Three Year District Plan

Timolin James

Concordia University

THREE YEAR DISTRICT PLAN

Data and Analysis of District Report Card and Local Assessment Data

Areas of strength and weakness

Strengths

Admission priorities should be given to the students who reside within the zone then to the students from other districts

Selection criteria should favor those who apply within the district

To provide students with disabilities support and services

Extracurricular activities and clubs-students to participate in arts and sports to help them increase their awareness of community issues.

Review of attendance and punctuality

Having a full academic curriculum

Having a personal and very supportive relationship between teachers and students.

Teaching students to engage in technology and how they can use this technology to be able to express ideas and thoughts (Farina, 2014).

Weaknesses

Absenteeism-This highly predicts low achievement, struggling academically or student failing to graduate

Dropout-This severely limits the student’s chance of succeeding.

There is weakness in training district leaders in which it was shown that there is lack of hands-on, technology access is inadequate and there is failure to link the content into practice (Farina, 2014).

Internal and External Factors Contributing to the Results

Internal Factors

Lack of adequate funding

There is unclear guidance about teachers being held accountable for students mastering the standards

Lack of school staffs participating in regional and district activities.

Resistance from teachers and principals

When information is not clear regarding the plan and when it will be implemented.

Inadequate curriculum materials (Farina, 2014).

External Factors

Resistance from the parents and community members and the parents

Insufficient support from both the community and the authorities

Lack of full cooperation and sense of responsibility expected from stakeholders

Shareholders being reluctant in advancing corporate social responsibility agenda.

Educator Qualifications, Staff Capacity, and Professional Development

1. The educator qualifications include

A bachelor’s degree holder

Certification or is licensed

Holds a teaching skill in any academic subject assigned and demonstrated knowledge about the subject.

2. Staff capacity

Staff: 239 personnel

104 Full time teachers

Pupil to teacher ratio: 13:1

47 Teachers’ assistants

3 Instructional coordinators

3 Elementary Teachers

4 Kindergarten teachers

4 Pre-kindergarten teachers

29 High school teachers (Farina, 2014)

3. Professional Development

STEP 1: Designing of a professional development-This will include an effective process and a strong content that helps to make decisions that should include participants and organizers during the designing process. It should be a clear plan that can be able to support the school/district’s long term plan and it should be shared with the school community.

STEP 2: Implementing the professional development-This should ensure the resources remaining available should organize and implement the professional development.

STEP 3: Evaluating and improving the professional development-Making the professional development being part of everyday life at schools and also incorporating the practices into learning, leadership and teaching

STEP 4: Sharing the professional development learning for example in instances where the award winners formed partnerships that enabled them to share professional development, and also helping for future references (Farina, 2014)

Parental involvement were documented in areas of development where they assisted the local authority in developing social amenities, implementing educational development programs, and executing corporate social responsibility. They also ensured that students acquire the necessary learning material, report to school in a timely manner, and pay school fees appropriately in order to ensure logistics of running the schools does not fail (Farina, 2014)

The documented parental involvements contributed significantly to the

student performance.

According to this data, the following areas were identified to be of great need.

-Increasing the staff capacity to suffice the student population and needs

-Ensuring staff has the necessary qualifications in order to enhance student’s performance.

– Absenteeism highly predicts low achievement, struggling academically or student failing to graduate and should be eradicated.

– School dropout severely limits the student’s chance of succeeding and strategies are needed to encourage students to complete school.

-There is weakness in training district leaders in which it was shown that there is lack of hands-on, technology access is inadequate and there is failure to link the content into practice. This area requires significant improvement.

-Other areas of greatest need which require strategic long-term programs to address include:

Availing adequate funds

Clear guidance about teachers being held accountable for students mastering the standards

Encouraging school staffs to participate in regional and district activities.

Addressing resistance from teachers and principals

Providing clear information regarding the plans and when they will be implemented.

Procuring adequate curriculum materials

Diffusing resistance from the parents and community members.

Mobilizing sufficient support from both the community and the authorities

Encouraging full cooperation and sense of responsibility expected from stakeholders

Shareholders being encouraged and advised in advancing corporate social responsibility agenda (Marzano, 2012).

Action Plan

Strategies to Improve Instructional Practice and Student Performance

Strategy 1: Be able to establish a focus that is clear and a framework that is strategic to core beliefs and effective practices and goals that help to improve student’s achievement for example ministatements like “striving for excellence”

Strategy 2: Be able to organize and engage district office and school board in the support of every school

Strategy 3: provision of instructural coherence and support

Strategy4: instruction related profession should be invested for principals, district staff and teacher readers.

Strategy 5: There should be data that links the student’s achievement in school and be able to assist schools to be able to use data effectively.

Strategy 6: Be able to use resources in enabling to improve student learning.

Goals to Improve Instructional Practice and Student Performance

The goals are expected to be:

-specific to improving education

-measured in terms of the number of students completing school and attaining good grades

-attainable by the resources and time available for the implementation of the strategic programs

-realistic in terms of being practical to both the shareholders and stakeholders

-time bound because the goals should be attained within the three years of this plan

The goals the plan is aimed at achieving include:

To be able to educate the entire community

Teachers should be set at high standards

Learning by staffs should be promoted continuously

Enhancement of leadership capacity and intellectual of staffs

Effectiveness of teachers should be improved

Student’s learning should be improved

Formation of study groups

Technology should be enhanced to support student learning

There should be use of poetry to support critical thinking by students.

Concerning the budget, the following should be achieved:

Seniority should be eliminated to be able to control staff layoffs

Ability to borrow at low interest and pay at high pension

Be able to eliminate competitive grants to enable all schools to benefit

School resource officers and safety equipment should be funded

Rejection of implementation proposal of new management system and accountability until details are in public

To be able to manage potential layoffs, retirement incentive for employees should be made.

The budget will be reviewed every six months to ensure financial and economic changes are addressed; therefore, in this plan the specific amount of money was not included pending review of school committees and management boards.

Application of Leadership Skills in Implementing this Plan

The power to listen-these leaders have respect and take their time to be able to make rightful decisions

Parents are well informed about the decisions made in the school that directly affect their children

They participate in accountability that enables satisfaction

Finding some new leaders

They should have knowledge about the curriculum

They should ensure cooperation and collaboration by ensuring that teachers have decision making regarding school activities

Instruction improvement should be continuous

School climate-in which the leader of the school is recognized.

Application of Leadership Skills in Evaluation of the Plan

Evaluation that monitors the district improvement plan

Office and department plans: the plans of district offices and department stand to serve as action plans that tend to implement the plan, identification of responsibilities, resources needed and activities that monitor performance.

Input that comes from various advisory bodies: input from bodies like citizens bond advisory committee that represent all the stakeholders and the ethnic, geographical diversity with broad interest found in the community.

Strategic performance dashboard that includes the sum total of students, student attendance and the rates of accountability.

Advisory bodies review and this ensures their effectiveness and orientation (Marzano, 2012)

People Over-seeing the Plan and the Actions

The school board will ensure:

That there is use of the strategic planning in setting educational goals and the means of accomplishing it.

Will work to ensure that there is adequate distribution of resources

Helping in promoting constructive relations between the employees.

All staff convocation in which at the beginning of every school year, they gather in a collective meeting and not only inform them on the needs and objectives for each new school year, but also sensitize every staff to the success of the district.

Start and end of school year reports and this will enable communication with the stakeholders by increasing their awareness.

Student, parent and staff surveys: conduction of surveys should be made with central office customer conducted

Program Evaluations should be made in which the reviewing of proactive reports for implementation of outcomes.

How the Plan Will be Developed Further

Be able to use credible process in involving community and school leaders in shaping up the vision that help to improve school performance.

Use of resources to be able to support improvement in learning like use data in identifying students that achieve poor standards and come up with interventions to help them.

Be able to create indicator systems and come up with criteria that can be able to rate district offices on how effective they are in policy creation, allowance allocation and provision of expertise that help to improve school teams in implementing proven practices which advance all student groups.

The above developments will ensure the needs of students’ groups, such as those who require special education, high achievers, and low achievers, are addressed sufficiently.

References

Farina, C. (2014). 2015 New York City Middle School Directory District 29. NYC Department of Education.

Marzano, R. (2012). Marzano Leadership Evaluation Model. Marzano Research Laboratory, (42-47).