charter schools usa

8/12/2019 Charter Schools USA

1/63

1 | P a g e

RESPONSE TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF YORKS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR EXTERNAL PROVIDERS OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Submitted On: August 1, 2014 Submitted via email to: Mindy A. Wantz at [email protected]


2/63

2 | P a g e

Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 3

2. ACADEMIC PLAN OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................ 6

MISSION & VISION ................................................................................................................................................ 6

TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE ............................................................................................................................ 8

3. GOALS & STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT EXPECTATIONS ....................................................................................... 19

4. CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN ...................................................................................................... 24

5. SUPPORT FOR LEARNING ................................................................................................................................ 35

6. FAMILY & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ......................................................................................................... 49

7. BUSINESS PLAN ............................................................................................................................................... 51

Appendix 1: Curriculum & Instructional Design ...................................................................................................... 63

Student policy (e.g. promotion, graduation) documents ................................................................................... 63

Appendix 2: Support for Learning ........................................................................................................................... 63

Discipline policy documents ............................................................................................................................... 63

Student, parent, and/or teacher agreements ..................................................................................................... 63

School calendar ................................................................................................................................................... 63

Acceptable technology use policy documents .................................................................................................... 63

Appendix 3: Family & Community Involvement ...................................................................................................... 63

Letters of support from community organizations ............................................................................................. 63

Appendix 4: Performance History ........................................................................................................................... 63

State accountability data .................................................................................................................................... 63

Appendix 5:

Budget

workbook

................................................................................................................................

63

Planning year operating budget.......................................................................................................................... 63

2 year operating budget ..................................................................................................................................... 63

5 year operating projection ................................................................................................................................ 63

1 year monthly cash flow projection .................................................................................................................. 63

Appendix 6: Financial Policy Documents ................................................................................................................. 63

Financial procedures and controls ...................................................................................................................... 63

Appendix 7: Human Resources Documents ............................................................................................................ 63

Organizational chart and leadership job descriptions ........................................................................................ 63

Leader background documents (e.g. bio or resume) .......................................................................................... 63

Employment policy (e.g. evaluation rubric, dispute resolution) documents ...................................................... 63

Board policy (e.g. code of conduct & conflict of interest) documents ............................................................... 63


3/63

3 | P a g e

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) proposes to assume full operational management of all York City School District campuses for school year 2015. This comprehensive transformation strategy will ensure immediate financial viability and a cohesive culture moving forward to transform the York City School District.

CSUSA and the National Network of Digital Schools (NNDS) have partnered to lead this effort and deliver a real solution that can stand the test of time and create long term, sustainable results for the York City School District. Expected outcomes will revolve around three main priorities: Educational Improvement, Safety, and Financial Viability. Academic growth and performance gains in all areas will lead to sustainable, high performing schools. Creation of a cohesive district culture through educator and community buy in, implementation of a strong character education and community leadership program, and fundamental organizational change will lead to safe, secure environments in which students and the community will thrive. Deployment of proven financial management practices by an experienced operator will lead to sustainable financial viability.

The CSUSA leadership team (bios included in Appendix Seven ) and comprehensive CSUSA support center are able to offer the complete package of services necessary for successfully transitioning and operating schools in York. The CSUSA leadership team brings real:

Capacity CSUSA operates 70 schools in 7 states serving almost 60,000 students (including twelve new schools opening this year)

Relevant Experience CSUSA brings the benefit of actual school turnaround experience in similar urban settings. CSUSA has been selected to turn around the performance of ten schools to date, all of which are now a part of its high performing network. Many of the remaining start up charter schools in the network serve also a diverse population similar to the York City School District.

Results The CSUSA data driven Educational Model has a track record of proven success. As a network, CSUSA schools outperform their relative state, district, or comparable schools in proficiency, growth, and graduation rates.

Credibility CSUSA was the first management organization to achieve system wide accreditation from AdvancED. All of its schools are accredited and any new schools added to the network (including York City School District) automatically receive accreditation.

Innovation Partnering with Cambridge University for accelerated learning academies, deploying blended learning to enhance individualized instruction at all levels, piloting state of the art paperless classrooms, integrating character education and community leadership programs while also maintaining

a comprehensive curriculum (music, arts, character education, foreign language, sciences).

Loyalty Parent satisfaction and student re enrollment rates annually exceed 90% across the network

CSUSA is a trailblazing leader in educational improvement. Our interest in bringing our expertise to York City School District is driven by our belief that new, innovative approaches to supporting student achievement are the essential drivers of change for the future. Facilitating the transformation of an entire school district is a next generation approach to driving student achievement on a larger scale. We


4/63

4 | P a g e

want to not only be a part of that, but to lead it. Operating on the cutting edge of reform and successfully leading that change is part of who we are. CSUSA has been a pioneer in the education reform movement since its inception in 1997. Notable highlights include:

CSUSAs net proficiency growth in reading, math, writing and science is almost 10 times higher

than the state of Florida.

CSUSAs founder and CEO Jonathan Hage was part of the original group that wrote the first legislation creating charter schools in Florida

CSUSA, in partnership with the Urban League of Greater Miami, opened the first charter school in Florida

CSUSA created the first complete K12 network of charter schools in a community in Lee County Florida

CSUSA

opened

the

first

Municipal

charter

school

in

the

nation

with

the

City

of

Coral

Springs,

Florida

Renaissance Charter School located in Doral, Florida, was the first charter school in Florida to receive the National Blue Ribbon School award.

CSUSA was the first management organization to attain system wide accreditation from AdvancED

CSUSA opened the first charter school under the Georgia Statewide Charter Commission

CSUSA was part of the first cohort of organizations selected by the State of Indiana to turnaround its chronically low performing schools and was granted three schools to turnaround of the five total schools in the original cohort.

Exhibit 1.1 encapsulates the CSUSA vision for both financial and academic improvement over time. CSUSAs proven educational model coupled with our commitment to sound business practices will create a continuing positive trajectory for the York City School District over the next five years. As the primary drivers of finances and academics improve, culture can also be exponentially improved. Our proposal provides for immediate stabilization of the financial condition followed by subsequent incremental academic and financial gains over time, culminating in a high performing, financially viable school district.


5/63

5 | P a g e

Exhibit 1.1 Year by Year Improvement

F

I

N

A

N

C

I

A

L

V

I

A

B

I

L

I

T

Y ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Schools thrive in cultures with established goals for purposeful learning that drive achievement. The organization has created achievable objectives for the schools in three priority areas: academic performance, college and career readiness, and parent satisfaction. Students will be expected to increase proficiency and meet or exceed growth targets in order to close the achievement gap. Middle school and high school students will take advanced courses to promote college and career readiness. Parents will overwhelmingly feel that their child is safe at school and will highly recommend York City School District schools to others in the community. The intended outcomes and goal attainment in each of the three priority areas will work hand in hand developing a school environment that leads to sustainable growth spanning both academic outcomes and character development.

The opportunity

to

have

a high

quality

education

is

the

right

of

every

child.

As

an

organization,

CSUSAs

purpose is to provide the opportunity to achieve greatness beyond what anyone has previously imagined for these students. As such, CSUSA is committed to implement an educational program that is student centered and driven by their needs, and the program will be further enhanced with guidance, support, and encouragement from a staff that is fully invested in the future of these students. The data driven model of continuous improvement follows these steps: 1) Baseline assessments and data to determine student needs; 2) Data driven instruction targeted to those needs; 3) Formative assessment to determine growth; 4) Grading at the most specific level of the standards; 5) Reporting to all stakeholders to evaluate the data and results; and 6) Decision to move on to a new standard and begin with baseline assessment, or revisit the same standard through data driven instruction.

The educational program described is currently being implemented at other CSUSAmanaged schools with student populations of similar demographics. The students come from environments that arent conducive to them reaching their academic potential. With the commitment from the staff and the proven success of this education model, these students have been able to rise above their hardships and grow tremendously, both academically, but also socially and behaviorally as well.


6/63

6 | P a g e

2. ACADEMIC PLAN OVERVIEW MISSION & VISION

The mission of Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) is to ensure that all of our students achieve their academic potential and become responsible and productive members of society. CSUSA proposes to create an

academically rigorous learning environment for a diverse student body by focusing on the priorities of student, parent, and community engagement, citizenship, and experiential learning in a culture of student safety and success. CSUSA maintains an unyielding commitment to ethical and sound business practices. We will create an environment where the teachers, administrators, community stakeholders, parents, and students of York City School District will embrace the core philosophy that all children can learn, become self motivated, lifelong learners, function as responsible citizens, and actualize their potential as productive members of the local community, global society, and the 21 st century workforce.

The CSUSA vision for York City School Districts transformation will build upon three core values: educational improvement, safety, and financial viability .

CSUSAs research based, data driven, proven educational model produces student achievement. The model itself uses ongoing student assessment and performance data to drive a continuous improvement process used to accelerate student learning and inform instruction. Proficiency increases the longer schools and students are part of the CSUSA family. Our most recently released school grades in Florida provide some great examples of the model producing ongoing educational improvement:

Renaissance Charter School at Poinciana jumped from a D to an A in only its second year of operation.

Renaissance Charter School at Chickasaw Trail surged all the way from an F to a B in its second year of operation.

All three schools in Hillsborough County improved by at least one letter grade. ALL CSUSA Florida 2013 D and F schools are now A, B, or C with no CSUSA Florida

schools opened before 2012 earning less than a C. While school proficiency increases with school tenure, year to year growth is elevated in

developing schools. Second year schools had an average 23 percentage point increase from 2013 to 2014 in writing.

Every second year Florida school exceeded its districts rate of growth from 2013 to 2014. 84% of veteran schools (5+ years of operation) exceeded their districts reading proficiency. All Three Turnaround schools in Florida are now A rated schools .

CSUSA has

an

unyielding

commitment

to

ethical

and

sound

business

practices

and

a track

record

of

experience successfully managing dozens of schools in numerous states, serving tens of thousands of students. The proposed budget for the York City School District transformation will produce immediate financial stability for the district while providing appropriate resources to support student success as part of the CSUSA Educational Model.


7/63

7 | P a g e

The Spiral Effect The current stressed condition of the York City School District didnt happen overnight It has been a spiraling decline. A decline in the financial strength of the York City School District impacted the ability of the school system to maintain high standards which led to waning confidence of parents who then have sought other options for their children. This further weakened the financial condition of the school system which further impacted its ability to perform and thus a spiraling downward condition iterated itself over a period of time.

CSUSAs vision is to partner with York City School District and the York Community to not just slow or stop this spiral but to reverse it. Figure 2.1 depicts CSUSAs vision for spiraling success in York City School District.

Figure 2.1

Changing the culture of the school system and improving academic results will restore confidence of parents who will then come back to the school system. Increasing enrollment will provide more resources for infrastructure and programmatic investments which, invested properly, will lead to an even better environment which will further spur the enrollment growth and trigger the upward spiral of success. Just like the downward spiral happened over time, so too will the results of the upward spiral. However, to reverse the trend there must be an inflection point a point in time where the course is changed as a result of a bold move. That time is now.

Turbo charging the Upward Spiral through Community Reinvestment CSUSA proposes to add an additional component to our approach that will add fuel to the upward spiral by creating a fund to be used for community reinvestment. The idea is this. As enrollment grows each year above the baseline enrollment in 2015, a portion of the incremental revenue generated from the increased enrollment will be set aside into a special trust fund that will be used for three purposes:

1. College Scholarships Parents who choose to send their children to our school system will be rewarded with the opportunity to receive scholarship funds for their graduating children to


8/63

8 | P a g e

pursue a post secondary education. This provides a direct incentive to come to the school system as well as provides long term benefits to the community by elevating the quality of the work force.

2. Faculty Bonuses The individuals responsible for the continued upward spiral of the schools will be further rewarded with merit based bonuses. This provides the incentive for the whole Team to stay focused on maintaining the momentum of the upward spiral as well as attracting top quality talent. These bonuses would be on top of the performance pay and school based bonus pools included in our proposal.

3. Economic Development these funds could be used to lower property taxes or provide incentives for business and families to return to York City School District. This provides a direct stimulus to increase the number of students in the community as well as boosting the incentive of existing families to select our school system.

CSUSA will work with the community stakeholders leading the York City School District Turnaround Initiative during the planning phase to build out this community reinvestment model and create a

governance structure to manage it over time.

TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE

CSUSA manages ten turnaround schools in three states. Each turnaround experience has a nuanced story and each group of schools has individual needs. CSUSAs Education Model is rooted in creating a personalized learning environment for every student. School and classroom leaders are trained to use research based instructional techniques and through individualized instruction provide accelerated academic growth.

Indianapolis, Indiana

In 2012, CSUSA was selected through a competitive bid process to turnaround three out of five traditional public schools in the city of Indianapolis. T. C. Howe Community High School, Emmerich Manual High School, and Emma Donnan Middle School. The schools had a 2013 2014 combined enrollment of 1,400 students in grades 712. More than 90% of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch and the student body is 53% minority.

In just the first year of CSUSA management, each school made strides in both academics and school culture. The 2012 13 AF Accountability Bonus Points reflect the growth achieved at our Indianapolis schools, particularly in the area of middle school literacy. Collectively in 2013, students at T.C. Howe and Emma Donnan MS experienced a 30% point gain in the number of students demonstrating high growth on the state reading assessment.

At the time of submission, 2013 2014 state assessment results have not been released to the public, though preliminary results are indicative of CSUSAs continued focus on growth. Both Emma Donnan MS and T.C. Howe maintained or exceeded prior year performance in both middle school reading and math. 2014 performance on the Algebra 1 end of course assessment increased by over 10% points at Emma Donnan and by over 20% points at T.C. Howe and Emmerich Manual HS. Early indicators on English 10 results at Emmerich Manual HS show that for the first time an Indianapolis turnaround school has crossed the critical 60% proficiency threshold.


9/63

9 | P a g e

In addition to state assessments our Indianapolis schools administer the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress, a nationally normed progress monitoring tool. Since many students are significantly below grade when they arrive, they can achieve multiple years of growth in a single year without the reward and recognition of proficiency on state assessments. NWEA allows our students to celebrate their remarkable growth throughout the year as well as provides teachers the resources necessary to further target instruction to each students specific needs. All three schools made outstanding progress this year, far exceeding one years growth with over 1.5 years of growth achieved in math and over 2.5 years of growth achieved in reading this school year.

Chicago, Illinois CSUSA took over the management and operations of four existing charter schools on Chicagos South Side in 2012. All four schools are part of the Chicago International Charter School system. CICS Loomis, Longwood, Lloyd Bond and Larry Hawkins serve over 2,100 students in grades K12 with a minority rate greater than 99%. Over 95% of students are considered low income with more than 90% qualifying for free and reduced lunch.

In the initial year of management, Illinois changed both their cut scores and proficiency standards on the state assessments making pre CSUSA comparisons difficult. Even with the moving proficiency target, the Chicago schools made gains in many grades and subjects. In 2013 2014 the state also eliminated significant portions of the state assessment, and with it eliminated another set of longitudinal, comparative data opportunities. In light of instability in Illinois, CICS and Chicago Public Schools administered NWEAs Measures of Academic Progress. From fall to spring of this year, CSUSAs Chicago students made over one years annual growth in reading, math and science.

At CICS Loomis, the K2 primary school, 2014 student attainment has been rated Far above Average, the highest level awarded by CPS. Scoring in the 84 th percentile in reading and in the 90 th percentile in math, Loomis students performed well above the national and Chicago Public Schools averages. In the

area of student growth CICS Longwood was also rated Above Average with student growth in the 70th

percentile school wide.

Success among older students is best illustrated by their preparation for college and careers. The first step is high school graduation. CICS Longwoods graduation rate far exceeded that of Chicago Public Schools in 2013. The four year rate was 77% with Longwood seniors holding a sixteen percentage point advantage over Chicago Public Schools. The 2013 rate also represents an almost 10% point improvement after just one year of CSUSA management. The second high school, CICS Larry Hawkins is not yet eligible to receive graduation and post secondary evaluations.

Osceola County, Florida

In 2006

and

again

in

2009,

CSUSA

was

selected

to

take

over

district

sponsored

charter

schools

in

Osceola County, Florida. Three charters were deemed unsuccessful by the district that was unhappy with both the management company and the schools performance. Canoe Creek Charter Academy (62% FRL, 62% minority), Four Corners Charter School (59% FRL, 64% minority), and P.M. Wells Charter Academy (78% FRL, 90% minority), combined serve over 2,500 students in grades K8.

Florida schools receive letter grades at the end of each academic year as part of the states accountability evaluation. For K8 buildings, proficiency and growth toward proficiency are weighted


10/63

10 | P a g e

equally in final ratings. Four Corners Charter School received a B in their first year of CSUSA management and has maintained an A grade in the seven years since. Canoe Creek and P.M. Wells Charter Academies have both earned an A or B, four out of the last five years. This year all three turnarounds are A Schools, each having made continuous improvements since their transitional year. Over the last three years combined, a majority of CSUSAs Osceola students met annual learning gain targets, 70% in reading and 69% in math. The state has recently incorporated accelerated coursework into school evaluations. Since the inception of the Middle School Acceleration Component 70% of eligible students are enrolled in high school courses with a 90% passage rate.

CSUSA operates one additional school in Osceola County. Renaissance Charter School at Poinciana has been open two years with a student population that is 83% minority and 82% of students are on free or reduced lunch; in 2014, they also received an A.

Success with Demographically Similar Student Populations York City School District serve a population where over 85% of students are classified as minorities and 87% are considered economically disadvantaged. High minority, high poverty subgroups are historically the focus of measures aimed at closing of the achievement gap. In CSUSAs experience, students

entering a school significantly below grade level take more than one year of targeted instruction in conjunction with increased instructional minutes to close an achievement gap. Because below grade level students can make multiple years worth of growth in a single year without reaching proficiency it is important to consider multiple years of results when evaluating a schools effectiveness.

Many of the schools provided below as demographically similar to York City School District have traditionally served high numbers of lowincome and minority students who come to school multiple years below grade level.

School FRL (%) Minority (%)

Title I

Woodmont Charter School 82 85 YES Renaissance Charter School at Poinciana 82 83 YES Downtown Miami Charter School 87 98 YES P. M. Wells Charter Academy 78 90 YES North Broward Academy Of Excellence 78 95 YES North Broward Academy Of Excellence Middle School 80 95 YES

The historical performance of each school listed above, since 2004 is detailed in Appendix Four . The data illustrates the positive correlation between (a) the length of time a school has been in the CSUSA network and (b) student performance. At new schools where a majority of the students arrive with performance levels that are below grade level, students will reach proficiency, but it takes more than a

single year.

Successful

turnarounds

dont

happen

overnight.

Renaissance Charter School at Poinciana and Woodmont Charter School are perfect examples of this struggle. Poinciana and Woodmont were D and F schools, respectively, in 2013. In just one year, Woodmont improved school wide reading proficiency by 7% points and school wide math proficiency by 14% points. Reading and Math proficiency increase at Poinciana both by 9 percentage points. These proficiency improvements are minor compared to the learning gains achieved among all students and the lowest quartile of students. Both schools experienced more than a 20% point improvement in


11/63

11 | P a g e

reading gains and reading gains for the lowest quartile from 2013 to 2014. Math gains averaged 14% at Poinciana while Woodmonts math gains improved by over 30% points in both school wide gains and gains for the lowest quartile. Even with their outstanding growth Woodmont students are still 18% points below the district reading average and more than 20% points below the district math average. However, persistent, continued and targeted support will bring Woodmont students to grade level in the coming years.

In the more established schools such as Downtown Miami Charter School, P.M. Wells Charter Academy and North Broward Academy of Excellence the lasting and sustainable impact of the CSUSA Education Model is evident. Schools continuously improve and maintain high levels of student achievement. Even in years when academic standards, assessments and accountability rules change, CSUSAmanaged schools are better equipped to tackle the challenge. Five out of the six schools listed above have school grades of A in 2014. The remaining school, Woodmont Charter School, improved two letter grades this year and will earn a C grade.

CSUSAs Approach to Education The education model is implemented within a framework of continuous improvement to ensure its

validity and the development of supporting tools to meet the needs of each individual student. The development of the education model was based on Robert J. Marzanos 35 years of research. Its structure enables administrators and teachers to better understand, better explain, and make better predictions regarding the elements needed to facilitate each students mastery of the Pennsylvania Core Standards. Educational best practices, technology, communication, and documentation tools are created and revised to support the implementation of the model and ensure that teachers have the support necessary to meet the needs of each student.

The Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum ensures academic excellence in every classroom and encourages steady academic progress as students build their knowledge and skills from one year to the next. After clear guidance is given to teachers regarding the content to be addressed in specific courses and at

specific grade

levels,

CSUSA,

which

provides

curriculum

and

educational

strategy

support

the

school,

and school administration monitor learning so that the academic content necessary for achievement within each grade is not disregarded or replaced.

Component 1: Baseline Assessment and Data Baseline assessment provides all stakeholders with the information needed to identify students strengths and weaknesses; to effectively target instruction; and to set school level, classroom level, and individual student level goals. This starts at the beginning of the school year with the review of students scores from the state mandated assessment of the previous school year. Baseline data is obtained throughout the year with standards aligned pre tests that are utilized prior to each new unit of instruction.

Component 2: Data Driven Instruction The schools leaders and teachers will analyze baseline data from the schools student information system, and then provide targeted professional development to support teachers knowledge base of the best instructional strategies to employ, that best meet the needs of each student. Teachers then have the information needed to effectively adjust instructional focus through spiral teaching and employ regrouping and other differentiation strategies to ensure that each student is making progress towards mastery of specific skills and content. Using this innovative approach of data driven instruction and


12/63

12 | P a g e

ongoing teacher support within the school around meeting the needs of each student, the school will ensure a culture of continuous improvement and increased student achievement.

Component 3: Assessment After data driven instruction, formative assessments will be given to determine areas of growth and will be used to continue to identify instructional priorities. Assessments will measure instructional effectiveness and student achievement and are an integral part of the education model. Formative assessments, in particular, provide a systematic and regular measurement of students progress in the classroom, and are

the processes used to drive instructional practice. Further, timely and specific feedback, based upon formative assessments of student performance on grade level standards is given to establish individualized goals for all students (Marzano).

Component 4: Grading Grading of formative assessments will be done through the electronic grade book in the student

information system.

Formative

assessments

will

be

graded

at

the

most

specific

level

of

the

Common

Core Standards to facilitate data collection. As the data is collected, it is displayed within the electronic grade book in various formats for straightforward data analysis. The data is then reviewed at the specific standard to target individual student needs on specific skill expectations.

Component 5: Reporting Reporting in the student information system will offer the school the capability of disaggregating data by individual student, by individual class, and by grade level. It will also offer teachers, parents, and students online access to student data. Student achievement data will be included in each students file and will make year to year evaluation and tracking of benchmarks more efficient. It will also provide students, parents, teachers and administrators information to make decisions about differentiating instruction for each student.

Component 6: Decision Decision is the final action. Teachers and administrators, based on the data, will make the decision to either move on to a new standard and begin with a baseline assessment, or revisit the same standard through data driven instruction, reaching students who need remediation or acceleration through differentiated instruction. A unique and innovative aspect of this education model is the fact that the school does not simply move on to the next standard after assessment, but may continue re teaching


13/63

13 | P a g e

based on students needs. The teacher will re teach, either by whole class or small group instruction, until all students have mastered the standard.

Another distinctive component of the education model is the constant connection within the network that supports the implementation of the model with fidelity. At each step, teachers, as well as administrators, have the opportunity to reach out to others to gain insight on best practices to provide the most effective instruction for students. This can range from lesson plan sharing, to model lessons, to professional development on instructional strategies, and many other tools that will be utilized within the school. This creates a sense of camaraderie and teamwork, with the intention of further motivating the staff to achieve the vision and mission of the school. These network components are further described in the application.

Summary of Fundamental Programs of the Educational Model To achieve its goal of meeting high standards of student achievement, the school will use unique and innovative academic components to complement the comprehensive data driven education model. The components include the following:

Research Based Curriculum The educational program aligns with the schools mission, as the school will implement a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum as its research based curriculum aligned to Common Core Standards, along with McGraw Hill Reading Wonders, Pearson Envision, and Glencoe Math Connects as the Common Core aligned textbook resource programs. The research behind the GVC comes from the work of Marzano, who articulates that the GVC is primarily a combination of the factors opportunity to learn and time . Both have strong correlations with academic achievement. The concept of opportunity to learn is a simple but powerful one if students do not have the opportunity to learn the content expected of them (in this case, the Pennsylvania Core Standards), there is little chance that they will. Opportunity to learn addresses the extent to which the curriculum in a school is guaranteed. This means that there must be clear guidance given to teachers regarding the content to be addressed in

specific courses

and

at

specific

grade

levels.

It

also

means

that

individual

teachers

do

not

have

the

option to disregard or replace assigned content.

Personalized Learning Plans Every child is unique, therefore the schools will create a Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) for every student, designed to track an individual student's strengths, weaknesses, and cumulative progress in attaining a year's worth of learning at a specific grade level. The PLP will empower students to track their own progress, which initiates student ownership of learning goals. The plan's development is a collaborative effort between the teacher, parent, student, and other staff involved with the student's academic achievement. Teachers will act as facilitators and coaches for the plans, aiding in creating, monitoring, and challenging the students to push themselves. The parents role is to be a cheerleader or mentor, motivating and guiding the students in their endeavors. Most importantly, students are the producers of the plan, faced with the responsibility of understanding their data, making good decisions as learners, and following through with expectations.

Through analysis and evaluation of data, administrators, teachers, parents, and students are able to devise an academic plan for each student to achieve learning gains. As a reference, baseline achievement levels are incorporated into each students PLP, which is visible to the student, parent, and teacher within the student information system, as a starting point for determining future rates of


14/63

14 | P a g e

academic progress. The following information is considered when assessing the students strengths and weaknesses:

The students academic performance prior to his/her enrollment The results of any assessment testing and classroom assessments

Nonassessed

student

work

and

project

based

learning

Student information about what the student likes to learn and parent information about how

their child learns best (e.g., in a quiet place, working in groups, etc.) Reports and observations from the students teachers Information and suggestions from the students parents and the student

Not only will the PLP include quarterly grade goals and benchmark goals, but also action steps to reach each goal, teaching students the valuable lesson of not just having a goal, but also knowing what it takes to reach that target. The action steps help guide both the child and the parent in implementing the PLP. The process of creating and monitoring the PLP is a lifeskill that all students need to develop in order to become productive citizens. The ability to be self aware of ones strengths and weaknesses, the ability to self motivate to set and reach goals, and the ability to self monitor progress will lead to successful completion of ambitions throughout life.

Character Education Program The School will create a learning environment focused on citizenship through its integrated character education program. Students are encouraged to demonstrate behaviors that encompass moral values taught by the teacher. As students begin to understand these moral principles, they are encouraged to care enough to commit to performance character those characteristics that will produce excellence such as perseverance, responsibility, industriousness, and self controlboth in and outside of school. The character education program will serve as a cross curricular strategy to instill strong character and citizenship in students. The teacher incorporates character education lessons within the required content areas, and students receive a grade on their report cards regarding citizenship for effort,

conduct, and participation. The School may offer incentives for showing great character, through weekly, monthly, or quarterly student awards. The School will encourage community service, by possibly coordinating community cleanups, walks for causes, or other service activities.

Academic Intervention and Enrichment Given the student population, it is anticipated that there will be students at various skill levels, and the schools will adjust instruction as necessary. One of the key principles of the educational model is individualized, data driven instruction; therefore CSUSA uses the following strategies to meet the needs of all students:

Differentiated instruction

Blended learning Tutoring/Saturday School Push in/Pull out instruction

These components are described in further detail in the application to explain how these strategies meet the needs of students and remediate academic performance.


15/63

15 | P a g e

As an option for enrichment, the organization may implement a Cambridge Program to support academic rigor throughout the programming of the school. The program will provide an international, pre university, curriculum and examination for students who benefit from a rigorous academic program . A Cambridge course combines the content of the Honors curriculum with the content students must learn to write the Cambridge papers successfully. Cambridge courses are demanding courses that

emphasize higher order thinking skills, oral skills, writing skills, problem solving, teamwork and investigative skills. Highly motivated students who excel academically and are well rounded in their extracurricular activities are attracted to this program. Cambridge students are expected to have high academic expectations, be self motivated, have good study habits and must demonstrate a commitment to succeed.

Meaningful Parental Engagement Because parent participation is integral to the success of the school and each student, it will be solicited for the development of School goals and objectives. Parental involvement is also fostered through access to information and communication provided by the schools student information system, provided by PowerSchool. Parents will receive real time updates on their childs status to ensure timely and effective feedback, which has proven to be effective in improving student performance. A convenient way to keep parents informed is through ParentLink, which allows the teacher or administrator to record and send a mass message to any number of parents through a phone call, email, or text. Parents will also have the ability to engage in two way communication with school administrators and teachers, and will be encouraged to email, call, or schedule conferences to keep lines of communication open between parents and teachers. Parents will also be required to sign Personal Learning Plans and Progress Monitoring Plans to encourage the acceptance of responsibility for being aware and being a part of the academic success of their child.

In order to ensure that parents are informed as how to best support students with their learning goals, the school may provide Curriculum Nights to disseminate information regarding various education issues, such as testing requirements, strategies for motivation, or other topics as needed by the school.

Teachers will be encouraged to attend these meetings to provide more personalized training for the parents and to develop a more meaningful relationship between the family and the school.

Summary of Fundamental Principles of the Educational Model In order to align with CSUSAs mission, the Educational Program aligns with the following principles:

Individualized Instruction As stated above, the education model is based on a foundation that data drives all instruction, creating an environment that is individualized for each student. Every student is unique and deserves an education that is tailored to their needs. The schools will not simply follow a textbook program prescribed for a general student in a particular grade level. CSUSA will develop plans for each student

which includes action steps and strategies for students to master every standard that is expected of them. The personalized learning plans are described in the educational programs of this application.

Culture of School Safety, Citizenship and Success Each school will hold high expectations for students, not just with academics, but with regard to behavior as well. Along with implementation of the character education program described above, student safety will be a priority, as a highly structured behavior plan focused on procedures and order will be set in place to prevent any unsafe issues from arising. Graduated techniques will be utilized to


16/63

16 | P a g e

promote a fair, objective system. Bullying prevention is key, and teachers will create a culture in the beginning of the year that has a zero tolerance policy on the issue. Administrators, parents, and students alike will monitor bullying prevention, allowing students to have the right to report any incidences confidentially. Each school will adopt an every student is your student policy, in which teachers are aware of expected behaviors and address all issues they witness. Professional development will be provided in the beginning of the year to properly train teachers on the culture of the school, which may include CHAMPs, student hallmonitor duties, or other bullying prevention and safety strategies that can be implemented. Parent, staff, and student surveys will include a component on safety to receive feedback on the perception of the school with regard to this matter.

Academic Rigor The school will focus on rigor in more than one waythrough teacher expectations, student support, and student work. Teachers are expected to hold themselves and students to a high standard, teaching minute byminute, bellto bell, in order to maximize learning. Purposeful tasks and higher order thinking activities will be conducted, not just rote memorization work. All students will be expected to be engaged and participate, to ensure for accountability in learning. If a teacher poses a problem, all students persevere and attempt to solve it in journals or white boards, not just wait for one student to

explain the answer. The teacher may call on several students to provide answers, and then the class can evaluate and determine the correct one and how it is correct. Teachers will be there to support the students, scaffolding learning to make sure that students are able to complete the more critical thinking tasks that are being implemented. Teachers will be constantly observing and providing help, as well as taking students in small groups, to further aid those who need more support. The assignments will require more higher order thinking skills and real word application, such as justification, analysis, and communication, to better prepare the students to be college and career ready.

Student Engagement Student engagement will be fostered in various ways, as this is critical for student success. The school will have an understanding of the multitude of learning styles for the students, catering to their needs in

how

they

learn

best.

For

example,

kinesthetic/tactile

learners

can

have

the

opportunity

to

use

manipulatives or move in some way during the lesson. Nonlinguistic representation through pictures that correspond to words has proven to be effective in vocabulary development. These are just a sampling of the strategies the teachers use to ensure that all needs of the child are being met. Student to student interaction and cooperative learning further enhance understanding as the students get to work together to build learning. The school will also utilize technology to support engagement in order to supplement instruction and provide interaction with the content, through tablets, laptop computers, and flat screen televisions with interactive tablets. Most importantly, teachers will be hired and expected to present themselves in an enthusiastic manner that shows their passion, which will positively impact the engagement level of the students in return.

Summary of Fundamental Structures of the Educational Model CSUSA provides options for various structures for the schools to implement in order to meet the needs of the students, including, but not limited to:

Blended Learning/Virtual School In partnership with CSUSA, the National Network of Digital Schools (NNDS) has a vision for making the York City School District a model public education system by forming young men and women fully prepared to make a significant, positive impact in their local communities and on the world around them. NNDS contribution to this effort will be to create a district wide cyber high school program, the


17/63

17 | P a g e

William Penn Virtual High School, that wins students back from outside charter and cyber charter schools by offering the best available digital courses and content, delivered to students in a fullyonline environment.

Within blended learning, teachers utilize research based best practices for teaching and learning, including the integration of technology into the instructional program to support content that was provided within the lesson. This is also an opportunity for students to receive varied levels of instruction to best suit their needs for a particular subject, as well as practice content that was previously taught. This provides supplemental instruction for enrichment, as well as remediation. Students and staff will have access to technology through multiple blended models. The curriculum developed by NNDSLincoln Interactive will be used for course recovery and blended learning for the students of York City School District. CSUSA will also use the following programs to supplement instruction: Reading Eggs, Reading Plus, ThinkThroughMath, and Mathletics. Details about the blended learning model are described further in this application.

Academy Model The School plans to utilize an academy model which will create small learning communities for students

to take classes together, taught by a team of teachers from different disciplines. There will be a Freshman Academy for each incoming ninth grade cohort, as well as options for different college preparatory/career themes as they progress through high school. Partnerships with employers, the community, and local colleges will bring resources from outside the high school to improve motivation and achievement.

Freshman Academy Ninth grade is a pivotal year for students. In order to positively impact ninth grade students to successfully meet graduation requirements CSUSA will develop a Freshman Academy that will create organizational structures to build student success, as well as student academic opportunities that will support students as they grow within the culture of a high school. Throughout the first quarter of the

school year

special

activities

will

be

developed

such

as

the

following:

Teacher advisor Student to Student Discussions: juniors and seniors will discuss with freshman what they would

do differently in ninth grade if they had the opportunity to re do the year. Self awareness studies that help students build upon their middle school work of career choice. Personalized Learning Plans containing a high school graduation goal built upon intermediate

goals. Indepth studies of life after high school, including college choices.

The Freshman Academy will also include organizational and administrative features to support the student body, such as the following:

Rooms

clustered

together

for

a smaller

community

within

the

larger

school

population.

Common planning for core content teachers to discuss specific needs of ninth grade students,

academic achievement of individual students, classroom management and absenteeism. An administrative peer assigned to the ninth grade center to work with the students, parents,

and teachers to quickly identify and take action on the specific needs of students. For example, changing a students schedule to enhance performance.

Common system of class rules, procedures and expectations.


18/63

18 | P a g e

College Preparatory/Career Academies Students will choose an academy for 10 th12 th grade that prepares them for college and career choices, enabling them to see relationships between academic subjects and the application to a broad field of work. Partnerships created with employers, community and local colleges/universities will help determine the academy options at each high school. Students will have the option of participating in a Cambridge Academy, and depending on partnerships and student need, possibly a Leadership and Entrepreneurship Academy; Communications, Engineering and Technology Academy; Physical, Environmental and Medical Science Academy; and others.

Target School Interventions The CSUSA Education Model works when implemented with fidelity. To ensure student success, a mechanism was created by CSUSA to generate Target School Interventions. When schools are falling short of CSUSAs standards, targeted intervention teams are created and deployed to schools to provide the support they need. The intervention teams consist of veteran school leaders, support center staff as well as executive and regional directors. Rapid intervention action plans are created by the team and are monitored daily by those team members on the ground in conjunction with weekly, strategic target setting and monitoring calls for all team members. CSUSAs executive board is also apprised of the

teams progress on many fronts, not just academic. Up to date benchmark results, as well as enrollment, staffing and culture updates are monitored in biweekly executive Flash Reports.

The outcomes at targeted schools speak for themselves. In addition to the gains observed in turnaround settings, CSUSAs traditional charter schools have also benefitted from the targeted intervention process. Five Florida schools were on this list in 2013 2014, all of which had school grades of a D or F in the prior year. As a result of their target school status, schools benefitted from an increased regional and support center presence. Expanded tutoring initiatives, the implementation of instructional programs to effectively target instruction and the guidance of CSUSAs most experienced and effective leaders provided the medium by which all five Florida target schools improved to an A, B or C in 2014. Even more telling than the grades themselves are the improvements in learning gains made between

2013 and

2014.

Student reading gains at target schools increased from an average of 55% in 2013 to almost 70% in 2014, and among the lowest quartile of students from 58% to 79%.

Student math gains improved from 50% in 2013 to 72% in 2014 and from 54% to 77% among the lowest quartile of students.


19/63

19 | P a g e

3. GOALS & STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT EXPECTATIONS

Student Achievement Goals CSUSAs performance based educational goals and objectives are designed to focus all stakeholders on student academic achievement. With rigorous academic goals, individual student goal setting (through

student PLPs),

and

parental

support

of

academic

growth,

CSUSA

will

ensure

continuous

improvements

in

student achievement. CSUSA understands and is dedicated to ensuring that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a highquality education and will continually strive for academic excellence on challenging state academic standards and the state academic assessments.

CSUSA understands the value of stakeholder involvement. It is the intention that academic goals for each school will be developed with input and direction from local stakeholders, school leadership and community resources. The goals presented below illustrate a basic foundation upon which York City School District stakeholders can build and expanded.

Kindergarten through Second Grades Students will be assessed with nationally normed assessments that measure achievement and growth in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. CSUSA will utilize the Northwest Evaluation Associations Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and/or MAP for Primary Grades assessments, aligned to both the Common Core and Pennsylvania Core Standards. After the first benchmark, all students receive an end year growth target. At year end these targets are evaluated for each student to determine adequate growth.

COLLECTIVELY, 100% OF STUDENT GROWTH TARGETS WILL BE MET OR EXCEEDED IN GRADES K2 ON BENCHMARK ASSESSMENTS ALIGNED TO THE PENNSYLVANIA CORE STANDARDS FOR ELA AND MATHEMATICS.

Third through Twelfth Grades Goalsetting in grades three through twelve will align to the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile

accountability system, current as of 2012 2013. Subsequently, changes to the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile accountability calculation will prompt a revision to the schools goals in the effected year(s). It is anticipated that the 2014 15 school year will mark the replacement of Reading and Writing with a single English Language Arts (ELA) assessment. In the event that the State of Pennsylvania modifies the school performance score calculation, CSUSA will adjust goal alignment accordingly.

Per the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile system, each school evaluates individual student success and effectiveness of the curricula by their performance on the State Assessments and State Alternate Assessments (currently the PSSA, Keynote Exams, and the PASA). In addition to attendance and graduation/promotion rates, schools accumulate points for the percentage of students scoring Proficient or Advanced on the ELA, Math and Science portions of the PSSA, Keynote Exams and the PASA, the percent of students meeting annual academic growth targets, and the percent of required gap closure met for all students and historically underperforming students. Middle and high schools evaluations also include performance on accelerated coursework as well as participation in college entrance exams. Each school also has the ability to earn bonus points for students scoring Advanced or students accumulating College credit through AP examinations.

After establishing a baseline of student performance in year one, CSUSA may revise and document multi year goals in an annual Strategic Plan. Currently, the state evaluates buildings on one of five scales for the purpose of accountability calculations. Therefore, to maintain a level of transparency


20/63

20 | P a g e

with our students, parents and the community at large, CSUSA will align school goals to publicly available data calculated and published annually by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

EACH YEAR THE SCHOOLS WILL MEET THE HIGHER OF THE TWO EXPECTATIONS OUTLINED BELOW FOR EACH PERFORMANCE INDICATOR AND THE FINAL ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE SCORE:

A. REDUCE THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP BY HALF OVER THE NEXT SIX YEARS BY MAKING ANNUAL PROGRESS BETWEEN CURRENT PERFORMANCE (2012 13) AND 100%.

B. REDUCE THE GAP BETWEEN CURRENT PERFORMANCE (2012 13) AND 100% BY TEN PERCENT ANNUALLY ( SAFE HARBOR CALCULATION ).

State wide, very few schools met Reading and Math targets in 2011 12 using the safe harbor calculation. Therefore, it is acknowledged that these are rigorous goals. Schools, in partnership with CSUSA, will be prepared to effectively target instruction to meet these high expectations and achieve student success. Baseline values on each metric will be established at the end of each schools first academic year. Using available data from 2012 13 and the expectations outlined above, a sample set of goals is presented for Davis School (K8) in table 3.1 and William Penn SHS (712) in table 3.2 . Both formulas were applied and in each year for each indicator the higher of the two is used. Bolded values are the result of approach A and italicized values are the result of approach B.

Table 3.1

Academic Indicator Performance 12 13

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Indicators of Academic AchievementMathematics/Algebra I Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA/Keystone 55.9 60 64 68 71 74Reading/Literature Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA/Keystone 44.7 50 55 60 64 68Science/Biology Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA/Keystone 36.5 43 49 54 58 63Writing Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA 35.7 42 48 53 58 62Grade 3 Reading Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA 52.5 57 62 65 69 72Indicators of Academic Growth/PVAASMathematics/Algebra I Meeting Annual Academic Growth Expectations 92.0 93 94 94 95 95Reading/Literature Meeting Annual Academic Growth Expectations 95.0 96 96 96 97 97Science/Biology Meeting Annual Academic Growth Expectations 60.5 64 68 71 74 77Writing Meeting Annual Academic Growth Expectations 58.0 62 66 69 72 76Extra Credit for Advanced AchievementPercent PSSA/Keystone Advanced Mathematics/Algebra I 17.1 25 33 40 46 52Percent PSSA/Keystone Advanced Reading/Literature 13.2 22 30 37 43 49Percent PSSA/Keystone Advanced Science/Biology 4.8 14 23 31 38 44Percent PSSA Advanced Writing 0.0 10 19 27 34 42Total Points 61.2 65 69 72 75 77

D a v i s S c h o o l E x a m p l e B a s e l i n e Y e a r


21/63

21 | P a g e

Table 3.2

Ongoing progress monitoring will be the mark of success for the proposed School and will lead to

achievement of the mission. Therefore, CSUSA is committed to on going academic reporting to the community, parents, and students. CSUSA will align school structures and processes through data driven decision making. Student progress will be determined by yearly academic growth, increasing the percentage of students scoring proficient or higher on the state assessments.

Listed below are measurement tools that will be used for assessment purposes to monitor progress throughout the year. These are all used to determine the progress of students with regard to mastery of the standards. The listed assessment tools do not preclude CSUSA from incorporating other measures that may be determined necessary to support the mission of the school.

Benchmark Assessments: include three administrations in the areas of English/language arts,

mathematics, and

science.

Northwest

Evaluation

Association

(NWEA)

currently

provides

the

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and the MAP for Primary Grades (MPG).

o NWEA MAP: tests students with engaging, ability appropriate content aligned to Common Core. NWEA is an adaptive assessment; therefore as a student responds to questions, the test difficulty adjusts to the level of the student.

o NWEA MAP for Science: Aligned with science state standards, it measures the following critical areas: 1) General Science, which covers specific science concepts within the three major domains of science: life sciences, earth and space sciences, and physical sciences. 2) Concepts and Processes, which measure a student's performance in both the processes, used in science and the major themes underlying the science disciplines.

Common Assessments: monthly assessments provided by CSUSA which are created from a data bank and disseminated to schools to gauge students progress on mastery of the GVC. The assessments are aligned to state standards, and include short term review, as well as spiral review, to check for mastery. This is to provide a uniform tool to all schools in the network to monitor progress more frequently between benchmark assessments administered by NWEA.

Instructional Focus Plan (IFP) Assessments: Tests aligned to specifications of Pennsylvania Core Standards and assessments that measure mastery of competencies within the GVC, given minimally every two weeks. IFP instruction and assessments match the skills and concepts each particular class needs to work on in order to reach mastery.

Academic Indicator Performance 12 13

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Indicators of Academic AchievementMathematics/Algebra I Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA/Keystone 38.56 45 50 55 60 64Reading/Literature Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA/Keystone 51.31 56 61 65 68 72Science/Biology Percent Proficient or Advanced on PSSA/Keystone 15.03 24 31 38 44 50

SAT/ACT College Ready Benchmark 6.49 16 24 32 39 45Other Academic IndicatorsCohort Graduation Rate 74.52 77 79 81 83 85Attendance Rate 87.31 89 90 91 92 93Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate Diploma, or College Credit 50.00 55 60 64 67 71PSAT/Plan Participation 100.00 100 100 100 100 100 Extra Credit for Advanced AchievementPercent PSSA/Keystone Advanced Mathematics/Algebra I 13.72 22 30 37 43 50Percent PSSA/Keystone Advanced Reading/Literature 2.63 12 21 29 36 43Percent PSSA/Keystone Advanced Science/Biology 0.65 11 20 28 35 42Percent 3 or Higher on an Advanced Placement Exam 3.25 13 22 29 37 44Total Points 42.70 48 54 58 62 67 W

i l l i a m P e n n S H S E x a m p l e B a s e l i n e Y e a r


22/63

22 | P a g e

Weekly Standards Based Assessments: Formative assessments that are designed to evaluate whether a student has mastered a specific standard. Each weekly assessment will measure the academic performance of each student on a particular standard, based on content that has been introduced and practiced multiple times. These can be teacher created or from purchased resources and are used in all subjects.

Other

ongoing

formative

assessments:

Teachers

have

the

ability

to

utilize

the

assessments

that

best meet the needs of their students in monitoring progress. Sample assessments include, but are not limited to, running records, oral reading fluency checks, journal entries, observations, anecdotal records, and tools within approved software programs.

CSUSA typically establishes a reporting cycle for the Board in which data is presented as it becomes available. Benchmark and interim assessment results such as the NWEA MAP and MPG are available at least three times per year for all tested grade levels. CSUSA also administers and reports student, parent and staff survey results twice each year. The reporting format and venue varies by availability. The following performance reports from CSUSA are presented to the Board on a periodic basis (monthly, quarterly, or annually as appropriate):

Financial Reports School Report (enrollment, withdrawals, staffing, facility issues, and ongoing activities) Satisfaction Surveys Strategic Plan Annual Accountability Report

College and Career Readiness While the standards and assessments of the future aim to make America more competitive internationally, they also require students to perform more rigorous tasks, use higher order thinking skills and apply what they have learned in novel ways. A nationwide push toward college and career

readiness means that preparing students for endeavors beyond graduation is no longer the sole responsibility of the nations high schools. The challenges of a post secondary education require that all students, regardless of their grade in school, work toward college and career readiness.

CSUSA, RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF PREPARING ALL STUDENTS FOR A POST SECONDARY EDUCATION , PROPOSES THREE ADDITIONAL GOALS AIMED AT PREPARING STUDENTS FOR COLLEGES AND CAREERS:

STUDENTS WILL MEET COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS TARGETS ON THE NWEA MAP ASSESSMENTS. MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL PARTICIPATE IN AND EARN HIGH SCHOOL CREDITS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL PARTICIPATE IN AND EARN COLLEGE CREDIT AND / OR INDUSTRY CERTIFICATION PRIOR

TO GRADUATION

CSUSA will develop targets in these areas, in partnership with York City School District stakeholders to best meet the needs of the students and the community at large during the planning year.

Superior Culture and Parent Satisfaction Monitoring the culture and environment of schools provides valuable input to strategic planning processes and school improvement measures. These targets are often viewed as leading indicators


23/63

23 | P a g e

because the culture of a school will ultimately impact academic performance and financial stability. Stakeholder buy in, especially parent engagement, is critical to fostering a healthy school culture. CSUSA ADMINISTERS A PARENT SURVEY TWICE PER YEAR TO GAUGE SATISFACTION AND WILL MONITOR TWO KEY INTENDED

OUTCOME MEASURES: T HE TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF PARENTS WHO AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT , I WOULD RECOMMEND OUR SCHOOL TO

A FRIEND , WILL BE AT LEAST 90%. T HE TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF PARENTS WHO AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT , STUDENTS FEEL SAFE AT OUR SCHOOL WILL BE AT LEAST 90%.

State assessment data will be collected, stored and reported in compliance with the policies and procedures of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. Data on the additional goals, those unrelated to state assessments and state accountability, will be collected, stored and reported by CSUSA in partnership with the York City School District. 1

Student assessment and performance information will be shared with students and parents in multiple ways. Teachers will update personal learning plans and progress monitoring plans, as well as reflect data on the report card, and discuss student progress via student/teacher and teacher/parent data chats. Parents can schedule conferences and communicate with teachers as often as necessary, but report cards will be distributed quarterly as a formal communication tool. Progress reports will be sent home mid quarter for parents to monitor progress.

In addition, parents will have access to the student information system, provided by PowerSchool. This online access will inform them, via a controlled access password, about their child's class work, test grades, and weekly progress towards meeting the Pennsylvania Core Standards.

Benchmark assessments, administered by NWEA, will take place three times a year. After administration

of each benchmark, that data will be communicated to parents at least quarterly after each test.

1 NWEA's statement on data security, "All communication of student information between NWEA and schools over the Internet takes place using Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), and/or encrypted file transfer techniques. In addition to security features for transmission of data online, data inside the Network Testing Environment (NTE) server are partially encrypted. Encrypted data include item display data, correct answer key, student score data, proctor login credentials, test license data, and test execution control data. All data shared between the district/school and NWEA are exchanged through a secure HTTPS web site in order to meet Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regulations."


24/63

24 | P a g e

4. CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN Instructional Strategies In order to maximize instructional time, teachers are requested to design their lessons minute byminute. This ensures for bellto bell instruction, with strategies implemented to engage students within learning the entire time. The instructional strategies utilized within this minute byminute plan

are suited

for

the

York

City

School

District

community

as

the

intention

is

to

take

advantage

of

every

minute of the instructional day in order to increase proficiency of students. Increasing instructional minutes will provide for catchup growth for students who are below grade level. These plans are approved by administrators and implemented with fidelity throughout the year. With administrative approval, teachers may adjust their plans as the year progresses to best fit the needs of students. These minutes are posted in the classroom for all students, as well as visitors, to see. This makes all stakeholders aware of whats happening in the classroom, and help keeps instructional pacing appropriate.

Teachers are also expected to map out their lesson plans in a very structured manner, following the guidelines of using an introduction, modeling, guided practice, independent practice, and closure within

every lesson and every subject. The introduction is intended to hook and engage the students, previewing content in a meaningful way, as well as discuss the essential question and objective for the lesson. Teachers then model the skill they are trying to teach, explaining step bystep in an explicit manner. Guided practice is used for students to apply the skill under guidance from the teacher, who is there to further explain misunderstandings or reinforce correct actions. Students move into independent practice when they have proven they have understood the concept, and the purpose is to master the objective. This is a time in which teachers can pull a small group to provide extra assistance to those who are not ready to move on to the independent practice stage and hone in on particular deficiencies. Lastly, a closure activity is conducted, whether it is in the form of an exitslip, or turn and talk response, in order to gauge final understanding of the concept taught within the lesson.

CSUSA will encourage the use of innovative learning methods and deliver educational best practices to the students within the framework of a research based education model. Specific learning methods, include, but are not limited to:

Cross curricular instruction and learning This method of instruction requires a high level of collaboration among teachers, as content is connected across subjects. Teachers align their studies in more than one subject area to best make connections for students, creating the opportunity for deepened understanding. For example, students can easily utilize the strategy of identifying a main idea (reading) when reading a newspaper article containing information on global warming (science), which can also tie into the citizens role in preventing global warming

(social studies). This will be beneficial for the students of the York community, as repeated exposure to content among various subject areas will increase mastery.

Multiple intelligences Howard Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences is based on the idea that all students have different types of minds, therefore they all process and remember information in various ways. The general types of learners include: visualspatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and logicalmathematical. It is


25/63

25 | P a g e

anticipated that there will be many styles of learning within the York community. Teachers will plan and implement lessons with the various types of learners they have within their classes in mind. For example, for a lesson on the effect of earths rotation, some students can be provided with a pictorial diagram (visualspatial learners), whereas others can take part in acting out the rotation, with different students representing the sun, earth, and moon (bodily kinesthetic

learners).

Project based learning This method provides students with the opportunity to learn content and master standards through real world activities. Projects typically include activities in which students need to create, question, and revise knowledge, utilizing key critical thinking skills, which further prepare them for secondary and post secondary studies. Often related to student interest, these activities can foster a higher desire for learning and develop better communication skills, as they frequently require students to work in teams or partnerships, though not necessarily for all projects. A specific project example and how cooperative learning is incorporated is described below.

Cooperative learning A strategy utilized by teachers to increase the rigor of an assignment, as it increases the expectations of students in completing a task. Within cooperative learning, teachers strategically group students to complete an assignment, designating roles so all students are held accountable for providi