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Achievement
Family Engagement Programs: Family Engagement Programs to Increase Student
Achievement
Strategy I: Cultural Liaisons (Goal 4.0)
WEM Schools will have access to cultural liaisons that are employed in the Faribault School
District. The liaisons will be used to improve communication, both written and oral
interpretation, between the WEM Schools and their non-English speaking parent(s).
Strategy II: WEM Public Schools will implement programming designed to increase student
achievement and improve educational opportunities designed to close the academic
achievement gap between white students and protected students through classroom
experiences, curriculum initiatives, and other educationally related programs. At the same time,
WEM Public Schools will implement programming that increases the cultural capital of all
students. Cultural capital is defined as, “…knowledge, experience, and values that enable
individuals to succeed within a particular social and cultural context” (Coonley,
2010). WEM Public Schools will implement the following College and Career Readiness
Programs:
College Career Readiness Programing: Increased participation in rigorous
programs by underrepresented students and students enrolled in ALC’s.
Strategy II A: Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) (Goal 2.0)
AVID is a highly structured, college prep academic program that challenges average students
who are in the academic middle (GPA of 2.0-3.5). The AVID students are selected by a set of
criteria established by the AVID organization. According to AVID philosophy, there are four
dimensions in the process of preparing students for college and career readiness (Conley,
2010). Those dimensions include: key cognitive strategies, key content knowledge, academic
behaviors, and contextual skills and awareness. Student progress is monitored by the AVID
data collection requirements, by the District’s annual standardized assessments, and by the
State’s annual standardized assessments. The Faribault Middle School implemented AVID in
the 8th grade in 2011-2012, and we added two AVID sections for the school year 2012-13: 7th
grade and 9th grade. This school year, 2013-14, we will add a 10th grade section. Next year
2014-15 we will be adding 11th grade and 6th grade sections.
The WEM Public Schools implemented AVID in their 9th grade for the 2012-13 school year. In
2013-14 a 10th grade section was added. This next school year 2014-15 an 11th grade section
will be added. Their staff participated in an AVID staff development with the FPS in the fall of
2012. The two districts share an AVID District Director.
Training Teachers and Administrators/Professional Development Resources and
Training for Improving Achievement of all Students.
Strategy IIB: AVID Training
Faribault Public Schools and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown will be sending AVID site teams to
the AVID Summer Institute training in June and July 2014. Faribault will be sending
approximated 15 staff members and WEM will send 9.
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Integration
Integration Goal One: The Cannon River Collaborative will strive to decrease the percent of
students who are harassed or bullied due to race, ethnicity or natural origin” as identified from
the Minnesota Student Survey by implementing programs that increase and sustain interracial
contacts between the students from Jefferson Elementary School in Faribault and the
elementary students from the WEM District.
Integrated Learning Environments: Increased cultural fluency, competency, and
interaction
Strategy III: The Cannon River Collaborative will increase and sustain interracial
contacts between the students from Jefferson Elementary School in Faribault and
the elementary students from the WEM District. (Goal 1.0)
In the effort to collaborate and increase interactions between students, our 4th and 5th grade
Jefferson and WEM students will meet two times during the 2014-2015 school year. The
schools will contract with Youth Frontiers for the 4th and 5th grade Kindness retreats. At these
retreats students will learn how to understand the differences between kind and unkind
behaviors, act kindly towards others, understand how words and actions impact others, acquire
conflict resolutions skills and deepen relations with classmates. Each of the grades will
participate in a field trip experience in the spring. In the past, students from both schools have
met at the Quarry Hill Nature Center. Our intent is to do the same next year.
Integrated Learning Environments: Differentiated instruction and targeted
interventions designed to increase student achievement
Strategy IV: High School 9th Grade Social Studies (Goal 3.0)
Students from both districts who participate in this Social Studies course will have the
opportunity to connect with each other on field trips (1 per semester) and through writing
assignments. Both activities will ensure that our students communicate and discuss with each
other with topics connected to our benchmarks. These activities are intended to increase
integration between the two districts while focusing on the Social Studies Standards. The
course of three years and featuring some of our nation's top educational experts (T
Integrated Learning Environments: Increased graduation rates
Strategy V: College Ambition Start Today (CAST) (Goal 1.5)
College Ambition Start Today (CAST) is an academic tutoring/monitoring program designed to
increase student achievement and narrow, or eliminate the achievement gap by increasing the
graduation rate of our protected students. This initiative was started in the fall of 2011-12 when
approximately 30 high school students were identified by counselors as students in need of
additional assistance in order to graduate in the spring. WEM students will be invited to
participate in the CAST Programming. We will offer opportunities for students to attend in
Faribault and provide opportunities at their site.
(continued next page…)
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The CAST curriculum includes the following components:
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Supervised homework help one day per week
Goal Setting
College Pathway Packet
Scholarship Search for 11th and 12th grade students
College Student Panel
FAFSA Assistance with families
ACT Prep
College Visits
First Generation: Students and Families
MCA Practice
Job Units
Summer Readiness with Carleton Summer Enrichment
FPS will track the number of students who participate is these activities from both districts.
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