MacArthur Middle School

D

PURPOSE: 7th Grade had an unusually high number of failing students at the end of the first marking period. I want to assess the data to determine possible barriers or patterns.

Aligns with SIP because the school has been targeted for missing all academic goals in 2013/2014

QUESTION: How can 7th grade be supported so that their overall class performance increases in core by 2nd marking period?

SMART GOAL: Identify patterns in student achievement that may point toward academic barriers. Support the students to overcome barriers and increase class performance in core courses by 2nd MP

A

Review grades for 7th grade 1st MP scores in all core classes.

Determine if the low grades were correlated with any other variables.

OUTCOME DATA: Measurable increase in student academic performance in 2nd MP

T

A significant variance in grade was seen between core teacher teams

NUMBER OF D'S AND E'S BY TEAM

Within the team there was also significant variance in student achievement

Percent of E's per teacher of Team 3

2 classes had substantially lower grades than the rest of the 7th grade

Students were pulled and interviewed to determine possible reasons for the lower grades

Student Interviews revealed they felt scared to approach the teacher and were not receiving support on information they had not mastered

Interviews also revealed that students did not feel comfortable in the class and that the environment was not conducive to learning

Interviewed teachers during IDT meetings and revealed belief that the problem was that the students would not turn in work and they believed they had more "redzone" students

ACTION: Consultation was done with the DC of the low teachers and interventions were put in place to provide coaching and support to teachers

ACTION: Thursday after school peer led study groups were organized to support students

ACTION: Thursday after school peer led study groups were organized to support students

ACTION: Assess data to determine if Team 3 has higher number of high referral and 504/IEP students

ACTION: Lunch groups to support students who have multiple E's

OUTCOME DATA: TBD based on MP2 final grades.

FAILING GRADES BY TEACHER MP2

Percent of students with D's and E's

A

68% of the students on one team had grades below a "C"

Presented data to AP and Principal. They spoke to staff and worked with teachers to increase performance.

TBD: % of Change in Failing grades by class

Recommendations

• Proactive strategy to support future students
• Collect interview data post DC intervention
• Continue peer mediation
• Conduct regular check-ins to evaluate throughout MPs

next time

• Conduct better perception survey
• Better track teacher beliefs
• Better data analysis to prove significance