The School Improvement Process at Cary Academy
PART V. ACTION PLAN 1 | 2 | 3
A major and key element in the founding of Cary Academy and in its first
three years of existence has been the development of a Long Range Plan. The
Long Range Plan in its entirety is presented in Appendix
A.
As described in the Introduction (p2-3), the Long Range Plan
was developed through a procedure similar to that of the School Improvement
Process required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Representatives of the governing Board of Directors, Administration, Faculty,
Staff, Students, and Parents worked with an outside Strategic Planning
Consultant to develop the Plan and it represents the results of six months of
effort beginning in the 1998-99 school year. The Plan was reviewed, revised, and
adopted by the school’s Board of Directors on June 3, 1999. Committees have
already begun developing and implementing plans, policies, and procedures to
enable the school to reach its goals under the Plan.
Recognizing this, and wishing to avoid either duplication or dilution of
effort in implementing and achieving the goals of the Long Range Plan, Cary
Academy is using its Long Range Plan as its School Improvement Plan. There are
three reasons this suggests itself as a useful strategy which meets the goals of
the SIP process required by SACS:
========
| a. Continuous improvement is implicit in the Mission and Beliefs of the
school. |
| b. As a new school, Cary Academy is of necessity committed to identifying
the criteria for success and reaching those criteria. |
c. The Long Range Plan provides goals and strategies for improvement in
the following aspects of the school:
========
| 1. Program |
| 2. Students |
| 3. Faculty and Staff |
| 4. Families |
| 5. Alumni |
| 6. Governance |
| 7. Finance |
| 8. Marketing and Public Relations |
|
9. Physical Plant
|
|
In presenting this alternative as the school’s SIP, the school proposes
to use the accreditation self-study process to monitor progress toward the
implementation of the Long Range Plan over the next five years and to use
that monitoring as a method of assuring that the school continues its
commitment to the Plan and its complete implementation. Doing so creates an
evaluative device for the Plan by which the need to report progress, changes
in the Plan, and needed improvements is continuous. It also provides
accountability beyond the commitment of the members of the school community
to implement the Plan.
Specifically, the Steering Committee proposes that it work with the
members of the school community who are charged with implementing the Long
Range Plan to determine ways of evaluating progress toward implementation of the
Plan in three areas:
Goal 1: All students shall demonstrate ethical behavior and social
responsibility.
This links directly to Long Range Plan Policy Goal #1: "Cary Academy
will provide a collaborative community where students can strive to develop their
intellectual, artistic, emotional, physical, and ethical potential to the fullest."
Goal 2: Faculty will use technology effectively in their curricular
areas.
This links directly to Long Range Plan Policy Goal #4: "Cary Academy
will enhance student learning through the effective use of technology."
Goal 3: All students shall be competent and responsible in their use of
technology.
This links directly to Long Range Plan Policy Goal #4: "Cary
Academy will enhance student learning through the effective use of technology."
Action Plans to allow the school to reach these goals follow. Each Action
Plan addresses the issue of evaluation of progress towards the goal. This
was done to assure that each Plan has a reasonable procedure and criteria to
assess progress. For that reason, there is no separate section of this
report which addresses Evaluation of progress.
Action Plan 1 Performance
Indicators | Benchmarks | Strategies
Goal 1: "All students shall demonstrate ethical behavior and social
responsibility."
Link to Cary Academy Long Range Plan Policy Goal 1: Cary Academy will provide
a collaborative community where students can strive to develop their
intellectual, artistic, emotional, physical, and ethical potential to the
fullest.
1. Performance Indicators: What methods, instruments, or practices will be
implemented to monitor and measure progress of student achievement in pursuit of the desired
result?
| a. Percentage of parents expressing satisfaction with faculty/school attempt
to promote appropriate behavior on and off campus |
| b. Percentage of faculty expressing satisfaction with faculty/school attempt
to promote appropriate behavior on and off campus |
| c. Percentage of students involved in community service activities |
| d. Percentage of students appearing before the judicial board |
| e. Rate of recidivism in disciplinary matters |
| f. Discipline records of individual students, disaggregated by grade level |
| g. Anecdotal evidence of positive peer interactions |
| h. Percentage of students nominated for citizenship awards |
| i. Increase in number of students who feel trust in their school community |
| j. Increase in number of students behaving responsibly in the school
community |
Current Status:
| |
98-99 |
99-00 |
00-01 |
|
Percentage of parents expressing satisfaction with promotion of
appropriate behavior |
86% giving 3-4-5 ratings on annual survey |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
|
Percentage of faculty expressing satisfaction with promotion of
appropriate behavior |
49% giving 3-4-5 ratings on annual survey |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
|
Percentage of students involved in community service activities |
Not available |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
|
Percentage of students
appearing before Judicial Board |
6 (3 for fight; 3 for misbehavior) – Judicial Board did not exist
this year |
7 (plagiarism,theft, driving w/o license,computer violations, setting
off fire alarm) |
|
|
Recidivism rate in Judicial matters |
Data not collected |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
|
Disaggregated grade-level
discipline records |
Data not collected |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
|
Anecdotal evidence of positive peer interaction |
Data not collected |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
|
Percentage of students nominated for: Community Builders (US)
Citizenship Award (MS)
|
US – 128
MS – 29 nominated |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
|
Number of students expressing
trust in their community
|
Data not collected |
Data incomplete
until end of school |
|
2. Benchmarks:
B1: School community opinionaires will demonstrate a perceived
improvement in performance indicators.
B2: The percentage of disciplinary offenders will decrease for each
grade level.
B3: By the end of school year 2000-2001, record-keeping systems for
performance indicators will be implemented.
3. Strategies
====A. Organizational Effectiveness
1. Structure or Climate:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1-10 |
The Counseling Department will develop a curriculum in order to make
students aware of ethical and social behavior |
December 22, 2000 |
Counseling Services Director |
|
3-10 |
Develop an honor code for the Middle School that is developmentally
appropriate |
August 2001 |
Head of Middle School |
|
3 |
Effectively implement a community service program within our school |
August 2003 |
Head of Middle School
Head of Upper School |
|
7,8,9 |
Grade-level teams will design age-appropriate strategies including
speaker programs, seminars, awareness building programs, to address
student conduct to provide a safe and trusting school community |
September 2001 |
Grade Level Deans and Team Leaders |
|
1-10 |
Design & implement a forum for all stakeholders (parents, faculty,
etc.) to identify & address student behavior issues together |
January 15, 2001 |
Head of Middle School
Head of Upper School |
2. Communication:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
3,4,5 |
Implement grade level seminars and follow-up meetings to educate
students about the honor code and judicial board. |
August 2000 |
Dean of Students
Head of Middle School |
|
B1 |
A process to distribute, collect, and analyze parent, faculty, and
student surveys |
Baseline, August 2000; end of year thereafter |
Dean of Students |
|
1-10 |
Include a column on school climate in the school newsletter that goes
to parents (Access) |
August 2000 |
Advancement Office |
|
1-10 |
Include a column on school climate in the electronic student newspaper |
August 2000 |
Journalism teacher |
3. Professional Development:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
2-10 |
Annual workshop for faculty and staff in order to renew commitment for
school’s programs and mission regarding ethical student conduct |
August 2000 |
Head of School |
|
1-10 |
Training on character-building strategies for grade-level deans and
team leaders |
August 2000 |
Head of School |
|
3 |
Workshop for designing and conduct community service projects |
Spring 2003 |
Head of Middle School
Head of Upper School |
====B. Instructional Effectiveness:
1, Curriculum and Instruction:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1,2, 7,8,9 |
Community service learning becomes part of our curriculum |
August 2001 |
Service Learning Committee |
|
1-10 |
Integrate character education into academic curriculum design, where
appropriate |
August 2001 |
Head of Middle School
Head of Upper School |
2. Assessment Practices:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
3,5,9 |
Maintain discipline records or logs to track student conduct data |
Ongoing |
Asst. Head of Middle School
Dean of Students |
|
7,8,9 |
Maintain record of parent, teacher, and student survey results |
Ongoing |
Advancement Office
Head of School |
|
1 |
Disaggregate student participation in community service and
co-curricular activities |
Annually |
Head of Middle School
Dean of Students |
|
8 |
Maintain records of student citizenship & community builders awards
nominations as well as recipients |
Annually |
Head of Middle School |
|
8 |
Maintain records of national honor society elections |
Annually |
Faculty Advisor of National Honor Society |
|
8 |
Maintain records of music honor society elections |
Annually |
Music Director |
Action Plan 2 Performance
Indicators | Benchmarks | Strategies
Goal 2: "Faculty will use technology effectively in their curricular
areas."
Link to Cary Academy Long Range Plan Goal 4: Cary Academy will enhance
student learning through the effective use of technology.
1. Performance Indicators: What methods, instruments, or practices will be
implemented to monitor and measure progress of student achievement in pursuit
of the desired result?
1. Number of technology items checked out by faculty members.
2. Percentage of teachers integrating technology into curriculum.
3. Percentage of teachers involving additional human and technological
resources in curriculum plans.
4. Percentage of faculty using web pages, intranet and Internet to conduct
aspects of their courses such as posting homework assignments, class plans and class syllabus.
5. Evidence by the Cary Academy community that technology is being used
effectively.
6. Evidence that students believe technology is enhancing their learning
courses.
Current Status: Describe, using available data from the past two years,
faculty usage level of technology for the desired result.
| |
98-99 |
99-00 |
00-01 |
|
Technology items checked out |
197 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Faculty members integrating technology into curriculum |
49%
|
59% |
N/A |
|
Additional human and technological resources in curriculum plans |
44% |
56% |
N/A |
|
Faculty members using intranet and Internet to conduct aspects of their
courses |
46% |
59% |
N/A |
2. Benchmarks:
Review data over the next four years and estimate patterns of growth
or decline.
=====B1.
Faculty technology opinionaires will demonstrate a perceived
improvement in performance indicators.
=====B2.
Student technology opinionaires will demonstrate a perceived
improvement in performance indicators.
=====B3.
Information Services Department data will show improvement in
performance indicators.
3. Strategies
=====A. Organizational Effectiveness:
What organizational practices should be
established or changed to support the achievement of the identified goal?
1. Structure or Climate:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1, 2, 3, 5
|
Develop a Knowledge Sharing repository of multimedia that demonstrate
successful uses of technology in the classroom. |
August 2000 |
Library/Media Center Coordinator |
|
2, 4
|
Develop curriculum-appropriate technology use guidelines for faculty. |
August 2000 |
Head of School |
|
1, 2, 3, 5 |
Develop forecasting procedure for technology use and growth |
Spring 2001 |
Head of School
Director of Information Services |
2. Communication:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
All
|
Deliver annual report on effective use of technology. |
Baseline, August 2001; end of year thereafter |
Director of Technology Committee |
|
1, 2, 3, 5 |
Establish process for accessing and contributing to the Knowledge
Sharing Repository |
August 2000 |
Library/Media Center Coordinator |
|
All
|
Implement departmental forums for knowledge sharing on technology use
in curriculum |
August 2001 |
Department Chairs |
|
1, 2, 3, 5 |
Develop web site to show what equipment is available for checkout and
procedures for checking these items out |
August 2000 |
Director of Information Services
Information Services staff |
3. Professional Development:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
2, 4, 5
|
Workshop for designing and maintaining web site for curriculum and
communication purposes |
Ongoing |
Director of Information Services
Webmaster |
|
1, 2, 4 |
Develop time within curricular year to introduce new and review
existing technology |
Within curricular year – separate from rest of training times |
Head of School
Head of Middle School
Head of Upper School
Director of Information
Services |
|
All |
Train faculty on how to use video multimedia tools in their classes |
August 2001 |
Head of School
Head of Middle School
Head of Upper School
Director of Information Services |
=====B. INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS:
What instructional practices in the areas of
curriculum, instruction and assessment should be established or changed to
support the achievement of the identified goal?
1. Curriculum and Instruction:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
2, 3, 4
|
Knowledge sharing among faculty concerning technology use in classroom
becomes part of instructional best practices |
August 2000 |
Head of Middle School
Head of Upper School
Department Chairs |
2. Assessment Practices:
|
Performance Indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1, 2 |
Maintain records of technology resource use by faculty members |
Ongoing |
Information Services |
|
B1, B2, 5, 6 |
Maintain record of faculty and student survey results |
Annually |
Director of Technology Committee |
|
2, 5 |
Maintain records of Knowledge Sharing Repository to track faculty
contribution and use |
Ongoing |
Library/Media Center Coordinator |
|
2, 4 |
Maintain records of faculty participation in training workshops |
When training occurs |
Information Services |
Action Plan 3 Performance
Indicators | Benchmarks | Strategies
Goal 3: "All students shall be competent and responsible in their use of
technology."
Link to Cary Academy Long Range Plan Policy Goal 4: Cary Academy will enhance
student learning through the effective use of technology.
1. Performance Indicators:
What methods, instruments, or practices will be
implemented to monitor and measure progress of student achievement in pursuit of desired
result?
| a. Percentage of students demonstrating knowledge of copyright law as it
relates to technological information. |
| b. Number of incidents of inappropriate use of copyrighted materials. |
| c. Percentage of students demonstrating knowledge of policies in the Student
Handbook governing acceptable computer use. |
| d. Increased adherence to policies in the Student Handbook governing acceptable
computer use. |
| e. Increased understanding of ethical use of technology by all members of the
Cary Academy community. |
| f. Number of students demonstrating acceptable computer literacy as assessed by
the exit criteria for graduation from 8th and 12th
grade. |
Current Status:
Describe, using available data from the past two years,
student achievement levels for the desired result.
| 1. Three cases of plagiarism before the Judicial Board. |
| 2. Ten cases of inappropriate computer use as defined in the Student
Handbook. |
| 3. Demonstrated interest by parents in understanding ethical issues as they
relate to technology, as evidenced by survey results). |
2. Benchmarks: Review data over the next four years and estimate patterns of
growth or decline.
B1 Number of actual computer violations will decrease.
B2 Incidents of plagiarism will decrease.
B3 Perceived improvement in comprehension of appropriate computer use
versus inappropriate computer use.
B4 100% of students demonstrate computer literacy according to exit
criteria at graduation from 8th and 12th grade.
3. Strategies
=====A. Organizational effectiveness:
What organizational practices should be
established or changed to support the achievement of the identified goal?
1. Structure or Climate:
|
Performance indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1-4, 6 |
Establish standard for exit criteria for 8th and 12th
grade
|
April 2001 |
Grade Level Deans
Grade Team Leaders
Director Of Information Services |
|
1-4, 6 |
Develop a program for teaching students responsible and ethical use of
technology based on Student Handbook.
|
August 2001 |
Grade Level Deans
Grade Team Leaders
Director Of Information Services |
|
1-5 |
Annual review and update of Technology section of Student Handbook |
Ongoing |
Director of Information Services
Dean of Students
Asst. Head of MS |
|
1-6 |
Develop a comprehensive statement on copyright policy |
August 2000 |
Director of Information Services |
2. Communications:
|
Performance indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1-6 |
Conduct tutorial discussions on competent and responsible use of
technology |
August 2001 |
Director of Counseling Services |
|
1-6 |
Conduct sessions with parents on competent and responsible use of
technology |
Sept. 2000 |
Director of Information Services
Head of Upper School
Head of Middle School |
|
1-6 |
Make copyright policy available to faculty, students, & parents |
August 2000 |
Head of School
Director of Information Services |
3. Professional Development:
|
Performance indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1-6 |
Continue ongoing technology training for new teachers |
Ongoing |
Head of Upper School
Head of Middle School
Director of Information Services |
|
5, 6 |
Faculty training on exit criteria |
Annually and as needed |
Head of School
Director of Information Services |
=====B. Instructional Effectiveness:
What instructional practices in the areas
of curriculum, instruction, and assessment should be established or changed to
support the achievement of the identified goal.
1. Curriculum and instruction:
|
Performance indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1-6 |
Develop a curriculum to teach competent technology use according to
established exit criteria. |
August 2001 |
Grade Level Deans
Grade Team Leaders
Director Of Information Services |
|
1-6 |
Develop a curriculum to teach responsible use of technology. |
August 2001 |
Head of Upper School
Head of Middle School |
2. Assessment practices:
|
Performance indicators |
Strategy |
Date |
Responsibility |
|
1-4 |
Maintain records of computer usage violations |
August 2000 & ongoing |
Dean of Students
Asst. Head of Middle School |
|
1,2,4 |
Maintain records of computer related plagiarism cases |
August 2000 & ongoing |
Dean of Students
Asst. Head of Middle School |
|
5 |
Maintain record of computer literacy related comments from parent
surveys |
Ongoing |
Dean of Students
Asst. Head of Middle School |
|
1-5 |
Develop pre- and post- tests for ethical issues
|
October 2000 |
Grade Level Deans
Grade Team Leaders
Director Of Information Services |
|
6 |
Develop pre- and post- tests for assessing computer competency for
grades 8 and 12. |
October 2000 |
Grade Level Deans
Grade Team Leaders
Director Of Information Services |
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