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Tennessee School Improvement Plan Updates 2006-07 Warren County Schools Director of Schools, Dr. Jerry Hale
Hickory Creek Elementary School 270 Pioneer Lane McMinnville, TN 37110 Principal, Mr. Donald Prater
Table of Contents Up-dates – 2006-07 Component 1: School Profile and Collaborative Progress 1.1: Leadership Team Composition p. 1 1.2: Subcommittees Formation and Operation p. 2-7 1.3: Parents, School, Community, and Students Up-dates p. 8-12 Component 2: Beliefs, Mission, and Vision – up-dates 2.1: Collaborative Process p. 13 2. 2/3: Beliefs p. 13 2.4: Mission p. 14 2.5: Vision p. 14 Component 3: Academic and Non-Academic Data Analysis 3.1-3: Attendance and Promotion p. 15 3.2: Strengths and Needs - TCAP p. 15-17 3.2: Data Collection and Analysis p.15-21 3.3 Disaggregated Data p. 17 3.3: Growth Difference among High, Middle, and Low Achievers – 2006 p. 18 3.3: ThinkLink Testing and Dibels p. 19 3.4: Narrative Synthesis of All Data p. 21 3.5: Prioritized List of Goal Targets p. 22 Component 4: Curricular, Instructional, Assessment and Organizational Effectiveness 4.1: Collaboration p. 23 4.2: Evaluation of the Decision-making Process p. 23 4.3: The Connection of Resource Usage to the School Improvement Plan p. 24 4.4: Curriculum Analysis and Support up-date p.24-26 Alignment with Feeder Schools p. 27 Component 5: Action Plan Development p. 28-37 5.1: Goals p. 28-37 5.2: Action Steps p. 28-37 5.3: Implementation Plan p. 28-37 Component 6: The School Improvement Plan and Process Evaluatio 6.1: Formative Assessment p. 41 6.2 Summative Assessment p. 42 Hickory Creek School – School Improvement Plan – Update May 2007 FORM 1.1: SIP Leadership Team Composition
The Leadership Team (Component Chairs) convened on Jan. 18, 2006, and formed sub-committees to draft the SIP for Hickory Creek School. On Jan. 24, 2006, the Leadership Team (three by phone or email) met to collaborate on the SIP timelines and to update members regarding the new guidelines. The information submitted by the chairs was reviewed and a consensus for approval was given by the Leadership Team on April 17, 2006. On April 28, 2006, after advisement from the Central Office Representative, Bobby Cox, goals 1 and 2 (academic goals) were restructured to reflect the new proficiency targets. The Leadership Team was revised on Sept. 14, 2006, to add Beverly Melton a teacher assistant. Other revisions were made for the 2006-07 school year. Component 1 - School Profile and Collaborative Process FORM 1.2: Subcommittee Formation and Operation (Rubric 1.2) Subcommittee for Component 1 School Profile3 and Collaborative Process
Component 1 Subcommittee has met and minutes are on file. X YES _ NO
____(Signature on file)_____________________________ Subcommittee 1 Chair Signature
Subcommittee for Component 2 Beliefs, Mission and Vision
Component 2 Subcommittee has meet and minutes are on file _X_ YES ___ NO __(Signature on file)___________________________________________ Subcommittee 2 Chair Signature
Subcommittee for Component 3 Academic and Non-Academic Data Analysis
Component 3 Subcommittee has met and minutes are on file _X_ YES ___ NO __(Signature on file)___________________________________________ Subcommittee 3 chair Signature
Subcommittee for Component 6 The School Improvement Plan and Process Evaluation
Component 6 Subcommittee has met and minutes are on file. _X_ YES ___ NO __(Signatures on file)______________________________________________ Subcommittee 6 Chair Signature
Up-date for SIP 2006-07 Hickory Creek School Component 1 1.3 Parents and Community Up-dates Parents at Hickory Creek School are involved in the library, classrooms, and numerous student activities. They volunteer to help with book fairs, field days, Hawk Walks, fund raisers, reading programs, homework, signed the Student/Parent/School Compact, proctoring for TCAP, going on field trips, and serving as room mothers for classroom parties. Parents have provided Teacher Appreciation Activities on special occasions, such as Teacher Education Week. Parents attend assemblies, PTO meetings, parent/teacher conferences, IEP meetings, and Family Reading Night. A Grandparents Day is sponsored by the School, which draws many grandparents to the School to eat lunch with their grandchildren. Parents participate in work day to improve the school grounds, including the playground and the Nature Trail. A School Health Grant of $10,000 was awarded to the school by the CDC, Cargill Foundation, and the American School Health Association. Parents provided matching funds of about $11,000 to provide new playground equipment. Parents help with benevolent projects, working with the School to help others (such as "Share a Christmas Dinner", collecting for Katrina victims, and the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital). Parents are important members of our School Family. Parental support is vital. The School’s parents offer diversity with several economic, religious, social, cultural, and ethnic groups. The ethnic make up of Hickory Creek School includes White, Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and American Indian. Our school has 49.74% students on free/reduced lunches. That number has grown as several industries have closed or moved with more and more parents losing jobs or relocating. The top employers are Bridgestone/Firestone, Yoroza Corporation, and Cumberland Lumber. The local nursery industry employs many workers, but that number is difficult to count because of so much seasonal work. Many of the School’s parents speak only Spanish. Therefore, a Spanish Interpreter is on site to meet with parents and teachers. Letters, news events, and forms for Spanish speaking parents are interpreted. Parents volunteer to share their careers, cultures, and hobbies with students. A special volunteer form was created to give every parent an opportunity to select the activities of most interest to them. The forms are used throughout the year to request assistance, when needed by the PTO, teachers, administration, or others involved with school activities. Each year the School Counselor leads in Career Awareness Activities. During the 2006-07 school year, special guests where employees (many of whom are parents of Hickory Creek School students) from First National Bank, Yorozu, the Child Advocacy Center, and numerous others invited by classroom teachers. The School Improvement Plan for Hickory Creek is on-line at the school’s web-site for all parents. The Parental Involvement portion of the Plan is in Spanish and English. The school uses many opportunities to inform parents of school activities such as newsletters, K12Planet, notes home, School web-site, and posting of the mission, visions and beliefs in the front hall. An active Parent/Teacher Organization and the Partners In Education Program ensures community involvement. The Yoroza Corporation became a new Partner in Education during the 2006-07 school year. First National Bank continues to be an outstanding Partner In Education for the School. Community Partnerships 2006-07 Shoes for Needy Students Day Spring Community Church – contacts – Tommy and Lori Davenport–473-9013 or 473-5817 School Supplies for Needy Students Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church – contact – Roger or Kay Brownyard at 473-2360 or 668-5103. Junior Auxiliary – school supplies -contact – Jayme Jaco – 668-5100 Child Lures School Program Junior Auxiliary – each year purchases for all 4th grade parents the Parent Guide to the Child Lures School Program – contact Page Northcutt or Jayme Jaco Eye Exams and glasses – for any child who is referred and needs an exam or glasses- Lions Club – forms are available in the Counselors office Wal-Mart Vision Center – Dr. Connor Clothing Needs - Families are referred with children who need school clothing. Patti Clark – School Resource Center Central Church of Christ on Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. School Counselor – contact Kay Brownyard FUEL – Healthy food snacks for approved students on weekend 1. Christ Community Church – Contact – Ann Roberts. 2. Cumberland Chapel Freewill Baptist Church – Contact -Lois Pelham 3. Cornerstone Baptist Church – Contact - Beverly Melton Partners In Education First National Bank – Presented a program this year on banking-contact Helen Martin Yorozu Automotive of Tennessee – New Partnership – Presented 2 programs for the school on May 8, 2007, contact – Jack Phillips, President of Yorozu Christmas Partnerships for Needy Children Jaycees Noon Exchange Club Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church Volunteer Teachers and Parents Southern Standard Newspaper 1. Each year students give up snack money to help Share a Christmas Dinner sponsored by The Southern Standard Newspaper 2. Needy families benefit by being given food for a nice Christmas Dinner. 3. The Mini-Standard with county and school news is published monthly and given to all students free of charge. Families in Crisis Monica Knight, Child Advocate, presented Classes on Conflict Resolution to all 4th and 5th grade students and gave handouts about angry management. Cheer Mental Health – Project BASIC Grant Kristi Slatton presents classes to K-3 students on social skills, etc. Kristi Slatton is our contact for Cheer Mental Health Robert Jones, D.D.S through Fidelity Associates - Each year a book on Character Education is given to all 3td grade students. Child Advocacy Center – Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Heather Hobbal– 507-2386- Students where given Blue Ribbons on a special day, May 8th. Heather spoke to all students about child abuse awareness and the functions of the Center, as well as her career.
Non-certified Staff Characteristics Hickory Creek School’s non-certified staff members serve important roles in the life of the School. A recent survey indicated the average employment years at Warren County Schools of non-certified staff members is 11.6 years. More than 99% enjoy their work, while 100% feel they are performing jobs important to the School and students. One staff member is working on his GED, while all others have earned at least a high school diploma or GED. Most staff members have school age children or grandchildren with some attending Hickory Creek School. The staff is made-up of mostly females with 2 males. One is Native American, two are Hispanic and the other 15 respondents are white. When not working at school the staff members enjoy a variety of activities, spending time with family ranks highest. The salary for School Staff members was ranked as fair by 1.2% and low by the other 98.8% members. While there is a high degree of job satisfaction among the staff members with 100% feeling they are performing jobs important to the school, 98.8 % feel their compensation for job performance is low. This survey demonstrates a need to increase the salary of non-certified staff members. The System and the County Commissioners are the contacts for the pay increase. 1.3 Updated Student Demographics – 2006-07 Hickory Creek has an enrollment of 644 students.
The School’s enrollment contains approximately the same number of male and female students. The grade level groups are close to being balanced. The System has applied for a regular pre-school program for the School for the next school year. The School is hopeful the pre-school will help increase student achievement in all areas.
Hickory Creek School serves as a site for ESL students. Therefore, the student population is diverse.
Hickory Creek Elementary has 48 ESL students enrolled.
Many of the county’s public housing school age children attend Hickory Creek Elementary. As a result, 49.74% of our students are on free/reduced breakfast and lunch. The attendance rate for Hickory Creek Elementary School for the 2005-06 school year was 95.1%. We are optimistic that our attendance rate will be as high for the 2006-07 school year.
Component 2 – Beliefs, Mission and Vision Form 2.1: Collaborative Process
Form 2.2/2.3: Beliefs
Form 2.4: Mission (Rubric 2.4)
Form 2.5: Vision (Rubric 2.5)
Component 3.1, 2, & 3 – Academic and Non-Academic Data Analysis
ATTENDANCE and PROMOTION The 2006 (95.1%) attendance rate was up from 2005 with a rate of (94.9%). The number of students, who were truant, dropped by 48 students in 2006. The promotion rate was also up with 99.4% promoted in 2006 and 98.2% promoted in 2005. The number of students who are tardy varies from week to week. The school newsletter reminds parents of the importance of children being on time for school. The counselor, the principal, the attendance clerk, or the teacher may speak with a child and/or parent with chronic tardiness to help find a solution to the problem. The parents are involved when needed.
Up-dates for TCAP 2006 Comparing Hickory Creek to the System and the State Math and Language Arts
The 2006 Report Card shows a few changes from the 2005 Report Card. The only changes were a 1 point gain in Reading/ Language Arts and a 2 point gain in Math.
TVAAS Up-dates 2006
The Hickory Creek TVAAS scores for 2006 did show some changes. Reading/Language Arts gained from a B (1.2) to an A (1.9). The Math scores show a gain from B (1.0) to a B (1.5) with Social Studies gaining from 1.5 to 2.4. However, Science was the only area not making a gain. Hickory Creek remained in the A status with the gain changing from 1.6 to 1.2 in Science. Reading/Language Arts TVAAS
Reading continues to be a trouble spot for fourth grade. TVAAS scores for 2005-06 in fourth grade shows the need to continue to make Reading a goal for improvement in all subgroups. MATH TVAAS
Math dropped again in both grades. Significant drops were seen in fourth grade and a slight drop in fifth grade. This also shows that Math must continue to be an improvement goal for Hickory Creek.
SCIENCE TVAAS
Science shows a significant drop in fourth and fifth grade. Although the grade is an (A) overall, this area shows a need to focus attention to improve in order stop the decline in achievement.
SOCIAL STUDIES TVAAS
Hickory Creek fourth grade gained in Social Studies, while the fifth grade dropped from a 4.3 to a 1.7. Overall, Social Studies still remained an A on the Report Card .
Disaggregationed Data 3.3 The 2006 subgroup reporting for Hickory Creek was in two categories: Economically Disadvantaged and Students with Disabilities. The Economically Disadvantaged subgroup scored 70% proficient or advanced and 30% below proficient in Reading/Language. In Math 69% of students scored proficient or advanced, while 31% scored below proficient. The Students with Disabilities subgroup scored 58% proficient or advanced and 42% below proficient in Reading/Language. In Math 58% of students scored proficient or advanced and 42% below proficient. Both subgroups need to improve to meet our Reading and Math goals. The group of All Students posted an 82% proficient or advanced in Reading/Language and an 82% proficient or advanced in Math. Hickory Creek was 1% away from meeting the Reading/Language goal. The Math goal was met for all students. However, sub groups need to continue to strive to meet both goals. In all groups, Hickory Creek is below the State and the System scoring. However, the school has shown enough improvement to remain in "Good Standing". There were slight differences in male and female performances on TCAP with females usually scoring higher. Improvements are seen in the scores of students with disabilities and economically disadvantages. Math scores for students with disabilities improved from 39% (2 year average) to 47% (2 year average) for proficient or advanced. In Reading the scores for 2 year averages for the same group moved from 50% to 55% advanced or proficient. The two year average stayed the same in Reading for the economically disadvantaged group. Overall, the 2006 testing year was a good year for these two groups. The Hispanic group remained the same in Math and but was lower in Reading with a drop from 57% 2005 to 52% in 2006. Writing scores remained the same with 4.1 (A) for both years. On the CELLA test for ESL students, Hickory Creek students made AYP. Growth Difference among High, Middle, and Low Achievers – 2006 Fourth grade reading/language arts and math showed a decline in growth in all three groups in the academic areas of Read/Language Arts and Math. The fifth grade demonstrated gains in all groups (high, middle, and low). Fourth Grade The highest decline was in the area of reading/language arts with -4.3 in the advanced group of achievers. Fourth grade math showed declines, as well, with the greatest decline among the advanced group with a -2.9 decline. The fourth grade students need to work more on the curriculum standards in each group. Alignment of the new Reading Textbooks is an important need. The School agrees part of the decline in test scores have to do with test administration. Fourth grade is the first year students must bubble their answers on a separate answer document. Therefore, many students might have trouble staying on the correct number to mark their answers. In the next school year greater attention to standards, as well as, more practice with separate answer documents is needed. There are more students per teacher in fourth grade than any other grade, which could account for some drop in scores. Fifth Grade Fifth grade showed great improvements in all groups. In Math the highest gain was in the proficient group with a 6.0 gain. The advanced group gained 3.1. In fifth grade Reading/Language Arts showed the highest gains in the not proficient group with a remarkable 11.9 gain. The proficient group showed a 9.1 improvement in R/LA, with the advanced group showing a 2.0 improvement.
SIP ThinkLink Testing – Up-date ThinkLink testing is a continuing process at Hickory Creek. Analyzing of the test data allows the teachers to track the progress of students in their classrooms. The December test gave the following data to first through fifth grade teachers. The December results allowed each teacher to focus on the skills each student needed to reach mastery. These scores seem to be on near targets for tests administered before mid-year.
A new test was given this year to Kindergarten students called Dibels. The Dibels Test is given individually. This test helps teachers diagnose early the strengths and weakness of each student. Individualized instruction can take place to increase each student’s achievement.
Parental Support and Survey One goal in our previous plan was to increase parental support and interest in the education of their child(ren). A strong indication that parents are more involved and interested in school is the number of parent surveys returned. At the end of the 2005-06 school year only 22% of those surveyed were returned. Parents have returned 47% of the surveys in 2006-07 school year. This is an improvement of about 25%, which is a significant increase. New Parental Programs were carried out as planned. The Parents’ surveys showed, in general, parents believe the strengths of the School are as follows; great, qualified, and caring principal, teachers, and staff. Another strength noted is the variety of programs and resources the School offers to meet the needs of all children. Parents indicated several suggestions to improve the school. Many of these suggestions are limited by the amount of funds to carry out the programs. The greatest majority of parents agreed with the positive statements on the survey. The highest area of need with 11% disagreeing was the following statement: "Our School is safe and clean." However, 89% agreed or had no opinion to the statement: "Our School is safe and clean". In view of the recent school shootings the School understands that safety is a great concern. The School has an active safety team, uses several practice drills, such as fire drills, tornado drills, emergency drills, and checks for safety in the school and on the playgrounds. At the entrance of the School a security guard checks arriving vehicles from 7:45 a.m. until 3:00 p.m... Walkie Talkies are used by key personnel to make contact quickly. Teachers use the Walkie Talkies, when walking the nature trail with their students. A new phone and announcement system was put in place this year, which contains needed safety features. The sound system now can be heard in the halls of the school and in outside playground areas. The School Health Team is working with the System Health Services, System Maintenance Department, and the Director of Safety to correct the areas needing attention for better safety, health, and cleanliness. This team meets monthly. During the 2006-07 school year, three official school climate and safety inspections were conducted. Improvements were made each time the inspection took place. Teacher Survey Hickory Creek Elementary Teachers’ Survey indicates three areas of strength. The highest ratings were 89%, 83%, and 83%. The highest rating of 89% marked always for the following sentence: "Racial and ethnic fairness is demonstrated by students, teachers, and administration in our school/district." Teachers (83%) marked always in agreement to the following statements: "We are available to students for special help in academic and non-academic problems", and 83% agreed, "Our school’s facilities (workspace, furnishings, etc.) are adequate to support the instructional program." The survey indicates 14% of teachers never utilize the Curriculum Maps to drive instruction in the areas of reading/language arts, math, science, and social studies. Another look at the survey shows 77% always use stated goals for the school as the primary basis of academic achievement, while 20% sometimes use the stated goals for the school as the primary basis of academic achievement, and 3% did not respond to the statement. To the statement, "Staff has input into the decisions affecting the school," 92% marked "always" or "sometimes", while 8% marked "never". The parents’, teachers’, and staff’s surveys work together to give the committees greater insight into the needs of the School.
Indicator 3.4 Narrative Synthesis of All Data It is clear from the academic data the goals to increase the achievement of students in Reading/Language Arts and Math need to continue to be of greatest importance. All sub-groups in 4th grade need special attention. Parental involvement will continue to be a major priority. Although parental involvement has shown great improvements, with 48% of the School’s parents responding to the surveys, the low attendance at planned events, demonstrates the need to continue to focus on parental involvement still exists. Results of the actions and strategies used to establish a school wide Positive Behavior Program Phase I has been completed. A Positive Behavior Team was established and met to provide guidelines to be used. Evidence of the Phase I guidelines were given as evidence for Component 5. The Behavior Team has determined the Positive Behavior Plan, Phase I, has been successful but may be revised for the next school year. This conclusion was made by using informal and formal evaluations, observations, and records, which were kept by the Team’s Chairperson, Angie Mullican. Activity equipment was given to classes to be used for outside activities, as rewards for positive behavior in the halls and in the bus room. Phase II for the 2007-08 school year will a focus on cafeteria behavior, using a positive behavior plan, which will be developed by the Positive Behavior Team. This school year a "Behavior Intervention Team" with members based at Hickory Creek School has made remarkable progress with students, who’s IEPs contain behavior issues. This Intervention Team is available throughout the day with direct coaching of appropriate behaviors, direct interventions in crisis situations, and social skills. Behavior Plans are written by the IEP team with the assistance of the classroom teacher, special education teacher, parents, and principal.
3.5 Prioritized List of Target Goals – Up-dates All students will make AYP with at least 89% of the students scoring Proficient or Advanced in Reading/Language Arts on the TCAP. All students will make AYP with at least 86% of the students scoring Proficient or Advanced in Math on the TCAP. To increase parental involvement from the 47%, (as shown by our parent survey) to at least 60%, by continuing to give parents opportunities to become involved. To continue making progress by moving on to Phase II of the Positive Behavior Plan, providing guidance and order to give teachers more time to teacher and helping students demonstrate better social skills, thus, helping in achieving academic gains.
Up-Date Component 4.1 Collaboration The evidence documenting collaboration among and between stakeholders was submitted in previous files. Sub committee’s statements are on file of meetings and collaboration, signed by sub-committee chairs. Teachers and Staff were asked to volunteer and sign-up to be placed on committees for each component. Selected people were asked to chair the committees. These people became the Leadership Team; others were appointed or ask to serve on the Leadership Team to represent all stakeholders. All those asked to serve happily agreed to serve. Committees met and prepared the portion of the review for their assigned component. Other meetings and work days were established by the committees to work together and complete the review. Up-Date Component 4.2 Evaluation of the Decision-making Process The evaluation of the decision-making process is determined by the successes or weaknesses of the various programs. There are committees or teams set-up to form guidelines and to implement various programs. The committee chairs report back to the administration and team members for guidance. The strength of the process is gained from the input of the School’s various committees or teams. A few of the committees or teams are listed here; School Health Team, Positive Behavior Team, Parental Involvement Team, Accelerated Reader Committee, Summer Reading Program Committee and the PTO Executive Committee. The Principal reports findings to the full staff and faculty at the regular faculty meetings, when an open discussion might follow. The Principal puts the changes or new programming into action. Many times this method of leadership assists the school in acting in advance to deal with problems which may arise. The strength of this approach is that it is proactive. Positive benefits for students, parents, faculty, and staff are observed. Changes in programming are made when the team and the principal determine the challenges of the program out number the benefits. Of course, as with any method of leadership there are certain limitations. These limitations or needs are addressed on a one-on-one basis or as needed.
Up-Date Component 4.3 The Connection of Resource Usage to the School Improvement Plan The donation to the Library of $10,000.00 and the income from the annual Book fair of about $1,500.00 is used to up-grade the holdings of the library. These up-grades supply new books to replace old books, which are unusable. These funds are used to buy resources for teachers to use in instruction, and they provide media resources to be used in the classroom. These resources include mostly reading/language art materials. However, some resources provide Math teaching aids. The Science Kits can be selected by grade level and used in the classrooms. The library funds work together to increase achievement in reading/language arts, math, science, social studies, as well as health awareness. State funds and local funds pay teachers to teach and to buy needed classroom supplies. All, of which, are used to meet the goals of the SIP. The PTO supplies funds to help achieve large purchases, such as, computers and up-grading technologies for integrating computer use into the curriculum, which helps to meet the School’s goals. This year the PTO matched funds for a $10,000.00 playground grant to supply playground equipment accessible to handicapped students and regular education students. Students who have a nice place to play and have enough exercise are healthier and perform better in academics, thus enabling more students to reach the SIP Goals. 4.4 Curriculum Analysis and Support Up-Date ThinkLink testing is a continuing process at Hickory Creek. TCAP shows strengths in 4th grade Social Studies with 3.5 in TVAAS for 05-06, 5th grade Math with 7.4 in 05-06 and 5th grade Reading with 5.9 in 05-06. Areas of weakness are 4th Grade Reading/Language Arts with -5.8 in 05-06, 4th grade Math -3.8 and 4th grade Science with -0.9 in 05-06. These weaknesses seem to be a trend for Hickory Creek School. Extra supports in these areas appear to be needed. Teachers worked during in-service days, after-school days, and planning times to correlate the State Standards with the new Math book. Teachers met by grade levels and across grade levels to check curriculum offerings for each grade. Teachers from across the County met by grade levels to map and correlate stated objectives to the State Standards. County wide Curriculum Meetings with the instructional supervisor and a representative from each school met monthly to solve problems, discuss the best usage of the System-wide testing of ThinkLink and TCAP, correlate the curriculum and textbooks with State Standards and check the usage of curriculum mapping. New Programs 2006-07 Curriculum and Instructional Coordinator Beginning this school year (2006-07), Hickory Creek Elementary has a Curriculum and Instructional Coordinator. This person works with the faculty and staff to help in aligning our school’s curriculum with the state standards. Our coordinator also assists teachers with classroom organization, special programs, testing questions, curriculum design, scheduling, and any other areas of need. She is available to all faculty and staff on a daily basis. The coordinator also helps to organize parental involvement activities as well as ThinkLink testing for the School. My Reading Coach Hickory Creek 3rd-5th graders are actively involved in a computer reading program called My Reading Coach by MindPlay. The program uses research based teaching methods combined with cutting edge technology. It provides a virtual reading specialist and speech pathologist for each student. The program includes Embedded Teacher Intelligence(TM) which individualizes instruction to help each student reach grade level. My Reading Coach provides direct instruction to each student with limitless patience and encouragement. My Reading Coach meets all critical components of scientifically established reading programs identified by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Students are pre-tested to ensure that each student receives appropriately targeted instruction, and they are provided immediate feedback. The program is versatile, accommodating students with diverse skills and reading needs. The program allows easy management and tracking, providing teachers and administrators with reports on class performance, improvement statistics, and detailed information on each student's needs and problem areas.Supplemental Reading and Math for Grades K-2 Hickory Creek Elementary offers a supplemental reading and math program for kindergarten though second grade. Students are served on a rotating basis according to teacher recommendations. A variety of reading and math programs and materials are used. Coordination with classroom teachers is an on going process. This year, in all kindergarten classes, the DIBELS program is being implemented. The DIBELS program is based on scientific research. It is statistically valid and a reliable indicator of reading success. After assessing the critical areas of reading adjustments can be made in instruction to meet individual students' needs. FUEL Program The FUEL Program began at Hickory Creek School in January of 2007. "In the United States, recent figures show that two-million to four-million children under the age of 12 have experienced food insufficiency." Food insufficiency is one definition of hunger. Some researchers look at hunger in a much broader concept called food insecurity. Students who receive adequate nutrition learn more readily. Therefore, academics will improve. Hickory Creek School partnered with 3 local churches, to sponsor the Program by providing the bagged food each weekend for each approved student. These healthy snacks are used over the weekend by the students at their homes. The Program is managed by the School Counselor. *Note – Information about hunger is from Childhood Hunger-The Future of Children Welfare to Work, Vol.7, number 1, by Lewit, Eugene M. and Nancy Kerrebrock.
LEAPS Academic Program In January 2007, Hickory Creek Elementary began the LEAPS program. The LEAPS Program is funded by a grant through the Lottery for Education After School Programs. The Hickory Creek program is open to students who meet the criteria of ELL and/or low socio economic status. The program is funded for two teachers, one teacher assistant and 50 students. The program meets each day that school is in session for thirty minutes in the morning and from 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm in the afternoon. This is 15 hours of extra instruction weekly for the students. The students receive a free snack during the after school program each day. The program is organized to give each student an opportunity to receive mentoring, assistance with homework, tutoring, academic skills enrichment and experience in special educational programs and activities.
Alignment with Feeder Schools Alignment with feeder schools is accomplished through the monthly curriculum meetings with the Director of Supervision, Bobby Cox, and one representative from each school. Those representatives take needed information back to teachers in their respective schools. Communication is further enhanced through Principals’ Meetings, and the System Newsletter (Teacher Links). Parent and teacher communication is enhanced through the use of the school’s newsletter, (Hickory Creek Happenings) the School’s website, the System web-site, and K12Planet (a web-site for teachers to post news from the classrooms, parents check their child (ren)’s attendance and grades, and school-wide news). Head-Start students and teachers are invited to the school to become familiar with the School and its teachers before students begin Kindergarten. Fifth grades students attend an orientation at Warren County Middle School. Key personnel from the Middle School visit with fifth grade students at Hickory Creek to explain the extra curricular offerings. Students are given an opportunity to enroll in these extra curricular activities before the end of 5th grade. These functions enable the students to understand what is expected of them the next year, which lessens their anxiety levels. This enables the students to feel more comfortable, when school begins in the fall. These strategies work together to enhance student achievement.
Up-dates 5.2 Component 5 – Action Plan Development GOAL 1 Form 5.1: Goal 1
Note: Because of the lack of funds, a certified teacher was not hired to direct the computer lab, which mainly uses the research based Orchard Program for Reading/LA and Math. A teacher assistant supervised by the principal directed the computer lab. during the 2006-07 school year. The School anticipates a highly qualified teacher will be hired for the computer lab. for the 2007-08 school year. The teacher assistant will then be assigned to help in the lab. and to give assistance to assigned classroom teachers.
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