Adams 14 Strategic Plan (2011)

Strategic Plan January 1, 2011

Inspire. in· spire

to animate, as an influence, feeling, thought, or the like, does: The students were inspired by a belief in a bright future.

Educate. ed· u· cate

to develop the faculties and powers of (a person) by teaching, instruction, or schooling: Teachers and parents educate children to be citizens of the world.

Empower. em· pow· er

to enable: Through education, we empower students for success.

Board of Education Mrs. Jeannette Lewis President Mr. Robert Vashaw Vice President Mr. Larry Quintana Treasurer Mr. Bill Klocker Secretary Mr. Adrian Schimpf Director Susan Chandler, Ph.D. Superintendent

Vision: When the community, students and staff are involved, all students do learn

and succeed.

Mission: Adams 14, in partnership with the community, will inspire, educate and

empower every student to succeed in the 21st Century.

Adams County School District 14 5291 East 60th Avenue Commerce City, Colorado adams14.org

Table of Contents Introduction

2

Part One: Needs Assessment

Adequate Yearly Progress

CSAP Trend Data

Comprehensive Appraisal for District Improvement

4 5 7 8

Part Two: A Framework for Success (Balanced Scorecard)

Introduction

Basics of the Balanced Scorecard

Strategy Map

The Balanced Scorecard as a Measurement Tool

10 11 11 13 15

Part Three: The Strategy for Success

16

Part Four: Strategic Objectives (Goals)

The customer perspective

Objective #1: Increase student achievement

Objective #2: Increase student, family, and community satisfaction

Objective #3: Improve student products

The internal processes perspective

Objective #4: Increase quality instructional practices

Objective #5: Increase use of data to inform instruction

Objective #6: Increase collaboration

The learning and growth perspective

Objective #7: Improve quality and alignment of professional development

Objective #8: Increase staff satisfaction

Objective #9: Improve communication

The financial perspective

Objective #10: Manage costs

Objective #11: Increase revenue

18 19 20 24 22 24 24 26 27 29 29 30 30 32 32 33

Appendix

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Introduction For the past several years, Adams 14 has remained steadfast in its commitment that all students reach or exceed grade-level performance. Adams 14 has not yet achieved this goal, and the challenge seems more daunting as the community rapidly evolves. Among the challenges that Adams 14 faces are: (1) more than half of all students speak English as their second language, compared to the year 2000, when one out of every five students was learning English; (2) the economic profile of the District has changed with four out of every five students now qualifying for free or reduced lunch; and (3) the financial outlook of the District has changed as revenue continually decreases from the State of Colorado. Simultaneously, state and federal accountability measures have raised the stakes for student achievement and increased the cost of effectively running a school district. The District has leveled in terms of student achievement. For example: • Aggregated 2010 CSAP scores declined 2.2 percent from 2009.

• Colorado ACT scores hover around 15 for Adams 14 students, which is approximately five points below Colorado state average.

• Results from the Colorado Growth Model show Adams 14 achieving the 50th percentile in few categories.

• Adams 14 fails to meet the requirements of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

The 2008 Adams 14 Comprehensive Appraisal for District Improvement (CADI) report lauded Adams 14 for making progress in terms of achievement and taking important steps toward improvement. The report also warned that to continue a positive trajectory, the District will need to focus on implementation and consistency. The introduction to the report stated: During the last decade, Adams County School District 14 has been working to improve student learning. This effort has shown small but positive trends in yearly achievement averages during the last seven years. The efforts of the district have yielded positive trends in student achievement that deserve recognition. However, given the current trajectory of student achievement, it will be necessary for the district to strategically enhance its current practices to meet state and federal student achievement targets and to best prepare its students for the 21st century.

The final report cited research that shows that successful school districts that are characterized by high poverty followed several common practices including, but not limited to: • Creation of a culture of accountability and the required administrative infrastructure to support it.

• Placing a high priority on improving low-performing schools.

• Districtwide adoption of uniform curricula closely aligned with state standards and centralized instructional strategies.

• Focused, substantive, intensive professional development to support implementation of curricular reforms.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

• • • •

A focus on thorough implementation of district identified strategies at the school and classroom level.

The use of data to drive instruction and determine resource allocations.

Efficient business operations, with a focus on customer service to schools.

An initial focus on elementary schools and early childhood education.

The purpose of this strategic plan is to make clear the vision for reform, identify the specific goals and targets, and to make clear the timelines and measurements of success for Adams 14.

The plan will first explore the data that indicate the need for reform. The data include: Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP), PostSecondary Readiness (Graduation, Dropout and ACT) and the findings of the CADI report. These data, in conjunction with the mission and vision of Adams 14, are used to identify the need or purpose of the strategic plan. In the second part of the plan, an organizational framework for success will be described. The organizational or management framework, called the Balanced Scorecard, has emerged from more than 15 years of success in the private sector to become a valuable decision-making tool in the government sector. In part three of the strategic plan, the strategy for success will be introduced. The first step in effectively translating mission and vision into action is to communicate the organization’s strategy for success. In part four of this plan, the strategic objectives and the accompanying strategic initiatives will be outlined.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

4

Part One: Needs Assessment

Adams County School District 14 Commerce City, Colorado adams14.org

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Part One: Needs Assessment Data This section will present the quantitative data that suggests there is a need for the District to revise its practice.

Adequate Yearly Progress Recent student achievement suggests that Adams 14 performance has either stagnated or started to trend downward. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) data for 2010 (Table 1) shows that Adams 14 did not meet AYP at any level (elementary, middle or high school) or in either subject (reading or math). In fact, Adams 14 achieved only 68 percent (78 out of 114 targets) in 2010, a significant drop from 2007 when Adams 14 achieved 87 percent (99 out of 114 targets). 1

1

Some of the decline in achieving AYP targets is a function of increasing targets.

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Table 1: Adequate Yearly Progress (2009-10 Results) Hispanic Overall ElementaryReading ElementaryMath MiddleReading Middle-Math

High-Reading

High-Math

Participation Performance Advanced Participation Performance Advanced Participation Performance Advanced Participation Performance Advanced Participation Performance Graduation Participation Performance

Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

Black Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

White Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Economic Disadvant age Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

ELL Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

SPED Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

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CSAP Trend Data In addition, CSAP aggregate percent proficient or advanced peaked in 2007 and has declined subsequently. Gains prior to 2007 were minimal and did not indicate an overwhelmingly positive trend (Figure 1) (Table 1).

Table 1: Aggregate CSAP Results: Percent of Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced

28.85 29.87 24.83

25.1

2001

2002

34.38 32.94 33.96 32.65 32.18 31.28

21.94

2000

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Table 2: Highest and Lowest Score in Each Subject and Year for Reading Lowest Score Subject/Test 3rd Grade Reading 4th Grade Reading 5th Grade Reading 6th Grade Reading 7th Grade Reading 8th Grade Reading 9th Grade Reading 10th Grade Reading

Score

Year

Highest Score Score

Year

2010 Score Score

42

2001

61

2006

46

32

2002

51

2006

42

32

2001

49

2008

44

31

2001

50

2009

46

27

2000

45

2009, 2010

45

34

2001

51

2010

51

25

2005

39

2003

35

20

2005

41

2009

34

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

8

In 2008, the Colorado Department of Education unveiled a new method to measure student, school and district growth called the Colorado Growth Model. The Colorado Growth Model compares like cohorts of students to determine which students are making normal, more than expected and less than expected growth. The model further examines the school and district a student attends to determine whether the school and district have an overwhelming proportion of students that are making normal, more than expected or less than expected growth. Using this method, districts and schools can obtain a measure of success at adding value for students. If a district is over the 50th percentile in any area (reading, writing or math) at elementary, middle or high school level, it is considered to be succeeding in the area of growth. As the table below shows, Adams 14 has previously achieved the 50th percentile or better in two of nine areas. In addition, Adams 14 was close in two others (middle school writing and elementary school math).

Elementary School Middle School High School

Reading

Writing

Math

40

35

45

50 40

49 36

60 36

Comprehensive Appraisal for District Improvement In 2007, Adams 14 failed to make sufficient growth on AYP and was identified as needing program improvement. Among the options that the Colorado Department of Education provided to Adams 14 for improvement was to invite an independent review team to the District to evaluate organizational practices. Adams 14, with support from CDE 2 , invited the Comprehensive Appraisal for District Improvement (CADI) team to review its practices in April 2008 (for more information on the CADI review see Appendix A).

During a week-long visit, the team interviewed more than 200 members of the Adams 14 community, reviewed various District information and data and visited every school to view classroom learning.

The mission of this review was to serve Adams 14, and consequently the community, staff and students, by providing data, observations and feedback relative to the current status of the District’s educational program. It was designed to help the District identify strengths and assets, needs and challenges and recommendations for planning to support ongoing improvement efforts. It was intended to be a tool that can guide the District in improving its educational practices, raising student achievement and closing existing achievement gaps. The appraisal process assessed the District in nine standards of effectiveness, consistently identified in the professional literature, relative to the District’s academic performance, learning environment and organizational effectiveness.

The appraisal team reviewed District documents and records, conducted onsite visits, and interviewed numerous staff, students, parents, members of the Board of Education and community members.

2

This Comprehensive Appraisal for District Improvement for Adams 14 was completed under a grant from the Colorado Department of Education.

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

When the report was delivered to the District, 60 members of the Adams 14 staff convened for two days to review the findings. The staff included teachers, administrators and paraprofessionals. The staff worked together to arrive at consensus on four priority areas: 1. We will develop a system that brings cohesion to our organization and: a. Reflects the mission of the District and ensures high levels of learning for all; b. Includes a plan with clear goals, actions, timelines and checks for implementation; c. Aligns budget to goals and actions; d. Aligns all curricula, including English Language Acquisition.

2. We will insist on high quality instruction in order to maximize student achievement across our organization. This means we will work closely with schools to provide quality training for teachers to be the best they can be.

3. We will establish and value a culture of collaboration in Adams 14 in order to do the necessary work in our District focused on student learning. This means we will all work together as a team to benefit the education of our students.

4. We will commit to ongoing utilization of data to inform, monitor and adjust our work. This means we will make decisions about student learning, budget, and the direction of the District based upon real facts and not opinions or perceptions.

To develop this strategic plan, Adams 14 used student achievement data, demographic data and the findings of the CADI report and the staff who reviewed it. The following sections will elucidate the strategic plan: A Framework for Success: Balanced Scorecard, The Strategy for Success, Strategic Objectives (Goals).

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Part Two: A Framework for Success (Balanced Scorecard)

Adams County School District 14 Commerce City, Colorado adams14.org

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Part Two: A Framework for Success (Balanced

Scorecard) Introduction

One critique of Adams 14 practices in the CADI report was the District’s lack of a management structure that encouraged efficient, data-driven decision making at all levels of the organization. In fact, after two days of discussion and debate in July and August 2008, the initial team that reviewed the findings from the CADI report agreed that one of the priorities of the District should be to develop a management system that brings cohesion to the organization. The group defined key components of this management structure: • • • •

Reflects the mission of the District and ensures high levels of learning for all; Includes a plan with clear goals, actions, timelines and checks for implementation; Aligns budget to goals and actions; Aligns all curricula, including English Language Acquisition.

To achieve this end, Adams 14 has chosen to borrow from management processes and tools from the private sector that are considered best practice. The framework that Adams 14 will adopt is called the Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard is a framework which translates an organization's vision and strategy into a coherent set of performance measures. Developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton (Harvard Business Review 1993), a balanced systemwide scorecard helps organizations evaluate how well they are succeeding at meeting their strategic objectives. The scorecard is intended to measure those behaviors, activities or objectives deemed most important to the overall success of the organization.

The keys to the Balanced Scorecard are vision and strategy. Vision is the desired outcome from the work of the organization. Strategy is the approach to achieving the vision. The desired outcome for Adams 14 is that "all students do learn and succeed."

The strategy of providing a high quality teacher in every classroom will be discussed in part three of this plan.

Basics of the Balanced Scorecard The Balanced Scorecard management tool is a framework to make decisions. The Balanced Scorecard is divided into four hierarchical domains or perspectives: Finance (budgeting), Learning and Growth, Internal Processes and Customer (see diagram on next page). Finance is on the bottom of the system and Customer on the top. Finance is the base of the system. Adams 14 must pay special attention to the budget and alignment of expenditures to ensure financial viability of its strategy. Finance supports the objective directly above it in the hierarchy, Learning and Growth. The Learning and Growth perspective is focused on the workforce development that is required to accomplish Adams 14’s mission. Adams 14 must align budgets to ensure that it has

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

12

dollars to pay for professional development. The professional development must be targeted and high quality to improve instruction in the classroom. And, ultimately, when instruction is effective, students will learn.

The Balanced Scorecard integrates strategic objectives so that all parts of the system are measured (by extension, no part of the system is ignored). The Balanced Scorecard illustrates codependent relationships between the parts of the system. This means that managers/administrators are more likely to recognize when a part of the system is not performing up to expectation. As a result, managers/administrators understand the implications of whether they choose to intervene to impact performance.

Diagram of the hierarchy of the Balanced Scorecard

Customer Perspective (Student Achievement)

Internal Processes (Effective Instruction)

Learning and Growth

Finance

The Balanced Scorecard has evolved from its early use as a simple performance measurement framework to a full strategic planning and management system. The new Balanced Scorecard transforms an organization’s strategic plan from an attractive, but passive document, into the marching orders for the organization on a daily basis. It is a framework that not only provides performance measurements, but it also helps planners identify what actions to take and how to measure their results. It enables executives to truly execute their strategies. 3

3

Information on the Balanced Scorecard was obtained at this website: http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Strategy Map There is a visual tool that is used to organize the Balanced Scorecard and depict the strategy of an organization. A strategy map is a diagram that describes how an organization creates value by connecting strategic objectives in explicit cause-and-effect relationships with each other across the four perspectives (customer, processes, learning and growth, financial). Strategy maps are an integral part of the Balanced Scorecard framework that describes strategies for success.

A short description of strategy maps: • All of the information is contained on one page; this enables relatively easy strategic communication.

• There are four perspectives: Customer, Internal, Learning and Growth, Financial.

• In each perspective there are three to five strategic objectives.

• The financial perspective supports learning and growth. Learning and growth supports effective teaching (internal processes perspective). Effective teaching leads to increased student achievement (customer perspective).

• Finally, cause-and-effect relationships can be described by connecting arrows vertically through the map (though this is not necessary for displaying the strategy).

The strategy map for Adams 14 is displayed on the next page. Adams 14 has three strategic objectives in each perspective.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

ADAMS1 4STRATEGY MAP

14

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

The Balanced Scorecard as a Measurement Tool You cannot improve what you cannot measure, so a key component of the Balanced Scorecard as a management system is that each strategic objective must have metrics associated with it. In other words, all parts of the system must be measured to determine what is working and what needs to be improved. A school district cannot improve by only measuring student achievement. It is too late to make midcourse corrections once student achievement data are available from summative assessments.

The Balanced Scorecard demands ongoing collection of a balanced set of measures that provide feedback on many parts of the system. The measures are frequently collected and evaluated.

The goal of making measurements is to enable administrators to see the District more clearly from various perspectives. As a result, administrators will make wiser long-term decisions. The Baldrige National Quality Program’s Education Criteria for Performance Excellence (1997) reiterates this concept of fact-based management: Modern organizations depend upon measurement and analysis of performance.

Measurements must derive from the company's strategy and provide critical data and information about key processes, outputs and results. Data and information needed for performance measurement and improvement are of many types, including: customer, product and service performance, operations, market, competitive comparisons, supplier, employee-related, and cost and financial. Analysis entails using data to determine trends, projections, and cause and effect -- that might not be evident without analysis. Data and analysis support a variety of company purposes, such as planning, reviewing company performance, improving operations, and comparing company performance with competitors' or with 'best practices' benchmarks.

A major consideration in performance improvement involves the creation and use of performance measures or indicators. Performance measures or indicators are measurable characteristics of products, services, processes, and operations an organization uses to track and improve performance. The measures or indicators should be selected to best represent the factors that lead to improved customer, operational and financial performance. A comprehensive set of measures or indicators tied to school district performance requirements represents a clear basis for aligning all activities with the district’s goals. Through the analysis of data from the tracking processes, the measures or indicators themselves may be evaluated and changed to better support such goals.

In the coming sections, each strategic objective will be described. Before outlining the strategic initiatives, performance measurements are introduced. In the Balanced Scorecard system, measures are described after the strategic objective is identified, but before the initiatives have been outlined. Adams 14 is proposing actions that will move the measures.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

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Part Three: The Strategy For Success

Adams County School District 14 Commerce City, Colorado adams14.org

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Part Three: The Strategy for Success David Collis and Michael Rukstad reported in a spring 2008 Harvard Business Review article that few managers in organizations can state the strategy that is being pursued for success. Collis and Rukstad reported that the lack of agreement or understanding of organizational strategy results in misalignment, miscommunication and inefficiency. The inability of an organization’s leadership to clearly state its strategy for success leads to the inability of the organization to follow through on its goals and objectives.

Successful school districts must adopt a strategy that includes an objective, scope and an advantage to their students. The objective portion of the strategy describes the end goal of the organization. This objective must be specific, measurable and time bound to be sufficiently descriptive. The second requirement of the strategy statement is to define the scope. The scope must include who is being targeted for success, and where these personnel are located. The final element of the strategy is to define how this strategy gives the organization an advantage. Adams 14 faces little direct competition for students, so the advantage does not necessarily serve the purpose of drawing new customers, but instead reminds the participants in the system where we need to focus our resources and energy to guarantee success for our current customer base.

Adams 14’s strategy is stated as follows: to improve student achievement so that 80 percent of students assessed will be on grade level by 2014 by ensuring that each classroom has a dynamic, standards-based teacher who provides powerful 21st century learning experiences to all students.

(Key terms are defined in more detail in Appendix A) Organizational direction for Adams 14 comes from a variety of places. The diagram below shows the hierarchy of guiding statements. Moving down the hierarchy from mission statement to strategic objectives, the statements become increasingly concrete, practical and ultimately unique (Collis and Rukstad 2008). In other words, no other school district should have the same strategy statement as Adams 14. Additionally the strategic objectives (or the way of achieving the strategy) should be specific to meet the needs of Adams 14.

Mission Why does Adams 14 exist?

Vision What does Adams 14 want to be?

Strategy What is Adams 14’s game plan for being successful?

Strategic Objectives How will Adams 14 implement its strategy?

In the next section the strategic objectives will be detailed.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

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Part Four: Strategic Objectives (Goals)

Adams County School District 14 Commerce City, Colorado adams14.org

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Part Four: Strategic Objectives (Goals) Successful organizations focus on strategy to achieve outcomes. With the Balanced Scorecard, all parts of the system (finance, learning and growth, internal processes and customer) are actively managed and measured because they are codependent. However, the ultimate goal is to fulfill the objectives near the top of the strategy map – in this case, student achievement.

In this section, the strategic objectives will be outlined. In addition, the specific activities planned to achieve each objective will be discussed. This section will be organized in the same format as the Balanced Scorecard and strategy map. First, the objectives related to customer perspective (or student achievement) will be described, followed by objectives for internal processes (or effective instruction), learning and growth and finance. The health of the financial perspective is vital to supporting learning and growth, which supports internal processes, which supports student achievement.

The customer perspective The bold mission of Adams 14 requires that the District works in partnership with the community to ensure that all students are successful in the 21st century. The mission is student focused, which means that the customer perspective must also be focused on the students of Adams 14. Adams 14 has selected three strategic objectives that are focused on students: (1) increase student achievement (as measured by a variety of standardized metrics), (2) increase satisfaction of students (their families and the community surrounding them) and (3) improve the quality of the student products created in the District.

To achieve these strategic objectives, Adams 14 staff, students and families must dramatically increase expectations and rigor for all students. The CADI report made it abundantly clear that a culture of high expectations was not pervasive in Adams 14 schools. The District must set high expectations, communicate these expectations to all stakeholders (teachers, students, families and the community), and increase these expectations over time.

In this section, the objectives and associated measures, the strategies for impacting these measures and the time frame for implementing these strategies will be explored.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Objective #1: Increase student achievement

4

•

Increase the percent of Adequate Yearly Progress indicators achieved from 74 percent to 85 percent by 2009, and 90 percent by 2010 and for subsequent years.

•

Raise proportion of students attaining proficient or advanced on CSAP to exceed 50 percent by 2012 and 60 percent by 2014. 4,5

•

Raise the proportion of K-2 students achieving benchmark on DIBELS to 75 percent by 2010 and for subsequent years. 6

•

All growth percentiles in all subject areas (reading, math, writing) at all levels (elementary, middle and high school) will meet or exceed the 50th percentile. 7

•

By 2010, Adams 14 average Colorado ACT scores will exceed 16. By 2012, Adams 14 average Colorado ACT scores will exceed 17.

•

Adams 14 graduation rate (excluding alternative schools) will exceed 60 percent by 2010. Adams 14 graduation rate will exceed 63 percent by 2012. Adams 14 graduation rate will exceed 65 percent by 2014.

•

Adams 14 dropout rate (excluding alternative schools) will be reduced to nine percent by 2010. Adams 14 dropout rate will be reduced to seven percent by 2014.

•

Adams 14 will maintain ethnic and economic achievement gaps of less than 10 percent on all CSAP assessments. Adams 14 will maintain growth gaps below five percentile points on all CSAP tests.

•

65 percent of students continuously enrolled in the District for one year will make progress on the CELA proficiency assessment (English Language Learners only).

•

25 percent of students taking CELA will score 4.5 or higher (Full English Proficiency). Only those students that scored a 4.0 or higher in the previous year or have scored greater than 4.5 in year two are included in this calculation.

•

75 percent of students in grades K-2 will be benchmark on DIBELs at the end of the year.

In 2010, 32 percent of Adams 14 students achieved proficient or advanced on CSAP. By raising overall CSAP scores in the District, the District should receive increased accreditation points for CSAP status.

6 In winter 2010, 55 percent of Adams 14 students in grades K-2 were at benchmark on DIBELs. 7 In 2010 Adams 14 reached two of nine targets for growth.

5

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #1 Strategic Initiative: Implement the grade level essential targets (GLETs) aligned with state standards and including appropriate rigor to clearly define proficiency across content and grade levels.

In the fall of 2004, Adams 14 launched an initiative to develop a guaranteed and viable curriculum. The first step in the process of developing this curriculum has been to identify power standards, which are the essential parts of the Colorado State Standards that each student must know and are reasonable to teach in a school year. The first step identified the grade level essential targets or GLETs for core content areas in grades three through 10. GLETs have been expanded to other grades, and the District curriculum reflects appropriate proficiency levels for preschool through grade 12.

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Implement research-based practices for high quality teaching in every Adams 14 classroom.

Adams 14 has adopted West Ed’s Teach for Success (T4S) classroom practices for all teachers. The practices include three main elements: aligning instruction to the District curriculum and GLETs; gradually releasing responsibility for learning to students through I Do, We Do, You Do and small group instruction; and making engagement in learning mandatory for all students.

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Implement 90 minute elementary school reading block.

Adams 14 has adopted the Consortium on Reading Excellence (CORE) practices for reading instruction. This is a defined approach that addresses the five components of reading in condensed segments within a 90 minute block.

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Develop and implement a comprehensive plan to adequately support academic growth of English Language Learners.

Adams 14 has adopted the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) model. The model includes guidelines for use of native language support in the classroom, professional development strategies for supporting English language development (ELD) and for sheltered English instruction.

Timeline: fall 2009

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Strategic Initiative: Develop and implement a standards-based report card.

To more effectively communicate student learning and gaps in learning, Adams 14 will adopt a standards-based progress reporting system. Changing the grading and reporting system requires changes in philosophy, procedures and communication. This process will require significant coordination between schools and District administration to be successful.

Timeline: fall 2013 Strategic Initiative: Develop and implement a dropout prevention plan.

Adams 14’s annual dropout rate has consistently hovered around 10 percent. This strategic initiative will include: • Developing a dropout prevention committee representing both high schools and central administration; • Launching a research project that deeply examines the Adams 14 dropout data; and • Launching a multi-tiered dropout prevention program.

Timeline: fall 2009

Objective #2: Increase student, family, and community satisfaction •

Students in grades K-12 will be surveyed annually, and 80 percent will report that they are satisfied with their education.

•

Districtwide student attendance rate will exceed 92 percent.

•

85 percent of outgoing seniors will report they received a high quality education.

•

80 percent of parents will respond on the annual survey that they agree with the following statement, “Overall, the school performs well academically.”

•

80 percent of parents will respond on the annual survey that they agree with the following statement, “The school expects quality work of the students.”

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #2 Strategic Initiative: Develop and implement an effective parent liaison program.

The parent liaison program will include:

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

• • •

Developing clear expectations for parents and schools; Support around homework and achievement; and Outreach and training on rights and responsibilities of parents.

Timeline: summer 2010 Strategic Initiative: Create a school safety task force to analyze issues and responses.

This task force would address issues related to parent perceptions about safety.

Objective #3: Improve student products •

80 percent of student work assessed will be proficient or advanced as measured by a rubric for high quality, proficient products in school.

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #3 Strategic Initiative: Develop a systemic process to evaluate student work using rubrics that are based on proficiency. Part of this system will include an online bank of exemplars for student work by grade level.

Student Products are specifically isolated because it is believed that in the 21st Century it is no longer sufficient for school districts to teach students to read, write and solve math problems in the traditional sense. Adams 14 must increase its expectations to engage students in creating products that are real world and represent skills and proficiencies that are required to be successful in the 21st Century (e.g. critical thinking, collaboration, communication). The efficient and effective use of technology for teaching and learning is a vital component in improving student products.

Timeline: fall 2011

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

The internal processes perspective Organizations that use the Balanced Scorecard generally adopt one of three approaches to improving their internal processes: (1) excellence, (2) customer choice or (3) niche offerings. Excellence refers to those organizations that focus energy on being great at one or two core practices. Districts that focus on excellence are usually concerned with only one thing: great instruction. Districts focused on customer choice are those that try to meet any of the potential desires of their community. An example of a district that has focused on customer choice is Mapleton, the neighboring district to the west of Adams 14. Mapleton has nearly 20 small schools offering almost any grade configuration and a variety of educational programs. Education organizations that are focused on niche offerings most frequently arise in the charter school movement. Frequently charter schools develop as a response to specific educational needs of a small subset of the community.

Adams 14 is focused on a strategy of excellent, effective instruction.

The objectives in this section are designed to respond directly to the findings of the CADI report.

Objective #4: Increase quality instructional practices •

80 percent of teachers will align their instruction to the GLETs and display an appropriate lesson objective during the 2009-10 school year 8 . By the end of 2013-14, 95 percent of teachers observed will show evidence of these practices.

•

80 percent of teachers will direct more than 85 percent of their students to be engaged in academic learning in their classroom by the end of the 2010-11 school year. By 2013-14, 100 percent of teachers will show evidence of these practices.

•

60 percent of teachers will make engagement mandatory for all students by the end of the 2010-11 school year. By 2013-14, 90 percent of teachers will show evidence of these practices.

•

95 percent of teaching positions will be filled on first day of classes.

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #4 Strategic Initiative: Create a high quality teacher resource center.

8

Measured by walk throughs. The base rate from 2007-08 is 43 percent of teachers observed in the paced curriculum.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Adams 14 believes that high quality teaching is more important than any program. Thus, the District will launch an initiative to define and communicate the key characteristics of a high quality teacher. The resource center will include: • Research-based practices for teaching the Adams 14 way; • Adams 14 curriculum documents and lesson planning tools; • Rubrics and exemplars to define proficiency; • A series of videos that show examples of classroom effectiveness; and • An online data warehouse for teachers to access student data to inform their instruction.

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Refine and evaluate the rigor of the Adams 14 curriculum by defining quality instructional practices. Develop methods for measuring when quality instructional practices are implemented. The definition of quality instructional practice must reflect high expectations for all students and teachers.

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Develop an induction plan that reflects the need for effective standards-based instruction.

Induction is a vital part of joining the culture and being exposed to the expectations of teachers in Adams 14. The induction program must be realigned to focus on developing teacher understanding of quality instructional practices. For the induction program to be successful, it must be paired with the development of a mentoring program.

Induction includes up to 10 days of District-led professional development. Adams 14 must guarantee that the practices taught are research-based and aligned with the behaviors expected of high quality teachers.

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Develop a mentoring program for new teachers and a program for enhancing the skills and abilities of veteran teachers.

Novice teachers in Adams 14 need a safety net and sounding board. A formal mentoring program that includes one-on-one mentoring, ongoing training and the sharing of best practices will be implemented.

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Develop a teacher and administrator leadership program that addresses the core competencies necessary to lead change in a standards-based system.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Research by Robert Marzano, Michael Fullan and others has shown that effective school leadership has a significant impact on overall student achievement. Adams 14 must launch a leadership training initiative that includes the following components: • A focus on principals as instructional leaders (leading change to more effective instruction, collaborative culture, data-driven discussion); • The opportunity for teachers to be trained as building leaders; • Effective monitoring, evaluating and coaching of classroom teachers; • Knowledge of curriculum and instruction; • Knowledge of data-driven decision making.

Timeline: summer 2010

Objective #5: Increase use of data to inform instruction •

On annual surveys, 90 percent of certified staff will agree or strongly agree with the following statement: “I incorporate the use of student achievement data into lesson planning.” 9 On the 2009 annual survey, 50 percent of certified teachers will strongly agree with this statement. 10 By 2012, 65 percent of teachers will strongly agree with this statement.

•

80 percent of certified staff will log in and use Test Analysis And Tracking (TAAT) at least three times annually.

•

In 50 percent of classroom observations, the use of informal assessment and data will be apparent.

•

On annual surveys, 80 percent of certified K-5 staff will agree or strongly agree with the following statement: “I use DIBELS assessment data to meet my students’ instructional needs.”

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #5 Strategic Initiative: Develop a data-driven component of the high quality teacher resource center. This center will include the following: • A protocol for data dialogue and data-driven decision making; and • Tips and tools for implementing data-driven classroom instruction, including practical classroom suggestions that get results.

Timeline: fall 2010

9

Currently 92 percent of certified teachers agree or strongly agree with this statement.

Currently 39 percent of teachers strongly agree with this statement.

10

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Strategic Initiative: Provide professional development on effective use of data. This professional development will include two foci: • Using the data that are readily available (e.g. CSAP, MAP, CELA, DIBELs, common assessments from Galileo); and • Fluidly checking for understanding and providing students immediate feedback.

Timeline: fall 2010 Strategic Initiative: Improve the quality of the data systems. The District data system (TAAT) should include more data sources (CELA, DIBELs, common assessments).

Currently data are spread across multiple systems (Infinite Campus, University of Oregon and TAAT). This leads to inefficiency and frustration when educators attempt to access and use information. The expanded TAAT system will become the one stop shop for accessing student achievement data.

Timeline: spring 2010 Strategic Initiative: Audit the assessments currently administered in schools.

Provide more comprehensive K-2 assessments that allow effect size calculations and other uses.

Timeline: spring 2009

Objective #6: Increase collaboration •

100 percent of certified teachers will be part of a collaborative school team with SMART goals based on school accreditation plans.

•

65 percent of teams will be rated as highly effective on a collaboration rubric.

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75 percent of certified teachers self-assess that they have collaborated with another teacher on how to teach a particular topic.

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #6 Strategic Initiative: Define team collaboration within schools and across the District, and provide consistent time structures and expectations for collaboration. To clearly define collaboration the District will develop: • Rubric; • Common language; • Collaboration protocols;

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

• •

Accountability measures; and Lesson planning tools (engagement, fluid and flexible grouping).

Timeline: spring 2010

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

The learning and growth perspective The purpose of learning and growth is to develop objectives that support the internal process perspective. In other words, provide staff development to ensure Adams 14 has data-driven, collaborative and effective teachers.

Objective #7: Improve quality and alignment of professional development •

100 percent of certified teaching staff will complete a professional growth plan that is aligned with the school improvement plan as part of the District evaluation process.

•

85 percent of certified staff will agree with the following statement: “Professional development activities are clearly based upon student achievement data and documented need.” 11 In addition, Adams 14 will increase the rate of the certified teachers that strongly agree to 25 percent.

•

85 percent of certified staff will agree with the following statement: “Professional development activities this year have resulted in changes in my teaching strategies with children.” 12 In addition, Adams 14 will increase the rate of certified teachers that strongly agree to 25 percent.

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85 percent of certified staff will respond that the majority of the professional development they received during the school year was aligned with the strategic objectives of Adams 14. 13

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90 percent of the professional development budget will be expended directly on professional development that addresses one of the three strategic objectives in the learning and growth perspective.

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #7 Strategic Initiative: Develop a long-range professional development plan (three to five years) that aligns with the strategic plan and allows for differentiation for teacher need. The professional development plan will address the needs of certified teachers, paraprofessionals and school leaders.

Timeline: fall 2010

11

Currently 61 percent of certified teachers agree with this statement.

Currently 72 percent of certified teachers agree with this statement.

13 Currently 80 percent of certified teachers agree with this statement.

12

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Strategic Initiative: Develop a set of monitoring tools that accompany each professional development so building leaders can assess the impact on teacher behavior.

Objective #8: Increase staff satisfaction •

Adams 14 will increase retention rate to 90 percent for certified employees that have the option to remain. 14

•

Annual attendance rate for staff will exceed 95 percent. 15,16

•

Adams 14 will increase the staff satisfaction rate to 90 percent. 17

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #8 Strategic Initiative: Develop a mentoring plan for new staff (teachers, administrators, classified) to instill characteristics of high quality for their position (outlined earlier).

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Develop and implement a leadership training program for teachers and administrators (outlined earlier).

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Develop and implement a long-range teacher recruitment and retention plan. The plan will focus on developing strong university partnerships, attracting experienced teachers and expanding recruitment efforts beyond the Denver metro area to increase the Adams 14 competitive advantage.

Timeline: fall 2009

Objective #9: Improve communication •

14

75 percent of Adams 14 instructional staff will agree with the following statement: “I receive support from the District leadership.” 18

Retention rate for 2010 was 82 percent.

Attendance rate for 2010 was 95 percent.

16 Sick leave and personal leave are considered non-attendance.

17 No current reference data.

18 Currently 49 percent of instructional staff agree with this statement.

15

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

•

75 percent of Adams 14 instructional staff will agree with the following statement: “There is clear communication from District leadership.”19

•

35 percent of instructional staff will select District publications in response to the following question: “Where do you get the majority of your information regarding Adams County School District 14?”20

•

Website hits will exceed 200,000 unique visitors.

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #9 Strategic Initiative: Develop a communications plan based on a communications audit.

Focus of the communications plan is to (1) reduce the sources of information to a few (e.g. email from Superintendent, website), (2) identify successful methods for communicating information to parents and the community and (3) to create a more transparent method for communicating decisions.

Timeline: spring 2011 Strategic Initiative: Create and distribute parent-friendly curriculum information.

Providing parents a general outline of what their child will learn during a school year is a vital step to increasing the value of parental involvement that is specifically related to student academic outcomes.

Timeline: fall 2010

19

Currently 39 percent of instructional staff agree with this statement.

Currently 66 percent of instructional staff selected district publications while 36 percent selected word of mouth.

20

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

The financial perspective The financial perspective is the foundation for success across the entire system. Too often public schools, government organizations and nonprofits ignore the vital role that finance plays in ensuring their mission success. Sub-standard financial management can result in the inability to support professional development, which reduces Adams 14’s ability to develop teachers, which can have a significant impact on student achievement.

Close alignment of the budget with the strategic objectives is necessary for the organization to be successful. Continuous monitoring of the strategic objectives in the financial perspective is necessary to guarantee the overall health of the organization.

Objective #10: Manage costs •

Expenditures will not exceed board approved appropriations.

•

75 percent of discretionary funds at each school will be encumbered by January 31 each year.

•

Reduce energy consumption (electricity and gas) by at least two percent annually.

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60 percent of revenue will be allocated to direct classroom instruction.

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #10 Strategic Initiative: Implement a comprehensive program evaluation initiative to determine the return on investment (ROI) for education programs in Adams 14.

Program evaluation is used by effective organizations to determine whether behaviors (or activities) are producing results. By implementing comprehensive program evaluation across the District, Adams 14 will eliminate the programs that are costing the District more money than they are worth and retain programs that are effective. In addition, the program evaluation initiative would require any newly proposed program to have an effective evaluation component.

Timeline: spring 2009 Strategic Initiative: Implement a Districtwide energy conservation program.

With energy prices increasing and district budgets tightening, it is essential that schools are conserving energy. For energy conservation programs to be successful, most employees need to make a concerted effort. This program will include: • Public celebration of schools that reduce consumption; • Effective communication with all staff regarding the benefits of saving energy.

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Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Timeline: fall 2009 Strategic Initiative: Reorganize District staff to meet the objectives of the strategic plan. The purpose of this initiative is to eliminate redundancy, which will result in cost savings.

Timeline: spring 2009

Objective #11: Increase revenue •

Obtain $1,500,000 in non-entitlement grants/donations that align with the three strategic objectives in the effective instruction perspective.

•

Reduce the net number of students living in the District who enroll in schools outside of Adams 14 by three percent annually.

•

Increase annual income from rebate and advertising programs by one percent.

Strategies for attaining strategic objective #11 Strategic Initiative: Create a position for a grants and communications specialist. This employee will be tasked with raising dollars to support the strategic initiatives outlined in this plan, before- and after-school funding, and organizing and consolidating all appeals for outside funding.

33

Adams 14 Strategic Plan

Appendix: Strategy Terms Defined Adams 14’s strategy is stated as follows: to improve student achievement so that 80 percent of students assessed will be on grade level by 2014 by ensuring that each classroom has a dynamic, standards-based teacher who provides powerful 21st century learning experiences to all students.

Student achievement: measured by state tests in grades three through 10 for reading, math, and writing; in grades five, eight and 10 for science; by ACT scores in grade 11; and by DIBELS in kindergarten through grade two. Adams 14 recognizes the need to include a wide variety of assessments during a student's academic career, including presentations, creation of products, and other innovative methods for demonstrating understanding of class content. The District encourages teachers to experiment with innovative methods for assessing student knowledge, because the outcome will still result in increased student achievement on state and local assessments.

80 percent: this percentage was chosen arbitrarily as a stretch goal. Achieving this goal will result in more than doubling the District’s current benchmark of CSAP performance (approximately 34 percent). Adams 14 believes that the community of teachers, students, parents, administrators, and businesses can work together to achieve this lofty goal.

Assessed: assessments include DIBELS, CSAP, ACT and other measures.

Grade level: grade level is set by the outside assessment providers. Adams 14 believes that proficient on CSAP is a reasonable target. This standard meets public expectations. Proficient is set by teachers working with the test vendor, which means the cut scores are determined by teachers who are familiar with student ability for a certain grade.

2014: arbitrary date that affords the District five years to achieve the goal.

Dynamic: having the ability to effectively engage students in classroom learning by creating energy, action and motivation.

Standards-based: reform-oriented, drawing on instructional reforms that are rooted in constructivist ideas about learning, including student-centered pedagogy, active learning, and cooperative grouping structures. (McREL, (2005). McREL Insights - Standards-based Education: Putting Research into Practice).

Powerful 21st century learning experiences: experiences that develop 21st century skills in students. 21st century skills include life and career skills (flexibility, initiative, leadership and responsibility), learning and innovation skills (creativity, communication and critical thinking), and information, media and technology skills (information and media literacy). (The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=11 9) All students: Adams 14 is committed to providing a powerful learning environment, regardless of a student’s ability or potential to reach proficiency. As a result, some students may require interventions and intense close work to advance in achievement levels. All students benefit from a high quality teacher, which is the foundation of this strategy.

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