Dr. Timothy Mitchell Rapid City Area Schools

Learning Target: RCAS school board members and all stakeholders will understand: -The key research-based principles by which the GF budget recommendations are based. -The strategy and key factors utilized to develop the GF budget recommendations. -To provide additional clarity as to the development of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) in the RCAS 3/24/11 RCAS

Criteria for Success: The RCAS administration and school board will develop a GF Budget based upon sound research-based principles, aligned with district priorities and with feedback from all stakeholders. 3/24/11 RCAS

The type of district and schools that I envision as we move forward embraces the current research as to what is the best way for leaders and teachers to act. They are also fiscally responsible and committed to our mission, vision and priorities as established by the community.

The Potential Future: RCAS Reports: Increases in Student Achievement Increases in Graduation Rates Decrease in Achievement Gaps (NA/ED/SPED)

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity”

 Governor’s Proposed Budget is a positive given the limited resources  Funded Formula ($ %)-Gave additional one-time money ($ %)  Per Student Allocation Increase $ %  SD Investing in Teachers-8.4 Million 1.5%  Common Core/STEM/Career Development  Common Core/Evaluation

 Still a need to address Deficit  Released $4.3 mill Budget Reduction Plan  Fiscally Responsible/Committed to Mission  Packaged w/Instructional Calendar Proposal  Taking into account the latest research on how to improve schools

 To become as Effective and Efficient as possible  To become as Innovative and Creative as possible  To guide a conversation to the determine the expectations for public schools-support ways to meet those expectations

The process has included: -utilizing every opportunity to explain the situation -a review of current expenditures- Where is the $$ going? -reminding people of the mission and priorities

Four resource shifts with great potential: -away from quantity of staff towards quality -from remediation to early identification -from isolated practitioners to teacher teams -from full-time teachers toward creative and effective alternative delivery systems

-This proposed plan reduces expenditures for the school year by: $4,343,000 -We also believe we can realize some additional savings through the final budget process. -We will be adding $1,200,000 in expenditure for additional staff for All Day Kindergarten

Visible Learning synthesized the results of more than 15 years of research involving millions of students and it represents the biggest collection of evidenced-based research into what actually works in schools to improve learning.

What is the barrier to high quality learning in every classroom: *The variation of implementation causes different impact on learning

Significant finding: The most successful schools function as a professional learning community: Teachers pursue a clear shared purpose Engage in collaborative work Take collective responsibility for student learning

The best way to improve a school or district is by developing the people within it!!

A regularly scheduled early release time district-wide to enhance student learning by allowing teachers time to plan as teams, create common formative assessments and learning targets, do data charts to monitor student progress, create enrichment lessons and move forward any future district initiatives

 Reduction of Additional Pay and Temporary Staffing  Additional Time to implement district priorities  Transportation Savings  Less Substitutes and Higher Quality Contact Time  All staff could be involved with implementation  Improves the learning of all students  Builds collective capacity of the staff

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is: -An on-going process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve -PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators

*Will student number continue to increase? *Will current cash balances remain stable? *Compensation/Benefits/Negotiations? *What will happen in the Legislative Session? *What will happen at the Federal level? *Will the efforts of SD Moving Forward be successful (Sales Tax Initiative)?

The Administrative Recommendation has been completed and can be found posted on our website Presentation to Staff and Public  Monday January 23, 2012-South Middle School  Monday January 30, 2012-Dakota Middle School  Tuesday February 7, 2012-North Middle School  Monday February 27, 2012-Southwest Middle School

John Hattie (2009), in his book Visible Learning, examines numerous instructional practices and concludes that teachers working together in collaborative teams to clarify what students must learn, gather evidence of learning, and analyze that evidence so that they can identify the most powerful teaching strategy is indeed the practice that yields the most results in improving student learning. Getting this powerful continuous model in place requires both structural adjustments and cultural shifts.

"Quality is never an accident: It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives."