Professional Learning Project Summer 2011

1. Professional LearningProjectSummer 2011 By Gail Langley Regina Lynch Kendra Stewart

2. Dogwood High School is located in west North Carolina and was named after the state flower. This ninth through twelfth grade school serves approximately 1148 students. This building has around 187 staff members that provide full or part-time instruction, guidance, resource, academic coaching, secretarial, custodial, and administrative support. The single-story building was built on 10 acres in 2001. There are both tree-shaded and an open areas for students. Dogwood offers a comprehensive curriculum to prepare students for the future through reading/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, media and technology, art, music, and physical education. School Description:

3. School Demographics:

4. Other Socioeconomic Factors: • Student to teacher ratio: 22.4 • Free and Reduced Lunch: 35% • Economically Disadvantaged: 83.1% • Student Receiving Exceptional Children Services: 13.9% • Students Enrolled in Academically Gifted Programs: 9.0% • Attendance Rate: 92.7%

5. Overall Student EOC Performance:

6. Dilemma: Recently, the school has cut money used to run buses for the remediation program. This program is imperative in giving students the extra edge academically. • LOST STUDENTS: Need to reach students stuck in the middle; that why we target students with C average and below even though C is passing • STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND MOTIVATION: Hard to find a way to provide direct intervention, support, enrichment and engagement for all students • LACK OF 21ST CENTURY INSTURCUTION: Offers chance to practice PLC methods and explore creative teaching methods to address multiple learning styles because; teachers more likely to try something new in non-tested areas • BUDGET BOUNDARIES: Way to offer students same services despite budget cuts

7. Dilemma: • Possible retention if the gaps are not caught early, leading to a lower graduation cohort and preventing progress on AYP goals. • Costs of our future for college students to catch up • Cost of the student or parents for having to take remediation class in college instead of introduction classes • Students get further and further behind, which makes it difficult to catch up • Disservice to the students not to implement remediation to catch students up to their peers • This assists students in receiving the specific skills that they are lacking in order to build to the next level for the next year instead of being lost

8. THESIS: Remedial classes address deficiencies in students’ academic background to prepare students for everyday class work. This preparation involves teaching skills that students may not have been able to master in school.

9. When making the decision to alter our entire school day to accommodate an enrichment/remediation block, we followed the School Climate Improvement Process: www.schoolclimate.org/climate/process.php

10. STAGE 1: Preparation • Student, Teacher, Parent Surveys • Benchmarks • EOC Score for current year and previous year • Locally adopted assessments • Classroom performance • Student who are failing two or more grades • Graduation Cohort rate

11. STAGE 2: Evaluation Impact of Difficulties • Discipline incidents • Classroom disruptions • Missing/Incomplete Assignments • Students failing or at risk of failing (see student survey) • Dropout Rate • As states expand their requirements for graduation, there is an increasing importance to provide remediation for students so that they catch up and not fail Student Behaviors • Regular school attendance • Student apathy (see student survey) • Student suspensions • Student Personal Education Plan • Social Skills • Student Peer and Self-Perceptions

12. STAGE 3: Understanding & Action Planning • Professional Development on Multiple Learning Styles and Effective Small Group Interaction & Instruction • Weekly SWOT team meetings to discuss strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats • PLCs on Research behind successful intervention strategies (we could hyperlink to our Research findings) • Development of an Action Plan (we could hyperlink to an Action Plan)

13. STAGE 4: Implementation New Schedule: (Tuesdays & Thursdays)7:50 – 9:05 1st Period 9:10 -9:50 Remediation/ enrichment period 9:55-11:25 2nd Period11:30 – 1:20 3rd Period with built in lunches11:30 – 12:00 A Lunch12:10 – 12:40 B Lunch12:50 – 1:10 C Lunch1:13 – 2:40 4th Period • Reduced the amount of time between lunches by 5 minutes • Allows for a 40 minute remediation and enrichment block • Teachers already have cafeteria dutyand ensure cafeteria is left clean between lunches • Put remediation period after first period to prevent students from viewing enrichment as an optional activity. • Extra time on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in first and fourth allow for shortened times on Tuesday and Thursday Traditional School Schedule:7:50 – 9:30 1st Period 9:35 – 11:05 2nd Period11:10 – 1:05 3rd Period with built in lunches11:00 – 11:30 A Lunch11:45 – 12:15 B Lunch12:35 – 1:05 C Lunch1:05 – 2:40 4th Period2:40 Dismissal

14. STAGE 5: Re-Evaluation Impact of Difficulties • Discipline incidents • Classroom disruptions • Missing/Incomplete Assignments • Students failing or at risk of failing (see student survey) Student Behaviors • Regular school attendance • Student apathy (see student survey) • Student suspensions • Student Personal Education Plan • Social Skill • Student Peer and Self-Perceptions After two semesters of implementation, the School Improvement Team will analyze:

15. What are the Policies Regarding Remediation? • State require districts to provide remediation for low-performing high school students • State specifies a process for identifying studentsto receive additional subject time in certain subject areas through EOCs and locally adopted student promotion policies. • State requires individual learning plans for at-riskstudents • State policy requires district or state to evaluatestudent remediation program Education Commission of the States (2011). Student Support and Remediation. Retrieved from ( http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=632

16. Why Does Remediation Matter? • States, students, and the business community benefit when students graduating from high school have adequate skills to succeed on the job. • States and students benefit when students are prepared prior to enrollment in postsecondary studies. • Students benefit when academic deficiencies are addressed as early as possible in their high school career. • Students and schools benefit when student participation in needed remediation is mandatory, and not left to a student's choice to participate. Education Commission of the States (2011). Student Support and Remediation. Retreived from ( http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=632

17. Why is It a National Issue? • States commonly use a combination of state and locally adopted measures to identify students in need of remediation. • Thirty states use state assessments -including high school exit exams - to determine student eligibility for remediation. • Seventeen states direct districts to use locally determined indicators, including locally-adopted assessments, promotion policies or classroom performance. Education Commission of the States (2011). Student Support and Remediation. Retrieved from ( http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=632

18. Research Findings: Quote: “a semester-length course taken twice a week or once a week is by definition more intensive than the same course taken three times a week.” • Source: Gallo, M. A., & Odu, M. (2009). Examining the relationship between class scheduling and student achievement in College Algebra. Community College Review, 36(4), 299-325. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. • Use: By scheduling enrichment twice a week, more intensive, focused remediation is taking effect. Quote: “Building a high school schedule around the needs of the students rather than plugging the students into the schedule provides opportunities to teach the expanded core curriculum and offers appropriate pacing of mandated core courses.” • Source: Lohmeier, K. L. (2007). Integrating expanded core sessions into the K-12 program: A high school scheduling approach. Re:View, 39(1), 31-38. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. • Use: Reminds us that scheduling should be student-friendly and focused on successful intervention as a proactive approach.

19. Research Findings, continued: QUOTE: Thinking strategically means school must make "better use of time and resources” without extending the school day. • Source: Gerard, V.(2007). Year-Round Schools Look Better All the Time. Communicator (30)1, 56-58. • USE: Although longer school days and school years are widely supported, this schedule will allow school to directly impact student achievement without time extension; important because many high school students have jobs and responsibilities after school; we also could used this research to justify the decision to pull time out of classes and lunches QUOTE: “[Schedule decisions are] situational, dependent on the make-up of each school population”. • Source: Klein, J.(2001). Attention, scholastic achievement and timing of lesson. Scandinavian Journalof Educational Research, 45(3), 301–309. • USE: We decided to put this block in the mornings rather than at the end of the day in an attempt to prevent students as seeing this time as "optional" and checking out of school early; putting this period in the morning will also accommodate the schedules of juniors and seniors who have internships and extensions classes off campus in the afternoons PARAPHRASE: As schools move to fulfill the rigors of a 21st century education, educators are expected to actively and continuously seek ways to enhance instruction and improve student learning. The pursuit of this level of instructional efficacy an only occur in an environment where the key resources of people and time are used strategically. • Source: Miles, K., & Frank, S. (2008). The strategic school: Making the most of people, time and money. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.USE: We recognized the need for immediate and drastic intervention and did not allow budget constraints to limit the services we provide to our students.