School Improvement Plan = All Students Achieving at a Higher Level
In my message last month, I wrote about the opportunity that we all have at the beginning of the new year to reflect and improve. As a school community, we also have that opportunity to reflect and plan to improve for our “new year” that begins on July 1st.
By April, all Chicago public schools must complete a School Improvement Plan for Advancing Academic Achievement (SIPAAA). In very simple terms, the plan states where the school is and where it is going over the next two years.
There are six essential steps in SIPAAA planning:
- Gather input from staff, parents, and other stakeholders
- Revisit the school vision and mission and revise as necessary
- Analyze the school’s data, such as academic progress, student connection, school characteristics, instruction, professional capacity, learning climate, and family and community involvement
- Identify areas for improvement and work and establish target outcomes and indicators of success/key performance indicators for each area
- Detail all activities within each area
- Allocate budget funds for each activity as needed.
As you know, the Palmer staff, LSC, and other parent groups have been working very diligently to analyze our school’s progress and make major improvements since last July. Our SIPAAA/Data Analysis Team has been meeting two times each week for two hours after school, as well as doing additional research, visiting other schools, meeting with staff, and the LSC, PAC (Parent Advisory Council), and BAC (Bilingual Advisory Committee).
The data and input indicates that we need to continue to develop strategies to better address needs of high and low achieving, bilingual, and special education students in order to increase the achievement levels of all students. Our major goal is to move every student to the next higher achievement level, with an emphasis on increasing the number of students who exceed, rather than must meet, state standards. Of course, we want to ensure that all of our students enjoy school and develop a love for learning.
Please remember that your involvement at school and at home is essential for our students’ success. Enjoy helping your child to learn and to love learning…we sure do!
Don Anderson
Principal
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Copyrights John M. Palmer Elementary School
