West Springfield Public Schools

20 11 -2 01 4

Prepared by

Russell Johnston, PhD Superintendent of Schools

Table of Contents

Theory of Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Mission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Core Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Strategic Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Student Data (source: DESE 2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Progress Toward Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Strategic Objectives, Initiatives & Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Theory of Action
If we provide high quality, state-of-the-art curriculum and instruction, continually improve teaching by learning from student data through 21st century collaboration and problem solving, then students will accumulate the skills necessary to graduate from high school prepared for college, career, and full participation in a democratic society.

Mission
The underlying mission of the district was, and always has been, to provide all students with the best possible education to enable them to experience the joy of reaching their full potential. A collaborative approach to educating the whole child is at the forefront of this undertaking. We strive to ensure that each student: o comes to school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle; o learns in an intellectually challenging environment that is physically and emotionally safe; o is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community; o has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualied, caring adults; and o is challenged academically and prepared for success in college or further study and for employment in a global environment. By providing our graduates with the necessary knowledge, skills and expertise, we commit to preparing them to thrive in this global 21st century economy. Among the essential skills for success are critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, and communication and collaboration. Further, we promote an understanding of academic content at a much higher level by weaving global awareness, financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy, and civic, health and environmental literacy into core subjects.

Vision
A high-quality education is the fundamental right of every child. All children will receive the respect, encouragement, and opportunities they need to build the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be successful, contributing members of a global society.

Core Beliefs
Centrality of the Classroom All of the instructional efforts in the classroom are aligned to support the relationship between students and teachers, because the classroom experience is the core of education. By embracing this principle, we will ensure that students receive an effective, balanced and comprehensive education. High Expectations When we establish high expectations for students and provide the support necessary to achieve these expectations, high academic, social and personal success will follow. It is these expectations that provide the challenge and the inspiration required to motivate a student to his or her highest level of performance.
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Equity Educational equity for students is a shared priority and a shared responsibility of the WSPS, parents and the larger school community. Through our inclusive, cooperative efforts, we will create conditions for their full and equal participation, opportunity, and benefit in society, thus maximizing students success and closing the achievement gap. Integrity Academic integrity in the West Springfield Public Schools embodies a commitment to honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. In order for students to achieve their maximum academic potential, we will promote an environment that
fosters integrity and honorable conduct, thus providing sound preparation for success and future opportunities. Collaborative Problem Solving We will create an environment that supports collaborative problem solving at all levels and across all disciplines. Quality learning experiences and collaborative problem solving support academic achievement thus enabling students to build on success as they pursue goals.

Strategic Objectives
Align curriculum and instruction to the new Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks to
improve college and career readiness for all students Foster knowledge-driven schools where teachers and administrators collaboratively analyze data to improve instruction on an ongoing basis Promote 21st century collaboration, communication, and problem solving skills between and among parents, administrators, teachers, and students

Student Data
Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity (2010-11) Race African American Asian Hispanic Native American White Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Multi-Race, Non-Hispanic % of District 3.5 4.5 14.6 0.2 74.8 0.1 2.2 % of State 8.2 5.5 15.4 0.2 68.0 0.1 2.4

Enrollment by Gender (2010-11) District Male Female Total 2,060 1,872 3,932 State 490,363 465,200 955,563

Source: DESE 2011

Enrollment by Grade (2010-11) PK John Ashley Fausey Memorial Mittineague Coburn Tatham High School 67 0 0 0 0 0 0 K 0 0 0 47 0 0 0 1 74 30 33 87 46 0 0 2 0 87 51 33 72 42 0 0 3 0 91 41 24 80 43 0 0 4 0 82 47 26 74 47 0 0 5 0 89 32 29 78 53 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 SP CT Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 287 423 201 145 438 231 1,303 904 3,932 220 0

352 364 266 321 0

Middle School 0

298 298 308 0

District 67 267 270 285 279 276 281 298 298 308 352 364 266 321 0 Source: DESE 2011

Selected Populations (2010-11) % of District First Language not English Limited English Proficient Low-income Special Education Free Lunch Reduced Lunch Source: DESE 2011 24.5 7.4 46.4 20.3 40.9 5.5 % of State 16.3 7.1 34.2 17.0 29.1 5.1

Indicators (2009-2010) % of District Grade 9-12 Dropout Rate Attendance Rate Average # of days absent In-School Suspension Rate Out-of-School Suspension Rate Retention Rate Graduation Rate 3.4 94.4 9.5 1.6 10.0 3.0 71.7 % of State 2.9 94.6 9.3 3.7 6.0 2.1 82.1 2.2

Truancy Rate 0.1 Source: DESE 2010 (most up-to-date at present time)

Summary of AYP Data

Adequate Yearly Progress History 2009 ELA MATH Aggregate All Subgroups Aggregate All Subgroups Yes Yes Yes No 2010 No No No No 2011 Yes No No No

NCLB Accountability Status

Improvement Year 1 - Subgroups Corrective Action - Subgroups

Source: DESE 2011 2009-2010 Attendance

WSHS WSMS Fausey Memorial Mittineague Coburn Tatham Ashley

% of School 92.6 95.3 96.1 95.0 96.2 95.6 96.4 90.7

% of District 94.4 94.4 94.4 94.4 94.4 94.4 94.4 94.4

% of State 94.6 94.6 94.6 94.6 94.6 94.6 94.6 94.6

Source: DESE 2010 (most up to date at present time)

Goals
Indicators of Success (Objectives and Timeline)
Benchmarks Previous June June June 2009 2010 2011 English Language Arts 66.9% 62% 62% EOY Goal June 2012 68% EOY Goal June 2013 76.25% EOY Goal June 2014 81%

81% of students in grades 3-8 and 10 will score proficient/ advanced on ELA MCAS 83% of students in grades 3-8 and 10 will score proficient/ advanced on Math MCAS Increase the percentage of students who graduate from high school within four years to 70% by 2014 Increase the percentage of high school graduates who have completed MassCore to 85% by 2014.

59.4%

Mathematics 59.7%

58%

70%

77%

83%

Four-Year Graduation Rate 66.4% 71.7% Released Fall 2011* MassCore 34%

67%

69.28%

70%

28%

40%

60%

75%

85%

* District Improvement Plan will be updated when data is released

Progress Toward Goals

AYP Summary (Source: DESE) 2010 District Performance Accountability Status ELA 83.8 No Status Math 80.6 Imp. Year 2Subgroups 2011 Performance Accountability Status 84.2 Imp. Year 1 Subgroups 80.1 Corr. Action Subgroups

2010 West Springfield High School Performance Accountability Status ELA 89.3 Imp. Year 1Subgroups Math 86.7 Imp. Year 1

2011 Performance Accountability Status 89.1 Imp. Year 2 Subgroups 85.2 Imp. Year 2

2010 West Springfield Middle School Performance Accountability Status ELA 84.9 Corr. Action Math 78.4 Restr. Year 2

2011

Performance Accountability Status 87.4 Restr. Year 1 Subgroups 78.7 Imp. Year 2

2010 Fausey School

2011

ELA Math

Performance Accountability Performance Accountability Status Status 86.9 Corr. Action 87.7 Corr. Action 84.5 Imp. Year 2 88.4 Imp. Year 2 Subgroups

2010 Coburn School

2011

ELA Math

Performance Accountability Performance Accountability Status Status 79.8 No Status 77.2 Imp. Year 1 83.3 Imp. Year 2 81.8 Corr. Action Subgroups
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2010 Tatham School Performance ELA Math 85.4 89.3

2011

Accountability Performance Accountability Status Status No Status 86.3 Imp. Year 1 No Status 91.2 No Status

2010 Mittineague School Performance Accountability Status ELA 80.7 Imp. Year 2 Math 79.8 Imp. Year 1

2011 Performance Accountability Status 83.6 Imp. Year 2 80.9 Imp. Year 1

2010 Memorial School Performance Accountability Status 74.8 Imp. Year 1 75.0 Imp. Year 1

2011

Performance 69.7 75.9

ELA Math

Accountability Status Imp. Year 2 Imp. Year 2

Strategic Objectives, Initiatives & Projects

Strategic Objective 1: Align curriculum and instruction to the new Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks to improve college and career readiness for all students Strategic Initiatives: Project: Align curriculum to new Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics. Activity Timeline Persons Responsible Elementary math coach and elementary math committee members, MS math coach and middle school math curriculum committee HS math department chair and high school math curriculum committee District-wide math vertical alignment team Elementary math teachers

Develop new scope and sequence Completed by documents aligned to new math framework January 2012 for all math courses, grades k-8

Develop course syllabi aligned to new math framework for all math classes, grades 912 Ensure coordinated vertical alignment and articulation of math curriculum Fully implement enVision math curriculum in grades k-5, including new textbooks in grades 4-5 Investigate math curriculum materials and instructional tools (possibly including new textbooks) needed to implement new scope and sequence/syllabi at middle school and high school levels Implement math curriculum materials and instructional tools (possibly including new textbooks) needed to implement new scope and sequence at middle school and high school levels

Completed by September 2012 October 2011December 2012 September 2011Ongoing October 2011December 2012

Middle school and high school math curriculum committees

Implemented progressively starting September 2012 and fully implemented by June 2014 Professional development days and selected curriculum meetings during SY12, SY13, and SY14

Middle school and high school math curriculum committees

Provide professional development for teachers on new math framework with opportunities for small group collaboration

Superintendent, Title I director, math coaches, math department chair

Send teams of teachers and administrators to relevant DSAC professional development courses Evaluate current intensive math interventions and make alterations, possibly including computer-based learning opportunities, to improve students number sense skills

Summers 2012, 2013, 2014 (with fall follow up meetings) Evaluation during SY12, Implement changes starting Sept. 2012

Superintendent, Title I director, principals

Administrator of special services

Project: Align curriculum to new Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy. Activity Timeline Persons Responsible Elementary ELA coach and elementary ELA committee members, MS ELA coach and middle school ELA curriculum committee HS ELA department chair and high school ELA curriculum committee District-wide ELA vertical alignment team Elementary, middle school and high school ELA curriculum committees

Develop new scope and sequence Completed by documents aligned to new math August 2012 framework for all ELA courses, grades k-8

Develop course syllabi aligned to new ELA Completed by framework for all ELA classes, grades 9-12 September 2012 Ensure coordinated vertical alignment and articulation of ELA curriculum October 2011-June 2012

Investigate ELA core curriculum (possibly October 2011including new teaching series) needed to December 2012 implement new scope and sequence at elementary, middle school and high school levels Implement ELA core curriculum (possibly including new teacher manuals, reading series, and other learning materials) needed to implement new scope and sequence at middle school and high school levels Define effective and continuous system of tiered ELA interventions and implement/refine interventions, with a focus on targeted interventions Implemented progressively starting September 2012 and fully implemented by June 2014 Implemented progressively starting September 2013 and fully implemented by June 2014

Elementary, middle school and high school ELA curriculum committees

Elementary, middle school and high school ELA curriculum committees

Evaluate effectiveness of ELA intensive interventions and make alterations to improve this level of intervention

Evaluation during SY12. Implemented progressively starting September 2012 and fully implemented by June 2014 Professional development days and selected curriculum meetings during SY12, SY13, and SY14 Professional development days SY12, SY13, SY14, starting with 35 HS teachers in SY12 Summers 2012, 2013, 2014 (with fall follow up meetings)

Administrator of special services and ELA curriculum committees

Provide professional development for teachers on implementing new ELA framework with opportunities for small group collaboration

Superintendent, Title I Director, ELA coaches, English department chair

Provide professional development on reading and writing in the content areas for high school and middle school content area teachers Send teams of teachers to relevant DSAC professional development courses

High school administration, superintendent

Superintendent, Title I director, principals

Project: Increase percentage of high school students graduating in four years with at least 10 fewer students dropping out each year and increase the percentage of students completing MassCore. Activity Determine the curriculum materials, textbooks, and instructional technology needed to help students successfully complete MassCore Implement curriculum materials, textbooks, and instructional technology needed to help students successfully complete MassCore Determine the planning time and training teachers require to help students successfully complete MassCore Timeline SY11-12 Persons Responsible High school administration and department chairs

SY12-14

High school administration and department chairs

SY11-12

High school administration and department chairs

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Implement the planning time and training teachers require to help students successfully complete MassCore Implement MMSI Pre-AP and MMSI AP instruction at WSMS and WSHS, including training teachers and administrators, creating vertical alignment teams, and participating in AP study sessions Implement district-wide drop out prevention task force in order to address students needs as early in their educational career as possible, and create systemic changes and improvements based upon the recommendations of the task force Analyze high school drop out prevention data with high school-based drop out prevention team and make improvements to drop out prevention initiatives (e.g., credit recovery, Reconnecting Youth, etc.) based upon this analysis Implement 21st Century Skills Academy, a new innovation school, in collaboration with the Lower Pioneer Valley Education Collaborative and evaluate effectiveness on ongoing basis

SY12-14

High school administration and department chairs

Incremental with increasing numbers of teachers participating from 2011 to 2014 Starting Sept. 2011 with regular meetings through 2014

Middle school and high school administrators

Superintendent, task force members

Starting Sept. 2011 with regular meetings through 2014

Superintendent, high school administrators, high school drop out prevention committee

Starting September 2011 and ongoing through 2014

Superintendent, LPVEC executive director, high school administrator, guidance counselor, and 21st CSA program director

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Strategic Objective 2: Foster knowledge-driven schools where teachers and administrators engage in self-reflection and collaboratively analyze data to improve instruction on an ongoing basis Strategic Initiatives: Project: Improve understanding and application of quantitative and qualitative data and utilize data analysis to improve instruction. Activity Data on student achievement and/or student growth displayed in every school building Professional learning communities established in each elementary school to examine student work and data to improve instruction Data teams meet in each school to analyze school-wide data and develop plans for learning walkthroughs Conduct two learning walkthroughs (minimum) in each school Two teachers from each school to attend DESE-sponsored trainings on data analysis Administrators engage in professional learning communities with each other to analyze student data and student work samples Timeline September 2011Ongoing September 2011Ongoing Quarterly each school year, 20112014 Twice per year, 20112014 TBA Monthly, 2011-2014 Persons Responsible Superintendent, principals, department chairs Superintendent, principals

Principals

Principals, data team

Teachers Superintendent, Title I director, administrator of special services and principals

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Project:

Implement new statewide educator evaluation framework. Activity Timeline Persons Responsible

Evaluation Implementation Working Group meets to: Review new regulations Develop communication plan to update teachers on new system Investigate and potentially select online resource for system implementation Create plan for implementing new system after collective bargaining Develop professional development plan Assess implementation of plan and suggest alterations, as necessary Enter collective bargaining to develop new teacher evaluation system Provide professional development on new system

September Superintendent and 2011-June 2013 Evaluation Implementation Working Group

October 2011May 2012 August 2012

WSEA and School Committee Superintendent

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Strategic Objective 3 Promote 21st century collaboration, communication, and problem solving skills between and among parents, administrators, teachers, and students to improve learning Strategic Initiatives: Project: Strengthen climate, conditions, and school culture using results from surveys for decision making and change. Activity Principals and WSEA building representatives meet bi-annually to discuss priorities and problem solve school-based issues Request teachers to complete MA TeLLs survey School-based planning teams (including administrator(s) and WSEA building representatives) review results and plan goals and benchmarks for improvement School-based planning teams review progress towards goals and benchmarks and make alterations to plans Request teachers to complete follow up school climate survey School-based planning teams review results and revise plans, including goals and benchmarks Timeline September 2011 to June 2014 Fall 2011 Persons Responsible Principals, WSEA building representatives Superintendent, principals, WSEA leaders

Winter 2012 Principals, WSEA building representatives

Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 Fall 2013

Principals, WSEA building representatives Superintendent, principals

Winter 2014 Principals, WSEA building representatives

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Project:

Increase teachers and administrators utilization of 21st century technologies that promote collaboration and learning. Activity Timeline School year 2011-2012 and ongoing as needed School year 2011-2012 and ongoing through 2014 School year 2011-2012 and ongoing through 2014 Fall 2011 Persons Responsible Education technology coordinator, instructional network administrator Principals, teachers

Provide optional after school training for teachers on technology-related skills

Develop site-based plans for specific applications of technologies that support collaboration and learning (such as Google docs, Buzzword, VoiceThread, WikiSpaces, etc.) Convene regular meetings of district-wide technology team to make ongoing recommendations to improve utilization of 21st century technologies Implement SuccessMaker in special education learning center classrooms in each elementary school in order to expand computer-aided instruction for students with disabilities Continue to develop plans for new high school that include relevant and up-to-date technologies for teaching and learning

Education technology coordinator, instructional network administrator, superintendent Administrator of special services

Ongoing through 2014

Superintendent, acting assistant superintendent, high school principal, Planning and Construction Committee

Project:

Continue implementation of bullying prevention and intervention plan. Activity Timeline School year 20112012 and ongoing through 2014 School year 20112012 and ongoing through 2014 Ongoing 2011-2014 with regular updates to school committee Persons Responsible Superintendent, bullying prevention task force

Convene regular meetings of district-wide bully prevention task force to make ongoing recommendations to improve bullying prevention and intervention plan Provide professional development on bullying prevention techniques to staff members as needed Analyze data from bullying incident reports and make recommendations for improving supports and services

Bullying prevention professional development team Superintendent

Leok/district and school improvement plans/District improvement plan 2011-2014 with graphics/sc approved 10-11-11

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