I · Web viewRating Scale Rubric: (4) Our school has a high level of implementation or...

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS: SCHOOLS-TO-WATCH SELF-STUDY RATING SCALE

Rating Scale Rubric:

(4) Our school has a high level of implementation or implementation of high quality for the aspects described in the criteria.

(3) Our school has a medium level of implementation or implementation of mixed quality for the aspects described in the criteria.

(2) Our school has a low level of implementation or implementation of low quality for the aspects described in the criteria.

(1) Our school has not implemented the aspects described in the criteria.

/tt/file_convert/6011ca85dc89a476bc3c633e/document.docUpdated: August 9, 2007

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I. ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: High quality schools with middle-level grades are academically excellent. They challenge all students to use their minds well.

I.1. All students are expected to meet high academic standards. Teachers supply students with exemplars of high quality work that meet the performance standard. Students revise their work based on feedback until they meet or exceed the performance standard. The educational program is challenging, rigorous, and purposeful; it has performance expectations that are common across all grades and subject areas. Teachers maintain performance expectations that are consistent and interrelated across and within subject areas. Everyone has high expectations for all students (Essential Element characteristics 2.2, 2.8, 4.18, 7.4)

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Rating: 3.8Evidence: Learning standards posted in all classrooms Quarterly Exams or Assessment – Multiple Choice, Constructed Responses, Written Responses Document Based Questions instructional process Rubrics used extensively Alternate forms of Assessment – paper and pencil test, presentation, group project. Vocabulary Assessment NYS Alternative Assessment Modeling expected performance I.2. Curriculum, instruction, and assessment are aligned with high standards. They provide a coherent vision for what students should know and be able to do. The curriculum is rigorous and non-repetitive; it moves forward substantially as students progress through the middle grades. The educational program is comprehensive and inclusive, embracing and encompassing all of the State’s 28 learning standards. It is articulated vertically and horizontally, within and across the various curricular areas, learning standards, and grade levels with a set of learning skills that are common across all grades and subject areas and taught and reinforced in each grade and subject area. The program has up-to-date written curricula (based on and aligned with the State’s learning standards), instructional support, and learning aids for all subject areas. Teachers provide instruction that is standards-based, challenging, rigorous and purposeful; they use classroom assessments that reflect the State’s learning standards and are aligned with State assessments. (Essential Element Characteristics 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 2.10, 4.2, 4.13)

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Rating: 3.9Evidence: Curriculum maps (electronic) - all content areas, aligned to NYS Standards Local assessments are common and aligned to NYS standards Teachers have a working knowledge of state standards Team, department and grade level meetings are used to focus on student achievement and ongoing development Staff development introduces newest educational research and best practices


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I.3. The curriculum emphasizes deep understanding of important concepts, development of essential skills, and the ability to apply what one has learned to real-world problems. By making connections across the disciplines, the curriculum helps reinforce important concepts. The educational program reflects interdependence, emphasizes cross-program connections, and promotes shared responsibility. Teachers focus instruction on thinking, reasoning, and problem solving and, at the same time, ensure that students acquire necessary content and subject matter. They use interdisciplinary approaches to help students integrate their studies and meet learning standards. (Essential Element characteristics 2.4. 4.10, 4.11) 4

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1 Rating: 3.6

Evidence: Literacy strategies instructed across the curriculum Cross-curricular integration Thinking skills are indicated on curriculum maps Essential vocabulary instructed across curricular areas

I.4. Instructional strategies include a variety of challenging and engaging activities that are clearly related to the concepts and skills being taught. The school and the staff provide each student with a variety of learning experiences that are academically challenging, developmentally appropriate, and personally relevant in order for each of them to make informed educational and personal decisions. Teachers vary activities to maintain student interest. (Essential Element characteristics 1.6, 4.8)

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Rating: 3.8Evidence: Theatre field trips Newspaper as a resource Multi/media approach (Laser disc, CPS ) Differentiated Instruction Writing Process Instructional Technology (CPS system, smartboards, virtual field trips) Scientific method of inquiry A variety of student generated review tools are used at the end of units to review content and focus on what is important


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I.5. Teachers use a variety of methods to assess student performance (e.g., exhibitions, projects, performance tasks) and maintain a collection of student work. Students learn how to assess their own and others' work against the performance standards. The educational program includes diagnostic assessments that regularly and routinely monitor the learning of each student relative to the State’s standards and community expectations. Teachers use classroom assessments that are instructionally useful indicators of individual student growth and performance not only to monitor each student’s progress in meeting the State’s learning standards but also to plan instruction. Staff use data, both personal and achievement, to make curricular and instructional decisions. (Essential Element characteristics 2.11, 4.14, 4.15)

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Rating: 3.8Evidence: Project-based learning and assessment Bench marks Listening assessments Pre/post tests Projects – Technology, Art, FACS, Health, core classes Performance Assessments – Science labs, PE, Band, Chorus, Orchestra, core classes Vocab Assignments E-missions in Realnet Room – (Project Montserrat 2006, AlphaBase – 2007) Book talks Research projects I.6. The school provides students time to meet rigorous academic standards. Flexible scheduling enables students to engage in extended projects, hands-on experiences, and inquiry-based learning. Most class time is devoted to learning and applying knowledge or skills rather than classroom management and discipline. The school has a schedule with flexible time assignments within blocks of time to encourage interdisciplinary programs and the creative use of time. (Essential Element characteristic 3.3)

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Rating: 3.5Evidence: Flexible team/block schedules Individual and small group help – lunch, after school Flexible learning lab – 40 minutes at end of day to get work done Homework Help – 45 minutes to 2 hours available after school for help.


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I.7. Students have the supports they need to meet rigorous academic standards. They have multiple opportunities to succeed and extra help as needed. The program provides targeted and timely academic intervention services that are based upon a careful assessment of the academic, social, and emotional needs of students at risk of not meeting the State’s learning standards. The school provides, for those students needing additional help to meet the State’s standards, opportunities for additional time, instruction, and personal support. (Essential Element characteristics 2.14, 3.8)

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Rating: 3.8Evidence: AIS Program

o ELA AIS built into Master Schedule benefits all students. o Academic Center teachers push in grades 5-6 for ELAo Math AIS – small groups during Learning Lab with Math Specialist. o After school opportunities for AIS in Math & ELA as well as homework help.

Small group help within daily Math period. Individual help for students with teachers at lunchtime and after school. Reading specialists help with test prep strategies for state exams Resource teachers provide support for at-risk students by push-in; pull out & team planning Main streamed students – special & regular education teachers collaborate for student success. Inclusion classrooms promote success for students.

I.8. The adults in the school have opportunities to plan, select, and engage in professional development aligned with New York State’s Learning standards. They have regular opportunities to work with their colleagues to deepen their knowledge and improve their practice. They collaborate in making decisions about rigorous curriculum. They discuss student work as a means of enhancing their own practice. The school has teacher teams sharing responsibility for the education and personal development of a common group of student and provides common planning time for those teachers and teacher teams sharing responsibility for a common group of students. (Essential Element characteristics 3.1, 3.2, 4.17)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Teacher Center Workshops: aligned with CDEP goals, building action plans, faculty needs assessment Curriculum Council District staff development aligned with NYS standards, What Works in Schools, educational best practices Zoomerang survey of teachers’ professional development needs annually All building meetings provide a forum of staff development focused on student learning


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II. DEVELOPMENTAL RESPONSIVENESS: High quality schools with middle-level grades are sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence. There is respect for students’ needs and interests. Their staff understand students of this age. Staff know what it is like to be a young adolescent; and they respond readily and well to students’ needs and concerns.

II.1. The school creates a personalized environment that supports each student's intellectual, ethical, social, and physical development. The school groups adults and students in small learning communities characterized by stable, close, and mutually respectful relationships. The school and staff are committed to developing the whole child, intellectually and academically, personally and socially, physically, emotionally, and ethically. The educational program emphasizes not only intellectual development but also personal, social, physical, and ethical development. The school contains at least three of the four middle grades (grades 5, 6, 7, and 8) and has comparable small enrollments so that every student is viewed as an individual and receives personal attention. The school is structured to create close, sustained relationships between students and teachers. When the school population is large, the school has “houses” or schools-within-schools to promote a sense of family, to reduce the feeling of anonymity and isolation among students, and to engender within staff, students, and the community a feeling of belonging and personal identification with the school and with its purposes. Students have an adult mentor in addition to a guidance counselor, either formally through a teacher/student, advisor/advisee program or informally through a school culture of caring in which teachers or other adults assume responsibility for individual students. (Essential Element characteristics 1.1, 2.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 6.8) 4

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Evidence: Teaming Inclusion program After-school program Student Mentor Program Small homerooms in grades 7 and 8 Small team sizes Student to teacher ratio (22-24:1) in regular education classrooms 3 administrator building team Assistant principals assigned only 2 grades and loop with the students School counselors assigned by alphabet and retain student contact for 4 years


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II.2. The school provides access to comprehensive services to foster healthy physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development. The school provides support services such as guidance, counseling, and health-related services to all students. Counseling and guidance services are available to assist students and their families in making life, career, and educational choices. A network of trained professionals, special programs, and community resources are available to assist those who have extraordinary needs and require additional services to cope with the changes of early adolescence and/or the academic demands of middle-level education. The school collaborates and cooperates with other human service agencies in the community. (Essential Element characteristics 3.15, 6.4, 6.7)

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Rating: 3.6Evidence: Comprehensive Guidance Program Full-time school psychologist available in middle school Home-school liaison School Resource Officer – FTE middle school Connection with Cattaraugus and Wyoming County Probation Officers regularly Wyoming County Social Worker access through HS Mentor Program FTE Certified School Nurse More than NYS requirement of Health instruction Cattaraugus County Health Department clinics on-site

II.3. Teachers use a wide variety of instructional strategies to foster curiosity, exploration, creativity, and the development of social skills. The educational program encourages students to pursue personal interests, engage in school and community activities, explore potential futures and careers, develop useful social, interpersonal, and life skills needed to live a full and productive life, and nurture a “love of learning.” (Essential Element characteristic 2.13)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Variety of Instruction Strategies Differentiated instruction Technology Integration Cooperative Learning AIS program Real life experiences Field trips and theatre performances Career Day, career research and guest speakers Volunteer projects Cross-team and Interdisciplinary Instruction


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II.4. The curriculum is both socially significant and relevant to the personal interests of young adolescents. The educational program offers opportunities for the development of personal responsibility and self-direction. (Essential Element characteristic 2.12)

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Rating: 3.6Evidence: PBIS initiative Health and wellness policy Complete exploratory program - career and life skills opportunities After school recreation program Modified sports Clubs Extensive music program 4-year art programII.5. Teachers make connections across disciplines to help reinforce important concepts and address real-world problems. The educational program emphasizes reading, writing, and mathematics (literacy and numeracy) across the subject areas with expectations for performance that are consistent across and within the disciplines and commonly understood by teachers, students, and parents. (Essential Element characteristic 2.7)

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Rating: 3.8Evidence: Cross-teaming instruction Interdisciplinary units Literacy across curricular areas Middle School Power Words across curricular areas Character Anchors programII.6. The school provides multiple opportunities for students to explore a rich variety of topics and interests in order to develop their identity, discover and demonstrate their own competence, and plan for their future. The school has ties with the school community that strengthen connections between school/education and career opportunities. Students have opportunities to examine, explore, discuss, and understand the changes associated with early adolescence. (Essential Element characteristics 3.12, 6.3)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Career day Beaver Meadows programming BOCES/HS Ag/Tech presentations JR FFA Spirit Days Parent/Community Involvement and Volunteers Sports Extensive Foreign Language program NJHS Peer Mediation Safe School Ambassadors 8th gr. “Girls Power Breakfast” and “Boys Unsung Heroes Breakfast”II.7. Students have opportunities for voice -- posing questions, reflecting on experiences, developing rubrics, and participating in decisions. Those in positions of leadership provide students with opportunities to assume significant and meaningful leadership roles in the school. (Essential Element characteristic 5.11)

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Rating: 3.6Evidence: Teen Leadership Group Safe School Ambassadors Peer Mediators Student Council National Junior Honor Society Middle School Newspaper Shared Decision Making Team Cafeteria Improvement Committee Student of the Month Sundaes with Administrators Summer school program – reflection on school programsII.8. The school develops alliances with families to enhance and support the well-being of their children. It involves families as partners in their children's education, keeping them informed, involving them in their children's learning, and assuring participation in decision-making. The school encourages active parent involvement through a variety of activities. Teachers inform and involve parents of middle-level students in their children’s education by helping them understand the learning standards that their children must meet, the instructional program, their children’s progress, and how to help their children at home with schoolwork, school decisions, and successful development through adolescence. There exists a system of two-way communication between the school and the parents and families of its students. (Essential Element characteristics 3.11, 4.19, 6.5)

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Rating: 3.6Evidence: Parent-Student Orientation Day Parent Connect Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences 8th Grade planning meetings Parents-Students-Teachers: United for Success Parent Nights Parent Volunteers Shared Decision Making team Spring Carnival Teacher Web Pages Middle School Quarterly Newsletter


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II.9. The school provides students with opportunities to develop citizenship skills, uses the community as a classroom, and engages the community in providing resources and support. The school provides opportunities for students to participate in youth service, community service, and/or service learning activities. (Essential Element characteristic 3.10)

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Rating: 3.6Evidence: Arcade Civil War walking tour Beaver Meadows educational program Science Camp to Letchworth State Park Youth Court Sheriff’s Camp Educational Field Trips NJHS Volunteering at Elementary Level Multiple Community Service Projects March of Dimes Walk America “Intergenerational” program with The Pines LEO ClubII.10. The school provides age-appropriate co-curricular activities. The school provides a variety of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. (Essential Element characteristic 3.9)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Clubs: Chess, Drama, Yearbook, Odyssey of the Mind, Science Olympiad, Jr. FFA, Newspaper, Audio-visual Classes – Babysitting, Seasonal Cooking, Crafts, Dance, Recreational Sports & Activities: Swimming, Lacrosse, Flag football, Soccer, Basketball, Bowling, Ping Pong, Weight Room, Interscholastic Sports: Modified Boys: Soccer, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Wrestling; Modified Girls: Soccer, Softball,

Basketball, Field Hockey; JV and Varsity Boys: Swimming, Track, Cross-Country, Tennis, Soccer, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Wrestling; JV and Varsity Girls: Volleyball, Cheerleading, Swimming, Track, Soccer, Softball, Basketball, Field Hockey

Special Music Performances/Ensembles: Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, Pit Orchestra, Marching Band, Solo Festival, All-County Performances

Social Development Groups: Friends, Teen, Healthy Woman, Anger Management, Guys, Banana Splits


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III. SOCIAL EQUITY: High quality schools with middle-level grades are socially equitable, democratic, and fair. They provide every student with high quality teachers, resources, learning opportunities, and supports. They keep positive options open for all students. There is equal access to a high quality education.

III.1. Faculty and administrators expect high-quality work from all students and are committed to helping each student produce it. Evidence of this commitment includes tutoring, mentoring, special adaptations, and other supports. The school and staff accept, individually and collectively, responsibility for the educational and personal development of each and every student. Teachers use flexible grouping based upon student needs and interests to help each student achieve the learning standards, with students changing groups often, depending on individual needs and program purposes. (Essential Element characteristics 1.3, 4.12)

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Rating: 3.8Evidence: After school homework help Mentoring Tutoring by teachers, college education students and high school volunteers Child StudyTeam Summer school program Flexible Groups Achieve 2000/Kidbiz – leveled reading/writing program Differentiated Instruction Jigsaw groups Classroom set-up (alter seating arrangements)


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III.2. Students may use many and varied approaches to achieve and demonstrate competence and mastery of standards. Teachers use technology and other instructional resources purposely to support and enhance learning. (Essential Element characteristic 4.9)

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Rating: 3.6Evidence: Wireless network throughout the building Two computer labs Wireless carts – classroom sets for student generated presentations and internet scavenger hunts Smartboards with interactive PowerPoints LCD projectors in all classrooms Wireless chalkboards Realnet Room Classroom Performance System Library Media Center Access – Current periodicals, books aligned through Accelerated Reader Subscriptions to Time for Kids and Buffalo News Website subscriptions – Quia, Brainpop, Type to Learn, Musical instrument loaners On line textbook subscriptions Alpha Smart word processors Laptop loan program Digital cameras III.3. The school continually adapts curriculum, instruction, assessment, and scheduling to meet its students' diverse and changing needs. The school integrates technology into the educational program so that it supports student learning in a purposeful way. Teachers use cooperative learning groups and peer-tutoring opportunities to develop social and interpersonal skills in addition to academic proficiency. Staff routinely and systematically monitor and evaluate student learning to assess and improve instructional effectiveness. (Essential Element characteristics 3.16, 4.16, 7.10)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Benchmark Program – adapting instruction based on results Technology Integrator – emails educational websites that support curriculum Kurzweil software Vision department in house Inclusion classrooms at all levels Special Education classrooms to meet a diverse population of various developmental levels AIS Edge Adaptive PE Alternative Education options Curriculum workshops and mapping Lessons are adapted to individual students needs so that all students are able to learn at some level to have self confidence in the

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III.4. All students have equal access to valued knowledge in all school classes and activities. The school promotes and encourages appropriate participation of pupils with disabilities in all curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities. Students with disabilities or other special needs, as well as their programs and services, are integrated throughout the school building to ensure access to the same instruction as their peers. Those in positions of leadership have high expectations for students and staff. (Essential Element characteristics 3.13, 3.14, 5.8)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Mainstreaming Afterschool programs open to all students Field trips – equal opportunity Exploratory classes available to all students, regardless of ability AIS provided across the board Athletic academic support program III.5. Students have on-going opportunities to learn about and appreciate their own and others' cultures. The school values knowledge from the diverse cultures represented in the school and our nation. Teachers involve students in their learning, encouraging them to contribute to their learning experiences, to make choices, to explore, to question, to experience, to learn, to grow, to develop social, interpersonal, and leadership skills in addition to academic proficiency. (Essential Element characteristic 4.7)

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Rating: 3.4Evidence: Off campus field trips in local areas Career Day Use of internet/Library Media Sources Virtual Field Trips (Real Net Room) Guest Speakers – Ed Gerety (Character Development), Joe Diamond (Holocaust) III.6. Each child's voice is heard, acknowledged, and respected. The school and staff ensure for each student a safe, inviting, trusting, and mutually-respectful learning environment that offers both physical and psychological safety. The school and staff connect each young adolescent in positive ways with the school and with caring adults within the school. The school has a culture of respect and caring that engenders a feeling of self-worth, self-confidence, and personal efficacy among staff and students. (Essential Element characteristics 1.4, 1.5, 4.1, 6.2)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Morning Positive Messages/Announcements Teen Leadership Group Small, caring homerooms “Open door” policy of administration SRO in building to foster respect for authority figures Cafeteria banners Motivational speakers through-out the school year Greeter at door offers secure access to building Parent-Connect

III.7. The school welcomes and encourages the active participation of all its families. The educational program engages and involves the family, local community, and the world outside school in the education and personal development of young adolescents. (Essential Element characteristic 2.15)

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Rating: 3.8Evidence: September-Open house with students & family members

o 5th Grade Picnic – Treasure/Hunto Parent/Student/Teacher Orientation

Sports Fun Friday (after school with 5/6 graders, 7/8 graders) Spring Carnival Parent conferences Parent volunteers Community Service projects Field Trips Musicals Family Swims III.8. The school's reward system demonstrates that it values diversity, civility, service, and democratic citizenship. Adults and older youths provide positive role models and constant affirmation and recognition. (Essential Element characteristic 6.1)


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Rating: 3.8Evidence: Kindness Paws Student of the Month Positive Postcards Child Study Team – individual student goals/rewards Team recognition / exploratory recognition Attendance Rewards Academic Improvement awards Honors Learning Lab Summer school effort awards III.9. The faculty is culturally and linguistically diverse.

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Rating: 3.0Evidence: Faculty commutes from many locations: city, suburb, rural Faculty within district live in up to 12 different townships Teachers travel extensively and apply experiences to curriculum Diverse educational backgrounds


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III.10. The school’s suspension rate is low and in proportion to the student population. The school and staff work together to ensure that all students achieve at high levels and, with appropriate guidance and structure, develop independence and responsibility. (Essential Element characteristic 1.2)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Reduction in Out of School suspension over last 4 years Student Mentoring Program Alternative Educational Programs Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Youth Court\


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IV. ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES: High quality schools with middle-level grades are learning communities that establish norms, structures, and organizational arrangements to support and sustain their trajectory toward excellence.

IV.1. A shared vision of what a high-performing school is and does drives every facet of school change. Shared and sustained leadership propels the school forward and preserves its institutional memory and purpose. The school staff understand the philosophy and mission of the standards-driven middle-level school and are implementing the Regents Policy Statement on Middle-Level Education and the Essential Elements of Standards-Focused Middle-Level Schools and Programs. (Essential Element characteristics 7.2, 7.3)

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Rating: 3.7 Evidence: Shared decision making team PST committee Department meetings to keep all abreast of strategies to meet/surpass current standards Establishment of curriculum maps and quarterly exams (locally normed) Summer curriculum work – goals based on action plans, data IV.2. Someone in the school has the responsibility and authority to hold the school-improvement enterprise together, including day-to-day know-how, coordination, strategic planning, and communication. Those in positions of leadership create, promote, and sustain a school culture of mutual support and collective responsibility for the educational and personal development of each and every young adolescent. They promote and facilitate inter-school cooperation, collaboration, and communication with feeder elementary schools and receiving high schools. (Essential Element characteristics 5.6, 5.13)

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Evidence Middle School Administrative Team Middle School Curriculum Council District Curriculum Grade Level and Building Department Meetings CDEP (Comprehensive District Education Plan) Committee Faculty Meetings “Weekly Agenda” sent to all staff every Monday


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IV.3. The school is a community of practice in which learning, experimentation, and reflection are the norm. Expectations of continuous improvement permeate the school. The school devotes resources to ensure that teachers have time and opportunity to reflect on their classroom practice and learn from one another. At school everyone's job is to learn. Teachers are themselves learners who are constantly engaged in professional and intellectual growth activities. The school staff collaborate and cooperate in planning and providing professional learning opportunities. (Essential Element characteristics 4.20, 7.9)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Department meetings Team meetings Staff Development Days Pioneer Teacher Center Courses Summer work – 11 month and 20 day Action Research APPR options (Portfolio, Peer Consultation, Formal and Informal Observations, Individual Projects, Self-evaluation) Professional Conferences Inclusion Co-teaching Professional affiliations (ASCD, NYSMSA, NMSA, NASSP)Professional articles shared in “Weekly Agenda” IV.4. The school devotes resources to content-rich professional development, which is connected to reaching and sustaining the school vision. Professional development is intensive, of high quality, and ongoing. Those in leadership positions involve staff and others in the operation of the school or program, empowering and encouraging them to contribute and to make decisions that benefit students. The school staff know the needs and characteristics of students in the middle grades and the instructional strategies and techniques that work best for these students; they are familiar with each of the State's 28 learning standards and incorporate in their own classrooms and work spaces educational experiences that help all students achieve all the standards - including those that are outside their own area of content expertise; know and understand their subject matter and course curriculum thoroughly; know and understand the State's assessment system; and, know and understand how to use data to make curricular and instructional decisions to improve students’ academic performance and/or enhance personal development. (Essential Element characteristics 5.10, 7.1, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8)

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Evidence: Curriculum Council Mapping – horizontal/vertical alignment Data mentor Pearson Benchmark Department leaders/MSCC Technology committee Child study teams PBIS building and district teams


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IV.5. The school is not an island unto itself. It draws upon others' experience, research, and wisdom; it enters into relationships such as networks and community partnerships that benefit students' and teachers' development and learning. The school and staff provide a successful transition from the elementary grades to the middle grades to the high school grades and from childhood to adolescence. The educational program is articulated with the elementary feeder schools and with the secondary receiving schools, building on the foundational knowledge and skills of the elementary grades and, in doing so, preparing students for success in high school. The school provides a gradual transition from the more self-contained classrooms of the elementary school to the more departmentalized structure of the high school, providing students with opportunities for increasingly independent learning experiences and responsibilities within a safe and structured environment. (Essential Element characteristics 1.7, 2.9, 3.17)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: BOCES provided resources (E-mission – distance learning, virtual field trips, Gibby House District Art Show Wyoming County Arts Council Art Show (K-6) & (7-12) Women’s Clubs of WNY Art Show – High School Students enter (all of WNY competes) Local town libraries Bring in community volunteers Changing a team configuration Transition plan (4th gr. Moving up day, 5th gr. Orientation, Student Profile Sheets-annually) Guest speakers – help with curriculum: A. Beaver Meadow, B. Civil War Re-enactment Community parnerships: A. YMCA Camp Weona, B. CID-Waste Management – T-shirts, C. Local businessmen, D. Career

Day E. Trips to Shea’s or Geva Theater, F. Beaver Meadows Parent Connect – better communication with parents Character Anchor Mural IV.6. The school holds itself accountable for its students' success rather than blaming others for its shortcomings. The school collects, analyzes, and uses data as a basis for making decisions. The school grapples with school-generated evaluation data to identify areas for more extensive and intensive improvement. It delineates benchmarks, and insists upon evidence and results. The school intentionally and explicitly reconsiders its vision and practices when data call them into question. Those in leadership positions articulate and maintain high standards for classroom instruction and student performance. (Essential Element characteristic 5.7)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Pearson Benchmark Benchmark results on computer for quarterlys State testing item analysis after scoring Data Mentor Benchmarks to guide instruction AIS Curriculum Council - Mapping QRI – Quantitative Reading Inventory given to 5th & 6th twice a year for past 8 years. Results used to guide curriculum and AIS

needs. 5th – 8th Grade ELA looked at, past years state tests to identify “power standards”. Went into maps and added strategies to address our weaknesses. (Results – ELA scores on state tests continue to improve.)

Data Warehouse IV.7. Key people possess and cultivate the collective will to persevere and overcome barriers, believing it is their business to produce increased achievement and enhanced development for all students. Teachers recognize that they must work together cooperatively and collaboratively, rather than individually and in isolation, to ensure that all their students achieve at high levels and meet all the State’s learning standards. Those in leadership positions support and encourage teachers, individually and collectively, to take risks, to explore, to question, to try new instructional approaches, to continue as learners, and to grow. Essential Element characteristics 4.21, 5.12)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Curriculum Maps Grade Level and Department Level meetings Common Planning Periods Common Lunch Times Summer Work Teaming Stipend Courses Work with Special Area Teachers


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IV.8. The school works with colleges and universities to recruit, prepare, and mentor novice and experienced teachers. It insists on having teachers who promote young adolescents' intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and ethical growth. It recruits a faculty that is culturally and linguistically diverse. Teachers know and understand the needs and developmental characteristics of young adolescents; have a deep understanding of their subject matter, of different approaches to student learning, and of diverse teaching techniques; know and understand each of the State's 28 learning standards and - when and where appropriate - reinforce them routinely during regular classroom instruction; and, use a range of successful, research-based teaching strategies that are developmentally and cognitively appropriate, matching instruction to the students' varied learning styles and different intelligences. Those in positions of leadership know and understand the needs and developmental characteristics of young adolescents; know and understand the essential elements of a standards-focused, high performing middle-level school or middle-level program; know and understand each of the 28 learning standards and how they interrelate; know and understand the State's assessment system; have an understanding of the subject matter in the middle grades and its interconnections, of different approaches to student learning, and of diverse teaching strategies; and, know a range of successful, research-based teaching techniques that are developmentally and cognitively appropriate, matching instruction to the students' varied learning styles and different intelligences. (Essential Element characteristics 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.9)

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Rating: 3.5Evidence: Mentoring Program Student Teachers Observers Teachers in training shadow certified teachers for a period or two Had several student teachers from different departments observe my room including school psychologists training for testing. I

recruited students for them to practice on.IV.9. The school includes families and community members in setting and supporting the school's trajectory toward high performance. The school informs families and community members about its goals for students and students' responsibility for meeting them. It engages all stakeholders in ongoing and reflective conversation, consensus building, and decision making about governance to promote school improvement. The school and staff have established partnerships with the home and the community. The school ensures that all students, staff, parents, and families feel secure, valued and respected as significant contributors to the school community. Those in positions of leadership inform and involve parents of middle-level students in their children's education by helping them understand the needs and developmental characteristics of young adolescents, the learning standards their children must meet, the instructional program, their children' progress, and how to help their children at home with schoolwork, school decisions, and successful development through adolescence. They also promote school/community partnerships and involve members of the community in school activities and initiatives, empowering and encouraging them to contribute and make decisions that benefit students. The school and the staff have a process for informing parents, families, and community groups of the essential role they play in ensuring students attend school and access available services, in expanding and enhancing venues for significant learning, in promoting youth development, and in supporting positive school change. (Essential Element characteristics 1.8, 3.7, 5.14, 5.15, 6.6)

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Rating: 3.7Evidence: Parent Volunteers Weekly Letters to Parents Monthly Newsletters PTSU


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I · Web viewRating Scale Rubric: (4) Our school has a high level of implementation or...

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Transcript of I · Web viewRating Scale Rubric: (4) Our school has a high level of implementation or...