Evidence #6: Leadership Project

Candidates will work in school-based teams (3-6 students) to develop a Leadership Project that

addresses one of the goals found in their school’s School Improvement Plan (SIP).

Teams will be expected to develop an initiative designed to help meet one of their school’s

targeted goals (and if possible implement the project in the school). The initiative proposal

should include specific outcomes, the types of evidence to be collected, how the evidence will be

evaluated, and timelines. Teams will also develop a plan for informing colleagues, parents, and

students describing the initiative and a sample report detailing the conclusions of the project with

recommendations. To fulfill the evidence requirement each team will be expected to present their

initiative project in a poster format at a spring Leadership Showcase sponsored by the

Elementary Education Department and write a brief reflection paper that will be uploaded to

SAGE.

Swift Creek Elementary School Leadership Project Proposal

SIP Goal- By 2014, all subgroups of students, with emphasis on Students with Disabilities

(SWD), Economically Disadvantaged (ED), Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and African American (AA) students, will meet or exceed their targeted Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO).

By 2014, the percentage of Level IV Non-AG students making growth in reading and math will increase from 42% (reading) and 46% (math) to 60% (both) as measured by the EOG’s.

Data Justification- After reviewing the data team's reports and meeting with the school principal, we concluded that the team chose the specific subgroups based on the goals as stated by the SIP. Each subgroup was monitored throughout the year, but our primary focus was placed on LEP students. This decision was a recommendation from the Academic team based on the subgroups academic performance in previous quarters. This led to our decision to make parent teacher communication more effective through the use of multi-language handouts. Our thought process was that if parent teacher communication increases, then parent involvement in their child's schooling would increase as well. This would positively affect the subgroups academic performance.

Key Process- Action Step: Make the front entrance way more culturally inviting by displaying

artwork that represents many cultures and religions. The visual art teacher will be the primary instructor responsible for this. Other general education classroom teachers may volunteer to create and display artwork when applicable. Teachers should coordinate with the arts specialist to ensure that the timing is appropriate and culturally sensitive

Action Step: Distribute school literature in multiple languages. Any school-wide information that is disbursed to the students through Tuesday folders should be translated and made available in both Spanish and Arabic. The front office team is responsible for sending the information to a designated and approved translator. Each classroom teacher is responsible for reporting how many copies of the translated editions they will need for their homeroom class.

Action Step: Each grade level will host a tutorial class for parents from the identified subgroups. This will provide parents with an opportunity to visit their child’s classroom, preview the material that their child is learning in the specified quarter and receive materials to help the child at home. Translators will be made available for parents with limited English proficiency. After school care will be offered to the invited students (on the day of the event only) so that the parents will be likely to attend. Additionally, there will be a light dinner provided for all guests.

Measurable Process Checks: 1st Quarter:

Access student’s cumulative folders for their past scores and anecdotal notes. Give grade level pre-assessments such as Running Records.

2nd Quarter/ 3rd Quarter/ 4th Quarter:

Administer grade-level post assessments such as running records, unassisted writing samples etc.

Rational- We chose to target Students with Disabilities (SWD), Economically Disadvantaged (ED), Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and African American (AA) students because they are currently the main concern of the Leadership team. Because student growth is strongly emphasized in the school and on the leadership team, we chose to focus on the students that need to grow academically in order to succeed. With the support of parents and families, we believe that more students with meet or exceed their targeted AMO. Providing a more culturally inviting environment at the entrance of the school will lead to students and parents from culturally diverse backgrounds feeling more welcomed and comfortable. Providing school literature in multiple languages for LEP parents will lead to more communication and parent involvement in the classroom which will in turn help their child succeed.

Objective- Our objective is to communicate with the visual arts instructor to work on creating a more culturally inviting school entrance, communicate with the front office team to ensure that all school literature sent home is translated to the appropriate language, and lastly, to help arrange the tutorial event/dinner for parents. Our main objective is to attend the event and assist with welcoming, dinner, and childcare during the tutorial meetings.

Outcomes- Long Term:

o An increase in all subgroups of students, with an emphasis on Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged, Limited English Proficiency, and African American Students; will meet or exceed their targeted Annual Measurable Objectives.

o Level IV Non-AG students will increase their scores on the mathematics and reading EOG within the range of 12 to 20%.

o An increase in the understanding and involvement between parents and teachers measured by having between 50% and 60% of families attending the tutorial class.

Short Term: o A significant increase in the understanding and involvement between parents

and teachers with at least 40% of the families attending the tutorial class.

Timeline- Within two weeks of proposal approval: each classroom teacher is responsible for

turning in a form indicating the number of translated copies that their classroom will need (i.e. four Arabic copies and two Spanish copies)

Immediately following the appointment of a county approved translator: require all school-wide literature to be sent to the front office at least five business days in advance. The designated front office staff member will send the information to the translator. The staff member will then distribute necessary copies to each general education teacher’s mailboxes

Every two months, beginning the month following the proposal approval date, the arts specialist is required to change the artwork in the front entranceway to a culturally diverse display. This should be completed by the 5th school day of every other month.

Three months in advance of the proposed date, the SIP leadership team should present a tentative date at the staff meeting. If the proposed date received 75% or more approval, the date for the tutorial/dinner night is scheduled.

The Cougar Community team is responsible for drafting up the flyer to send to parents within two weeks. Once the flyer has been approved by the leaders of the SIP team, the flyer should be sent to the translator.

Once the translated copies are returned, the flyer should be distributed to parents through the Tuesday folders. This should be done no later than two months ahead of the event.

Event Schedule- 5:30 - 6:30 PM: Light dinner will be served in the Cafeteria. (Families are welcomed to come anytime between these times to eat a light dinner.) 6:30 - 7:30 PM: Travel to each child’s classroom to attend the tutorial class with their teacher. 7:30 PM: End of the event.

Location- Swift Creek Elementary

Process for Gathering and Analyzing Data- After speaking with the SIP committee, leadership team, our Grade level PLTs, members of the data committee and administration team, we decided upon the different academic assessments that we were going to focus on. Some of the assessment tools we will look at include running records, Case 21 scores, AIMSWEB data and report card grades. These pieces give a snapshot of a student’s overall academic performance.

We worked with various committees to determine what standards were difficult for students to master. After identifying those standards, we identified the interventions that were in place to make those standards more achievable to our learners. We then had discussions to determine if our interventions were successful. If not, we brainstormed new interventions to implement.

Communicating the Initiative- With Colleagues:

o Work with administration and SIP team o Inform faculty and staff at monthly staff meetings and at grade-wide planning

meetings. o Ask for volunteers o Assign jobs/tasks

With Students: o Send home an informational sheet in the student’s Tuesday Folder at the

beginning of the year. o Send home a flier in the student’s Tuesday Folder, each week, the month of

the event informing them with the logistics of the event. (This flier will have a tear off sheet where parents can RSVP ahead of time)

With Parents: o Send home flyers and emails. o Include announcements in the classroom weekly newsletter or the monthly

school wide newsletter. o Verbally communicate with these parents via telephone, conferences, drop-

off/pick up times etc. With Community:

o Reach out to the local community to ask for donations from local libraries, non-profit organizations, local book stores, and restaurants.

*See Figure 1 for copy of mock-letter we would send home.

Dear Parents or Guardians,

Your child's teacher would like to invite you to a school-wide

tutorial session for parents. This is a great opportunity for you to

see what your child is learning in school, learn ways to help them be

successful at home and get involved in their learning!

The tutor night is September 13, 2013 at 6:30pm. After school care

will be provided for your child if you choose to attend. Dinner for

your family is also included!

Please RSVP by August 31, 2013 by completing the attached form.

Please return the completed form to your child's teacher.

We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions,

please contact your child's homeroom teacher.

Thanks,

Swift Creek Staff

Wake County Public School System

Swift Creek Elementary School 5601 Tryon Road, Raleigh, NC 27606

919-233-4320

A Positive Behavior Support Exemplar School

Figure 1: Parent Letter

Katherine E. Wadsworth

Leadership Project Individual Reflection

Swift Creek Elementary School

April 2013

2013 Leadership Project Individual Reflection

for Swift Creek Elementary School

The leadership project that my group implemented was set at Swift Creek Elementary

School. The process began by having one member of the group meet with the principal,

Mr.Umstead to discuss Swift Creek Elementary School Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2012 –

2014. After meeting with the principal, our group was informed about what aspect and target

group that he would like for our group to focus on. We chose to target Students with Disabilities

(SWD), Economically Disadvantaged (ED), Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and African

American (AA) students because these subgroups have been and are currently a main area of

concern for the Leadership team. According to the SIP, last year these subgroups “did not meet

proficiency targets on AYP”. (SIP)

Because of data that the Swift Creek School Improvement Plan provided and speaking

with administrators, teachers, and different school committees; we realized that we needed to

create a leadership project that would focus on building stronger connections and relationships

between these subgroups parents/guardians and the school. With the support and involvement of

parents and families, we believe that more students will meet or exceed their targeted Annual

Measurable Objective (AMO). Although our group knew what subgroup of individuals we were

going to focus on and an overall objective for our plan; we quickly realized that there is a lot of

planning that must go into designing and implementing an effective leadership project.

Coming up with an idea was even very challenging for our group! Some of us wanted to

implement a coat drive, a clothes drive, a book drive, an educational night; but finally after

talking for hours about an idea we all finally agreed on one mutual idea. We believed that

creating a more culturally inviting environment at the entrance of the school will lead to students

and parents from a culturally diverse background to feel more welcomed and comfortable. In

addition, we believed that providing school literature in multiple languages will also lead to more

communication and parent involvement in the classroom which will help their children succeed

more effectively in the classroom. In addition to these changes, we wanted to create a tutorial

event/dinner for the parents that would help assist with creating a stronger connection between

these subgroups parents and the school. At the event, translators would also be available for

parents with limited English proficiency and after school care would be offered to the invited

student’s families. We believe that both of these additions to the events will increase the likely

hood that more individuals will be able to attend.

After finally coming up with an idea and our event; we started planning the additional

components of our project. I never realized the amount of time and all the obstacles that we

would have to face to make sure that all aspects of our program aligned with the principal

objective and the SIP plan. Although we were not implementing this program at our school, we

wanted to still design a project that would be just as effective as if we were. A program such as

this requires many different components to make it successful which we realized shortly after

starting our collaborative Leadership Project Proposal. Besides for just thinking about what and

who we needed to communicate with at the school and Wake County, we had to think about how

to reach all the parents and students that matched these subgroups. I never realized how much

work would have to go into just getting a project like this started in the school!

Needless to say, that the leadership project proposal took a lot of effort and time by each

one of us in the group. We kept the document opened as a Google document from the beginning

of the semester until the due date because we were all constantly adding and editing the

document to better meet the SIP goal. After speaking with different committee teams we began

to get a better idea of what all was needed to create an effective leadership project over the

course of the year.

Overall, designing a leadership program that meets the needs of the School Improvement

Plan taught me a lot about what goes into designing an effective program and about our school;

Swift Creek, in general. After working with a group, and meeting with several administrators and

teachers from the school; I learned not only a lot of different resources and programs the school

already offers; and about the need for stronger communication and interactions between the

school and parents. It was interesting to learn about the School Improvement Plan for our school,

and be on the “opposite” side of the involvement. Actually designing an improvement plan for

the school opened my eyes to all the components you have to take into consideration when

designing a project. Designing a program that involves this many individual is not something

that we as students have done that much in depth, and designing objectives that are measurable, a

timeline for implementing the proposal, an event; takes a lot of planning! I do admit that working

as a group was very beneficial and we managed to create some great ideas working with one

another to make this program effective.

Like many other have stated, working as a group is always something that takes a lot of

time and effort; but working towards a common goal made our group very successful. We all

have developed a love for Swift Creek and the individuals that make up the school; so taking this

common interest to create something to potentially improve this school was great motivation for

us. Coming into my teaching career, I will remember the lessons I learned from working on this

leadership project and hopefully one day be able to implement a similar leadership project at my

future school.