District Improvement , Recommendations
and Actions
Seymour Community School Corporation
Lisa Ferguson
Project: Advanc-Ed
District Accreditation
Seymour Community School Corporation is a member of
Advanc-Ed. Our district has worked to
attain district accreditation. Accredited schools
are recognized as schools that adhere to a set of educational standards. Accredited schools provide students with
diplomas that are recognized and accepted to open the door to opportunities for
students to access schooling, training, and career options beyond high
school. Advanc-ED accreditation means
that we look at our district as a whole- the programs, the culture, and the
community-to determine how well the parts work together to meet the needs of
students. It is our way of proclaiming
that we offer a quality education for all.
The self-evaluation opportunity that the accreditation process provides
lets us compare ourselves against a set of quality standards. This produces a wealth of insights into
district practices. This year our school
district participated in an on-site review.
I was in charge of this facilitating this event for the district. The external review equips us to look at our
performance through an objective lens.
The goal of participation in Advanc-ED District Accreditation is to
continually improve to drive student achievement to high levels for all
students.
Advanc-ED
Standards for Quality
School
Standard 1: Purpose and
Direction
The system maintains and communicates at all levels of
the organization a purpose and direction for continuous improvement that commit
to high expectations for learning as well as shared values and beliefs about
teaching and learning.
Standard 2: Governance and
Leadership
The system operates under governance and leadership
that promote and support student performance and school effectiveness.
Standard 3: Teaching and
Assessing for Learning
The system’s curriculum, instructional design, and
assessment practices guide and ensure teacher effectiveness and student learning
across all grades and courses.
Standard 4: Resources and
Support Systems
The system has resources and provides services in all
schools that support its purpose and direction to ensure success for all
students.
Standard 5: Using Results
for Continuous Improvement
The system implements a comprehensive assessment system
that generates a range of data about student learning and system effectiveness
and uses the results to guide continuous improvement.
The following is a
summary of the findings, recommendations and the actions we are taking to
address identified areas of need:
1.
Develop/Market a district vision.
Our district vision should communicate that which we
strive to achieve.
A steering committee of stakeholder representatives was
established to begin development of a vision and a mission for our
district. The committee met several
times to develop these statements. Once
developed, the statements were sent to all stakeholders in our district for
input and feedback. The steering
committee reviewed input and finalized a recommendation. For Seymour
Seymour Community Schools, in partnership with our
community, improves lives by providing an exceptional educational foundation
that inspires a passion for learning and equips all to be productive,
meaningful contributors to a global society.
Our mission is related to what we do each day to
accomplish the vision. Our mission: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Apply,
Applying to Life, Assessing to Improve.
We will post these statements in our buildings and on
our website. We handed out T-shirts with
our mission on them just after it was established.
2.
Develop/monitor a systemic and
comprehensive plan to evaluate and use data to impact student achievement at
the classroom level.
3.
Develop an accountability system to insure
district initiatives are implemented with fidelity while providing district
level leadership and systematic monitoring throughout the district.
We have established regular meetings of grade levels to
discuss district initiatives. We now
have a publication called The Beacon that serves to distribute information
about district initiatives to all employees.
We have websites established to provide access points for staff,
parents, and community. An example is
the curriculum website that houses copies of The Beacon. We established teacher and principal
induction programs. We have O.W.L.
Vision (Opportunities to Watch and Learn).
This is an online training site that is produced by Seymour Schools with
specific information about district initiatives for our staff. This online training site offers all staff
access to information.
4.
Implement a focused professional
development plan to address staff training needs to achieve district goals in
the areas of technology, RTI, Data Analysis, and best practices for
differentiation.
Seymour Community Schools offers training opportunities
for all staff. Seymour Jackson , Brown, and Redding
5. Articulate curriculum K-12 both vertically
and horizontally, and measure student achievement through regular formative
assessments.
Of all the areas, this
is the recommendations that we have been working tirelessly to address over the
past two years. Teachers have been
meeting and collaborating to develop curriculum maps. Maps come in two forms:
Diary Maps: Diary maps provide teachers
with a record of what they taught during a given period of time.
Consensus Maps: A consensus map
reflects the content agreed on by a professional staff and targets those
specific areas in each discipline and across disciplines that are to be
addressed with consistency in our district.
In order to interpret data to improve achievement, we must be able to
track what we have taught and how we taught it.
Seymour Schools is working to complete consensus maps that include
common vocabulary and formative assessments K-12. We are recommending that a compensation model
be developed to support time beyond a regular school day for staff to
collaborate and write curriculum.
Strategies for the Evaluation of these recommendations:
1) Rubrics:
Seymour Schools will utilize rubrics to evaluate each recommendations
made for school improvement . Advanc-Ed
provides specific rubrics for each of these recommendations. Here is an example of one section of a rubric
for Curriculum and Assessment:
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3.2
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Curriculum, instruction, and assessment throughout the
system are monitored and adjusted systematically in response to data from
multiple assessments of student learning and an examination of professional
practice.
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Your Rating
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Performance
levels
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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ß External Review Team Work Sessions
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4
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Using data from multiple
assessments of student learning and an examination of professional practice,
system and school personnel systematically monitor and adjust curriculum,
instruction and assessment to ensure vertical and horizontal alignment and
alignment with goals for achievement and instruction and statements of
purpose.
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3
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Using data from student
assessments and an examination of professional practice, system and school
personnel monitor and adjust curriculum, instruction and assessment to ensure
vertical and horizontal alignment and alignment with goals for achievement
and instruction and statements of purpose.
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2
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System personnel monitor and
adjust curriculum, instruction and assessment to ensure for vertical and
horizontal alignment and alignment with the goals for achievement and
instruction and statements of purpose.
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1
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System personnel rarely or
never monitor and adjust curriculum, instruction and assessment to ensure vertical
and horizontal alignment or alignment with the goals for achievement and
instruction and statements of purpose.
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4
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There is a systematic,
collaborative process in place to ensure alignment each time curriculum,
instruction and/or assessments are reviewed or revised at the system or
school level.
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3
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There is a process in place to
ensure alignment each time curriculum, instruction and/or assessments are
reviewed or revised at the system or school level.
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2
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A process is implemented
sometimes to ensure alignment when curriculum, instruction and/or assessments
are reviewed or revised at the system or school level.
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1
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No process exists to ensure
alignment when curriculum, instruction and/or assessments are reviewed or
revised.
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4
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The continuous improvement
process has clear guidelines to ensure that vertical and horizontal alignment
as well as alignment with the system’s purpose are maintained and enhanced in
curriculum, instruction and assessment.
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3
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The continuous improvement
process ensures that vertical and horizontal alignment as well as alignment
with the system’s purpose are maintained and enhanced in curriculum,
instruction and assessment.
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2
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There is limited evidence that
the continuous improvement process ensures vertical and horizontal alignment
and alignment with the system’s purpose in curriculum, instruction and
assessment.
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1
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There is little or no evidence
that the continuous improvement process is connected with vertical and
horizontal alignment or alignment with the system’s purpose in curriculum,
instruction and assessment.
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Ratings will be reported for each recommendation each
quarter.
2) Surveys
We will be surveying stakeholders
to gather data on our progress in the specified areas of recommendation. We will utilize Advanc-Ed surveys, survey
monkey and google forms.
This strategy will keep all
stakeholders involved in the process and informed. We will share the results with participants
each quarter.
3) Data Analysis
We will gather and monitor
data. Our plan is to have data meetings
each quarter to discuss and adjust plans based on the data.
Reflection on what was learned:
This was a very in-depth process. I had the opportunity to work with all staff
in all buildings in our district. This
experience gave me the opportunity to look at the system rather than an
individual school or an individual classroom.
Systems thinking is the task that falls to all superintendents. As superintendent you are interested in the
efficiency of all systems at work in your district. You are also interested in how effectively
these systems work together. I was
fortunate to have the opportunity, through my internship, to lead this process
in our district. I learned many things
throughout the process. I had moments of
great joy and feelings of accomplishment as well as frustration beyond anything
I had experienced in my career. I think
it is very representative of a superintendent’s role. After working so hard for so long, it was
difficult to listen to the Advanc-Ed teams critique. I found that I was so emotionally invested
that it was hard to take a step back.
For me, I learned that I must develop strategies to keep the tasks separated
from the person. I can take things much
too personally. In the role of
superintendent, the individual must keep a healthy perspective.
A second thing I learned had to do with time
management. Effective school improvement
involves planning not only for the use of resources but also time. Working with staff in eight different
buildings along with administrators and parents involves a great time
commitment. A superintendent must be
able to prioritize, communicate effectively, and develop multiple options to
accomplish tasks. I used technology to
help me efficiently use my time. The Advanc-Ed
improvement process involved the gathering of multiple types of documentation
items. We started out with folders and
binders. I soon learned this was time
consuming and costly. We switched our
tactic. I set up an electronic option
for organization through Drop Box. Our
standard chairpersons could scan and drop documentation items to the drop box
electronic folders. These files could
then be easily shared with the visiting team.
The drop box was organized by standard down to the indicator. We did not have to meet in person to
communicate about our district documentation files. We could “chat” with each other through the
program and we could view the items of documentation at any time throughout the
district. We could have any number of
individuals working on the standards and indicators at one time. It was so effective that participants
continued to use the program in their respective departments.
Finally, I learned that initiatives are accomplished through
collaboration. As we continued through
each step of the process it was clear that we must collaborate. One person can not do it. Even if an individual could, the value is
diminished. True value is established
through the participation and investment of the entire learning community.
I am please to report that Advanc-Ed award full district
accreditation to Seymour Community Schools.
The recommendations included in this entry are a result of the in-depth
audit. As a district, we will continue
to move forward.
Superintendent Internship Supervisor Meeting
I meet regularly with my supervisor, Robert Hooker. We discuss the program and tasks I am working
on through my intern plan. This week we
had the opportunity to go over each of the activities in my plan. We talked about what was accomplished and
learned. Mr. Hooker shared thoughts and
suggestions for next steps. He anxiously
awaits my completion of this course of study and the award of certification. I have provided a copy of the Supervisor
Evaluation Form to him. He will be completing it and sending it to Dr.
Arterbury as directed on the form.
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