Staff at Fulton Middle School have set goals to make big improvements in student performance for 2014-15.
Principal Chris Crane presented the Fulton School Board with the building's smart goals for the year during the Oct. 15 meeting, most of them tied to the annual MAP tests:
•To improve the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in English/language arts from 45.2 percent to 60 percent.
•To improve the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in science from 47.3 percent to 60 percent.
•To improve the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in math from 54 percent to 60 percent.
•Increase attendance from 87.5 percent to 90 percent.
•Decrease discipline referrals from 1,637 to 1,200.
At first glance, 60 percent seems like a big jump for one year, but Crane said the goal for MAP scores is "reachable" adding that the goal of 60 percent is, in fact, the minimum the school would like to achieve.
"It's realistic if you look longitudinally at where our students have scored," he said. "It's just getting that mindset."
Crane told the board that middle school staff has 30- 60- and 90-day plans to get there.
"We sat down by department and went through and talked about how we can achieve our goals," Crane said.
Key to those plans is paying close attention to students and where they are - physically and academically.
To help boost attendance, Crane said staff discussed checking students in and out; making home contact when students are not at school; team discussion and development of plans for individual students that are having attendance issues; and incentives and positive recognition to encourage good attendance.
Crane said he is hoping continuing to implement a positive behavior referral system will have an impact on the number of discipline referrals as it did at the high school - which went from 3,038 discipline referrals in 2009-10 to 303 in 2013-14.
For English/language arts, Crane said teachers are administering pre- and post-tests for each element and using those results to determine whether to move forward or if certain concepts need to be re-taught. There also is a building-wide focus on literacy, including implementation of Close Reading.
The plans for math and science are similar, with ongoing benchmark testing to determine how well students are absorbing the information serving as a primary tool in ensuring progress.
As with a previous report to the board, Crane emphasized that the school is implementing a more structured intervention time, that includes use of new supplemental programs - Learn Bop for math, an 85/10/5 model for English/language arts starting in November and Study Island, which covers all four core areas and gives teachers an idea of where a student is and where they need to be.
He said the school is currently focusing on math during daily structured intervention time, with a plan to move to English/language arts in two weeks, with students receiving help regardless of their performance level.
"It doesn't matter if they're advanced or struggling, they're going to be pushed forward," Crane said.
Another element of the plan is putting a Chromebook in the hands of every student. The middle school has used Chromebooks in the classroom for a couple of years now, but the computers had previously been distributed among classrooms, with some using them more than others. Now all students will have a Chromebook to carry around throughout the day - checked out in the morning and checked in at the end of the day - and they will be utilized in every class.
Crane said Tuesday that making that change in the utilization of technology in the classroom is in part motivated by the state's plan to eventually make the MAP tests all electronic, and in part because it provides a way to reach every student. He said he has already noticed a difference in the classroom.
"Just the engagement across the board has been amazing," Crane said. "Whether it's art or social studies or math, they're able to find resources. The teachers are able to set up a Google classroom and say "Here's the lesson, here's the work you're going to do, this is what to do when you're done and if you're struggling, here are resources to help.'"
Board member Todd Gray asked Crane during the Oct. 15 meeting whether the school has seen any improvement based on these changes - particularly the targeted intervention.
"The biggest change I see is student ownership," Crane said. I've seen more consistent and long-term changes."
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Katherine Cummins can be reached at (573) 826-2418 or [email protected].