Heatherwood Elementary School Improvement Team (SIT)
2006/2007 Goals and Action Plans

During the fall, the SIT team reviews the progress against the previous years goals, reviews CSAP, survey and other relevant data and drafts goals for the current school year.   These goals and action plans will be the focus of SIT  meetings. 

• Improve writing achievement overall.  Heatherwood did not meet our 2005/2006 writing goal for all students.  We will renew and refocus our efforts on this goal with particular attention to the gender achievement gap and the performance of the TAG students.

Actions: 

1. Teachers review test results and prioritize areas for instruction
2. Build more writing practice into classroom and homework assignments
3. Incorporate computer and internet based writing tools into the curriculum
4. Educate parents on writing mechanics to encourage support at home

• Improve consistency of teacher and staff implementation of school rules.  Feedback from last years student surveys indicates that there are some issues with consistency and understanding of school rules.  Improvement in this area will help promote fair treatment of all students

Actions: 

1. Establish and communicate clear school wide rules for behavior
2. Train all teachers and para-educators to articulate and enforce the rules
3. Reinforce the bully-proofing strategies implemented over the past several years
4. Conduct student focus groups to better understand the issues behind the survey data
5. Improve future survey data collection by standardizing the survey process and resources

• Reduce the achievement gap by improving  the writing skills of students’ with special needs, as measured by CSAP
  Students with special needs in grades three, four and five consistently score lower than non-special education students in writing
  Actions:
  1. Establish an intervention team to work with students on discreet skills in writing.
  2. Increase parent volunteers to work with students who need extra support in writing  
     

Meeting materials for upcoming meetings

Parent and teacher participation in SIT meetings is critical.  This year, working group meetings are scheduled so that most teachers can attend.  Childcare is provided for the afternoon meetings to make parent participation easier too.