Hard Copy of Fall Timeline Month by Month  

In the fall, schools begin to function under their newly adopted school improvement plan, paying specific attention to gathering baseline data, and effectively progress monitoring the strategies outlined within each building-level objective.

Looming Deadlines:

• School Improvement Plans and School Data Analysis were DUE on September 1 (ideally submitted by June 1 for district-level planning purposes)
• District should have submitted all School Improvement Plans by September 1
  
• Fall  Benchmark Assessments need to occur during appropriate windows
  
• Title I Comparability from mid-October till late November
• Registration of Educational Personnel (REP) due late November

Building Activities

_A)  Organize/Confirm the School Improvement Team with required members.

• NOTE:  Parents and board members may be most interested only in the beginning/end of the year or quarterly meetings where progress is reported.  Of course, feel free to share all dates.
• Access this sample school improvement agenda and circulate to members to clarify expectations for each meeting.

B)  Create and distribute the "school improvement one-pager" - a one- to two-page document to be distributed to teachers delineating the specific strategies to be implemented/progress monitored (narrow, focused, simple list!).  For additional information, see this excerpt from Jim Knight's Unmistakable Impact.

C)  Compile summaries of both adult monitoring data (fidelity of implementation of SI strategies) and student impact data (generated from fall benchmarking or other assessments – identifies student need as it relates to chosen strategies) to use when reporting to District Improvement Team during October meeting

D)  School Board Meeting:  Present accreditation status seen at MI School Data Portal or MI School Report Card and the School Improvement Plan (SIP - preferably in 1- to 2-page summary of non-negotiables determined by the staff); share the Annual Education Report by October 15 (also advisable to "market" availability at Open House) 

E) School Improvement Team should begin gathering formative and summative assessment data (Informed Interim Assessments) from all teachers and support staff in order to progress monitor chosen strategies as delineated in the School Improvement Plan

• Essential Question:  Is what we're doing working and how do we know?
• If data shows our strategies are working ... Celebrate!!!
• If results fall short of stated objectives, determine the cause by evaluating adult fidelity of implementation first.
• How do we systemically support students that did not demonstrate proficiency on critical standards?
• Is there a way to target only specific areas and still provide opportunities for attaining proficiency?

F)  Implement administrative monitoring plan to track fidelity of implementation of strategies and activities as outlined in SIP

G) Administer Parent Perception Survey (typically at Parent-Teacher Conferences).  Plan to administer staff  and student surveys (December and March, respectively).

H)  Discuss School Systems Review and how to collect staff perspective 
     o Option 1: Send out an electronic survey tool for all staff to complete then discuss key indicators in a follow-up staff meeting
     o Option 2: Divide indicators to be addressed by staff teams that are composed of a variety of grade levels and/or departments.
     o Option 3: Combine the two previous options OR create your own process

District Activities

A) Organize/confirm the District Improvement Team with similar membership as at the building level (most likely  representatives from the building SITs) to meet regularly (three to six times per school year recommended).

• District Improvement Team (DIT) should communicate regularly with School Improvement Teams surrounding building-level data
• DIT should analyze building-level data, discern trends, and adjust District Improvement Plan accordingly
  
• DIT should answer the question:  is what we're doing systemically (district-wide) working, and how do we know?
• Trend data should be taken into consideration upon beginning District Systems Review; completion sometime in April
  

Classroom Activities

• Implement specific activities from the School Improvement Plan.
• Pre-test students and utilize data to drive instruction.
• Compile formative assessment data  as it relates to both fidelity of implementation of school improvement strategies at the teacher level, as well as student progress toward proficiency.
• Compile summative assessment data (rather Informed Interim Assessment data) as appropriate to measure student proficiency on targeted standards and ultimate success of implementation.
• Complete all progress monitoring tasks specific to current Instructional Learning Cycle; detailed data will be necessary for reporting conversation.
• Gather any additional data expected by School Improvement Team for all regular meetings.
  

Individual Student Activities

_Click this link or the picture for more information.

Other Considerations

• MEAP testing 3rd-9th grade
• MEAP -Access/MI-Access Testing

• MEAP preparation continues in the form of intervention on fundamental skills based on diagnostic data with small groups, even if material from previous year