Identify the school-based RtI Leadership Team.

Principal, Susan Flournoy; Title I Resource Teacher, Lesley Gerrell; ESE/Speech Teacher, Marc Richter; and the teacher signing up the student for a meeting.

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

The COAST RtI Leadership Team, or Intervention Support Team (IST), will have a sign-up sheet for teachers to use to request an IST meeting for a student they believe requires more intense intervention in addition to what classroom teachers can provide. Before signing a student up, the teacher must have completed their RtI packet with fidelity. Their RtI packets include a checklist of every step they must complete before an IST meeting, such as in-class interventions. When their packet is complete, the teacher may sign a student up for an IST meeting. Once signed up, a meeting date and time are set up, the teacher is notified, and the parent is notified and invited to attend the meeting.

During the meeting, one of the IST will keep a tracking folder for every student. The tracking folder will contain all paperwork and notes pertaining to that particular student’s interventions and progress monitoring. If after all interventions have been completed with fidelity and the student has not reached their benchmark, that student will be considered for ESE services.

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

COAST’s IST will mentor regular teachers and special area teachers with strategic interventions and accountability as outlined in the school improvement plan.

Describe the data management system used to summarize tiered data.

FAIR (Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading) will be administered three times during the year. All grade K-8 students will take the Broad Screen and the Broad Diagnostic Inventory, with targeted students being assessed with the Targeted Diagnostic Inventory. All data is entered in the PMRN (Progress Monitoring Reporting Network). Disaggregated data reports are then available to administrators, teachers, and coaches to use in planning for instruction. Ongoing progress monitoring is utilized for Tier II and Tier III students between the assessment windows. This is also part of FAIR. Teacher-created interim math assessments and GMADE will be given to all students grade K-8 three times a year to monitor their progress. Riverdeep, FOCUS, FCAT Explorer, and Dashboard will also be used to progress monitor the Tier II and Tier III students.

Describe the plan to train staff on RtI.

COAST will participate in the district RtI training for administrators and staff, as well as ongoing training by the COAST IST. According to the district training requirements, all personnel are required to complete a five-hour online RtI module. School-based RtI district team members will work with faculties to orient them to the district and school plans. A teacher packet has been created and is available to all teachers on the district website. Ongoing training will occur throughout the school year with some utilization of early release days. In addition, the school IST will serve as a training forum for teachers who are working with Tier II and Tier III students.

Data Disaggregation 2008-2009 FCAT Data

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

COAST’s FCAT Writing scores increased 14% to reach 89% proficiency. In Reading, the school’s percentage stayed at 68% proficiency of students reading at or above grade level. However, the percentage of students making a year’s worth of progress increased 2% to reach 63% proficiency, and the percentage of struggling students making a year’s worth of progress increased 3% to reach 63% proficiency. AYP was not met in Reading, with White, Economically Disadvantaged being the subgroup we need to work on. In Math, the school’s percentage of students performing at or above grade level increased 6% to total 62% proficiency. This appears to be a direct correlation to the hiring of a Math consultant who trained teachers to use various methods when teaching math. AYP was not met in Math either, with Economically Disadvantaged students being the subgroup we need to work on. In addition, COAST’s proficiency of students performing at or above grade level in the Science portion of FCAT increased 8% to reach 54% proficiency.

Instructional Calendar Development

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

COAST faculty and staff work together for improved student performance under Florida's Continuous Improvement Model (CIM). COAST adopted the CIM model in June 2004 and received training through the Department of Education. As this model has continued to prove effective since its adoption, the CIM model will continue to be used for the 2009-2010 school year. This improvement model is followed school-wide and crosses all curriculum.

The CIM model is founded on research from two major sources: the Effective Schools Project and TQM (Total Quality Management), a business management philosophy. Of the ten original correlates from the Effective Schools Project, five are integrated into the CIM: strong instructional leadership, high expectations for student achievement, instructional focus on reading, writing and mathematics, a safe and orderly climate and frequent assessment. CIM calls for the alignment of curriculum standards to teaching strategies, as well as alignment of student assessment to staff development.

To ensure the alignment of curriculum standards to teaching strategies, teachers, including special area teachers (Art, Music, and P.E.) create focus calendars and weighted curriculum timelines for the year after their annual CIM Review/Refresher course that is presented to new and returning faculty and staff each year during the pre-school work week. Two members of the faculty that completed the original CIM training have developed COAST’s CIM Review/Refresher course. All teachers receive professional development credit for this mandatory annual workshop. Additionally, teachers administer frequent local classroom assessments on an ongoing basis.

The Total Quality Management business model enables COAST to become more data driven, to become process oriented, and to identify customers and products. Basically, the CIM model utilizes Mary Barksdale’s “8 Steps to Student Success”:

Step 1 Break down data
Step 2 Develop Instructional Timeline
Step 3 Utilize appropriate Instructional Focus Lessons
Step 4 Conduct continuous Assessment
Step 5 Provide tutorials
Step 6 Provide enrichment
Step 7 Continue Maintaining
Step 8 Monitor the project

COAST has instituted a heightened professional accountability system via lesson plan highlights and extended teacher planning time to implement school wide focus calendars. COAST has strong instructional leadership, high expectations for student achievement, and instructional focus on reading, writing, science, and mathematics in a safe/orderly climate, and with frequent assessments. The mid-year report indicates that teachers are focused on the necessary instruction to assure student proficiency in reading, math, and writing.

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

The COAST academic curriculum is aligned to the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS). Instruction and assessment are conducted through a systematic process. Students scoring Level 1 on the 2009 FCAT and those scoring below 56% on Stanford are considered in need of intervention. Those students needing intervention, according to RtI standards, will receive additional instruction in reading and/or math from the Title I Resource Teacher. SRA/McGraw-Hill’s Kaleidoscope will be the curriculum of the additional instruction students’ receive. Kaleidoscope is a progressive, step-by-step program that breaks down reading into easier to learn steps, helping diagnose what components of reading a student is having trouble mastering. The Title I Resource Teacher has been trained in Kaleidoscope and all its components in order to further professional development and to better instruct students needing additional, more intense instruction than the classroom can offer.

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

A school wide math pre, interim, and post assessment was developed during the 2008-09 school year by the faculty and will continue to be administered during the 2009-10 school year. New this year, the Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading (FAIR) will be given to determine all students’ progress in reading. There will be a pre, interim, and post assessment for progress monitoring purposes. FAIR data will also be used should a student need an IST meeting.

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

School-wide planning is ongoing throughout the year with special area and regular classroom teachers meeting frequently to coordinate cross-curriculum planning. School-wide FOCUS Calendars are implemented for certain benchmarks.

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?

Career Education and Planning will be taught as required to all 8th Grade students. Additionally, special visitors from various career fields are brought in for school-wide assemblies for all grade levels.

Direct the Instructional Focus

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

According to CIM, teachers plan and implement and are monitored by the administrator’s classroom walk-throughs.

How are instructional focus lessons developed and delivered?

Focus lessons are developed and delivered according to the CIM model, through extended planning.

How will instructional focus lessons be revised and monitored?

Focus lessons are revised and monitored according to classroom achievement and extensive planning with co-teachers and administrator.

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.

FAIR, GMADE, and teacher-created math interim assessments.

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

Resource teacher and regular classroom teacher analyze data and determine differentiated instruction and interventions.

Maintenance

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

According to the FAIR implementation, GMADE, and the teacher-created assessment, focus calendars are changed as needed.

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.

The Title I Resource and ESE teachers will review interim data three to four times a year and advise teachers of needed modifications.

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 will conduct classroom walk-throughs, and lesson plan and focus calendar review. The leadership team will provide ongoing data analysis.

Supplemental and Intensive Instruction/Interventions

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

The researched-based curriculum being used for intensive instruction and interventions is Kaleidoscope, Levels A-F. Open Court is the core curriculum for the classes. Kaleidoscope will be used in the remediation given by the Title I Resource Teacher while Open Court will be used in in-class differentiated instruction and/or small groups.

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

The supplemental and intensive instruction are structured to first assess the areas in need of intervention, then the student is re-taught the non-mastered skills in a step-by-step progressive manner that breaks down the problem into smaller, more manageable, and more focused steps.

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

Based on FCAT and Stanford scores, COAST will determine the areas that need improvement and make sure teachers receive professional development to strengthen those area scores. COAST determines the professional development that will better the instruction strategies for all students and that which will give both teachers and students a more diverse understanding of the area in need of improvement.

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

Students scoring a Level 1 on FCAT Reading or Math, students scoring below 60% on Stanford, and students whose teachers believe them to be in need of more intensive instruction/intervention than is possible in the classroom.

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

The effectiveness of the interventions will be measured through FAIR, teacher-created interim assessments, GMADE, Riverdeep, and FCAT Explorer.

Enrichment

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

Differentiated instruction, small group learning, and an After-School enrichment program.

Describe how students are identified for enrichment strategies.

Students are identified for enrichment strategies based on their FCAT scores, in-class assessments, and if they are labeled as “Gifted.”