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The Jefferson Area Plan

Providing exceptional educational opportunities for all students

Tonight’s Purpose

• Share information on the proposed Jefferson Area Plan’s framework with the Board of Education.

• Gather your insight/feedback and ideas to help inform a finalized plan for improving student growth.

• Provide our direction for future work.

Our Current Reality

• Teachers are teaching, parents are supporting, students are coming to school, yet. . .

– Student achievement is not meeting expectations

on a consistent basis.

– We have experienced four consecutive years of failing to meet state expectations.

Our Current Reality

• 90+% Free & Reduced lunch for all Molholm, Lumberg, & Edgewater elementary schools

• 80+% Free & Reduced lunch for Jefferson Area schools

• Majority of families are Hispanic

• Significant percentage of students are English Language Learners (ELLs)

School Performance Framework

School 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14

Jefferson HS Priority Improvement

Priority Improvement

Priority Improvement Improvement

Wheat Ridge 5-8 Priority Improvement

Priority Improvement

Priority Improvement Turnaround

Edgewater ES Performance Performance Performance Performance

Lumberg ES Performance Improvement Improvement Improvement

Molholm ES Improvement Improvement Improvement Improvement

Stevens PK-4 Improvement Priority Improvement Turnaround Improvement

Current Reality

0

10

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90

Edgewater Lumberg Molholm Stevens District Avg

Percentage Proficient or Advanced Students: 3rd Grade Reading TCAP

2011-122012-132013-14

Current Reality

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70

Edgewater Lumberg Molholm Stevens District Avg.

Percentage Proficient or Advanced Students: 4th Grade Writing TCAP

2011-122012-132013-14

Current Reality

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Jefferson HS WR 5-8 Edgewater Lumberg Molholm

Percentage Proficient or Advanced Students 6th, 8th, 10th on TCAP

MathReadingWriting

Current Reality

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Jefferson HS WR 5-8 Edgewater Lumberg Molholm

Percentage Proficient or Advanced Students: 6th, 8th, 10th on TCAP

MathReadingWriting

Number of Students Prof or Adv (6/8/10)

Jefferson 133

WR 5-8 170

Edgewater 46

Lumberg 51

Molholm 48 Content

3 37 19 19 14 Math

51 60 22 22 25 Reading

29 47 16 14 9 Writing

Current Reality Graduation Rate ACT Composite Score AP # Exams/% Passing Marks

(Earning a mark of 3, 4, or 5)

66.7% 16.1 143/13%

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Jefferson HS WR 5-8 Edgewater Lumberg Molhom

Median Growth for Reading, Writing, Math (Out of 300)

Behaviors (Discipline & Attendance)

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Jefferson HS WR 5-8 Edgewater Lumberg Molholm

Avg Daily Attendance (%) # of Out of School Suspensions Incident Rates (%)

Behaviors and Achievement

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Jefferson HS WR 5-8 Edgewater Lumberg Molholm

Avg Daily Attendance (%) # of Out of School SuspensionsIncident Rates (%) Median Growth (Out of 300)

What do we believe? ALL STUDENTS can learn at a high level.

We have a moral imperative to significantly change the outcomes for our Jefferson Area

students.

Jefferson Area Plan Development

Develop a Framework • Principals with

District Support

Gather Input & Additional Ideas • Staff, Students, School

Accountability Committees, Community Members

Finalize & Implement • School Advisory

Committee, District Staff, School Leadership

Key Questions

• Identify what is working – Make systemic

• Identify what is not working – Discontinue

• Identify high potential strategies & structures – Understand and implement

What will change our current reality?

People Structures Programming

Key Element: People

• Effective educators committed to professional growth, professional learning, and additional time for collaboration and learning. – “Teachers are among the most powerful

influences in [student] learning. – Teachers need to be directive, influential, caring,

and actively and passionately engaged in the process of teaching and learning.”

-John Hattie, Visible Learning for Teachers, p.22

Key Element: People • Provide additional supports for the classroom

to supplement the efforts of the professional educator as well as to provide the necessary resources for an effective multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). Securing bilingual resources will be a priority.

Examples under consideration Interventionists

Instructional Coaching Educational Assistants

Peer Evaluators Area Lead Professional Education Developer

Key Element: People • Leverage and coordinate community resources to

ensure students arrive at school ready to learn.

Student

Parent Supports &

Engagement

After School Programs

Mental Health

Community Services

Community Insight

• Support for providing more resources and supporting teachers

• Desire for more information of specific

additional resources and community resources mentioned in the plan

Staff Insight

• Desire to have a significant voice on the details of the final plan

• Concern with the waiver process and a need to better understand the innovation status process

• Ensure that additional work time includes compensation

• Essential to create incentives in order to retain and recruit effective educators for the Jefferson Area

Key Element: Structures • Create a multiple pathway neighborhood school

for grades 7-12 with a pre-college/career academy focus: Examples of multiple pathways: college prep, JROTC, career focused pathways, STEM, visual-performing arts, certificate of workforce readiness, diploma with a Seal of Bi-literacy, etc.

Advantages of a 7-12 High School

• Reduction of school-to-school transitions improves academic achievement and drop-out rates

• Evidence suggests that more grade levels per building leads to better attendance rates, self-esteem, and attitudes towards school (fewer suspensions and behavior problems)

• Allows for more collaboration among teachers

• Consolidate & maximize resources to serve students

Jefferson Area Gifted & Talented (GT) Education

Current GT Options • K-8 Options

– Center Program • Grades 1st through 4th

– Stevens ES • Grades 5th through 8th

– Wheat Ridge 5-8

• Grades 9th through 12th • Advance Courses

– Jefferson HS • Center Program

– WRHS • IB Program

– LHS • North Area Option School

– AHS

Future GT Options • K-8 Options

– Center Program • Grades 1st through 6th

– Stevens ES • Grades 7th through 8th

– Everitt MS – Grades 7th through 8th

• Advanced Courses – Jefferson HS

• Grades 9th through 12th • Advance Courses @ Jefferson

HS • Center Program @ WRHS • IB Program @ LHS • North Area Option School @

AHS

Key Element: Structures

• Establish Stevens Elementary K-6 School.

Stevens PK/K-6 Elementary School

• Re-establish Stevens Elementary School – Original Proposal

• Move Stevens to WR 5-8 Campus • PK-6 Stevens Elementary School • Relocate Sobesky Program to the Stevens ES Campus

– Wheat Ridge Proposal by Community Members • K-6 Stevens Elementary School • Move Everitt MS to WR 5-8 Campus • Move Manning Option to Everitt • Split Maple Grove ES into a Primary and Intermediate Program

– Primary on Current Campus and Intermediate on Manning Campus

Key Element: Structures • Strengthen Professional

Learning Communities (PLC).

Professional Learning Communities

PLCs are beneficial for student learning because they: • Allow time for teachers to learn together, developing

important professional skills and content knowledge.

• Provide opportunities for teachers to consider student data and analyze which instructional strategies are working and which are not.

• Foster teachers sharing effective practices and ideas.

Community Insight • Support for a six year program with fewer

transitions, more offerings, and alignment of resources

• Request for research to support the plan

• Some concern with safety and security of students in a 7-12 high school

• Desire to ensure we do not have an empty building in the Wheat Ridge community

Staff Insight

• Desire to understand the specific PLC model to be implemented area-wide

• How to schedule the work-day/work-week to include time for PLC and teacher collaboration

• Support for the purpose of moving to the 7-12

• Desire to brand the program to increase pride and enrollment (retention and recruitment)

Key Element: Programming • Academic language development (K-12).

• Expand current dual language support.

• Utilize problem-based learning (7-12).

Community Insight

• Support for extending the dual language beyond 6th grade

• Many parents are excited by problem based learning and community would like to know how this can be supported

Staff Insight

• Overall there was high degree of support for PBL. • Overall there was a high degree of support for

Dual Language. • Concerns and ideas can be used to further

develop the plan. • It appears clear that with more clarity and

definition there will be even more support of this plan.

• There were no comments that this is not the way to go or that it would not work.

Questions?

Every decision we make needs to keep students at the center.