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Executive Summary: School Improvement Plan |
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Executive Summary
Henry G. Ferguson
Elementary School is located in the southwest section of Prince
George’s County, in Accokeek, Maryland.
It is a Talented and Gifted Magnet school with a population of
542 students in grades K-5. The
total population includes 368 African American students, 137 Caucasian
students, 12 Hispanic students, 22 Asian, and 3 Native American.
Forty-seven students are identified for special education
services with 11 of
those receiving speech therapy. The
population consists of 267 males and 275 females.
Student mobility is very low with a three-year average of 3%
and free/reduced meal data is 4%.
Daily attendance rate is excellent at 94.9%. ****The
professional staff consists of 32 teachers in that 21 are classroom
based and 11 are non-classroom based.
Five classroom teachers have over ten years experience.
Sixteen have advanced professional certificates, 10 have
standard certificates, and five have a provisional certificate.
The ethnic classification for professional staff is 14
African-American,17 Caucasians and 3 Hispanic. The
priorities for the 2002-2003 school year at Henry G. Ferguson are
based on the results of an extensive analysis of the students’ MSPAP
and CTBS performance. The
MSPAP data was analyzed by recording the median scale score in each
domain and comparing those scores to the proficiency level three
cut-off score for satisfactory performance.
The data analysis was followed by extensive staff dialogue and
the identification of contributing factors.
This process was done with a core group of staff members and
parents with whole staff updates along the way. The
core School Improvement Planning team, along with the staff,
identified priorities in the areas of reading/language arts and
mathematics with a major focus on writing across the curriculum.
Focus for the 2002-2003school year will continue to include an
increase of grade level and cross-grade level collaboration to plan
instruction to focus on addressing Level 3 Proficiency Indicators,
especially in the areas of reading/writing and mathematics.
Mathematics instruction will focus on students’ learning
their math facts in all grade levels, the use of manipulatives to
solve problems and the incorporation of writing explain problem
solving strategies. There
continues to be a school-wide focus on the reading/language arts
program with an emphasis on reading and writing across the curriculum.
. Teachers in grades K-5 will demonstrate the effective
teaching of reading strategies, as well as small-guided reading
groups. The
instructional program at Henry Ferguson will continue to involve the
use of performance-based instruction in all areas of the curriculum to
provide students with opportunities to be engaged in higher level
thinking skills, authentic learning experiences, and hands-on
instruction. Technology
will be an integral part of the instructional program with the
continued support of the TIMS (Technology In Maryland Schools) grant.
Through various in-service opportunities the entire staff will
become more computer literate with more frequent use of the Internet,
software, and peripherals such as, the SMARTBOARD and visualizer. Opportunities
for involvement in enrichment activities will be offered to students
who wish to be part of the Imagination Destination and HOSA( Hands On
Science) after-school programs. The master schedule will
include time for technology training for students in all grade levels.
The Ferguson After-school MSPAP Enrichment (FAME) Program
will continue to be offered to a targeted group of students in
grades three and five. One
extended session will be offered this year due to the March
date for the Maryland Assessment.
The Kids Hope mentoring program will also continue with an
emphasis on tutorial help and positive social skills’ development
for students in the primary grades. Henry Ferguson has identified
specific priorities based on data analysis for 2002-2003.
The priorities include:
Priority
Goal 1: By the year 2005, the MSPP Composite Index and the CTBS Median
National Percentile Rank for Henry G. Ferguson Elementary School will
reflect the 30-point gains established by the school system’s
accountability targets. ****Objective
I: By June 2002, the percent of students who achieve a satisfactory
score on the MSPAP and CTBS tests for reading, writing, and language
usage will increase as follows: MSPAP Grade 3:
24.3% reading, 44.9% writing, and 39.6% language
usage MSPAP
Grade 5: 46.9% reading,
39.0% writing, and 52.0%
language usage CTBS
Reading: Grade 2 69.2%-ile
and Grade 4 63.8%
-ile ***Objective
II: By June 2002, the percent of students who achieve a satisfactory
score on the MSPAP and CTBS tests for mathematics will increase as
follows: MSPAP:
Grade 3 26.8%;
Grade 5 26.5% CTBS:
Grade 2 77.6 %; Grade 4 50.7 % Prioritizing these goals
will continue to give direction to our instructional program. Curriculum, instruction,
and assessment will be aligned to provide a cohesive and challenging
program for all students. The
emphasis on Reading/Writing/Language Usage will also continue with the
special focus directed to an integrated program, which requires the
application of skills to real life situations through meaningful
tasks, flexible grouping, and higher order thinking skills.
Continuous staff development will be provided to guide teachers
as they plan student instruction. Staff development will focus on enhancing teachers’
planning to facilitate small group instruction, the teaching of
reading strategies and writing across the curriculum.
We will also focus training on the area of integrating
meaningful, real life experiences in the daily instructional program and discipline consistency based on
the newly developed school-wide discipline plan. The
following initiatives will be implemented in reading, writing and
language usage. Reading
and writing for the three purposes and the effective use of stance
questions and writing rubrics. A
major focus will also be language mechanics and language usage as
students are given opportunities to write across the content areas.
Classroom visits, modeling, and team-planning support by the
reading teacher will continue. The
reduction in staffing for 2003 will result in larger class size, which
is a major concern t, as well as the number of new and
beginning teachers. Teachers
will be given an opportunity to enhance their understanding of the
instructional demands of MSPAP through quarterly data and pacing
sessions. Student
participation in language arts and math enrichment opportunities, will
be increased with the implementation of school-wide publishing of
student writing, closed circuit TV broadcast of the morning
announcements, and classroom computer use. Students will be
required to keep a math journal that includes the” problem of the
day” and writing samples that make reference to the use of
manipulatives. Students will be assessed as part of their mathematics
class-work grade based on their percent of mastery of math facts. To
enhance our focus on writing, students will receive specific writing
process instruction during a scheduled 45- minute block, which will be
in addition to the regular reading/language arts block in the master
schedule. Students’ writing for each stage of the writing process
will be dated and maintained in a student-writing journal with
published work filed in the students’ writing portfolio. These
documents will be reviewed on a regular basis, by the principal and
instructional team, to assess students’ progress and needs.
Centers will be more evident in classrooms and
incorporated in the instructional program daily. Teachers will receive
monthly staff development via colleagues, and school system
specialists on topics related to the writing process.
School-wide writing rubrics, in-services and monthly limited
writing prompts will further enhance these initiatives.
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