StacyYoung

September18,2015
EDL646

SchoolEffectivenessSurveyAnalysis&ActionPlan

ThesurveyofCuttenSchoolteachersandstaffyieldedexpectedresultswithafewsurprises.
Pleasenote,thatallstaffthatwerequeriedalsohadstudentsattheschool,sothosewho
answeredstaff,alsoansweredasaparent.Overall,the4teachers,1administrator,and5staff
members(whoarealsoparentsofstudentsatCuttenSchool)whoparticipatedinthesurvey,
generallyfeelverygoodabouttheirschool.

Communication
:On3ofthe5questionsregardingcommunication,all10peopleanswered
thattheyeitheragreedorstronglyagreedwiththelevelofcommunication.However,on
question2:
Freeandopencommunicationoccursfrequentlyandeffectivelybetweenparents
andadministration
,90%ofthepeoplesurveyedagreedorstronglyagreed,1personastaff
memberwhoisaparent,disagreed.Itishardtoknowifthispersonwasbeingobjectiveandall
inclusiveorairingapersonalfrustration.Onquestion3:
Freeandopencommunicationoccurs
frequentlybetweenteachersandadministrators,
40%stronglydisagreedwhile60%either
agreedorstronglyagreed.Thisisalargedisparity.Whenlookingatthedemographicofthat
question,3ofthe4peoplewerestaff/parents.Whileonlyoneofthosethatdisagreedwasa
teacher.Sothisisperhapsmoreofacaseofparentsbeingmisinformedormakingerroneous
assumptions.

Instruction
:Thefirst3questionsregardinginstructionwerereceived100%tobeeitheragreed
orstronglyagreed.Thisschoolcommunityfeelsthattheprincipalandteachersmakehigh
qualityclassroominstructionaschoolpriority.Additionally,100%oftheanswersreflectthat
teacherssethigh,butappropriateandachievablegoalsforstudentsandassesstheminvarious
ways.However,whenwebegintolookatmeetingtheeducationalneedsofallchildrentwoof
thestaffintheclassroomstronglydisagreedaswellasoneteacher.Mostoftheteachersand
administratorfeltthattheeducationalneedsofallchildrenweremet.Againinquestion10,
curriculumisvariedtomeetthedifferentneeds,interestsandabilitiesofstudents2
nonteachersdisagreedwhile80%ofrespondentsagreed.Ifthiswerealargerpoolsurveyed,I
feeltheresultswouldbeclearlyintheagreedspectrum.Number11:Parentsareencouragedto
supporttheinstructionalactivitiesoftheteachersisanothercuriousresponse.2parentsthat
arestaffmembersdisagreed,yettheother8feltthatparentsareencouragedtosupport
teachers.IreallywishIknewwhothesetwostaff/parentswhofeelsostronglythatparentsare
notencouragedtosupport!Thathasnoteverbeenmyexperienceasaparentwithmysecond
childgoingthroughthisdistrict.Theinstructionalcomment:
Ourinstructiontargetsthemiddle
ground.Studentsateachgradelevelhaveavastabilityrange.Ibelieveeffortismadetoaddressall
needsbuttheresourcestodosoarenotavailable.Thestaffworkswelltogetherideasandresourcesare
shared.
Ibelievetobeanaccurateassessmentofinstruction.

Behavior
:100%ofthesurveysreflectthatstudentsareinformedofexpectedbehavior.
However,40%oftheresponsesreflectstudentsarenotdisciplinedinafairandconsistent
manner.Lookingatthedata,onemightassumethatthesearethesamestaff/parentsthatfeel
thisway,butitiscomprisedofteachersandstaff/parentsthatfeelthatway.Thisisthefirst
problem,Itrulyseeasneedingintervention.Ifhalfoftheteacherswhotookthesurveyfeelthat
disciplineisinconsistentorunfair,thenthefirstthingIwouldneedtodoasprincipalis
determinewhytheyfeelthisway.Itisnaturaltoassumethataparent/staffmemberonthe
outsidelookingindoesntseeconsistencyasdisciplineneedstobeappropriateforthechild
andhis/hersituation.Theteachersshouldfeelthatthereisgeneralconsistencyindiscipline.
Oneofthedisagreeingteachersmadethecommentthattheyarelookingforwardtotheuseof
PBISinconjunctionwiththeTigerPridematrix.

BuildingandGrounds
:70%ofparticipantsfeltthatthebuildingsandgroundswerecleaned
andwellmaintained.80%ofparticipantsfeltthatstaffandstudentsworktogethertokeepthe
schoolcleanandattractive.Thecommentsreflectedthattheschoolsisinbettershapethat
otherareaschools,butthatmajorrepairsareneededtothebusshed,lackofspaceandroof.

PersonalandSchoolSafety
:Thesetwoquestionsonrespect,cultureandtrustyielded100%
agreement.Bigwin!Onesuggestionwasaspeedbumpbeingplacedinfrontoftheschool
whichisagreatidea.

Climate
:Studentsarerecognizedfortheiraccomplishments,90%ofrespondentsagreedor
stronglyagreed.Thelonedisagreerwasastaff/parent.100%ofrespondentsagreedorstrongly
agreedthatstudentsfeelthattheschoolisagoodplacetobe,thatsawonderfulasset!90%of
respondentsagreedorstronglyagreedthatteachersconsiderinterestsofstudentsandexpect
themtoworktowardhighstandards.90%feltthatparentsandparentgroupsactively
participatedinschoolactivities.100%ofrespondentsfeelinformedaboutschooleventsina
timelymannerandthatstudentsaregivenmanyopportunitiesforextracurricularactivities.One
teacherrespondedthat:
Ifeelthemajorityofteachersenjoytheirjobandthestudents.Thecurrent
standardshoweverareasourceofintensestress.Theexpectationthatallstudentswillachieveatthe
samelevelatthesamepointintimewithoutrecognitionofgrowthisridiculous.Wedonotappropriately
valuestudentswhoarenotcollegebound.

TherespondentsofthesurveycangenerallybesaidtoviewCuttenSchoolinapositivelight.
Thereisageneralfeelingofprideandgoodwill.Ofcourse,becausenotallstaffmemberstook
thesurvey,itdoesnotmakethedatavalid.Thepeoplethattookthesurvey,attherequestof
theprincipalinmystead,didsoprobablybecausetheyaresatisfiedwiththeirjob,ortheyare
satisfiedwiththeprincipal,orfeelthattheyhaveeverythingundercontrolandcouldtakethe
timetodoit.IfIamtomakeanactionplan,Ihavetoassumethattherearepeoplethatdonot
feelthisway.Therefore,Iwillfunctionundertheviewthatintheareasthatwereassessedat
90%orgreaterinagreedorstronglyagreed,tokeepthestatusquo.Myactionplanwillfocuson
thoseareasthatreceivedisagreeorstronglydisagreeby20%ormore.

CuttenSchoolActionPlan

1. Communication
Iwillcontinuetokeepthecurrentlinesofcommunicationopen.
However,intheareaofcommunicationbetweenteachersandadministrators,itwas
notedthatimprovementcouldbemade.Iwillendeavortovisiteachteachersclassroom
everyday.Nottocheckonthem,butsothattheyfeelthatImapartnerintheirclass
success.Iftheyseemeworkingsidebysidewithstudents,tohelpthemsucceed,then
whentheyhaveastrugglewithastudentorfamily,Iwillknowhowtosupportthem.Iwill
knowwhattheyhavetried.IwillalsoendeavortotellthemwhatInoticethatIfind
wonderfulabouttheirteachingandtheirclassroom.Beingphysicallypresentinvites
communication.Idontthinkitsaboutmorememosoremails,itsaboutpresence.Staff
meetingsalsoneedtobemoreaboutcollaborationandlessaboutdetails.Ifthereare
detailstheteachersneedtoknow,thatcanbememo.Staffmeetingsshouldbeabout
decisionmaking,professionalgrowthandvision.

2.
Instruction
ItisgenerallyagreedthatCuttenmaintainshighstandardsthatare
achievableforstudents.However,thereweresomenonteacherswhofeltthatnotall
studentsneedsaremet.AsclassroomsshifttoCommonCoreandmoreprojectbased
learning,itwillbeeasiertodifferentiateinstruction.Cuttenworksveryhardtokeepa
safetynetforstudentswhoneedgreaterresources,moreemphasisneedstobegiven
onwhatisprovidedforacceleratedstudents.Ibelievethatacceleratedstudentsare
havingtheirneedsaddressed,andgenerallymet.However,asadministrator,Iwould
makesureandreportinnewslettersandsocialmediathatourstrongmusicprogram,
GATEprogramandopportunitiesintechnologyhelptheacceleratedstudentwithdepth
insteadofbreadthofcontent.Cuttenschooldoesnotcurrentlymaintainitsownsocial
mediasites,butdependsonthe2parentorganizationstodoso.OneofthefirstthingsI
woulddowouldbetousesocialmediatoinformparentsofourinstructionand
programming.Iwouldalsohireafulltimevisualartsteacher.Visualartsleveltheplaying
fieldforstudentsandthedisciplineofvisualarthelpsineveryaspectofastudents
academicandemotionalhealth.ThisteacherwouldnotonlyhaveanarticulatedTK6th
gradecurriculumbasedonthevisualartsstandards,theywouldhavetimetocollaborate
withgradelevelteamstoenhanceclassroominstruction.Eventually,Iwouldhirea
dramaanddanceteacheraswell.Awellroundedvisualandperformingartsprogram
notonlyincreasesengagement,itprovidesdiscipline,pride,increasedattendance,
increasedacademicperformanceandincreasedjoy.

3. Behavior
ThisisthefirstareainwhichIfeltperceptionsreallyneedtobeheardand
addressed.Iwouldstartwithanelectronicforminwhichstaffwouldbeaskedtosubmit
specificdisciplinecasesthattheyfeltwerenothandledappropriatelyandhowthey
wouldhavehandledthem.Inaddition,Iwouldaskthemhowthisscenariowouldfitinto
thecontextoftheschoolasawhole.Withdatainhand,Idsitdowningradelevelteams
andaskfordialogueaboutthesecases.Whatshouldbeconsideredtomakeaschool
ruleaboutbasedonoffenseandhowoftenitoccurs?Thenasastaff,wewouldlookat

whatchangeswewanttomake.Inaddition,ourschoolisjuststartingPBIStraining,and
Iknowthatwillhelpbuildconsistencyindiscipline.Theprocessofhearingstaff
members,conversingaboutthesetopicsandmakingsitedecisionsshouldbringabout
theperceptionofconsistency.Ofcourse,therearecircumstancesinwhichthestudent
mustbeprotectedfromthehome,sosuspensionwouldbeendangeringthechild.The
childalsohasprivacyrights,andIcantexplaintoeverystaffmemberthereasonformy
decisions.However,Ibelievegoingthroughthisprocesswillrevealthesetruthsand
evenifnotallstaffagreewithmydisciplinechoices,theywillhavebeenheardand
consulted.Wecanagreetodisagree.