, analyze and apply learning from a range of data sources, including comparison and trend data about student learning, instruction, program evaluation and organizational conditions. Indicator 5.3: 3 Professional and support staff are trained in the evaluation, interpretation and use of data. Indicator 5.4: 3 The school engages in a continuous process to determine verifiable improvement in student learning, including readiness and success at the next level. Indicator 5.5: 3 Leadership monitors and communicates comprehensive information about student learning, conditions that support student learning and the achievement of school improvement goals to stakeholders. The school has access to multiple forms and types of data generated both internally by collaborative teams and externally from the state and organizations such as College Board. At times, the school can suffer from DRIP Data rich information poor. The wealth of available data can feel overwhelming and, of course, data in and of itself does not provide information and must be interpreted. This past fall the school initiated and effort to bring a wide range of data together on a single page in order to ask the question, Do we have the data we need so as to interpret to provide us the information we need to make decisions for the school? Question asked and not yet answered. At the individual and team levels, assessment data is being used to identify students in need of intervention and remediation and topics that require reteaching. The English department has implemented portfolios as a way to track student progress across the year and readiness for the following year. The school improvement planning process shares student achievement information and program performance widely among faculty and the PTSA. Page 5 of 5