DARTMOUTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Andrew B. Cushman School
School Improvement Plan
2015-2016
School Profile
Leadership:
Administrative Staff:
Melissa McHenry, Early Childhood Director
School Teams:
School Council
PBIS Team
Staff Profile:
Student Demographics:
(2014-2015)
Faculty: 19
(Source – June 2015 SIMS Data)
Enrollment: 142
Administration: 1
Male: 84
Office Staff: 1
Female: 58
Counseling/Nurse: 2
Black/African-American: 2
Paraprofessionals: 9
Asian: 3
Custodial Staff: 2
Hawaiian/Pacific: 0
Average Class Size: K=24, PK=14
Hispanic: 0
Indian/Native American: 3
White: 126
Multi-race: 8
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
2
School Teams
Leadership Team Members:
School Council Members:
Melissa McHenry
Melissa McHenry (Administrator)
Christine Fistori (teacher)
Maria Sylvain (parent)
Katie Redfern (parent)
TBD (parent)
TBD (Community Member)
PBIS Team Members:
Melissa McHenry
Jennifer Cabral
Christine Fistori
Cheryle Kamm
Melissa Sylvia
Margaret Collins
Linda DeCouto
Kate Carvalho
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
3
District Mission:
The mission of the Dartmouth Public Schools is to provide a quality education for all learners.
District Vision:
The Dartmouth Public School District, in partnership with parents and the community, will deliver challenging, standards-based
instruction for all students that fosters academic, physical, social and emotional development. Utilizing data analysis to drive
instruction, we will implement specific strategies to support every student to think critically, solve problems and become a
responsible, contributing citizen. Our high school graduates will possess the required skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in their
academic and vocational ambitions.
District Core Values and Beliefs:
Exhibit ‘Dartmouth Pride’ in all we do by:
 Demonstrating personal and social responsibility through respecting others, our surroundings, and ourselves.
 Developing a work ethic of perseverance, tenacity, and resiliency that encourages academic excellence to meet or exceed high
standards of performance.
 Discovering and broadening our individual talents.
 Embracing the knowledge society with current instructional methods and tools.
 Engaging in open communication with each other and our community to support student academic achievement and social and
emotional growth.
District Theory of Action:
If we instruct each student with clear learning targets, assess achievement, and adjust instruction according to need; if we are
continually collaborative, reflective, and purposeful; and if we engage families and the community in student learning, then student
achievement will improve.
Core Areas of Focus:
Instructional Core
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
Cultural Core
Resource Core
4
2014-2015 SUMMARY: Key Strategies, Improvement Objectives, and Action Plans
INSTRUCTIONAL CORE
Key Strategy 1:
Key Strategy 2:
Key Strategy 3:
Key Strategy 4:
Utilize a variety of instructional strategies that are research based and focused on higher order thinking skills.
Align and make consistent instructional strategies and materials within and across grade levels.
Use a variety of common formative assessments to inform instructional strategies that address specific student needs.
Advance a multi-tiered model of instruction aligned to the common core.
Action Steps
Key Strategy 1:
Utilize the higher level thinking skills
embedded in Bloom’s Taxonomy to teach
students creative, flexible ways of thinking.
Key Strategy 2:
Develop and utilize high-quality UbD units
to provide instruction that is consistent and
aligned with the Pre K and K standards.
Outcome/ Evidence
Units and lesson plans targeted upper-level questioning and thinking skills;
observations and walk-throughs reflected Bloom’s Taxonomy in action.
Model units used as the basis for development of individual or teamdeveloped UbD units that reflect diverse student learning needs and contain
varied assessment procedures to identify mastery levels of standards-based
content.
Key Strategy 3:
Teachers will analyze common assessment
Students appropriately placed in fluid learning groups that reflect high
data to place students, monitor progress,
expectations. Student instruction contained rigorous learning objectives aligned
provide timely intervention and work as a
with the MA frameworks and reflected changes in teaching practice.
team to delve into the implications of the data
in order to identify best practices and make
changes.
Key Strategy 4:
Review and improve the Response to
Intervention (RTI) procedure by establishing
written timelines and consistently following
them.
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
Students met benchmark goals and demonstrated carryover of skills into the
regular curriculum. A decision was made as to whether the intervention plan
should be revised or had been successful
5
2014-2015 SUMMARY: Key Strategies, Improvement Objectives, and Action Plans
CULTURE CORE
Key Strategy 5: Develop strong working relationships with families and appropriate community partners and providers to contribute
to student learning and social and emotional well-being.
Key Strategy 6: Utilize positive behavioral instruction and supports in a consistent manner across the district that creates a safe
environment for learning.
Action Steps
Key Strategy 5:
Provide parents with family activities that
target both academic and behavioral skills to
promote a home-school connection.
Key Strategy 6:
Utilize common language in teaching
behavioral expectations by using Positive
Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS)
lesson plans.
Key Strategy 6:
Collect, input and analyze School-Wide
Information System (SWIS) data, refine data
sharing collection for repeat minors along
with data sharing process.
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
Outcome/ Evidence
Increased parent-child interaction, effective parent involvement in their
child’s learning and increased family support for the school’s efforts.
School-wide behavior and expectations taught directly and explicitly.
Students understand and demonstrate appropriate social skills in all school
settings.
Uniform, user-friendly process for data collection and sharing. Document
that clearly outlines and delineates among major/minor behaviors.
6
Andrew B. Cushman School
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
2015-2016 GOALS
CURRICULUM, PLANNING, AND ASSESSMENT
Key Strategy 1: Utilize a variety of instructional strategies that are research based and focused on higher order thinking skills.
Key Strategy 2: Align and make consistent instructional strategies and materials within and across grade levels.
Improvement Objective
Action Steps
Completion
Date
1.1: Provide explicit
instruction in the use of
comprehension strategies
designed to deepen student
thinking about the text,
using modeling, practice,
and application to promote
diverse, flexible thinking.
1. Utilize direct instruction June 2016
practices to teach students
why and when they should
use strategies, what
strategies to use, and how
to apply them.
2. Model and practice the
steps of explicit
instruction, including direct
explanation, teacher
modeling ("thinking
aloud"), guided practice,
and application.
1.2: Develop vocabulary
learning by immersing
students in words and
providing opportunities for
students to actively
discover ways in which
1. Provide students with
skills and opportunities to
learn words independently,
using both vocabulary and
storybook literature.
2. Teach students the
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
June 2016
Person(s)
Responsible
•Administration
• Interventionist
• Teaching staff
•Administration
• Interventionist
• Teaching staff
Resources
Needed
• Comprehension
Toolkit, Primary
Level
• Guided Reading
Libraries
• Continued PD in
close reading
strategies
• Student data
• Curriculum and
CPT meetings
• Additional grade
level resources as
needed
• Rich classroom
libraries
• PD in vocabulary
development
• Supplemental
language /
Outcome/ Evidence
•Learning walks will show
evidence of the techniques of
modeling, practice and
application in the use
of comprehension strategies.
•Students will develop skills to
become active, thoughtful
readers able to construct
meaning from text.
• Active learning environments
will be created in which
students collaboratively read,
write, talk, and create to
promote comprehension.
• Instructional focus during
read-alouds will be on Tier 2
and Tier 3 vocabulary words,
as evidenced through
observations from
walkthroughs.
7
words are related.
2.1: All educators will
understand how the content
they teach builds on, or
relates to, content in other
grades/subjects.
meanings of specific words
using both context and
definitions to encourage
“deep” processing of word
meanings.
1. Instructional staff will
engage in regular
discussions of student
learning expectations, both
horizontally (with
colleagues in their grades
or subjects) and vertically
(across grades).
2. Instructional staff will
continue to develop and
implement UbD units
based on the curriculum,
containing differentiated
lessons and reflecting high
expectations for all
students.
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
vocabulary
activities and
curriculum
materials.
June 2016
•Administration • Curriculum and
• Interventionist
•Teaching staff
CPT meetings
•Grade level
standards
• UbD Units
•Teachers will utilize
incidental exposure, embedded
instruction and focused
instruction to infuse rich
vocabulary into class
discussion.
• All instructional staff will
have a deep and shared
understanding of the standards
they are to teach and how they
connect to other grades /
subjects.
• Student learning outcomes
are well defined, monitored,
and measured.
• Lesson/unit plans reflect
common outcomes, student
learning expectations,
connections and interrelationships in the curriculum
documents.
8
TEACHING ALL STUDENTS
Key Strategy 3: Use a variety of common formative assessments to inform instructional strategies that address specific student needs.
Key Strategy 4: Advance a multi-tiered model of instructional supports aligned to the Massachusetts State Frameworks.
Improvement Objective
Action Steps
Completion
Date
3.1: All teaching staff will
continuously check for
student understanding and
determine progress toward
grade-level standards in
order to provide feedback,
differentiate instruction and
guide teacher decisionmaking about future
instruction.
1. Utilize a variety of quick
ways to check for
understanding and gather
evidence of learning in each
classroom, such as
summaries and reflections;
lists, charts, and graphic
organizers; visual
representations of
information; and
collaborative activities.
4.1: Increase the level of
collaboration among all
professionals within the
building to expand the coteaching and multi-tiered
service delivery models.
1. Gather accurate and
June 2016
reliable data across all areas.
2. Use data to make
meaningful instructional
changes for students.
3. Schedule co-teaching
partnerships.
4. Establish and manage
increasingly intensive tiers
of support.
5. Evaluate the process at all
tiers to ensure the system is
working.
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
June 2016
Person(s)
Responsible
•Administration
• Interventionist
•Teaching staff
Resources
Needed
• Student data
• Curriculum
meetings
• Research of
best practices
• Curriculum
framework
standards
•Observation
and assessment
protocols
(checklists, etc.)
•Administration
• Progress
• Interventionist
•Teaching staff
• Ancillary
Service
Providers
• DHS Student
Interns
monitoring data
• DIBELS and
PALS data
• Storytown
and enVision
Benchmark
Assessments
• C.P.T. time
• Continued PD
Outcome/ Evidence
• Multiple forms of assessment
will provide sources of
information for teaching staff.
• High quality corrective
instruction will be observed and
utilized.
• Tiered instruction will be
evident.
• All students will be given
multiple opportunities to
demonstrate mastery of
curriculum goals and state
standards.
•Develop co-teaching teams
with supports and measurement
tools for team effectiveness.
•Create a schedule that
supports flexible grouping and
co-planning.
• Refine current RTI model to
align the core curriculum
with increasingly intense
interventions to meet the
instructional and/or
behavioral needs of students.
9
FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Key Strategy 5: Develop strong working relationships with families and appropriate community partners and providers to contribute
to student learning and social and emotional well-being.
Improvement Objective
Action Steps
Completion
Date
5.1: Increase the level of
two-way communication
between home and school.
1. Develop opportunities
to meet with families faceto-face,
2. Modify/individualize
newsletters to include
areas of strength and need,
along with tools, materials
and suggestions to assist
children outside of school.
June 2016
5.2: Develop and maintain
a parent lending library
which contains resources
that address pertinent
subjects, such as parenting
strategies, discipline,
building self-esteem,
facilitating language skills
and other topics of interest.
1. Create a parent survey
to determine areas of need
and interest.
2. Define and design area
to house lending library.
3. Purchase, collect and
catalog resources that
target identified areas of
need and interest.
4. Develop a system for
lending, retrieving and
publicizing availability of
resources.
June 2016
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
Person(s)
Responsible
• Administration
• Teaching staff
Resources
Needed
• Newsletters
• Email
• Phone calls
• Family Nights
• Parent events
• Administration
• Survey
• Professional
• Teaching staff
development
money/budget
support
• Texts, DVDs,
videos, CDs
• Shelving
Outcome/ Evidence
•Increased parent-child
interaction, effective parent
involvement in their child’s
learning and increased family
support for the school’s efforts.
• Continuous two-way flow of
quality information between
home and school to support
student learning and
achievement.
• Students, school, and families
benefit when parents are
supported in establishing home
environments that foster
children’s growth and learning.
• Parents feel the school is
supporting them and they are
confident when helping their
children.
10
PROFESSIONAL CULTURE
Key Strategy 6: Utilize positive behavioral instruction and supports in a consistent manner across the district that creates a safe
environment for learning.
Improvement Objective
6.1: Refine the use of
SWIS (School-Wide
Information System) to
gather, enter, summarize,
report and use office
discipline referral
information to maintain a
safe and effective learning
environment.
6.2: Refine behavior
management strategies and
practices using a tiered
system that targets both
typical and atypical students
across all school settings.
Action Steps
1. Enter office referrals
online using SWIS webbased data recording
program,
2. Generate reports to
review school-wide
referral patterns and define
behavior patterns in
greater detail.
3. Summarize and analyze
data for decision making.
1. Increase data-based
decision-making about
behavior instruction and
reinforcement across all
school settings.
2. Increase consistent use
of research-based
behavioral instructional
strategies among all school
staff.
4. Implement effective
intervention plans for
students with the most
significant behavioral
and/or emotional needs.
School Improvement Plan 2015-2016
Completion
Date
Monthly
PBIS Team
meetings
throughout
2015-16
school year
June 2016
Person(s)
Responsible
• Administration
• PBIS Team
• Classroom
teachers
• Support staff
Resources
Needed
• Major and
minor forms
•SWIS data
program and
data collection
•Time within
school day to
meet for data
sharing
• Administration
• PBIS Team
• Classroom
teachers
• Support staff
• SWIS data
• Research-based
strategies
•Second Step
Bullying
Prevention &
Intervention Kit
• Check-in,
Check-out
(CICO) protocol
• Behavior
Management
Contracts
Outcome/ Evidence
• SWIS data reports
• Distinction between
Tier I, Tier II and Tier III
• Uniform, user-friendly
process for data collection and
sharing.
• Document that clearly
outlines and delineates among
major/minor behaviors.
•Identify top behaviors
being referred to office.
• Students taking increased
responsibility for their
behavior.
• Increased respect student to
student and student to adult.
• Staff utilizing innovative
behavior management
techniques with atypical
students.
• Clearer delineation of role
of outreach social worker.
11