WOODLAWN HIGH SCHOOL

15755 Jefferson Hwy. Baton Rouge, La 70817 state1@ebrschools.org 225-753-1200

STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN SEAN C. TATE W0234649 SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY

East Baton Rouge Parish, the parish where Woodlawn High School resides, has scored lower than the state average in every subject tested on the GEE, Graduate Exit Exam, for the past six years. 1 In regards to DPS, District Performance Scores, East Baton Rouge scores went from 79.8 in 2009 to 82.0 in 2010 2. This score placed the district fifty-third out of seventy school districts in the state. One of the main reasons for this low score is that the change style the district utilizes is much like everything the textbook said it should not be. The district has a lot of changes that it tries to implement every year. The problem is that the district hardly ever allows the change method to last longer than one year. This typically happens because someone likes the idea and then discards it because the test scores do not change as rapidly as the individual had hoped. It constantly seems that by the time the teachers and students are starting to understand the change and begin to implement the change into their classrooms the district changes what they want implemented. This causes frustrations for the teachers who take it out on the administration by either verbally revolting or simply not implementing the next change. Another major issue is that the district rarely has input from all the stakeholders about the change. Most of the time the stakeholders would not be able to give their input because the district never provides the research behind or success rate for any of the change processes. The worst example that I have seen of this occurred during the past year. The district implemented that each teacher, paraprofessional and administrator view a series of videos on a program called PD 360. This was an online program that had different videos that were accompanied by both questions and reflections, which had to be answered. This seemed to be a great program at first because it meant that the faculty could view the professional development from home, allowing more time to get things done at work by not having to be in meetings. As the year went on, the district began to relax on what exactly they wanted the faculty to do. The faculty began to become very frustrated in the second semester because after hearing nothing about the program after the first six weeks of the school year and getting the answer that the district had no plan for future videos when they asked what to do next, only to have the district demand that two other series of videos be completed by the end of the fifth six weeks. This aggravated many teachers because the district also decided to change what needed to be done with each video.3

District Composite Report, Louisiana Department of Education, 20 Jun. 2011. <http://www.laeducationresults.net/District/Assessment_GEE.aspx?RecordID=017.> 2 District Performance Scores 2009-2010. Louisiana Department of Education, 20 Jun. 2011 <http://www.doe.state.la.us/data/district_accountability_reports.aspx. > 3 Teacher Instructional Practices Survey given on 15 March 2011.

Another major issue with this was that the administration, which was getting pressure from the district, began to threaten the teachers with write-ups if they did not view the videos by a certain time. Finally, at the end of the year, the district decided that they were not going to have any other dealings with the program that they had originally claimed was the best professional development opportunity for the district. The reforms that the district lays out are tied to the districts vision and mission statements. The vision of district is, All East Baton Rouge Parish School System students will graduate with the knowledge, skills and values necessary to become active and successful members of a dynamic learning community. 4 The mission of the district is, The East Baton Rouge Parish School System, in partnership with our community, educates all students to their maximum potential in a caring, rigorous and safe environment.5 Again, the problem is that the district never allows for the time or provide the information needed to implement the change process effectively. Woodlawn High School, which is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and has currently the third highest SPS, School Performance Score, score in the district, is the school where I am employed6. Woodlawn High School has outscored the district average in every subject tested on the GEE, except for English, in the last three years.7 Furthermore, the school often falls below the states average scores on the GEE.8 Again, I feel that if the district would allow a greater amount of time to research and allow for results to come in on reform methods, the schools scores would increase. Woodlawn utilizes the districts vision and mission statement as their own. The action plan that will be laid out is centered in these two statements. The School Improvement Team decided on two main action items to improve test scores. The first is that of tutoring. The school will be offering tutoring to students on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in every core subject. The purpose of this tutoring is to allow a place where students that are struggling in a core area can go for help. The second action item that was decided upon was to initiate a Freshmen Academy at Woodlawn High School for all incoming freshmen. The purpose for the Freshmen Academy is twofold. First is to raise student test scores and second is to increase the Graduation Cohort Rate, which will eventually raise the SPS score. The third action item that was decided upon was the creation of teaming for teachers.

East Baton Rouge Parish Vision Statement, Vision and Mission Statements of East Baton Rouge Parish, 2010, 20 Jun. 2011 <http://www.ebrschools.org/eduWEB1/1000437/docs/sap_strategic_accountability_plan_20082013.pdf> 5 East Baton Rouge Parish Mission Statement, Vision and Mission Statements of East Baton Rouge Parish, 2010, 20 Jun. 2011 <http://www.ebrschools.org/eduWEB1/1000437/docs/sap_strategic_accountability_plan_20082013.pdf> 6 GEE Results Woodlawn High School, East Baton Rouge School, District and State-level Assessment Results for GEE, District Composite Scores, Louisiana Department of Education. 20 Jun. 2011 <http://www.laeducationresults.net/District/Assessment_GEE.aspx?RecordID=017> 7 GEE Results Woodlawn High School, East Baton Rouge School, District and State-level Assessment Results for GEE, District Composite Scores, Louisiana Department of Education. 20 Jun. 2011 <http://www.laeducationresults.net/District/Assessment_GEE.aspx?RecordID=017> 8 GEE Results Woodlawn High School, East Baton Rouge School, District and State-level Assessment Results for GEE, District Composite Scores, Louisiana Department of Education. 20 Jun. 2011 <http://www.laeducationresults.net/District/Assessment_GEE.aspx?RecordID=017>

The purpose of the teaming is to provide the teachers a support group wherewith the teachers will be able to create common unit plans and classroom activities. The action items will be explained further throughout the paper. The paper will be divided into three parts, each part having four sections. The first part will discuss the tutoring program, while the second will discuss the new Freshmen Academy. Lastly, the third part will discuss professional development for teachers in the area of learning communities.

PART I: AFTERSCHOOL TUTORING SECTION 1: RESTRUCTING There were some things that needed to be restructured for all of these action items. In order to have a successful tutoring program, four tutors would be needed. These tutors would need to be able to answer questions from each of the subjects in the core curriculum and a tutoring coordinator would also need to be in place. This coordinator would be responsible for ensuring that the tutors are actually tutoring and not just providing a room for students to complete homework but that someone was actually helping the students. The coordinator would also ensure that time sheets are turned in and accounted for. Additionally, the coordinator would be responsible for keeping track of sign-in and sign-out sheets for students. Both of these documents would be kept on file to be in compliance with the SIP. This structure may have to change over the school year for a very limited amount of reasons. These reasons include: a teacher failing to work up to the expectations of the coordinator; and the possibility of the program needing to be ended early due to a lack of Title One funds which pay for the salaries of this program. The evidence of this action item working would be an increase in the students grades in the core curriculum. Again, the purpose of this program is to increase the grades of students in all core curriculum courses. Therefore, a review of student grades in tutoring will be examined and an increase in grades should be prevalent as the students attend tutoring. The amount of change in grades will be determinate by student as well as the amount of times that a student attends tutoring. This action item will change instructional practices at the school due to the fact that a majority of the reteaching will be done in the tutoring sessions. This will allow the teachers to continue on pace with the district comprehensive curriculum and pacing guides. In order for this to work, the teacher will need to refer the students that need the extra assistance to tutoring and the students that need tutoring to actually attend the tutoring sessions. The evidence of this will be that teachers will be on track with the district pacing guide. The largest factor outside of the school that will play a role in limiting these changes are the students that do not have transportation home from after-school tutoring. The school district, due to budget cuts, cannot provide bussing for the students whose parents cannot come and pick them up. Therefore, the students that need transportation may not be able to attend after-school tutoring.

In this occurrence, these students will be able to meet with their actual teacher before school to get a smaller amount of tutoring. The success of the tutoring program will depend on the students and their parents solving and then working through the transportation issue. SECTION 2: POWER AND POLITICS This will change power and politics in the school by whom the administration decides will serve as the coordinator of the program as well as the teachers that will be chosen to serve as tutors. The reason that this will occur is that these teachers are paid more than normal teachers due to the fact that the tutors and coordinators are paid twenty hours per hour tutored with a possibility of four hours each week. Therefore, a tutor can make an extra 160 dollars per check. The other issue is that there are some teachers who are quite prideful about their ability to teach and may feel as though the administration and coordinators are playing favorites with whom they choose to tutor. SECTION 3: STAFF AND LEADERS This change will require the tutors be trained in the other courses in their core subject so that they can tutor all students. The tutoring coordinator will need to be trained in best practices so that they can train the tutors in different methods to reach the students that are not grasping the material. The tools that are in place to encourage, support and allow staff to learn, grow and embrace this change include the fact that the tutoring coordinator is already in place. The same individual that worked in this capacity last year is continuing in the position. The coordinator has met with the principal and ensured that the school budget has enough money in it to pay the tutors. The coordinator has also ensured that each tutor will have a classroom in order to tutor and work with the students. The sign-in sheets have already been created as well as the time sheets. There are several factors in the school that will shape this process; there are also factors in the school that will inhibit this process. The largest factor that will help shape this process is the diligence and the dedication of the teachers that are chosen as tutors. The program will only be as good as the teachers that are chosen. The school is lucky enough to possess several great teachers in each core subject that would qualify as tutors. Secondly, the school has an administration that believes that this program is vital to the students grades and will ensure that they are providing the resources needed for the tutors to be successful. One of the biggest inhibitors of the program is the fact that there are extracurricular activities in the school that are seen by certain faculty members and students as more important than academics and will not allow the students to attend the tutoring sessions due to practices of one form or another. This inhibitor will be addressed by getting the Athletic Director as well as the other extracurricular leaders on board with the program and allowing them to send students

that need assistance in raising their GPA, grade point average, to come to tutoring for aide. Based on past experience, another inhibitor has been that the tutors did not actually tutor anything and the time period became more of a place for students to hang out instead of actually learning anything. This inhibitor will be addressed by making sure that the tutors are tutoring through keeping track of exactly what is occurring in the tutoring sessions. This will be done by having the tutors write a quick review of the tutoring session to be included with their time sheets.
SECTION 4: PERSONAL REFLECTION

My leadership style will be impacted by this process because I am the Tutoring Coordinator. It is my responsibility to ensure that the program is run successfully, which includes that students attend tutoring and that tutors are actually tutoring. My strengths include the fact that I know most of the teachers and have a fairly good working relationship with each of them. I will use this knowledge to choose the best tutors available. Another strength that I have is my advanced knowledge in the type of paper work that is required by the school board to document the tutoring sessions. Finally, I have taught all of the subjects in the social studies curriculum and with this will be able to step in when needed as an additional social studies tutor. Some of the deficiencies that I have include having to fire people that are not working at the level that is required for the program. I have never had to fire anyone before and really do not know how I would handle this if circumstances arise. I also am not able to tutor the other subjects because my background is not in those subjects. I can battle this problem, however, by asking others what the answer may be.

PART 2: FRESHMEN ACADEMY

SECTION 1: RESTRUCTURING The main organizational structure that was the target in this action plan was the ninth grade. The ninth grade was chosen as the first grade to be put into an academy because of the fact that they are brand new to the school. Therefore, we will utilize this academy as a bridge to reduce the gap of the expectations and realization of the differences between middle school and high school. Research has shown that successful Freshmen Academies have certain things in common. Laura J. Hall in Freshmen Academy: Implementation and Affectiveness states, These characteristics include: Freshmen in groups traveling from one core class to another. Freshmen core classes in close proximity to one another. A team of dedicated core teachers who communicate and work together well. An emphasis on team building and positive reinforcement in the form of tangible rewards, efforts on the part of teachers to increase the involvement of parents.9 All of these things will be in place with the new Freshmen Academy. This academy will change how regular education, as well as inclusive education, is changed in the ninth grade. The incoming first-time freshmen will be put into teams. These teams will be compiled of the core subjects each of these students will take. The students will be placed on one of three teams and each team will have the same core subject teachers as everyone else on their team. The school has implemented a third lunch period for these students so that they are completely separated from upper class students. Finally, the Freshmen Academy will include a H.E.A.T strategy which stands for Helping Eliminate Academic Tardiness. This will provide the students with a location during lunch to complete homework that they did not complete the night before. The evidence of this change will initially be seen through the students schedules. Once classes begin, the test scores between last years freshmen on Benchmark Exams will be compared to this years students. The scores will show an improvement if the academy is working properly. The H.E.A.T should document less students attending over time showing that the students are completing the assignments that are needed for their classes. Finally, all of this will lead to higher EOC, End of Course, test scores as compared to the year before. The Freshmen Academy will change the organizational structure in instructional practices due to the fact that it will be completely different than what is currently in place. Because the teachers will only have to prepare for one course, this will free up the teachers time to deal with other issues such as helping the students better learn the materials. These teachers will be sending home progress reports every three weeks, instead of every six as it is now. Since students will be on teams, each of the core teachers in that team will have the same students, therefore being able to talk about discussion and grade issues for each student and come up with a method of dealing with specific students.
9

Hall, Laura J. Freshmen Academy: Implementation and Affectiveness. Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio. 2009 <http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi/Hall%20Laura%20J.pdf?marietta1239844798> .

The evidence of this change will be most importantly, higher test scores. Another evidence of the success will be less discipline problems from the students because the students will know that each of their teachers will meet weekly or biweekly to discuss each student. The third evidence of the success of the program will be a higher amount of parental involvement. As teachers send home progress reports, parents will know what is going on with their child. As the parent knows more about what is going on, it is expected that the parents will play a larger role in their childs education. Some of the factors outside of the school that played a role in facilitating our efforts in creating the Freshmen Academy include being able to observe other schools that have successfully implemented this program into their schools. This provided a base for the Freshmen Academy leadership team to work. There were also factors that limited this change. These factors included a lack of teachers to maintain a low student-teacher ratio as seen in other schools. Another factor was the fact that Freshmen Academy really does not have a budget to work on in order to give incentives or to purchase materials as seen in other schools. SECTION 2: POWER AND POLITICS The start of the Freshmen Academy brought with it a change in leadership at the school. The largest change in leadership was due to the formation of a Freshmen Academy leadership team. This team included a facilitator responsible for behavior and mentorship, a facilitator for policies, and a facilitator to deal with fundraising and parental relations. These positions were needed in order to better serve the students and parents of the Freshmen Academy. Three members of the current faculty were chosen for this team. Many of the teachers at the school feel as though these choices were based less so on leadership ability for some and more because these are the people that are liked by the administration. This attitude could cause a potential problem in the future. SECTION 3: STAFF AND LEADERS The change requires the staff, many of whom have not taught ninth grade students in the past, to understand how freshmen are different than upper classmen. This understanding of differences is essential in learning how to best teach these students. Other things that will need to be taught include methods in working as a team to deal with behavioral issues as well as dealing with parents. There will also be student leaders in this program. Specific upper classmen will be given the opportunity to serve as a mentor for the students. This will require that these students be trained in mentoring as well as the expectation that the leadership team has for the mentors. These mentors will help with homework as well as helping the students adjust to high school. There will also be a small select group of mentors that will be set apart in a class that will be geared towards teaching the mentors how to lead the other mentors. This group will also organize the materials that are needed by the mentors in order to mentor their students.

There are tools in place that will encourage, support and allow staff to learn, grow and embrace the change. This includes having a common planning hour for each member in the same core course. As well as a common planning hour for teachers that are on the same team to discuss students behavior and educational matters. There will also be professional development geared toward freshmen at the beginning of the school year as well as throughout the school year. The mentors will also be given training in what is expected of them throughout the school year, including an honor code to abide by in their dealings with the students. Some of the factors that will shape the learning process is the amount of time that will be given to train the teachers as well as others in the Freshmen Academy. There will be times that after-school meetings will be needed in order to be successful. Some of the things that will inhibit this process will be the fact that there is simply not enough time to train as well as we could. Also, some will have other responsibilities and will not be able to attend after-school professional development meetings. Another issue with the mentors is twofold. First and foremost, the amount of students that signed up to be mentors are less than the actual number of students who need mentors. The other issue is the fact that some mentors and mentees simply will not get along. There will be issues that come up that will cause arguments between the mentors and mentees that will need to be addressed as they arise.

SECTION 4: PERSONAL REFLECTION My leadership style affects the Freshmen Academy in multiple ways. First, I will have a student teacher in the fall. This means that I will be given the task of mentoring this new teacher in classroom management as well as curriculum. Secondly, I have been asked to serve as the community liaison as well as fundraising and dealing with parents. This means that I will be the face of the Freshmen Academy to the stakeholders that reside outside of the school. I will need to break out of my comfort shell to talk to people and get things that are needed for the academy. Finally, I will be a team leader as well as the head of the curriculum for the Social Studies Department in the academy. This will require me to work with other teachers and come up with what is best for our team in the areas of dealing with parents, students and any other issues that arise. My strengths that will aide in this area is that I am the type that needs to get things done yesterday. I will make sure that my team, as well as each student, is on page with where we need to be. I am also the type that likes to hear others views and mesh them into one coherent program. I feel as though I am a team leader and not a dictator of faculty. Some of the deficiencies that I have are explaining the reasons that I do not like someones ideas with whom I may not agree. I also feel as though I can be shy around those that I do not know and need to overcome this in order to fulfill my position as a future leader successfully.

PART 3: TEACHER TEAMS SECTION 1: RESTRUCTURING There are two different ways that teaming will be handled in the upcoming year. The first is the cross curricular team type. In these teams different core subject teachers will be organized onto teams where they will discuss different form of differentiated instruction delivery methods as well as classroom management ideas. The second type of team will be teachers made up from the same subjects. The purpose of this team is to allow for common unit planning as well as activities that will be used in each unit. This will ensure that all students are receiving the same information and increase the likelihood that test scores will go up for all students. This team meeting will be held in conjunction with departmental meetings. These teams will only change in the school year if a teacher has to leave the school and another teacher is hired on. The evidence of this change will be seen primarily in the teachers lesson plans. These lesson plans will show some coherence with the other lesson plans in the subject. Other evidence will be a portfolio of student work dealing with the various methods of differentiated instruction. In the end, the most important evidence will be higher scores on Benchmark examinations, End of Course examinations and Graduate Exit Examinations. The organizational structural change that will take place is the need for the teachers to have an hour set aside in the day in order to meet with their teams. These hours could be the same hour of the day as long as they are different days of the week. Each team will need a leader who will be responsible for ensuring that their team is actively doing what the team has set out to do. Again, these changes will be evidenced through the methods previously listed. The district plays a significant role in this program because the accountability department are the ones that write the comprehensive curriculum and put out the pacing guide that will be used for the teaming methods. This program can be inhibited by other things occurring in the school that will delay a teachers ability to stay on pace with the pacing guide. However, this problem will be addressed by the team as a whole. It will also be the teams responsibility to help any new teachers that are hired during the year to catch the teacher to where they need to be. SECTION 2: POWER AND POLITICS This change effort challenges existing power relations in the school due to new leaders being needed for each team. A lot of the teachers at the school have never been placed into a leadership role. In order for teaming to be effective, new leaders will need to emerge so that their teams can be as successful as possible. These leaders will be chosen by their team. The leader selection will be handled in this manner so that each member of the team will have a voice in who their leader will be. Therefore, it will be the person that will be acceptable to the teachers to be their leaders and will hopefully have less of an issue following this leader than someone that would be appointed by the administration or instructional coach.

SECTION 3: STAFF AND LEADERS Teaming will require the staff to learn several things. First, the staff will need to learn the purpose of teaming. Once this initial knowledge is gained, the staff will need to learn the different methods involved in differentiated learning as well as classroom management. Finally, the team needs to learn how to properly document the methods and management styles used in their classrooms so that the team is in compliance with documentation needed for the School Improvement Plan. Some of the tools that are in place to encourage, support and allow staff to learn, grow and embrace the change include having an hour set aside each week during the school day for the team meetings. Other tools include an instructional coach that will meet with each team in order to give them ideas on how to do different strategies and improve the teachers methods. The staff will also be given time to utilize the strategies learned in their classroom by having a week to implement the strategies before they need to return to report on the effectiveness of the strategy. Finally, teachers will be provided the research behind the strategies so that they can choose, as a team, which strategies will work best for them and which they would rather not implement. There are several factors that influence the learning process. These include, as previously stated: an hour off to attend the meetings; research behind the strategies implemented; and time to work on implementing the strategies. There are also some things that inhibit the process. These items include the possibility of teachers feeling as though there is not enough time to implement the procedures. The possibility of teachers disagreeing on which strategies to implement is also a potential problem. This could occur if a teacher is out voted on which strategy they feel should be initiated. All of these inhibitors can easily be addressed and dealt with. SECTION 4: PERSONAL REFLECTION I will not have a huge impact in this effort other than the fact that I will be leading a team in the Freshmen Academy. This section, therefore, will be the same as stated in Part 2 Section 4 of this paper.

Focus Area 1: Student Achievement Goal 1: To increase Freshmen End of Course test scores in all subjects tested within all subgroups. Strategies 1A..First time students will be placed into a Freshmen Academy in order to bridge the gap between middle school and high school. Activities Students will have an orientation where they will be placed on teams. The teachers on these teams will be used throughout the school year as the students core subject teachers. Person Responsible Administrators Freshmen Academy Facilitators Teachers Instructional Coach Resources Needed Letters sent to students to inform about orientation. Meal for students and parents at Orientation. Items needed for various games and activities. Mentor Folders Contact information for parents Funding Source Title One Funding Timeline August 4. Measurement of Accomplishment Sign in Sheets. Student Schedules Team Collaboration

Students will be assigned a mentor, these mentors will help the students in their first year of high school with everything ranging from school work to being socially accepted

Freshmen Academy Facilitators Mentors

None

August May

Mentor and Mentee Journal entrees

Students not completing homework assignments will be assigned to a H.E.A.T. (Help Eliminate Academic Tardiness) session during lunch in order for the students to complete their missing homework assignments. The H.E.A.T procedures will be followed 1B Tutoring in the core subjects will be offered on Tuesday and Thursday free of charge to the students. Teachers will write a referral for students to attend tutoring in their core subject to get help in the areas that the teacher says a student is weak Students will also be allowed into tutoring to complete homework or get help in areas that they feel they are weak

Teachers H.E.A.T Coordinator Students

Teacher assigned H.E.A.T as duty post Materials needed to complete assignments

None

August May

Decrease in late homework assignments Decrease in amount of students needing HEAT as documented by a change in those being assigned and on the sign-in sheet

Tutoring Coordinator Tutors Teachers Students

Referral Slips

None

Aug May

Copies of the Referral Sheets Copies of student comment cards

Tutors will have prepared lessons for students to accomplish that will aid in areas of weaknesses Tutors will tutor from 2:30 4:30 on Tuesday and Thursday Students will attend tutoring in order to complete homework or what their teacher has recommended the student get help

Tutoring Coordinator, Teachers Tutors Department Chairs

Course materials from each core subject covered

Title One Funding for tutor salaries

Aug- May

Tutor lessons Time sheet from the tutors

Students

Sign-in sheets

None

Aug- May

Sign-in and sign-out sheets from the students

Goal 2: Increase student performance by providing professional development for teachings in the area of learning communities in order to establish teams of teachers to create common unit plans and activities. Strategies 2A: Conduct a Whole Faculty Focus Group on Learning Communities Activities Hold a PD on learning communities and the importance of common unit plans and activities . Person Responsible Administration, Instructional Coach, Department Chairs Resources Needed Projector and Screen, Computer, PowerPoint Presentation Funding Source None Timeline August 10th Measurement of Accomplishment Teacher Sign-In, Ticket Out the Door Slips,

2B: Team Meetings will be held to create common unit plans and activities. The teams will also discuss behavior and curricular issues.

Place teachers into teams by subject areas. Each team will decide on a team leader as well as a day of the week to meet in order to work on unit plans and activities

Administration Department Chairs Team Leaders Instructional Coach

Binder Meeting Room Paper Printer

None

AugustMay

Subject Binder displaying common unit plan, activities, student sample and student test data

Teams will meet every other week to discuss the implementation of the common plan and activities, as well as plan for the next two weeks. During the week that the team does not meet, the team members are to implement the items discussed from the meeting before

Team Leader Team Members Instructional Coach

Binder Meeting Room Paper Printer Class Materials

None

August May

Subject Binder displaying common unit plan, activities, student sample and student test data