Colorado's Unified Improvement Plan for Schools

Northside Elementary School UIP 2023-24

      
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Content


  • Document icons and definitions

  • Priority Performance Challenges
  • Root Cause
  • Major Improvement Strategies
  • Action Steps
  • Progress Monitoring
  • Trend Direction

Executive Summary


Priority Performance Challenges Root Cause Major Improvement Strategies
  • Student performance in ELA is well below district and state expectations.
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  • Gap in understanding standards and expectations.
  • Lowered expectations of student work.
  • Teacher's lack experience with core curriculum
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  • NES staff will focus on standards based instruction and strong practices.
  • Systemic Instructional Planning and Process
  • NES will continue to improve our practices around SEL supports.
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  • Student Performance in math is well below district and state expectations.
    		•
  • Lowered expectations of student work.
    		•
  • Systemic Instructional Planning and Process
  • NES will continue to improve our practices around SEL supports.
    		•
  • Identified group academic performance.
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  • Lowered expectations of student work.
    		•
  • Systemic Instructional Planning and Process
  • NES will continue to improve our practices around SEL supports.
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  • SRD student performance and growth
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  • Lowered expectations of student work.
  • Gap in understanding standards and expectations.
    		•
  • Systemic Instructional Planning and Process
  • NES will continue to improve our practices around SEL supports.
  • NES staff will focus on standards based instruction and strong practices.
    		•


    Access the School Performance Framework here: http://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/performance

    Access the Literacy Curriculum Transparency Dashboard here: https://www.cde.state.co.us/code/literacycurriculumtransparency-dashboard

    Improvement Plan Information


    Additional Information about the school



    Improvement Plan Information

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    Narrative on Data Analysis and Root Cause Identification


    Description of School Setting and Process for Data Analysis

    Northside Elementary School (NES) is located in a rural community of Western Colorado and is a Title 1 school. NES has a current enrollment of 338 students with 83% FRL,  68.3% Minority,  50% ELL,  17% SpEd,  2% GT.  The mobility rate is 16.2% and attendance rate is 93.1%. NES has a  (mild /moderate needs) and a (significant needs) SpEd program.  


    For the 2022-2023 school year, NES is developing an action plan around Instruction, culture and continuous improvement that guides our work as a school.   Within these area, we are focusing on Standards Based Instruction, refining classroom practices and defining holding ourselves accountable to strong instructional practices.  NES has moved off of the Turnaround clock and as of this year off of watch due to modest gains made during the pandemic.  The leadership team and our school SAC have shared ideas and had input around key improvement strategies moving forward.  The core areas of focus on which we landed our outlined around identifying and planning standards based instruction and assessment each quarter, continuing to refine our culture and climate, and utilizing key instructional strategies to increase engagement.  

    For the 2023-2024 school year, NES is revising our areas of focus based upon NES's SPF dropping back into Turnaround Status.  We are reviewing our processes and focusing specifically on strong standards based planning and using intentional research based instructional practices and resources.  Our instructional focus will be utilizing tenets of the science of reading within ELA instruction to positively impact and prepare our emergent readers.  Additionally, focused writing instruction specifically in terms of response to both fictional and nonfiction texts will better prepare students to meet standards expectations around writing.  Focused math instruction will tie to opportunities to utilize modeling and reasoning and more effectively explain one's thinking within lessons.  These specific areas of focus will allow us to improve academic outcomes for students.  





     

    Prior Year Targets

    Provide a summary of your progress in implementing the Major Improvement Strategies and if they had the intended effect on systems, adult actions, and student outcomes (e.g. targets).

    Performance Indicator:  Academic Achievement (Status)
    ELA One goal was to demonstrate a 5 point increase in average CMAS scores from year to year in ELA.  
    4th--2022 composite 722, 2023 composite 729
    5th 2022 composite 718, 2023 composite 722

    Overall 4th grade students made this goal, but 5th grade did not.  Also 3rd grade performed very poorly in ELA with an average composite score of 702.  
    No groups met the goal of being approaching in ELA achievement, primarily because of the poor performance of 3rd grade students.  

    In terms of math achievement, NES saw decreased scores in math in 4th and 5th grade, and low scored in 3rd grade.  This goes against our multi-year trend of steady and slightly increasing scored in math.  it is also confounding as our 4th grade students performed relatively well in 3rd grade and dropped significantly last year.  

    4th 2022 composite 730, 2023 composite 718
    5th 2022 composite 711, 2023 composite 706

    Academic Growth:

    ELA--overall we demonstrated growth in the Approaching category.  
    Math--Overall we demonstrated growth in the Does Not Meets category.  



    75% of SRD students who are "Well Below Average" at the beginning of the year, will move up at least 1 level by the end of the school year.

    Our students K-3 demonstrated improvement from BOY to EOY.  Our SRD students are still not growing quickly enough to be able to exit their READ plans.  Another challenge is that the growth we have over the course of the year, is often lost from spring to fall.  
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    Our prior year improvement strategies were overall successful in terms of implementing and seeing success in terms of adult practices.  The strategies did not have adequate impact upon student performance.  Our first strategy with its focus around culture and PAX saw success.  We were also able to provide many opportunities to reconnect with families and elicit family involvement.  Our second strategy around targeted WIN time proved successful in terms of creating properties and practices that led to more student access to core instruction and targeted additional supports for students with IEP's, on READ plans and English Learners.  We are utilizing a CLD teacher to provide targeted co-teaching in ELA at all grade levels for English Learners.  We are also working toward providing pushin support in ELA for students with IEP's.  Finally, staff was successful in the look fors around PAX implementation and using the Find Your Way LO format.  Additionally Aggressive Monitoring has been a successful practice to give students feedback and support.  


    Based on your reflection and evaluation, provide a summary of the adjustments that you will make for this year's plan.

    Due to NES' drop in scores and falling to Turnaround status, all of our plans and processes are going to be reevaluated.  We are working to determine what practices and areas of focus will lead to our best opportunity to meet the needs of students and support student growth and achievement.  Our plan will be revised based upon current data and student results.  

    Current Performance

     

     

    NES Data Data Analysis 22-23


     

     

    Since the 2023 CMAS results arrived, I have spent considerable time reviewing and reflecting on CMAS, NWEA, DIBELS and where possible Bridges data in order to better understand Northside’s drop in CMAS scores and subsequent drop on SPF score.  This drop in CMAS scores is obviously concerning as it is our first drop in scores in the 5 years that I have been at Northside.  More troubling is the fact that these scores perpetuated our move to Turnaround Status after moving off of Turnaround status after my first year at NES, and moving off of watch last year.  

     

    What Does the Data Tell Me:

     

    Starting with CMAS data, it shows a decline in both ELA and math achievement scores and growth scores.  Breaking the overall data down to the grade level:  4th and 5th grade both demonstrated improved overall composite scores in ELA but a decrease in overall math composite scores.  3rd grade demonstrated a comparably low composite score in math, but a markedly lower composite score in ELA when compared to 4th and 5th grade. 

     

    3rd grade’s ELA composite score was 702, 20 and 26 points lower than 5th and 4th grade respectively.  I have never seen a composite score that low for a grade level.  When diving deeper within ELA, the most glaring gap is still in writing, especially students making minimal or no attempt to write.  In response, I am developing a writing instruction unit template and lesson plans specific to reading multiple texts and responding to a prompt,  which I plan to model this year.  This is in an effort to help students build annotation and summary skills to build confidence and tools to be willing to at least attempt the ECR’s on CMAS.  

     

    CMAS Writing 2023

     

    Grade 

    Item 1 % with a 0

    Item 2 % with a 0

    3

    57

    70

    4

    37

    31

    5

    56

    44

     

    In terms of math, the drop in scores is frustrating as math is the area where NES has demonstrated the most consistent growth on CMAS over the last 5 years, as shown in the graph below.  When considering the item analysis of CMAS, predictably the most challenging areas were around reasoning and, somewhat oddly, questions dealing with base 10 knowledge.  5th Grade specifically, struggled mightily on questions dealing with standards and knowledge that are considered easier skills or questions on the CMAS assessment.  Pete and I have been comparing Bridges assessment questions and structures to samples on Achieve the Core .com.  We feel like the question complexity and structure of Bridges is similar to the samples.  We are working to refine instruction in math to focus more on modeling and reasoning, as well as considering developing more standard specific short assessments that model CMAS complexity.

     

    In reflecting on this data with our leadership team, we also identified and theorized some potential outlying factors that may have contributed to the scores.  We scheduled 2 tests a day last spring and are wondering if that contributed to the lower scores, especially when Pomona scheduled 1 test a day and demonstrated improvement.  For this year we are planning to complete 1 session in the AM and build in a specific reflection and question time in the afternoon for students to reflect on the tests, identify areas where they struggled and be able to review skills and concepts in the afternoon in hopes that it will help them feel more confident for the next day’s assessment.  

     

     

    In terms of other major academic data, when looking at our NWEA scores over the last 2 years, they have been relatively flat, with a slight increase in students being non proficient in math over the course of last year.  For me, the main value of NWEA in the grand picture is to compare to other schools in our district, and overall our data is very similar to JES and PES, schools who are either relatively comparable in demographics and/or recent performance status.  That is one thing that still confuses me as to how our CMAS scores decreased so significantly when our other scores are still relatively comparable to other schools who demonstrated improvement on CMAS.  

     

    In terms of Dibels, our scores have been very similar over the last several years.  With the expectation of consistent improvement in kindergarten and first grade at EOY last year over previous years.  

     

    Overall, all the data indicates a significant gap in student performance on our primary assessment tools.  1 systemic gap I am still struggling with is a lack of consistent short cycle assessments that are tied directly to instruction, such as Bridges assessments.  Having comparable data would be a great benefit in making in cycle instructional adjustments and decisions, as we at NES did when we were able to compare Bridges results across the district.  We could make goals based upon district average on assessments and strive to be above the average.  

     

    I didn’t dive deeply into data such as attendance of discipline for this reflection, though attendance is obviously a challenge connected to performance.  anecdotally what I am seeing is many of our most at risk students in terms of attendance, have adults in their lives that foster their absences, making excuses and keeping students home.  I also want to acknowledge that our absence rate among students with IEP’s will always be somewhat skewed by SSN students who miss significant time due to medical issues.  In terms of discipline, last year was similar to my previous years. Northside saw a significant decrease in office referrals for several years and last year was stable.  I am concerned that this year we are seeing a dramatic increase in conflicts and other more serious issues.  I have suspended more students so far this year than I did all last year because of fights.   

     

    How Will We Communicate With Parents:

     

    I have shared our current UIP at our first SAC meeting.  We discussed the challenges and ramifications of moving back on Turnaround.  I will also share at our PAC meeting, and plan to send a communication home once I learn more about our next steps.  In terms of individual student data, we are creating student data notebooks as a regular guide for students to understand their progress and to regularly share with parents at conferences and other times throughout the year.  I also plan to meet with each 4th and 5th grader to share individual CMAS data and work through a goal setting process-as I did last year. 

    ESSA results:
    Northside is identified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement School.  Considering performance results of our students identified in these categories, students are still underperforming peers in academic achievement and growth. 

    • Achievement goals for 22-23 are for these identified groups to meet Approaching status in ELA and Math.  
    • Growth goals for 22-23 are for these identified groups to meet Approaching status in ELA and continue to meet or continue to meet at least Approaching Status in math.  
    • Universal improvement practices will support all students through first best instruction.
    • Targeted WIN time in ELA and math will support all students with data based reteaching and additional access to grade level skills.  


    Magnitude of Challenges:  

    NES faces very robust challenges academically and culturally.  The 2019-2020 school year started as a great opportunity to continue and maximize on the positive changes and improvements that came during the 2018-2019 school year.  NES was able to move to improvement status and move off of the accountability clock.  Additionally, our work with the Turnaround Network and Relay provides clarity for steps toward improvement and tools to implement change and measure progress.  The magnitude of challenges we face for the 2022-2023 school year is massive.    Through our PM tool, we are trying to keep a focus on core values and improvement strategies that continue to address our primary goals.    From our Turnaround Audit in spring of 2020, we have identified 3 key practices for the 2021-2022 school year and are carrying the core aspects of these practices over into the 22-23 school year.  Through work with the leadership team and the school accountability Committee, we established and action plan that is articulated within the PM tool to ensure that we are working toward these goals.    We are re emphasizing our culture and climate work with clear steps to reflect them in our everyday practices and actions.  NES will  continue our focus on regular data meetings around math, and to start data meetings focusing on writing for ELA.  Part of this goal has been extensive work on identifying and creating a standards based plan for writing instruction K-5.   Finally, we are also  refocusing on key instructional practices such as Aggressive Monitoring as a key instructional strategy to monitor student understanding and to adjust instruction based on student understanding and performance.  Additionally,  this year are district has purchased NWEA Assessments as an internal measure of student performance, which gives us interim measures of student performance in math and ELA.    NES is still facing a daunting task of school improvement, but we have clear next steps and we are seeing the results of the hard work we have already done.  


     

    Trend Analysis

    Trend Direction: Increasing then decreasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    For the 2021-2022 school year, our 2019-2020 SPF has carried over yet again. For the 2021-2022 school year, our SPF improved overall from a 43 to a 48.8. Our score dropped to 33 in the 22-23 school year.
    Trend Direction: Increasing then decreasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Growth

    NES Math growth on Bridges assessments as compared to district average. Using our 4th grade scores as an example: 2018-2019 school year NES average scores on Bridges Post-Assessments was 58.3%. The district average was 62%. Overall NES was not performing at or above the district average. 2019-2020 school year: NES average scores was 66.2%. District average was 62.2%. NES outperformed the district average. 2020-2021 school year: NES average thus far is 59%. District Average is 57.1%. NES is still outperforming the district average even after a prolonged shutdown in the spring. For the 2021-2022 we continued to perform above the district average on Bridges Post Assessments 75% of the time. For the 22-23 school year, this data was difficulut to determine as other schools in our dictrict stopped posting data in Forefront where we house our Bridges data.

    Additional Trend Information:

     Our  achievement and growth are well below expectations in all areas, and major improvements are being made at NES to address these challenges.  Also, we are focusing specifically on establishing a strong, positive culture at NES for the 2018-2019 school year. A major focus on building a strong culture is essential in our Turnaround process and is in many ways the main focus for this school year.   All of our measures are showing stabilization or growth/improvement.  Measuring these trend fro the 2019-2020 school year were very difficult due to a lack of state testing data including CMAS and Dibels.  Our reflections on behavioral and internal academic data show great growth and stabilization of student performance during the challenging 2020-2021 school year.  Most of our goals and indicators are being carried over from the 20-21 school year to the 21-22 school year based upon our limited data and inability to adequately assess our progress.  For the 2022-2023 school year, Northside was notified that we will be able to request to reconsider and move off of being on watch.  Our overall SPF rose 5 points from pre-Covid. However, NES demonstrated a sharp decline in our SPF for the 22-23 school year.  We fell back into Turnaround Status based upon our UIP for 2023.  
     

    Priority Performance Challenge and Associated Root Cause

    Priority Performance Challenge:  Student performance in ELA is well below district and state expectations.

    The current core instruction is falling short of meeting the needs of all students in terms of achieving state and district expectations and making the expected year-to-year academic growth at their grade level. To address this, NES is in the process of transitioning from CKLA to Benchmark as our primary ELA curriculum. The challenges we face in the 2023-2024 school year revolve around maintaining our focus on standards-based instruction and implementing our curriculum with fidelity. By ensuring that students receive consistent tier 1 ELA curriculum and instruction across the school and district, NES aims to provide more structured support and resources to our teachers. This approach will grant all students access to a uniform and high-quality curriculum and instruction, ultimately aiding them in achieving necessary academic progress, improving their overall performance, and closing achievement gaps. Based on the 2023 CMAS data, NES has identified a significant gap in student writing responses. A substantial portion of our students, well over 50%, received a score of 0 on extended response writing in CMAS. In particular, 78% of our third-grade students received a score of 0 on the second writing selection of the 2023 CMAS, significantly impacting their overall composite score of 702. This data underscores the need to prioritize ELA instruction, with a specific focus on identifying and enhancing our writing instruction practices at NES.

    Area of Focus: English/Language Arts


    Root Cause: Gap in understanding standards and expectations.

    Staff is lacking depth of knowledge associated with writing standards and the expectations of what students should be able to do at each grade level. Additionally our core ELA curriculum is lacking in strong writing resources and instructional practices.

    Root Cause: Lowered expectations of student work.

    NES has developed a negative culture and stigma around student performance. This has led to a gap in the level or quality or work students are expected to complete or produce when compared to state standards.

    Root Cause: Teacher's lack experience with core curriculum

    Most classrooms adopted Benchmark as a core curriculum for the 22-23 school year. Teachers did not receive consistent training or support with this new resource.


    Priority Performance Challenge:  Student Performance in math is well below district and state expectations.

    Core Instruction was not meeting the needs of all students to achieve at State and District expectations, or to make one or more years growth at grade level. For the 2023-2024 school year, NES will continue regular data meetings focusing around Bridges math. Our focus will be on student performance in math, setting group performance goals, and ensuring that students are mastering key standards with a specific focus on modeling and reasoning within math. These data meetings contributed to school-wide improvements and increases in student math performance on our Bridges assessments during the 21-22 school year with over 75% of our unit post assessments being above district average. During the 22-23 school year, NES was challenged in tracking our Bridges data as other schools in the district stopped using Forefront to house their Bridges results. We struggled without a common assessment to compare. This is especially important when NES tends to perform below district average on most unit pre-assessments, which indicates a higher rate of student growth from pre to post assessments. For the 23-24 school year, all district schools will use Forefront for Bridges data again, allowing us to make those direct comparisons once again.

    Area of Focus: Math achievement


    Root Cause: Lowered expectations of student work.

    NES has developed a negative culture and stigma around student performance. This has led to a gap in the level or quality or work students are expected to complete or produce when compared to state standards.


    Priority Performance Challenge:  Identified group academic performance.

    Northside is identified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement School.  Considering performance results of our students identified in these categories, students are still underperforming peers in academic achievement and growth.  Achievement goals for 22-23 are for these identifed groups to meet Approaching status in ELA and Math.   Growth goals for 22-23 are for these identified groups to meet Approaching status in ELA and continue to meet or continue to meet at least Approaching Status in math.  We did not hit these goals overall in math and were approaching in ELA growth for FARM, minority and students with IEP's. Both our achievement and growth scored dropped in math. Because of our demographics and percentages of students who fall under one of more of these categories, universal improvement practices will support all students through first best instruction. Additionally, targeted WIN time in ELA and math will support all students with data based reteaching and additional access to grade level skills. We are able to co-teach in ELA with a CLD teacher at all grade levels to better support English learners. We are also working toward a pushin model of support for students with IEP's in ELA and math when possible.

    Area of Focus: Other achievement


    Root Cause: Lowered expectations of student work.

    NES has developed a negative culture and stigma around student performance. This has led to a gap in the level or quality or work students are expected to complete or produce when compared to state standards.


    Priority Performance Challenge:  SRD student performance and growth

    Reading instruction and closing the Gap for our SRD students continues to be a primary concern at NES. Northside continues to have a large prorportion of our students targeted with READ plans. Northside has made some progress with the allocation of an additional reading interventionist, which we have again this year. Our goal for the 22-23 year was to meet our 20-21 targets of moving 75% of our Well Below students up at least 1 grade level and moving at least 25% of our SRD students off of READ plans. We were able to show growth over the course of the year on DIBLES but were unable to meet these 2 goals. The challenge of moving older students off of READ plans is particularly challenging.

    Area of Focus: Early literacy


    Root Cause: Lowered expectations of student work.

    NES has developed a negative culture and stigma around student performance. This has led to a gap in the level or quality or work students are expected to complete or produce when compared to state standards.

    Root Cause: Gap in understanding standards and expectations.

    Staff is lacking depth of knowledge associated with writing standards and the expectations of what students should be able to do at each grade level. Additionally our core ELA curriculum is lacking in strong writing resources and instructional practices.


    Why were these challenges selected and what is the magnitude of the overall performance challenges:

     

    Northside has made significant strides in recent years. Our achievements in the 2022 academic year led to our removal from the watchlist, but unfortunately, the results for the 2022-2023 academic year have placed us back in the Turnaround status. Our main challenge stems from a sudden decline in student performance in math and alarmingly low scores among our 3rd-grade students in ELA CMAS. Math had been an area of steady progress for us, and while 4th and 5th grades showed improvement in ELA, 3rd grade posted the lowest composite scores ever recorded at NES.

    Despite these setbacks, Northside remains committed to its journey of improvement, recognizing that a single test cycle should not define our overall progress. Our core focus remains on standards-based instruction, ensuring that both math and ELA lessons emphasize key standards and clear evidence outcomes. Special attention will be given to modeling, reasoning, and written responses to text.  Special focus in grades K-3 will revolve around the science of reading and ensuring that our reading instruction is comprehensive and based upon research based practices to support students in development of reading skills.  The science of reading provides a structured and evidence-based framework for teaching reading, aiming to improve literacy outcomes for all students, especially in the critical early grades.

    At NES, data-driven instruction and reflective meetings will play a crucial role in addressing student achievement, allowing us to tailor reteaching and WIN opportunities. Robust observation and feedback cycles involving all teachers will concentrate on instructional practices directly impacting student success. Our primary instructional focus will center on Aggressive Monitoring and Feedback of student work.

    Additionally, we will continue our efforts in developing comprehensive lesson plans and unit designs, using them to identify key assessments and assignments in ELA and math for regular data meetings, reflection, and instructional refinements.
     

    The collaborative efforts of Northside's school leadership team and our School Accountability Committee have culminated in the creation of our goals and plans for the 2022-2023 school year. Through meticulous planning and dedication, we believe that these actions will provide us with the best opportunity to continue growing as a school.



     
     

    How were the Root Causes were selected and verified:

    These root causes were identified originally through a Turnaround planning process that began in May 2018.  The team focused on developing a clear vision and plan for school improvement.  Our challenges and root causes were identified through an audit from CDE, and analysis of our school performance data on CMAS and internal measures.  Additionally, information was sought from our parent committee to help identify and refine areas of improvement around culture and climate and academics. Results of the BPEG Bully prevention survey as well as the Tell Survey were also utilized in determining challenges and core areas to focus for improvement.  It is essential to address our school culture around the areas of developing high expectations and positive communication to all school stakeholders.  It is also essential to develop a clear vision and plan for improvement.  Our root causes for the 22023-2024 school year have been revised to reflect current status, especially around implementation of Bridges and Benchmark.  These root causes are reflected upon and refined each year to ensure that they are still our root causes for challenges.  

    This year is a transition for ELA, as our district is in the process of transitioning from CKLA to Benchmark as our core curricular resource for ELA.  We are developing  supports and expectations around their implementation and use particularly around focusing on standards and using curriculum as a resource to teach the standards.  We are more focused on ensuring that teachers understand state standards and expectations associated with the standards.  This shift in focus from using a pacing guide that was tied to the curriculum to starting with CAS and using the resources as tools to teach the standards has been challenging.  This is especially true because we have lacked consistent training and PD support around both standards and resources.  Implementation challenges still remain, but teachers are becoming more adept at their instructional practices as we gain understanding of standards and the level of rigor associated with engaging in them.  

    As our universal instruction and culture and climate are proving to be our core area of focus once again.  With the population at NES and the concept of and inverted pyramid of needs, we must focus primarily on tier 1 instruction and supports.  During this time, we are beginning to focus specifically on refining our tier 2 and tier 3 supports to provide more in class resources.  We have a large percentage of students identified as SRD as well as a larger percentage than district average of students with IEP's.  We are working on implementing sound practices and providing support for these populations.  

    Overall, it is essential to address these core universal challenges at NES in order be begin making lasting improvements and changes to our school and systems.  Universal changes and improvements will have positive benefits on all students.  This will stabilize and improve our overall performances, which will then allow NES to focus more specifically on targeted groups and improvement strategies in the future to continue growing and improving as a school.  

    Action and Progress Monitoring Plans

    Major Improvement Strategy and Action Plan

    > >

    Systemic Instructional Planning and Process

    What will success look like:

    		Northside will refine systematic instructional planning and practices with a specific focus on ELA and math core instruction and interventions in order to improve outcomes for all students. This focus will be tiered in terms of: Unit Planning--Grade levels will develop or refine unit plans for ELA and math instruction. This will include a focus on CAS and clear evidence outcomes. Additionally, Marzano Critical Concepts will be used to develop clear rubrics or measures of student success. Daily Plans--Teachers will work to ensure that daily ELA and math lesson plans are intentional, focus on standards with clear measures of understanding and engaging. Research based instruction--Teachers will work to utilize research based instructional practices. We will focus on: 1. Small Group Instruction 2. Strategic push-in reading, Sped and CLD support 3. Focus on Science of Reading-especially in K-3 classrooms. 4. Clear instruction around writing especially focused on response to texts. Regular Data Meetings--Teachers will participate in regular data meetings focused on ELA and math to review student performance to set goals and make real time instructional adjustments. Establishing the Standard for Performance as NES Educator. High Expectations for Teachers. These educator performance criteria will be used as a tool to evaluate the success of our practice resulting in: --identified look-fors and measures will be identified on walkthroughs 75% of the time at end of Semester 1 Northside will Revisit and Reset core instructional practices and expectations. 100% of classes use the Find Your Way LO structure for math and ELA as measured through walkthroughs. 100% of teachers will utilize core PAX practices. All teachers will utilize Aggressive Monitoring as a key tool for immediate feedback. All teachers will participate in regular grade level data meetings for ELA and math. All teachers will utilize targeted WIN time in ELA and math.

    Describe the research/evidence base supporting the strategy:

    		Administration has completed Relay GSE. We have also had some beginning trainings with Marzano and using their Critical Concepts. The research around strong planning and focus on clear measures of success is a strong strategy for improving student outcomes.

    Strategy Category:

    		Continuous Improvement

    Associated Root Causes:

    Lowered expectations of student work.: NES has developed a negative culture and stigma around student performance. This has led to a gap in the level or quality or work students are expected to complete or produce when compared to state standards.

    Teacher's lack experience with core curriculum: Most classrooms adopted Benchmark as a core curriculum for the 22-23 school year. Teachers did not receive consistent training or support with this new resource.

    Gap in understanding standards and expectations.: Staff is lacking depth of knowledge associated with writing standards and the expectations of what students should be able to do at each grade level. Additionally our core ELA curriculum is lacking in strong writing resources and instructional practices.

    Implementation Benchmarks Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Benchmark Name Description Start/End/Repeats Key Personnel Status
    Small Group Instruction Training All staff will receive ongoing training and feedback around establishing purposeful and targeted small group instruction. 08/09/2023
    05/20/2024
    Quarterly     		Building Principal and BRT.
    Co-Teaching and push-in support NES will utilize a full co-teaching method in ELA for identified CLD students at each grade level. 08/14/2023
    05/20/2024
    Weekly     		CLD teacher, and co teachers at each grade level.
    Data Notebooks NES will utilize data notebooks for each student to monitor his/her progress in ELA, math and writing as well as district assessments. 09/18/2023
    05/20/2024
    Monthly     		staff, BRT
    Science of Reading NES K-3 teachers will refine ELA instruction with a specific focus on science of reading strategies and practices for emerging readers. 09/25/2023
    05/20/2024
    Monthly     		K-3 staff, BRT, principal, Sped teachers, Reading Interventionists.

    Action Steps Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Name Description Start/End Date Resource Key Personnel Status
    Quarter 1 small group
    		All teachers will implement strategic and targeted small group instructional practices in ELA instruction. System may vary depending on grade level from structured stations to menu options, etc. 09/01/2023
    10/13/2023     		CAS, Marzano Critical Concepts. Team planning time and data meetings. All staff, principal BRT
    Data Notebooks
    		All students will have a data notebook to track their progress on various educational goals throughout the year. These will be used to track progress and for goal setting for students and to share progress with families throughout the year. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024     		Data notebook PD and ppt. All staff
    Science of Reading
    		All NES teachers will complete Science of Reading course through CDE. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024     		CDE course all staff
    Sharpening Iron Shared Drive
    		NES will create a shared Google drive for all teachers to share ideas, lessons, videos of instruction and other resources to support professional development of all. All teachers will share at least 1 idea, lesson, etc. 09/18/2023
    05/20/2024     		Varied. All Staff.
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    NES staff will focus on standards based instruction and strong practices.

    What will success look like:

    		Northside teachers will use the 2020 CAS and Marzano Critical Concepts as the cornerstone to create Content, Unit and daily lesson plans with specific focus in writing and math. Unit Planning--Grade levels will develop or refine unit plans for ELA and math instruction. This will include a focus on CAS and clear evidence outcomes. Additionally, Marzano Critical Concepts will be used to develop clear rubrics or measures of student success. Daily Plans--Teachers will work to ensure that daily ELA and math lesson plans are intentional, focus on standards with clear measures of understanding and engaging.

    Describe the research/evidence base supporting the strategy:

    		Principal learning from RELAY GSE and Turnaround and determining that there is a significant Gap in the CMAS writing scores for NES students has lead us to determine that a data driven focus on writing is crucial to our overall improvement. Clear Standards based instruction and planning will ensure that what students our taught and learn matches to the rigor and complexity of state standards.

    Strategy Category:

    		Equitable Instructional Practices

    Associated Root Causes:

    Gap in understanding standards and expectations.: Staff is lacking depth of knowledge associated with writing standards and the expectations of what students should be able to do at each grade level. Additionally our core ELA curriculum is lacking in strong writing resources and instructional practices.

    Implementation Benchmarks Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Benchmark Name Description Start/End/Repeats Key Personnel Status
    Data Meetings Grade level teachers will meet bi-weekly to reflect upon student progress in ELA and math, set goals and refine lessons based upon student data. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024
    Weekly     		teachers BRT.
    EOY Unit Plans By the end of the school year, Unit plans in Math and ELA for all grade levels will be refined and completed. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024
    Monthly     		All teachers, admin, BRT
    First Semester Unit Plans All grade level teams will develop/refine semester 1 Unit Plans in ELA and Math. These will focus on specific standards, include clear measure of student learning and be supported by critical concepts. 09/05/2023
    12/19/2023
    Monthly     		teachers, principal, BRT

    Action Steps Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Name Description Start/End Date Resource Key Personnel Status
    Formal observations
    		Teachers will submit formal lesson plan samples throughout the year and especially before a formal observation. Lesson plans will be reviewed prior to formal observation for feedback on planning. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024     		Randa, Get Better Faster Observation Feedback resources. Teachers, Principal.
    Data Meetings
    		Teachers will participate in regular data meetings to reflect upon student progress and refine instruction and lesson plans based upon student performance. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024     		Data meeting templates. Instructional resources. teachers, BRT, principal.
    PLP Day for Unit Planning
    		Sept. 5 is a work day for unit plan training, standards review and planning/work time for Unit Plans 09/05/2023
    09/05/2023     		CAS powerpoints from CDE. Unit Planning and Daily Planning Template. Marzano's Critical Concepts. principal, BRT.
    > >

    NES will continue to improve our practices around SEL supports.

    What will success look like:

    		NES will continue to utilize and refine PAX Good Behavior Games and kernels as the cornerstone for our tier 1 behavioral and school culture process. Additionally, we will add new resources to support our at risk students through the School Safety Teams, adding a school based therapist, social worker, nurse and SRO to more quickly support tier 2 and 3 students in crisis.

    Describe the research/evidence base supporting the strategy:

    		Northside established our core instructional expectations as part of our research around best instructional practices. Strong culture and climate, clear learning targets, providing regular targeted feedback, making data based instructional decisions and developing specific reteach strategies are all key components of strong instruction.

    Strategy Category:

    		School or District Climate and Culture

    Associated Root Causes:

    Lowered expectations of student work.: NES has developed a negative culture and stigma around student performance. This has led to a gap in the level or quality or work students are expected to complete or produce when compared to state standards.

    Implementation Benchmarks Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Benchmark Name Description Start/End/Repeats Key Personnel Status
    School Safety Team A core support team is established for every school in MCSD to better support at risk students. This team consists of: school admin and counselor, a district social worker, in school therapist, school nurse, a behavioral coach, and SRO. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024
    Weekly     		Safety Team, school admin.
    PAX implementation NES will continue using PAX resources as our core tier 1 behavioral and school culture support system. All teachers will be trained and feedback will be given in every observation throughout the school year. 09/01/2023
    05/20/2024
    Weekly     		staff, admin.
    SAEBRS reflection All kindergarten and 3rd grade students will be assessed using a SAEBRS model to determine potential at risk students for additional supports. 10/16/2023
    10/20/2023
    		 3rd grade, kinder, school counselor

    Action Steps Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Name Description Start/End Date Resource Key Personnel Status
    PAX training
    		Staff will recieve a refresher training on PAX and implementation kernels at the start of the school year. Feedback will be given around teaching and using kernels quarter 1. 09/01/2023
    10/13/2023     		PAX ppt. observation feedback. teachers, admin.
    Weekly Safety Meeting
    		School safety team will meet weekly to discuss students and progress. 09/18/2023
    05/20/2024     		Safety Team and school admin.

    Progress Monitoring: Student Target Setting

    Priority Performance Challenge : Student performance in ELA is well below district and state expectations.

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Academic Achievement (Status)

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 ELA
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2023-2024: Continue growth in ELA achievement with an average scale score 5 points higher than the 2022-2023 score in all categories. 4th Grade students will demonstrate higher growth based on their extremely low average scores in 2023. NES ELA Achievement scores will move back into at least the Approaching Range in all areas.
    2024-2025:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2023-2024:

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Academic Growth

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 ELA
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2023-2024: NES have an overall MGP of 50 or higher in ELA as measured by CMAS growth.
    2024-2025:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2023-2024:

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Disaggregated Growth

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 R
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2023-2024: 75% of SRD students who are "Well Below Average" at the beginning of the year, will move up at least 1 level by the end of the school year as measured by performance on Dibels.
    2024-2025:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2023-2024:

    Priority Performance Challenge : Student Performance in math is well below district and state expectations.

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Academic Achievement (Status)

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 M
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2023-2024: Continue growth in overall Math achievement on overall scale score and in all sub groups. Increase by 5 points above the scores from 22-23.
    2024-2025:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2023-2024:

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Academic Growth

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 M
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2023-2024: NES will have a MGP of 50 or higher.
    2024-2025:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2023-2024:

    Priority Performance Challenge : Identified group academic performance.

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Disaggregated Achievement

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 ELA
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2023-2024: Identified groups will demonstrate at least a 5 point growth in composite scores as measured on 2024 CMAS.
    2024-2025:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2023-2024:

    Priority Performance Challenge : SRD student performance and growth

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