GCSC | Strategy Plan by Net Ninja

Table of Contents Courageous Plan to Transform Gary Community Schools Overview  Systemic Change …………………………………………………………………………………… Page 2  Creating Conditions for Success …………………………………………..……………….. Page 10  The Transformational Transition Plan ………………………………………………..…. Page 12 Action Plan ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Page 15 Goal 1: Academic Improvement ………………………………………………………………………. Page 17 Goal 2: Transforming Human Resource …………………………………………………………….. Page 39 Goal 3: Transform the Communication …………………………………………………………….. Page 42 Goal 4: Transform the Culture and Climate ………………………………………..……………. Page 52 Goal 5: Transform Business Services …………………………………………………………………. Page 72 Accomplishments 2012 – 2014 …………………………………………………………………………. Page 73 Monitoring of Systemic Transformation Plan ……………………………………………………. Page 84 30/60/90 Day Plan …………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 100 Flow Charts  Transformation Zone  Student Achievement and Learning  Transforming Curriculum and Instruction

Gary Community School Corporation Systemic Change Courageous Plan to Transform Gary Community Schools (CP2T) The Gary Community School Corporation is committed to doing what is best for students – today, tomorrow and everyday! Our vision is to ensure that the Gary Community School Corporation becomes the premiere educational system competitively preparing our youth for ventures in higher education and employment opportunities; with necessary life skills in a uniformed, safe, secure, orderly, modern and state-of-the-art learning environment. Our work is centered on the following beliefs:    

Educating students is vital to the sustainability and growth of the community. Educational excellence and opportunity require committed students, teachers, administrators, parents, and school board members. Mutual respect and support is expected from teachers, staff, administrators, and students. Learning occurs best in a safe, orderly and secure environment.

In order to ensure that the Gary Community School Corporation is strategically positioned to become a premiere educational system that competitively prepares youth for ventures in higher education and employment opportunities the superintendent pulled together a committee of school personnel, community and business leaders and individuals from local universities to begin developing a 5-year strategic plan. The primary charge of this strategic committee was to develop a plan that would facilitate the corporation’s engagement in practices that would equip students with the necessary life skills that foster college and career readiness in a state-of-the-art learning environment. Hence, the Gary Community School Corporation is committed to doing what is best for students today, tomorrow, everyday. Beginning in October of 2013, representatives from the following organizations and institutions were invited to begin to design a framework to meet the charge of the superintendent. Those invited to the inaugural meeting were: GCSC students, parents, teachers, administrators, staff and members of the Board of Trustees; representatives from Calumet College of St Joseph, Indiana University Northwest, Ivy Tech Community College, Northern Illinois University, Purdue University Calumet, University of Chicago and Valparaiso University; representatives from local businesses and organizations: ARISE Gary, Centier, First Midwest and Peoples Bank, Gary Chamber of Commerce, Hayward and Fleming Associates-Risk Management, Times Media Corporation, Teach for America, Gary Youth Services Bureau, City of Gary Workforce Development and the Gary Local 4 AFT Teachers Union. Since that time a plan was created and will be presented to the board of school trustees. I am requesting that the state Superintendent refrain from any further actions that will impact our district negatively. Page |2

To create the conditions for great schools to thrive, we must reinvent how GCSC operates. We seek approval of a 5-year transformation plan, which will include the following, to provide stability and capacity for the district:    

Financial Improvement Plan Talent Management Improvement Plan Education Improvement Plan Return of Gary Roosevelt to the District

We have seen the evidence of what has happened when we provide fragmented and top-down support. The result has not been good for our children or community. It is imperative that we use all dollars to support the children and our efforts. We request the state board to provide the funding to support this effort without taking additional dollars from the district. We also request that this plan is grandfathered into the legislation so that there is consistency and stability for 5-consecutive years. We further request that all schools remain and/or return to the Gary Community School Corporation upon the 2015-16 school year. The IDOE has already taken $2.5 million and seeks to do so for the next 3 years under the “high-risk designation”. We request that we revisit how those dollars are spent and local control be granted. If warranted, the IDOE may appoint a person to serve as the liaison for oversight of our Title 1 dollars. The administration does not believe this is a positive intervention and hope we can learn from our mistakes as continuing in this direction will further chasten the achievement gap for the students of this community. We ask that collectively a set of benchmarks be created for the 5-year period for the district to meet as a mechanism for monitoring progress. The Case For A Comprehensive District Transformational Model On September 22, 2014, the Gary Community School Corporation (the “GCSC” or the “School District”) and EdisonLearning, Inc. (“EdisonLearning”) jointly recommended to the Turnaround Commission of the Indiana State Board of Education that the Turnaround Operator Agreement between EdisonLearning and the State Board of Education be amended to include the GCSC as a party. The GCSC and EdisonLearning alternatively sought to enter into a memorandum of understanding, which would: (a) establish EdisonLearning as the School District’s “Lead District Transformational Partner,” (b) align our objectives and develop more innovative and operationally efficient solutions that would address the needs of the entire School District, (c) return of Gary Roosevelt to GCSC and (d) leave Dunbar-Pulaski to proceed as part of the Transformation. Our joint case for a more comprehensive district Transformational model was built upon the following:     

Local control. Total student enrollment in the School District continues to decline. Students from fragile families comprise the fastest growing demographic. Only 12.6% of the community that is 25+ years of age has a Bachelor’s degree. If the IDOE’s next generation assessment test measures career and college readiness, then all scores are likely to decline by 20-40 percentage points. Page |3

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Opportunity to pull all resources together to focus on the system in a collaborative manner instead of pushing various educational efforts that divide the education system to stop the decline. Positive enforcement. EdisonLearning’s work at Roosevelt High School has led to some improvements. However, the GCSC has made a promise to its students and community to ensure that every student enrolled in the GCSC will have a 21st century education and graduate college and career ready.

GCSC made a substantially similar case to the Indiana Department of Education (“IDOE”) one week prior to the meeting with the Turnaround Commission. Since that time, both the Turnaround Commission and the IDOE have made their own recommendations, either directly or using third parties, with respect to the turnaround approach for the GCSC. However, it remains the view of the GCSC that the approach in this proposal is more comprehensive, realistic and sustainable. For the past two years the Gary district superintendent has made several requests for support, which include in the following: Request for flexibility on Title 1 funds. Reason: District finances cannot allow for reimbursement. Updated systems and training needed. Result: High risk designation and the appearance of a department takeover of the district funds. A parallel group is being formed to oversee the district Title 1. Request to restart Dunbar-Pulaski Middle School. Reason: District followed written guidelines to restart school according to department’s requirements. Result: No written correspondence received by GCSC. However, it is apparent that the submission was not taken into consideration. Request to assist with the disagreements between GCSC and EdisonLearning. Reason: Roles and responsibility were not defined in contract between EdisonLearning, and the Gary Community School Corporation Result: Negative feedback, court appearances and separation within the community. The Department never stepped in to resolve concerns. The district superintendent and Thom Jackson took steps to resolve issues regardless of contract. Request for additional financial support for various reasons including deficit, skill acquisition, etc. Reason: District is in debt. Result: District closed Webster, Brunswick, Lincoln, Boys Academy (building) and Lew Wallace. District and teachers agreed upon a new collective bargaining agreement and teacher evaluation model. Additional reductions have been made in personnel and employees with further reductions through attrition. No financial supports from the department to resolve current gaps have been granted. The department has taken $2.6 million to hire new staff to “support” the district. These individuals do not report to the district administration but to the state. The administration is not involved in the hiring and thus local control is being diminished. Page |4

EdisonLearning is willing to perform the collaborative services detailed in this summary proposal at a fee that recovers its actual costs, but also shares accountability with the School District for achieving the projected academic, financial and operational results. The strategic plan committee began to do its due diligence in assessing the needs and challenges of the school corporation. Barriers, opportunities for improvement, best practices and collaborations for partnerships were identified that could be utilized in developing a strategic plan that would facilitate the school corporation returning to a premiere urban learning institution.

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As a result of the due diligence process the following goals have been developed as a guidepost that will allow for the entire school corporation to begin making strategic decisions. 

Goal 1: Academic Improvement - Provide a coherent, horizontally vertically aligned curriculum that enables all students to fulfill local, state and national assessments and to meet the individual needs of all students. Provide cradle to college support and transition.

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Goal 2: Transforming Human Resource Needs And Sustain Organizational Infrastructure— To employ staff that will be held accountable for achieving the educational standards established for our students. Skill Acquisition.

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Goal 3: Transform the Communication To Inform, Engage, And Connect All Inform, engage and connect all citizens in the successful implementation of this co-owned strategic plan.

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Goal 4: Transform the Culture and Climate Both Internally And Externally—Create a sustainable, positive school climate that fosters youth development, learning and builds trusting relationships at all levels.

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Goal 5: Transform Business Services—Gary Community Schools Corporation will be responsible stewards of public funds and resources by ensuring ongoing fiscal stability while effectively and efficiently utilizing resources to achieve the districts mission.

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Research suggest that Great Schools Share a Set of Core Conditions that Enable Them to Help All Students Achieve  Schools have the freedom to build and manage their own teams, create their own culture, focus resources on student needs, and empower teachers to innovate in the classroom.  Schools are accountable for results. If they don’t perform, they are closed.  As schools of choice, they empower parents and therefore have to effectively meet families’ needs to stay open. But GCSC Doesn’t Create These Conditions For Its Schools: 1. Most principals have little say over who is on their team, limiting their ability to build the right school culture. 2. Most teachers are fed a top-down, standardized curriculum. 3. Most schools aren’t held meaningfully accountable by the district for improving student achievement 4. Most students are stuck going to poor-performing schools, with few high-quality transfer options. We must confront the truth: The system needs to be transformed. GCSC has had every “educational reform and group” to make a change. We would like the local educational authority to lead this effort. Much of the best work happens only when talented educators find a way to work around the bureaucracy.

“Public education in the large urban areas in the united States has failed. This is a somewhat heretical thing for a schools Chancellor to say. But if we are not going to be candid, I don’t think we can take the kind of steps we need to make the necessary changes.” -Former NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein

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What We Know Taken in part from Mind Trust and Chicago Public Schools Transformation Models | Created Fall 2012

Generations of skilled leaders and educators have done their best to fix broken urban school systems in Indiana and around the country. Gary Community School Corporation has invested tens of millions of dollars in “reform.” Yet our kids are still stuck in a system that produces appalling results. GCSC has made some recent progress in the past few years, a National Blue Ribbon School, GenderBased Academies, New Tech High School, more course offerings at Career Center and early Childhood Development, but it still has not come close to meeting its 2010 goals. Even if GCSC could sustain this progress, it would take many years — and in some cases decades — for the district to reach those benchmarks. It would be one thing if it were impossible to deliver excellent education to urban, high-poverty students. But a growing number of schools — in around the country — are achieving remarkable success with students just like ours. GCSC is making progress, but still falls well short of its goals and state average. Later is this document we will identify the progress we have made in the last two years. The Gary Community School Corporation (GCSC) is committed to its vision and mission to become the highest performing urban district in the country. It is proposed that GCSC adopt a strategy to cluster and transform the schools that are currently Focus and Priority Schools per 2012-2013 PL221 designations. This cluster of schools (COS) would be vertically aligned academically through school levels. Working collaboratively to develop and to work within a 21st century educational structure, GCSC intends to design and implement “Transformation Zone” (TZ) for the COS and a strategy to build upon this framework and accelerate student achievement gains across the school corporation. Under the direction of the Superintendent, this project will create the conditions to expand the principles of the TZ framework in a sustainable and scalable fashion, promoting system-wide improvement while providing targeted support for the lowest-achieving schools in the COS. As a newly created division of GCSC central office, the Office of Innovation and Improvement will design and deliver innovative, flexible structures and services that are responsive to school-site needs in order to drive dramatic, transformational improvement in student achievement. This group is tasked with developing the strategic plans for COS schools as it relates to instruction and data while also developing the capacity of the school corporation’s COS principals in these functional areas.

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GARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL GRADE School

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

Benjamin Banneker Achievement Center Frankie W. McCullough Elementary School New Tech High School Glen Park Academy For Excellence In Learning Jacques Marquette Elementary School Bailly Middle School Beveridge Elementary School Jefferson Elementary School Williams Elementary School William A. Wirt/Emerson V.P.A. Academy Dr. Bernard C. Watson Elementary School Dunbar-Pulaski Middle School West Side Leadership Academy Mary McLeod Bethune Early Childhood Development Center Gary Area Career Center

A A F D F C F F A C C F D NA

A A D C F D F F F D F F F NA

A C NA C F D F F

B A NA C A C F D

A A NA C A F C F

A D NA F D CLOSED F F

D F F F NA

D F F NA

F F F NA

C C F C NA

Transformation Zone (TZ6) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Marquette, Beveridge, Jefferson, Watson, Dunbar-Pulaski and West Side Leadership Academy.

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CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS To create the conditions for great schools to thrive, we must reinvent how GCSC operates. We seek approval of a 5-year transformation plan, which will include the following, to provide stability and capacity for the district:   

Financial Improvement Plan Talent Management Improvement Plan Education Improvement Plan

Instead of the central administration making all the important decisions from the top down, we recommend that GCSC: 

Pay for 4-year-olds to attend a quality pre-kindergarten program so they can start building the skills they need to be successful students.

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Give schools with skilled leadership teams control over staffing, budgets, culture, curriculum, and services — as long as their schools meet and sustain high performance goals.

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Invest up to $1 million a year to attract and train the next generation of great principals and teachers ... and start great new schools.

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Empower parents with many more good choices—in neighborhood schools or across the city if that’s what would best serve the individual needs of their children.

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Give great teachers more say in what gets taught and how—and pay them more for achieving great results.

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Invest in a major effort to turn around struggling schools—and replace chronically failing programs with schools we know can succeed.

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Unite all public schools (traditional district, and public charters) under a single banner of quality: Schools of Excellence.

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We call them Schools Of Excellence because that’s exactly what they offer: a unique opportunity to transform GCSC, the lives of our children, and our city’s future. What are Schools of Excellence? Today’s public school landscape is confusing; the labels “traditional district,” “magnet,” and “charter” schools don’t mean much to the public and none suggests quality. They are legal designations. By creating a unified designation for all high- quality public schools within the GCSC boundaries, we would be sending a strong signal that the only thing that matters is educational excellence — no matter what kind of school it is. Schools of Excellence would be given freedom over staffing, budgets, culture, and curriculum, as long as they continue to meet very high standards. Over time, all schools in GCSC would become Schools of Excellence. Excellent existing schools would become Schools of Excellence immediately following a planning year. Poor performing schools would be given support to improve and seek Opportunity status. And new leadership and new school models would replace persistently failing programs. EVERYONE BENEFITS  Students: Better prepared for college, careers, life ... with higher earnings, lower incarceration rates, better health, and more voting and volunteering.  Teachers: More say on instruction, more opportunities to start their own schools, and potential for higher pay.  Principals: Much less red tape and the freedom to lead their schools.  Parents: Many more quality school choices.  All Citizens: Stronger community, higher property values, and more taxpayer accountability.

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THE TRANSFORMATIONAL TRANSITION PLAN Sweeping changes such as these will not and do not happen overnight. We believe GCSC can open about 3 great new Schools of Excellence a year to replace failing programs. Many likely will be originally. But our reforms also will make GCSC a national magnet for the most talented teachers, principals, and programs in the nation, which will accelerate our progress. PLANNING YEAR

TRANSITION YEAR 1

• Get the leadership team in place. • Hire eight “transformation consultants” To help turn around low-performing Schools. The team will include a RTI specialists for the high schools. • Audit all GCSC operations to uncover more Savings. • Set standards for becoming Schools of Excellence. • Start downsizing central office. • Create a New School Incubation Fund and A Talent Development Fund.

TRANSITION YEARS 2+

• Open the first School of Excellence. • Start shifting funds to schools. • Incubate new schools. • Start phasing in universal pre-K. • Recruit top talent.

• Open more Schools of Excellence. • Replace more low-performing programs. • Shift more funds from central office to schools. • Incubate more schools. • Additional talented educators flock to GCSC.

Dividing Responsibilities Strategically SCHOOLS OF EXCELLENCE ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

Establish a clear, focused mission. Create a culture of excellence. Hire and fire staff. Pay excellent teachers more to attract and retain them. Control budgets. Customize curriculum and instruction to meet students' needs. Add extra learning time, if needed. Select programs and partners. Keep students safe. Involve families and communities. Decide how to handle key operations (HR, IT, food service, etc.): in house, buy from central administration, or buy from outside suppliers.

NEW GCSC CENTRAL Administration ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

Authorize new Schools of Excellence. Monitor and hold all schools accountable. Hire transformation directors to help turn around struggling schools. Conduct citywide choice/enrollment process and expand parent outreach. Manage funds to start new schools, attract new talent, and pay for prekindergarten. Oversee special education. Fulfill obligations (debt and bond payments, etc.). Manage transportation and facilities during transition; after transition, schools control.

In an effort to enhance the “take-over” efforts previously enacted upon. We propose “An Alternative for the School District” to be made with the “takeover” provider, EdisonLearning, and the school corporation. We request that the current contract be amended and EdisonLearning provide an on-the-ground district turnaround team, supported by the EdisonLearning Senior Leadership Team, and composed of independent, experienced finance, human resource and education professionals, who will report to the Superintendent and work collaboratively with the School Board and the Turnaround Commission to develop and implement a comprehensive academic and financial turnaround plan (the “District Transformational Team”). Commencing as soon as possible, the District Turnaround P a g e | 12

Team will report for duty at the School District’s offices and, under the supervision of the Superintendent, immediately begin working on a 5-year turnaround plan, which will include the following:   

Financial Improvement Plan Talent Management Improvement Plan Education Improvement Plan

Our theory of action is that sustainable change occurs only when individuals are engaged in their own transformation rather than simply having change thrust upon them. Accordingly, the keystone of our approach is the combination of intensive, on-the-ground support and high-quality, jobembedded professional development to build the capacity to effect and manage positive change. The following principles are the foundation of transformational model: 

The application of research to inform education strategy, operational design, and change management;

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The facilitation of scalability through the application of consistent and replicable models and processes; and

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The use of collaborative working practices based on shared goals and supported by highcaliber professionals.

GCSC & EdisonLearning’s transformational model is comprised of three distinct drivers of school transformation, embedded within our comprehensive educational design:

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1) DISTRICT-WIDE COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION The Comprehensive Evaluation (“CE”) is a holistic needs assessment tool designed to measure district strengths and areas of improvement across our research-based Five Strand Design for improvement. The team, consisting of instructional experts and the district’s leadership team, collects and analyzes multiple pieces of evidence in order to answer five key questions:     

How well is the district set up for leading and managing change? – Leadership Strand How well does the district promote and foster environments that support learning and motivation? – Learning Environment Strand How good are opportunities for learning and developing learners? – Pedagogy and Curriculum Strand How well does the district use assessment data and feedback to promote learning? Assessment for Learning Strand How well does the district use its internal and external resources to meet the spectrum of educational needs for all learners? Student and Family Support Strand

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2) DISTRICT ACTION PLAN Our approach to comprehensive district and school improvement is founded on the concept of partnership. The best results are achieved when the schools and the district are invested in the outcome, part of the solution, and partners in the successes. As such, all parties must work closely prior to the start of the improvement implementation to articulate and agree to each party’s areas of accountability. Based on the district-wide CE and the Five Strand approach described below, a district action plan will be developed addressing the key drivers of educational success and full consideration to the strategic plan:      

District Leadership School Leadership Pedagogy and Curriculum Assessment for Learning Student and Family Support Learning Environment

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3) SCHOOL TRANSFORMATIVE SERVICE GCSC & EdisonLearning’s Blending Learning Model: engaging students in new ways The blended learning is an educational model that is the optimal intersection of the best features of in-person instruction (including direct instruction) and technology innovations to create a customized, dynamic and engaging learning environment for diverse learners in order to prepare them to reach their full potential and positively shape the world. 

Based on highly researched methodology and unique industry experience, blended learning model utilizes eCourses, which are designed to personalize the learning experience and engage 21st century students.

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Multi-media engagement: eCourses utilize videos, podcasts, interactive activities, complementary printable textbooks, messaging, digital notebooks, forums, blogs, and more.

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Individualized learning: Instruction can be adapted to each student’s needs and interests.

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Modular design: Lessons contain only one or two objectives, to keep students focused and allow for individualized learning.

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Accountability: A unique daily assessment and tracking system allows immediate intervention when students fall below school-defined achievement levels.

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Standards alignment: Content is aligned to national and state standards.

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Transforming Curriculum and Instruction (TCI) Building District-Wide Instructional Capacity Gary Community School Corporation What We Heard Gary Community School Corporation (GCSC) is at a crossroads. Facing budget, demographic and student performance challenges, District Leadership has developed a clear vision for moving the system forward. That has meant making tough decisions including closing schools and working towards a balanced budget that have cleared the way to focus on development of an articulated district-wide curriculum, sustained the capacity of building-level leaders and building systemic instructional capacity in every classroom and in every building in Gary. The following pages describe a proposed scope of work to be deployed during the 2014-15 school year. In addition to the work described in these pages, the ICLE and Scholastic team will collaborate with all partners in the district including CAN, Carnegie Learning, the Indiana Department of Education and other related organizations. The work is driven by the mission, vision and belief of the district and directly aligns with the following:

 GCSC District-Wide Strategic Goals  Goal 1 - Enhance and Improve Educational Programming  Goal 2 - Address Human Resource Needs & Sustain Organizational Infrastructure  Goal 4 - Improve School Climate both Internally and Externally  Goal 5 - Establish Strategies to Improve Community Relations  Indiana Department of Education Turnaround Principles  Turnaround Principle 1: Ensure that the principal has the ability to lead the turnaround effort o Indicators 1.1 The principal uses data to establish a coherent vision that is understood and supported by the entire school community. 1.2 The principal develops and promotes a coherent strategy and plan for implementing the school Vision, which includes clear measurement goals, aligned strategies, and a plan for monitoring progress and driving continuous improvement. 1.3 The principal uses data to work collaboratively with staff to maintain a safe, orderly and equitable learning environment. 1.4 The principal communicates high expectations to staff, students, and families, and supports students to achieve them. 1.5 The principal ensures that a rigorous and coherent standards-based curriculum and aligned assessment system are implemented with fidelity. 1.6 The principal ensures that classroom-level instruction is adjusted based upon formative and summative results from aligned assessments. P a g e | 17

1.7 The principal uses informal and formal observation data and ongoing student learning outcome data to monitor and improve school-wide instructional practices and ensure the achievement of learning goals for all students (including SWD and ELs). 1.10 The principal uses data and research-based practices to work with staff to increase academically-focused family and community engagement. 

Turnaround Principle 2: Establish a school environment that supports the social, emotional, and learning needs of all students. o Indicators 2.1 The school community supports a safe, orderly and equitable learning environment. 2.2 The school community maintains a culture that values learning and promotes the academic and personal growth of students and staff 2.3 High expectations are communicated to staff, students and families; students are supported to achieve them.

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Turnaround Principle 3: Ensure that teachers utilize research-based, rigorous and effective instruction to meet the needs of all students and aligned with State Standards. o Indicators 3.1 Teachers ensure that student-learning objectives are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely, and are aligned to the standards-based curriculum. 3.2 Teachers use multiple instructional strategies and multiple response strategies that actively engage and meet student learning needs. 3.3 Teachers use frequent checks for understanding throughout each lesson to gauge student learning, and to inform, monitor and adjust instruction. 3.4 Teachers demonstrate necessary content knowledge. 3.5 Teachers demonstrate the necessary skills to use multiple measures of data, including the use of diagnostic, formative, and summative data to differentiate instruction to improve student achievement. 3.6 Teachers hold high expectations for all students academically and behaviorally as evidenced in their practice.

 ISTEP recommendations for GCSC A need to develop:  Data protocols and professional development on data for teachers and principals.  Train principals how to access and disaggregate assessment data from accountability report and benchmark assessments.  A strategic professional development plan for the corporation and each school based on assessment data, and a walk through form and process to help drive PD.  Strengthen PLCs and make this a more formalized process including developing data driven forms to be used across the corporation with data analysis as a norm and expected outcomes.

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Provide professional development on:  Engagement strategies  Differentiated instruction  Effective use of student data at the principal and teacher levels  Writing student-friendly objectives  Levels of questioning Framework for Support Scholastic Achievement Partners (SAP) would be honored to partner with GCSC on this initiative. We recommend a plan focused on the following key components.

 Transitioning to Higher Standards: Facilitate K-12 Math and ELA Curriculum Development GCSC has indicated that there is a critical and urgent need for comprehensive curriculum reform. With that in mind and based on the recent conversation between Scholastic Achievement Partners (SAP) and district leaders, SAP stands ready to support GCSC in planning, developing and implementing a district-wide Transforming Curriculum and Instruction Initiative. Specific implementation timelines will be determined in collaboration with district leadership based upon establishment of actual start date. SAP will provide a project manager to lead GCSC through each step of this initiative. A key first step for any district transitioning to more rigorous standards is preparing and aligning all systems. To begin the transforming curriculum process, we will identify current gaps and strengths in the English language arts and mathematics curriculum maps. SAP can support GCSC with a systemic and focused plan in the following areas: MODULE 1 Building Knowledge of Instructional Shifts Develop intensive knowledge of the Indiana Academic Standards and the key instructional shifts they require to develop a comprehensive curriculum, assessment, and instructional process for a successful transition. Deepening Understanding of the Indiana Academic Standards (Education Curriculum Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 912) Build a shared vision of the work that is necessary to transform curriculum and instruction to meet the demands of higher, more rigorous standards and the Indiana State Assessments. This course will enable participants to:

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Apply the Rigor/Relevance Framework and the Daggett System for Effective Instruction to support curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Define the stages of curriculum transformation and identify how the process benefits teaching and learning. Explain the structure and organization of the standards. Explain major changes in the Indiana Assessments. Define key shifts of the ELA and Content Area Literacy Standards. Define key shifts of the Mathematics Standards. Establish goals to support a successful transition to the Indiana Academic Standards.

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Understanding Indiana Academic Standards Instructional Shifts (ELA and Content Area Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Examine the key instructional shifts that are part of the Indiana Academic Standards in ELA and Content Area Literacy, including text complexity, text-dependent questions and tasks, academic vocabulary, argument writing, and research. This course will enable participants to:

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Explain how literacy is a shared responsibility across disciplines. Select and level complex texts for instruction. Craft engaging text-dependent questions and tasks. Identify a range of high-quality texts with an emphasis on informational text. Select academic and domain-specific words for explicit instruction. Prepare students to write evidence-based arguments. Guide students to locate and cite sources of evidence for research projects.

Understanding Indiana Academic Standards Instructional Shifts (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Examine the key instructional shifts that are part of the Indiana Academic Standards for Mathematics, including the evidence that demonstrates focus, coherence, and rigor. This course will enable participants to:

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Reach a deeper understanding of the Indiana Academic Standards for Mathematics and expectations of Indiana State Assessments. Expand understanding of procedural fluency to include carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, and appropriately. Develop an understanding of constructive struggle as opportunities that engage students in rigorous math problems. Use multiple representations to help ALL students better understand mathematical ideas.

Leading Change: Transforming Curriculum for the Indiana Academic Standards (Leaders K-2, 35, 6-8, 9-12) Strengthen expertise by analyzing the demands of the Indiana Academic Standards and the intricate framework of the assessments to effectively support the process that instructors will follow to align curriculum, assessment, and instruction. This course will enable participants to:  Identify the role of leadership to help school personnel build knowledge and strategies to implement the Indiana Academic Standards.  Define key instructional shifts of the standards for ELA and Content Area Literacy and Mathematics to help teachers align instruction and curriculum.  Understand how the Indiana Academic Standards impact teaching, curriculum, and learning in all subjects. MODULE 2 Designing Curriculum Build coherence between curriculum, assessment, and instructional strategies for creating the Indiana Academic Standards-aligned pacing calendar and new units of study.

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Understanding Evidence-Centered Design (ELA and Content Area Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Deconstruct relevant standards and examine Indiana Academic Standards and assessment targets in preparation to collaboratively plot a cohesive progression across units of study. This course will enable participants to:

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Describe the structure and organization of the Indiana Academic Standards. Deconstruct standards to identify skills and concepts for instruction. Explain the components of evidence-centered design for assessments. Consider the depth of knowledge levels of instruction to meet the standards. Track instruction of assessment targets across units of study.

Defining Student Evidence (ELA and Content Area Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Map and sequence assessment targets on a pacing calendar, determine priority standards for instruction, and ensure vertical articulation across grade levels. This course will enable participants to:

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Define backward design and consider assessment before making instructional decisions. Examine assessment targets and map standards groupings to a pacing calendar. Assign priority and supporting standards to units of study.

Building Units of Study (ELA and Content Area Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Work in grade-level cohorts to develop new units of study, including writing big ideas and essential questions. This course will enable participants to:

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Define big ideas and essential questions and give examples. Identify big ideas for each unit of study. Write essential questions related to big ideas. Develop “I can…” statements that promote understanding of unit concepts. Share and refine unit focuses to ensure vertical articulation. Title all units of study using a topical or skills-based, or thematic approach. Build curriculum maps in ELA to guide the development of comprehensive curriculum units

Building Units of Study (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Work in grade-level cohorts to create a unit template, examine priority standards, and group standards into units of study. This course will enable participants to:

  

Examine the priority and supporting standards of the Indiana Academic Standards for Mathematics. Determine critical components of a unit of study. Assign standards to units and name the units.

Creating a Pacing Calendar (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Work in grade-level cohort groups to sequence units of study into a pacing calendar and ensure vertical articulation by sharing across grade levels or courses. This course will enable participants to:



Sequence the units and determine duration of each unit in order to prepare the pacing P a g e | 21

  

calendar. Share pacing calendars and reflect on vertical articulation. Refine and finalize pacing calendars. Create curriculum maps in Mathematics to guide the development of curriculum units

Defining a Focus Unit of Study (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Deconstruct the standards for a selected unit of study, clearly articulating what students will know and be able to do by writing Big Ideas, Essential Questions and “I can…” Statements. This course will enable participants to:

    

Understand the purposes behind deconstructing the standards. Deconstruct the standards in order to write Big Ideas and Essential Questions for a unit of study. Determine the Big Ideas of a unit of study. Write Essential Questions related to the Big Ideas. Develop “I can…” Statements that promote mathematics understanding and academic language development.

MODULE 3 Designing Assessments Create and align formative, interim, and summative assessments for all units of study by closely analyzing the item development methods used by the Indiana DOE. Navigating Indiana State Assessments (ELA and Content Area Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Build understanding of the Indiana State Assessment structure and item types in preparation for designing comparable classroom assessments. This course will enable participants to:

     

Understand the expectations and components of the assessments. Explore formative, interim, and summative assessment strategies to incorporate into units of study. Critique assessment items for alignment to the standards, rigor, and quality of stimulus. Construct selected response and constructed response questions. Design scoring guides with distractors and rubrics for scoring constructed response questions. Explore how technology can enhance assessment types.

Selecting Complex Texts for Instruction (ELA and Content Area Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Evaluate the complexity and quality of texts to select a range of literary and informational resources for the new units of study. This course will enable participants to:

   

Explore text selection as a function of unit design and define high-quality text. Evaluate qualitative dimensions and quantitative measures of potential anchor literary and informational texts. Carefully consider the intended audience and instructional task when selecting text. Select a range of text for units of study that appropriately staircase in complexity.

Building Assessments Using Item Specifications (ELA and Content Area Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) P a g e | 22

Design Assessment items and performance tasks for new units of study. This course will enable participants to:

    

Develop an understanding of the item specifications and their application to classroom assessments. Critique assessment items to deepen understanding of how to measure claims and targets. Write assessment items using the model tasks as guides. Construct a time line of assessments aligned to standards for selected unit(s). Design assessments that move students toward proficiency in the standards.

Understanding and Designing Performance Task Assessments (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Participate in a performance task experience to build understanding of these kinds of tasks. Use a performance task builder to create a task for the unit of focus. This course will enable participants to:

 

Experience a performance task for the purpose of informing assessment creation and instructional practice. Design assessments that move lessons toward student proficiency of the standards.

Building a Timeline of Assessments (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Evaluate the rigor of created tasks, build a corresponding rubric and an assessment timeline for the unit of focus. This course will enable participants to:

  

Design a rubric to use when assessing student work. Construct a timeline of assessments aligned to standards for selected unit(s). Design assessments that move lessons toward student proficiency of the standards.

Leading Change: Implementing New Curriculum and Assessments (Leaders K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Enhance understanding of Indiana State Assessments to support schools and teachers with implementing new assessments while simultaneously adapting instruction to meet the demands of increased rigor. This course will enable participants to:

  

Understand the proposed changes of the Indiana State Assessments and how to prepare students now. Identify tools and design strategies to support teachers as they build new Assessments and Tasks. Establish goals for leaders, teachers, and students to support a successful transition.

MODULE 4 Planning Instruction to Engage All Learners Learn how to combine differentiated instructional strategies across all Indiana Academic Standard strands ensuring students are continuously engaged in rigorous and relevant work. Planning for Rigorous Learning Experiences (ELA and Content Area Teachers K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Design collaborative learning tasks using various stimuli and complete weekly planners for new units of study.

This course will enable participants to:



Select academic and domain-specific vocabulary for new units of study. P a g e | 23

  

Design writing opportunities that are both reflective and reflexive. Engage students in learning experiences that are meaningful and persistent. Create interactive inquiry-based activities that are relevant to the real world.

Planning for Differentiation and Implementation (ELA and Content Area Teachers K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Specify strategies to differentiate and scaffold instruction for all strategic populations. This course will enable participants to:

   

Determine instructional strategies for differentiating instruction. Support all learners in achieving the learning objectives. Create instruction that addresses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Incorporate various types of authentic assessment to evaluate student progress.

Planning for Rigorous Learning Experiences (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Reflect on the kinds of tasks and instruction that contribute to an effective mathematics classroom that will support student learning. Use a common vision to align learning resources for the unit of focus. This course will enable participants to:

  

Create a common vision for effective math instruction that supports student success with the Indiana Academic Standards for Math. Align resources to the learning outcomes and assessments for the unit of focus. Evaluate the level of rigor of learning experiences to ensure alignment of instruction to unit assessments.

Planning for Differentiation and Implementation (Math Team K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Complete the learning resources for the unit and consider both differentiation and implementation of the units of study. This course will enable participants to:

  

Align resources to the learning outcomes and assessments for the unit of focus. Plan for addressing the needs of all learners throughout the unit of instruction. Establish professional practice around implementing and refining the units of study.

 Job-embedded Coaching for Building Administrators SAP will provide monthly job-embedded leadership coaching for school leaders aligned to GCSC’s strategic goals and designed to build capacity and sustainability. Our leadership coaches—all of whom are experienced education leaders—support Indiana DOE Turnaround Principle #1 (Ensure that the principals have the ability to lead the turnaround effort) by working directly with school leaders through a combination of onsite meetings, monthly webinars, and professional development resources. School leaders gain personal guidance and support in identifying priorities and developing leadership skills by working collaboratively with the coach. SAP coaches will work to provide support for the following:

  

AdvancEd Assessments  Review of the self-assessment  Identification of critical needs Indiana DOE Turnaround Principles Support on district curriculum maps P a g e | 24

 

 K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 Math  K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 ELA Support and alignment to district, state and federal guidance Alignment to Modified RISE teacher evaluation

SAP’s Leadership Framework gives Leadership Teams a structure to guide their daily actions and reflect on the Mission, Vision, and Values of GCSC to help sustain school improvement and long-term student achievement. Built on the foundation of rigor, relevance, and relationships for all staff and students, SAP’s leadership coaching initiatives provide a practical, hands-on approach to district and school leadership. Leadership Teams work directly with senior staff from SAP to understand and embrace three fundamental components of leadership:  Coherent Vision  Instructional Leadership  Empowerment SAP leadership coaches will provide guidance and support as they help identify priority goals and develop and grow district and school Leadership Teams. Through a collaborative process, the following skills and knowledge will be addressed using resources that have been enhanced and extended by a robust and customized online learning environment that will provide professional development, ongoing access to the leadership coach, and best practices aligned with the district-wide strategic goals of GCSC. Coherent Vision  Educating students is vital to the sustainability and growth of the community.  Educational excellence and opportunity require committed students, teachers, administrators, parents, and school board members.  Mutual respect and support is expected from teachers, staff, administrators, and students.  Learning occurs best in a safe, orderly, and secure environment.  Understand the need for change in education.  Describe examples of driving forces of change in technology, economics, demographics, and society.  Use third-party needs assessments to confront new and emerging challenges and to explore potential solutions and successful practices from around the country.  Use data and group discussion tools to seek root causes.  Build consensus for priority goals with school stakeholders.  Use data to set goals and evaluate progress.  Learn strategies to implement strategic plans that lead to goal achievement.  Apply strategies to obtain maximum financial return on instructional investment.  Work effectively with district and community resources to support school change. Empowerment  Establish and maintain positive and trusting relationships with staff, students, and stakeholders.  Enhance political and negotiation skills to develop clear, static-free communication that allows for growth and an ongoing commitment of all stakeholders to continuous improvement.  Provide equal access to information.  Use relationships developed with stakeholders to promote the growth of productive professional learning communities and collaboration/sharing of successful practices within and outside of the school.  Communicate decisions and information widely to build trust.  Facilitate team-building activities.  Recruit and organize school leadership teams.  Reflect on student leadership as part of overall school leadership. Instructional Leadership  Become familiar with a broad range of effective strategies for addressing the needs of every student. P a g e | 25

              

Analyze student and staff data on school culture. Understand the need to develop a positive school culture so that high-yield learning opportunities, both in and out of school, are available to all students. Reflect on school practices that influence school culture and relationships. Apply strategies that promote innovation and change in the school culture. Understand the needs of struggling learners well enough to determine starting points for change in practices. Identify supportive behaviors that build positive relationships. Review current curriculum and research data to identify high priority standards and benchmarks for a state. Apply the Rigor/Relevance Framework to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and improvement of teaching. Develop high-quality, rigorous, and relevant assessments. Establish expectations for literacy instruction across all subjects. Reflect on the factors that influence student engagement. Define expectations for student engagement within the school community. Plan staff development activities that share and reflect upon best teaching practices for student engagement. Develop and use effective classroom walkthrough procedures. Establish ongoing professional learning.

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 Job-embedded Instructional Coaching for Teachers Research shows that for skills to be acquired and put into practice, we must include the following training components: theory, demonstration, practice, feedback, and coaching. Skills Transfer to Training Component Acquired Practice Theory

----

Theory and Demonstration

5-10%

Will try

Theory, Demonstration, Practice & Feedback

90+%

5-10%

Theory, Demonstration, Practice, Feedback & Coing

90+%

80-90%

Source: Decision Velocity: A Target for Coaching. Alan Fine, 2000

SAP will provide a program of job-embedded instructional coaching to the identified schools. The program will be aligned to GCSC’s district-wide strategic goals and designed to help teachers do what is best for students. SAP coaches will help teachers to focus on literacy across the content areas. Support will also be provided on district curriculum maps for K-12 ELA and K-12 math. Results-oriented and holistic in approach, SAP’s job-embedded instructional coaches support teachers in meeting the needs of every student by building their skills in learner engagement, academic rigor, and realworld relevance. Coaches work with teachers during the regular school day in their classrooms and during planning periods to raise student achievement.

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Overview of Job-Embedded Instructional Coaching Model

The following provides an overview of SAP’s job-embedded instructional coaching model. All elements of this model will be adapted to the specific needs of each school and to the implementation of key instructional strategies and differentiation/grouping tactics needed to help build a solid instructional foundation.

 Job-embedded instructional coaching aims to support teachers with proven instructional strategies to raise student performance through a focus on rigor, relevance, student engagement, and content area literacy strategies.

Overview of Job-Embedded Instructional Coaching for Teachers SAP’s job-embedded instructional coaching model is designed to support teachers in meeting the needs of every student by improving educational programming and school climate. In alignment with Indiana DOE Turnaround Principles, the model addresses needs directly through working with teachers to increase their skills in these areas:  student engagement  academic rigor  real-world relevance The coaching model relies on data to drive decisions and focuses on the following elements:

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1. Rigor/Relevance Framework Job-embedded instructional coaching is based on the Rigor/Relevance Framework as an organizer for planning curriculum, delivering quality instruction, and assessing student achievement. Although the goal may be able to get to Quadrant D (high rigor/high relevance), instruction in Quadrant A is still important. In fact, some of the most successful lessons are those where students move among all the quadrants as they gather information, practice what they know, and apply their knowledge and skills to real-world situations. 2. Trusting Relationships A job-embedded instructional coach must build trust with the leadership and teachers in a school. Through positive reinforcement, gentle but honest feedback, open lines of communication, and accessibility, a professional and caring relationship is created. Teachers should understand that coaches are committed to supporting them to become even more effective in helping students learn. Observing students during the learning process is an appropriate way to identify which strategies are working and which are not. The Classroom Visitation Rubrics (see p. 13), which are used for observation, focus attention on the student learning taking place. 3. Focus on Student Achievement The main purpose of the coach is to support teachers in raising student achievement. Discussions with teachers focus on student learning and thinking in the classroom. Coaches use their experience and expertise to assist teachers in engaging learners and in providing rigorous and relevant learning experiences for every student in the class. 4. Professional Learning Community (PLC) School leaders, teachers and the coach form a PLC. As a community, the coach engages teachers in ongoing reflective dialogue around learning goals, student achievement and maintaining high expectations for all learners. These conversations are sustained between visits through online tools available to support teachers continually. Through discussions with school leaders and teachers and during classroom visits, the coach will learn about areas of concern relative to improving student performance. Identification of these areas will help the coach to plan and deliver additional training sessions as needed. For example, upon finding out that students have difficulty interpreting charts and graphs, the coach may plan a short training session on technical reading and data analysis for groups of teachers. Training sessions could be separate from or incorporated into the coplanning stage of a typical day of coaching. The first two days on site include a Collaborative Instructional Review (CIR) for the teachers participating in the project. The purpose of the CIR is to improve learning and teaching by: ď&#x201A;ˇ Developing a clear understanding of effective classroom instruction through the application of the Rigor/Relevance Framework and the implementation of specific instructional strategies ď&#x201A;ˇ Building school leadership capacity to provide instructional support to teachers based on the Rigor/Relevance Framework and through the implementation of specific instructional strategies ď&#x201A;ˇ Developing a cohesive professional learning plan focused on collaboration, sharing best practices and strategies for effective classroom instruction The CIR is not an evaluation of teacher performance but is a way to determine levels of rigor, relevance, and engagement present throughout the school. This tool is used at the beginning of the project to benchmark the effectiveness of teaching and learning. See sample below:

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Evidence of Rigor  

Build effective instruction based on rigorous and relevant expectations (DSEI Teaching Element #1) Plan and provide learning experiences using effective research-based strategies that are embedded with best practices, including the use of technology (DSEI Teaching Element #4)

Thoughtful Work Lesson intentionally prepares students to complete a range of high-quality learning tasks.

1 - Beginning 

Student Learning 

 Instructional Design

2 - Developing

Students demonstrate their learning by completing tasks that require critical thinking skills such as knowledge/awareness and comprehension. Most tasks focus on responding to textbooks or content through answering recall-type questions.



Learning task results in one standard type of work product to represent student thinking.



Students demonstrate their learning by completing tasks that require application and analysis. There are opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery through learning tasks that require them to apply knowledge and analyze content. Learning task includes a one or more work products to represent student thinking.

3 - Meeting 



Students regularly complete learning tasks that demonstrate their ability to analyze, synthesize, and/or evaluate new instructional content. Tasks include the opportunity for students to respond to content using creativity, originality, and/or adaptation. Learning task provides students with options for selfselection to represent their thinking.

High-Level Questioning Lesson provides opportunities for students to respond to a range of questions that increase in rigor and levels of thinking.

1 - Beginning 

Student Learning



Students respond to questions that mainly focus on critical thinking skills such as basic recall, retell, and/or comprehension. Few students ask questions, and most questions asked focus on basic knowledge or comprehension of content.

2 - Developing 



Students respond to questions that demonstrate a range of levels of thinking, including questions that require application and analysis of information. Students have opportunities to ask questions during the lesson and most questions are relational or applicationbased, focusing on why and cause and effect.

3 - Meeting 



Students fully explain and justify their thinking when responding to questions that demonstrate a range of levels of thinking, including questions that require synthesis and evaluation of information. During the lesson, students generate questions about content that demonstrate rigorous independent thinking.

The Coaching Cycle: A Four-Phase Process The following graphic shows a typical cycle for a coach working with teachers. This cycle also includes an initial meeting with the principal at the beginning of the day and debriefing with the principal at the end of the day. This four-phase process guides planning for each visit to the school and is supported by a digital tool, accessible to teachers and school leaders.

This process has been digitized to facilitate and monitor the process over time and show teacher growth. See screenshot below:

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Job-Embedded Instructional Coaching â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Four-Phase Process Phase One: Pre-Visit The Pre-Visit focuses on supporting teachers to develop lessons using both engagement and instructional strategies to raise rigor and relevance and to implement specific instructional strategies that will improve educational programming and school climate. Discussions include identifying those strategies that are proven to be especially successful with students with disabilities, English language learners, and other struggling students. These strategies for instruction and assessment, which support Indiana DOE Turnaround Principle 2 (Establish a school environment that supports the social, emotional, and learning needs of all students), are to be included in lesson planning. The work with the teacher is guided by the four major steps in planning rigorous and relevant instruction: 1. Define the focus of learning. 2. Create the student performance. 3. Design the assessment. 4. Develop the learning experiences. The following graphic represents the flow of instructional planning (left to right) and the flow of teaching (right to left).

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Using Rigor and Relevance to Create Effective Instruction, p. 48

Step 1 – Define the Focus of Learning Focusing learning ensures that lessons are contextualized and aligned to the curriculum. The focus should be on the students, the time frame in which lessons are taught and their places within a unit or other courses. Step 2 – Create the Student Performance The three parts of student performance identify: (1) what students expected to learn, including knowledge, skills, behaviors, and concepts; (2) the expected student work and its level of rigor and relevance and (3) the performance task that describes how students will demonstrate student learning. Step 3 – Design the Assessment The type of assessment to be used to determine student learning should be chosen at the same time instruction is being planned. The assessment should match the work students are being asked to do. If, for example, students are asked to learn how to build a bridge, the assessment would not be a multiple-choice test. Rubrics should be developed alongside the assessment to ensure consistent scoring of student work. Step 4 – Develop the Learning Experiences and Lesson Sequence The most successful way to sequence a lesson is to begin with the end. What is it you want students to know and be able to do when the lesson is finished? Where are they now? Once the two ends of that continuum are identified, teachers may begin planning the lesson and choosing the most effective strategies. When teachers are deciding on such things as procedures, vocabulary, formative assessments and resources, they must also plan for the needs of their students living with disabilities, English language learners and other students who may be struggling with the concepts of the lesson.

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Phase Two: Classroom Visit While supporting teachers in instruction, the coach’s role may vary. The coach will gather information by observing learning taking place in the classroom using the Rigor, Relevance, and Engagement Rubrics, which focuses the observer’s attention on the students. Once a trusting relationship has been established, coaches will share suggestions with teachers that are broader than, but related to, rigor and relevance, such as increasing writing and using authentic resources effectively. The support provided in Phase Two helps to support Indiana DOE Turnaround Principle 3 (Ensure that teachers utilize research-based, rigorous and effective instruction to meet the needs of all students and aligned with State Standards). In addition to using the Rigor, Relevance and Engagement Rubrics, as a guide to benchmark classroom instruction, other aspects of coaching include: Aspect The coach will…. Observation  Listen to student discussion.  Review student work.  Observe student-teacher interactions.  Listen for questions students are asking.  Note specific successful strategies for students with disabilities, ELL, and/or other at-risk students.  Document evidence of differentiation of instruction.  Gauge the classroom climate/culture.  Look for evidence of high expectations for all students.  Recognize opportunities for inquiry learning.  Observe interaction between general education and special education teachers if in collaborative teaching environments.  Encourage teachers in their work. An example of this is to leave a note on a teacher’s desk with a positive comment about his or her lesson. Co-teaching  Determine if a teacher is willing to have the coach teach part (coach and teacher) of his or her lesson to demonstrate a strategy or technique.  Identify with the teacher during the co-planning phase the section of the lesson the coach will model.  Do not teach the entire lesson. Demonstration Classroom  Ask for a volunteer who is willing to have other teachers observe his or her class.  Coordinate substitutes with the principal.  Discuss with the teachers what to look for during observations.  Have each teacher identify a positive aspect of an observed lesson, such as something he or she will try in his or her own class, and share a positive comment about the lesson with the teacher.

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Phase Three: Debrief The teachers will have time to meet with the coach in a professional learning community to debrief on classroom instruction. Teachers will be encouraged to reflect on and identify areas of interest in making their practices more effective. Conversations will begin with elements of success in the classrooms and then move on to targeted discussions about areas that could be improved. Teachers will plan next steps related to the target areas and subsequently try the strategies in their classrooms and be prepared to share their progress at subsequent meetings. Professional Dialogue Around Instruction After trust between the PLC members has been established, coaches will guide the group in setting ground rules for “warm” and “cool” comments about the teaching and learning observed in the visited classroom. Coaches will lead the group in conversations to answer questions such as:  What does exemplary instruction look like?  How do we build stronger relationships with our students?  What are some different ways to monitor student progress? Questions that are related to specific lessons may include:  Were all the students engaged?  Were strategies included for struggling learners in particular?  Were there opportunities for students to write about what they understood in from the lesson?  How could the lesson have been improved? Reflective Practice Just as it is important for students to reflect on their work, it is equally important to provide opportunities and support for teachers to reflect on their practice. One strategy used to engage the PLC in reflection is a Plus/Delta activity, where participants will be asked to identify what went well in a lesson and what needs improvement. This group activity will be followed by having the teachers analyze the positives and areas to change. Brainstorming strategies, remedies, and ways to strengthen what is already successful in the classroom will help identify the necessary steps to improve instruction. Phase Four: Application of Goals and Actions After the PLC meeting, the teacher walks away with specific, actionable goals to accomplish before the next meeting. The teacher may also visit classrooms of their peers. This provides the opportunity for professional growth and learning where teachers can try new strategies, continue to refine others, and reflect on their practice. Their experiences and lessons learned will be shared during the next meeting. Next Steps and Resources One strength of the instructional coaching model is that the process enables teachers and leaders to engage in continuous professional development by:  Discussing the expectations for the next visit and identifying areas to address (e.g., questioning techniques, aligning curriculum, classroom management).  Encouraging teachers to practice using the strategies/tools between visits and be prepared to discuss their experience during the next co-planning time.  Suggesting tools and resources that will contribute to building capacity and allow the changes and improvements to be sustained, even when coaches are no longer working with the teachers.

 Professional Development Events and Resources to Support Implementation P a g e | 34



23rd Annual Model Schools Conference No professional learning initiative is complete without taking part in Model Schools Conference. This intensive four day event brings together like-minded educators throughout the country—teachers and leaders who are focused on raising the bar on instruction, revolutionizing school leadership, engaging students like never before, and looking around the corner at education innovations we cannot even imagine yet. Attendees will hear from schools that are ahead of the curve in implementing positive change—they’ll share their triumphs, their learnings, and their mistakes so every attendee walks away with concrete ideas of how to adopt similar changes in their own school or district. The event provides countless networking opportunities to learn from other schools, hands-on sessions that immerse attendees in the kind of instruction that will prepare students for successful futures, and countless moments of inspiration, motivation, and empowerment. This event includes:

    

100+ sessions providing concrete approaches to preparing students for successful futures 25+ model schools share their success stories and innovative practices Hands-on sessions immerse participants in effective instruction Explicit modeling of instructional practices in literacy, mathematics, and career readiness

Principal Academy The 2015 Principal Academy will focus on the evolving role of principals. We recommend bringing a leadership team from each school in Gary CSC, in order to collaboratively address the challenges facing schools, the rapidly changing education landscape, and the leadership required to drive dramatic and sustained student achievement. Participating teams will walk away from the event with a practical and measurable strategic plan focused on student achievement.

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Transforming Curriculum and Instruction (TCI) Gary Community Schools Corporation - FAQ “Why you? Because there's no one better. Why now? Because tomorrow isn't soon enough." -- Donna Brazile Who will participate in this training? Teacher leaders chosen by school leadership to transform and align local curriculum to the Indiana Academic Standards. Teacher leaders will be split into mathematics and ELA teams. Once trained these teacher leaders will provide professional learning on transforming curriculum at their buildings as the experts on site. What will participates learn and be able to do as a result of the professional learning?: Participants will:  Apply the Rigor/Relevance Framework® and the Daggett System for Effective Instruction to support curriculum, instruction, and assessment.  Define the stages of curriculum transformation and identify how the process benefits teaching and learning.  Explain the structure and organization of the Indiana Academic Standards.  Explain major changes in the Next Generation Assessments.  Define key shifts of the ELA and Content Area Literacy Standards.  Establish goals to support a successful transition to the Indiana Academic Standards.  Create curriculum maps and unit plans aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards. Why do this now? Time is of the essence. It is critical that GCSC create maps and guides aligned to the Indiana Standards in advance of the upcoming ISTEP tests. This alignment will intentionally support rigorous and relevant instruction and increased student achievement on the ISTEP. The goal is to create unit plans that teachers can begin using at the start of third trimester for secondary students and the middle of January for elementary students for all students tested in May. When will the professional learning take place and how will it be organized? There will be two phases leading to full implementation. Phase one (in black below) begins on December 3, 2014 and Phase two (in burgundy below) will begin on January 28, 2015. Teacher leaders will meet on average three times weekly after the school day and on selected Saturdays as warranted. See tentative schedule below: Cohort (Grades) K-2 3-5 6-8 9-12

Start Date 1/28/15 12/3/14 12/3/14 1/28/15

End Date 4/29/15 4/29/15 4/29/15 4/29/15

Time 2:30-5 (T, W, TH) 2:30-5 4:30-7 4:30-7 (T, W, TH)

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Executive Coaching Gary Community Schools Corporation FAQ “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. – President Barack Obama

Who will participate in the coaching? Scholastic will provide monthly job-embedded leadership coaching for school leaders aligned to GCSC’s strategic goals and designed to build capacity and sustainability. School leaders gain personal guidance and support in identifying priorities and developing leadership skills by working collaboratively with the coach. SAP leadership coaches will provide guidance and support as they help identify priority goals and develop and grow district and school Leadership Teams. Through a collaborative process, the following skills and knowledge will be addressed using resources that have been enhanced and extended by a robust and customized online learning environment that will provide professional development, ongoing access to the leadership coach, and best practices aligned with the district-wide strategic goals of GCSC.

How will coaches support principals in the turnaround school effort? SAP coaches will work to provide support for the following:  AdvancEd Assessments  Review of the self-assessment  Identification of critical needs  Indiana DOE Turnaround Principles  Support on district curriculum maps  K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 Math  K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 ELA  Support and alignment to district, state and federal guidance  Alignment to Modified RISE teacher evaluation SAP’s Leadership Framework gives Leadership Teams a structure to guide their daily actions and reflect on the Mission, Vision, and Values of GCSC to help sustain school improvement and longterm student achievement. Built on the foundation of rigor, relevance, and relationships for all staff and students, SAP’s leadership coaching initiatives provide a practical, hands-on approach to district and school leadership. Leadership Teams work directly with senior staff from SAP to understand and embrace three fundamental components of leadership:  Coherent Vision  Instructional Leadership  Empowerment Focus will be on the following:  Turnaround Principle #1- School Leadership  Turnaround Principle #2- School Climate & Culture  Turnaround Principle #3- Effective Instruction  Turnaround Principle #6- Effective Use of Data P a g e | 37

When will the coaching take place and how will it be organized? The leadership coachesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all of whom are experienced education leadersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;support Indiana DOE Turnaround Principle #1 (Ensure that the principals have the ability to lead the turnaround effort) by working directly with school leaders through a combination of onsite meetings, monthly webinars, and professional development resources. Each school leader will be assigned an experienced executive coach in January for the remainder of the year. Coaches will meet three to four times monthly with their assigned principal and leadership teams for approximately half a day per meeting. We will begin after Winter Break in early January 6. The goal is to start on the 6th with building visits. Where will the coaching sessions take place? There will be district wide offerings on agreed upon dates for all school leaders. At each school building during the school day for the most part, occasionally afterschool sessions may be appropriate. The focus of districtwide professional learning will be: Leading Change: Implementing New Curriculum and Assessments (Leaders K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Enhance understanding of Indiana State Assessments to support schools and teachers with implementing new assessments while simultaneously adapting instruction to meet the demands of increased rigor Leading Change: Common Core Instructional Shifts (Leaders K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) Two half day overviews of the work happening to Transform Curriculum in the division Leading Change: Transforming Curriculum for the Indiana Academic Standards (Leaders K-2, 35, 6-8, 9-12 Strengthen expertise by analyzing the demands of the Indiana Academic Standards and the intricate framework of the assessments to effectively support the process that instructors will follow to align curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

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Goal 2: Transforming Human Resource Needs And Sustain Organizational Infrastructure—To employ staff that will be held accountable for achieving the educational standards established for our students. Skill acquisition needed.

Gary Community School Corporation Courageous Plan to Transform Gary Community Schools (CP2T) Recruitment and Retention Plan

Once the five goals were developed a subcommittee for each goal was formed with the charge of developing strategies, objectives and action steps towards its’ completion. An important action step in Goal 2 was the creation of a Recruitment and Retention plan for teachers. The subcommittee began their work in October of 2014 by utilizing district data on projected teacher vacancies. The subcommittee developed an assertive plan which contains a Gary Urban Teacher Academy for high school juniors and seniors, a recruitment process at HBCUs, a new teacher incentive pay plan, housing purchase incentives, enhanced hiring practices, a Teacher Mentoring Program and targeted training for current teachers on urban teaching. Ultimately, the plan’s purpose is to attract and retain Star Urban teachers to GCSC. Talent Management Improvement Plan Identifying, recruiting and retaining top talent is key to sustaining any successful academic and financial turnaround. EdisonLearning’s Human Resources division is staffed with credentialed, experienced professionals, who stand ready to assist the School District with deploying the following tactics: o Talent/Workforce Improvement 

Collective Bargaining Units, including helping to negotiate an agreement based upon shared sacrifice between the School District and the applicable unions to ensure local control over the development and implementation of the turnaround strategy and tactics.

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Workforce Savings

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Realize significant savings in benefit offerings

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Health & Welfare

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Plan design and funding model including cost sharing model

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Captive and potential use of healthcare exchange

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Complete overhaul of time-off eligibility to establish Paid Time-Off (“PTO”) bank including re-design of eligibility and carry-over

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Drive adoption of wellness program(s) with managed metrics and administration to align impact and realize health plan claims savings and significantly influence cost of absenteeism

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Retirement o Develop non-compensatory employee benefit that therefore is not subject to the mandatory retirement but would be perceived by employees as equivalent benefit o Adding a defined contribution (“DC”) plan option

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Talent Management & Investment o Recruiting o Utilization of behavioral-based screening, interviewing and selection of all staff

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Assessment of instructional staff including use of simulations o Employment of Highly Qualified Teachers and paraprofessionals with instructional support duties.

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Compensation (Pay-for-Performance”) o Design and implementation of compensation practices that are linked to performance and desired outcomes. Increases not based upon tenure but instead linked to test scores and/or improvement thereof. Performance measured at teacher level in the same way that each school overall is measured to assure that there is direct alignment between performance goals of the school and the performance goals of each teacher.

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Performance Management

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Workforce Policies o General administration of workforce to be streamlined to drive improved efficiencies and reduce cost

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o Progressive Disciplinary Process specifically designed to address absenteeism and tardiness Retention Initiatives- design and implement to reduce voluntary turnover P a g e | 40

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Professional Development o Personalized development plans linked to district needs with a focus on application and execution of learning.

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Ongoing and continuous feedback loops and coaching will be critical components of all development efforts.

o Risk Management 

Evaluation of current risk management policies, carriers and administration with redesign goal of reducing liabilities and cost of administration

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Training and education to drive compliance and reduce cost of incidents

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Goal 3: Transform the Communication To Inform, Engage, And Connect All Inform, engage and connect all citizens in the successful implementation of this co-owned strategic plan

Gary Community School Corporation Courageous Plan to Transform Gary Community Schools (CP2T) STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

INTRODUCTION Open and transparent communications is vital to create a better-informed public and form a fundamental appreciation of the value the district has to its residents and the student populous future. The following strategic communications plan will act as a foundation on which to build GCSC internal and external communications strategies. The plan aligns itself with the Superintendent’s Plan as well as the following mandates and School Board policies that address:  Communicating with the Public  Media Relations  Parental Involvement  Advertising and Promotion SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS The development of this plan recognizes the evolution of district communications from a service to a strategic function. This plan will create the framework to assess and create goals for internal and external district communications. The plan is created as a starting point and serves as a living document that will change and adapt to meet the diverse needs of the school district, as a result of ongoing assessment and evaluation; benchmarking, focus groups, surveys, e-mail and interpersonal contact. The conditions are in place for the GCSC to charter new waters in effective ongoing communication with families and the community. In order to make a meaningful impact, the goals of strategic communication must become embedded throughout the organization. Together the efforts outlined in this plan set the stage for a profound shift in GCSC communications and represent a better approach to engaging stakeholders. VISION It is the vision of the Public Information Department to develop a high level of support from the community for Gary Community Schools through proactive, as well as timely reactive, communications with stakeholders. GCSC communications’ efforts will showcase the educational excellence and community leadership of our GCSC students. In addition, the district will be known for its community learning centers, and its dedicated and professional staff and teachers who provide a quality 21 st century education for all students. In addition the district will be recognized as a good steward of taxpayer investment.

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GCSC Communications will help our employees be knowledgeable ambassadors for the district by conveying key messages to the community about the GCSC. Communication efforts will be an ongoing effort that is continuously evaluated and improved upon. MISSION GCSC Communications exists to help the district communicate with both internal and external stakeholders. Our mission is to establish positive relationships and credibility between the district and its stakeholders through the timely and accurate dissemination of information. The department also serves as a crucial link between the media and the district in both proactive and reactive news situations. TARGET AUDIENCES Internal Stakeholders Administrators Teachers Support Staff Councils (DPAC, PTA) School volunteers

External Stakeholders GCSC parents and students Business partners City of Gary Gary Common Council Elected City Officials

TARGET AUDIENCES CONTINUED Internal Stakeholders School Board of Trustees

External Stakeholders Elected County Officials Elected State Officials General Public Media Partners Nonprofit Community Groups Parent Organizations Partners in Higher Education

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GOALS District Level Goals GOAL ONE Create an assessment system that will address communication with the following stakeholders and determine attitudes toward the District:  Board  Families  Employees  Political and Funding Partners  Students and Student Leaders  Community Leaders  Nonprofit Organizations  Business Leaders  General Public (including constitutes without children in the District) Objective: The Public Information Office (PIO) will create the methodology, execution and evaluation components to create an overall strategic assessment system. Strategies The Public Information Office researches with NSPRA and other school districts. The Public Information Office creates an assessment system that includes the methodology, execution and evaluation. The Public Information Office presents the system to Superintendent for final approval. The Public Information Office identifies all constitute groups to take part. The Public Information Office creates a timeline for implementation. The Public Information Office implements the plan and gives updates to the Superintendent. The Public Information Office creates and implements a system of evaluation of the assessment. Results are compiled in a report and submitted to the Superintendent for review.

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GOAL TWO Launch a Communication Advisory Group and establish routine meetings. Objective: A cross representative group of key District constitutes will serve in an advisory capacity to the Public Information Office. Strategies The Public Information Office identifies key constitutes. The Public Information Office researches best practices in formation, guidelines and procedures of other School District Communications Advisory Groups. The Public Information Office gathers names of potential members and creates the group in collaboration with the Superintendent or Superintendent’s designee. The new District Communications Advisory Group meets and formulates final strategies, meeting structure and timeline for the year. The last meeting of the year will be held as focus group discussion, strategy and planning to assess the year’s activities and revise the following year’s protocol. GOAL THREE Create four clear consistent key message statements. Objective: Based upon the annual assessment of communications along with stated district-wide goals, four key messages will be structured to address the top district-level communication priorities. Key messages allow for clear communication across the district at all levels. Strategies PIO will evaluate the District’s Strategic Plans, District-wide goals and communication assessments. PIO will determine key messaging points. PIO will test draft messages and talking points with key audiences and further refine as needed. PIO will develop an ongoing study of issues facing education. Develop information sheets and draft responses. PIO will include statements in all communications including news releases, employee newsletter, district newsletters, website and “on-hold” messages for phone system. GOAL FOUR Utilize the District website and social media to provide powerful online tools that encourage increased parent, student, employee and public interaction with the District. Objective: Assess and determine the effectiveness of the website to further refine the final new design.

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Strategies Create an online survey to assess website effectiveness. Assess the branding effectiveness of the website by contacting partnering school district communication officials for third party assessment. Revise website as necessary based upon the assessment and survey results. GOAL FIVE Create a district-wide system for story and photo submission. Objective: Create a system that unifies District strategies to promote and inform the public about each community school equally. Strategies Review the system currently in place and revise as necessary based upon the results of assessment.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION GOALS GOAL ONE Establish an effective employee communications plan that supports district-wide information sharing, increases knowledge and awareness of district level strategies, and improves district level understanding of the individual needs of each community school. An informed and involved staff member is the best ambassador a District could have. Objective: Create a quarterly employee newsletter Strategies Establish a list of regular and special issue articles. Assess the best distribution system for the newsletter by gathering input from district staff. Launch marketing rollout of the newsletter to employees. Add a short survey each final quarter to assess and gauge its effectiveness. Objective: Throughout the year recognize days/weeks that have been set aside for special recognition of professions. Strategies Research national recognition days already recognized at the District. Create an annual calendar and strategy to recognize these days throughout the year.

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GOAL TWO Create a system of recognition for staff to be recognized at a district level for their accomplishments in order to facilitate good relations between the district office and employees. Objective: A system of staff recognition at the district level creates an opportunity to formally recognize outstanding staff members. Strategies Research best practices and programs in other school districts. Present and research proposed plan to the Superintendent for final approval. Create a committee to create the program. Create marking campaign to rollout the program internally. GOAL THREE Establish a system to create and maintain regular contact with student leadership organizations. Objective: Student leaders in the district who are knowledgeable of GCSC serve as Ambassadors in the community. Strategies Work with Intra-City Student Council, counselors and principals to identify student leaders. Create a system of regular communication messages. Survey the students regarding distribution of messages and create a system to disseminate the messages accordingly. EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION GOALS GOAL ONE Establish an effective community relationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s network of key constitutes to build collaborative relationships and strengthen and support for and confidence in the District. Objective: Create a key communicator list of persons representing key strategic audiences throughout the District. Strategies Create a key communicator list of persons representing key strategic audiences throughout the District. Develop a plan to establish routine communication protocol with these groups. Develop a routine assessment tool to gauge progress and on target messages with these groups. P a g e | 47

GOAL TWO Create individualized plans that support and strengthen each departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s communications with its major constitutes. Objective: Department level communication plans support and strengthens the district level communication goals while addressing the individual communication strategies of each department. Strategies Research department level marketing plans with other school districts. Meet with department directors and present a proposed communication project list. Work with department directors to create the final annual department communication plan. Present all final department communication plans to the Superintendent for review and final approval. GOAL THREE Create a system to support and strengthen the connection between individual schools and their communities. Objective: Develop tools and resources to help Principals and Assistant Principals to become more effective in their roles as communicators for the District. Strategies PIO will evaluate the community and individual school data to serve as the background for individual school communications issues. PIO will review each schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current communications methods and tools. Conduct interviews with Principals on key issues as needed. PIO will create and execute an assessment of our communications with parents. PIO will provide media training that will help all Principals understand how to work with the media and develop skills to communicate appropriate messages for their schools. PIO will write and distribute district level communication articles for school newsletters. PIO will develop a marketing brochure template so that schools can publish a professionally designed brochure with a consistent brand. PIO will update individual school web pages. PIO will evaluate feasibility of school level key communicator program. PIO assess the current level of communication with community groups who partner and utilize school facilities on a regular basis. GOAL FOUR Establish an effective media relations program that enhances the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image in the community.

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Objective: Proactive media relations create a partnership to ensure the district can provide accurate and timely dissemination of information to district constitutes. Strategies PIO will create annual packets for all media outlets that provide contacts, fast facts, district history and background, bios, and protocol to involve the Spokesperson in all media stories. PIO will conduct bi-annual editorial visits with key media outlets to develop relationships with editorial staff and discuss in-depth district issues. PIO will maintain regular contact with reporters who cover education stories for newspapers, television, and radio. PIO will develop a district wide experts list that can provide interviews and background information to the media about important education related topics. PIO will create a system to follow district related media stories through social media monitoring. PIO will develop a system to record all media stories for future reference and research. GOAL FIVE Leverage external communications through existing community and civic publications such as chamber newsletters, e-mail, list serves and other targeted community publications. Objective: Proactive media relations create a partnership to ensure the district can provide accurate and timely dissemination of information to district constitutes. Strategies PIO will create a list of possible publications. PIO will assess which publications would strategically promote the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s key messages. PIO will create a protocol to share stories on a regular basis. PIO will create a long-term plan of stories to be shared. GOAL SIX Establish a visible presence in the community. Objective: Give the GCSC a proactive voice through active community involvement.

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Strategies PIO will attend community organization’s meetings. PIO will create an internal communications campaign that encourages participation in local service clubs and organizations. PIO will utilize ongoing communication supports to encourage school staff to talk positively about GCSC to friends, neighbors, and community acquaintances. PIO will utilize district communications to highlight school district involvement in the community. PIO will seek new business partnerships through contacts in local groups. PIO will create a system for staff to submit information about their community involvement to be highlighted in the district communications. PIO will create a system to recognize staff efforts. GOAL SEVEN Establish a long-term ongoing plan for community engagement for the Board of School Trustees. Objective Research and develop a strategy for effective community engagement for the Board of School Trustees in order to advance district initiatives. Strategies PIO will investigate best practices for Board community engagement. PIO will identify key community groups with which to meet. PIO will develop key messaging for Board. PIO will develop and promote a calendar for community engagements. PIO will conduct media training for the Board. GOAL EIGHT Create a culture of customer service districtwide.

Objective Give staff the training tools and resources to provide superior customer service experiences for all district constitutes. Strategies PIO will research best practices in school customer service. PIO will create a system of key customer service principles. PIO will develop and implement district-wide training. PIO will continue on-going communication follow-up on principles. PIO will create and implement a “Star of Customer Service” recognition program.

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GOAL NINE Create a system of recognition for volunteers as well as community and business partners. Objective GCSCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recognition of volunteers, community and business partners underscore the importance of community involvement in schools. Strategies PIO will research best practices and programs in other school district. PIO will present the research and proposed plan to Superintendent for final approval. PIO will create a committee to develop the new program. PIO will create a marketing campaign to rollout the program both internally and externally.

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Gary Community School Corporation Courageous Plan to Transform Gary Community Schools (CP2T) Culture and Climate Improvement Plan

The Millennium Learning Concepts learning culture assessment team conducted a learning culture review of the Gary Community School Corporation. The district review team activities included a review of the documents collected from the district’s portfolio/profile, the Indiana State Department of Education, Gary Community School Corporation and schools’ web sites, formal and informal interviews with students, teachers, parents, support staff, and school leadership. The review team also conducted observations of school classroom and common areas, and the administration office. A learning culture review is an assessment of the existing learning culture of the school with emphasis on strengths and weaknesses with respect to achievement, goals and objectives. Learning culture reviews assess such attributes as learning environment, discipline, classroom management, leadership, coordination, collaboration, instructional equity, cultural competence, equitable access to the curriculum and relationships. The results from this assessment should assist the school and district in making decisions about next steps as they relate to school culture and academic achievement. The learning culture assessment report is organized under the following headings: Assessment Report Components      

Introduction Commendations Targeted Area Topics Opportunities for Growth Findings Finding Source(s)

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Next Steps/Recommendations District/School’s Next Steps Timelines/Persons Responsible Other Concerns Resources Reflective Questions

Millennium Learning Concepts, LLC (MLC) of Lexington, Kentucky conducted the Gary Community School Corporation learning culture assessment. MLC is owned by Dr. Roger Cleveland who serves as the lead consultant for the company. Team members who served on the review committee were: Dr. Louise Byrd, Darlene Gee, Dr. Sterling Saddler, Jerome Costner and Ann French.

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Commendations 

The Gary Community Schools Corporation celebrations include third-graders performance on the IREAD-3 – a test measuring literacy comprehension. The students progressed by 17.4 %, meaning more third-graders passed to the fourth-grade.

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At the secondary level, the passage rate for first-time test takers of ISTEP+ Algebra 1 increased by 13%. A high school leadership academy celebrated a 52% jump in the number of students passing Algebra 1.

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GCSC is home to a 5 star National Blue Ribbon School, a high school voted one of the top schools in the nation by US News and World Report and two A+ rated schools.

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The Gary Area Career Center is expanding course offerings, which will help students become more competitive for high-paying jobs in trades and technology.

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The Bethune Early Childhood Development Center provides young learners a great start as the only preschool that offers Montessori and special education services.

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Wirt-Emerson VPA Academy has been named one of the top-performing high schools in Indiana by U.S. News & World Report.

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Gary Community Schools Corporation celebrates a high level of parent involvement through the Family and Community Engagement Initiative (FACE).

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Growth Areas This report addresses three areas that the learning culture assessment team believes are the most critical and in need of immediate action plans. These top three areas of deficiency are deemed most likely to create barriers to the success of The Gary Community Schools Corporation. In addition, other areas are included that should be examined and addressed as time permits. Please be aware that some of the findings and recommendations will be interconnected and will be reiterated throughout the report. This is characteristic of the cohesiveness of the issues identified in this report.

Leadership and Systems Thinking

Opportunity for Growth

There is evidence of some planning in the Gary Community Schools Corporation, but the district lacks a systemic, cohesive planning process. Planning efforts across administrative divisions, departments, and schools are not tightly linked or monitored for results. There is no approved, cohesive plan that directs district training activities, prioritizes teacher need for professional development, or provides a system to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of professional learning The district and school improvement plans are inadequate in promoting change.

Findings According to staff interviews, numerous staff and community stakeholders (community leaders, businesses, church leaders, etc.) were involved in developing well-defined and purpose driven mission, vision, and belief and value statements for guiding the Gary Community Schools Corporation. The school district’s (corporation) mission, vision and values/ beliefs are visible in schools, the administration building, on school and corporation websites and official district materials. According to the Board Policy And Administrative Procedures Manual the mission and vision were revisited in 2014. Some evidence of planning was found in the Gary Community Schools Corporation but consistent planning processes, action steps, communication protocols and implementation strategies are inadequate to provide a clear focus and guide district initiatives, program direction, and system operations. Improvement plans were developed as strategic documents lacks sufficient clarity to focus district decision making. Due to a lack of clarity and focus within plans and policies, decision making regarding curriculum design and delivery has shifted to individual school sites. Individual schools are operating as independent entities, resulting in randomly implemented improvement efforts that limit the district’s ability to achieve desired goals. The lack of an extensive communication plan contributes to the lack of coordination of district efforts to improve student achievement. School leadership and staff expressed a desire for a cohesive, collaborative school corporation: “I would like to know what strategies other schools are using to impact student achievement.” P a g e | 54

“I feel that we are isolated from everyone else in our school system.” “We work in isolation to each other.” “There is little or no collaboration with other schools.” “Yes, I would like to meet with other grade level teachers.” “We meet often with staff at our school, but not other schools.” Leadership interviews reveal the district does not have a district instructional supervisor responsible to focus on collaboration among educators to ensure they work together in interdisciplinary teams to harness diverse strengths, identify individual students’ needs, and develop professional growth to enhance student learning. School leadership is completely responsible for supporting assessment needs to meet federal and state accountability standards. Data reviewed at the district/school level for academic and non-academic data during the school year is a responsibility of building level administrators. Some schools share that this responsibility with collaborative teams that investigate data and post results on data walls. Leadership at one school stated that collaborative teams drive the school. The leadership team is composed of the data coach, nurse, classroom teacher, parent involvement coordinator, etc. and every team member spearheads an academic area based on student needs. Several teachers at the school expressed that they feel a part of the school and is empowered to learn and share what is best for students. Staff shared that Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) meet every Monday. Learning logs for test scores and data study are maintained and meetings are based on grade level concerns as well as for content (i.e. math). Students are required to record their own data. Teachers state that the grade-level meetings occurred every other week last year, but occur once a month this year. Some meetings involve external partners from the Pearson company (i.e. ELA & math coach) and also internal partners. Leadership team meetings occur weekly on Wednesdays. Pearson employees also provide Professional Development sessions, curriculum, and observe classrooms. In addition, teachers mentioned the existence of a school achievement plan. While this is an example of school leadership building capacity internally, district leadership has not developed a focused plan to build on expertise among district-wide educators to enhance teaching and learning for all schools. At another school leadership shared, “As a leader, I support collaboration by ensuring that teachers’ ability to collaborate is embedded in our day-to-day workings. The master schedule is built so grade level team meetings can be held weekly. Mandatory monthly professional development meetings for the entire staff and weekly optional professional development meetings are not only led by administrators, but teachers, as well. These meeting allow teachers to discuss, analyze and interpret data for findings that are to be incorporated into daily instruction. Leadership added that at this school teachers are focused on instruction, relationships, student centered learning and data to become more effective. In contrast to the leadership’s efforts to build expertise capacity at this school, staff at another school in the district unanimously felt there was no collaboration taking place. With the exception of grade-level meetings, teachers stated no other efforts were being taken to work together. The teachers stated that staff and financial cut-backs have taken a toll on the school and the morale. They recalled many other collaboration efforts took place in the past, but have not been P a g e | 55

implemented thus far this school year. Teachers discussed the stress and pressure they feel by the cut-backs, noting the many new roles each must play, such as writing coach, nurse, security guard, etc. They stated that with the time limitations they face, they felt it unfair that “everything is thrown to the teachers.” The district does not initiate or facilitate discussions between schools in order to eliminate unnecessary curriculum overlaps and gaps. Nor has a systemic process to clearly define an effective procedure for educators to work in interdisciplinary collaborative teams to improve student achievement been developed. Building administrators set aside time in the school schedule for collaborative groups and work with teachers to address student needs. District leadership disclosed that district-wide professional development for cross grade collaboration, assessment and grade level meetings had been identified for the 2013-2014 school calendar. Though the corporation’s vision and mission statements, board policies, and planning documents reference providing all students with a quality educational program and embracing the diversity of its student population, the assessment team noted that disparities and inconsistencies exist among schools in a variety of programs, services, and resources. Disparities in the access to instructional technology were noted across the district. Leadership and staff at some schools shared that there were limited resources for effectively educating their students: “We don’t have funds to buy the supplies needed for our students” “I would love to have more technology to enrich instruction” “Gary does not have a curriculum map.” “The Reading series is out-of-date.” “Math is not aligned to standards – it is Common Core.” “Much time is needed and is dedicated to translating Common Core to College Career Readiness.” Teachers unanimously stated the district and school “do not ensure equity and access.” They noted the allocation of resources as very unbalanced with some schools receiving special grants and aid therefore receiving very different supplies… “The school does not have a High Abilities or ELL instructor.” Other schools in the Gary Community Schools Corporation seem to have funds, resources and technology to support instruction and student achievement. Some schools have multiple labs including 30 computers and teachers are provided personal computers. A principal stated that funding from a grant afforded the school to acquire 3 computer labs, computers in every classroom, and smart boards and panel boards in all classrooms. The school team also includes 4 math/literacy coaches and other support staff on the leadership team. Though a variety of computers and other instructional technologies are available throughout the district, evidence that the available technology has been integrated into daily classroom instruction or used to personalize learning is not prevalent in most schools. District interviews indicate that there are challenges in providing professional development on proper use of software for staff. Technology maintenance and high speed access are also P a g e | 56

challenges district-wide. The district provides a variety of professional development opportunities through staff participation in in-service activities such as workshops, program training sessions, conferences and conventions. A Beginning Teacher Intern Program provides assistance to beginning teachers in accordance with the Indiana law and the guidelines established by the Indiana Department of Education. The office of Innovations and Improvement/Federal Programs and Grants provided multiple professional learning opportunities for 2013/2014 that include core content areas, special education, technology, parental involvement and engagement, school safety, socioemotional learning and researched, evidence-based best practices. The most recent professional development was with Dr. Robert Marzano in Merrillville. While the district has been proactive in providing professional development for staff, there is not a district professional development plan to guide system-wide improvement of instructional practices over time. Professional development efforts are not consistently evaluated to impact desired student achievement. Nor has a comprehensive plan to allocate resources to offer ongoing and job-embedded professional development to improve academic performance been developed. Leadership and staff interviews, as well as a review of various district and site plans, board policies, and other documents revealed the lack of a comprehensive curriculum management plan. A curriculum management plan would provide direction and designate roles and responsibilities for the design and delivery of the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curriculum. Several curriculum initiatives, endeavors, and documents exist throughout the district. Staff stated that individual school curriculum documents are aligned with district and state standards. However, staff stated that a district wide developed curriculum plan including curriculum mapping is greatly needed. District leadership is now in the process of developing curriculum maps/guides to enhance learning. State documents are used in some schools to guide instruction. According to district and school interviews, minimal processes are in place to monitor the implementation of an aligned curriculum.

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Instruction, Rigor, Classroom Management

Opportunity for Growth

The quality of learning and teaching is inconsistent across all classrooms throughout the Gary Community School Corporation, ranging from high-quality instruction with pace and rigor that challenges all students and actively involves them in their learning, to that which lacks rigor and pace. Utilizing engaging instruction and strategies designed to increase classroom rigor (cultural responsive instruction, bell to bell instruction, and differentiated instruction) could help minimize classroom disruptions.

Findings The Gary Community Schools Corporation celebrations include third-graders performance on the IREAD-3 – a test measuring literacy comprehension. The students improved by 17.4 %, meaning more third-graders passed to the fourth-grade. At the secondary level, the passage rate for first-time test takers of ISTEP+ Algebra 1 increased by 13%. A high school leadership academy celebrated a 52% jump in the number of students passing Algebra 1. In addition, GCSC is home to a 5 star National Blue Ribbon School, a high school voted one of the top schools in the nation by US News and World Report and two A+ rated schools. Though GCSC has begun to show gradual improvement in student assessment scores and program services, a review of the 2013-2014 Annual School Performance Report reveals the Gary Community School Corporation received an “F” as its final letter grade for school overall accountability. There was no letter grade change from last year. Indiana's new A-F model holds schools and corporations to higher standards and provides a more accurate picture of their performance by incorporating student academic growth and graduation rate, as well as college and career readiness, as measures of success. Student performance measures reveal that GCSC graduation rate is at 69% while the state graduation rate is 89%. The percent of students passing the ISTEP is 48% and the state, 75%. Trend data shows a slow, but gradual increase in performance from the 2009-10 to the 2013-14 school year. In reference to the graduation rate 62.9% of students graduated within 4 years. This rate is below both the state average and state goal. 3.0% of students achieved College & Career Readiness (CCR), a rate also below both state average and the state goal. In consideration of the Gary Community Schools Corporation expectations for classroom instructional strategies and classroom expectations, evidence collected during classroom observations and staff interviews reflect inadequate implementation of those strategies and classroom expectations. Practices are predominantly teacher-directed, full class, or large group at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Observations of technology use during teaching and learning activities at all school levels were extremely varied in quality and effectiveness for student learning. The quality of learning and teaching is inconsistent across all classrooms throughout the Gary Community Schools Corporation ranging from high quality instruction with pace and rigor that P a g e | 58

challenges all students and actively involves them in their learning, to that which lacks rigor and pace. Some posted learning targets were not directly aligned with the standards. Targets were not congruent or referred to throughout the class period. When asked about rigor, several teachers stressed a pressing need for a curriculum map. Teachers stated that they collaborate to develop lessons and instruction aligned with state standards. They did not identify or describe a monitoring process that is in place to ensure the curriculum is being taught or a curriculum map is being followed. One teacher stated that the school is more “studentfocused” because lesson plans are written for what the student will be doing. Classroom observations revealed low level learning that is not engaging or challenging in most classes. In several classrooms it was observed that while teachers remained working at their desks, several students talked to each other about irrelevant topics or were engaged in other work such as reading or doodling. Others just looked bored and not engaged. The majority of classroom instruction does not go beyond the knowledge level of content. Most instructional practices rely on recall. Higher level learning methods to enhance Depth of Knowledge was seldom observed throughout schools. Some students responded that instruction was challenging. One student stated that “good” students would receive work at the next grade level if what they were doing was too easy for them. Another stated that material was “just right” and felt something new was learned each day. Students stated that some “real-life” instruction takes place. They provided the examples of a science experiment and using fake money to help learn how to count money. Overall, students feel that they are not pushed academically. Several also shared that there exists a lack of belief in them. They are not encouraged or pushed enough. Students expressed aspirations of their schools having their own athletics team (ex. As a cheerleader, a student attends one school but is on the cheerleader squad for another school). Students also felt they didn’t’ have enough exposure to career related courses, workshops, etc. GCSC school board policy specifies that an African centered perspective shall be infused into the curriculum acknowledging the development of civilization through Africa encompassing the world's people in the present time. The process of infusion concludes with a satisfactory timeline to achieve a full multicultural program. However, limited evidence exists to substantiate this occurs. Some efforts are made to include multicultural concepts in the learning process. The superintendent and the Wirt Orchestra traveled to Beijing to meet sister academy school participants. In October students participated in the Hispanic Heritage Celebration. Teacher interviews in most schools revealed an unfamiliarity with “culturally relevant” teaching. After a brief explanation by interviewers, teachers stated that the all-male school participates in a couple of mentor programs such as B-Boys and Brotherhood. They stated that there are periodic male speakers to talk to students, and that the principal occasionally recommends a book for reading that is aimed at African American males. Other staff shared that individual teachers initiate decorating to celebrate events such as Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, and Chinese New Year. Teachers noted time was an issue concerning developing individual lesson plans that incorporated culturally relevant instruction. They stated that they pay “not much attention to it,” P a g e | 59

and stated it is “pushed aside” in light of all their other responsibilities. Teachers stressed that there are no specific plans for implementing culturally relevant teaching. “Pockets of excellence” in the use of highly engaging strategies were observed at each school, but those observations were too rare to determine systemic effectiveness in carrying out the intended classroom instructional practices. Teacher/staff interviews revealed that some teachers modified or redesigned instruction for students when they identified gaps in student learning. Some teachers stated that they provided meaningful and timely feedback to students such as one-one instruction and continuously checking for understanding. Those observed classrooms using teacher/student involvement and interaction, learning groups/centers, collaboration etc. revealed more of a sense of community. During these lessons students are well behaved, eager to learn, attentive and enjoying the lesson. Teachers engaged students in challenging, high interest work. Lesson learning targets, essential questions, learning expectations and current student work were a part of the student learning. Misbehavior and inattention to instruction were minimal in these classrooms. Students responded that any misbehavior is not tolerated and the principal and teachers “expect everyone to act right.” Also noted, students shared that if students misbehave, they can get paddled, with parent permission. A couple of the students stated that sometimes students are paddled in front of others and expressed feeling “sad” seeing a friend get paddled and wanting to “help them and see what’s in their head.” Classroom observations and interviews also revealed that some teachers have low expectations for students and don’t challenge students through practices such as targeted lesson development, differentiated instruction or multiple learning styles. There were notable difficulties in classroom management and maintaining order for effective instruction in classrooms, especially in the middle and high schools. Teachers were spending too much time trying to remind students of basic behavior rules and to get back on task. In these classrooms, students were allowed to not rise to an expected standard of behavior. In multiple classes, students were not on task and were talking quietly among themselves. In three (3) observed classrooms, one or more students had their heads on desks, not attentive to the lesson. A teacher in only one of these classes attempted to alert the student(s) to participate in the class discussion. Students were observed off task in several classes. Students were disruptive in several classrooms, talking loudly to other students or inattentive to the lesson. Little student engagement and real instruction were taking place in classrooms. Other observations from these classrooms include:  All students were not participating or engaged in classroom instruction. Some students were off task in the classrooms and not addressed by the teacher. The students were not taking responsibility for their own learning. Motivation to learn was lacking.  Calls to the classrooms from the office are a distraction to teaching and learning.  Most teachers exhibited positive attitudes toward most students but did not hold high expectations for all students  Students were observed outside the classroom in the halls for extended periods of time during instruction There is random agreement throughout the district about the safety of the schools. Staff and students gave mixed responses concerning the orderliness of the schools and classrooms. Observations revealed that in several schools there are implementation and enforcement P a g e | 60

inconsistencies in established school-wide procedures for practices such as hallways, classroom transitioning and student behavior. In some schools there were extreme behavior concerns. While a district-wide structured discipline/behavioral plan is not fully implemented, each school, teacher or grade level team establishes its own discipline and incentive plans. This causes inconsistencies in behavior from school to school and classroom to classroom. School and classroom discipline plans, including academic and behavioral rules/procedures, are posted in some classrooms, but not all. At one school teachers stated they felt safe in the school and have procedures to encourage positive behaviors like Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS) filled out daily and hallway procedures for the “Cadets” (students). Students are required to walk on the right side of the hallway, three “squares” away from the wall and abide by the “Tuck and Cover” procedure. Students stated they felt safe in the school because there are “lots of locks on the doors and security cameras.” They also noted having fire alarms and participating in fire and tornado drills. However, the majority of the interview team members noted that they were not asked to sign in and/or wear identity tags during the extended visits at the observed schools. The district has funded security resource officers in some of the schools, however; there is no defined process in place to monitor for effectiveness. The GCSC school board recognizes a responsibility to maintain a safe environment for students and staff. In response to that concern, codes of conduct for students and responsibility of parents are identified in board policies that clearly identifies the expected behavior on buses and on school property (Policy 703 and 704). Within the document are strategies for intervention of behavior. Most schools show the suspension rate 0 or 1; while others suspension rates are 1/3 of the student population (i.e.; based on latest data (2012-2013) on the district website District data reveal of a student population of 873, 209 students were suspended in one school. District leadership recommend having in- school suspension program versus sending students home and/ or establishing an alternative school program.

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Communication

Opportunity for Growth

The district has no internal communications plan, no set of internal communications protocols that describe how key decisions and deliberations are communicated throughout the organization to every stakeholder and how stakeholders can provide feedback on those decisions and deliberations. It is important to continuously review communication practices to ensure that the communication among all stakeholders is sufficient to foster effective and continuous dialogue centered on improving the teaching and learning environment.

Findings Staff gave mixed responses concerning the flow of information to and from school stakeholders. Staff interviews reveal stakeholders have had little involvement in making educational decisions that positively impact student achievement. It was also reported that teacher leaders have not been empowered to assume important roles in the success of the school and students. Some staff stated that though there is a school vision, it is not consistently communicated. Some students were unsure if faculty and staff kept them informed of activities, academic information and other school news. Though the district has not always ensured extensive communication efforts and procedures, several external means of communicating district news and student achievement information are prevalent. According to GCSC Policy 200, The Board shall interpret the educational program to the community and invite discussions and suggestions on important educational policies and shall attempt to represent the entire community rather than any single group or section. School and district staff inform parents about academic goals, behavioral expectations, classwork, grades and homework for their children (e.g., using classroom contracts, student assignment books, homework websites, and online grade books). School staff offers parent summits, parent teacher organization, parent-teacher conferences, school visits, websites and phone calls so that parents can share information with teachers about their childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning. Social media venues (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+) are utilized and recently logged 8000 hits. District leadership shared that press writings (news media, local newspaper) are not always as positive as the district would like. Staff stated that parents receive report cards quarterly and are invited to parent-teacher conferences. International efforts are also cited on the district web page and social media. The Superintendent and Wirt-Emerson SVPA International Orchestra traveled to Beijing, China to visit their sister academy - The Hangzhou Performing Arts School. The Literacy Nights and other initiatives and activities are posted on the district website for the 2013-14 school year. The Little Free Library is a community endeavor that allows persons to take a book or leave a book for someone to read. Other external communication endeavors include donuts for dads and muffins for moms, Grandparentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Day, open house and Hispanic Heritage Festival. The Parade for Education was presented as a family engagement initiative designed to build relationships and support education. Digital Legacy provides a computer to families that participate P a g e | 62

in parental involvement activity. The adult education program has 6 sites to fully service the community. DIBELS, Acuity, IStep reports and newsletters are sent home. Each month the board minutes highlights community events. The district has purchase a phone system to communicate with families. The district and all schools have a webpage to provide district and school information. Indiana University NW and Indiana Department of Education, DeVry University and Ivy Tech NW are active stakeholders in the process that consistently communicate with the district, schools and community. Board policy indicates the importance of providing a variety of educational programs, services, equipment and facilities to accommodate the special needs of all students. District and school leadership receive input from groups various groups and organizations (Urban League NW Indiana, Intra City Student Council, etc.). Though an array of external communication efforts are common throughout the district, staff interviews conveyed a strong desire for the board and top administration to be more transparent in GCSC communications. Transparency to stakeholders meant both access to information as well as the presentation of the “full picture” around district issues. There is not a formalized written comprehensive plan to ensure continuity and expansion of communication efforts. For example, the district has academic performance reports posted on the webpage, but there is not a process to communicate these reports and improvement initiatives effectively to ensure transparency and needed support from parents and community. Staff shared:  “There’s a disconnect of information, from the administration office to the school and to the teacher.”  “I feel that we are isolated from everyone else in our school system.”  ‘We work in isolation to each other.”  “I would love to know what other schools are doing. We could share strategies.”  “Most information is shared by word of mouth.”  “Our principal does a good job sharing information, but sometimes I don’t know what’s going on.” Summarized student responses included:  Students felt they didn’t get enough information about the district and what was going on  Students felt they are left out of the decision making process; no voice  Vagueness in clarity about the final decision making process (ex. Head administrator gives an ok about programs and other activities, but other administrator/s shoot down ideas and nothing is approved and no reasons given; Administrators not on the same page  Students feel that teachers/administrators do not trust them with projects and programs. Staff leadership and central office correspondence reveal that GCSC has no specific protocols for internal communications, and sometimes are left in the dark on significant issues. Stakeholders conveyed that the lack of an internal communications plan or set of protocols leaves individual district leaders – administrators, department heads, and school principals – to decide how, when, or even whether to communicate critically important information to the employees who are charged with carrying out those key decisions. P a g e | 63

Staff stated that communications have been erratic at best and there is not a consistent system being implemented on how information is dispersed. Staff also shared that program and school improvement initiatives are not always communicated to all stakeholders. Though individual school staff and leadership report that they update websites with all current activities, projects, staff and student information, there is no evidence that this information is reviewed by other schools or the central office. The assessment team observed exemplary programs and initiatives, quality instruction and classroom management strategies in place in schools throughout the district. However, there are no formal plans established to systemically share or replicate these islands of excellence throughout the Gary Community School Corporation.

Finding Sources

Interviews with: School and district leadership, teachers, parents, students, and support personnel Observations: Administration offices, classroom/school walkthroughs, lunchroom, common areas Review of: Indiana and Gary Community School Corporation websites, Indiana Dept. of Education website, School/District Report Cards and 2012-2014 Annual Performance Reports and Trend Data, District and School plans and documents, Student Handbook, 2013-2014 Uniform Code of Conduct Book, Online Student Code of Conduct Book, Board Policy And Administrative Procedures Manual

Next Steps/Recommendations 1. Opportunity for Growth- Leadership and Systems Thinking Successful school districts are characterized by a coherent school system, rather than by a system of separate schools. Inconsistencies in monitoring, student discipline, and teacher expectations impede continuous improvement in student achievement. District-level issues with student support services and inequities in resource allocation contribute to building-level challenges. FINDINGS: There is evidence of some planning in the Gary Community Schools Corporation, but the district lacks a systemic, cohesive planning process. Planning efforts across administrative divisions, departments, and schools are not tightly linked or monitored for results. There is no approved, cohesive plan that directs district training activities, prioritizes teacher need for professional development, or provides a system to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of professional learning The district and school improvement plans are inadequate in promoting change. RECOMMENDATIONS: ď&#x201A;§ When completed, the Strategic Plan needs to drive system change. It needs to direct all future decision making and actions, be coordinated with other system-wide efforts, and maintain focus on achieving district goals and priorities. The assessment team recommends P a g e | 64

developing a reasonable three- to five year plan, selecting a small number of system-wide goals, focusing district efforts on them for several years, and holding staff accountable for implementation. School improvement efforts have been initiated, but they have not been coordinated across the district to provide a seamless transition for students as they move from grade level to grade level or from school to school and have generally not led to improved student performance. 

Develop, document, and execute a curriculum management process to establish control of the curriculum. The process should include the following aspects of curriculum management: design, delivery, monitoring, student and program evaluation, and professional development to support curriculum delivery.

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Develop a district Professional Development Master Plan to build staff capacity, support district priorities, provide district-wide coordination, and increase student achievement. Align the professional development plan with the district Strategic Plan, school improvement plans, and the Curriculum Management Plan.

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Develop a district professional development plan that incorporates emphasis on growth in curriculum design, writing, and delivery; effective classroom strategies to engage the variety of learners; and skilled data use for instructional and curricular decision making. Include a process for review of implementation and subsequent evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of both district and site-based professional development.

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A high quality professional development program results from a comprehensive professional development plan that addresses short-term and long-range needs. Such a plan must be linked to the goals outlined by the district, be based on identified needs, be designed for long-term implementation, and provide opportunities for meaningful practice and follow-up.

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Develop and implement both short-term and long-range strategies that will identify and eliminate disparities and inequities affecting students’ learning success in all schools.

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Clarify Roles, Responsibilities, and Practices of Administrative Personnel to Promote Sound and Effective Organizational Management. Provide a smooth transition to initiatives and the new evaluation system, ensuring that it is used to improve instruction rather than adhere to state compliance requirements.

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Develop and implement a system that directs curriculum revision to ensure curriculum documents are of the highest quality, communicate high expectations for all students, deeply align with high stakes assessments, and define the instructional model district leaders expect teachers to follow to attain the vision expressed in the Strategic Plan.

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Develop a comprehensive student assessment and program evaluation system plan that provides for the systematic collection, analysis, dissemination, and application of student achievement and program evaluation results to promote improved student achievement. P a g e | 65

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Require that those responsible for improving student achievement (administrators and teachers) use student performance data, budget data, and curricular program evaluations to define current and desired service and program objectives.

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Establish a department of instruction/professional development and identify a centralized director of all professional development and /or instruction efforts to ensure a systemic planning process that assures communication and prioritization of efforts. Create or update job descriptions as needed.

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Establish a practice of communicating the board’s position on establishing educational fairness and quality as a priority to move the district toward the goal of success for all students.

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Hold the appropriate district and campus level administrators accountable for monitoring the use of technology to support the delivery of the curriculum by using accountability measures as a part of their respective performance evaluations.

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In the absence of strong and specific district direction and plans, district-based personnel could implement practices and supplemental programs that lead to widely varied student learning outcomes. The challenge for district leadership is to begin and sustain the process of analyzing and using multiple data sources to identify specific steps that need to be taken to achieve the optimal educational outcomes for all students. (Curriculum Management Systems, 2013)

2. Opportunity for Growth- Instruction,

Rigor, Classroom Management

The instructional strategies and classroom activities that auditors observed during school visits lacked congruence with district expectations and commonly accepted effective practices known to impact student learning and obtain higher achievement goals. FINDINGS: The quality of learning and teaching is inconsistent across all classrooms throughout the Gary Community School Corporation, ranging from high-quality instruction with pace and rigor that challenges all students and actively involves them in their learning, to that which lacks rigor and pace. Utilizing engaging instruction and strategies designed to increase classroom rigor (cultural responsive instruction, bell to bell instruction, and differentiated instruction) could help maximize classroom management. RECOMMENDATIONS:  School/district leadership should continuously monitor teachers’ instructional strategies to ensure learning styles and multiple intelligences of the diverse student population are addressed. These instructional strategies should be rigorous, relevant and research-based (e.g. hands-on, applied, real world, cooperative learning practices, Depth of Knowledge levels P a g e | 66

3 and 4). Lesson and unit plans should be developed to meet the unique learning needs of all students. 

Establish and communicate high expectations for all students at every opportunity, including but not limited to official board meetings, community events, informal conversations, and media interviews.

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Expand training in formative and summative data access, analysis, and use in facilitating teaching and learning. Extend this training to all instructional staff and administrators, and provide systems to connect this training to district-wide efforts to increase student achievement.

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Establish clear expectations for administrators and teachers in board policies, job descriptions, and personnel appraisal systems on use of assessment data for diagnosing student needs, evaluating student progress, determining curriculum and program effectiveness, and making decisions in all district operations.

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Review board policies to provide direction for formative assessment development and program evaluation, and develop administrative procedures that formalize the process for developing high quality formative assessments, conducting program evaluation, and using disaggregated data to improve curriculum design and instructional delivery.

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Assign responsibility for development and implementation of formalized procedures for systemic student assessment and program evaluation aligned with the curriculum management plan.

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Implement Culturally Responsive Classroom Management (CRCM) which is an approach to running classrooms with all children, [not simply for racial/ethnic minority children] in a culturally responsive way. More than a set of strategies or practices, CRCM is a pedagogical approach that guides the management decisions that teachers make. It is a natural extension of culturally responsive teaching which uses students’ backgrounds, rendering of social experiences, prior knowledge, and learning styles in daily lessons.

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Assist schools in developing common procedures and processes to address discipline concerns. Please keep in mind that a school wide discipline plan is designed for support and inclusion, not removal and isolation. The plan should not focus on suspending or expelling students but provide a proactive system that teaches a child the social skills needed for a 21st Century learner. Include rewards as wells as consequences. Nothing helps disruptive behavior more than good instruction that is research-based, rigorous, and culturally responsive and aligned with the curriculum. http://teachingwiththebraininmind.com/

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Build Relationships - In a recent meta-analysis of more than 100 studies (Marzano, 2003b), researchers found that the quality of teacher-student relationships is the keystone for all other aspects of classroom management. P a g e | 67

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Put in place a process to monitor the effectiveness of school Security Resource Officers.

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School/district leadership should also provide the faculty, students, and parents with an agreed-upon definition of rigor that can also be used to support the observation and mentoring process. Leadership should widely publicize this definition to all stakeholders and should pursue efforts to incorporate the actualization of this definition into the school’s vision, mission and belief system.

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According to the 2008 ACT report entitled Increasing Course Rigor the following strategies should be utilized by all teachers to extend instructional rigor:  Bell to bell instruction  Instruction that is connected to prior learning  Instruction that is relevant to the real world  Instruction that is based on probing questions, group work and higher-level reasoning  Instruction that focuses on the big picture and uses essential questions  Sharing objectives and daily goals with students  Mandatory student notebooks  Incorporation of research-based strategies  Routine and consistent process to report progress to students  Personal commitment to each and every student. Intentionally extend and require the development of an intentionally focused professional learning community approach based on the goal of increasing academic rigor, collaboratively working to challenge all students to higher levels of thinking and performing, and deliberately mentoring those individuals who need more help than others toward meeting that goal

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Leadership should guide teachers in adopting and following the designated hallmarks of a rigorous course or curriculum as advanced in the 2009 Hechinger Institute report Understanding and Reporting on Academic Rigor. These hallmarks include student work assessed both by classroom teachers and outside experts, standards and expectations that are high and clearly known to all students, and assessments that are comprehensive and clearly linked to the standards, and an established focus on both the content and the standards.

3. OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH – Communication FINDINGS: The district has no internal communications plan, no set of internal communications protocols that describe how key decisions and deliberations are communicated throughout the organization to every stakeholder and how stakeholders can provide feedback on those decisions and deliberations. It is imperative that leadership continuously review communication practices to ensure that the communication among all stakeholders is sufficient to foster effective and continuous dialogue P a g e | 68

centered on improving the teaching and learning environment. RECOMMENDATIONS:  Create a communication plan to share the mission vision, goals, strategies, action steps, and performance measures with the board, staff, parents, and community. Use the district website and/or other combinations of social media tools to transparently communicate on a quarterly basis an update on the status of goals, strategies, and actions steps. 

Develop a Strategic Communication Plan tied to the district's Strategic Plan. The strategic communications plan should provide a “road map” for communications activities, assure that they meet the district’s goals and objectives and contribute to the environment for student achievement. A well-planned communications program ensures that the district is using its communications resources wisely.

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Establish a communications link in the form of regularly scheduled meetings between budget officers and program evaluation officers to enhance the sharing of budget/cost information, achievement data, and program effectiveness evaluations. Such linkages will facilitate cost/benefit analyses of programs and allow them to influence budgeting decisions.

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It is imperative that the superintendent, school board members and top administrators communicate the district’s vision and priorities to staff and the public with a unified voice.

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Develop a strategic internal and external communications plan that includes community engagement.

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Determine who regularly communicates what to whom.

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Articulate a system of two-way communications among superintendent, top administrators and principals. This system would include time for central administration and principals to discuss, reflect and process information together.

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Repeat the district’s key messages through various means.

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Include updated, efficient tools and guidelines for intranet and e-mail use.

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Provide tools such as talking points and timelines that principals can use to communicate to staff. Allow for more face time between the board and top administrators and employees. Explore opportunities to talk monthly with small groups of teachers and classified staff about the issues they are confronting, questions, etc.

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Continue beginning-of-year meetings or functions for all employees that reinforces key messages and helps to build a greater sense of community.

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Make the central office a more friendly, open and easier-to-navigate building, incorporating more student artwork into the building and better signage, and welcoming employees beyond the front lobby. P a g e | 69

(NSPR, 2013) Action Steps to Overcome Barriers Timelines/Person(s) Responsible

The district/school should complete this portion The district/school should complete this portion

Overall Summary Points for the Gary Community School Corporation 1. Continue to do what is right for all children. Even though there are risks, it is the right thing to do.

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2. With leadership guidance, train teams to make an impact on high-needs students starting with formulating meaningful relationships. 3. Take the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Big Rocksâ&#x20AC;? from the Learning Culture Assessment and brainstorm how they will be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan. Monitoring and implementing the important issues will bring about the desired results. 4. Attention to the reduction of discipline, according to the Learning Culture Assessment Team suggestions and providing classroom management support, will free administrators to be instructional leaders.

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Goal 5: Transform Business Servicesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Gary Community Schools Corporation will be a responsible steward of public funds and resources by ensuring ongoing fiscal stability while effectively and efficiently utilizing resources to achieve the districts mission.

Gary Community School Corporation Courageous Plan to Transform Gary Community Schools (CP2T) Financial Improvement Plan

In order to improve the finances of the GCSC, EdisonLearning will review the School Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic financial performance; its processes and procedures; and use of advance accounting, operations and administrative technologies. We will review the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s composition of revenue, margin trends, operating leverage and working capital efficiency. Our review will incorporate an analysis of what financial opportunities the District may have, where it can benefit from consolidation and economies of scale and how it may employ more efficient practices and use technology to allow for stronger financial performance. We will focus primarily on the areas of greatest opportunity which are expected to be use of physical plant, aligning resources with District needs, especially as it pertains to personnel, and operating procedures in areas such as payroll processing, accounts payable, benefits and procurement. After performing our review we will create a long-term financial plan, including a fundraising development plan that will set forth the recommended changes to improve financial performance, outline an implementation plan and provide a timeframe for its enactment and delineate what investments will be necessary to pursue the Plan. Our plan will incorporate the costs associated with our findings and suggested education delivery model improvements. We will provide a set of best practices and recommend any personnel changes and training necessary for District staff to implement the Plan.

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STRATEGIC GOALS ACCOMPLISHMENTS This section highlights the accomplishments and movement to set the stage for transformation. Research indicates it takes a school 5 years to transform. The research is still being collected about the length of time it takes to transform a district however with strategic partnerships we are certain it can be done in a timely, effective and efficient manner. 

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Goal 3: Transform the Communication To Inform, Engage, And Connect All Inform, engage and connect all citizens in the successful implementation of this co-owned strategic plan

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GOAL ONE Enhance and Improve Educational Programming Priorities Data Driven Decision Making for school improvement. Increased IRead scores as follows (note Jefferson scores are incorrect and should readâ&#x20AC;Ś.

ISTEP Algebra ECA improvements: The Gary Community Schools can celebrate an overall 13% increase in End of the Course Assessment passage rate for Algebra I. According to teachers and administrators in the buildings where test scores increased, technology integrations and effective teaching impacted scores at Banneker, Lew Wallace and West Side. The passage rate for first time test takers at Lew Wallace increased by 15% from 34 to 49 percent. At Banneker, first time takers increased from 92% to 96%. West Side saw the most significant increase. With a passage rate of only 4% in the 2012-2013 school year, 56% of the students at West Side were successful this year. That represents over a 52% increase in students that are proficient in Algebra I.

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Academic Improvements 2012 - 2014 Increased graduation rate for Lew Wallace, West Side and Wirt/Emerson. Aligned curriculum, instruction, and assessment processes district-wide in collaboration with Region 1 by implementing PLAN, EXPLORE, ACT. Develop a working knowledge of the College and Career Ready Standards; Rigor, Relevance and Relationship and Next Generation Assessment through professional development for administrators and teachers. Increased enrollment in AP classes, dual credit and career center by scheduling and the development of high school career paths by establishing MOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s with IUN, Valpo University, DeVry and IvyTech. Developed a growth model to track student process by cohorts to increase graduation rate. Planned and executed the first ever 2013 Summer Virtual High School program initiative. Orchestrated the 2013-14 Virtual Credit Recovery and Remediation Program for 2013-14. Established (summer 2013 GED program at Gary Work-One and the Gary Career Center. Provided general leadership and oversight of the Edmentum (AKA PLATO) program, with respect to Credit Recovery and Remediation. Active membership in the Indiana Association of Career and Technical Education (IACTE), the National Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) the Indiana Association of Career and Technical Education Directors (IACTED), and the Indiana Association of Adult and Continuing Education (IAACE), leadership organizations. Formed relationships with Geminus Head Start Vice President to offer class at Banneker Achievement Center. Significantly, increased inclusion (least restrictive environment-LRE) opportunities. Last year 65% of students in self-contained, isolated classroom, this year only 40%. Students with increased general education opportunities went from 15% to 34%. Significant reduction in suspensions and expulsions of student with special needs. Zero expulsions. Revised procedures and processes to address areas of concern (LRE, discipline, timeliness of initial evaluations). Employed special education case managers to oversee the special education processes and IEP meeting of all schools. Instituted Response to Intervention (RTI) in all school to address students academic and behavioral needs without referring to special education as the only means of intervention. P a g e | 75

Participation with Tri-City Special Games increasing studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exposure to peers. Increased professional development opportunities for special education staff, service personnel (social workers, speech therapists, and school psychologists), case managers and RTI facilitators to ensure best practice implementation. Increased Child Find opportunities, especially for students ages 3-5 years, to ensure early interventions. Instituted early intervention literacy development for K, 1st, 2nd grade students. In the process of revising all district policies to reflect most recent IDEA re-authorization and best practice implementation. Specific Career Center Accomplishments in collaboration with the Director: 1. Orchestrated the ACT Prep Program and Facilitated the Career Center Coverage Schedule. 2. Provided SunGard Action Team leadership and technical assistance for system integration and for all live and virtual professional development. 3. Developed partnerships with the Center for Workforce Innovation, Ivy Tech, and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. 4. Evaluated existing CTE and Adult Education programs for programmatic, financial, and instructional structure and fidelity. Reconfigured tuitions and programs to ensure resiliency and financial accountability. 5. Added additional GED program sites at Miller and Work-One for 2012-13 and 2014. 6. Evaluated and restructured all Adult Continuing Evening (CTE) Education programs for programmatic, financial, and instructional structure and fidelity. 7. Established Bi-Annual Consortium Meetings for Operating Agreement Participants. 8. Established Business and Industry Council for Gary Area Career Center, utilizing Work-Based-Learning program â&#x20AC;&#x201C; first meeting September 2013. 9. Re-Evaluated all CTE Programs for Coherent Sequence and IDOE Inventory Additional Pupil Count (APC) funding.

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New and Course Changes: 1. Added District-Wide Advanced Manufacturing and Logistics Program 2013-14. 2. Added District â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Wide Law Enforcement Program for 2013-14. 3. Modified existing CTE Programs, ultimately leading to fifteen (15) inventory changes in the fall of 2012. 4. Revised Business Program District-Wide to ensure maximum APC funding. 5. Offered first ever CTE Program (Radio and TV) at Wirt Emerson. 6. Reconfigured all Business Programs to ensure maximum APC funding available. 7. Established (first ever), summer 2013 GED program at Gary Work-One and the Gary Career Center. 8. Received approval as a provider of technical training for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Programs officially or pending final approved for Work Indiana and Workforce Investment programs as follows: Certified Nursing Assistant (105 hour course with Indiana), Welding (120 hour course with American Welding Society Certification), and IC3 Microsoft Office Skills (48 hour course with MS National Certification). 9. Developed and Executed seven (7), Area Operating Agreements (for the Gary area Career Center), with existing and potential partners; including: Merrillville CSC (Existing Partner); River Forest CSC (Existing Partner); 21st Century (Existing Partner); Thea Bowman (Existing Partner); Gary Middle College (Potential Partner); Ambassador Christian Academy (Potential Partner); and Calumet High School (Potential Partner). 10. Established process for summer school virtual curriculum 11. Established proposal for virtual curriculum for alternative programming and/or homebound students 12. Recommended district to become an authorizer of charter schools GOAL TWO Address Human Resource Needs & Sustain Organizational Infrastructure Priorities Ensure that critical positions are filled. Right-size organization and implement consistent hiring practices. Address contract negotiations through the negotiation of the teacher evaluation process and insurance. Ensure that teachers are highly qualified. GOAL THREE Communication

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GOAL FOUR Improve School Climate Both Internally and Externally Priorities Athletics State Track Champions (First time in 23 years for the city, 35 for West Side) Regional Football Champions Girls Basketball Sectional Champions Student Achievement and Supplemental Services Student Achievement remains the hallmark of the Gary Community School District. All supplemental instructional programs are required to develop and provide formative and summative reports at the end of their contractual services. Partners include; Cambridge, Carnegie Learning, Imagine Learning, Pearson, Renaissance Learning, and others. All providers are required to provide updates of their services throughout the school year, during bi-weekly Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology Committee Meetings. Review and analysis of all purchased book adoptions, equipment, etc – this is still a work in progress because a number of items from several vendors were purchased. Advanced Technology For Data-Driven All GCSC Schools This school year our students will witness a major transformation, updated technology for all schools. This huge accomplishment is being funded with primarily Title I and SIG 1003(g) funds. Here’s a quick summary of upgraded technology for the district within one year: ·

3,700 desktop computers, running Windows 8 Operating system

30 Microsoft Surface Pro2 Systems

111 Apple iPads (4th Generation)

37 Interactive Smart Boards

185 Dell Laptops

400 Lenovo Laptops (New Tech HS)

· Wireless Assess Installation ·

25 Apple iMacs

Microsoft Office 2013 – Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook, Publisher

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- Microsoft online eLearning (August 2014) · Server upgrades from Microsoft Server 2000/2003 to Microsoft Server 2008 and Microsoft Server 2012 

District Network Active Directory upgrade



District Application server upgrades

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Implementation of District “Private Cloud” services: GCSC-CLOUD



Two (2) new IBM iSeries Servers, live & backup for RDS



Career Center Wireless installation



Food Service Network – Sodexo Magic server and wired/wireless network



· Email Server upgrade from Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to Microsoft Exchange Server 2010



· Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) implementation (new phone system) – Service Center & Career Center; all schools will transition to VoIP beginning July 2014

District Infrastructure Backbone upgrade: 1. Central Switch upgrade: from 10/100MB to 1000/10000MB (1 – 10 Gigabit) 2. School data connections from 100MB to Fiber Optic 1000MB (1 Gigabit) installing now, service begins 1 July 2014 3. Two (2) independent Internet connections for the district running 1000MB (1 Gigabit) each - Schools will be divided between each  One leaving the Service Center 

One leaving the Career Center



Backup Data Center (July – August 2014)



New copier and printer installed at each school



Two (2) Copier/Scanners

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Up to Three (3) Multifunction Printers (MFP-printer, copier, scanner)

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Professional Development training classes in Using Technology P a g e | 79

Community and Family Engagement 2013 Several meetings have been conducted with the parents. Hosted the 2013 Title I Regional V Parent Conference. Serve as one of the three executive board members for Communities that Care along with the Mayor and hospital administrator. Hosted seven community meetings for parents and community to discuss the state of the district. Hosted 1st Annual Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Summit â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Ensuring the Promise (300 parents registered)

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Hosted eight Special Education meetings. Presented 1st Annual Gary Promise with Magic Johnson South Shore Dance Alliance back to being a partner with GCSC. Hosted Stellar â&#x20AC;&#x153;Back to School Paradeâ&#x20AC;?. Computer GiveAway to close digital divide in the district. District Wide Parent Policies District continues to cultivate relationships with community liaisons, as well as, continue to strengthen and enhance core strategies to improve, and ensure stronger family involvement activities and services for the students of the Gary Community School Corporation. Parent groups, parent assistants, and other community stakeholders will provide the Superintendent recommendations for consideration to ensure a much more inclusive district wide parent policies. City of Gary, Indiana Some of the new partnerships include Department of Public Parks, Green Urbanism and Environmental Affairs, and Youth Job Fair. Worked on the University Park project and served on other city committees including those with the University Chancellors. Indiana University Bloomington The Gary Community School Corporation and the Indiana University Bloomington have secured several grants for this school year. The grants span from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for all grade levels. University of Notre Dame Formed a new alliance this school year with the University of Notre Dame to increase professional development opportunities for Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Teachers in Northwest Indiana. Calumet College Working to form dual credits and opportunities for students. Strategic Planning The first plan was rejected by the board. Board recommended using Worked with University personnel to create a format for the district strategic planning. Letters to internal and external stakeholders will begin summer 2013. Strategic plan from internal and external stakeholders will be submitted prior to the 2014-15 school year.

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Career and Technical Education Increased student enrollment by 500% (combination of students from the Career Center and High School based electives. Increased revenue by $1,000,000. Media Created a new look for GCSC on the Web, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Updated logos and enhanced communication with parents using social media. Worked with external media to form positive relationships for news reporting. Editorial interview by the editors of NWI Times and Post Tribune. GOAL FIVE Improve Fiscal Management Priorities Prepared and presented a balanced budget recommendation to the Board of Trustees that, if approved, will help the school corporation maintain financial solvency. Worked with bond counsel and the financial advisory firm to secure two loans that allowed the School Corporation to release over $14 mil of vendor payments that had been held for nearly 6 months due to a severe cash flow shortage. Developed a listing of all contractual relationships held by the School Corporation in order to assess the need for renegotiation, re-bid, or cancellation. Significant financial savings have resulted from this effort. Worked with Regional Data Systems (RDS), to clean up the School Corporationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chart of accounts that reflected inaccurate budget and roll-over dollars. Assisted the State Board of Accounts with the School Corporationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bi-annual audit and has taken steps to successfully correct all financial findings. Successfully negotiated a reduction in overtime payouts with the custodial staff union. Developed an employee count tracking system to accurately account for all school corporation employees. Recommended the Procurement Card (P-Card) program to the Board of Trustees for approval. The card will allow for reduced purchase orders, reduced petty cash usage, and greater efficiency. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) identified several mandated onsite fiscal and program compliance visits. Those visits included the following entitlement programs; Title I, Improving The Academic Achievement of The Disadvantaged, Title II, Part A, Improving Teachers and Principal Quality, and The School Improvement Grant 1003(g).

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There were several findings that related to overall internal processes and procedures for accounting and fiscal integrity. Two of the required reports have been submitted, and returned back to the IDOE. The written responses for the Title I report conducted by Crowe Horwath (a contractor of the Indiana Department of Education) will be submitted on May 9, 2013. In addition, the relationships with IDOE program representatives have greatly improved. It appears that the State has an honest willingness to work much more cooperatively with the Gary Community School Corporation. Measures taken to realize a balanced budget by closing 5 buildings (this dollar amount is flexible due to the maintenance costs - ~ $8,500,000); reducing staff by attrition (additional revenues of ~$15,000,000); moved to a community eligibility plan for food and nutrition (additional revenues of ~$1,350,000); implement new Medicaid reimbursement process (additional $1,500,000); change in insurance to be in compliance with state (~$4,800,000); increase enrollment at the career center (~$1,000,000); additional costs savings measures focus on efficiency, security, zero budget restart (use only dollars expected to receive) and building insurance. Working with legislatures for forgiveness on all debt. Worked with city to locate additional revenue. Partnered with Katherine Jackson for Michael Jackson naming rights; Magic Johnson and Pathways to College (Oprah and StarBucks). Internal Accountability The Office of Innovation and Improvements and Special Education developed internal monitoring procedures that meet federal requirements for accountability reporting. Building principals are required to review and submit monthly documentations for internal reporting.

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Gary Community School Corporation Courageous Plan to Transform Gary Community Schools (CP2T) Monitoring of Plan

An assessment tool that outlines benchmarks and recommended improvements will be developed if this plan is accepted that will meet the 5 year stay period.

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GOAL 1: ENHANCE CURRICULA COURSE OFFERINGS TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING -- Provide a coherent, horizontally vertically aligned curriculum that enables all students to fulfill local, state and national assessments and to meet the individual needs of all students. Measurable Objective 1: The utilization of a standards-based, aligned district curriculum will improve to at least 80% based on observations, surveys of enacted curriculum and/or principal reporting. Strategy 1: Revise the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curriculum collaboratively and continuously to be more deeply aligned with local, state and national assessments and to meet the individual and special needs of all students. (How aligned do you want to be with college career readiness standards /common core?) Step 1

Action Step Appoint an action team to develop a curriculum plan that includes continuous revision of frameworks, scope and sequences based on standards

Identify and implement an array of accelerated, remedial and enrichment programs that address the needs of all students

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) GCSC District Leadership

GCSC District Leadership

Evidence/Mea surement Meeting team planning minutes Progress Plans Completed, refined curriculum plan

District Academic Program Offerings Course enrollment data Intervention Plans Program Descriptions

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) PeopleAdministrators MaterialsState Curriculum Guidelines District Scope and Sequence Guides Common Core Standards Professional Development in Curriculum Design College/Career Readiness Standards Funding-$75,000 Materials -Selected Districtwide Programs

Intended Outcome An aligned, articulated and well administered curriculum that supports academically high standards of learning for all children, integrates college - and career-ready skills, incorporates fine and performing arts and is culturally relevant for a diverse student population. The document will be reviewed and revisited regularly to meet the changing demands of our students and community. Accelerated, Remedial and Enrichment programs aligned to district data and student needs

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Step

Action Step

Ensure that curriculum and technology infrastructure is aligned to multiple assessments criteria and provides a feedback loop to improve instruction.

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) IT Department Assessment Director District Leadership

Evidence/Mea surement District/School Curriculum Plans District/School Technology Plans

Implement and/or enhance a consistent reading program across the content areas. K-12 with appropriate staff development to promote reading comprehension & vocabulary development.

Dr. Pruitt GCSC Board District Leadership Reading Specialists Dept. Chairs

Literacy Needs Assessments Writing samples, anecdotal records, and performance assessment data Interdisciplinar y Units of Study Meeting Schedules

Ensure that all Pre-kindergarten through third grade classrooms are staffed with a minimum of one trained instructional assistant for every teacher

Dr. Pruitt GCSC Board District Leadership

The number of trained Instructional Assistants available for PreK-3rd grade classroom

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding- $500,000 Technology Inventory Data Appropriate funding for infrastructure, equipment and labor Curriculum Plans Technology Plans FundingReading/Literacy Resources Staff Training (Stipends and Substitutes)

FundingMaterials Staff Training (Stipends and Substitutes) Prekindergarten 3rd Grade Resources and Materials

Intended Outcome Systems are implemented and in operation Students, staff and stakeholders are utilizing core systems for teaching and learning, analysis and operations

A reading/ literacy plan based on the skillful use of data about student performance, literacy needs and expectations in the school and community, school capacity to support literacy development, current teaching practices, and effectiveness of the literacy program

The districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prekindergarten through 3rd grade classrooms are comprised of high-quality and coordinated learning in well-staffed classrooms including well-prepared teachers and a consortium of trained assistants working collaboratively to educate children in the 3-8 age range

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Step

Action Step

Conduct professional development for staff, administrators and faculty to build knowledge of rigor, relevance and relationships of curriculum.

Rewrite and revise curriculum frameworks to include technology connections, resources, and procedural requirements Design and implement a district annual fair where teachers demonstrate innovative use of technology in classroom instruction

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Office of Professional Development District Leadership

IT Department District Leadership

IT Department Professional Development Department

Evidence/Mea surement District/School Professional Development Plans School PD Needs Assessments Professional Development Agenda Selected Training Modules

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) FundingResources needed to develop Professional Development office Rigor, Relevance and Relationships Facilitator Printed Resources and Materials

District/School Curriculum Plans District/School Technology Plans

FundingTechnology Inventory Data

Technology Fair Design Draft Technology Fair Entries

FundingResources and Printed Materials Staff to create and assimilate fair information

Curriculum Plans Technology Plans

Intended Outcome

GCSC will provide purposeful professional development that is collaborative and focused on providing teachers and administrators with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement best practices for rigor, relevance and relationships in classrooms The development of quality district/school curriculum frameworks plan that includes technology connections, resources and procedural requirements. Staff demonstrations of innovative uses of technology and integration with classroom instruction

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Strategy 2: Evaluate curriculum programs and initiatives to determine effectiveness. Step

Action Step

Develop a curriculum evaluation plan and timeline which establishes effectiveness, cost benefits, and academic impact of curriculum (Use Strategy 1, Action Step 1to understand) Evaluate curricular programs and initiatives to ensure that objectives are being met, resources are being utilized effectively and efficiently, and that there is significant impacts on students mastering of standards Evaluate current and future external research and grants to ensure they are aligned with the strategic plan.

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) District/School Leadership

Evidence/Mea surement Curriculum Evaluation Plan Evaluation Timeline Benchmarks Evaluation Rubric Scores

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) FundingCurriculum Plan and Timeline Resources Developed Evaluation Rubric

Intended Outcome A curriculum evaluation plan and timeline are in place that monitors budget, plan effectiveness and academic impact on a consistent basis.

District/School Leadership

Implemented Curricular Programs/Initi atives Resources Inventory Data analysis reports to attain impact on student mastery of standards

FundingStaff time to monitor and evaluate programs Program monitoring notes

Implemented curricular programs and initiatives are consistently monitored to assure effective and efficient utilization. The impact on studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mastery of standards are measured through Implementation and Impact Checks.

District/School Leadership

Developed Rubric information collected from external research and grants

FundingApplicable Research Resources Current and future grants District Strategic Plan

Direct alignment of all external research and grants with the district strategic plan.

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Strategy 3: Create, identify and implement research based extended year, extended day, and acceleration programs to ensure college and career readiness. Step

Action Step

Identify and recommend research-based approaches to extended school time that promotes student achievement in college and career readiness. Implement and evaluate current and future extended school time programs Extend partnerships with university and business/ industry to enhance opportunities in dual credit, concurrent enrollment and work based learning. Identify and implement summer programs that focus on math and reading proficiency

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Dr. Pruitt District/School Leadership

School support staff District/School Leadership Dr. Pruitt District Leadership

School Support Staff District Leadership

Evidence/Mea surement Data base of researchbased extended school time strategies addressing college and career readiness. Evaluation Rubric scores Program Anecdotal information Number of extended partnerships extended Enrollment in dual credit, concurrent enrollment and workbased learning programs Successfully Implemented Summer Programs Progress in Reading and Math Achievement

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) FundingExtended school time research and resources

FundingCompilation of current and future extended school programs FundingOutreach Resources Roster of related organizations, businesses, industries, universities

FundingOther Successful Summer Programs for Review Resources and Materials for building Summer Programs

Intended Outcome District will have access to a data base of research- based strategies for the utilization of extended school time in promoting student achievement in college and career readiness. The implementation and consistent monitoring/evaluation of all extended school programs. The district will secure extended partnerships with organizational entities to broaden alternative educational opportunities.

Development and implementation of effective summer programs including the infusion of researched based strategies to address math and reading proficiency

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Strategy 4: Increase student achievement. (Separate by Elementary & Secondary Action Steps) Need percentage points for each. Step

Action Step

All k-12 students in partnership with parents, teachers and others will develop, review and revise a Personal GrowthPlanthatleads to College andCareer Readiness. Provide ongoing professional development for all instructional staff and teachers in grade-level and discipline specific Anchor Standards: Reading/Writing/ Speaking/Listening and Language Research and develop a Data Warehouse system where all of student data (system wide) can be input (from various test, etc.) that teachers can assess? Aquity (3, 4, 5, 6) ECA (End of Course Assessment) Dibbles (k-12) 8-Step ISTEP

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) School Leadership Guidance Counselors School Staff

Evidence/Mea surement Student Developed Personal Growth Plans Student Data Folders Student Portfolios

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) FundingCollege and Career Readiness Resources School Course Schedules

Intended Outcome 100% of students will have Professional Growth Plans aligned with College/ Career Readiness and the GCSC mission.

Professional Development Department District/School leadership

Professional Development Plans Growth in Student Achievement More Focused Classrooms

Funding- $100,000 Anchor Course Standards Time for Trainings Training Facilitators

A systematic development to train 100% of GSCS staff and ensure the highest success for student learning in each content area

Dr. Pruitt IT Department District/School Leadership

Efficient Data Warehouse Staff utilization of data system

Funding- $300,000 Applicable Research on Data Systems Data Inventory Vendor and Software Training and System Management Personnel

GCSC school district will have greater data availability, accessibility and connectivity impacting student achievement and data informed decision making

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Goal 1 30-60-90 Day Plan 2014-15 School Year 30 Day Plan (March 1-April 1, 2015) NOTE: THIS PORTION IS NOT COMPLETE, TEAM IS STILL WORKING ON THIS SECTION. Goal 1: Enhance curricula course offerings to improve educational programming Action Steps Appoint an action team that will work to develop a district curriculum plan Begin research to identify accelerated, remedial and enrichment programs that address the needs of all students Begin discussion on ways to align curriculum and technology infrastructure. Conduct a district technology inventory Review the consistency of implemented reading programs across K-12 content areas. Research quality staff development to promote reading comprehension & vocabulary development component of literacy plan.

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons GCSC District Leadership

GCSC District Leadership

GCSC District Leadership Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

GCSC District Leadership

Dr. Pruitt District Leadership Reading Specialists Dept. Chairs

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Action Steps Appoint a team responsible for developing a curriculum evaluation plan and timeline which establishes effectiveness, cost benefits, and academic impact of curriculum Develop a rubric to evaluate current and future external research and grants to ensure they are aligned with the strategic plan. Begin compiling research based approaches to implementing and evaluating extended school time

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

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Goal 1 60 Day Plan (March 1-May 1, 2015) Goal 1: Enhance curricula course offerings to improve educational programming Action Steps Action team set benchmarks for progress, review and revision of curriculum plan Study compiled accelerated, remedial and enrichment programs to select those aligned with addressing the needs of all students Begin scheduling professional development for staff in reading strategies to address reading comprehension and vocabulary. Schedule school walkthroughs for consistency in implemented reading program Schedule school walkthroughs for integration of reading comprehension and vocabulary strategies Curriculum evaluation team report on team progress in developing evaluation plan Team report to leadership on team progress in alignment of curriculum and technology infrastructure

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons GCSC District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

GCSC District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership IT Department

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Action Steps Discussion on exemplary approaches and feasibility of implementing /evaluating extended school time for all schools Study and discuss exemplary approaches and feasibility of the implementation of math and reading proficiency summer programs

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons School District Leadership

Dr. Pruitt School District Leadership

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Goal 1 90 Day Plan (May 1-August 1, 2015) Goal 1: Enhance curricula course offerings to improve educational programming Action Steps Action team continue progress, review and revision of curriculum plan Review each schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accelerated, remedial and enrichment programs for alignment in addressing the needs of all students Implement extended school time programs in additional schools. Use rubric to evaluate existing programs for quality Continue existing partnerships and identify new partnerships with university and business/industry Implement identified quality math and reading focused summer programs (Summer 2015) Facilitate a process that carries out the development, implementation, and realization of a personal learning plan leading to College and Career Readiness aligned with the GCSC mission and strategic objectives. Develop Action Plans for: Levels PreK-5 Levels 6-8 Levels 9-12

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons GCSC District Leadership

GCSC District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

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Action Steps Train staff and counselors in the development, review and revision of Personal Growth Plans for all students to begin fall, 2015 Plan summer professional development for all staff in grade level discipline specific Anchor Standards Visit school district with existing Data Warehouse to observe system operations Research quality vendor and operational costs of implementing and maintaining district Data Warehouse

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

School District Leadership IT Department School District Leadership IT Department

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

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GOAL 2: ADDRESS HUMAN RESOURCE NEEDS AND SUSTAIN ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE To employ staff who will be held accountable for achieving the educational standards established for our students. Strategy 1: Maintain comprehensive professional development supporting district staff & administration. Ensure instructional/operational capacity and human capital resiliency, with ongoing targeted recruitment plans and activities. Tagline - #ComeBuildYourkFutureWithUs Step

Action Step

Creation of a GCSC district wide Marketing and Development Office

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) GCSC Board of Director Superintendent Dr. Pruitt

Add support/functional staff to the Office of Human Resources

Superintendent Dr. Pruitt

Provide professional development for all staff in state and federal accountability in an effort to maximize appropriate placement of services to all students

Human Resources

Federal Programs

Evidence/Mea surement Assist with staff wide professional development strategy Manage fundraising strategy for entire district Addition of 2 part time staff members (recruiters, assistants)

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding Salary and benefits (2 full time staff members)

Intended Outcome Increased financial support for district, specific programs and individuals schools Consistent and proven professional development strategy

Funding Salary and benefits (2 part time staff members)

# of PD opportunities throughout the year

People HR Department School leaders Outside partners

# of attendees Attendee surveys

Time Allot time for staff to attend PD

Increased relationships with external partners and stakeholders (local and national) Recruitment of high quality and fully invested teachers and leaders Teachers gain a better understanding of state accountability District effectiveness increases

Consistent and connected PD embedded to classroom instruction

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Step

Action Step

Provide professional development opportunities in technology to all district staff including curriculum mapping, grading, everyday planning, email, etc…

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Human Resources Federal Programs IT

Evidence/Mea surement # of PD opportunities throughout the year # of attendees Attendee surveys Consistent and connected use of technology in classroom

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding Title 2 Funds Grants and corporation support People HR Department School leaders Outside partnersTFA

Intended Outcome Increased use (quality and quantity) of technology in classroom and in general practice Staff and students show growth in technological use and understanding

Provide a district annual fair where teachers and staff demonstrate innovative use of technology in classroom instruction Develop and integrate a comprehensive Recruitment Plan that addresses organizational (building capacity) and student needs, residential opportunities, ensures resiliency, and retention.

Human Resources

Staff must show proficiency in all technological tools # of participants and attendees

IT Level of innovative strategies Human Resources

# of new teachers per year

City of Gary % of new teachers retained # of new leadership staff % of new leadership retained

Time – for staff to attend PD

People HR Department IT Time For staff to attend Facility Technology Size of space People HR Department IT “Top” leaders “Top” teachers “Top” students UTEP TFA

Shared best practices and new ideas Media exposure to classroom innovation Increased classroom and district excitement Improved culture (schools and whole district) Influx of new/young talent

Funding Collateral (materials) Travel cost

Culture and satisfaction of new staff/full staff

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Step

Action Step

Evaluate the comprehensive recruitment plan

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Representatives from the IDOE Superintendent Dr. Pruitt

Evidence/Mea surement Based off measurements of developed plan

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) People Time

Intended Outcome Proven effectiveness of plan Improvements to recruitment plan

Parent Council Gary YSB/student advisory council

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Goal 2 30-60-90 Day Plan 2014-15 School Years 30 Day Plan (March 1-April 1) GOAL 2: Address human resource needs and sustain organizational infrastructure: To employ staff who will be held accountable for achieving the educational standards established for our students Action Steps Research/study feasibility of creating Marketing and Development Office Create a bank of content specific interview questions and responses for every department. Research to identify innovative strategies in the recruiting and hiring process i.e. electronic portfolios, electronic reference check, etc Plan and implement professional development for all staff in state and federal accountability Develop a process for communication between Human Resources, Educational Services/Operational Services, and the campus during the hiring process. Plan short and long term staff training in instructional best and research based instructional strategies for substitute teaching program

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons District School Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

University Partners

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership Professional Development Dept.

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Action Steps Identify innovative strategies in the recruiting and hiring process i.e. electronic portfolios, electronic reference check, etc Begin study to plan professional development for all staff in state and federal accountability Begin study to plan professional development for all staff in technology (curriculum mapping, grading, email, etc. Identify responsible staff (teacher leaders) to study the feasibility of producing district annual fair to demonstrate exemplary, innovative use technology in classroom instruction Begin discussion to develop a central repository for PLC collaborative Work/information so that all district schools can access information and leverage ideas across campuses. Develop an accountability plan for all PLCs. Provide release time for teachers to observe other Teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; exemplary instructional strategies and the integration of technology into student learning.

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons University Partners District School Leadership District/Scho ol Leadership Professional Development Dept. District School Leadership Professional Development Dept. District School Leadership Professional Development Dept.

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership Professional Development Dept.

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District/Scho ol Leadership District School Leadership Professional Development Dept.

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Action Steps Identify a team to begin development of a quality comprehensive recruitment plan aligned with district mission and vision Research innovative strategies in the recruiting and hiring process i.e. electronic portfolios, electronic reference check, etc. Establish a partnership with selected colleges and universities to showcase GCSC. Develop a process for communication between Human Resources, Educational Services/Operational Services, and the campus during the hiring process. Establish an active recruitment committee to develop a Comprehensive Recruitment Plan including a plan to evaluate plan effectiveness

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons University Partners

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

University Partners District/Scho ol Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

University Partners District/Scho ol Leadership

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60 Day Plan (April 1-June 1) GOAL 2: Address human resource needs and sustain organizational infrastructure: To employ staff who will be held accountable for achieving the educational standards established for our students Action Steps Create Marketing and Development Office Begin interview process for support staff to the Office of Human Resources

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implement identified innovative strategies in the recruiting and hiring process

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Continue professional development for all staff in state and federal accountability

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Plan and schedule training in research based instructional strategies for substitute teaching program Work with IT to plan and schedule professional development for all staff in technology (curriculum mapping, grading, email, etc.) Staff (teacher leaders) report on progress of district annual Technology Innovation Fair. Review PLC Collaborative work and PLC Accountability Plan

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons District School Leadership University Partners District School Leadership University Partners District School Leadership District School Leadership Professional Development Dept. District School Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership IT Department

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership IT Dept.

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership

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90 Day Plan (June 1-August 1) GOAL 2: Address human resource needs and sustain organizational infrastructure: To employ staff who will be held accountable for achieving the educational standards established for our students Action Steps Monitor progress in the development of Marketing and Development Office Continue interview process for support staff to the Office of Human Resources

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons District School Leadership

Monitor implementation identified innovative strategies in the recruiting and hiring process

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Follow-up on professional development for all staff in state and federal accountability Begin implementation of training in research based instructional strategies for substitute teaching program Continue work with IT to plan and schedule professional development for all staff in technology (curriculum mapping, grading, email, etc.) perhaps during summer months Staff (teacher leaders) present plan for district annual Technology Innovation Fair.

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

University Partners Teach for America District School Leadership University Partners Teach for America District School Leadership District School Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership IT Department

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District School Leadership

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Action Steps Review PLC Collaborative work and PLC Accountability Plan

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons District School Leadership

Recruitment/Retention Committee will continue to review and update recruitment plans, short and long term needs and practices.

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

University Partners District School Leadership Teach for America

District leadership teams will provide opportunities for employee input relevant to climate and morale using focus group meetings (90 day interval).

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

District Leadership

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GOAL 3: CLEAR AND CONCISE COMMUNICATION THAT INFORMS, ENGAGES AND CONNECTS TO ALL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS THAT LEAD TO THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN. Measurable Objective 1: An 80% increase in stakeholder participation through positive and effective communication by May 30, 2015 as measured by district surveys and interviews. Strategy 1: Internal and external stakeholders will be informed and engaged in developing and implementing a comprehensive communication plan. Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) GCSC Board Dr. Pruitt Human Resources

Step

Action Step

Creation of a Gary Community School Corporation (GCSC) districtwide Marketing and Development Office

Produce monthly newsletters to external stakeholders (parents and community)

GCSC Staff Marketing and Development Staff GCSC students

Improve content on website and in news to support staff and provide new portals of access for parents/community

IT Department; GCSC Students; GCSC Staff; Marketing and Development Office

Produce regular content specific emails from the Superintendent to all staff

IT Department; Superintendent; Marketing and Development Department

Evidence/Mea surement Amount of dollars raised Number of donors and sponsors Quality and quantity of new marketing campaign Survey of internal and external stakeholders; Number of newsletters; Amount of internal & external input for newsletters Google Analytics/Web site use; Survey of internal and external partners Surveys of internal and external stakeholders; # of emails; Amount of input from students and community stakeholders

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=$150,000 Hire 2 full time staff members with benefits; Marketing Materials (print, and electronics)

Funding- $15,000 Materials for print Staff time to create and distribute; Need Internal and external support

Intended Outcome Increased funding for schools; Increased community outreach/potential staff recruits Support Human Resource recruitment plan A communication plan Improved connection /involvement of internal and external partners; Improved school and community culture.

Funding=$5000 Staff time to create and distribute; Need internal and external stakeholder support

Improved connection /involvement of internal and external partners; Improved school and community culture;

Funding=$0 Staff time to create and distribute; Need internal and external stakeholder support

Improved connection /involvement of internal and external partners; Improved school and community culture;

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Step

Action Step

Produce electronic biannual report for community, mailed to all Gary residents.

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) GCSC Staff Marketing and Development office GCSC students

Evidence/Mea surement The reports; Surveys of internal and external stakeholders; Amount of student and community input to report.

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=$5000 Printed Materials Use of staff time to create and distribute; Support of internal and external stakeholders

Intended Outcome Improved connection /involvement of internal and external partners; Improved school and community culture

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Goal 3 (30-60-90 Day Plan) 2014-15 School Year 30 Day Plan (February 1, 2015- March 1, 2015) Goal 3: Communication that informs engages and connects all external and internal stakeholders. Action Steps Superintendent and Human Resources meet to discuss the vision, purpose, expectations and roles and responsibilities for the department, logistics and how to structure for organizational success. Stipends for teachers after school discussed Begin examination of funding sources Title I Department of Education Grant Writing. Formulate a committee of experts that will investigate where the funds are with help of KDE, Legislators and Grant Writers May consider hiring a grant writer.

Identify responsible persons by name and contact numbers so people will have a name and contact number.

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons Dr. Pruitt Human Resources

Dr. Pruitt Human Resources

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

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Action Steps Communicate to stakeholders internally and externally partners to clarify the flow of information Be visible at many internal and external group functions seeking new partners and build relationships Examine previous communication practices to identify what works to incorporate into communication plan Utilize positive practices immediately that highlight teachers, students, parents and community involvement/success Put system in place that encourages internal and external partners to share important highlights in a positive way.

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

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Goal 3 60 Day Plan Goal 3: Communication that informs, engages, and connects all external stakeholders. (February 1, 2015-April 1, 2015) Action Steps Advertise for Marketing positions. May want to hire an international speaking professional Prepare interview questions and panel for interviewees. Once personnel are hired, provide a PD on the purpose, goals and responsibilities. The product is a clear and concise communication plan. Explore other professional trainings throughout the year that will build capacity within the Marketing and Development Department. Marketing department determine tentative teams for newsletters for each month. Using input from external and internal stakeholders Provide assistance to Superintendent monthly on email messages to parents and community. Continue to keep internal and external partners aware of progress, issues and concerns; requests positive feedback and input Begin formatting and developing communication plan

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

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Goal 3 90 Day Plan (June 1-August 1) Goal 3: Communication that informs engages and connects all external and internal stakeholders. (Feb. 1, 2015- May 1, 2015) Action Steps Prepare surveys, interviews and feedback opportunities for external and internal stakeholders Analyze findings and share with stakeholders Provide feedback to stakeholders Present biannual reports May and September, 2015 Make recommendations to Superintendent on what stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; findings Final Communication Plan drafted for Superintendent approval Continue using what works paying close attention to relationships internally and externally.

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

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GOAL 4: Create a community and school climate/culture that fosters youth development, learning and build relationships at all levels. Measurable Objective 1: A 10% increase in student learning A 20% increase in attendance. A 30% increase in community participation/involvement A 25% decrease in referrals, suspensions and dropout Strategy 1: Students (K-12), parents, teachers, administrators and support staff identify, create and implement a shared school climate/culture action plan. Step

Action Step

Conduct Culture/Climate Audits and individual reports to schools and stakeholders Trainings on Culture/Climate

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Millennium Learning Concepts

Millennium Learning Concepts

Develop a school climate/culture volunteer team consisting of students, teachers and support staff

Principals at each school

Train principals on the responsibilities of the teams Identify point person to provide leadership to team

Millennium Learning Concepts Each individual school team

Evidence/Mea surement A culture audit with individualized recommendati ons for each school Agendas for meetings Implementatio n and Impact checks

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=Indiana UniversityUniversity Partners

Funding=Indiana UniversityUniversity Partners

Funding=$0 People are Principal, students, teachers, parents and support staff. Time is needed to recruit volunteers Agendas for meeting Name provided to principal and identified on school culture plan documents and agendas

Funding=Indiana UniversityUniversity Partners Funding=$0 People=Individual school teams

Intended Outcome Provide baseline for schools to plan what are the next steps for improvement. Objective Outlook Address the root causes and determine strategies. Provide updated information and processes Build capacity Provide direction and structure that improves morale

Leadership capacity

Group directions and accountability Facilitate communication

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Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Each individual school team

Evidence/Mea surement

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=$12000 For transportation of student participants, snacks, materials. Time for meeting= 1 to 1.5 hours monthly Funding for transportation People=point person, parents, students, teachers and support staff. Time for meeting= 1 to 1.5 hours monthly Materials= culture audit report and computers N/A

Step

Action Step

Team meets to establish agendas and monthly meeting dates

Create school/culture action plan

Each individual school team

Creation of PDF file of school culture/climat e action plan

Present school climate/culture action plan to students and all staff for feedback and revisions until majority buy-in is achieved Present school culture/climate action plan to Superintendent

Each individual school team

Draft action plan; sign-in sheets; Feedback; signed hard copy of document

Each school principal along with school culture climate team Point person assigned as team leader

Time stamped envelop

N/A

Informed administration Approval of plan

Plan uploaded to GCSC website; press releases to announce; PDF file available for email; hard copies available districtwide

Funding= $5000 Photocopying; paper; ink People=point person, parents, students, teachers and support staff. Time for meeting= 1 to 1.5 hours monthly Materials= computers, internet access, photocopying, paper, ink.

Informed public

Make school culture/climate action plan accessible to total population

Monthly signin sheers, agendas and minutes

Intended Outcome Give group focus on execution School culture plan developed and monitoring process

A working document that has buy-in of majority stakeholders.

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Step

Action Step

Implementation of school culture/climate plan

12.

Evaluation and continuous improvement of school climate action plan

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Each School population

Each School population

Evidence/Mea surement Achievement of individual school benchmarks

Surveys, observation, community feedback, Implementatio n and Impact Checks

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Unlimited and unique to each school

Unlimited and unique to each school

Intended Outcome Sustainable, positive climate that fosters youth development, learning and trusting relationships at all levels. Sustainable, positive climate that fosters youth development, learning and trusting relationships at all levels.

Strategy 2: Establish a district-wide standard for creating an inviting school atmosphere for physical facilities in and outside of school buildings. Step

Action Step

Create art wall inside each school for student expression and beautification

Monday open mic sessions for student expression

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Students, Art teachers, Creative Art Organizations/A RISE

English teachers; Creative Arts Organization/ARI SE Students

Evidence/Mea surement Complete murals

Attendance sheets Minutes of vital conversations

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=$18,000 For art supplies, artist stipends, snacks People=students, teachers, support staff and community Time= two 4 hour days Materials=projector s, paint and brushes,buckets,wa ter, pencils, butcher block paper, Dry erase markers. Funding= $10000 for artist stipends People= students, teachers, support staff and community Time= 1hour session weekly; Materials=paper, pens, journals, microphone and speakers

Intended Outcome Increased feeling of beings heard, valued and included; Increase school pride and ownership; Positive school environment; School beautification

Decreased disruptions; increase student voice; improve writing skills; Improve public speaking; improve self-esteem.

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Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Principal at each school

Evidence/Mea surement

Step

Action Step

Coffee hour every Monday with administrators and staff

Monthly Superintendent school visits for breakfast with administrators and staff

Superintendent Principals

Sign-in sheets

Promote enrichment, fine arts and extracurricular activities/opportuni ties Plant and maintain community gardens on school grounds

Principals Teachers

Student enrollment in programs

Students Parents Science Teachers

Garden on each school ground

Summer school training program to incorporate cultural sensitivity and listening skills

Human Resources Teachers

Sign-in sheets; Agenda; Evaluations

Sign- in sheets

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding= $100 per school for coffee/tea. People= students, teachers, support staff and community People= teachers, staff and community Time=1 hour weekly Funding=$100 for coffee/teas for 10 months Time= 1hour session weekly; Materials=paper, pens, journals, microphone and speakers People=Teachers and community organizations

Funding=$10,000 seeds, cultivation of ground and snacks People=students, teachers, support staff and community Time=1 hour weekly Funds=$6000 Trainers fees, food and materials People= Teachers, school staff Time= 1 week Materials=paper; whiteboards; Elmos; books; computer; projector; screen.

Intended Outcome Increase team cohesion; Improved feelings of being valued and appreciated; Improved teacheradministrator â&#x20AC;&#x201C; relationships

Increase communication; Coordination; accountability; teacheradministrator relationships

Increased holistic student development; Increase academic performance

Beautification of school; Healthy, sustainable food for students, families and community; Reinforce instruction; Increase studentteacher-community partnership Increase teacher sensitivity; Improve teacherstudent relationships; Improve teacheradministrator relationships

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Step

Action Step

End of year student program/celebratio n

Create murals on the outside walls of closed school buildings

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Students

Students Art Teachers Art Organization/ARI SE

Evidence/Mea surement Attendance Sheets Awards and Achievements

Completed Mural

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding= $10,000 for plagues, awards and artist stipends People= students, teachers, support staff and community Funding=$19000 For stipends and materials People=students and teachers; Time= Two days, 4 hours per day Materials=

Intended Outcome Improved self-esteem; Improve value of being heard, appreciated and valued; Improved studentteacher-administrator relationships Increased feeling of beings heard, valued and included; Increase school pride and ownership; Positive school environment; School beautification

Strategy 3: Build parent and community involvement Step

Action Step

Kickoff event and project awareness meetings related to understanding â&#x20AC;&#x153;Courage to Changeâ&#x20AC;? plan

Develop focus groups as a part of the district schools needs assessment

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Millennium Learning Concepts University Partners

Superintendent Human Resources

Evidence/Mea surement Agendas, Signin Sheets, Evaluations, plan

Groups identified and meeting agendas

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=$3000 For expert Time=1-2 hour event People-parents, teachers, principals, community representatives Funding=N/A People= Parents, teachers, administrator, support staff, community Materials = paper, pens Time = 1 hour monthly

Intended Outcome Inform community; Help to unite the masses

Input into the implementation of the school system; Improved communication; Support system

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Step

Action Step

Develop community forums

Professional development for parents related to parenting, job skills, etc.

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Superintendent Human Resources

Title I Director Dr. Holmes

Evidence/Mea surement Agenda; topics; minutes

Meeting agendas; Advertisement ; Sign-In Sheet Minutes

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=N/A People= Parents, teachers, administrator, support staff, community Materials = paper, pens. Time = 1 hour monthly Funding-=$500 for advertising, handouts in meetings, printing materials and snacks, Time= 1-2 hours monthly People=parents, administrators, community Materials-handouts; mic. Projectors, pencils, paper

Intended Outcome Community voices are heard; Correct information delivered to stakeholders

Informed parents Prepared parents

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Goal 4 30-60-90 Day Plan 2014-2015 School Year 30 Days (Feb. 1- March 1, 2015) Goal 4: Create a community and school climate/culture that fosters youth development, learning and build relationships at all levels. Action Steps Conduct Culture/Climate Audits and individual reports to schools and stakeholders Trainings on Culture/Climate Develop a school climate/culture volunteer team consisting of students, teachers and support staff Train principals on the responsibilities of the teams Identify point person to provide leadership to team Monday open mic sessions for student expression

Monday coffee hour with administrator and staff Kickoff event and project awareness meetings related to understanding â&#x20AC;&#x153;Courage to Changeâ&#x20AC;? plan Develop community forums

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons Millennium Learning Concepts

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Millennium Learning Concepts Principals at each school

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Millennium Learning Concepts School culture/clima te teams Students Art teacher Creative Art Organization/ ARISE Principals at each school

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Millennium Learning Concepts University Partners Dr. Pruitt Human Resource

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Action Steps Professional development for parents related to parenting, job skills, etc.

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons Dr. Holmes

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60 Days (Feb. 1, 2015- April 1, 2015) Goal 4: Create a community and school climate/culture that fosters youth development, learning and build relationships at all levels. Action Steps Create school culture/climate plan Present school culture/climate plan to students and staff for feedback and revisions until majority buy-in is achieved Present school culture/climate plan to superintendent Make school culture/climate plan accessible to total population Plan and maintain a community garden on school grounds Begin implementation of school culture plan Monitor effectiveness of plan providing feedback and professional development to enhance teacher skills Celebrate the positives with school community

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons School teams

School teams

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Principal School Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Students Parents Science Teachers Principals Teachers

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Team Lead/Point Person

Principals School teams

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Principal School team

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90 Days (Feb 1, 2015-May 1, 2015) Goal 4: Create a community and school climate/culture that fosters youth development, learning and build relationships at all levels. Step

Action Step

Develop and control the budget for all fund sources.

Produce and maintain a budget system and sitebased distribution system in manner conducive to serving as a planning tool for all schools and departments Managing the approved staffing levels for all fund sources at all locations Create and submit for approval the financial operating plan of the General Fund portion of the budget. Work with program directors to insure specific budgets meet program objectives and used for students Provide district administrators support regarding internal needs Insure proper fund balance to meet state requirements, legal obligations and cash flow

Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Financial Director and Team

Evidence/Mea surement Budget with list of fund sources

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) Funding=$34,000,00 0 State, grants, 42% taxes, awards, federal Materials=fund sources Materials= printing materials

Intended Outcome Responsible use of funds

Financial Director and Team

Budget system Site-based distribution system

A planning tool for schools and departments

Financial Director and Team

Approved staff list

N/A

Assistance to schools in providing the needed staff

Financial Director and Team

Financial operation plan

People- Financial department staff Materials=printing of documents

Transparency of the financial operations of the district

Financial Director Program/ Department Administrators

Agenda, objectives of programs Student list for program

People= Financial Department staff Program Directors

Collaborative effort in developing budget

Financial Department Administrators

Internal needs identified Support given

Financial Department Dr. Pruitt

Fund balances

Meeting the needs of administrators

People=Financial Department

Proper stewardship of funds

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Person(s) Responsible (Who Will Do It) Financial Department

Step

Action Step

Provide district administration support with an needed financial impact analysis of legislative concerns and strategies

To identify, gain approval, and allocate resources for board-approved projects and priorities Produce and follow the yearly budget calendar Maintain grants, awards project and grant tracking system so district may update and monitor fund sources Develop a district 5 year plan for revenue annually

Financial Department

Collect, analyze, organize the Comprehensive School Plan to outline resources for the highest district goals Continue the culture of friendly customer - service

Evidence/Mea surement Legislative concerns Strategies Emails Written documents Impact Analysis Board approval Agendas

Resources Needed (Funding/Time/Peop le/Materials) People= Financial Department

Intended Outcome Informed district administrators regarding financial concerns

People= Financial Department

Stakeholder involvement with budget

Financial Department

Budget Yearly Calendar

People= Financial Department

Help to ensure fiscal stability

Financial Department

Updates Monitoring tools

People= Financial Department

Help to ensure fiscal stability

Financial Department

5 Year Revenue Plan

Help to ensure fiscal stability

Financial Department

Outline of resources

People= Financial Department Materials=Printed documents and website accessibility People=Financial Department Staff; District Administrators, Principals

Financial Department

Surveys

People=Financial Department staff

Build relationships with internal and external partners

Utilizations of funds that meet district priority, student achievement

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30-60-90 Day Plan Goal 5 2014-2015 School Year 30 Days (Feb. 1- March 1, 2015) Goal 5: Develop a responsive fiscal stewardship process. Action Steps Continue a customer friendly culture Produce a budget system that serve as a planning tool for schools and departments Manage staffing levels for all fund sources at all locations Provide district support regarding internal needs Start developing 5 year plan for revenue Produce budget calendar Collect Comprehensive School plans to outline resources

Level of Implementation Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Persons Financial Director and Team Financial Director and Team

Financial Director and Team Financial Director and Team administrators Financial Director and Team Financial Director and Team Financial Director and Team

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60 Days (Feb. 1, 2015-April 1, 2015) Goal 5: Develop a responsive fiscal stewardship process. Action Steps

Level of Implementation

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Person (s)

Continue to monitor how customers are treated within the office Maintain budget system and sitebased distribution system as a planning tool for all schools and departments Submit financial operating plan for approval Work will all program directors to make budgets meet program guidelines Analyze Comprehensive School plans to outline resources Maintain grants, awards, projects and grant tracking system so district may update and monitor fund sources

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Financial Director and Team administrators

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

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90 Days (Feb. 1, 2015-May 1, 2015) Goal 5: Develop a responsive fiscal stewardship process. Action Steps

Level of Implementation

Comments

Next Steps

Responsible Person (s)

Continue to monitor how customers are treated within the office Maintain budget system and sitebased distribution system as a planning tool for all schools and departments Continue providing support with any needed impact analysis of legislative concerns and priorities Work will all program directors to make budgets meet program guidelines Analyze Comprehensive School plans to outline resources Continue providing support to administrators regarding internal needs.

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team administrators

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

Implemented Partially Implemented Not Implemented

Financial Director and Team

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