School Improvement Plan

What is a School Improvement Plan?

A School Improvement Plan (SIP) is a strategic blueprint that schools use to enhance student learning and improve educational practices. It outlines specific goals for improvement, actions to achieve those goals, and methods for measuring progress.

Key Points of a SIP:

Goals: Clear objectives the school aims to achieve to enhance student outcomes.
Actions: Steps and strategies the school will implement to reach its goals, based on research and effective practices.
Monitoring: Regular review of progress with adjustments made to ensure the school stays on track toward its improvement objectives.

The purpose of a SIP is to provide a clear roadmap for schools to improve educational outcomes for all students, particularly focusing on eliminating disparities and ensuring equitable opportunities for every student.

Every school in Washington State is required to have a School Improvement Plan.

Monitoring and Adjusting:

A SIP is not set in stone. It's reviewed regularly, with progress monitored against the set goals and activities adjusted as needed to stay on track toward improvement.

Visit the Issaquah School District SIP website to learn more about SIPs.

District - School Improvement Plans

Achievement Goals

Issaquah Valley’s School Improvement Goal 2022-2024, is that by spring 2024, 75% of 3rd-5th grade students will meet standard in reading as measured by SBA and i-Ready reading assessment data.
By each spring, 80% or higher of our students in subgroups (MLL, low-income, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, students with disabilities) scoring below benchmark on i-Ready reading assessment will be on track to meet their stretch goal.

Guiding Questions

Reflecting on previous action plans

What actions were successfully implemented?

As our leadership team began to examine the data and identify the goals for Issaquah Valley Elementary (IVE), we took time to reflect on our previous year's SIP. As a team, in groups, we discussed actions that were successfully implemented last year that impacted our school-wide goal in reading. These actions included:

Professional Development for teachers on the use of i-Ready throughout the year
Building time into building schedule for a 30-minute reading Success Block (RGR instruction time was used during Success Block time)
WTW (Words Their Way) was implemented in all grade levels
Small group instruction provided multiple times a week using i-Ready tools, WTW
RGR (Really Great Reading) instruction was implemented for students who qualified using i-Ready diagnostic tool
Goal-setting using i-Ready with Tier 2 students in grades 3-5 with classroom teacher, in partnership with our instructional coach
Providing staff meeting time for grade levels to review and analyze data, and set instructional groupings
Instructional coaching for data collection, intervention matching, modeling lessons
TLAP, ELL, instructional coach, and LRC teachers providing direct instructional support and consultation
Accessibility of technology (1:1 for grades 3-5)
Use of GLAD resources through building GLAD lead and ELL teachers

These actions increased the teacher's ability to use and implement district instructional tools and resources. Success Blocks were implemented and used to support readers at different levels. WTW and RGR groups were set for this time MTTHF. The use and access of technology in classrooms allowed classroom teachers to use i-Ready extended learning resources, such as MyPath, teacher assigned lesson, and tools for instruction in part of their success block time. Grade levels used time with the instructional coach to work on intervention matching at grade level team meetings.

What was observed? What evidence did you use to determine impact?

Evidence of impact was observed in our i-Ready final diagnostics. From fall to spring over 10% of students moved out of Tier 3 level of concern, and we had over 70% of our students in Tier 1 by the end of 21-22. We are beginning this year with a smaller percentage of students in Tier 3 and more students in Tier 1 than in the fall of 2021. Our leadership team reflected that the use of RGR, Benchmark, and Heggerty are all supporting our students in phonological awareness and phonics development. As our teachers have attended Reading Foundational Skills and i-Ready PD, their level of knowledge and implementation is stronger, and we are seeing more results due to using these instructional materials with fidelity.

We also identified conditions that impact students from groups with disproportionality. If students qualified for an RGR group, they might not have time in the day to complete i-Ready Mypath or targeted lessons. The accessibility to technology outside of school is limited for some students, impacting the ability of those families to support their student work on i-Ready at home. Also, consistency of sharing i-Ready results with families in a manner that is meaningful impacted groups with disproportionalities. Noting that initially, not all teachers were engaging students in goal-setting, our instructional coach worked with teachers and modeled student goal setting with Tier 2 students. This resulted in expanded use of this high-leverage practice.

How did actions impact disproportionality and equity?

What actions would you continue or change?

As a team we decided that most of our actions from last year should continue. We believe another year will strengthen the knowledge and application of i-Ready and will increase the efficacy and efficiency of the delivery and management of Success Blocks and intervention matching.

The team generated additional actions such as:

Goal-setting with all students using MyPath
Expanding use of RGR for small group instruction in general education classes
WTW delivery to students: stronger and more intentional for the students who did not qualify for RGR
Increase use of language development and GLAD strategies with MLL newcomers, i.e. intentional vocabulary study
Fidelity of small group instruction
Using Heggerty in MLL small groups
Family friendly i-Ready parent report with suggestions family can support at home
Family literacy night
Continue to provide time for grade levels to plan since there is not an instructional coach to support with lesson modeling, support analyzing data, and assigning targeted lessons for students
Continue to strengthen our Tier 1 academic and behavior practices and use Tier 2 to identify students and support classroom teachers with intervention matching (CICO, breaks are better, more small group time, goal- setting with student)
Support staff/paraprofessionals who can speak and deliver instruction in Spanish for our DL students

Backed by Data

Schools use multiple data sources to inform their planning. Progress toward school improvement in overall achievement and disproportionality is monitored using state and district measures using a common School Improvement Data Dashboard.

Data Workbook for Elementary School

Process
Findings

Process

In early August, IVE’s Leadership Team determined to continue to examine growth in the area of reading. The Team found that the data indicated we should continue to focus on growth in Reading Foundational Skills, by increasing the effective use of the newly adopted curricula, the use of i-Ready as a diagnostic tool, and the Success Block structure. The goal was determined due to the percentage of students not meeting Benchmark on i-Ready and identified using the SBA data for our gap-closing student subgroups.

The Leadership Team reviewed SBA data from 2019-2022, WSIF ELA proficiency data, and 2022 i-Ready reading proficiency.

Findings

IVE’s leadership team in studying the SBA data from 2019-2022, WSIF ELA proficiency, and 2022 i-Ready reading proficiency identified that our students who identify as MLLs, Hispanic/Latinx, Low-income, and students with disabilities are still significantly below standard.

Possible root causes for the disproportionality with the below groups can be:

For our MLL students, a lack of language development, many of our MLL students are newcomers
Existing MLL students are not exiting at a quick rate
Need for more MLL support in all classrooms, eg. GLAD
Many of our MLLs are in the Dual Language program; learning 2 academic languages
For our Latinx, low-income students, students with disabilities, barriers include the following:
- Language barriers
- Literacy proficiency in native language
- Engaging in grade-level content
- Social emotional needs
- Basic needs
- School/home relationship

Rates of Proficiency:

MLL students – 6.7%

Hispanic/Latinx students – 32.7%

Low-income students – 28.8%

Students with disabilities – 26.7%

School-Based Action Plan

Action	Implementation	Impact: Evidence/Monitoring
Reading Foundational Skills (RFS) Success Block Emphasizes the importance of strong early literacy development organized around six building blocks of literacy, starting with a structured, differentiated approach to foundational skills.	Shared commitment to using i-Ready tools- MyPath Professional Development with i-Ready consultant: analyze reports Literacy TOSA at IVE weekly for teacher support in small groups, differentiation	Increase in reading achievement scores based on… i-Ready Overall Reading SBA Reading
Comprehensive Assessment Planning F & P assessments used to inform reading curriculum, as another data point	Grades 1-5; beginning/end of year and throughout as a progress monitoring tool	Increase student achievement Support & guides students/teachers with individual reading selections
Positive Behavior Social Emotional Support (PBSES)/Behavioral Supports and Interventions PBSES is the application of research-based practices on prevention and intervention in the social-emotional and behavioral domains. 2022 marked the transition from a coaching-centered model to a building managed PBSES system. To continue IVE’s work with consultant and continue to build strong school-wide expectation system	In 2022-2023, As part of Tier 1 Team action plan from 2021-2022 CR-TFI Building school-wide expectations: Cougar Code (English and Spanish-posted on every classroom & at outer entrances) Mystery reveal, cougar frenzy, postcard writing (admin read them to whole class) Class dojo points (class and specialists) School-wide celebration Weekly morning announcements with admin to model daily check-in and reinforce school-wide expectations Building a year calendar of Tier 1 practices throughout the year Morning meeting and greetings at the door (school-wide expectation in all classrooms) Continued PD of classroom teachers and para using SWIS	Increase student-teacher positive relationships Increase of SWIS in order to make data-based decision Teacher increase of Tier 1 practices through use of calendar
Family Engagement The importance of having an increased family engagement connection is to support a home-school connection	2023-Latinx community coffee with Principal and FLP 2022-current monthly PBSES note in family bulletin sent weekly 2023- Family Literacy Night General PTA presentations to families: (Parent-teacher conference tips, SIP goal, mission and vision, school-wide expectations)	To increase understanding of the core structure of school with families; PBSES, communication To increase engagement with families of underserved communities
Tiered Team Structure Tiered teams allow us to make data-driven decisions in behavior and academic areas	2021-2022 Tier 2 intervention implemented based on action plan Established: Small groups: (targeted on October catch and BEISY)- Counselor & MTSS specialist CICO-Check-in Check out (MTSS specialist) Breaks are Better Tier 1 team- monthly looking at SWIS data	Increase student academic and behavior through use of SWIS; and academic interventions identified through the use of regular data analysis with MTSS specialist

SIP Team & Final Review

Principal: Vanessa Garcia
Site Council/PTSA Review Date: January 2023
Supervisor Review: Susan Mundell
School Board Review Date: February 15, 2023

Leadership Team:

Katherine Rudie, Kindergarten
Rebecca Clark, 1^st grade
Elizabeth Zyanya, 2^nd grade
Megan O’Brian, -3^rd grade
Stephanie Eggers, 4^th grade
Kayla Harris, 5^th grade
Jessica Harper, MTSS specialist
Amy Butson, Assistant Principal
Tracy Silva, LRC Teacher
Kris Coleman, PE teacher
Ann Wertz, T/LAP teacher
Renee Saucier, 4^th grade/Equity Team lead
Laurie LaVassar, District literacy TOSA/IVE instructional specialist

Checklist

Action plan includes use of educational technology.
Action plan includes strategies for family engagement.
Action plan includes strategies for engaging students and/or addressing the social, emotional and/or mental health needs of students and barriers to learning
Action plan includes a school-based action to implement one (or more) of Culturally Responsive Practices, Universal Design for Learning, Trauma Informed Practices, &/or the 4 High Leverage Instructional Practices.

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