In the past, our middle school was able to employ one ELA teacher per grade and one math teacher per grade. Because of budget cuts, this is now not possible for our school. We currently employ one ELA and one math teacher in 6th grade; however, we are unable to do the same for 7th and 8th grade. One full-time math teacher teaches both 7th and 8th grade. One full-time ELA teacher teaches both 7th and 8th grade, with the support for one class of high ability in both grades, which is taught by a high school ELA teacher. In the past, our middle school was able to procure time for team planning. This has not been the situation for several years because of budget cuts. Our teachers are not able to work together on cross-curricular strategies nearly as much as would benefit. It is apparent that there is a direct need for time to work collaboratively. As part of collecting data from teachers and monitoring the application and teaching of Indiana State Standards, the principal collected weekly lesson plans from core teachers (ELA, Math, Science Social Studies) during the 2014-2015 school year. Through review of these lessons, it is clear that the non-Language Arts teachers made attempts to apply the new ISTEP+ Literacy Standards within their subjects, but need much more assistance to incorporate reading and writing skills that will help our students attain higher ISTEP+ scores and become more competent in all subject areas. With the implementation of data-driven instruction and analysis of the ISTEP+ and ACUITY scores throughout the school year, the current principal has spent an immense amount of time disaggregating data. Because of this, it has put a strain on his time to meet the additional responsibilities as principal. There is a dire need for a data coach to work directly with the principal and other administrators, as well as train teachers in applying data in the best manner possible to benefit our students. As a priority school due to our school letter grade, we worked directly with an IDOE Outreach Coordinator several times throughout the 2014-2015 school year. She conducted several classroom and school-wide observations, as well as Turnaround Principle and Progress Reports. These reports show evidence that our teachers need professional development assistance in implementation of standard-based lessons, as well as time to work collaboratively, to increase educational success for our students.
In the past, our middle school was able to employ one ELA teacher per grade and one math teacher per grade. Because of budget cuts, this is now not possible for our school. We currently employ one ELA and one math teacher in 6th grade; however, we are unable to do the same for 7th and 8th grade. One full-time math teacher teaches both 7th and 8th grade. One full-time ELA teacher teaches both 7th and 8th grade, with the support for one class of high ability in both grades, which is taught by a high school ELA teacher. In the past, our middle school was able to procure time for team planning. This has not been the situation for several years because of budget cuts. Our teachers are not able to work together on cross-curricular strategies nearly as much as would benefit. It is apparent that there is a direct need for time to work collaboratively. As part of collecting data from teachers and monitoring the application and teaching of Indiana State Standards, the principal collected weekly lesson plans from core teachers (ELA, Math, Science Social Studies) during the 2014-2015 school year. Through review of these lessons, it is clear that the non-Language Arts teachers made attempts to apply the new ISTEP+ Literacy Standards within their subjects, but need much more assistance to incorporate reading and writing skills that will help our students attain higher ISTEP+ scores and become more competent in all subject areas. With the implementation of data-driven instruction and analysis of the ISTEP+ and ACUITY scores throughout the school year, the current principal has spent an immense amount of time disaggregating data. Because of this, it has put a strain on his time to meet the additional responsibilities as principal. There is a dire need for a data coach to work directly with the principal and other administrators, as well as train teachers in applying data in the best manner possible to benefit our students. As a priority school due to our school letter grade, we worked directly with an IDOE Outreach Coordinator several times throughout the 2014-2015 school year. She conducted several classroom and school-wide observations, as well as Turnaround Principle and Progress Reports. These reports show evidence that our teachers need professional development assistance in implementation of standard-based lessons, as well as time to work collaboratively, to increase educational success for our students.
edinburgh-middle-sig-application.docx