School Improvement Plan

What is a School Improvement Plan?

A School Improvement Plan (SIP) is a strategic blueprint that schools use to enhance student learning and improve educational practices. It outlines specific goals for improvement, actions to achieve those goals, and methods for measuring progress.

Key Points of a SIP:

Goals: Clear objectives the school aims to achieve to enhance student outcomes.
Actions: Steps and strategies the school will implement to reach its goals, based on research and effective practices.
Monitoring: Regular review of progress with adjustments made to ensure the school stays on track toward its improvement objectives.

The purpose of a SIP is to provide a clear roadmap for schools to improve educational outcomes for all students, particularly focusing on eliminating disparities and ensuring equitable opportunities for every student.

Every school in Washington State is required to have a School Improvement Plan.

Monitoring and Adjusting:

A SIP is not set in stone. It's reviewed regularly, with progress monitored against the set goals and activities adjusted as needed to stay on track toward improvement.

Visit the Issaquah School District SIP website to learn more about SIPs.

District - School Improvement Plans

Achievement Goals

By Spring of 2024:

Student achievement for all students in the area of math will increase from 87% meeting standard to 90% meeting standard, measured by the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA).
75% of all students who are not meeting standard on fall i-Ready Math Diagnostic will meet or exceed typical growth, and 60% will meet or exceed stretch growth.

Guiding Questions

Reflecting on previous action plans

What actions were successfully implemented?

For the last four years, Discovery’s SIP has focused on literacy. The majority of our Professional Development last year supported this focus. After looking at our academic data, our SIP team saw a need to support our learners in math and a continued need to support PBSES, so we incorporated them into our training.

We were successful at implementing research-based strategies to support our school-wide goal as well as research-based strategies to achieve our gap-closing goal. Much of this focus was on differentiating our support for all students. Adjustments to curriculum approaches, interventions, and strategies were adjusted as needed. Technology was utilized to facilitate instruction. Success Blocks were implemented to target interventions to support our students in our gap group. We held a Community Learning Night in January where caregivers had the opportunity to attend learning sessions to support their student’s learning at home.

What was observed? What evidence did you use to determine impact?

The result of our professional development and implementation in the classroom was very successful. This was visible in our data, which we looked at throughout the year to guide our actions. This data was pulled from Homeroom ( i-Ready, SBA, SWIS, attendance…). Our i-Ready Reading scores went from 74% of students at or above grade level standards in the fall, to 82% of all students by the end of the year. The number of students that were referred for a Special Education evaluation significantly decreased as a result of the Success Block interventions. Our SWIS data showed fewer student disruptive behaviors in classrooms which helped maximize learning.

How did actions impact disproportionality and equity?

The data also showed that our actions impacted our disproportionality negatively, specifically in Black/African American, MLL, and low-income groups. We utilized our support staff to increase engagement with these families. This included our PBSES Coach, Dean of Students, Counselor, MLL and LRC 1 teachers and Principal. We provided computers and internet access for families that did not have access to these tools. We frequently touched base with these families to see how we could support them so they could support their learners at home. We also implemented many Tier 2 & 3 interventions guided by the data. While we increased our actions, support, and interventions, our disproportionality was still negatively impacted.

What actions would you continue or change?

Backed by Data

Schools use multiple data sources to inform their planning. Progress toward school improvement in overall achievement and disproportionality is monitored using state and district measures using a common School Improvement Data Dashboard.

Data Workbook for Elementary School

Process
Findings

Process

As our staff looked at year-end 2022 data, we discussed shifting our SIP goal to focus on math since we spent the last four years focusing on literacy. At our August 2022 Tier 1 Team meeting and at our building LID days, we continued to look at our data from the prior year and at the Professional Development we have had focusing on differentiating and small group instruction. We read selections from the book “From Reading to Math” by Maggie Siena which solidified our decision to focus on math. All the work we have done to improve best practices in literacy can also be implemented in math instruction. In September and October, staff took a deeper dive into the data in grade-level teams, reflected on student achievement, and wrote Student Growth Goals to support growth for all students in math. Our Tier 1 Team continued to look at our SIP data dashboard to write our goals for the 2022-2024 school years. Our Tier 1 and 2 teams continually look at data to better support teachers in their math instruction to improve student learning. Time has been embedded in staff meetings and Professional Development to continue to look at this data to guide the work the staff is doing to improve math instruction and learning.

Findings

In reviewing our SIP data dashboard, we noticed that our math and literacy data were very similar in proficiency rates and trends. We discussed our groups of students that had lower achievement rates. We noted that many of the students represented in these groups were the same students; meaning one student often fell into two or three different groups because they were two or more races, Multi Language Learners (MLL) and low income. We also noted an increasing number of students new to the U.S. school system have enrolled over the past year which has led to the number of increasing MLL students that are not proficient. We also discussed the impact on student learning due to COVID and acknowledged that remote learning, the impacts of social distancing limited the use of manipulatives, and increased absences due to illness, or fear of illness, when we returned to the building had a negative impact on math, particularly the strand of number and operations. As a team we decided that we want all students who are not meeting standard to grow in their math proficiency for our gap group.

School-Based Action Plan

Action	Implementation	Impact: Evidence/Monitoring
Math PD	Professional development focused on strengthening math instruction with a focus on using the strong instructional practices in i-Ready we have gained and how it can be applied to strong math instructional practice.	Feedback provided by teachers, evidence in classroom observations.
Morning Math Club intervention group for 2^nd – 4^th grade students	Two 6-week intervention cycles of targeted math support for students below and approaching grade-level standards in 2nd –4th. Four groups meet twice per week in the morning for 6-week cycles. One cycle in the winter, and one in the spring.	We are using i-Ready data to monitor and identify the students that scored below or approaching standard. We are also using the Numbers and Operations assessment at the end of each cycle to look at student growth.
Community Connection	Community Learning Night with a math emphasis – how families can support learners at home to better understand growth mindset, joy of process, risk taking, and our curriculum.	We will have attendees complete an exit ticket to share what they liked, learned and want to know more about.
Community Connection	STEAM family event with a math focus.	We will have attendees complete an exit ticket to share what they liked, learned and want to know more about.
Math Centers	Several teachers are implementing math centers where groups and small groups are identified through i-Ready data.	i-Ready Math data from fall, winter, and spring.
Community Connection	Parent Panel in March 2023 with an emphasis on how students learn math in other countries	Feedback from participants.
Building a Mathematical Community and Mindset	Wednesday PD Sessions with Cascade Ridge and Sunny Hills.	Feedback provided by teachers, evidence in classroom observations.
Teacher Learning Walks	Teachers can go to classrooms where specific math interventions are implemented; including math centers and students talking about math.	The number of teachers that participate, their feedback, and how they implement strategies in their own classroom.
Highly Capable Teacher Partnership	Our Hi-Cap teacher is working with many teachers to support and differentiate student learning through planning, co-teaching, PD, and observations.	Teacher feedback, observations.
i-Ready Time	Some of our students would benefit from time on their path in i-Ready but cannot access it at home or in class. Time has been built into their days to get ten minutes, four days a week, with a support staff to complete.	i-Ready data for time on lessons, lessons passed, and the diagnostic.
High School Math Tutors	We are partnering with a local high school to begin having 6- 8 students come to Discovery beginning in February for 13 weeks. They will meet 30-45 minutes three times a week to work one-on-one with students tutoring them in numbers and operation.	Teacher and tutor feedback, observations, and i-Ready Math data.
Breakout EDU Puzzles	Students participate in a variety of collaborative puzzles focused on critical thinking, problem solving, and interpreting graphs/data.	Teacher feedback, observations.
Hour of Code Participation	Many teachers integrate math and computer science through Hour of Code activities (both using robotics and without).	Teacher feedback, observations.
UDL Leadership PD	Five staff members will meet with Mary Waldrum from OSPI once a month beginning in February. The PD will build capacity and knowledge base in UDL to support students in class through application and implementation, and grow our capacity to support staff in UDL, particularly in math instruction.	Observations, exit tickets from PD, teacher feedback.

SIP Team & Final Review

Principal: Kathy Keegan
Site Council/PTSA Review Date: January 20, 2022
Supervisor Review: Susan Mundell
School Board Review Date: February 15, 2023

Leadership Team:

Tara Peterson, Kindergarten teacher
Pam Shank-Kaufman, 1st grade teacher
Margie Gerrity, 2nd grade teacher
Jennifer Belding, 3rd grade teacher
Syona Pathak, 4th grade teacher
Robert Huss, 5th grade teacher
Aubrey Clark, LAP teacher
Cynthia Park, LRC1 teacher
Mary Flett, Equity representative
Marni Vail, Equity representative
Natalie Ploetz, PE teacher
Dawn Fields, Dean of Students
Aly Rumberger, IT Specialist

Checklist

Action plan includes use of educational technology.
Action plan includes strategies for family engagement.
Action plan includes strategies for engaging students and/or addressing the social, emotional and/or mental health needs of students and barriers to learning
Action plan includes a school-based action to implement one (or more) of Culturally Responsive Practices, Universal Design for Learning, Trauma Informed Practices, &/or the 4 High Leverage Instructional Practices.

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