Encinal High School Plan 2006/07

Encinal High School was a 9-12 school with an enrollment of 1,146 in 2006/07. To review Encinal's state Academic Performance Index scores since 2000 click here.

Disclaimer: Single School Plan were hand typed and transcribed from source documents. Please pardon the typos as the webmaster is a poor typist. While an effort was made to spell acronyms, here is a reference guide for those acronyms.

Single School Plan Components

What Did You Learn from 2005/06 Cycle of Inquiry?

1. Looking at your data what general trends do you see? What does the data tell us about how the focus group did? How much progress did they make? How does this compare to growth of other subgroups? Is the student achievement gap closing?

There are still a significant number of students reading below grade level as measured by both the CST in ELA and the results of the 8th grade assessments done for placing incoming 9th grade students’ courses.

The Achievement Gap between Asian/Asian American students, Filipino students and White students is still noticeably greater than their African American and Hispanic counterparts. For example, when comparing Matched Student Sets for CST Movement, African American students score at 23% and Hispanic students at 31% at or above Proficient. However, using the same criteria, Asian students score at 57%, Whites at 52%, and Filipino students at 45% at or above Proficient. Of those students measured in Matched Set totals, all major sub-groups saw improvement over their 2005 totals with the exception of African American students which saw a decrease from 26% to 23% at or above Proficient. Asian students went from 47% to 57%, Filipino Students increased from 42% to 45%, Hispanic/Latino students went from 20% to 31% and White students went from 45% to 52% at or above.

Overall Proficiency as measured by all students tested, shows very similar results. However, these scores may reflect some of the high transiency that Encinal experiences. Approximately 50% of Encinal students start school in AUSD after 8th grade. Yet the overall Proficient and Advanced percentages are very similar. Asian students scored 53% at or above Proficient, White students were 49%, Filipino students were 45%, Hispanic/Latino students were 29% and African American students were 23% at or above Proficient.

As in previous years, the Achievement Gap appears to be stagnant and results have been inconsistent. Overall, Encinal’s API score has been increasing, yet the Achievement Gap has not narrowed significantly.

2. What evidence/data do you have regarding the level of implementation of the teacher/instructional practice and/or schoolwide practice that you planned in your last Cycle of Inquiry? Include information about what was not implemented as well as what was implemented.

During the 05-06 Schoolyear, the Literacy program was reviewed and analyzed by the Literacy Coordinator. The program was modified and shifted focus from the previous years. The Literacy program consisted of 3 sections of literacy strategies and reading strategies using the REWARDS Reading program. There were an additional 2 sections for SDC students that used REACH curriculum. For the most part students were placed accurately, but there were concerns about the methods for placing students in these courses. Through observations and meetings it was determined that most of the teachers taught the program with fidelity, but there were concerns that not every teacher involved was keeping true to the program. There were other concerns regarding the 9th grade curriculum and the placement of 9th graders in appropriate courses and their transition to the high school.

The school put together a 9th grade task force of teachers, administrators, and counselors, to address the concerns and through that work, a plan for the Literacy courses and the proper placement of these students evolved. The curriculum for these courses would be based on the Strategic Instructional Model, (SIM) developed at the University of Kansas, a research validated program that could be expanded and used across the curriculum. The intervention program consists of 2 major areas for focus: teacher driven strategies, or Content Enhancement Routines, and student driven strategies, or Learning Strategies Curriculum. Another key component that came out of this group was the use of a diagnostic reading test, GRADE, teacher recommendations, and CST’s scores that are used to assist in determining placement into support courses and Freshman EXP courses. Subsequently, our placement of students in these classes has been vastly improved.

The SIM teachers, Department Chairs, Special Education teachers, and a few selected teachers participated in 5 days of SIM training over the summer and meet monthly for coaching and further training. They are participating in walk-through observations in other teachers’ classrooms to share best practices, and are working with the Literacy coach, Sylvia Kahn, to coordinate assessment, and evaluation of the program.

3. What evidence do you have that your focus on these students has positively impacted their learning?

The school API has risen by over a 100 points in the past 3 years. While this growth is positive, there still is an achievement gap between our Asian and White students performing at better than 50% Proficient and Advanced, and our African American are scoring at 23%. Our Hispanic student populations performed well on the ELA CST’s last year and showed growth but are still overall are 20% behind the White and Asian students.

The literacy classes showed growth and many of the students exited should have continued in literacy this year based on their comprehension and as supported by their continued scoring of FBB and BB on CST’s. However, the decision was made to support the incoming 9th graders with the SIM program as there wasn’t enough funding to offer the courses for 10th and 11th grade students.

The staff received training in SIM strategies and has started to implement the program in several content area classes. The training is on-going and we see more and more teachers becoming comfortable with the strategies. However, there is still more training and to be implemented.

4. Is there anything else you learned in examining your data that will inform your revised problem statement?

We are expanding our problem statement based on the number of students we are currently serving this year. There is evidence that there is need for support and strategies beyond the Literacy classes. When we examine the achievement gap, we feel that there is empirical evidence that suggests that there are more things that need to be included to help reach these underserved students.

The school realizes that we have to support the students that are struggling, but that there are strategies that we can utilize to help all students. Part of this comes from the expansion of the SIM Strategies that will be embedded across the curriculum. However, there needs to be more support from the school at the Administrative/Counselor level to help reach all students. There is some feeling that there will ultimately be limits on the number of sections of Literacy support that the school can provide without severely impacting the overall offerings at the school. The current level of Literacy support isn’t enough and there needs to be serious consideration for support beyond the 9th grade. Yet, without additional funding, there will need to be decisions made as to how to fund these sections.

The current emphasis is to focus on what we are currently working on with the SIM coaching and expanding it across the curriculum. This year will focus on perfecting the SIM Academic Strategies, bringing additional teachers up to speed, and bringing counseling into the mix to help support the students at greatest risk for not passing the CAHSEE, at risk for truancy and other issues, guidance for planning beyond high school, and ensuring that students don’t fall through the cracks.

Fall 2006

1. What are your problem statements?

Problem Statements

Student Achievement Problems

Our Data indicates that our African American, Hispanic and ELL students are our lowest performing subgroups. Our Matched Set data indicates that the gap between African American students and Asian and White students actually increased slightly last year. Since it is a measure of students over 2 years at our school, it suggests that while there has been some growth, we still aren’t meeting the needs of our African American population.

The overall percentage of African American students scoring Proficient or better was 23%, yet their Asian and White counterparts score at 51% and 54% respectively. There were some positive indicators for our Hispanic/Latino students who demonstrated progress with our matched set totals at 10% growth and 4% overall but are still have a proficiency 21% points below the Asian and White students.

Furthermore, there are a high number of students entering into Encinal in the 9th grade that are reading below grade level. In the Spring of 2006, all incoming 9th graders from AUSD schools were tested using GRADE, a diagnostic reading assessment, and 24% of these students were reading below the 7th grade level.

Teacher Practice Problems

In 2004/2005, there was more emphasis on the teaching of Tier 2 words and developing protocols for school walk-throughs. The staff received training and had opportunities to observe other teachers and discuss best practices. Last year there was a drop-off on emphasis for teaching the Tier 2 words and classroom observations as a whole school was not followed up with action. While there is opportunity for teacher collaboration and teachers do have opportunities to discuss data, the Cycle of Inquiry is not systemic. The 9th grade Task Force did examine many of the issues facing the school, but the emphasis was on the incoming Freshmen and not the school as a whole, yet their Literacy work suggested this should be an area of concern for the whole school.

The identification and teaching of tier 2 words has been too inconsistent to measure, and school walk-throughs have not occurred frequently enough to use as a measurement tool. We have a school wide COI on paper, but we’re not using the process to inform our work.

2. What are your inquiry questions?

Student Achievement Questions

To what degree are the identified sub groups being supported with research based content literacy SIM strategies in all core content areas? These areas include: English, History, Math, and Science.

As measured by:

1. Teacher walk throughs
2. Administrative walk throughs
3. Self evaluation

Are there are sufficient numbers of literacy support classes to accommodate all FBB and BB students who are identified through multiple measures?

As measured by:

1. Movement out of the literacy courses
2. Increased fluency and comprehension as measured by GRADE and other fluency measures.

Do we provide additional support beyond the classroom to address the needs of our under-represented students? Are there enough measures and ways of identifying students whom might be otherwise missed and/or might be at risk of not passing the CAHSEE?

As measured by:

1. Administrative and Counseling participation in Student Assistance Program
2. Early identification of students at risk for needing CAHSEE support.
3. The number of students served through outreach of the counseling department.

Teacher Practice Questions

To what degree are Academic Strategies teachers adhering with fidelity to SIM strategies for courses with literacy students enrolled?

As measured by:

1. Mastery of the identified programs, i.e. DISSECT, LINCS, X-TREME READER
2. Staff walk-throughs, Administrative walk-throughs, Observations by Literacy Coach and SIM coaches.

To what degree are Subject-Content teachers teaching with fidelity to SIM strategies for courses with literacy students enrolled and as part of the goal of closing the achievement gap?

As measured by:

1. Mastery of the identified programs, i.e. DISSECT, LINCS, X-TREME READER
2. Staff walk-throughs, Administrative walk-throughs, Observations by Literacy Coach and SIM coaches.
3. Collaboration amongst teachers
3. What are your measurable goals?

Student Achievement Goals

Move at least 20% of those scoring FBB/BB on the CST in ELA into a higher proficiency level while also moving at least 20% of those students scoring at Basic on the same measurement to a Proficient or Advanced level. This includes all Special Education students and English Language Learners. Reduce the number of students who drop from Proficient or Advanced by 50%.

As measured by: CST in ELA, SIM assessements, GRADE diagnostic test or similar measurement.

Increase the reading and fluency level of the students enrolled in the blocked SIM Academic Strategies/English 9 courses by two grade levels. Students in the SIM Academic Strategies courses will increase their CST scores by 20 points, and will maintain steady improvement as measured by school assessments and GPA.

As measured by: CST in ELA, SIM assessements, GRADE diagnostic test or similar measurement, GPA and District Assessments

Teacher Practice Goals

All teachers trained in SIM and SIM Content Enhancement will teach and use at least 2 agreed upon strategies, such as Unit Organizer, Lesson Organizer, LINC, DISSECT etc… on daily/weekly basis. They will continue with the monthly training and explore future strategies to expand to their departments.

All departments will present to their departments a sample of what they are doing in their classes to utilize the SIM strategies.

All teachers will participate in walk-through protocol at least two times per year

All departments will develop Common Assessments to measure end of semester objectives for common classes.

As measured by: SIM program embedded assessments, teacher observation, movement out of intervention programs

The school will set a goal of addressing 200 students across the grade levels who may need additional services to help them achieve success. They will meet and plan for students who have been referred by teachers, staff, counselors, administrators, School Based Health Center, and others. They will address issues concerning attendance, grades, health and counseling, discipline, and those in danger of not passing the CAHSEE. They will meet on a bi-weekly basis to discuss options and address new concerns.

As measured by: Records of meetings, # of referrals, Observation, Administrative and Counseling review

4. What are your major strategies?
• Identify and provide the reading interventions (curriculum/programs) necessary to address the needs of the students scoring BB/FBB and that enter 9th grade reading 2 years below grade level.
• Determine and implement the professional development that will help the staff close the achievement gap and build capacity for SIM instruction for the above identified students.
• Develop and institute a process for monitoring the implementation of agreed upon literacy strategies to be used in all classes.

Encinal 2005/06 Single School Plan

Encinal 2004/05 Single School Plan

Encinal 2003/04 Single School Plan

Encinal High School

4 Year District API Base Data

Definitions

School Mobility Percent - Represents the percentage of students attending the school for the first time.

Parent Education Average - The average of all responses where "1" represents "Not a high school graduate", "2" represents "High School Graduate", "3" represents "Some College", "4" represents "College Graduate" and "5" represents "Graduate School".

School Classification Index - A mathematically computed index using other non academic API components to create indicator of similar demographics and school environment to be used for similar school rankings.

Disclaimer: All data has been hand created. If there are questions about the validity of the data, please contact the webmaster.

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Last modified: February 8, 2007

Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.