Subcommittee for COMPONENT 1 School Profile and Collaborative Process

Member Name

Position

Chair

Angie Hawkins

Music Teacher

X

Melisa Hicks

Physical Education Teacher

Erin Maupin

Kindergarten Teacher

Christie Gamlin

First Grade Teacher

Kris Meyer

First Grade Teacher

Betty Dunkerson

Second Grade Teacher

Kerri Vanderpool

Parent

Monte Belew

Community Member

Subcommittee for COMPONENT 2  Beliefs, Mission and Vision

Member Name

Position

Chair

Kelley Lassiter

Kindergarten Teacher

X

Lynette Travis

Kindergarten Teacher

Lorri Hudson

First Grade Teacher

Kacie Cunningham

Second Grade Teacher

Pat Nelson

First Grade Teacher

Rita Wofford

First Grade Teacher

Tony Brown

Community Member

Sarah Pack

Parent

Subcommittee for COMPONENT 3      Curricular, Instructional, Assessment, and Organizational Effectiveness

Member Name

Position

Chair

Cindy Lowe

Gifted/Resource Teacher

X

Debra Perkins

CDC Teacher

Sam Luker

Physical Education Teacher

Pat Corley

First Grade Teacher

Deana Jones

First Grade Teacher

Angie Holmes

Second Grade Teacher

Cheri Hayes

Kindergarten Teacher

Mariah Lundberg

Parent

Jack Nichols

Community Member

Subcommittee for COMPONENT 4 Action Plan Development

Member Name

Position

Chair

Glenda Boyd

Second Grade Teacher

X

Amanda Haynes

Librarian

Marsha Kriesky

First Grade Teacher

Kathy Coley

Second Grade Teacher

Allyson Palmer

Kindergarten Teacher

Barbara Waters

Second Grade Teacher

Brooke French

Kindergarten Teacher

Susannah Murphey

Parent

Dr. Amy Boyd

Community Member

Subcommittee for COMPONENT 5  The School Improvement Plan and Process Evaluation

Member Name

Position

Chair

Fran Jenkins

Kindergarten Teacher

X

Gina Anzalone

Kindergarten Teacher

Terri Howard

First Grade Teacher

Christy Caldwell

Second Grade Teacher

Lynda Searcy

Second Grade Teacher

Jennifer Cloar

Speech/Language Teacher

Jessica Pryor

Kindergarten Teacher

Melissa Alton

Parent

Michael Murphy

Community Member

Support Staff Demographic Survey

We have one woman on our support staff who is African-American and one male who is African-American which constitutes 8% of total support staff.   There is one Caucasian male and there are thirteen Caucasian females.  Our support staff has an average of 6.7 years experience in their current positions.  One support staff member holds an advanced degree.  Many have served in school/system leadership activities including the Consolidated Planning committee, the Drug Free School committee, assistant grade level chairperson positions, and various PTO chairperson positions.  All paraprofessionals are highly qualified according to State guidelines. 

Professional Staff Demographic Survey

All teachers at Rhea School have state certification and meet highly qualified standards for their grade level or special area.  All teachers are teaching in their area with 50% of our professional staff holding advanced degrees beyond a bachelor degree.  We have 671 combined years of total experience between us.  This averages out to about 17 years per teacher.  Our faculty has 406 combined years of experience at W. G. Rhea School.  This averages out to about 10 years per teacher.  Twenty-nine of our teachers have less than fifteen years of teaching experience, while eleven have more than fifteen years.  We have three African-American female teachers which constitutes almost 8% of our professional staff. Three professional staff members are male which constitutes 8% of the staff.

School Inventory Survey for Teachers, Parents, Community Members, and Staff

The majority of our stakeholders “strongly agreed” or “agreed” with most survey items.  The survey findings indicated that W. G. Rhea School students are provided with quality educational programs and teachers have high expectations for students.  It also indicated that students have a wide variety of resources for learning, and that the school environment is safe, clean, pleasant, and orderly.  The findings indicated that reading and math programs are very important to all stakeholders.  All stakeholders agree that the health and wellness program is important.  One survey question addressed an achievement gap between African American and Caucasian students.  In the past there has been a strong concern about the achievement gap, but the on the current survey, over 50% of staff members, community members, and parents reported no opinion or a lack of concern for the gap.  68% of teachers still “strongly agreed” or “agreed” with the concern for the gap, but that percentage is lower than in previous surveys.  The lower percentage of stakeholders concerned with an achievement gap indicates we have addressed this as an issue and that we have been are working toward closing the gap.

School Inventory for Students

A range of 95% to 99% of students “strongly agreed” with all survey items.  See above for the listing of items.

Parent Demographic Survey

62% of the surveys returned indicated that they are Caucasian and married.  2% of those returned are African American and married.  Less than 1% of those returned indicated they are a Hispanic, Asian, or bi-racial married couple.  1% of the respondents indicated they are Caucasian and unmarried, but living together.  13% indicated they are Caucasian single mothers and less than 1% indicated they are Caucasian single fathers.  Less than 1% of the respondents indicated they are an African American unmarried couple living together and less than 1% of the rest of the respondents indicated they are Hispanic, Asian, or bi-racial single parents.

School Demographics

Historical Background

Facilities

Environmental and Safety Conditions                              

Grade Distributions

Length of School Day

Operating Budget

Per Pupil Expenditures                          

Special Programs and Initiatives

Pre-School Building Addition

Community Demographics

Size of Community

Projections of Growth

Major Employers

Level of Community Involvement

Support Agencies

Describe the data collection and analysis process used in determining your strengths and needs.

The Data Collection and Analysis Subcommittee reviewed and analyzed the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Tennessee State Report Card.  It is listed below as Academic and Non-Academic Report Card Data.

Academic Report Card Data

State testing was not done in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 or 2008.  Therefore, data is not available.  

Non-Academic Report Card Data   

W. G. Rhea Elementary School served 569 students for the 04-05 school year in grades K-2.  There were 54.6% of the children found to be economically disadvantaged.  The school had a 95.2% attendance rate and a 97.3% promotion rate.  Our student body consisted of 443 White, 115 African American, 5 Hispanic, 6 Asian, 0 Native American, and 0 Pacific Islander students.  There were 10 suspensions at our school.  They are categorized as follows:  9 white students, 1 black student, 8 males, and 2 females.  There were no expulsions on record.

Our school served 562 students for the 05-06 school year in grades K-2.  At

W. G. Rhea Elementary School, 56.3% of our students are economically disadvantaged.  W. G. Rhea Elementary School had a 95.7% attendance rate and a 97.1% promotion rate.  Our student body consisted of 439 White, 110 African American, 9 Hispanic, 4 Asian, 0 Native American, and 0 Pacific Islander students.  There were 8 suspensions at our school.  They are categorized as follows:  2 white children and 6 African American.  Six of the suspensions were male and two were female.  There were no expulsions on record.

Our school served 572 students for the 06-07 school year in grades K-2.  At W. G. Rhea Elementary School, 53% of our students are economically disadvantaged.  W. G. Rhea Elementary School had a 96.4% attendance rate and a 96.5% promotion rate.  Our student body consisted of 429 White, 125 African American, 9 Hispanic, 9 Asian/Pacific Islander, and 0 Native American.  There were 6 suspensions at our school.  They are categorized as follows: 3 white children and 3 African American.  One of the suspensions was a female while the other 5 were males.  There were no expulsions on record.

Our school is presently serving 566 students for the 07-08 school year in grades K-2.  At W. G. Rhea Elementary School, 58% of our students are economically disadvantaged.  The attendance rate and promotion rate can’t be determined at this time.  Our student body consists of 426 White, 124 African American, 10 Asian, and 6 Hispanic.  There are no Native Americans or Pacific Islanders enrolled at this time.  Suspensions and Expulsions can’t be reported at this time.

A comparison between the 04-05 and 05-06 school years for the non-academic report card data was done.  There were 24 less students in the 04-05 school year than in the 05-06 school year.  Although the white and African American population was very similar, there were twice as many Hispanic children in 05-06.  There were 20 suspensions on record for the 04-05 school year compared to 7 for 05-06.  

A comparison between the 05-06 and 06-07 school years for the non-academic report card data was done.  There were 10 more students in the 06-07 school year than in the 05-06 school year.  There were 10 less white students in 06-07 than there were in 05-06.  There were 15 more African American students in 06-07 than there were in 05-06.  The Hispanic population stayed the same while the Asian students doubled in number.  There were 2 less suspensions in 06-07 than in 05-06.

Narrative Synthesis of All Data       

Tennessee Report Card

W. G. Rhea Elementary School was found to have a safe school status in 2005, 2006, and 2007.  State testing was not done in 2005, 2006, and 2007.  Therefore, data is not available in proficiency areas.  W. G. Rhea Elementary was in good standing in 2005, 2006, and 2007 for the attendance rate.  The attendance rate in 2005 was 95.2%, 95.7 in 2006, and 95% in 2007.  The state goal was 93%.  The promotion rate for 2005 was 97.3%, 97.1% for 2006, and 96.5% in 2007.  The state goal for promotion was 97%. 

TCAP Scores

Standardized tests were not given to Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classes in the 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008 school year.  Therefore, data was not available.

STAR Information   

Kindergarten STAR Early Literacy information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006 and August 2006-April 2007.  The data for 2004-2005 could not be obtained from the computer.  The following results were found:

• August 2005-April 2006 – The 134 white students had a scaled score of 677 which places them in the Transitional Reader category while the 39 black students had a scaled score of 597 which places them in the Emergent Reader category.  The 1 Asian and 4 Hispanic children all scored as Transitional Readers.  While there were 10% Probable Readers, 39% Transitional Readers, and 51% Emergent Readers for the white students, 77% of the black students scored as Emergent Readers, 18% as Transitional Readers, and 5% as Probable Readers.
• August 2006-April 2007 – The Summary Report was figured with the Scaled Scores (% of class).  Of the students tested, 50% white males, 28% white females, 68% black males, 67% black females, and 0% other males and females scored in the Emergent category (300-674).  Of the students tested, 39% white males, 36% white females, 32% black males, 25% black females, 50% other males, and 67% other females scored as Transitional Readers (775-900).  Of the students tested, 11% white males, 36% white females, 32% black males, 25% black females, 50% other males, and 33% other females scored as Probable Readers (775-900).
• August 2007-present – Data not available

First grade STAR Early Literacy information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006 and August 2006-April 2007.  The following results were found:

• August 2005-April 2006 – There was a difference of 54 between the average scaled score of white and black students.  There were 40 more white students scoring as Probable Readers than black students, 49 more white students scoring as Transitional Readers than black students, and 31 more white students scoring as Emergent Readers than black students.  The scores of the white males and females were similar; however, the average score of the black male students was 63 points below that of the female black students.  The scaled score average for the three Hispanic students enrolled was 750 in the Transitional Reader category.
• August 2005-April 2006 - There was a gap between the grade equivalent score between black and white students.  Of the black students tested, 54.76% scored above grade level while 68.1% of white students scored above grade level.  The white students had a gain of .43 points above grade level while the black students had a gain of .11 points.  There was a gap between low achieving black students and low achieving white students.  Of the black students tested, 45.23% were below grade level while 31.8% of low achieving white students tested were below grade level.  There was a gap between with male and white female students.  Male students scored .43 points above grade level and female students scored .33 points above grade level.  There was a gap between black male and female students.  Black males scored .10 points above grade level and black females scored .22 points above grade level.  There were no Hispanic males in first grade.  The Hispanic females scored .60 points above grade level.  There were no Asian males in first grade.  The Asian females scored .09 points above grade level.  Students on the free-reduced lunch program had a gain of .14 points.  The overall gain for first grade was .32 points above grade level.
• August 2006-April 2007 – The Summary Report was figured with the Scaled Scores (% of class).  Of the students tested, 24% white males, 16% white females, 13% black males, 25% black females, 33% other males, and 0% other females scored in the Emergent category (300-674).  Of the students tested, 36% white males, 40% white females, 73% black males, 58% black females, 33% other males, and 0% other females scored in the Transitional Reader category (675-774).  Of the students tested, 40% white males, 44% white females, 13% black males, 17% black females, 33% other males, and 100% other females (only 1) scored in the Probable Reader category (775-900).
• August 2007-present – Data not available 

First Grade STAR Math information was gathered and analyzed for August 2006-April 2007.  Results are based on the Percentile Rank Distribution Summary.  The following results were found:

• Of the students tested, 15.4% of white males, 9.2% of white females, 6.7% of black males, 28.6% of black females, and 0% of other males and females scored below 25.  Of the students tested, 23.1% of white males, 21.5% of white females, 26.7% of black males, 42.9% of black females, 33.3% of other males, and 0% of other females scored in the 25-49 range.  Of the students tested, 34.6 of white males, 43.1% of white females, 40% of black males, 21.4% of black females, and 0% of other males and females scored in the 50-74 range.  Of the students tested, 26.9% of white males, 26.2% of white females, 26.7% of black males, 7.1% of black females, 66.7% of other males, and 100% of other females scored in the 75 and above range.  There was only 1 female in the other subgroup.
• August 2007-present – Data not available

Second Grade STAR Reading information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006.  The following results were found:

·         There was a considerable gap between males and females with female students testing higher than males by a .6 grade equivalency.  Black females tested higher than black males by a .3 grade equivalency.  White students tested considerably higher than black students by a .7 grade equivalency.  All second grade students scored .31 above the grade equivalency score of 2.6.

·         August 2006-April 2007 – Data not available

·         August 2007-present – Data not available 

Second Grade STAR Math information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006 and August 2006-April 2007.  The following results were found: 

·         There was a 41% gap between the average scaled score of male and female students.  The white children tested 48% higher than the black children.  There was no major discrepancy in the scores of Hispanic children.  Asian students scored much higher than all other students.  There was a 75% gap between the average scaled score of Asian students and white students.  The number of Asian students was much lower than the number of white children.  Black females scored 17% higher than black males.  Asian males were significantly higher than black males. The number of Asian males enrolled is much lower than white and black students.

·         August 2006-April 2007 – Data not available

·         August 2007-present – Data not available

Kindergarten Benchmark Data

• Math scores from 2007-2008 increased by 2.1%.  Students were in the 85^th percentile and increased by 2 to the 87^th percentile.  This is 1% above the NCLB goal of 86%.  A comparison between the sub-groups male, female, white, black, and Special Education children showed the percentage of students performing below proficiency decreased in all sub-groups.  Male students remained the same at 15% and SPED remained at 17%.  Females decreased from 15% to 12%.  Males decreased from 20% to 16%.  White students decreased from 17% to 12% and black students increased from 18% to 20%.  SPED students remained the same at 17%.
• Reading scores from 2007-2008 increased 5%.  Students were in the 88^th percentile and increased by 9% to 97%.  This is 5% above the NCLB goals.  A comparison between the sub-groups male, female, black, white, and Special Education shows the percentage of students performing below proficient decreased in all sub-groups.  Males decreased from 16% to 10%, females from 10% to 2%, white students from 8% to 5%, black students from 25% to 10%, and SPED from 30% to 20%.

First Grade Benchmark Data

• First Grade Benchmark math scores from 1^st 6-weeks, 2007 to 3^rd 6-weeks, 2008 increased by 7%.  Students were in the 87^th percentile and increased by 7 to the 94^th percentile.  In the 1^st 6-weeks, scores were 1% above the NCLB goal of 86%.  By the 3^rd 6-weeks, scores had risen to the 94^th percentile, 8% above the NCLB goal.  A comparison between sub-groups shows the percentage of students     performing below proficiency decreased from the 1^st 6-weeks to the 3^rd 6-weeks in every category.  Males performing below proficient decreased from 15% to 8% and females from 8% to 4%.  Whites decreased from 7% to 4% non-proficient while the black subgroup decreased from 26% to 16%.  The SPED subgroup had the largest decrease in non-proficient scores of any subgroup.  Those scores improved significantly from 42% non-proficient to 25%.
• First Grade Benchmark reading scores from the 1^st 6-weeks, 2007 to the 3^rd 6-weeks, 2008 increased 6%.  Students were in the 81^st percentile in the 1^st 6-weeks and increased to the 87^th percentile in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  The 1^st 6-weeks the scores were below the NCLB goal of 89% by 8%.  In the 3^rd 6-weeks the scores were below the NCLB goal by 2%.  A comparison between each level of performance shows the percentage of students performing below proficiency was at 20% the 1^st 6-weeks, 22% were below proficiency in the 2^nd 6-weeks and 12% were below proficiency in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Twenty-four percent were at proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks, 23% were at proficient in the 2^nd 6 weeks, and 18% were at proficient in the 3^rd 6 weeks.  Sixty-eight percent of first graders were above proficient (advanced) in the 1^st 6-weeks, 54% were advanced in the 2^nd 6-weeks, and 79% were advanced in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  A comparison of subgroups shows females decreased from 21% below proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks to 8% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Males decreased in below proficient from 19% in the 1^st 6-weeks to 17% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  White students decreased from 16% below proficient in the 1^st 6- weeks to 9% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Black students decreased from 35% below proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks to 27% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Special education students decreased from 68% below proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks to 53% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.

Second Grade Benchmark Data

• Second Grade Math Benchmark scores for 2007-2008 decreased by 1%.  Students were in the 95^th percentile and decreased by 1 to the 94^th percentile.  However, these percentages are still 8% above the NCLB goal of 86%.  A comparison between sub-groups shows the percentage of students performing below proficiency increased with the exception of SPED which improved significantly from 30% below proficiency to a current 14% below proficiency and males which stayed the same at 3%.  Females increased from 5% to 7% non-proficient, white from 4% to 5%, and the black sub-group decreased in proficiency from 8% to 11%.
• Second Grade Reading Benchmark scores from 2007-08 show a 14% increase in proficiency from first to the third six weeks.  64% of second graders were proficient after testing at the end of the first six weeks, while 88% were proficient after the third six weeks.  NCLB Proficiency goal is 89%.  A comparison between sub-groups shows the percentage of students performing above proficiency increased, with the exception of special education students.  Percentages are males from 39% down to 8%, females from 30% down to 12%, white from 30% down to 10%, and black from 57% down to 20% non-proficient.   Special Education students’ proficiency has decreased from 14% at the end of the first six weeks down to 43% at the end of the third six-weeks.

Kindergarten Language Assessment

The 2007-2008 school year was the first time this particular assessment was utilized with the Kindergarten children.  The Language Assessment test on the following areas: Producing Rhyming Sounds, Matching Beginning Sounds, Isolating Beginning Sounds, Blending Syllables, Blending Onset-Rimes and Blending Phonemes, Segmenting Words in a Sentence and Segmenting Syllables in a Word, Segmenting Phonemes in a Word, Deleting Words and Syllables, Deleting Phonemes, and Substituting Initial and Final Sounds. 

• Of the 158 white male and female students tested, the average from the beginning of the year tests given was 40% and the average on the middle of the year testing was 69%.  This is a gain of 29%.  Of the 42 black male and female students tested, the average from the beginning of the year tests given was 24% and the average on the middle of the year testing was 51%.  This is a gain of 27%.  There was 1 Asian female tested.  She made a gain from 55% to 86% from the beginning of the year testing until the middle of the year testing.  This is a gain of 31%.  There was 1 Hispanic male tested.  He made a gain from 50% to 100% from the beginning of the year testing until the middle of the year testing.  This is a gain of 50%.  There was 1 Pacific Islander female tested.  She made a gain from 23% to 61% from the beginning of the year testing until the middle of the year testing.  This is a gain of 38%.
• The white female students made a 25% gain, the black females made a 29% gain, the Asian female made a 31% gain, the Pacific Islander made a 38% gain from the beginning of the year until the middle of the year testing.  There were no Hispanic females enrolled.
• The white male students made a 31% gain, the black males made a 24% gain, and the Hispanic male made a 50% gain.  There were no Asian males or Pacific Islander males enrolled.

First Grade DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)

The 2007-2008 school year was the first time this particular assessment was utilized with our students.  DIBELS are brief but powerful measures of the critical skills that underlie early reading success.  These simple assessments predict how well children are likely to be doing in reading comprehension by the end of third grade and beyond.  Three or four short tasks were given to our first grade students to locate, monitor, and intervene with at-risk students.  These screenings, called Benchmark Assessments, were given at the beginning of the year, mid-year, and at the end of the year.  Data is only available for beginning and mid-year assessments at this time.

In October, the data showed 179 first grade students tested in three tasks: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), and Nonsense Words Fluency (NWF). 

In January, the data showed 176 first grade students tested (3 had moved) in three tasks: PSF, NWF, and Oral Reading Fluency (ORF).

Letter Naming Fluency:

·         There is no benchmark goal for LNF.  LNF serves as an indicator of risk for children in conjunction with scores on the other DIBELS measures.  In the beginning of First Grade, students who are able to name at least 37 letters of the alphabet in one minute typically are successful in achieving early literacy benchmarks.  Low scores on LNF indicate greater risk for difficulty achieving early literacy goals.

·         October—The  LNF subtest showed 76% (136 students) to be at low risk for difficulty, 17% (30 students) to be at some risk for difficulty, and 7% (13 students) to be at risk.

·         It was not recommended that this particular subtest of DIBELS be given again at mid-year so there is no mid-year or growth data available.

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency

·         The PSF benchmark goal is for all children to have established phonemic awareness skills of 35 at the beginning of First Grade.

·         October—The PSF subtest showed 59% (105 students) to have established phonemic awareness skills. The PSF subtest showed 30% (54 students) to have emerging phonemic awareness skills.

      The PSF subtest showed 11% (20 students) indicating a deficit in phonemic                                                              awareness skills.

·         January—The PSF subtest showed 85% (150 students) to be established—26% growth.

·         The PSF subtest showed 11% (20 students) to be emerging—19% growth.

·         The PSF subtest showed 3% (6 students) showed a deficit—8% growth.

Nonsense Word Fluency

·         The NWF benchmark goal is for all children to have established alphabetic principle skills of 50 or more by the middle of First Grade.

·         October—The NSF subtest showed 77% (138 students) to have low risk, 15% (26 students) to have some risk, and 8% (15 students) to be at risk.

·         January—The NWF subtest showed 45% (80 students) to have established skills, and 40% (70 students) to have emerging skills—8% growth.

·         The NSF subtest showed 15% (26 students) to have deficit skills.

Oral Reading Fluency

·         The ORF benchmark goal is for all children to read 20 words per minute by the middle of First Grade and 40 words per minute by the end of First Grade.

·         October—The ORF subtest is not given until mid-year so there is no data available for beginning of year.

Second Grade ThinkLink Assessment

• ThinkLink assessments were given to all second grade students in December 2007 and again in February 2008.  One more testing will take place in April 2008.  The testing is in both math and reading.  On all subtests in reading, with the exception of Introduction to Print, second graders scored 75% mastery or greater.  Introduction to Print was clearly an area to strengthen with mastery at 58%, non-mastery at 17%, and partial mastery at 25%.  This will be a target area for improvement for second grade.  Sentence structure and Editing would be the next areas of greatest need for improvement.  Math scores were all at 70% mastery or greater.  Measurement would be the area in greatest need of improvement with mastery of about 72%, non-mastery at 6%, and partial mastery at 24%.  Analyzing Statistics and Probability would be the next greatest need for improvement with 78% total mastery, 2% non-mastery, and 20% partial mastery.  All other math subtests were 80% mastery or greater.

Kindergarten Special Education Data

In 05-06 there were thirteen male special education students.  The only mastery was for white male special education students in reading.     

A comparison of white females to black females was done.  In 05-06 there was no black female special education student.  The five white female students had 60% mastery in both reading and math.

In 05-06 there were ten white and eight black students.  This number included both male and female students.  In 05-06 the white students had a higher mastery percentage than the black student in both reading and math.

A comparison of black and white males to black and white females was done.  In 05-06 the males scored higher in reading while the females had a higher percentage of mastery than the males in math. 

In 06-07 there were 23 white students and 7 black students certified in Special Education.  

Of the number of white students, 10 were females while 13 were males.  Of the number of black students, 1 was a female while the other 6 were males.

In 07-08 there are 40 students certified for Special Education services.  There are 28 white students and 12 black students.  Of the number of white students, 11 are females while 17 are males.  Of the number of black students, 5 are females while 7 are males. 

Mastery data of subject areas for 06-07 and 07-08 was not available.

First Grade Special Education Data

An analysis was done comparing white males to black males.  In 05-06 there were nine white and two black male special education students.  The black male students mastered reading and math while the white male students mastered 78% in reading and 67% in math. 

A comparison of black, white, and Asian females was done.  All females mastered both reading and math for that school year.  In 05-06 there were two white, one Asian, and no black female special education students.  There was 50% mastery for the white females in reading while there was 100% mastery for the whites and Asian in math.

An analysis was done comparing white males and females to black males and females.  There were eleven white and two black students in 05-06.  This number includes both male and female special education students.   In 05-06 the black children had 100% mastery in both reading and math while the white children only had a 73% mastery level for both subjects. The Asian female had 100% mastery in 05-06.  

A comparison of black and white males to black and white females was done.  There were eleven males and two females in 05-06.  In 05-06 there was 82% mastery in reading for the males and 50% for the females.  The males mastered 73% while the females mastered 100% in math in 05-06.  The Asian female student had 100% mastery in both areas. 

In 06-07 there were 17 students receiving Special Education services.  There were 13 white students and 4 black students.  Of the number of white students, 5 were females while 8 were males.  Of the number of black students, 0 were females while 4 were males.

In 07-08 there are 24 students receiving Special Education services.  There are 16 white students and 8 black students.  Of the number of white students, 7 are females while 9 are males.  Of the number of black students, 2 are females while 6 are males.  

Mastery data for subject areas for 06-07 and 07-08 was not available.

Second Grade Special Education Data

An analysis was done comparing white males to black males.  The two white males had 100% mastery in reading, math, and spelling.  There were two black and twelve white male special education children in 05-06.  The two black males had 100% mastery in reading and math and 50% mastery in spelling for that year.   In 05-06 the white males had 58% mastery in reading, 67% in math, and 50% in spelling. 

A comparison of white females to black females was done.  In 05-06 there were five white and no black special education female children. There was 100% mastery in all areas for all female children for the school years compared except for the spelling percentage.

An analysis was done comparing white males and females to black males and females.  There were seventeen white and two black students in 05-06.  This total includes both male and female special education students.  The two black children had 100% mastery in reading and math while a small percentage of the white children had non-mastery percentages in reading, math, and spelling in 05-06.  

A comparison of black and white males to black and white females was made.  There were fourteen males and five females in 05-06.  In 05-06 the black and white males had 64% mastery in reading, 71% mastery in math, and 50% mastery in spelling.  The black and white females had 100% mastery in reading, math, and spelling.

In 06-07 there were 19 students receiving Special Education services.  There were 15 white students and 4 black students.  Of the number of white students, 5 were females while 10 were males.  Of the number of black students, 0 were females while 4 were black.

In 07-08 there are 16 students receiving Special Education services.  There are 9 white students, 5 black children, 1 Asian, and 1 Hispanic.  Of the number of white students, 3 are females while 6 are males.  Of the number of black students, 0 are females while 5 are black.  The Asian student is a female and the Hispanic student is a male.

Mastery data for subject areas for 06-07 and 07-08 was not available.

Narrative Synthesis of All Data        

Tennessee Report Card

W. G. Rhea Elementary School was found to have a safe school status in 2005, 2006, and 2007.  State testing was not done in 2005, 2006, and 2007.  Therefore, data is not available in proficiency areas.  W. G. Rhea Elementary was in good standing in 2005, 2006, and 2007 for the attendance rate.  The attendance rate in 2005 was 95.2%, 95.7 in 2006, and 95% in 2007.  The state goal was 93%.  The promotion rate for 2005 was 97.3%, 97.1% for 2006, and 96.5% in 2007.  The state goal for promotion was 97%. 

TCAP Scores

Standardized tests were not given to Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classes in the 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008 school year.  Therefore, data was not available.

STAR Information   

Kindergarten STAR Early Literacy information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006 and August 2006-April 2007.  The data for 2004-2005 could not be obtained from the computer.  The following results were found:

• August 2005-April 2006 – The 134 white students had a scaled score of 677 which places them in the Transitional Reader category while the 39 black students had a scaled score of 597 which places them in the Emergent Reader category.  The 1 Asian and 4 Hispanic children all scored as Transitional Readers.  While there were 10% Probable Readers, 39% Transitional Readers, and 51% Emergent Readers for the white students, 77% of the black students scored as Emergent Readers, 18% as Transitional Readers, and 5% as Probable Readers.
• August 2006-April 2007 – The Summary Report was figured with the Scaled Scores (% of class).  Of the students tested, 50% white males, 28% white females, 68% black males, 67% black females, and 0% other males and females scored in the Emergent category (300-674).  Of the students tested, 39% white males, 36% white females, 32% black males, 25% black females, 50% other males, and 67% other females scored as Transitional Readers (775-900).  Of the students tested, 11% white males, 36% white females, 32% black males, 25% black females, 50% other males, and 33% other females scored as Probable Readers (775-900).
• August 2007-present – Data not available

First grade STAR Early Literacy information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006 and August 2006-April 2007.  The following results were found:

• August 2005-April 2006 – There was a difference of 54 between the average scaled score of white and black students.  There were 40 more white students scoring as Probable Readers than black students, 49 more white students scoring as Transitional Readers than black students, and 31 more white students scoring as Emergent Readers than black students.  The scores of the white males and females were similar; however, the average score of the black male students was 63 points below that of the female black students.  The scaled score average for the three Hispanic students enrolled was 750 in the Transitional Reader category.
• August 2005-April 2006 - There was a gap between the grade equivalent score between black and white students.  Of the black students tested, 54.76% scored above grade level while 68.1% of white students scored above grade level.  The white students had a gain of .43 points above grade level while the black students had a gain of .11 points.  There was a gap between low achieving black students and low achieving white students.  Of the black students tested, 45.23% were below grade level while 31.8% of low achieving white students tested were below grade level.  There was a gap between with male and white female students.  Male students scored .43 points above grade level and female students scored .33 points above grade level.  There was a gap between black male and female students.  Black males scored .10 points above grade level and black females scored .22 points above grade level.  There were no Hispanic males in first grade.  The Hispanic females scored .60 points above grade level.  There were no Asian males in first grade.  The Asian females scored .09 points above grade level.  Students on the free-reduced lunch program had a gain of .14 points.  The overall gain for first grade was .32 points above grade level.
• August 2006-April 2007 – The Summary Report was figured with the Scaled Scores (% of class).  Of the students tested, 24% white males, 16% white females, 13% black males, 25% black females, 33% other males, and 0% other females scored in the Emergent category (300-674).  Of the students tested, 36% white males, 40% white females, 73% black males, 58% black females, 33% other males, and 0% other females scored in the Transitional Reader category (675-774).  Of the students tested, 40% white males, 44% white females, 13% black males, 17% black females, 33% other males, and 100% other females (only 1) scored in the Probable Reader category (775-900).
• August 2007-present – Data not available 

First Grade STAR Math information was gathered and analyzed for August 2006-April 2007.  Results are based on the Percentile Rank Distribution Summary.  The following results were found:

• Of the students tested, 15.4% of white males, 9.2% of white females, 6.7% of black males, 28.6% of black females, and 0% of other males and females scored below 25.  Of the students tested, 23.1% of white males, 21.5% of white females, 26.7% of black males, 42.9% of black females, 33.3% of other males, and 0% of other females scored in the 25-49 range.  Of the students tested, 34.6 of white males, 43.1% of white females, 40% of black males, 21.4% of black females, and 0% of other males and females scored in the 50-74 range.  Of the students tested, 26.9% of white males, 26.2% of white females, 26.7% of black males, 7.1% of black females, 66.7% of other males, and 100% of other females scored in the 75 and above range.  There was only 1 female in the other subgroup.
• August 2007-present – Data not available

Second Grade STAR Reading information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006.  The following results were found:

·         There was a considerable gap between males and females with female students testing higher than males by a .6 grade equivalency.  Black females tested higher than black males by a .3 grade equivalency.  White students tested considerably higher than black students by a .7 grade equivalency.  All second grade students scored .31 above the grade equivalency score of 2.6.

·         August 2006-April 2007 – Data not available

·         August 2007-present – Data not available 

Second Grade STAR Math information was gathered and analyzed for August 2005-April 2006 and August 2006-April 2007.  The following results were found: 

·         There was a 41% gap between the average scaled score of male and female students.  The white children tested 48% higher than the black children.  There was no major discrepancy in the scores of Hispanic children.  Asian students scored much higher than all other students.  There was a 75% gap between the average scaled score of Asian students and white students.  The number of Asian students was much lower than the number of white children.  Black females scored 17% higher than black males.  Asian males were significantly higher than black males. The number of Asian males enrolled is much lower than white and black students.

·         August 2006-April 2007 – Data not available

·         August 2007-present – Data not available

Kindergarten Benchmark Data

• Math scores from 2007-2008 increased by 2.1%.  Students were in the 85^th percentile and increased by 2 to the 87^th percentile.  This is 1% above the NCLB goal of 86%.  A comparison between the sub-groups male, female, white, black, and Special Education children showed the percentage of students performing below proficiency decreased in all sub-groups.  Male students remained the same at 15% and SPED remained at 17%.  Females decreased from 15% to 12%.  Males decreased from 20% to 16%.  White students decreased from 17% to 12% and black students increased from 18% to 20%.  SPED students remained the same at 17%.
• Reading scores from 2007-2008 increased 5%.  Students were in the 88^th percentile and increased by 9% to 97%.  This is 5% above the NCLB goals.  A comparison between the sub-groups male, female, black, white, and Special Education shows the percentage of students performing below proficient decreased in all sub-groups.  Males decreased from 16% to 10%, females from 10% to 2%, white students from 8% to 5%, black students from 25% to 10%, and SPED from 30% to 20%.

First Grade Benchmark Data

• First Grade Benchmark math scores from 1^st 6-weeks, 2007 to 3^rd 6-weeks, 2008 increased by 7%.  Students were in the 87^th percentile and increased by 7 to the 94^th percentile.  In the 1^st 6-weeks, scores were 1% above the NCLB goal of 86%.  By the 3^rd 6-weeks, scores had risen to the 94^th percentile, 8% above the NCLB goal.  A comparison between sub-groups shows the percentage of students     performing below proficiency decreased from the 1^st 6-weeks to the 3^rd 6-weeks in every category.  Males performing below proficient decreased from 15% to 8% and females from 8% to 4%.  Whites decreased from 7% to 4% non-proficient while the black subgroup decreased from 26% to 16%.  The SPED subgroup had the largest decrease in non-proficient scores of any subgroup.  Those scores improved significantly from 42% non-proficient to 25%.
• First Grade Benchmark reading scores from the 1^st 6-weeks, 2007 to the 3^rd 6-weeks, 2008 increased 6%.  Students were in the 81^st percentile in the 1^st 6-weeks and increased to the 87^th percentile in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  The 1^st 6-weeks the scores were below the NCLB goal of 89% by 8%.  In the 3^rd 6-weeks the scores were below the NCLB goal by 2%.  A comparison between each level of performance shows the percentage of students performing below proficiency was at 20% the 1^st 6-weeks, 22% were below proficiency in the 2^nd 6-weeks and 12% were below proficiency in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Twenty-four percent were at proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks, 23% were at proficient in the 2^nd 6 weeks, and 18% were at proficient in the 3^rd 6 weeks.  Sixty-eight percent of first graders were above proficient (advanced) in the 1^st 6-weeks, 54% were advanced in the 2^nd 6-weeks, and 79% were advanced in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  A comparison of subgroups shows females decreased from 21% below proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks to 8% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Males decreased in below proficient from 19% in the 1^st 6-weeks to 17% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  White students decreased from 16% below proficient in the 1^st 6- weeks to 9% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Black students decreased from 35% below proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks to 27% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.  Special education students decreased from 68% below proficient in the 1^st 6-weeks to 53% below proficient in the 3^rd 6-weeks.

Second Grade Benchmark Data

• Second Grade Math Benchmark scores for 2007-2008 decreased by 1%.  Students were in the 95^th percentile and decreased by 1 to the 94^th percentile.  However, these percentages are still 8% above the NCLB goal of 86%.  A comparison between sub-groups shows the percentage of students performing below proficiency increased with the exception of SPED which improved significantly from 30% below proficiency to a current 14% below proficiency and males which stayed the same at 3%.  Females increased from 5% to 7% non-proficient, white from 4% to 5%, and the black sub-group decreased in proficiency from 8% to 11%.
• Second Grade Reading Benchmark scores from 2007-08 show a 14% increase in proficiency from first to the third six weeks.  64% of second graders were proficient after testing at the end of the first six weeks, while 88% were proficient after the third six weeks.  NCLB Proficiency goal is 89%.  A comparison between sub-groups shows the percentage of students performing above proficiency increased, with the exception of special education students.  Percentages are males from 39% down to 8%, females from 30% down to 12%, white from 30% down to 10%, and black from 57% down to 20% non-proficient.   Special Education students’ proficiency has decreased from 14% at the end of the first six weeks down to 43% at the end of the third six-weeks.

Kindergarten Language Assessment

The 2007-2008 school year was the first time this particular assessment was utilized with the Kindergarten children.  The Language Assessment test on the following areas: Producing Rhyming Sounds, Matching Beginning Sounds, Isolating Beginning Sounds, Blending Syllables, Blending Onset-Rimes and Blending Phonemes, Segmenting Words in a Sentence and Segmenting Syllables in a Word, Segmenting Phonemes in a Word, Deleting Words and Syllables, Deleting Phonemes, and Substituting Initial and Final Sounds. 

• Of the 158 white male and female students tested, the average from the beginning of the year tests given was 40% and the average on the middle of the year testing was 69%.  This is a gain of 29%.  Of the 42 black male and female students tested, the average from the beginning of the year tests given was 24% and the average on the middle of the year testing was 51%.  This is a gain of 27%.  There was 1 Asian female tested.  She made a gain from 55% to 86% from the beginning of the year testing until the middle of the year testing.  This is a gain of 31%.  There was 1 Hispanic male tested.  He made a gain from 50% to 100% from the beginning of the year testing until the middle of the year testing.  This is a gain of 50%.  There was 1 Pacific Islander female tested.  She made a gain from 23% to 61% from the beginning of the year testing until the middle of the year testing.  This is a gain of 38%.
• The white female students made a 25% gain, the black females made a 29% gain, the Asian female made a 31% gain, the Pacific Islander made a 38% gain from the beginning of the year until the middle of the year testing.  There were no Hispanic females enrolled.
• The white male students made a 31% gain, the black males made a 24% gain, and the Hispanic male made a 50% gain.  There were no Asian males or Pacific Islander males enrolled.

First Grade DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)

The 2007-2008 school year was the first time this particular assessment was utilized with our students.  DIBELS are brief but powerful measures of the critical skills that underlie early reading success.  These simple assessments predict how well children are likely to be doing in reading comprehension by the end of third grade and beyond.  Three or four short tasks were given to our first grade students to locate, monitor, and intervene with at-risk students.  These screenings, called Benchmark Assessments, were given at the beginning of the year, mid-year, and at the end of the year.  Data is only available for beginning and mid-year assessments at this time.

In October, the data showed 179 first grade students tested in three tasks: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), and Nonsense Words Fluency (NWF). 

In January, the data showed 176 first grade students tested (3 had moved) in three tasks: PSF, NWF, and Oral Reading Fluency (ORF).

Letter Naming Fluency:

·         There is no benchmark goal for LNF.  LNF serves as an indicator of risk for children in conjunction with scores on the other DIBELS measures.  In the beginning of First Grade, students who are able to name at least 37 letters of the alphabet in one minute typically are successful in achieving early literacy benchmarks.  Low scores on LNF indicate greater risk for difficulty achieving early literacy goals.

·         October—The  LNF subtest showed 76% (136 students) to be at low risk for difficulty, 17% (30 students) to be at some risk for difficulty, and 7% (13 students) to be at risk.

·         It was not recommended that this particular subtest of DIBELS be given again at mid-year so there is no mid-year or growth data available.

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency

·         The PSF benchmark goal is for all children to have established phonemic awareness skills of 35 at the beginning of First Grade.

·         October—The PSF subtest showed 59% (105 students) to have established phonemic awareness skills. The PSF subtest showed 30% (54 students) to have emerging phonemic awareness skills.

      The PSF subtest showed 11% (20 students) indicating a deficit in phonemic                                                              awareness skills.

·         January—The PSF subtest showed 85% (150 students) to be established—26% growth.

·         The PSF subtest showed 11% (20 students) to be emerging—19% growth.

·         The PSF subtest showed 3% (6 students) showed a deficit—8% growth.

Nonsense Word Fluency

·         The NWF benchmark goal is for all children to have established alphabetic principle skills of 50 or more by the middle of First Grade.

·         October—The NSF subtest showed 77% (138 students) to have low risk, 15% (26 students) to have some risk, and 8% (15 students) to be at risk.

·         January—The NWF subtest showed 45% (80 students) to have established skills, and 40% (70 students) to have emerging skills—8% growth.

·         The NSF subtest showed 15% (26 students) to have deficit skills.

Oral Reading Fluency

·         The ORF benchmark goal is for all children to read 20 words per minute by the middle of First Grade and 40 words per minute by the end of First Grade.

·         October—The ORF subtest is not given until mid-year so there is no data available for beginning of year.

Second Grade ThinkLink Assessment

• ThinkLink assessments were given to all second grade students in December 2007 and again in February 2008.  One more testing will take place in April 2008.  The testing is in both math and reading.  On all subtests in reading, with the exception of Introduction to Print, second graders scored 75% mastery or greater.  Introduction to Print was clearly an area to strengthen with mastery at 58%, non-mastery at 17%, and partial mastery at 25%.  This will be a target area for improvement for second grade.  Sentence structure and Editing would be the next areas of greatest need for improvement.  Math scores were all at 70% mastery or greater.  Measurement would be the area in greatest need of improvement with mastery of about 72%, non-mastery at 6%, and partial mastery at 24%.  Analyzing Statistics and Probability would be the next greatest need for improvement with 78% total mastery, 2% non-mastery, and 20% partial mastery.  All other math subtests were 80% mastery or greater.

Kindergarten Special Education Data

In 05-06 there were thirteen male special education students.  The only mastery was for white male special education students in reading.     

A comparison of white females to black females was done.  In 05-06 there was no black female special education student.  The five white female students had 60% mastery in both reading and math.

In 05-06 there were ten white and eight black students.  This number included both male and female students.  In 05-06 the white students had a higher mastery percentage than the black student in both reading and math.

A comparison of black and white males to black and white females was done.  In 05-06 the males scored higher in reading while the females had a higher percentage of mastery than the males in math. 

In 06-07 there were 23 white students and 7 black students certified in Special Education.  

Of the number of white students, 10 were females while 13 were males.  Of the number of black students, 1 was a female while the other 6 were males.

In 07-08 there are 40 students certified for Special Education services.  There are 28 white students and 12 black students.  Of the number of white students, 11 are females while 17 are males.  Of the number of black students, 5 are females while 7 are males. 

Mastery data of subject areas for 06-07 and 07-08 was not available.

First Grade Special Education Data

An analysis was done comparing white males to black males.  In 05-06 there were nine white and two black male special education students.  The black male students mastered reading and math while the white male students mastered 78% in reading and 67% in math. 

A comparison of black, white, and Asian females was done.  All females mastered both reading and math for that school year.  In 05-06 there were two white, one Asian, and no black female special education students.  There was 50% mastery for the white females in reading while there was 100% mastery for the whites and Asian in math.

An analysis was done comparing white males and females to black males and females.  There were eleven white and two black students in 05-06.  This number includes both male and female special education students.   In 05-06 the black children had 100% mastery in both reading and math while the white children only had a 73% mastery level for both subjects. The Asian female had 100% mastery in 05-06.  

A comparison of black and white males to black and white females was done.  There were eleven males and two females in 05-06.  In 05-06 there was 82% mastery in reading for the males and 50% for the females.  The males mastered 73% while the females mastered 100% in math in 05-06.  The Asian female student had 100% mastery in both areas. 

In 06-07 there were 17 students receiving Special Education services.  There were 13 white students and 4 black students.  Of the number of white students, 5 were females while 8 were males.  Of the number of black students, 0 were females while 4 were males.

In 07-08 there are 24 students receiving Special Education services.  There are 16 white students and 8 black students.  Of the number of white students, 7 are females while 9 are males.  Of the number of black students, 2 are females while 6 are males.  

Mastery data for subject areas for 06-07 and 07-08 was not available.

Second Grade Special Education Data

An analysis was done comparing white males to black males.  The two white males had 100% mastery in reading, math, and spelling.  There were two black and twelve white male special education children in 05-06.  The two black males had 100% mastery in reading and math and 50% mastery in spelling for that year.   In 05-06 the white males had 58% mastery in reading, 67% in math, and 50% in spelling. 

A comparison of white females to black females was done.  In 05-06 there were five white and no black special education female children. There was 100% mastery in all areas for all female children for the school years compared except for the spelling percentage.

An analysis was done comparing white males and females to black males and females.  There were seventeen white and two black students in 05-06.  This total includes both male and female special education students.  The two black children had 100% mastery in reading and math while a small percentage of the white children had non-mastery percentages in reading, math, and spelling in 05-06.  

A comparison of black and white males to black and white females was made.  There were fourteen males and five females in 05-06.  In 05-06 the black and white males had 64% mastery in reading, 71% mastery in math, and 50% mastery in spelling.  The black and white females had 100% mastery in reading, math, and spelling.

In 06-07 there were 19 students receiving Special Education services.  There were 15 white students and 4 black students.  Of the number of white students, 5 were females while 10 were males.  Of the number of black students, 0 were females while 4 were black.

In 07-08 there are 16 students receiving Special Education services.  There are 9 white students, 5 black children, 1 Asian, and 1 Hispanic.  Of the number of white students, 3 are females while 6 are males.  Of the number of black students, 0 are females while 5 are black.  The Asian student is a female and the Hispanic student is a male.

Mastery data for subject areas for 06-07 and 07-08 was not available.

Beliefs

Beliefs of W.G. Rhea Elementary School Faculty, Staff, and Stakeholders:

§  All students can learn, achieve, and succeed.

§  Students learn in different ways and at different rates.

§  Each student is a valued individual with unique physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs.

§  Instructional practices should support diverse learning styles and individual talents.

§  High expectations promote high achievement and increase individual student performance.

§  A safe, nurturing, and positive environment promotes and supports student learning.

§  Teachers, parents, and stakeholders share the responsibility for the support of a school’s mission and success.

Common Mission

W.G. Rhea Elementary School’s mission is to encourage and promote high expectations for all students by providing meaningful experiences in a positive environment.

Shared Vision

The students of W.G. Rhea Elementary School will be provided with a safe, nurturing, and positive environment in which to establish a foundation for lifelong learning.  The faculty and staff will be responsible for developing a meaningful curriculum based on instructional practices that support the unique needs and diverse learning styles of our students.  Our instructional practices will incorporate technology, character education, health education, and social development with essential academic skills that create a basis for future learning.  Our students will have a variety of assessment opportunities through which to demonstrate their readiness for future success.  Working in a partnership with parents and stakeholders, the faculty and staff will encourage our students to strive for success in all academic endeavors.

Current Curricular Practices

Harcourt Reading

(identify practice)

Harcourt Math

(identify practice)

Four Blocks

(identify practice)

Building Blocks

(identify practice)

Academy of Reading

(identify practice)

Destination Success

(identify practice)

Accelerated Reader

(identify practice)

Evidence of Practice (State in definitive/tangible terms)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is the current practice research-based?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is it a principle & practice of high-performing schools?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Has the current practice been effective or ineffective?

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

What data source(s) do you have that support your answer? (identify all applicable sources)

Benchmark Assessment

Benchmark Assessment

Benchmark Assessment

Benchmark Assessment

Post test results

Not Measurable

STAR Reading results

Evidence of effectiveness or ineffectiveness (State in terms of  quantifiable improvement)

Students performance indicators are positive

Student performance indicators are positive

Student performance indicators are positive

Student performance indicators are positive

Pretest/posttest results positive

Growth reports from STAR Reading

Evidence of equitable school support for this practice

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Next Step (changes or continuations)

Continue

Continue

Continue

Continue

Continue

Continue

Continue

Curriculum Gap Analysis - Narrative Response Required

“What is” The Current Use of:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES 

(How are we currently allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality curricular practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

“What Ought to Be” – How Should we be Using Our:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES

(How should we be allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality curricular practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

Equity and Adequacy:

Are we providing equity and adequacy to all of our teachers?

Are we targeting funds and resources effectively to meet the needs of all of our teachers in being effective with all their students?

Based on the data, are we accurately meeting the needs of all students in our school?

Curriculum Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major strengths and how do we know?

The committee for Component 3 has analyzed the effectiveness of W.G. Rhea Elementary School’s Curricular, Instructional, Assessment and Organizational Practices.  We have analyzed these areas to determine if our school is supporting student’s achievement of the desired results for their learning.  Through this analysis, we can identify the strengths and weakness of the school and build on those strengths to address our limitations in order to develop an improvement plan for our curricular, instructional, assessment and organizational strategies.

     The faculty and staff work hard to insure that effective curricular, instructional , organizational, and assessment practices meet the schools mission statement by promoting high expectations in a positive learning environment as well as creating lifelong learners.  Because we believe all children can learn, we strive to find curricular, instructional, and organizational and assessment practices that will help each child achieve and succeed.

Curricular Practices

     Committee 3 has analyzed our current curricular practices in order to improve our curriculum practices at W. G, Rhea Elementary.  Our analysis found that using the Tennessee Department of Education state approved standards as a guideline; our faculty aligns their teaching practices, instruction and materials to meet the state standards. During grade level meetings, teachers discuss and plan the curriculum.

     Each year staff development opportunities are based on the needs of our teachers to meet the state standards.  Information is collected about student achievement in regards to meeting grade level benchmarks and expectations.  Areas of weakness become the focus of training sessions for staff development for the next school year.

     Prior to the beginning of school each year, curriculum is prioritized and mapped by teachers participating in extended contract opportunities.  These curriculum maps are shared with other members of the grade level teams during staff development.  This allows for the alignment of the teaching with state standards and guidelines.  Teachers are then able to use this information in order to plan their teaching for the year.  Curriculum maps are posted on our school web site, so that our stakeholders may have information concerning what is projected to be taught in each grade level.

     School achievement is monitored school wide in a variety of ways.  Student achievement benchmarks are used to analysis instructional practices.  This allows our teachers to use data driven results to analysis the effectiveness of their teaching strategies.  Teachers also use STAR Reading and STAR Math as another data source to evaluate and improve teaching and curricular practices.    

     W.G. Rhea has implemented the 4-Block/Building Blocks Reading Model in order to establish cohesive standards based model for literacy.  This approach includes guided reading, writing, self selected reading, and working with words (phonics and decoding) into a multi-leveled reading program. In the 2007/08 school year, students in grades 1 and 2 were grouped into homogenous reading groups. 

     Harcourt Math is used as the basis for math instruction.  This math series is a cohesive standards based model that when used with other practices such as Math Their Way and Aims materials give students a grade appropriate learning experience in mathematics.

     Faculty and Administration strive to place teaching and learning materials into the hands of our teachers and students that align with the State standards.   Through the use of state approved text book and program options, our school is able to assure that our curriculum aligns with the state standards.

     Our school strives to insure that we share our vision of what students should know with the stakeholders of our community.  We communicate with our stakeholders through our school website.  We also have a newsletter both from our principal and our parent teacher organization that informs parents of the vision.  Daily communication with parents through planners allows parents to keep a daily check on student progress.  In 2007/08 our school has recently received a new phone system allowing us to do callouts and give teachers another avenue for communication with the stakeholders.

Curricular Process

     Committee 3 identified and analyzed our current curricular processes in order to find our school strengths and weaknesses.   The evaluation of the effectiveness of our current practices was based on data collected through assessment, checklists, and teacher and stakeholder surveys.  

     Identified reading practices within our school include state adopted texts such as the Harcourt Reading series.  This series is available to all grades in kindergarten through second grade.  The Four Blocks model of Reading is also used school-wide in addition to our reading series.  The Write Traits program is also used to bolster the writing program.  Supplemental programs used to enhance learning include Destination Success, United Streaming, Academy of Reading, Starfall, Brain Pop, and Noggin.

     Identified math practices within our school include state adopted texts such as the Harcourt Math series.  Supplemental programs used to enhance and further math instruction are Internet 4 Classrooms, and Education City.

     Curriculum practices currently in use at W. G. Rhea Elementary are in alignment with current practices used in many high-performing schools.  Our leadership team is always searching for programs that will enhance our current curriculum process in order to reach all children.  Making sure these programs meet the Tennessee Department of Education’s state standards, our leadership team and faculty then work to make those programs part of our curriculum. 

     The effectiveness of our programs is evaluated on an on-going basis by the leadership team and the grade level committees to determine if our current practices are working.  Data from a variety of assessments and practices is used to make decisions based on the effectiveness of the curriculum processes.

     The strengths, of our curriculum process, are that we are constantly monitoring the programs we use to determine the effectiveness.  We encourage input from teachers, parents, and stakeholders in this monitoring process. 

      One of the challenges we face in the area of curriculum process is finding appropriate curriculum to supplement instruction with students struggling in math.  Another challenge we face is meeting the needs of high-risk students in the area of reading. 

Curriculum Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major challenges and how do we know. (These should be stated as curricular practice challenges identified in the templates above that could be a cause of the prioritized needs identified in component 1.)

Committee 3 identified and analyzed our current curricular processes in order to find our school strengths and weaknesses.   The evaluation of the effectiveness of our current practices was based on data collected through assessment, checklists, and teacher and stakeholder surveys.  

     Identified reading practices within our school include state adopted texts such as the Harcourt Reading series.  This series is available to all grades in kindergarten through second grade.  The Four Blocks model of Reading is also used school-wide in addition to our reading series.  The Write Traits program is also used to bolster the writing program.  Supplemental programs used to enhance learning include Destination Success, United Streaming, Academy of Reading, Starfall, Brain Pop, and Noggin.

     Identified math practices within our school include state adopted texts such as the Harcourt Math series.  Supplemental programs used to enhance and further math instruction are Internet 4 Classrooms, and Education City.

     Curriculum practices currently in use at W. G. Rhea Elementary are in alignment with current practices used in many high-performing schools.  Our leadership team is always searching for programs that will enhance our current curriculum process in order to reach all children.  Making sure these programs meet the Tennessee Department of Education’s state standards, our leadership team and faculty then work to make those programs part of our curriculum. 

     The effectiveness of our programs is evaluated on an on-going basis by the leadership team and the grade level committees to determine if our current practices are working.  Data from a variety of assessments and practices is used to make decisions based on the effectiveness of the curriculum processes.

     The strengths, of our curriculum process, are that we are constantly monitoring the programs we use to determine the effectiveness.  We encourage input from teachers, parents, and stakeholders in this monitoring process. 

      One of the challenges we face in the area of curriculum process is finding appropriate curriculum to supplement instruction with students struggling in math.  Another challenge we face is meeting the needs of high-risk students in the area of reading. 

Curriculum Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

How will we address our challenges?

This year our school has begun to identify and address the challenges of high-risk students by beginning a Response to Intervention program.  This program identifies students at high risk and works to find appropriate placements for them to be successful readers.  Curriculum strategies used in this program are used in addition to programs used in the regular classroom.  Since the last time we evaluated the curriculum process of our school’s math instruction, we have looked for programs to supplement math instruction.  Teachers, stakeholders, and the leadership team are in search of practices, processes, training, and programs to enhance our curriculum in the area of math.

Current Instructional Practices

Homogeneous Grouping)

Thinking Maps

Small Group Instruction

__________

(identify practice)

__________

(identify practice)

__________

(identify practice)

__________

(identify practice)

Evidence of Practice (State in definitive/tangible terms)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is the current practice research-based?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is it a principle & practice of high-performing schools?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Has the current practice been effective or ineffective?

Effective

Effective

Effective

What data source(s) do you have that support your answer? (identify all applicable sources)

Benchmark

STAR

  Testing

DIBLES

Benchmark

STAR

   Testing

Benchmark

STAR

  Testing

DIBLES

Evidence of effectiveness or ineffectiveness (State in terms of  quantifiable improvement)

Scores

Scores

Scores

Evidence of equitable school support for this practice

Yes

Yes

Yes

Next Step (changes or continuations)

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Instructional Gap Analysis - Narrative Response Required

“What is” The Current Use of:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES 

(How are we currently allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality instructional practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

“What Ought to Be” – How Should we be Using Our:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES

(How should we be allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality instructional practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

Equity and Adequacy:

Are we providing equity and adequacy to all of our teachers?

Are we targeting funds and resources effectively to meet the needs of all of our teachers in being effective with all their students?

Based on the data, are we accurately meeting the needs of all students in our school?

Instructional Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major strengths and how do we know?

Our classroom instruction is aligned with the standards based curriculum.  By using state approved and adopted texts and programs, we can meet the needs of our students in a standards based curriculum. 

     By making assessment part of our instructional practice, we are able to see our student’s weaknesses and strengths.  We can then align instruction based on the analysis of the data we collect in the assessment process.

      Through analysis of the classroom assessments our instruction becomes data driven.  We can then use instructional methods to meet the needs of the students in our classes.

     Teachers have the freedom within their classroom to use a wide range of research based strategies in order to improve the learning environment of their students. These strategies presented in staff development opportunities offered to teachers, allow teachers to make the learning student centered.

     Students, who are still struggling in the instructional process, have several opportunities to receive individual instruction.  Teaching assistants offer tutorial within the school day to students who are struggling.  Programs such as our Response to Intervention Program and Resource Math and Reading offer those students who are struggling an intensive opportunity to receive instruction in the areas in which they are struggling.

      Students with diverse cultural and language backgrounds receive instruction from a certified ESL teacher.  This instruction helps to bridge the gap between the classroom and the learning needs of the child.

Instructional Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major challenges and how do we know. (These should be stated as instructional practice challenges identified in the templates above, that could be a cause of the prioritized needs identified in component 1.)

     In analyzing our current instructional practices in reading our school has begun placing first and second grade students in homogeneous reading groups for reading instruction.  Other instructional strategies include small group instruction and individualized instruction where appropriate.   Thinking Maps and graphic organizers help teachers’ structure instruction in a way that will help student process the information.

Teachers use data collected in the assessment process to drive instruction and align practices with the practices of high performing schools.  Data collection also helps teachers create an instructional process that actively engages students in meaningful and challenging learning activities.

     The committee identified several strengths in the area of instruction.  Students are consistently asked to use math and reading skills in learning situations throughout the school day.  Our school is also providing instruction beyond the classroom learning experiences for those students that are struggling.  Programs such as our Response to Intervention Program, Reading Inclusion and Special Education Programs help struggling students within our reading programs.  Through the Morning Mom’s program, mothers in our community volunteer to do clerical jobs within the school.  This frees the Teaching Assistants to give more instructional time to the classroom teachers which effectively lowers the student teacher ratio.  The use of technology in our school is apparent both in our computer labs and classrooms.  We also have one mobile computer lab for Alphasmart training.   This school year teachers received Elmos to assist them in instruction.  Throughout our day students are highly engaged in using technology to learn.  This school year, programs have been put into place to meet the needs of ESL students.  This instruction by a certified ESL teacher helps our ESL students that had previously been unsuccessful in the regular program, due to language barriers.

     Our challenges in the area of instruction include finding the right process to effectively instruct those students who are in our instructional gap curricular areas of reading and math.  Our school continues to review assessment data in order to make sure that these children are meeting grade level goals and expectations.  We want to continue to provide meaningful learning experiences in a positive learning environment. 

Instructional Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

How will we address our challenges?

In addressing our challenges, our school needs to continue to look for instructional methods that align with current practices of high performing schools.  We also need to continue to seek programs that help remediate and assist students that are not meeting classroom goals and objectives.

Current Assessment Practices

STAR Reading

STAR Math

DIBLES

Benchmark

Think Link

Unit Tests

__________

(identify practice)

Evidence of Practice (State in definitive/tangible terms)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is the current practice research-based?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is it a principle & practice of high-performing schools?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Has the current practice been effective or ineffective?

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

What data source(s) do you have that support your answer? (identify all applicable sources)

Positive test results

Positive test results

Positive test results

Positive test results

Positive test results

Positive test results

Evidence of effectiveness or ineffectiveness (State in terms of  quantifiable improvement)

Evidence of equitable school support for this practice

Next Step (changes or continuations)

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Assessment Gap Analysis – Narrative Response Required

“What is” The Current Use of:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES 

(How are we currently allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality assessment practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

“What Ought to Be” – How Should we be Using Our:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES

(How should we be allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality assessment practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

Equity and Adequacy:

Are we providing equity and adequacy to all of our teachers?

Are we targeting funds and resources effectively to meet the needs of all of our teachers in being effective with all their students?

Based on the data, are we accurately meeting the needs of all students in our school?

Assessment Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major strengths and how do we know?

Teachers at W.G. Rhea currently use a variety of assessments aligned with the Tennessee Department of Education standards in order improve instruction.  These assessments are used to guide decisions relative to student achievement.  Information from the assessments in monitored every six weeks.  This analysis of the data derived from the assessments helps the teacher to make the necessary changes to their instruction.  A variety of assessments are analyzed in order to glimpse a true picture of the whole student and changes according to their needs.  Teachers use STAR Reading, STAR Math, Discovery Think Link Assessment, and Harcourt Reading and Math Unit Assessments.  Benchmark tests are also administered each 6 weeks.  All assessments are based on the Tennessee State Standards.  Assessment information is provided to parents both in parent teacher conferences as well as STAR home/parent reports

Assessment Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major challenges and how do we know. (These should be stated as assessment practice challenges identified in the templates above, that could be a cause of the prioritized needs identified in component 1.)

A varied selection of formative and summative assessments are used within W.G. Rhea in order to guide instruction relative to student achievement.  In the area of reading, we use STAR Reading and STAR Literacy school wide.  DIBLES is currently used in first grade.  DIBLES will also be used with kindergarten students before the end of the 2007/08 school year.  The Discovery Think Link Assessment is used in reading and math.  Additionally, each grade level uses bench mark tests, end of chapter tests, and unit tests in reading to check reading achievement.

     In math students in first and second grade are tested using STAR Math.  Each grade level also assesses their students using unit tests and benchmark tests.  Kindergarten teachers have also developed a checklist of skills.  These skills are aligned with the Tennessee Department of Education’s standards.  This checklist allows teachers to determine if students are meeting grade level standards.

      Our current assessment practices do meet the guidelines and practices of high performing schools. Our faculty, staff, and leadership team can analysis the assessment information to make necessary changes in instructional practices.

    In the past year, our school has supplemented our assessment processes to gather useful information in order to enhance or curriculum and instructional practices.  The effectiveness of our current evaluations and assessments is still under implementation.  Preliminary evaluations indicate that our assessment practices and processes are on the right track to help faculty, staff, stakeholders, and the leadership team make appropriate decisions.

      Our strength at the current time is that we are looking to use several types of assessment to drive the instruction, rather than just focusing our attention on one source.

This gives us a better picture of all of our students.  Staff development is also provided to all faculty in order to ensure that data driven instructional decisions are made.

     The challenge we face in our school is to determine if the new assessments added in this school year give us the necessary information we need in order to drive our curriculum in the right direction.

Assessment Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

How will we address our challenges?

                     In identifying our challenges, the leadership team and faculty will need to carefully evaluate the assessments added during this school year in order to ensure that they are not bias.  We also need to evaluate our current assessments to determine the accuracy of the results.

Current Organizational Practices

Curriculum Alignment

Faculty Meetings

Grade Level

Meetings

Schedule

Planning Periods

__________

(identify practice)

__________

(identify practice)

Evidence of Practice (State in definitive/tangible terms)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is the current practice research-based?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Is it a principle & practice of high-performing schools?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Has the current practice been effective or ineffective?

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

Effective

What data source(s) do you have that support your answer? (identify all applicable sources)

Test results

Test results

Test results

Test results

Test results

Evidence of effectiveness or ineffectiveness (State in terms of quantifiable improvement)

Evidence of equitable school support for this practice

Next Step (changes or continuations)

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Continuation

Organizational Gap Analysis – Narrative Response Required

“What is” The Current Use of:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES 

(How are we currently allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality organizational practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

“What Ought to Be” – How Should we be Using Our:  TIME, MONEY, PERSONNEL And OTHER RESOURCES

(How should we be allocating our time, money, personnel and other resources and building capacity around understanding and implementing high quality organizational practices?)

• TIME
• MONEY
• PERSONNEL
• OTHER RESOURCES

Equity and Adequacy:

Are we providing equity and adequacy to all of our teachers?

Are we targeting funds and resources effectively to meet the needs of all of our teachers in being effective with all their students?

Based on the data, are we accurately meeting the needs of all students in our school?

Organization Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major strengths and how do we know?

     The schools beliefs, mission, and vision statement defines the direction that students, teachers, staff, and stakeholders wish to see our school go in.  Beliefs and mission statements are clearly posted throughout the school and on the schools website.  The mission statement is referred to often by the school’s instructional leader in order to remind us of our joint mission to promote high expectations, provide meaningful experiences and create a positive environment.

     By everyone working together, students, faculty, and stakeholders, we are able to create a functional and organized learning environment for all students.  This increases the successful opportunity for teaching and learning to occur with in our school.

     School leaders are happy to provide professional development for all faculty and leadership team members in order to assure quality educational experiences for our students. Professional Development is based on the instructional needs of the students.  Our leadership team is constantly looking for innovative approaches to meeting the instructional needs of our students.

     The leadership team is also proactive in monitoring issues that impede teaching and learning.  Through staff meetings and grade level meetings, teachers have the opportunity to meet with the leadership team and voice concerns.  This allows the leadership team to analyze the problem and devise solutions that can get instruction back on the right track.

     W. G. Rhea strives very hard to include parents and stakeholders in the school environment.  Through very active Parent Teacher Organization Programs, Parent Academy and Parent Volunteer program, the school offers the community a chance to interact and engage in making the school environment a vital and functional place were children learn.

Organization Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

What are our major challenges and how do we know. (These should be stated as organizational practice challenges identified in the templates above, that could be a cause of the prioritized needs identified in component 1.)

    Our school has defined our mission statement, beliefs and vision.  By providing high expectations and meaningful learning experiences for our students our school is moving in the direction to make all students lifelong learners.

     Our leadership team strives to make sure that our school has all the quality supplies and materials that our teachers need to make our learning environment serious and effective. 

     Our school day is a focuses on consistent and coherent learning opportunities for our students.  Through curriculum alignment and practices of high performing schools we create an organized environment where systematic gains in academic achievement can be met.

     Our strengths lie in the area of teacher planning and implementation.  Through grade level meetings, faculty meeting, and staff development opportunities teachers have the opportunity to evaluate current curriculum practices and plan strategies for success.  The leadership team makes these opportunities available to the teachers.  The leadership team has also allowed the teachers to have the opportunity to choose their own staff development opportunities.  This allows our faculty to choose staff development in areas that would benefit our students and their needs, rather than a “one size fits all” approach to staff development. 

Organization Summary Questions- Narrative Response Required

How will we address our challenges?

      The challenges in our organizational process continues to be finding time within the school day to have release time when teachers can plan together.  Teachers still find it necessary to do most of their planning after school hours.

     The leadership team and the faculty can continue to work together to find times when planning can happen within the school day.

GOAL 1 – Action Plan Development

Template 4.1 – (Rubric Indicator 4.1)                                                                                                                                                                        Revised DATE: __________________________              

Section A –Describe your goal and identify which need(s) it addresses.  (Remember that your previous components identified the strengths and challenges/needs.)

Goal