West Hills MD - School Plan 2000 - 2001 School LAND Trust Program

School:
West Hills MD

SCHOOL INFORMATION

The committee viewed the video "Using the Trust."

Yes

Duration of the plan:
Single year

Areas of academic need addressed by the plan:
 Fine Arts
 Foreign Language
 Health
 Technology Instruction
 Mathematics
 Science
 Social Studies

School Plan description:
West Hills Middle School plans to increase students' math performance by implementing the STARR Accelerated Math program in our math classes. We also plan on implementing a teacher advisory period into our school day to help build student/teacher relationships and teach students study skills and life skills. The third component of our program involves piloting an audio enhancement system in some of the classes. Our focus will be on the student and building responsible, respectful, relevent, and resourceful behavior. Our plan is a three year plan, with emphasis the first year on student behavior and math performance.

Detailed description:
Full Description of West Hills Middle School Trust Lands Plan West Hills Middle School is in the first year of implementing a five year strategic plan. The plan's primary focus is on implementing the middle level philosophy and increasing student academic success. When the Trust Lands Committee reviewed the strategic plan, collected data on past test scores and grades, and solicited school needs from the community and faculty, it became obvious that math and social behavior were of primary concern. Total math test scores on the SAT were average, but math procedure scores were way below the national average. Students' lack of respect and motivation, leading to a lack of responsibility, was also an area of concern. It was believed that students' lack of responsibility was also related to a decrease in academic success. Our plan of action at West Hills is to focus on 1) improving students' math skills and performance, and 2) improving students' behavior and social skills. Our plan has three components: Specifically, we will implement the STARR Accelerated Math program in our math department. Five teachers will be trained and inserviced in Accelerated Math (AM) and how to help struggling students be more successful in math. We will purchase the AM program which consists of software, materials, and equipment. We also plan on implementing a Teacher Advisory period into our school day. This 30 minute class will focus on developing student/teacher relationships, providing a safe place for students to talk, teaching students a core curriculum that focuses on goal setting, communication, conflict resolution, study skills, and other relevant areas of social learning. We will also add an innovative component to our plan and pilot 6 or 7 classes with 'audio enhancement' equipment. The audio enhancement equipment will provide microphones and speakers in the classes in order to assure that all students can hear and hopefully, increase their attention, increase their motivation to listen, and decrease their disruptions in the class rooms. In order to assure that we are accountable and that our plan is successful, we will assess its progress in the following ways: 1) Examine and compare math SAT, JCT, end of course test scores, and student grades from 1999-2000 to 2000-01. 2) Collect data on discipline referrals, examine the number of referrals, the reasons, and the severity of the referrals. 3) Survey the faculty, students, parents on the effectiveness of the Teacher Advisory Program and conduct a School Climate Survey. 4) Assess the progress we are making in implementing our Strategic Plan. Parents have played an important part in forming our school plan. Our committee solicited concerns and ideas from many sources. We plan on involving our parents in the Teacher Advisory portion of the plan and will be asking at least one parent to serve as a 'TAP' (Teacher Advisory Parent) in each teacher advisory class. We will also notify the community, the legislature, the students, and the staff about the success of the program by writing news articles, posting our plan and its results on the web, and inviting guests into our school to see the math program, the audio enhancements, and the teacher advisory classes. Our Trust Lands Committee will ultimately be responsible for the implementation of the plan. Dr. Kerrie Naylor is the principal and chair of the committee. She is available for comment at www.knaylor@m.whms.jordan.k12.ut.us. The Teacher Advisory Committee, consisting of 5 teachers, 1 counselor, and 1 parent will also be responsible. The math department chair is Heather Young. She can be reached at www.hyoung@m.whms.jordan.k12.ut.us.

Estimated School LAND Trust funds for 2000-2001:
$8081.

Other revenue sources:

Proposed Financial Plan

Computers / Equipment / Repairs / Maintenance
$900

Textbooks / Supplies / Software / Audiovisual
$7715

Salaries / Benefits / Professional Development
$6318

Travel / Admissions / Printing
$0

Explanation:

TOTAL
$14933

An accountability program has been developed for the school strategic plan?
Yes

Relationship of this plan to the school strategic plan.
Our Strategic Plan was completed in 1998-99. Our first year of implementation for the five year plan is this year. Our plan emphasizes increasing math performance and test scores. It also calls for a plan to decrease student deiscipline problems and promote positive, responsible behavior. Teacher Advisory is specifically mentioned in our strategic plan and relates directly to the method we want to use to increase students' social skills and learning skills.

Accountability measures to be used.
 Stanford Achievement Test (SAT/9e)
 End-of-Level or End-of-Course Tests
 Performance Assessment
 Other Assessment or measurements

  Letters to your local school board, governor, state senator, representatives, congressional delegation, and State School Board
  Letter to the editor of the newspaper
  Local school newsletter
  School Assembly
  Articles in local newspaper
  Radio/TV
  Other - description
We will also post our plan and its progress on our school home page. Our web master will promote the use of the grant money and its successes. We also plan on inviting visitors to our school to see our audio enhancement in operation, or STARR program, and visit Teacher Advisory.

Committee: 

Chair: Dr. Kerrie Naylor    
Treasurer: Dr. Kerrie Naylor
Principal: Dr. Kerrie Naylor  knaylor@m.whms.jordan.k12.ut.us
Teacher: Audrey Haight  ahaight@m.whms.jordan.k12.ut.us
Teacher: Victor Neves  vneves@m.whms.jordan.k12.ut.us
Parent: Freda Westover  
Parent: Leslie Goodrich  
Parent: Rose McPhail  
Parent: Sherry Arthur  
Others: 

Name: Dr. Kerrie Naylor

Email: knaylor@m.whms.jordan.k12.ut.us

School's identified most critical academic need.

How academic improvement was measured
Our plan emphasized increasing math performance and test scores. It also called for a plan to decrease student discipline problems and promote positive, responsible behavior. Our student performance goals are outlined in our strategic plan and emphasize an increase in SAT test scores in math, and literacy. Specifically, our goal was to increase end of course test scores, JCT test scores, end of quarter math grades, and SAT scores. The instruments were used to document change in performance and behavior: 1. Number of referrals to ISS and detention. 2. Random Qualitative Survey of student opinions about the benefits of Teacher Advisory. 3. School Climate Survey. 4. Implementation of Strategic Plan. 5. Tracking of students? grades 1999-2000 compared to 2000-2001. Our baseline data revealed that our students at West Hills Middle School did overall better in the 2000-2001 school year when compared with data from 1999-2000. STAT?s for Land Trust Program 2000-2001 1st year program: 1. SAT test scores in math: 7th grade 1998-1999 48 1999-2000 57 1999-2001 55 8th grade 1998-1999 50 1999-2000 52 1999-2001 56 9th grade 1998-1999 57 1999-2000 52 1999-2001 55 2. JCT test scores in math: 1999-2000 out of 217 taking the test as 9th grade, 14 passed. 1999-2001 Out of 378 taking the test as 9th grade, 174 passed. 3. ISS referrals: 1999-2000 2nd Quarter 465 with 357 being the same students 2000-2001 2nd Quarter 441 with 275 being the same students 4. F grades in Math classes: 1999-2000 2nd Quarter 7th 39 students out of 370 8th 28 students out of 358 9th 28 students out of 330 2000-2001 1st Quarter 7th 66 out of 434 8th 50 out of 379 9th 31 out of 381 2nd Quarter 7th 80 out of 434 8th 72 out of 379 9th 42 out of 381 5. Math Tutor Program using Accelerated Math: October to December 2000 31 hours logged by three teachers and 50 different students attended. Need names of students and their midterms and grades. Need qualitative survey to teachers. Need to document the use of the AM program. 6. Teacher Advisory Program: Need informal survey prepared by the STAT committee to parents, students, and teachers. Begin CAPs 4th quarter 2001 7. School Climate: Need School Climate survey out at end of 3rd quarter and compare 1999-2000 survey results. 8. Audio Enhancement Equipment: Need to monitor use by the 15 teachers through 3rd quarter 2000-2001 and survey teachers 4th quarter. The assessment instruments were administered during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the 2000-2001 school year. The SAT test was given was given in the fall of 2000. We collected data on the Teacher Advisory class and will survey the students in the spring of 2001. End of course tests will be administered in the spring. End of quarter grades were compared end of 2nd quarter 2000-2001 with 1999-2000.

Most successful part of the plan.
Our Land Trust Program had a tremendous impact in students? academics in math. The data also reveal that student discipline improved and students were more responsible in their behavior. Our Teacher Advisory Program is going well. This would have been impossible to begin without the curriculum being purchased and the training for staff. The Land Trust provided a means to do this. Our Audio Enhancement Systems were purchased for 15 teachers instead of just six. Teachers supplemented the cost of the systems with their Legislative money for the year. The most exciting aspect of our plan has been the Math Tutoring Program. Students are really enjoying the Accelerated Math and STARR diagnostic programs after school. Parents are realizing this is a free service provided to students who need help in math. They are also using the program more and more.

What did not work as well as expected.
The Audio Enhancement Systems were more difficult to set up and track in use than we expected. It is hard to get complete data on the equipment?s effect on student learning. It feels like they are helpful, but it is harder than we thought to prove a direct correlation to their use. Next time we will not assume the direct correlation. But we will continue their use.

How the plan was publicized.
Parents played an important part in forming our school plan. Publicizing the plan and the progress was noteworthy. We notified the community, the legislature, the students, and the staff about the success of the program and wrote news articles for local papers, editorials for the newspaper, posted our plan and its results on the web, and invited guests into our school to see the math program, the audio enhancements, and the teacher advisory classes. Our committee presented their findings to the faculty, the PTSA Board, and the School Community Group. The report was shared with the community in the school newsletter.

Letters about the impact of your program on your students are crucial to continued funding to your school. Please check and enter the last name of the individuals to whom you sent letters where a space is provided:

 Governor
 State Senators(s):  and
 State Representative(s):  and
 U.S. Senators
 U.S. Representative:  
 Local School Board
 State Board of Education

Name: Dr. Kerrie Naylor

Phone Number: (801)412-2301

Email: knaylor@m.whms.jordan.k12.ut.us

Trust funds received by your school 2000-2001: $ 5862