Assessment: Student Prompts/Directions1) Individual: The Big Picture: A Strategic Plan (Benchmark Assessment)

a) School Profilei) In Module 3 and using the institution you with which you are associated, you wrote a school

profile (1000–1250 words). The school profile’s major goal is to describe the school and its programs with the intent to improve the institution through informed decision making. Issues to consider when developing the school profile included: (1) Philosophy, mission, and vision.(2) Community and school (staff and students) demographics, including the well-being of the

community.(3) Existing school improvement plans and activities, including support for remediation.(4) Special education programs.(5) Student performance/achievement profile. (6) School progress.(7) School resources.(8) Community support.(9) Stakeholder principles.(10) Professional development programs.(11) Technology.

ii) APA format was not required, but solid writing skill in APA style and a title page were expected. Presentation of the material was student choice of either a written essay or a PowerPoint presentation. If you chose a PowerPoint presentation, you were required to submit the slide notes, background materials, etc. to the instructor with the final project.

b) School Strategic Plani) Revise the School Profile you submitted in Module 3 according to the instructor’s comments. ii) Develop a Strategic Plan in the form of an essay (2250-2500 words) that includes the school’s

vision for excellence and school improvement, stakeholder expectations, strategies for meeting the needs of stakeholders, descriptions of curriculum and instructional programs, the revised School Profile, and the school’s role within the larger community. Specifically describe how the ISLLC 2008 Standards 1 and 3 frame the plan you develop. Demonstrate critical thinking in the development of the plan, including how it will inform decision making.

iii) Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the GCU APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is required.

iv) Submit the Strategic Plan to the instructor in ANGEL by the end of Module 8. v) Additionally, submit the assignment in TaskStream. Directions for submitting to TaskStream can

be found on the College of Education’s page in the Student Success Center.

Notes to Instructor:1. I am including the School Profile as Appendix A but I am not including

it in the word total because it is an assignment that was already turned in and is only being used here for reference.

2. The strategic plan I developed could be more detailed but I would quickly eclipse the word count so I am not including all details. Should you need more details, please let me know and I will supply them.

3.

ABSTRACT

This Strategic Plan presents conclusions drawn from classroom observations, discussions with Leadership team members, and conclusions drawn from various educational experiences. This strategic plan describes promising practices observed; next steps planned by the school and areas of improvement that should be addressed. An action plan is given for addressing the areas of improvement, including stakeholders responsible for specific areas of the plan and what steps can be taken to ensure success. The information contained in this strategic plan is limited by the data available at the time of the assignment.

HHS is committed to raising expectations for students through continued school improvement. The biggest expectation is that students will graduate within a four year time frame and be college-ready or career-ready. The strategic plan for HHS is divided up into five parts.

First, the school must continue to use and improve on the current system of distributed leadership it employs. This system works because it allows for ease in communicating core beliefs, goals and values to all stakeholders involved in school improvement efforts.

Second, HHS and the Leadership Team must create high expectations for all students. This involves several stages of development, starting with increasing rigor in the curriculum. By increasing rigor teachers are better able to prepare students to be college and career ready. One way to increase rigor is to require that all students must enroll in at least one Advanced Placement class before they graduate. They should also be required to take a course on-line, even if that course is facilitated on the school campus (over 45% of HHS students do not have access to a computer at home). Both these suggestions better prepare students for life after high school. Creating a culture of high expectations means that teachers must establish and communicate these expectations to students. Teachers must develop grading and homework policies that will be enforced and then utilize school resources to assist the students who struggle by providing tutoring or extra help. Teachers must design curriculum that motivates students to learn and achieve. Two ways to ensure teacher compliance is to give teachers time to collaborate by department and by grade level and also by having teachers design rubrics and post student exemplars matching the rubric.

Third, instruction must be researched-based, rigorous, and engaging. This instruction should also be standards-based and relevant. One way to ensure success is to have the various departments work together to create lesson plans, rubrics and projects. The data on reading levels at the school also suggests that literacy strategies should be incorporated into as many lesson plans as possible regardless of subject. Additionally, professional development must be

provided to teachers for topics like differentiated instruction, rubric-building, effective learning strategies, alternative assessments, higher order questioning and multiple intelligences. District budget cuts will cut into money available for professional development so the Leadership team should consider identifying staff members who could lead PD sessions on campus without incurring large expenses.

Fourth, continue with the current Advisory system, but bolster it by increasing the rigor of the advisory class curriculum. Increase the number of advisory classes to one each day for the first week of each semester, followed by advisory classes every Friday. Step up the curriculum to include study skills and interpersonal development skills. One possible instructional piece could be Sean Covey’s Seven Habits of Effective Teens. Franklin Covey’s son, Sean, developed strategies for teenagers based on his father’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and these strategies include everything from decision-making, paradigms and paradigm shifts, to most importantly, beginning with the end in mind. It is also vital that more importance be placed on the mentoring opportunities that were the original reason for creating advisory classes. Advisory teachers must help students make the connection to some goal beyond high school and how to achieve that goal.

Fifth, and finally, HHS must focus more energy on developing Career Technical courses that align to career-readiness standards. HHS Leadership has an obligation to train CT and academic teachers to work together developing curriculum, assignments, assessments and rubrics and then delivering that curriculum at a more rigorous level. Make available to all students Programs of Study and Career Pathway information and make sure it is in both English and Spanish. When registering students, make sure counselors are prepared to make recommendations to students on available classes geared toward specific careers or areas of study.

Based on the above information it is clear that the Leadership Team starts it and must also finish it. By dividing the work among the various leadership teams (as stated in Appendix A) accomplishing the work suddenly seems possible. By spreading out the challenges, the successes are also spread out. Stakeholders suddenly feel more vested in the process, successes continue to build and HHS becomes an exciting and enjoyable place to learn and work.

IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES

Utilizing many of the basic strategies available to schools that are part of the High Schools That Work contingency, identifying improvement strategies was not a difficult process. After identifying some of the strategies that would work at HHS, details specific to the school were added in. The premise behind High Schools That Work is that most students can master rigorous academic and career/technical studies if they are in an environment that motivates students to make the effort to succeed. This effort-based school improvement initiative is

changing high schools across America and has given the plan most of the fuel to ignite positive change in the school environment.

1. EXAMINE THE SCHOOL MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT

The school mission statement was revised one and a half years ago by the Leadership team but has not been fully received within the school community. The school motto, Traditions of Excellence, has been around since the 1960s and has been linked to HHS by teachers, students, alumni and the community. The Leadership Team determined that a vision statement that focused on the school new-found focus was appropriate. After several sessions a motto was created that spoke to what HHS was trying to accomplish. The vision was simple yet profound:

College and Career Readiness for ALL Students

This focus will assist the new leadership team to provide a strategic purpose to everyday practices at the school. It is easily stated by both teachers and students and connects the fact that ALL students must be ready for either college or career.

2. BUILD ON THE EXISTING FOUNDATION

HHS teachers and leaders have worked for the last two years to establish a set of HHS Core Values that communicate how work is done on campus. The Core Values are grouped into five areas that include:

Rigor Collaboration/Empowerment/Engagement Diversity/Equity Efficacy/Effectiveness/Efficiency Open Door to the Classroom/Community Involvement

Each area was shaped by teachers during PLCs (Professional Learning Communities). Each group provided descriptors of each area, brought together the staff and voted on each set of descriptors to narrow it down to those that clearly communicated the level of focus that either existed or was desired. There were many factors expressed by teachers to lead this writer to believe that even more drastic action is required to affect change in the school. The necessary steps to maintain continuous improvement now would be to adopt HSTW core beliefs. They are listed below:

High Schools That Work Core Beliefs

1. Almost all students can and will make the effort to learn grade level and course standards if adults in the school create the right conditions. 2. All students should be enrolled in a program of study that will prepare them for further study and a career.

3. Students who have a goal and see meaning and purpose in learning are more motivated to learn grade level and course standards.

4. Students learn best when they have a personal connection to the school.

5. Students learn best when teachers maintain a demanding and supportive environment that pushes students to do their best.

6. All faculty should be involved in continuously improving teaching and learning.

7. Students change behavior and become more motivated to meet school goals when adults use school and classroom practices based on effort rather than ability. Research has shown that a change in teacher behavior, regardless of the teachers’ beliefs, can change student performance sufficiently enough to change teacher beliefs based almost solely on their observations of improved student achievement. The foundation of this strategic plan is based on this huge observation: changes in beliefs can follow changes in behavior. This distinction is vital to the plan because leaders can mandate behaviors much easier than beliefs.

3. ESTABLISH MEASURABLE GOALS THAT WILL SUPPORT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS

Setting goals and measuring progress is the key element of continuous school improvement. The school must identify specific targets that will measure school/student/teacher progress toward reaching the goal. It is just as important to measure progress in improving both the experience and the achievement as it is establishing measurable goals. The strategic plan calls for implementing 2 measurable goals to use in assessing continuous improvement:

1. Academic Knowledge and Skillsa. Students have the academic knowledge and skills needed to meet state and

district achievement goalsb. 85% of students who enter ninth grade in a given year complete high school four

years later

2. College and Career Readinessa. 80% of graduates complete the new, more rigorous core curriculum

recommendation along with five courses (none in 9th, one in 10th, 2 each in 11th & 12th grade) in an academic or career/technical area

b. ALL students exit HHS with ability to demonstrate the skills necessary to further their studies or enter a career as measured by

i. passing a college placement exam (accuplacer, ACT, SAT, etc)ii. earning postsecondary credit (dual enrollment, CEC, on-line, etc)

iii. earning a state license or employee certification (nursing program, Skills USA auto certificate, Culinary Arts certification, etc)

HHS has not made adequate yearly progress (AYP) based on the state’s accountability system for math and reading. The data bear out that HHS is scoring lower and lower so drastic changes are necessary. Examining the data reaffirms that increasing rigor is vital to turning it around. Students currently (class of 2012 and newer) must earn 25 credits to graduate. The district does not require the English and math classes to be college-preparatory in nature but this HHS strategic plan calls for students to take at least one advanced placement class and one on-line class in preparation for college or career. The plan calls for an 85% graduation rate. HHS currently has the lowest graduation rate in the district (49%) but the Leadership team believes that by implementing change the grad rate will improve dramatically. The grad rate must also contend with students who literally disappear (i.e. immigrants who return to their country without taking transcripts or withdrawing properly) so the plan calls for better record keeping. Only 14% of HHS students who took the ACT were found to be college-ready in all four areas (math, English, science, social studies) so the plan calls for requiring AP classes and college prep classes be offered and recommended. Through partnerships with CNM and UNM, students can easily take dual enrollment classes for free at the local colleges.

The strategic plan would call for aligning HHS core academic classes to college and career readiness and to high school graduation. The curriculum must reflect college-readiness standards that identify critical thinking knowledge and skills in both math and language arts. As part of the plan, teachers must be given professional development opportunities on standards-based instructional planning. As stated earlier, the plan also requires enrollment in honors, advanced, distance-learning and dual enrollment courses.

4. BELIEVE THAT STUDENTS CAN DO BETTER AND LET THEM KNOW YOU DO

This is definitely a strong suit for HHS teachers. HHS leaders are promoting a culture of high expectations and are providing students with many opportunities to receive the extra help they need to reach these higher expectations. The plan calls for every teacher to provide a syllabus to each student that includes rubrics and scoring guides, outlines course content, contains class rules and lays out class and course expectations. The plan calls for teachers to post student work and to specify daily objectives. Teachers will also be asked to make bell-to-bell instruction the norm in ALL classrooms in order to utilize every minute of instructional time to teach required content.

In addition, the school has provided tutors to help in every area and in every language. Students have access to tutoring from 6:00am to 6:30pm and this aspect is a big part of the plan to continually improve academically. HHS has programs set up with LULAC, ENLACE, Sandia Labs, Upward Bound, Project Diversity, Catholic Social Services, Kirtland Air Force Base, as well as volunteers from Walmart, UNM, and the City of Albuquerque.

The plan also calls for utilizing the Advisory program fully by teaching study skills and habits of success. Leaders will make teachers accountable for reinforcing guidance and advisement as a means of connecting students to goals beyond high school. Teachers will be asked to provide advisement, mentoring, support, and monitoring of students’ education and career plans in a purposeful way. Leaders will continually monitor, evaluate, and revise the program to meet emerging student needs. Finally, teachers and leaders must act in unison to provide Students and in particular seniors a meaningful academic experience. This strategic plan would call for every senior to create a portfolio listing their accomplishments over the four years, including what they have done to prepare for college or career, They would have to defend it in front of a panel of stakeholders, which could include their parents, school leaders and teachers who have had a stake in their growth.

5. DEFINE AND REFINE THE ROLES OF THE VARIOUS SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TEAMS TO ENSURE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

It begins with the Leadership team and it cycles through the team constantly. The plan calls for leaders, whether it be administrators, department chairs, members of HSTW, AVID, PLCs, or SLCs, to constantly evaluate and reevaluate; to analyze data to set goals; to use data to inform instruction and to change instruction; to make the hard decisions that will infuse rigor into the classroom; and establish consistency in decision making.

The biggest challenge facing leadership is empowering teachers to take ownership of school improvement efforts and ensure that teachers are able to fully understand how their efforts in SLCs, PLCs and Goal Teams are designed to help restructure the school. It is also important that school leaders make instructional leadership the primary focus of the school. This plan recognizes the urgency of improving both teaching and learning and daily improvement of these areas must come before all else.

CONCLUSION

This strategic plan calls into play many of the points learned in EDA575. It is the hope of this writer that many of these suggestions could eventually be implemented because they all make sense in terms of reaching the goal. If nothing else, this strategic plan makes a suitable framework for creating change in an educational environment that has similar conditions. This plan goes a long way in: embracing continuous school improvement by putting in place systems of collaboration or improving on existing systems; focusing on goals that are data driven and reviewable; using data to inform change; taking ownership for not only the challenges facing HHS but the solutions as well; letting students and teachers know loud and clear that the school believes and expects ALL students to learn at high levels; and finally, HHS will do what it takes to create an educational environment conducive to growth and learning.

.

APPENDIX A

Proposed Guiding Principles for Highland High School

Highland has an instructional vision that drives decision making in all facets of the school. We have worked with all stakeholders involved (students, staff, administration, parents, community) to develop a plan that will guide Highland toward achieving the goals set out by the state and the district. The following points are utilized by the stakeholders to achieve these goals.

1. Shared Vision and Plan. Highland has engaged stakeholders in the planning process and it has achieved incredible results. Highland has a shared vision, mission, and educational plan for school and student success. The school is developing an instructional vision based on shared assumptions about teaching and learning. Staffing, schedule, budget, and professional development plans are being developed to support the instructional vision. The Highland Leadership Team, the High Schools That Work (HSTW) team, department chairs and teachers in their Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have dedicated time and resources to seeing through the proper implementation of the plan. Implementation required that teachers have adequate and well-planned and facilitated time to deliberate on teaching and learning together during the school day.

2. Personalization.Students are more likely to succeed in an environment where staff know every student and no student slips through the cracks. For this reason, Highland has broken 9th and 10th grade academies into small groups of less than 100 students (all at the same grade level). These groups are created based on assessments mentioned above so that members of each group share some or many similar likes.

3. Flexibility and Accountability. Highland has given teachers an opportunity to collaborate with each other, and has empowered them to make mission driven decisions about staffing, schedule, budget, and curriculum.

4. Equity. The goal of the school is to ensure high quality education to ALL students in Highland’s neighborhood.

.

5. Community Engagement. Highland has made it a top priority to engage the community and seek their input into decisions that affect the school and community. For change to occur, Highland’s students, parents, community members, and teachers must have buy-in. The best way to achieve buy-in is to involve these stakeholders in creating the plan for redesigning the school and involve them in the governance of the school as it moves forward. In addition, Highland has moved to become a central hub for a community by inviting parents and community members to come to the school for English lessons, GED classes, computer classes, dance and yoga, and on and on.

6. High Quality Teaching and Learning. Increasing rigor in the classroom has been at the top of the agenda and Highland has made strides in reaching our goals. All students are engaged in a learning process that is rigorous, relevant, and prepares them for both college and the workforce of the 21st century.

APPENDIX B

Highland High School School Profile

"TRADITIONS OF EXCELLENCE"Highland High School strives to be the premier high school inCentral New Mexico. The school provides a learning environmentthat prepares young people for college and careers. We accept thechallenge to make a difference in the lives of our students, torecognize their strengths, to prepare them for careers and toempower them to make a difference in the world.

School Information

Highland High School

CEEB code: 320020 Main Office: 505-265- 3711 Address: 4700 Coal Avenue SE Albuquerque, NM 87108 Counseling Office: (505) 265-3711 ext 26018

www.highlandhornets.com

Principal: Nikki Dennis9th Grade Principal, in charge of 9th grade academy: Lupe Martinez 10th Grade Principal, in charge of finance: Larry D’Anza11th Grade Principal, in charge of buildings and grounds: Frank Maestas12 Grade Principal, in charge of curriculum and instruction: Harriet CrawfordAssistant Principal in charge of Special Education: Ben ChavezCoordinator of Small Learning Communities: Mary Anne PolsterActivities Director: Patrick ArguellesAthletic Director: Ryan KettlerSchool Counselors: Christina Vasquez, Analisa Lujan, Trudy Mueller, Teya Nguyen, Derek Maestas

School

Highland High School opened its doors in 1949. Today, Highland is the second oldest public high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico and currently operates out of the oldest standing school building in the state. The school occupies 33 acres. Currently the Albuquerque Public Schools District consists of 13 high schools, 27 middle schools, and 89 elementary schools utilizing a K-5, 6-8, 9-12 grade-level configuration. The student body of Highland High School is culturally diverse with a population that is 8.5% African American, 3.6% Asian, 18.2% Caucasian, 57.2% Hispanic, and 12.5% Native Americans. Highland High School is a comprehensive four year public high school enrolling 1797 students in grade 9 through 12.

School Level High SchoolGrades Offered Grades 9 - 12

County Bernalillo County, NM

Students & FacultyTotal Students 1797 students

% Male / % Female 49% / 51%

Total Classroom Teachers 127 teachers

Students by Grade

Grade 9 - 588 studentsGrade 10 – 508 studentsGrade 11 - 379 studentsGrade 12 - 322 students

This School (NM) School AverageTeacher : Student Ratio 1:16 1:14

Students by Ethnicity

% American Indian 13% 14% % Asian 4% 1% % Hispanic 56% 51% % Black 8% 2% % White 19% 31%

Additional Student Information

This School (NM) School Average% Eligible for Free Lunch 45% 44% % Eligible for Reduced Lunch

6% 6%

% Migrant Students Enrolled - -

School Performance: (NM) Statewide Testing PerformanceSchool Statewide Performance

View Education Department Test Scores

School District Name Albuquerque Public s School District

This School's Agency (APS) (NM) District AverageNumber of Schools Managed 172 5 Number of Students Managed

95,083 students 637 students

District Total Revenue $909,023,000 $9,524,000 District Expenditure $902,192,000 $9,834,000 District Revenue / Student $9,560 $14,951 District Expenditure / Student $9,488 $15,438 District Graduation Rates 66% n/a

Curriculum

The academic program is organized on a rotating block schedule. Students can earn seven credits per year during a regular school day. Students take six 95-minute classes, and one 50-minute class. Students attend 3 block classes and the 50-minute class daily, rotating Monday & Wednesday and Tuesday & Thursday. On Friday, the students go to all seven classes lasting 50 minutes each.

AP courses are offered in Art History, Art, Calculus AB and BC, Chemistry, Biology, English Language, English Literature, U.S History, World History, Government and Economics, Spanish, French, and German. AP is an open-enrollment program.

Honors classes are offered in English, Algebra, and Geometry. Entry into the courses is determined by student commitment and teacher recommendation.

Highland High School has dual enrollment with UNM and CNM which enables sophomores, juniors, and seniors to enroll in college level courses and earn college credits at local institution of higher education. The students also receive high school elective credit for these courses.

Grading and Ranking

A 90 – 100 4pts

B 80 – 89 3pts

C 70 – 79 2pts

D 60 – 69 1pts

F 59 - below

Class rank is determined by the student’s weighted cumulative GPA.

Class of 2007

There were 322 students in the Class of 2009.

26 earned a 4.0+ 47 earned 3.5–3.99

76 earned 3.0–3.49

82 earned 2.50–2.99

54 earned 2.0–2.49

37 earned less than a 2.0

Advanced Placement Results

In 2008-2009, 203 students took one or more AP exam. Of these students, 30 scored a 5, 25 scored a 4, 55 scored a 3, and 93 scored a 2 or lower.

Awards and Distinctions 2008- 2009

We the People - State Champions and Regional Representatives

DECA – 8 National Qualifiers

Track & Field - State Champions

1 National Honor Society Scholar Recipient

Students Passing German AP Exam with a 5 – 9 out of 9

Colleges attended by Highland High School graduates over the last four years

Adams State College

Arizona State University

Arizona, University of

Brigham Young University

Carleton College

Colorado State University

Colorado, U of Boulder

Cornell University

Denver, University of

Eastern NM University

Fort Lewis College

Georgetown University

Harvard University

Mesa State College

NMMI

New Mexico State University

Northern Colorado, U of

Purdue University

Southern Colorado, U of

Texas Christian University

Tulane University

United States Air Force Academy

United States Military Academy

UCLA

University of Southern California

University of New Mexico

Humboldt State University

Louisiana Tech

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of Wyoming

Western NM University

Plus many more…

:

Academic Philosophy

Highland High School provides a well-rounded college preparatory curriculum with extensive offerings in English, social sciences, mathematics, foreign languages, sciences, art, music and drama. Advanced placement classes are offered in biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, European history, calculus AB and BC, economics, and statistics. Students are able through their choices to create an individual schedule tailored to their needs and interests. Some courses are required and some are recommended, but there are many electives, increasing in number as the student progresses through school. Students make their own choice of study based on data from several career exploration assessments (ASVAB, PSAT, Accuplacer, etc.). This is important because it develops responsibility, increases commitment, and encourages exploration of new areas for learning.

The faculty and administration of Highland High School recognize the individuality of each student and the right of that student to receive and opportunity in education to develop to his/her fullest potential. Through dedication, hard work and effective planning, a flexible academic and extracurricular program can be offered that will allow each student opportunities to experience success. Through positive discipline, we believe an atmosphere can be created in the school to enable academic, social and physical development. We further believe that through cooperative interaction of the administration, faculty, students, parents, and community, each student can achieve his/her academic goals, develop a love for learning, respect for self and others, and an enthusiasm for life that will help to ensure his/her success and happiness.

Special Education Department

Highland High School special ed teachers are responsible for developing individualized education programs (IEPs) for each of their special education students. The IEPs are based on personalized goals tailored to each student's individual learning ability and style. Teachers also formulate transition plans to prepare the students for postsecondary study or for jobs. There is a wide variety of disabilities that require students to be in special education

programs. These include autism, mental retardation, emotional deficiencies, language and speech impairments, visual problems, hearing impairments, mobility limitations, and many other disabilities.

Many of the daily job tasks of Highland’s special ed teachers mirror those of their general education counterparts. Special ed teachers are responsible for things like taking attendance, developing lesson plans, assigning and correcting homework, enforcing school rules, keeping inventory of supplies, and administering standardized tests. There is also an additional layer of duties unique to special ed teachers that, among other duties, includes the following:

Meeting with parents to review the IEP and note progress and problems Making referrals to sources within the community that may be able to assist the

student

Helping students learn to use various tools such as computers, wheelchairs, hearing aids or other devices

Developing new strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicaps

Making modifications in the general education curriculum for special-needs students

Coordinating placement of students with special needs into mainstream classes

Monitoring teachers and teacher assistants to ensure adherence to special education program requirements

Technology

Highland currently has four computer labs, each with an average of 35 computers. Highland also has two mobile computer labs, one with 20 laptops, the other with 15 units. Our recent addition of Figge Hall means we have two more computer rooms that will be up and running very soon. Also, Figge Hall has a great deal of technology in each classroom, like promethean boards and projectors.