School Improvement Academy for Elementary Schools

All elementary principals and at least one teacher from their school attended the SIP Academy.  Dr. Johnson used a direct teaching model for the workshop.  She said that in looking at school improvement, you should start global but then zoom in on specifics, including data and classroom instruction.  To really look at the SIP, you must do a Root Cause Analysis (RCA).

The goal for all elementary schools is to reduce non-proficient students by 10% in Language Arts and Math.  Measurable Objective 1 should address Tier 1 instruction and Measurable Objective 2 should address Tier 2 and 3 instruction.  The part that has traditionally been missing in SIP is monitoring.  Dr. Johnson suggested revisiting the SIP weekly and monthly to monitor the school's progress.

Steps to use to create SIP:

Step 1 – look at data and assess needs

Step 2 – identify priority concerns

Step 3 – do root cause analysis

Step 4 – focused, research based solutions

All elementary schools should expect to hear from principals about this SIP.  Teachers will be using the Jordan Student Assessment System to see data including CRT, DWA, SRI, DIBELS, PALS, and GRL.  All will be uploaded from other sources except GRL, which teachers will enter.  This will help with triangulation of data so teachers can identify standards and objectives where improvement is needed.

Suggested websites for improving Tier 1 classroom instruction:
Marzano Research
Lead and Learn

School improvement is a continuous process.  The SIP is a living document and the FOCUS of our work!