Explain the activities in which your school will participate to increase your overall rating. Include specific details.

As evidenced in the SES Band Data, which content area(s) will be the focus for improving student achievement and why was this area chosen?

 Pines again maintained but did not improve our standing in the SES band, ranking 41 out of 69 schools.
Pines Middle School's FSA scores in the area of language arts dropped in both proficiency (by 4%) and learning gains (by 3%) last year.  Our goal this year is to make up that loss and surpass our 2017 scores by increasings 5% in proficiency and 5% in learning gains.   Civics teachers will increase proficiency on the EOC to 71% (additional 2%) after dropping by 4 points last year.    Pines Middle relies on the learning gains scores to boost our ratings.  We plan to scale up our best practices in Reading and Math to achieve learning gains of 60% of our students in those areas.  Our Science FCAT scores dropped slightly this year and our goal is to get back to 40% proficiency from this year's score of 36% proficiency.

 

What specific BEST Practice(s) will be implemented or scaled-up to improve teaching and learning in order to increase performance within the SES Band?

Teachers will continue to be trained in the use of learning stations to strategically work with small groups of students on areas of deficiency.  Teachers will receive additional coaching and training, and will use classroom visits.

With our new block schedule, students are taking academic electives (Literature, Sports Geography, Trial by Fire, NMSCC) that infuse the literacy standards.  Students complete research projects and read novels that engage them to master the standards in challenging and creative ways.

Social Studies teachers will infuse primary source documents tied to their content and increase their use of graphics, historical fiction, and periodical articles to prepare students for the increased number os FSA passages pulled from social science.

Civics teachers will 1) utilize CANVAS resources to support student learning in a blended learning environment; 2) incorporate higher order question into their lessons based on DBQs, PBLs, and R.A.C.E.

Math teachers will implement iREADY prescribed and teacher-assigned lessons weekly.  There will be a minimum of one quartrly iREADY Mastery Check TEST in class.

Science teachers are implementing STEMSCOPES to teach the standards in an engaging hands on method.

Describe in detail how the BEST Practice(s) will be scaled-up.

The use of Learning Stations will be scaled up by having the Literacy Coach and district specialists help ELA and Reading teachers strategically set their groups of students, and to manage the centers so they can work with a small group of students while others work with technology, independently, or in small groups.  This practice will also be scaled up by having teachers in the content areas also using stations to help students read, comprehend, and master their content.

the Literacy Coach works with the core elective teachers on PBLs, novel studies, and research projects tield to the ELA standards.

Social Studies teachers will work in their PLC pulling resources from AchievetheCore, Newsela, Achieve3000, the Smithsonian, and other district resources to supplement their text.
Civics teachers will be trained on and implement district resources in Canvas and in the DBQ binder.

Teachers will select STEMSCOPES lessons appropriate for their classes and tied to the standards, including demonstrations and labs.  The curriculum will be spiraled for key standards and Nature of Science will be infusted in all of the units.  8th grade students will supplement review of 6th and 7th grade standards with Study Island.

In Math our lowest level 1 students all have a Math Support class or for our ESE students a Learning Strategies class.  These students will work weekly on their iREADY prescribed lessons in class. The other students will work on their iREADY prescribed lessons away from school.  Allk students are expected to do at least 45 minutes of iREADY per week.  All students will work on iREADY teacher-assigned lessons in class weekly.

What specific school-level progress monitoring data is collected and how often?

 For ELA and Reading students FAIR scores will be checked at the end of each semester, lexile levels are monitored monthly through Achieve3000, and Reading CFAs are given twice quarterly in ELA  classes.
In Math students complete an iREADY diagnostic and minimum quarterly mastery check tests.

Science teachers use District CFAs, Study Island quizzes and STEMSCOPES performance tasks.

How does the school ensure the fidelity of students not progressing towards school and district goals?

Students not meeting mastery are remediated through small group instruction utilizing learning stations.  Students are tutored weekly before school.  Learning Strategies classes are offered to our ESE students who are struggling.  In ELA students complete the Collections tutorials, CPALMS lessons and Achieve3000 remediation supplements. 

Our level 1 and low 2 students take Intensive Reading, utilizing the Inside curriculum, Achieve3000, vocabulary.com, Newslea, and the Vocabulary workshop series.
Our higher level 2 and low level 3 students receive extra support in a Literature elective utilizing Perfections Literature and Thought, Achieve3000, and vocabulary.com.

Our low level 1 Math students have a Math support class utilizing iREADY and other supplemental materials.

Science teachers utilize the STEMSCOPES modified lesson plans to remediate those not mastering standards.

How does the school ensure that all classroom instruction is accessible to the full range of learners using Universal Designs for Learning (UDL) for effective instructional design (planning) and delivery (teaching)?

Pines Middle School moved to a block schedule to offer students more individual choice in choosing from more electives the courses they will find engaging.   In the academic electives students participate in project based learning that is relevant and authentic and fosters collaboration to increase mastery.  Students are motivated to solve real world problems and become self-motivating.  Core teachers have a common planning every other day to plan engaging and challenging lessons.

How does the school ensure Tier 1 Standards-Based classroom instruction is being implemented properly and effectively?

In ELA instruction revolves around the units and themes in Collections to ensure the students are being taught the standards.  Teachers meet weekly in the morning and during their common planning in PLCs to plan lessons and analyze common formative assessment data to ensure instruction is being implemented effectively.
Science is teaching their standards through the STEMSCOPES curriculum.
Math teachers follow the district pacing guide and meet weekly in their PLCs to plan lessons and analyze their common formative assessments.

Describe texts used for core, supplemental, and intervention programs at each grade level. How does the school ensure students have access to a balance of literary and informational text in a variety of mediums?

The core text for ELA is Collections and for Intensive Reading is Inside.  Achieve 3000 and Vocabulary.com are also used schoolwide.   We have academice electives including Literature classes, Trial by Fire, Sports Geography, Shakespeare, Drama, and Structured Games where students engage with literary and informational texts.  We have a Literature in Film class where students compare and contrast Literature from a variety of mediums.  Math students focus on academic vocabulary and do written response word problems to explain their answers to questions tied to each standard.

Please complete this section based on 2018-2019 end-of-year results.
Instructional Implications: Discuss the success of specific strategies/activities and provide a rationale as to why those academic improvements occurred as a result of those strategies.

For our ELA goal, Reading proficiency increased 5%, meeting the school goal.  Unfortunately we did not meet our learning gains goal of increasing 5%.  We did not meet our goal for proficiency in Civics, although we are still one of the top scoring schools in the County.  We also did not meet our goal to improve learning gains in Mathematics.