Report to the KSD Board

June 9, 2010

Provide Kent School District the necessary guidance and assistance to create an equitable, academically enriching, safe, and welcoming school environment for all students, their parents and guardians, and the community.

Goal: Ensure proportionate access to and participation in highly capable, honors, advanced placement and International Baccalaureate classes

Focused Groups:

Students: Begin reaching students in elementary school with important information

Families:Break down language barriers and create effective communication

District Staff:Increase awareness of underrepresentation in AP/IB and honors classes

1. Increase Student AchievementEach and every KSD student will meet high standards and achieve at high academic levels in preparation for success in college, career, and civic life.

7. Demonstrate Leadership for SuccessKent School District will demonstrate proactive, supportive, accountable, reflective, and distributive leadership practices.

8. Collaborate Through PartnershipsAs a means of promoting student success and well-being, the Kent School District will increase the number of authentic internal and external collaborative partnerships.

Students:Provide an informative student prospective on the positives and benefits of taking Honors and AP/IB classes

Parents:Offer a Parent Night to discuss Honors/AP/IB opportunities and benefitsMake connections with community outreach groups to strengthen relationships and increase awareness about AP/IB/Honors

District:Staff training to raise awareness of underrepresentation of student groups in Honors, AP and IB coursesFocus on increased expectations and critical teacher reflections on student abilities and expectations for all students

Students:• Inform school leaders, ensure school participation• Investigate transportation costs

Families:• Initiate communication between outreach groups and

families• Encourage participation at meetings/sessions

District Staff:• Support /develop building-wide

staff training for staff• Secure funding for training

Goal: Ensure culturally relevant curriculum and instruction is being applied for all students

Strategy: Embed cultural relevance as part of curriculum and instruction

Initial Plan of Action:Create a research-based rubric that defines levels of culturally relevant curriculum and instruction

1. Increase Student AchievementEach and every Kent School District student will meet

high standards and achieve at high academic levels in preparation for success in college, career, and civic life.

3. Provide Quality And Innovative Learning Environments

Kent School District will provide equitable access to quality instruction through innovative learning environments that stimulate thought, promote skill development, and accelerate learning for each and every student.

Gather qualitative data to discern why school is and is not working for different ethnic groups

Identify students of different ethnic group and gender that are doing well and struggling in school

Conduct focus groups with the various ethnic groups to discern what next steps ADE can take to help ensure culturally relevant curriculum and instruction for ALL

Hispanic Boys No guidance on college plans – concerned about cost Need classroom directions repeated but afraid to ask for help

Hispanic Girls Family commitments cause them to be late to school Value relationships with teachers/adults

Pacific Islander Girls Family is instrumental in their success

African American Boys Having someone to check in on them is important

Native American Girls Missing tools (Computers, printers, access to the Web) Family life/commitments and no future goals

Native American Males Difficulty blending their culture into school

Mobilize teams to conduct Focus Group interviews in the community and at additional schools

Create an action plan to increase parental involvement education

Host forum(s) with Business and Community to share critical school success information

Goal: All incidents of discrimination and harassment at each building that violate the zero tolerance policy should be reported to a designated person at that site in addition to the KSD Title IX Officer.

1. Increase student achievementEach and every KSD student will meet high standards and achieve at high academic levels in preparation for success in college, career, and civil life.

3. Provide quality and innovative learning environmentsKent School District will provide equitable access to quality instruction through innovative learning environments that stimulate thought, promote skill development, and accelerate learning for each and every student.

Create a process where students and families can safely communicate behaviors that may be discriminatory or harassing

Define and develop a consistent process for administrators to determine what constitutes a violation of the zero tolerance policy

Support the district in adopting a K-12 Bullying and Harassment Curriculum with an instructional delivery model with defined intervention strategies for teaching replacement behaviors

Support the district in creating a standardized communication format for informing families and tools for reporting incidences

Support the district in creating a standardized definition of and procedures for reporting zero tolerance incidences

Explore and adopt a K-12 Bullying/Harassment Curriculum.

Secure input and approval on standardization of bullying/harassment reporting procedures and documentation for implementation in 2010-2011

Provide ongoing professional development support to train staff on recognizing bullying/ harassment and using district forms

Strategy: 

Identify resources outside of the traditional process that create accesses to a broader pool of candidates and incentives to attract those candidates

2. Attract and Retain Quality Personnel

Kent School District intentionally seeks and retains quality staff members who reflect the diversity of our community and contribute to the fulfillment of our vision within a culture of respect and collaboration.

Invest in our own

Community investment

Continuing education

Recruitment incentives

Visibility

KSD recruitment & retention

strategies

Partner with PSESD to identify grant writer

Research grant opportunities Hire a District grant writer

Provide support for marketing and outreach campaign

Provide support for implementation of a strong retention plan

Questions

ADE Website: Alliance for Diversity & Equity