Goal Area/

Responsible Group

Context (Why?)

Strategic Work 2002-2003

Accomplishments

Strategic Work planned for 2003-2004

1A. All students will select appropriate books, read fluently, and apply appropriate word attack and comprehension strategies.

First grade students will enter with basic, developmentally appropriate phonemic awareness skills.

All students will read on grade level by the end of third grade.

Through faculty, with support from the Reading/Language Arts Department Chair, Reading/Language Arts department, & district Early literacy committee.

Reading is the foundation of all future learning. Meeting the diverse needs of our student population requires us to continuously monitor the efficacy of our approach and seek ways to improve our instruction.

NOTE: This goal has been switched to our primary academic goal for the 2003-4 School year.

-Continued early literacy support in grades K/1 small & whole class direct instruction, especially for students at risk

-Kindergarten teachers implemented phonemic awareness and writing.

-Educated parents about definition and importance of phonemic awareness & how they can help via newsletter

-Continued teacher evaluation focus on meeting diverse needs in literacy, including differentiated student-led literature groups

-Continued model teaching in classrooms by reading specialists

-Child Study model refined to assist teachers in meeting student needs in the classroom

-Expansion of teachers using more differentiated literacy approaches (e.g. flexible grouping)

-Continued serving more students with reading needs, especially those not qualifying for special education.

-First grade teachers report fall assessments show stronger incoming skills, particular in sound/symbol relationships

-MCAS Reading Scores (or Grade 3, no students failed test and more than 85% "proficient."), however there is an achievement gap for African American, ESL and special education students.

-Some teachers inventoried reading materials in order to provide equity when ordering

-Begin piloting two reading anthology programs

Assessment

-Implementation of reading assessment tools to help teachers meet needs of students in reading in grades K-5

-Tracking of incoming kindergarten screening data over years

-All-school database of literacy scores and interventions for use in data analysis

Teaching Strategies

-Building Professional Development to focus on Reading Workshop and meeting the needs of all learners in reading. Led by LA/Reading Chair and teacher leaders.

-Reading "plans" to be developed for each struggling student.

-"Double dose" of reading for all students struggling with reading via classroom teacher &/or reading specialists

-Title 1 Reading "double dose" Instruction targeted at grade 2 especially for lowest readers

-Expansion of modeling of teaching reading strategies with goal of gradual release of responsibility to teachers

-K-3 teachers organize books for optimum student selection (e.g. by level and topic)

-Order additional classroom library books for struggling readers.

Goal Area/

Responsible Group

Context (Why are we doing this?)

Strategic Work during 2002-3

Accomplishments

Strategic work planned for 2003-2004

1. B. Students will demonstrate their ability to write nonfiction clearly, independently, and meeting grade level expectations.

Through the faculty, with support from the Language Arts department.

We believe that effective nonfiction writing is an essential skill for all students.

Historically, we have focused on fiction writing. Nonfiction writing was a weaker area as assessed by MCAS, teacher observation and student writing samples.

Faculty believes students need more experiences writing across all curriculum areas.

-Multi-school summer workshop to: identify writing genres (forms) to be mastered at each grade level & associated rubrics (criteria)

-Year 2 of training in Writing Across the Curriculum, including consultation at grade level

-Continued all-school writes followed by cross grade teacher meetings to examine student work and analysis of data by class and grade

-Continued model teaching lessons conducted by principal on identified weaker areas (details & voice)

-Building and district Focus Correction Areas merged

Writing

-Increased length and detail in many students’ nonfiction writing as evidenced by student writing samples & MCAS scores.

-More writing occurring: students doing "quick writes" several times a week in content areas

-Increased writing fluency of all students (students write on the spot without complaint or distress) as evidenced by teacher observation.

-Most students and teachers using common language and expectations for "types" or writing, reducing need for reteaching and making "quick writes" possible.

-All-school "quick writes" to be done to gather data on student writing

-Teacher analysis of student selected writing pieces

-Implementation of district expectations for writing

-Analysis of writing data on all-school writes over the last three years.

-Continued Writing Across the Curriculum Training for new teachers

1.C. Students in grades 1-5 will spell all grade level Priority (high frequency) words correctly in everyday writing, will proofread their work independently, and will develop strategies for identifying and correcting misspelled words.

Through the faculty, with support from the Language Arts Committee.

Parent surveys and teacher feedback indicated a need for a consistent, effective spelling program that focuses on spelling correctly in everyday writing.

-All-school writes scored for spelling.

-Iowa results continue to show improved spelling/ proofreading scores

-All school writes show that most students are spelling priority words correctly.

-Faculty meeting and/or grade level meeting focused on assessing spelling in everyday writing

1.D. Kindergarten through second grade students struggling in mathematics will improve their achievement.

Through the faculty, with support from the Math Department and Title 1 Math Teacher.(Not applicable–new goal)

(Not applicable–new goal)

Use variety of assessments to identify students who need additional instruction:

-Kindergarten: additional items on Kindergarten screening

-1^st Grade: The Early Mathematics Assessment given by Title 1 Math teacher

-2^nd-5^th: LPS End of Year Mathematics tests (for the previous year)

Provide a "double dose" of mathematics instruction for the lowest achievers via: classroom teacher small groups & Title 1 teacher pull out (mostly grades K-2)

Goal Area/

Responsible Group

Context (Why are we doing this?)

Strategic Work during

2002-3

Accomplishments/Data

Strategic work planned for 2003-4

2. A. Boston students will improve their student skills, confidence, and adjustment to Estabrook.

Through faculty, with support from the Antibias Committee, the school mentors, and district METCO and EMI resources.

Local and national data indicate that students of African heritage are at risk, especially as they enter middle and high school (e.g. fewer in honors classes, lower MCAS test scores).

Estabrook’s achievement data parallel’s national and district data. African American students continue to be referred for special education evaluations and disciplinary incidents more frequently than other students.

As a district we are committed to valuing diversity and antiracist teaching practices.

Estabrook is a very diverse community, and cultural and institutional racism affects us all regardless of our backgrounds.

-Trained additional mentors; focus mentoring on achievement & include more children in program

-Training/consulting planned with METCO to support teachers in meeting student needs

-Metco tutor hired

-21 mentors: Most African descent children assigned a mentor and a few others at high risk as well

-Second successful year cluster grouping African American students in some classes, especially grade 5

-Mixed achievement results (4^th grade literacy strong, math weaker. 3^rd grade reading still a challenge.)

-Sharing of research/best practices for improving achievement from staff attending Metco conference

-Evaluate efficacy of mentoring program.

-Four regular mentor meetings that clarify role and provide additional training

-Parent meeting for mentored students

-Identify vehicle for having Boston students participate in after school tutoring

-Interview African American graduates for their insights about their experiences.

-Show "We All Go to School in Lexington" to all students.

Goal Area/

Responsible Group

Context (Why are we doing this?)

Strategic Work during 2002-3

Accomplishments

Strategic work planned for 2002-2004

2. B. Students and families from all backgrounds and of all configurations will feel welcome at Estabrook.

Through AntiBias Design Team & faculty

We are committed to welcoming all children and families.

Estabrook’s families are becoming increasingly diverse and include many configurations, including mother-father, adoptive, bi-racial, single parent, divorced, lesbian-headed, extended family, and more.

Parent representation from some groups still does not reflect our population in committees, social events, etc.

-Begin new family orientation & host families; provide training for hosts

-Second "That’s a Family" film and forum for school community

-Broadened Black History Month celebration

-Extended Family Friends to include staying in Lexington for evening events

-Parent Antibias Training

-More teachers took EMI

-Diversity Bookbags w/ books, games about diverse backgrounds and families put in each classroom

-Avoidance of isolating children during placement process (e.g. by race, culture)

-Large % of new families participating in host family model

-"That’s a Family" seems to be accepted by parents (only 1 attended parent informational evening)

-Many teachers participated in EMI

-Year 2 of Black History Month celebration

-Establishment of a Multi-Cultural Calendar by teachers, implementation by parents

-Antibias committee now has members more reflective of school community

-Antibias to meet in Boston w/ School Committee

-Antibias to recruit African American parents

-Solicit parent volunteers to help with translation into other languages

-Host International Games Day

-Staff & family photo wall to help everyone get to know each other

-Examine ways to help handicapped students feel more included

-Separate orientations for new parents and students

-PTA to set goal of having more diverse volunteers, including fathers, working parents.

-Evaluate Host Family Program

Goal Area/

Responsible Group

Context (Why?)

Strategic Work

2002-3

Accomplishments

Strategic Work planned for 2002-2004

3. A. Students will be as physically safe as possible at Estabrook.

Through Health & Safety Committee, Crisis Management team, & faculty, including nurse.

District crisis management plan requires action from each school to prepare for emergencies.

Parents and staff have identified a number of physical safety issues.

-Safe Environment Committee split into Health and Safety and Respectful Behavior.

-Ongoing meetings w/ Chartwells regarding food/preparation issues

-Crisis Management Team met to deal w/ Shelter in Place and other post 9/11 issues

-Identification and addressing of high priority fire inspection issues

-All staff received ID badges with emergency codes

-Screens received for windows to avoid bee stings

-Crisis Management Protocol posted in each room

-Crisis Training, Restraint, Sexual Abuse Training to all Staff

-Determined that protocol for contacting parents would be staff calls and website

-Ordered shade structure

-Basement & closet cleaned out per fire requirements

-Crisis Management team to revise plan based on latest recommendations by government, Red Cross, etc.

-Communicate to parents about crisis plans

-Identify funds to purchase emergency kit items

-Implement new fire laws, including identifying method for covering hall bulletin boards.

-Address high priority fire departments’ citations

-Identify plan to remove, cover or repair splinters on structure

3. B. Students and adults will behave in a responsible and caring way to provide emotionally safe learning environment.

Through Conduct Policy Committee, Playground Committee, and faculty

Parents’ survey and faculty identify this as a high priority area for growth. Continued feedback from entire community on need to address respectful behavior.

-Weekly meetings between assistant principal and aides to problem solve playground issues

-Assistant principal provided direct supervision of students and modeling to aides

-Student council run assembly on name calling/bystander issues

-Reductions in physical altercations on playground as measured by Discipline Log

-Citations for clean coat areas as well as hall behavior

-Fun Spot Wednesdays as a recess alternative (activities and games led by children and/or parents)

-Students able to use terms bullying and bystander to describe behavior

-Aides routinely walking around and interacting with children proactively

-Teacher sharing on Responsive Classroom Implementation

-Responsive Classroom agreements

-Revision of school rules/consequences after survey of parents, students, & staff on student behavior/bullying

-Regular social "themes" planned for assemblies

-One aide/tutor assigned to provide supervision for recess alternative at all times

-Tutors trained in recess alternatives

Goal Area/

Responsible Group

Context (Why?)

Strategic Work

2002-3

Accomplishments

Strategic Work planned for 2003-2004

4. Parents will clearly understand homework expectations

Through Site Council/Homework Subcommittee

Previous PTA meeting and parent surveys have indicated that homework is an ongoing area of concern and confusion for parents.

The School Committee will be consideration modifications to the Homework Policy and the Site Council wishes to provide input into the policy.

PTA meeting on this topic following Dialogue Circle format

NA

-Survey parents and staff

-Report results to school community

-Site Council to develop recommendations to School Committee on policy and to school on improved communications regarding homework