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Culpeper Star-Exponent (Virginia)
April 19, 2011
HEADLINE: School board approves restructuring plan for Pearl Sample
By Rhonda Simmons
In a 7-0 vote, the Culpeper County School Board approved a restructuring plan Monday for Pearl Sample Elementary School.
Under the plan, the school division's alternate governance committee would assist Pearl Sample officials, if necessary, in the hiring process, placement of teachers, conduct time studies to evaluate the use of instructional time, review administrators' evaluations of staff, determine if more staff is required, verify that staff members have the highly qualified designation, according to Rob Hauman, director of curriculum, instruction and technology for CCPS.
School board members repeatedly stressed the fact that these actions would only be put in place if Pearl Sample students don't meet this year's Adequate Yearly Progress, a government measurement of the NCLB Act of 2001, which determines how schools nationwide are achieving academically.
"I'd just like for everyone to understand that this is only if. This does not happen automatically now. It's only if the scores do not come in where we hope they will be," declared school board member Elizabeth Hutchins.
Since Pearl Sample is a Title I school in its fourth year of school improvement under No Child Left Behind , school officials are required by law to develop a restructuring plan for year five to improve academic achievement.
"We have to prepare it and have it ready for implementation (just) in case," said school board chairman George Dasher.
AYP results are typically released in mid-July or August. As part of NCLB, students take Standards of Learning assessments otherwise known as standardized tests in four critical areas: English, math, science and history/social science each spring.
AYP measures students in different subgroups: all students, economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, limited English proficiency, blacks, whites, and Hispanic.
At Pearl Sample, the economically disadvantaged subgroup missed the goal by one benchmark last spring, according to the school division's data.
In order to make the yearly goal under NCLB, schools must meet all 29 objectives. Missing one benchmark could result in a school not making AYP and possibly being forced to implement improvement plans.
Since Title I schools receive federal money for programs geared toward helping low-income students, they face tougher penalties when it comes to meeting AYP.
The restructuring options
Pearl Sample had five restructuring options to choose from:
1. reopen the school as a public charter school
2. replace all or most of the school staff (which could include the principal)
3. enter into a contract with an entity, such as a private management company with demonstrated record of effectiveness to operate Pearl Sample as a public school
4. turn the operation of the school over to the state (not an option in Virginia)
5. implement any other major restructuring of the school's governance arrangement that is consistent with the NCLB principals of restructuring
The committee chose option five and submitted its recommendation to the school board earlier this month. Pearl Sample is already offering students school choice and free tutoring.
Superintendent Bobbi Johnson explained to the board that the alternate governance committee is basically a support team that will work closely with Pearl Sample staff.
"We will not replace anyone at the school. We are not talking about replacing leadership or teachers or any of those drastic kinds of things that have our people a little bit nervous," she added. "I think (the alternate governance committee has) selected what I believe will be the most effective plan."
Pearl Sample principal Kristin Williams said her staff members are concerned about the "what if" scenarios they've been hearing about recently.
"We're putting the options out and we're talking about the alternate plan and what that looks like and what it will most likely be and again it's a 'what if' so I think the uncertainty is probably the part that's most concerning," Williams said.
Earlier this month, the committee met with parents and faculty members at Pearl Sample to discuss the proposed restructuring plan. Hauman said about 30 people attended that April 4 meeting.
"We told them what all of the options were and said we'd stay there as long as we needed to stay," Hauman told the board. "Everybody got a chance to raise their concerns and we left the meeting with a very good feeling that they understood why we were making the recommendations that we were."
After approving this restructuring plan Monday, the school board must submit a questionnaire to the Virginia Department of Education, providing its detailed restructuring plans for Pearl Sample in case the school doesn't make AYP this year.
Hauman added that Pearl Sample parents will be invited to upcoming meetings throughout the year and a member of the alternative governance committee will attend each PTO meeting to provide feedback and listen to parents.
During Monday's meeting, the board also approved the school division's career and technical education's local plan for 2011-12.
Virginia Department of Education Request for Information:
Questionnaire
Restructuring/Alternative Governance Implementation under
No Child No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB)
PLANNING REQUIREMENTS FOR YEAR 4 TITLE I SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SCHOOLS
Description of Alternative Governance
and
Aligning School Reform Efforts
(Alternative governance ~ State Transformational Model ~ Conditional Accreditation ~ Accreditation Denied )
Background and Purpose
Schools in Title I School Improvement are awarded supplemental funds to support efforts to raise student achievement. Among the school reform initiatives required under No Child Left Behind is the provision of restructuring/alternative governance for year 5 and beyond School Improvement schools. Title I schools in Year 4 are required to plan for restructuring/alternative governance.
Alternative governance is intended to be the structure for the delivery of new and revised data-driven initiatives to improve student performance. Identified schools must show the alignment of all major reform initiatives under the alternative governance structure. In particular, schools that are participants in the State Transformational Model and/or schools that have been rated conditionally accredited or accreditation denied under the Standards of Accreditation must align school reform efforts. The attached questionnaire allows schools in Year 4 to provide evidence of their planning for the implementation of restructuring/alternative governance in the event they enter Year 5. The approvable questionnaire will be kept on file in the Office of School Improvement and shared, as appropriate, with the Board of Education.
Important Submission Instructions: Please submit one completed questionnaire per identified school by April, 18, 2010, and send to Janice Pierson at Janice.Pierson@doe.virginia.gov. Use as the subject of the e-mail: Your Division Name: NCLB Questionnaire. Each school's completed questionnaire should be a separate attachment to one division e-mail (not a separate e-mail per school).
Restructuring/Alternative Governance Planning Questionnaire for NCLB Year 4 Schools
School Year 2010-2011
Part I. Identify the Year 4 School(s): List the Year 4 Schools in the division. Mark an "X" in the box beside the school this survey represents. Remember to complete a different survey for each Year 4 School.
Pearl Sample Elementary School
Part II. Selection of Option
Indicate with an "X" the NCLB restructuring/alternative governance option which the school is planning to implement in Year 5 AND respond to the italicized prompts with specific details of the plan.
1. Reopen the school as a public charter school
Describe the process the division is undertaking to create a charter school.
What will be the primary focus of the charter school?
How will it be different from the year 4 or beyond school?
Describe the structure of the proposed charter school (include: administration, staffing, curriculum, parent involvement, grading, school improvement planning)
Describe how the selection of this option will address the academic performance of the subgroup(s) that did not make AYP in the identified area.
2. Replace all or most of the school staff, which may include the principal, who are relevant to the school's inability to make AYP
Which staff may/will be replaced? Give the rationale for each replacement. (As a reminder, the rationale should have been related to the school's inability to make AYP, as stated in the NCLB legislation.)
What professional development is planned for new staff to undergo that is related to the schools inability to make AYP?
What efforts are being made to ensure coherence between staff that remained and staff that will be new?
Describe how the selection of this option addresses the academic performance of the subgroup(s) that did not make AYP in the identified area.
3. Enter into a contract with an entity, such as a private management company, with a demonstrated record of effectiveness, to operate the school as a public school
What is the name of the proposed private management company or similar entity/person?
What is the cost per year?
What is the length of the contract?
Provide a summary of the data to support the entity's/person's "demonstrated record of effectiveness" in operating or managing a successful school.
Describe the process used to select the entity or person.
Describe how the selection of this option addresses the academic performance of the subgroup(s) that did not make AYP in the identified area.
4. Turn the operation of the school over to the state if this action is permitted under state law and the state agrees
(Not in Virginia Code, but included for informational purposes)
5. Implement any other major restructuring of the school's governance arrangement that is consistent with the NCLB principles of restructuring (State Transformation Model with alternate governance provider)
Fully describe the planned implementation of "any other major restructuring of the school's governance arrangement that is consistent with the NCLB principles of restructuring." Specifically describe the governance arrangement.
Culpeper County Public Schools will implement an Alternate Governance Committee at Pearl Sample to increase Division control, oversight and monitoring of the school's operation. It will be made up of a Lead Committee and a Subcommittee.
The Lead Alternate Governance Committee will work collaboratively with the principal to manage the instructional program at the school. This committee will consist of the Director of Instruction, Director of Special Education, Director of Human Resources, Supervisor of Federal Programs, Principal, Virginia DOE Liaison, E.P.I.C. and Ronnis Systems (outside entities). The Supervisor of Federal Programs will communicate with Division leaders within the division to solicit support. Please see the list of assigned responsibilities for Division leaders. Division leaders will attend meetings that specifically pertain to their area of expertise and will receive monthly updates at Directors' Meetings. A parent and a School Board member will be invited to attend meetings twice a year. Additionally, a committee representative will report to staff and parents monthly at each PTO meeting.
The Subcommittee will consist of the Director of Instruction, Supervisor of Federal Programs, SPED Curriculum Specialist, Principal, Reading Coach, Ronnis Systems and E.P.I.C. This committee will focus solely on analyzing student achievement data.
Responsibilities of the Committees include, but are not limited to:
- verify that staff members have the "highly qualified" designation (Director of Human Resources, Principal);
- assist with hiring new teachers (Director of Human Resources, Director of Instruction, Director of Special Education, Supervisor of Federal Programs and Principal);
- provide preferential placement of new hires (Director of Human Resources);
- determine if additional staffing is required to assist Pearl Sample with meeting their goal;
- evaluate the adequacy of the instructional schedule (Lead Committee, Subcommittee);
- conduct time studies to evaluate the use of instructional time (Lead Committee);
- conduct walk throughs monthly (Lead Committee);
- review the administrators' evaluations of staff (Director of human resources, Director of Instruction, Director of Special Education, Supervisor of Federal Programs);
- make recommendations regarding teacher placement (Lead Committee and Subcommittee);
- plan and recommend staff professional development to include in-services related to economically-disadvantaged and minority students (Lead Committee and Subcommittee);
- analyze student achievement data monthly to assist with the development of interventions for at-risk students (Subcommittee);
- review and evaluate coaching calendars to monitor the use of embedded professional development (Lead Committee and Subcommittee);
- approve remediation programs (Lead Committee and Subcommittee); and
- support the implementation of RTI (Lead Committee and Subcommittee).
How will this newly created "other major restructuring of the school's governance arrangement" differ from what currently exists?
The Division will have more oversight of the school's operation with increased input from outside entities. For example, the Lead Committee will approve all new hires, assist with placing highly effective teachers in the school, review staff evaluations, assist with the development of interventions and will have oversight of all instructional decisions.
Describe the plans for implementation and evaluation for success?
Plans for Implementation:
- If Pearl Sample goes into Year 5 of School Improvement under NCLB, the restructuring plan will be implemented when the official AYP status is announced.
- All committee members will be aware of their role on the committee, and a schedule of meeting dates will be prepared prior to July 2011.
- Parents will receive written notice regarding the school's AYP status prior to the start of the school year in accordance with NCLB regulations.
- The first meeting will be held prior to the start of the school year to prepare faculty and staff for the implementation of the plan.
- Indistar tasks will be updated to reflect the goals for the 2011-2012 school year.
Evaluation for Success:
- Indistar will be updated monthly, and the VDOE will monitor progress toward goals.
- The DOE Liaison will support the Alternate Governance Committee by giving the Division feedback monthly regarding the effectiveness of the team.
- 2011-2012 classroom walk-through data will be compared to 2010-2011 data to show an increase in research-based instructional practices focused on student engagement.
How does the selection of this option address the academic performance of the subgroup(s) that did not make AYP in the identified area?
Implementing an Alternate Governance Committee affords the Division more oversight of the school's decision making process. Also, the Division will directly guide the school in consistently analyzing student achievement data by subgroup, planning and implementing interventions that are highly effective for the targeted population and providing professional development that targets at-risk populations in identified areas of weakness.
Part III. (TO BE COMPLETED BY YEAR 4 SCHOOLS) Identification of Alternative Governance Entity: Give the name of the entity (outside provider) that will be "overseeing governance." Give the cost of bringing in the entity.
Name of proposed Alternative Governance Entity (or person): E.P.I.C. and Ronnis Systems_______________________________
Amount of Title I School Improvement Funds (1003a and/or 1003g) used to secure alternative governance outside entity:$30,225_E.P.I.C.___
- Amount of "other" funds from any appropriate source used to secure alternative governance entity: Total: $24,000 VI funds for Ronnis Systems
Discuss Discuss the rationale for selecting the particular alternative governance entity or person.
Both E.P.I.C and Ronnis Systems have a record of success in Virginia (Cumberland and Sussex Counties, for example). E.P.I.C. Behavioral Consulting, Inc. will provide professional development services with coaching as it relates to classroom management. School-wide implementation seeks to improve teacher skills in using positive behavior supports through a Response to Intervention approach. Ronnis Systems will conduct a needs assessment, identify and evaluate scientifically research-based programs used in the school, monitor the health of implementation throughout the school year, and provide professional development for teachers in the area of reading. Currently, both companies work with Pearl Sample to support the implementation of RTI in reading and behavior (school-wide positive behavior supports). Their roles will be revised to reflect the responsibility of the Alternate Governance Committee.
Discuss the process used to select the alternative governance entity or person.
CCPS Division Support Team met to evaluate the five restructuring options under No Child Left Behind. With support and guidance from the Virginia Department of Education and with input from the principal, the team determined that E.P.I.C., Inc. and Ronnis Systems would be the outside entities on the Alternate Governance Committee. The Director of Instruction presented the options to the School Board and announced that there would be an opportunity for public comment at a school-based meeting. This meeting was held on April 4, and stakeholder feedback was taken into consideration. The completed plan will be presented to the School Board for approval at the April 18, 2011 meeting.
Part IV.
Is this school rated conditionally accredited under the Standards of Accreditation?
Yes No
If yes, describe three major initiatives that the school is undertaking through its Corrective Action Plan under the Standards of Accreditation that will align with the purpose and structure of alternative governance, as described in the responses above.
Is this school rated accreditation denied under the Standards of Accreditation?
Yes No
If yes, describe three major initiatives that the school is undertaking through its Memorandum of Understanding and through its Corrective Action Plan under the Standards of Accreditation that will align with the purpose and structure of alternative governance, as described in the responses above.
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