Elementary School Plan for Student Success
Team Members:
Administration, All Teachers, Learning Support Team, Educational Assistants, Parents
School Context
http://sandyhill.sd34.bc.ca/
http://www.discoveryourschool.gov.bc.ca/myschoollist?flagged=1
Inquiry Question
How might we improve all students’ achievement in writing?
Rationale
(Why are we doing this?)
(Please refer to school data)
In 2013/2014 we began year one of a five year writing goal. Data collected during school wide write and
grade group assessment showed that in term one of year (2013/2014) the average number of students who
were fully meeting expectations in their overall writing was 33%. The number of students exceeding
expectations was 3%. In term two the average number of students fully meeting expectations rose to 48%
and exceeding rose to 14%.
Year End Data - In June 2014/15, 3% of the students were not yet meeting expectations, 23% were minimally
meeting expectations, 60% were fully meeting expectations and 14% were exceeding in writing in
Kindergarten through Grade 5.
Grade 3 Write Data – During the Grade 3 write in May 2015, 4% of students were not yet meeting
expectations, 26% were minimally meeting expectations, 55% were fully meeting expectations and 15% were
exceeding expectations.
Grade 4 - FSA Writing– Although still higher than district and provincial averages, Sandy Hill has
reported a 15% decline in their grade four writing scores over the past five years. Writing scores for
Gr.4s at Sandy Hill who were fully meeting or exceeding expectations by year: 2009/10 (95%),
2011/12 (95%), 2012/13 (88%), 2014/15 (80%). In 2014/15, the number of students meeting
expectations was 72%, with an additional 8% of students that were exceeding expectations.
Although we have a high number of students meeting expectations, our goal is to increase the
writing achievement of all students so that there are an increased number of students exceeding
grade level expectations in writing.
Strategies
Leadership/Teamwork
Professional Learning and/or Resources
School Wide Write in September, January and May to allow
for targeted specific data.
Teachers to administer individually then mark in grade
groups to look for areas in need of development.
Performance standards
Staff Development meeting once a month. Some of the
focus will be on incorporating writing strategies into the
classroom. After the first school wide write, the staff will
look at the four aspects of writing to determine a focus
area.
Staff will be teaching cross curricular writing as a way of
thinking and learning (implementing the new curriculum)
Teachers/ Educational Assistants/Parents involved in ProD.
Administrators to coordinate monthly staff development
meetings (guest speakers, staff presentations, admin. lead)
Meta cognitive strategies linked to writing/Helping
teachers
Staff will meet in grade groups to share and plan for writing
instruction based on shared objectives.
Grade groups meet to plan/share common activities
Staff Development Meetings/Pro D/ Writing Power
Staff plans on incorporating daily writing into their
schedule, including writer’s workshop, mini lessons, quick
writes, guided writing, and reviewing the writing process to
focus on meaning and conventions.
Grade groups will meet to share samples of writing to
ensure a consistent standard and focus.
Write Traits/Developing Writer/Write Tools/ Susan Close’s
SMART Learning strategies/Miriam Trehearne/ Writing
Anchors (Wells)
Staff will have the opportunity to participate in the IBLT
(inquiry based learning team) that is focused on writing and
includes a book study on writing.
IBLT team will meet to discuss writing progress within their
classrooms and different resources that encourage student
achievement (form).
PM Writing/Reggie Routman – “Writing Essentials”
Staff will discuss the writing performance standards with
their students so that they become familiar with the
language and expectations.
Grade groups will collaborate to create student friendly
rubrics so that the students understand the language and
expectations.
Performance Standards/ Rubistar / Student Friendly
Rubric website
Kindergarten staff will incorporate letter of the week and
high frequency words to improve letter/sound recognition
and increase writing performance during free choice
writing.
Primary Staff will incorporate word families to increase
writing performance during cross curricular writing and
personal writing.
Grade groups will meet to plan/share common activities
and strategies being used in the classroom
Whiteboards/SMART Learning (Response to Literature)/
Letterland
Staff will use the oral development rubric and incorporate
academic vocabulary to improve vocabulary development
for our French language learners as well as our ELL
students.
Grade groups will meet to share strategies to improve
vocabulary in their classrooms.
Vocabulary cards / Story boards / Response to
Literature/Helping teachers
Progress and Impact (How do you know?)
Data will be collected in Term 1, 2, and 3 to observe the increase of student achievement in the area of writing. British Columbia performance standards will
be used to measure the students’ achievement levels to keep the assessment tool standard for all writes.
School wide writes will be used to determine the particular aspect of the writing Performance Standards that will be the main focus. They will also be used to
track overall student growth throughout the year.
Connections: Explain how your school goal aligns with any of the
strands from the District’s Strategic Plan, the Elementary Operation
Plan and/or the Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement.
Connections to the District Strategic Plan
• Excellence in
teaching
• Excellence in leadership
• Flexibility & access to programs / services
• Ethical & innovative use of technology
- Use of iPads and laptops to increase writing achievement (i.e. Kidblog, Google Classroom)
- Staff development once a month to improve quality teaching practice in classrooms around the school
- Display exemplary examples of student writing on bulletin boards and in the school newsletter
- Sharing school data with the PAC and SPC
- Providing instructional strategies and hints for helping in newsletters and on the school website.
- Using technology as a tool to improve research skills for non-fiction writing
- Collaborative teams working together to help improve writing achievement at each grade level (i.e. IBLT).
- Allow for alternate ways of presenting information while using technology (i.e. Pic Collage, Haiku deck)
- LSS team will work collaboratively with the classroom teacher to provide intervention for students in need
• Parental & community engagement
Connections to the Elementary Operational Plan
• Excellence in Teaching: Comprehensive Early
Learning Plan.
• Excellence in Leadership: 3 Competencies,
Balanced Assessment RTI and Student
Engagement.
• Programs that support Social and Emotional
Learning.
• Parental and Community Engagement in Schools.
• Learning Environments: Outdoor Learning,
Nature K.
• Improved Instruction for diverse learners (ELL).
• Safe School Procedures, Practices, Interventions.
- Daily writing to improve writing achievement
- reviewing and discussing the performance standards with students so that they understand the writing expectations
- Incorporating the use of graphic organizers into brainstorming to help diverse learners in the classroom feel successful
- Introduce and utilize the “Mind Up” or a social emotional curriculum to create a positive learning environment
- Allowing for student discussions within the classrooms to increase ideas before writing (Pre writing strategy)
Connections to the Aboriginal Enhancement
Agreement.
• Increase student
pride
- Making reading and writing connection to Aboriginal stories and experiences
- Writing about cultural presentations that will increase student cultural pride and sense of belonging
- Aboriginal students at risk in reading and writing will be referred to learning assistance and/or the Learning and
Assessment Center.
• Increase reading scores
• Increase sense of belonging
• Increase graduation rates