Savannah Miller

Culture, Climate, and Communication

Grand Canyon University EAD-519

1/22/20
 In January of 2019, a comprehensive needs assessment was administered across several

stakeholder groups including parents, students, community members, staff, teachers and

administration. The top needs that were identified were the need for stronger tier 1 instruction in

all classrooms, vertical alignment, specific alignment tools and standards based resources, and

the effective use of data to improve instruction in all classes. Based on this data, a committee

comprised of these stakeholders came together to discuss the top goals to continuously improve

our campus. These goals became the primary focus of our integrated action plan for the 2019 -

2020 school year and are 1) an assessment system to gather data on teacher instruction other than

evaluations, 2) increased parent involvement in surveys and on campus during school events and

presentations, and 3) an established leadership team, meeting regularly and completing engaging,

necessary tasks.

The goals in our IAP are directly aligned with the data and feedback from our needs

assessment and the needs drive pour goals. Additionally, many stakeholders were not only

involved in the initial assessment, but then again in the creation of the goals. When the goals

were decided, they were communicated to all staff first, and staff were given a chance to make

action steps and resources needed to meet each goal. Once the goals and action steps were final,

or at least in progress, the goals were shared with the community at the board meeting, in our

monthly newsletter, on social media, and finally in a parent meeting hosted during our meet the

teacher night. All goals align to our mission and vision by creating a campus were student

learning is the primary focus and there is a community supporting our high expectations for

learning.

The goals have been implemented on campus in several ways. First, it has been our

primary focus to improve teacher instruction across grade levels and content areas. We have
been using instructional rounds and conferences to do frequent debriefs and reflect on immediate

changes for maximum student growth and also have been identifying highly effective teaching

strategies and sharing with the whole staff in model lessons. This has not only improved the

instruction on campus, but is also increasing teacher reflection and helping to more effectively

use data to inform instruction. Additionally, we have held more social events to build a positive

community relationships with parents in addition to the educational relationship. These events

include free dances, carnivals, movie nights and school performances. Putting an emphasis on

building and strengthening community relations at the same time as educational ones has been

well received and has increased participation at school related events such as open house, parent

teacher conferences and parent meetings. Finally, a leadership team has been established and is

constantly working to ensure the background details are taken care of so the teacher can focus on

providing quality instruction and feedback to students. This has increased buy-in for all staff and

has made school decisions easier to make and implement.