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?

Math learning gains and Math lowest quartile learning gains will be the focus for improving student achievement. The percentage of students who made learning gains on the FSA in Math was 65%. Within our SES band, we ranked 6th for Math learning gains during the 2017-2018 school year. The 2017-2018 Math lowest quartile learnings gain results reflect that we ranked 8th in our SES, with only 49% of students making learning gains. This was our lowest performing area and our lowest placement within the SES band. 

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?

PLCs will be scaled up to improve teaching and learning in order to increase performance within our SES band. 

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

Sea Castle will focus on scaling up PLCs which increase teachers’ comfort and expertise in targeting Tier I instruction. Specific skills to be targeted will be determined as teachers increase proficiency in analyzing data. Collaborating to identify resources to target skill specific instruction and exchanging of strategies for delivery of the lesson will be incorporated into the rigor. Support staff will ensure the PLCs remain focused on the targeted standard and taught by implementing CARE strategies in order to ensure fidelity to the bottom line objective of increasing the number of students who attain proficiency in ELA.

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

Data will be collected throughout the school year. In August, the i-Ready diagnostic assessment will be administered to all scholars in reading and math. Results of the i-Ready diagnostic assessments will yield a baseline score for each student. Students will complete an additional diagnostic at the mid-year point to track progress/learning.
During the months of August through May, common formative standards aligned assessments will be administered to determine student progress towards proficiency/mastery of standards.

In May, Florida Standards Assessments will be given to all students in grades third-fifth. Results of the Florida Standards Assessments will yield a developmental scale score and achievement level for each participant. A comparative analysis will be conducted between the participant’s 2018 and 2019 results to determine and compare academic achievement/learning gains made.

In June, at the end of the study, the i-Ready diagnostic assessment will be administered again to all scholars in reading and math. Results of the the i-Ready diagnostic assessments will yield a performance score for each student. A comparative analysis will be conducted between the August i-Ready diagnostic assessment and June i-Ready diagnostic assessment results.

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

The progress of all scholars is monitored with fidelity. PLCs serve as a forum for identifying the needs of students and the development of remediation plans to bridge academic gaps. In addition to classroom teachers reteaching and scaffolding, interventionist and small group instruction are provided for students who are not progressing towards school and district goals.

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)?

Sea Castle fosters a growth mindset environment where scholars and educators alike are encouraged to take risks in the quest for learning. Teachers share best practices and plan lessons  during collaborative sessions that focus on determining ways of providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression of learning. During observations, the UDL guidelines are utilized to monitor the effectiveness of delivery/teaching of lessons (i.e. how is the teacher supporting students to access, build and internalize learning).

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

The Balanced Literacy framework remains the focus for reading instruction at Sea Castle. Last year, teacher learning focused on interactive read alouds and shared reading. This year, there will be an emphasis on guided reading to help teachers learn instructional strategies to differentiate small group instruction. To assist in the acquistion of this goal, onsite training by a Jan Richardson consultant will be provided. This will be a yearlong journey that consists of planning, modeling, coaching and focused feedback. 

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?

To ensure students have access to a balance of literary and information text in a variety of mediums, students have the convenience of checking out informational text from our school's media center. Teachers utilize our guided book room that is equipped with magazines and collections of resources from different genres, media, and levels of reading difficulty that are designed to be supportive of the learning of readers with a range of experiences and interests. Additionally, all students have access to the Single Sign-On (SSO) portal which gives them the opportunity to use various school-wide and disctrict wide Integrated Learning Systems (ILS). 

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.

The 2019 FSA results indicated that 69% of students made learning proficiencies in Math, an increase of 7 points from last year.  76% of the students made learning gains, an increase of 11 points from last year. The FSA results also indicated that 59% of the Lowest Quartile students made learning gains in Math, an increase of 10 points from last year. The strategies that were implemented included participation in PLC's, RTI with fidelity, quarterly data chats, and alignment of VE curriculum and instruction to the standards being taught in the classroom as well as the goals on each student's IEP. These goals for scaling up our BEST practices were implemented and monitored with fidelity. As a result, we exceeded our MATH school-wide improvement goal. Which, it help raised our school score to an A.