Identify the school-based RtI Leadership Team.

Principal Gayle W. Westbrook: Provides a common vision for the use of data-based decision-making, ensures that the school-based team is implementing RtI, ensures implementation of intervention support and documentation ensures adequate professional development to support RtI implementation, and communicates with parents regarding school-based RtI plans and activities.

Assistant Principals - Eddie Ellis and Sue Ann Tharp: ensures that the school-based team is implementing RtI and ensures implementation of intervention support and documentation

Regular Education Teachers – Edith Whidden, Glenda Crawford, and Nichole Kleiser: Provides information about core instruction, participates in student data collection, delivers Tier 1 instruction/intervention, collaborates with other staff to implement Tier 2 interventions, and integrates Tier 1 materials/instruction with Tier 2/3 activities.

Special Education Teacher – Joyce Specht: Participates in student data collection, integrates core instructional activities/materials into Tier 3 instruction, and collaborates with general education teachers

Student Services – Laura Cullifer and Amber Tucker: Provides quality services and expertise on issues ranging from program design to assessment and intervention with individual students. Participates in collection, interpretation, and analysis of data; facilitates development and technical assistance for problem-solving activities including data collection, data analysis, and intervention planning.

Data Coach/Technology Specialist – Laurie Hamilton: Develops or brokers technology necessary to manage and display data; provides professional development and technical support to teachers and staff regarding data management and display

Reading Support – Charlene Merrifield: Provides guidance and technical assistance to teachers regarding data-based instructional planning; supports the implementation of Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 intervention plans.

Behavior Support – Tonya Gardner: Participates in student data collection; provides assistance to teachers regarding Positive Behavior Support; supports implementation of Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 intervention plans.

Parents or guardians will be invited to participate and contribute to the RtI process. If possible and when appropriate, the student will also be included.

Describe how the school-based RtI Leadership Team functions (e.g. meeting processes and roles/functions).

The Leadership Team will focus meetings around one question: How do we develop and maintain a problem-solving system to bring out the best in our schools, our teachers, and in our students?

The team will plan to meet regularly to engage in the following activities:
Review universal screening data and link the data to instructional decisions; review progress monitoring data at the grade level and classroom level to identify students who are meeting/exceeding benchmarks, at moderate risk or at high risk for not meeting benchmarks. The team will also collaborate regularly, problem solve, share effective practices, evaluate implementation, and make decisions. The team will function as a support and resource for the classroom teachers as they carry out the responsibility for educating each student.

Describe the role of the school-based RtI Leadership Team in the development and implementation of the school improvement plan

Members of the RtI Leadership Team met with the Marianna Middle School Visioning Committee to help develop the SIP. The members provided information needed to align processes and procedures regarding RtI and the SIP.

Describe the data management system used to summarize tiered data.

Baseline data: Progress Monitoring and Reporting Network (PMRN) and ThinkLink, FAIR
Progress Monitoring: PMRN, Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM), Think Link, and Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR)
End of year: FAIR and FCAT

Describe the plan to train staff on RtI.

Professional development will be provided during teachers’ common planning time and small sessions will occur throughout the year.

The RtI team will also evaluate additional staff PD needs during the weekly RtI Leadership Team meetings.

Data Disaggregation 2008-2009 FCAT Data

What strengths and weaknesses were identified in the 2009 data by grade level, subject area, and clusters/strands?

Strengths: Across all grade levels, Marianna Middle School students are performing at or above district and state averages in all areas of Reading and Math. 92% of students meet standards in writing. The number of students below grade level in Science has decreased.

Weaknesses: Across all grade levels at Marianna Middle School, the lowest content area in math is measurement. The least proficient content area in reading for 6th grade is Word/Phrases, for 7th grade is Reference/Research, and for 8th grade is Comprehension.

Instructional Calendar Development

What is the process for developing, implementing, and monitoring an Instructional Focus Calendar for reading, writing, mathematics, and science?

The Instructional Focus Calendars were created in July 2009. The Instructional Focus Calendars will be updated in October 2009 as determined by disaggregated data results from the September ThinkLink A Test, and again in January 2010 as determined by the disaggregated data results from the November ThinkLink B Test.

The 2009 FCAT results were utilized to develop the Instructional Focus Calendars. Data from the ThinkLink A and B tests given in September and November, respectively, will also be utilized.

Teachers will be responsible for determining the instructional focus of whole group lessons, and small group/differentiated instruction.

Benchmarks were selected as indicated by students’ strengths and weaknesses, which were measured by progress on class work assignments, assessments, and data results.


The duration of instruction for each Benchmark was determined by the amount of time allotted in the Instructional Focus Calendars to ensure that students are exposed to all Benchmarks prior to FCAT testing. Within the amount of time allotted in the Instructional Focus Calendars, teachers will provide instruction on each Benchmark, allow the students an opportunity to practice, assess the students’ knowledge, and then re-teach the Benchmark as indicated by student progress, either in a whole group or small group setting.


District and School Leadership Teams will implement a continuous cycle of making classroom visitations, evaluating lesson plans, monitoring teacher data, and conducting meetings with teachers to ensure that the Instructional Focus Calendars are being utilized and implemented effectively. Mentors will be available to teachers who are demonstrating signs of struggling with implementation of the Instructional Focus Calendars.


Teachers who are struggling with implementing the Instructional Focus Calendars will be provided additional opportunities to attend professional development sessions, have a mentor available to them, and participate in the process of observing other teachers who are successful. The Team Leaders, subject area mentors will be available to provide additional assistance to the teacher. The teacher will participate in Professional Learning Communities which include Lesson Study Groups, and utilize the support of their colleagues during weekly team and grade-group meetings.

Which instructional Benchmarks will be given priority focus, based on need, for each content area (reading, writing, mathematics, and science)?

Reading: The following content areas were the lowest proficient strands and will be given priority focus: 6th grade- Words/Phrases, 7th grade-Reference and Research, 8th grade-Comprehension.
Writing: Expository writing was the least proficient across all grade levels and will be given priority focus.
Mathematics: Across all grade levels, measurement was the least proficient strand and will be given priority focus.

Science: Earth and Space strand was the least proficient and will be given priority focus.

What is the process to ensure instruction is based on individual students’ needs, as opposed to the master schedule?

Individual FCAT student data is used to determine how many students need to be served in the Intensive Reading classes. Highly qualified teachers are placed in those classes.

How does the school incorporate applied and integrated courses to help students see the relationships between subjects and relevance to their future?

Marianna Middle School offers students elective courses in business and applied technology. These courses do offer studies of job skills in these areas. The required Career Study credit is obtained in the 8th Grade History class.

How does the school incorporate students’ academic and career planning, as well as promote student course selections, so that students’ course of study is personally meaningful?

Marianna Middle School offers students elective courses in business, applied technology, music and Physical Education. Many of these courses focus on job skills.

The Algebra I Honors classes are offerred to 8th Grade students who qualify to enable them the opportunity to take more higher-level classes in high school.

Direct the Instructional Focus

How are lesson plans and instructional delivery aligned across grade levels and subject areas?

Grade level teachers will meet weekly to determine the areas of students' strengths and weaknesses as demonstrated by class work assignments and assessment results. Lesson plans will be created for differentiated instruction, which provides lessons for all levels of students, below mastery, at mastery, and above mastery.
Teachers will meet weekly for team meetings and grade-group meetings. They will also meet monthly during Professional Learning Communities which include Lesson Study Groups to share best practices and resources.

How are instructional focus lessons developed and delivered?

Reading, Math, Science and Social Studies teachers will use the focus lessons developed by the Department of Education as well as teacher generated bell-ringers. Writing teachers will utilize the Six Traits of Writing lessons.
The focus lessons are aligned to the Benchmarks and standards for each subject area and cover those Benchmarks that are annually assessed on the FCAT.

Focus lessons and bell-ringers will be presented at the beginning of each class period.
Reading, math, writing, and science teachers will teach the focus lesson that correlates with their subject area. In the future, depending on the need, elective and social studies teachers may also teach focus lessons.

How will instructional focus lessons be revised and monitored?

Student mastery of periodic quizzes based on the focus lessons will determine if the focus lessons need to be revised and/or re-taught.

Assessment

Describe the types of ongoing formative assessments to be used during the school year to measure student progress in core, supplemental, and intensive instruction/intervention.

Teachers will assess the comprehension of the focus lessons through periodic quizzes.

How are assessments used to identify students reaching mastery and those not reaching mastery?

Mastery will be set at 80%. Master is set at higher than the traditional score of 70% to ensure student proficiency of each benchmark.
The assessment results will be used to determine the instructional focus of whole group lessons. An Item-Analysis of the assessment will be utilized to re-teach the questions that students missed most frequently.

Maintenance

How is ongoing assessment and maintenance of Benchmark mastery for each grade level and content area built into the Instructional Focus Calendar?

Periodic assessments to determine levels of mastery will be in the Instructional Focus Calendar.

Describe the process and schedule for teams to review progress monitoring data (summative and mini assessments) to identify the required instructional modifications that are needed to increase student achievement.

Teachers will meet weekly to review assessment data (formative and summative). Teachers will meet by grade level and/or content area within grade level.
The meetings will be facilitated by the team leader. During team meetings, a teacher will be designated to record notes from the meeting, and the notes will be submitted along with the weekly agenda to the administrative staff.

Monitoring

Describe the Principal’s and Leadership Team’s roles as instructional leaders and how they will be continuously involved in the teaching and learning process.

The Principal and Leadership Team will meet with teachers either during weekly meetings, or one-on-one to discuss assessment results and student progress. During these meetings, lesson plans and data binders will be utilized to provide evidence of instruction, assessment, and differentiation to address individual student needs.

Supplemental and Intensive Instruction/Interventions

Identify the core, supplemental, and intensive instruction and interventions.

Core: State-adopted subject area texts and resource materials
Supplemental: Classworks, ThinkLink Probes, FCAT Explorer, Accelerated Reader

Intensive Instruction & Intervention: Jamestown Reading Navigator, MMS After-school program

How are supplemental and intensive instruction/interventions and tutorials structured to re-teach non-mastered target areas?

Resources from the state adopted textbooks which are designed for intensive instruction will be utilized. Computerized programs or instructional software (Jamestown Reading Navigator, Classworks, etc.), in addition to Internet instructional Websites such as FCAT Explorer, will also be utilized. Teachers will utilize instructional strategies or best practices discussed in Professional Learning Communities which include Lesson Study Groups to provide different methods of providing instruction to students in non-mastered areas. Resources and strategies provided at professional development workshops will also be utilized. Students consistently demonstrating non-mastery may participate in tutorial sessions after school.

How does the school identify staff’s professional development needs to improve their instructional strategies?

Common areas of concern in the area of instructional delivery, classroom management, etc. as evidenced by administrators' observations, teacher surveys, teachers' Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) and student performance/data analysis, will determine the need for professional development sessions.

Which students will be targeted for supplemental and intensive instruction/interventions?

As a result of progress monitoring (class work assignments and assessment results) and observations (classroom teacher, administrators, counselors, etc.) students who consistently demonstrate academic difficulty will be referred to the RtI Team and offerred after-school assistance.

How will the effectiveness of the interventions be measured throughout the year?

All personnel providing services to a student not making mastery will meet to discuss their evidence and/or documentation of strategies and interventions that have previously been utilized. Factors hindering implementation of a strategy (attendance, behavior, etc.) will be addressed and resolved. Strategies that are unsuccessful will be discontinued and replaced with alternative interventions. Focus assessments through FCAT Explorer, ThinkLink Probes, Classworks, etc. will also be utilized to determine the effectiveness of supplemental instruction.

Enrichment

Describe alternative instructional delivery methods to support acceleration and enrichment activities.

Students identified as Gifted may attend an off-campus program once a week.

8th Grade students meeting criteria are eligible to participate in Algebra I Honors.
Teachers offer enrichment activities to all students using various software programs available at the school.

Describe how students are identified for enrichment strategies.

Gifted students are identified by teachers and/or parents. Guidance administers the SIT-R test to determine eligibility for further testing by the county psychologist to be placed in the district gifted program.
All 7th grade students, at the end of their 7th grade academic year, are given the opportunity to participate in the Algebra Prognosis test. Those results, in addition to core subject area grades and FCAT results, are used to place students into the 8th Grade Algebra I Honors classes.

Parents can request that their child be tested for the gifted program. Parents must also sign a form granting permission for their 7th grade child to take the Algebra Prognosis Test.