Mock School Board Meeting Vernon Johns Junior High School Dr. Ronnie Watson, Principal Stepping into Greatness because We won't QUIT, won't FAIL and won't LOSE! January 12,

STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS Grades 8 and 9 Enrollment :587 Ethnic Representation 96% African-American 2% White 2% Hispanic Student Sub-Groups 70% free-reduced lunch 16% SWD 4% LEP SCHOOL PERFORMANCE Transformation Year 2 Accredited with Warning Did Not Make AYP Three-Year Data Trends (2008 to 2011) English: 62% to 76% Math: 89% to 85% Writing: 60% to 58% Science: 68% to 79% History: 70% to 56% Teacher Indicator (Attendance) Total No. of Teachers: 46 Teacher Attendance (YTD): 94% 2

3 SOL Test Scores Three-Year Comparison

4 SOL Test Scores (Continued) Three-Year Comparison

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL WHAT THE SCHOOL NEEDS TO IMPROVE  Caring teachers who express interest in student success  Opportunities for teacher collaboration have been created by establishing common planning times  SPED students are making strong progress in English and Mathematics Improve the quality of learning by using differentiation, assessing for learning daily and weekly, and providing clear learning objectives Increase teacher accountability by closely monitoring lesson planning and instruction, and providing specific feedback Improve current approach to school discipline to help students develop responsible behaviors 7

Greater emphasis on job-embedded professional development tied directly to supporting school improvement goals Creation of a 9 th grade transition plan to bolster existing efforts to increase on-time high school graduation rates Establishment of the REACH (Responsibility, Excellence, Aspiration, Compassion, Honesty) Program has been established as a response to intervention (RTI). It encompasses a tailored response to each student’s academic level of achievement and provides a built-in reward system for those illustrating effort and growth. 8

Establishment of a high quality school culture where all students are encouraged to achieve at high levels Improvement of the instructional and leadership capacity of the school’s teachers and administrators Enhancement of the school and community relations through the creation and expansion of partnerships and parent and community involvement 9

Professional development funds Instructional programs (istation, Achieve 3000, Study Island Incentives Technical assistance (Cambridge Education) 10

11 FEDERAL REQUIREMENTSIMPLEMENTATION LEVEL  Creation and Use of District TeamFull  Enabling School AutonomyFull  Principal and Hiring TeachersHigh  Stakeholder EngagementPartial  Creation and Use of School TeamFull  Leading ChangeFull  Evaluating, Rewarding, Removing StaffPartial  Professional DevelopmentFull  Learning TimeFull  Reforming InstructionPartial

Difficulty in establishing a small learning community that would not be perceived as punitive by the adolescent population of the school Balancing the demands of turnaround reporting and meeting requirements with the necessary improvement activities at the school Developing a new orientation towards the use of data to drive decision-making, while avoiding the dangers of being “data rich and information poor” 12

Improve the quality of learning by providing students with clear learning objectives, utilizing strategies to enhance students’ understanding of key concepts, and using differentiated instructional strategies to address specific learning needs. Increase teacher accountability for student outcomes by closely monitoring lesson planning and providing feedback on teacher performance 13

Implement a plan for moving the current discipline approach from a punitive, compliance-based model to one that helps student develop responsible behaviors Improve the leadership capacity to ensure the school has a clear vision for success that is shared by the entire school community 14

Provide status report on the 25 RPF Indicators/Indistar Plan and the MOU with the External Lead Partner Conduct third and final School Quality Review Identify accomplishments and establish plan for Indistar Plan goal maintenance and expansion Identify goals that remain unattained and devise action plan and timelines for completion Identify supports that will be necessary to continue and/or develop within the school and at the division level to help ensure long-term continuous improvement Conduct a debrief of the three-year LTP process with all key stakeholders to identify “lessons learned” and “next steps” Based on the previously identified actions, complete the school improvement plan for