The Fulton Schools Board of Education discussed improvement programs for the district at its Jan. 14 regular meeting. Principals Beth Houf and Chris Crane shared McIntire Elementary goals and strategies and middle school improvements, respectively.
Principal Houf presented data, collected in August 2014, about previous academic years' Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) results and what they meant for McIntire Elementary. Houf said a majority of the cohort groups had improved their scores on the MAP test from the scores of the prior year, meaning that, for example, last year's fourth grade students scored better on their fourth grade MAP tests than they did on their third grade MAP tests as a whole.
But, according to Houf, the school is "not making the growth that we (the staff and administration) wanted it to." Because of this, the idea of turnaround schools is now being used as a focus for improving the school and "creating a culture of universal achievement," Houf said. In this model of turnaround schools, the adults of the school building are all held accountable and take responsibility for student achievement. Houf said that in order to improve the school community, a few goals have to be met, striving for 100 percent staff support and, above all, every staff member must believe that all students can be proficient and academically successful. She said that in this model, "adult behavior is most important" in the school.
"We believe that 100 percent of our students will be proficient in reading, writing and math," Houf said, "and we would rather set the bar too high and miss the mark than set it too low and make it."
Because Houf believes that school culture is the foundation of what they are doing at McIntire, she said they have started a positive referral system. She added that currently there have been about 4,000 positive referrals at the school. She also said this has helped increase transparency at the school and build relationships with students and parents by keeping them more updated and informed.
Fulton Middle School Principal Crane and three other staff members - including Mary Sassser, Trish Alexander and Linda Baysinger - all presented on the proposed changes that would help improve the middle school in the areas of English/language arts (ELA), math and science - the three subjects tested in MAP tests.
One proposal is changing the schedule next year to have an increased and guaranteed 90 minutes daily of both ELA and math. There are three possible schedule changes - each somewhat unique to the other and each with its own pros and cons.
One option is a block schedule with ELA and math meeting every day and specials such as art and PE meeting every other day. Another option would have the specials meeting every day for 45-minute classes and involving the addition of two new full-time math teachers. And the third would be like the first, but allow for flexibility with teachers and include a behavior intervention time.
Among an anticipated schedule change, their strategies included implementing Structured Intervention Time (SIT) in ELA, intervention in science to improve the students' scores to a proficient or advanced level on the MAP test and utilizing Internet-based learning in math to help motivate and increase student performance.
Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Hull also commented on the MAP tests that will begin in April. According to her, the state of Missouri is no longer providing interim assessments as forms of practice for the MAP tests. This year, unlike previous years, these interim assessments will not be released, and all of the MAP testing will be completed online.
The board members also approved a final calendar for the 2015-16 school year, keeping the total number of instructional school days and hours above the state minimum requirement and average.
The next regular meeting of the Fulton School District Board of Education will be at 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 11 in the high school library.