GCS+2007-2008+Goals

=**GCS Academic Goals for the 2007-2008 School Year**=

=Goal 1 Literacy= All third graders will read and comprehend at the third grade level or above as determined by the CSAP and NWEA assessments.

Discussion: All students will maintain at least one year of growth. Students behind will gain more than one year of growth.

1) We Tested students 2-6th grade in May of 2007 and some students who are ready in 1st grade with the reading portion of NWEA/MAPS. 2) We tested students in grades K-6 in Spring of 2007. 3) All students were tested on DRA at the beginning of the year. 4) Reviewed test scores and validated information from teachers. Invited lowest scoring students to participate in Carlson JumpStart program, which is a two week program to give students extra literacy and math instruction. The parents of 7 students agreed to transport their children to this program. 5) We have a literacy block of 1 hour 45 minutes (K) and 2 hours 15 minutes (1-6) during the day. The 1st through 3rd graders block has and 30 min afternoon portion. Students are divided into 4 classes based on their skill level as determined by NWEA and CSAP and teacher and parent input. Open Court reading is our reading program. Teachers will perform written, oral and other assessments periodically through the class to determine if students are understanding the material and improving their reading and comprehension. 6) Achieve3000 (KidBiz/TeenBiz) - student will receive an email at his or her Lexile level, read an article at that level, and respond to the article. Began in October 2007. a. Teachers in intermediate level will do one article/week in class. b. Teachers will assign one article/week as homework or have students do in enrichment program. c. Thursday classes planned for technology will do KidBiz/TeenBiz at the intermediate level. d. 2/3 students will begin later in the year when the teacher feels that the levels are appropriate. 7) Jamie Davis will train all staff on creating Individual Literacy Plans (ILP) on and Alpine starting on October 15th and completed by . 8) All teachers will enter ILPs in Alpine by __. 9) Teachers will identify students that would benefit by volunteer tutoring. Tutors will help these students during Tue, Wed, or Thu enrichment time. 10) If students show a consistent lack of improvement, teachers will refer the student to our Student Support Team which includes the principal, a staff member from Special Education, two teachers, the parent or guardian, and possibly the aides who help in the class. The team will define the problem and determine possible interventions. 11) The interventions will be tried and assessed in class. The teacher will report to the Student Support Team on the success or need for additional interventions. If the Student Support Team needs to meet again, it will. 12) Mr. Winter will create a “watch list” in the GCS database on all students significantly below grade level (as determined by at-risk on NWEA). Teachers will input strategies and progress on a monthly basis. 13) If the interventions do not work, the student will be assessed by the Special Education staff to determine additional interventions and possibly create an Individual Education Plan (IEP). 14) The Special Education teachers will coordinate with teachers for students that have an IEP. 15) We will repeat the NWEA/MAPS test in item #1 three times in the school year to assess our progress toward the goal. If the student does not show progress at any point, any of the above steps may be taken. 16) We will create a strong preschool program that prepares students for reading readiness and stimulates their interest and enthusiasm for school. 17) The principal will create a weekly professional development/collaboration/planning time for all core teachers by the first week of November 2007. The purpose of this time is for teachers to evaluate student data, research best practices, and collaborate and coordinate with each other in order to create lessons that best meet the needs and objectives for the students.
 * Action Plan:**

All third graders will calculate and comprehend mathematics at the third grade level or above as determined by the CSAP and NWEA assessments.
 * Goal 2 Mathematics**

Discussion: All students will maintain at least one year of growth. Students behind will gain more than one year of growth.

Action Plan: 1) Under action plan of Reading see items 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.

All 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students will be able to write a variety of acceptable essays (Expository, Persuasive, Narrative) as determined by the GCS writing rubric.
 * Goal 3 Writing**

Action Plan: 1) Under action plan of Reading see items 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. 2) Teachers were given 6+1 Trait student and professional development materials during the summer and supplementary materials as requested to implement 6+1 traits school-wide during the 2007-2008 school year. 3) Mr. Winter trained on the Teacher Evaluation for Cherry Creek, a research-based method proven to improve student achievement. He will focus his first formal observation on writing for each of the core teachers.

By the end of their third grade year, students will complete 80% of the 1-3 Core Knowledge Science Sequence as recommended by the Sequence Model. By the end of their sixth grade year, students will complete 80% of the 4-6 Core Knowledge Science Sequence as recommended by the Sequence Model.
 * Goal 4 Science**

Action Plan: 1) We have a daily science block of one hour in each of the classes K-6. 2) Under action plan of Reading see items 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, and 17. 3) New teachers participated in a Core Knowledge workshop on August 13. We included the PE and Music teacher to have them think about how they can support literacy and Core Knowledge goals in their own classes. 4) Core teachers created an estimated year plan for the PE and Music teachers who will attempt to add connections to the Core Knowledge curriculum of the classroom. 5) We will increase our efforts in improving the “stepping out” program which will use the natural and physical environment to teach science. 6) Teachers will record stepping out and science key topics in the GCS database. 7) All core teachers will attend the bighorn sheep training on Nov 3 and implement ideas within their curriculum before the end of the year. 8) Jamie Davis will attend a vertical coordination meeting with the other elementary and middle school science teachers to determine how better to prepare our students for middle school and what changes may be needed to our practices and curriculum, if any.

By the end of their third grade year, students will complete 80% of the 1-3 Core Knowledge Social Studies Sequence as recommended by the Sequence Model. By the end of their sixth grade year, students will complete 80% of the 4-6 Core Knowledge Social Studies Sequence as recommended by the Sequence Model.
 * Goal 5 Social Studies**

Action Plan: 1) We have a daily core knowledge block of 30-45 minutes in each of the classes K-6. 2) Under action plan of Reading see items 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, and 17. 3) New teachers participated in a Core Knowledge workshop on August 13. We included the PE and Music teacher to have them think about how they can support literacy and Core Knowledge goals in their own classes. 4) Core teachers created an estimated year plan for the PE and Music teachers who will attempt to add connections to the Core Knowledge curriculum of the classroom. 5) We will increase our efforts in improving the “stepping out” program which will use the natural and physical environment to teach social studies. 6) Teachers will record stepping out and social studies key topics in the GCS database.