School Improvement Plan
Issaquah Middle School
School Improvement Plan
2021-22
A School Improvement Plan (SIP) ...
- Is developed according to the Washington Administrative Code 180-16-220
- Shows evidence of annual school board approval
- Includes information that staff certification requirements were met
- Shows evidence the plan is based on self-review and participation of required participants
- Considers a collection of data over time that is analyzed to determine the focus of the plan
- Promotes continuous improvement in student achievement in state learning standards
- Recognizes non-academic student learning, what, and how
- Addresses the characteristics of highly successful schools
- Is led by the principal and the building’s Leadership Team
- Requires collaboration with the school staff and district administration
- Addresses equity (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, culture, language and physical/mental ability)
- Has action plans that are based on best practice as identified by quality research
- Is a continuous process that requires ongoing monitoring and adjustment
- Addresses the use of technology to facilitate instruction
- Addresses parent, family and community involvement
Characteristics of Successful Schools
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction identifies the following nine characteristics of successful schools:
- clear and shared focus
- high standards and expectations for all students
- effective school leadership
- high levels of collaboration and communication
- curriculum, instruction, and assessments aligned with state standards
- frequent monitoring of learning and teaching
- focused professional development
- supportive learning environment
- high levels of family and community involvement
SIP Planning
START DATE: Fall 2021
SCHOOL BOARD REVIEW DATE: March 2, 2022
PRINCIPAL: Carrie Reckling
LEADERSHIP TEAM:
The Issaquah Middle School leadership team includes a grade level leader for all three grades, a department level lead for each content area, and our ASB, PBSES, Counseling and Equity leaders.
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Carrie Reckling, Principal
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Becky Mullvain, Assistant Principal
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Matthew Eisenhauer, 8th grade leader
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Christie Santodomingo, 7th grade leader
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Melissa Miller, 6th grade leader
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Hayley Beck, Science
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Traci Brewster, Math
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Mark Dorsett, ASB
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Katie Turnley, ASB
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Mary Jobe, PE
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Daley Landon, PE
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Kristin Johnsen, LA
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Tami Mills, Special Services
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Cathy Salmon, Health
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Mari Stevens, PBSES
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Oracio Valdez, Counseling
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Julia Weed, Social Studies
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Janelle Williford, Spanish
Staff and demographic information are available for each school at the OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) School Report Card Home.
- Re-Engagement & Recovery
- Data Study
- Achievement Goals & Actions
- Supporting & Monitoring School Improvement
Re-Engagement & Recovery
This section of the School Improvement Plan describes the strategies this school used to identify and address the social-emotional and academic needs for students to successfully re-engage in the learning community and their learning path.
- How did your school identify students who may have difficulty re-engaging in the learning community or may have social-emotional or mental health wellness needs?
- What strategies did your school employ to re-engage students and address wellness needs?
- How did your school identify pre-requisite skill gaps that might prevent a student from successfully accessing grade-level or course-appropriate learning?
How did your school identify students who may have difficulty re-engaging in the learning community or may have social-emotional or mental health wellness needs?
IMS during the 21-22 school year has been a unique challenge with many opportunities to support student learning, growth and engagement in school. From the boundary changes that occurred with the start of school this year, we focused now more than ever on the importance of community, feeling like the school has a place for each student, and helping students to feel connected again after a year of remote learning.
With the help of our community, we kicked off additional supports this year to help students with re-engagement after the year of remote learning, as well as building a new community with students from a variety of areas new to IMS.
New/Updated Supports this year:
- Panther Camp 2.0 – School wide learning the first week of school and for new to IMS Students on “How to be a Panther”
- Calm Room – with support from the IMPTSA with a grant, we have converted an office conference room into a calm space with plants, a comfortable couch, pillow, blankets, artwork, fidgets and calming music and media as needed. This room has been utilized tremendously this year by a variety of our students.
- Tier 2 – Revision of our Tier 2 team, to ensure functioning appropriately. Addition of equity team leader to help with our data analysis.
- Math Class Schedules – As part of the recovery year, with so many students needing Math supports, for one year only, we dissolved the math lab class, and created additional math sections so that all students would have lower class sizes in the core math content areas.
- Character Strong Implementation – During the 21-22 year, we gained access to Character Strong and used it for school-wide Panther Camp, SEL, and other supports. This year, we introduced it widespread with staff, and all homeroom classes use the curriculum, in addition to our ASB and Leadership electives.
- Panther Partners Pilot – New to IMS program beginning this spring, which connects individual 6th and 8th grade student mentees/mentors with support from the IMS counseling department. We found some students needed more 1:1 connection, more than WEB offered.
- New to IMS Open House
- Cocoa with Carrie – Monthly virtual meetings with IMS community to ask questions/hear directly from the administration.
Ongoing supports as established part of the IMS community:
- Most Valuable Panther (monthly)
- Weekly SEL Lessons
- Weekly E-News including Social Emotional Supports from Counselors/PBSES Coach
- After School Clubs
- Music Programs, Drama/Theater Opportunities
- Healthy Youth Survey
- Strengths Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
- Counseling Needs Assessment
- Mid trimester & end of trimester grade data
- Attendance Data
- Open Library Support Time
- Content Area Teacher tutoring after school (Science, Math, ELA)
- Where Everyone Belongs (WEB) Program for 6th graders and new to IMS 7th/8th
- Tier 1 Supports
- Tier 2 Supports
- Students of Concern (SOC) process as part of Grade Level Meetings
What strategies did your school employ to re-engage students and address wellness needs?
IMS focused on being a community where everyone belongs, has trusted staff they can connect with, and information on resources available for students, families and the greater community to help connect resources with students and families with various needs.
New/Updated supports for re-engagement:
- Tier 2 – We continued to fine-tune our Tier 2 processes and team functions this year, expanding to include the equity leader to help with data analysis. The team uses data from At Risk Indicators, teacher interventions, family feedback, 504/special services data, as well as PBSES data like forced choice, SIM forms, etc.
- Family Partnerships – As much as possible with students with behavior needs, we have partnered with parents in the process to help families access resources and data to help with decision-making and student supports.
- Meeting physical needs of IMS Students/families: We have again partnered with the IMPTSA, the Angel program, ISD Nurse’s fund, the Issaquah Food Bank, WRAP services and other outside agencies. his helps students with food insecurity, extra funding supports as appropriate, additional community supports, etc.
- Partnership with Community via a Parent Panel scheduled for our February staff meeting, developed in partnership with the ISD Equity department.
- Swedish Teen Health Partnership (part of Tier 2 team)
- Panther Partners Pilot- New to IMS program beginning this spring, which connects individual 6th and 8th grade student mentees/mentors with support from the IMS counseling department. We found some students needed more 1:1 connection, more than WEB offered.
How did your school identify pre-requisite skill gaps that might prevent a student from successfully accessing grade-level or course-appropriate learning?
Students have come to the IMS community during the 21-22 school year with a variety of experiences during remote and hybrid learning.
- Math change for 21-22 only, (dissolving Math Lab as a recovery measure)
- Transition from Math 180 and Read 180 to ELA Read/Write Lab
- Met with 5th grade teams to help with recommendations for ELA lab supports, reviewed elementary data.
- ISD PD – Just in Time Teaching, to help staff teach what is needed in the moment but keep a focus on clear standards
- Equitable grading practices – Continued IMS work
- Child-find: Utilizing Staffing Meetings and Guidance Teams as appropriate to help identify students with additional needs
- Special Services – 21-22 Recovery Services offered, designed and currently in action to help our students with IEP for lost time/growth during the pandemic learning time
Data Study
This section of the School Improvement Plan describes the use and study of student achievement data to inform SIP goals and to set learning targets to address systemic disproportionality. Targets to address disproportionality are in reference to state Smarter Balanced Assessments using the Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF), per state regulation. The most current WSIF available dates to 2019 due to the cancelation of recent state assessments. This WSIF provides a pre-pandemic baseline. Additional data available since the re-opening of schools is added to provide more current data for school improvement planning.
Smarter Balanced Assessment
Percent Meeting Standard
Sources:
2019 OSPI School Report Card
2019 5th grade & 2021 Preliminary Scores from Homeroom
Note: 2021 was a modified SBA given in Oct-Nov 2021, with no performance tasks.
Washington School Improvement Framework
2021 Measures by Student Group – IMS
|
|
All |
American Indian / Native American |
Asian |
Black / African American |
English Language Learners* |
Hispanic / Latino |
Low-Income* |
Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander |
Students with Disabilities* |
Two or More Races |
White |
|
SBA: ELA % Proficient1 |
69.9 |
|
81.3 |
43.2 |
23.3 |
50.5 |
44.0 |
|
33.8 |
72.2 |
73.7 |
|
Fall i-Ready Reading % Prof. % Approaching or above |
47.1 62.8 |
|
60.7 78.5 |
22.7 40.9 |
13.3 26.7 |
28.6 40.0 |
21.6 39.2 |
|
24.7 33.8 |
45.5 66.2 |
50.3 65.3 |
|
SBA: Math % Proficient1 |
51.2 |
|
73.9 |
15.9 |
30.2 |
27.1 |
18.2 |
|
18.8 |
51.3 |
54.0 |
|
Attendance Rate thru 10/21 |
93.0 |
|
96.0 |
88.6 |
90.6 |
89.6 |
|
|
89.2 |
92.3 |
93.6 |
*Program enrollment fluctuates during the year, this data reflects students enrolled in programs on November 30, 2021
1 SBA was modified, without performance tasks. Scores are preliminary
SBA and i-Ready data reflects the combined data from students currently in 6th-8th grade who were given the SBA and i-Ready Reading assessment in the fall of 2021.
Data Study
- Describe your SIP team process for studying school-wide, disaggregated data and selecting SIP goals.
- Describe your observations regarding disproportionality that informed your SIP gap goal(s).
Describe your SIP team process for studying school-wide, disaggregated data and selecting SIP goals.
Issaquah Middle School’s community of teachers, staff and administrators, are consistently looking at data to help support our students in all areas of their social, mental, academic and physical needs. We are continually working on our MTSS systems of support to help meet the needs of our students. Our staff are consistently using data to design classroom instruction and assessment opportunities, to identify and support at-risk students, and to help design our school wide Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 supports for our community. Our building leadership team reviews data relative to current test scores, and assessment history to finalize School Improvement Data each year, including SBA, I-Ready, and ALEKS data specifically for this school year.
Describe your observations regarding disproportionality that informed your SIP gap goal(s).
General Observations:
- Fall 2021 SBA data demonstrates a decrease in English Language Arts and Math scores when compared to historical WSIF data from previous years. Almost all student groups have shown a decrease in scores for both ELA and Math.
- Exceptions: ELA: Overall, we saw a decrease in skills when comparing historical WSIF data from 2017-2019 with the Fall SBA proficiencies. All students dropped from 78.3% (17-19 WSIF) to 69.9% (Fall SBA – ELA). However the student groups of ELL, Hispanic/Latino, Low-Income and Students with disabilities, all showed slight improvements.
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All students |
Black/African American |
ELL |
Hispanic/Latino |
Low-Income |
Students with Disabilities |
|
Fall 21 SBA ELA |
69.9% |
43.2% |
23.3% |
50.5% |
44.0% |
33.8% |
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WSIF 17-19 ELA |
78.3% |
54.1% |
19.8% |
49.1% |
42.1% |
20.6% |
- Fall 2021 Math Data from the SBA also shows a significant decrease in scores when comparing proficiencies between SBA math data, and historical WSIF data from 17-19. This decrease occurs more profoundly in all student groups.
- Exception: Students with disabilities demonstrated a slight increase in proficiency score.
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|
All students |
Black/African American |
ELL |
Hispanic/Latino |
Low-Income |
Students with Disabilities |
|
Fall 21 SBA Math |
51.2% |
15.9% |
30.2% |
27.1% |
18.2% |
18.8% |
|
WSIF 17-19 Math |
74.3% |
49.2% |
31.2% |
42.1% |
35.3% |
18.3% |
Based on this data review, we see that at IMS, there are achievement gaps for our students of color, students from low-income homes, and students with disabilities. IMS has and will continue to focus on ways to help support students from these groups. We have an active equity team that meets monthly to review data and identify ways to support and encourage student success. We partner with our Family Liaison to support families in the community and have asked for additional resources from the ISD equity department. We have established a relationship with Relative Engagement, a partnership recommended from ISD equity, to identify and explore ways that we can greater support student success with the student groups identified above. We look forward to ongoing training and opportunities to learn how to better support the students in the IMS community that we serve.
Disproportionality Targets
Identify targets for each Washington School Improvement Framework subgroup for which you have baseline data. Baseline for group sizes of less than 20 are suppressed in public documents, targets are set for all groups.
IMS looked at data from the 2017-2019 WSIF data and compared with current Fall 2021 SBA trends, to set a goal to return or improve on pre-pandemic data ranges for each student group. For attendance, our target goal for this year is to improve on past data. One of our most important learnings from the pandemic is that we need students here and with us to be able to serve a variety of needs: social, emotional, mental, physical, and academic.
ELA Proficiency Rate
|
Group |
2017-19 WSIF Baseline |
2022 Target |
|
All Students (for comparison) |
78.3% |
--------------------------- |
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Black / African American |
54.1% |
56% |
|
English Language Learners |
19.8% |
25% |
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Hispanic/Latino of any race |
49.1% |
53% |
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Low Income |
42.1% |
48% |
|
Students with Disabilities |
20.6% |
35% |
Math Proficiency Rate
|
Group |
2017-19 WSIF Baseline |
2022 Target |
|
All Students (for comparison) |
74.3% |
--------------------------- |
|
Black / African American |
49.2% |
45% |
|
English Language Learners |
31.2% |
33% |
|
Hispanic/Latino of any race |
42.1% |
44% |
|
Low Income |
35.3% |
37% |
|
Students with Disabilities |
18.3% |
20% |
Regular Attendance Rate
|
Group |
2017-19 WSIF Baseline |
2022 Target |
|
All Students (for comparison) |
86.6% |
--------------------------- |
|
Black / African American |
75.0% |
78% |
|
English Language Learners |
84.0% |
87% |
|
Hispanic/Latino of any race |
81.1% |
84% |
|
Low Income |
70.3% |
73% |
|
Students with Disabilities |
74.6% |
77% |
Achievement Goals & Actions
This section of the School Improvement Plan describes the setting of a specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented and timely (SMART) school-wide achievement goal(s).
School-Wide Goal(s)
By the spring of 2022, 78% of Issaquah Middle School Students will meet standard on the ELA Smarter Balanced Assessment.
Action Steps. What research-based strategies will be implemented to achieve school-wide goals?
This one-year student achievement goal builds upon our previous SIP goals focused on improving literacy skills in students. Student data for Fall 2021 ELA SBA data shows students achieving at 69.9% proficiency rate at that time. Our goal is to increase to 78% proficiency for all students by the end of the 21-22 school year.
Our approach to accomplishing this goal includes:
- Specific learning opportunities focused on literacy through implementation and skill-building in the i-Ready resources for all grade levels
- Reading/Writing lab classes offered to students who could use additional support in literacy, based on past data, fall SBA scores and i-Ready diagnostics
- Recovery Services specifically targeting the needs of students with IEPs in their literacy goal areas
- Academic interventions for all students embedded into their ELA courses
- Co-taught ELA courses for all grade levels
- Resource ELA courses for all grade levels
- Focused PD on
- Equitable grading strategies to help build confidence, student learning, and access to opportunities for improvement
- GLAD teaching strategies
- Implicit Bias Training
- Cultural competency
Gap Closing Goal(s)
By the spring of 2022, all students who identify as Black/African American will increase their proficiency rate on the ELA SBA spring 2022 assessment from 43.2% in the fall of 2021 to 56% in spring of 2022. This is to reduce the disparity between all IMS students and all students identifying as Black/African American who scored as proficient on the ELA SBA, with the current disparity from Fall 2021 for all students at 69% proficiency, and all students identifying as Black/African American at 43.2% proficiency.
- Action Steps. What additional research-based strategies will be implemented to achieve gap-closing goal?
- Approach to gap-closing. How will your action steps address disproportionality?
Action Steps. What additional research-based strategies will be implemented to achieve gap-closing goal?
Our approach to accomplishing this goal includes:
- Equity team will ongoing use data to identify areas of need and help guide decisions around resources/needs/PD opportunities. Equity team will also specifically look for students of color to be encouraged to register for advanced courses.
- Tier 2 team will continually analyze data to discuss interventions, supports and resources for students
- Administration team will share data from SWIS and behavior and discipline data with Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams, which can be analyzed by student subgroup, to identify areas of need for Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports system-wide
Approach to gap-closing. How will your action steps address disproportionality?
With the fall 2021 boundary change at IMS, we have seen a more diverse student population appear as part of our feeder pattern and attendance areas. We welcome this shift and are actively seeking ways to support the students of color in our school and work with families as community partners. We have invited families into staff meetings to share their experiences as part of a parent panel. We have actively promoted creative solutions to behavior and discipline discussions with students and their families. We have focused our staff PD and student homeroom and leadership experiences around the use of the “Character Strong” curriculum, which focuses on the importance of building relationships of trust between all community stakeholders. By making this relationship focus a priority for all our IMS students, we work to embed strategies and resources into our Tier 1 system to improve the experiences of all students at IMS.
Supporting & Monitoring School Improvement
This section describes the supports and monitoring of school improvement plan efforts.
- Professional Development. What professional learning activities will be needed to support the successful implementation?
- Resources Available. What existing and new resources will be used to accomplish the activity?
- Technology. How is technology being used to facilitate instruction?
- Family Engagement. How will you inform and engage families regarding your SIP goal(s)?
- Monitoring Effectiveness. What on-going artifacts or evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning?
Professional Development. What professional learning activities will be needed to support the successful implementation?
Starting at the IMS Building days in August and throughout the monthly staff meetings that are held, we focus continually on supporting students through positive relationships. This year, we have included lots of discussion and training on how to support one another within our community, how to connect with struggling students with academic, emotional, or behavioral needs, as well as engaging with ongoing conversations to help IMS be a community where students of all backgrounds feel welcome, valued and supported. Through our monthly PD opportunities, we have continued to support this focus through best practices, equity work, and supporting our community creatively this year as all students and staff work to rebuild our community.
All PD training for staff is modeled through the CANVAS platform to give staff an experience similar to students in the platform and to embed and model technology training and use as a community.
Summary of staff professional development for the 21-22 school year at IMS:
- August: Our Why, Focus on Staff needs, Student Needs and Community Needs, Safety – Covid measures, Character Strong training, EL-12 Grading work, Panther Camp
- September: Taking care of our community: Lunch program, counseling program, Courageous Conversations with Equity lead, Land Acknowledgment
- October: Fall Assessment Training, Safety Review, Supports Available through TOSAs, EL-12 Work
- November: Canvas Training, Equity training on BIAS, Student of Concern Process Review, Tardy solution discussion
- December: GLAD and ELL Supports, Tech Poster Project and PBSES Supports in classroom
- January: Emergency Sub Plan Design and Supporting one another
- February: Family Partnerships – Parent Panel
- March: Character Strong Refocus, Tier 1 Systems
- April: Assessment Training & Data
- May: Equitable Grading Practices as we end the year
- Ongoing Building Technology Series: This staff-led PD focuses on various engagement practices, equitable grading practices, Canvas exploration, to continue to build on technology learning and growth from previous years. Specific areas of focus this year: Canvas, i-Ready, ALEKS
- Ongoing Grade Level and Content team meetings: Ongoing specific discussions on Tier 1 supports, community building ideas, systemic behavior responses, student of concern discussions, and staff reflection opportunities.
Resources Available. What existing and new resources will be used to accomplish the activity?
IMS benefits from a strong relationship with the TLS department and TOSAs to support many areas including content and Ed Tech supports to help lead training and learning, especially in the areas of new technologies to support content areas. This year this includes Canvas, i-Ready, ALEKS, NoRedInk, Office 365 tools, and many more.
Additionally, ISD supports in Special Services, Counseling, our Swedish Teen Health partnership, Equity department, Truancy & Engagement, etc. all aid tremendously in the ongoing growth and learning that our community engages in as it moves forward.
The IMPTSA has been amazingly supportive of the needs of our IMS Staff, offering support with needed building grants, classroom grants, volunteer hours, and coffee.
Technology. How is technology being used to facilitate instruction?
Issaquah Middle School is part of the current ISD 1:1 pilot program at the middle school level. We have invested heavily as a building in the support of this program, including spreading additional computers in each classroom, so that there are extra computers available to support learning when computers are left at home, or need charging. Staff, students and the community as a whole uses technology extensively to engage one another in the learning community.
Staff: Use Canvas as a PD platform for teaching learning, receives training on ISD adopted resources including i-Ready, ALEKS, Newsela, Office 365, Canvas, YouTube, NearPod, and the Character Strong curriculum online. As a staff we use collaborative tools to support our Tier 2 teams, our Students of Concern process, and many other meetings and communications.
Students: Use technology daily to access the learning via Canvas and communicate information via Skyward. Students learn from the student lens how to use Office 365, Canvas, i-Ready, ALEKS, etc. Standardized testing for SBA test is completed only for the majority of IMS Students, and other diagnostics in core classes are completed online as well using the 1:1 computers. We have focused some of our SEL lessons this year on the need for digital citizenship, safe online habits, and reminders to take brain breaks and healthy disconnection from computers.
Community: Our community continues to be creative in accessing one another through the continuation of the pandemic, continuing to utilize Zoom meetings for parent/staff meetings, in addition to Zoom/YouTube for community videos from the school and principal (Ex: Cocoa with Carrie, PTSA meetings, 504/IEP/Recovery Services Meetings, etc.).
Family Engagement. How will you inform and engage families regarding your SIP goal(s)?
The IMS 21-22 SIP plan will be shared with the community via a general membership PTSA meeting, via our e-news. The school administration welcomes ongoing feedback from the community relative to IMS practices and protocols via meetings, emails, phone calls, etc., as well as offering anonymous surveys in e-news for families to have a way to offer feedback without attaching their names.
The IMPTSA and the IMS Staff have an ongoing supportive connection, with 2 staff liaisons serving on the IMPTSA board. We welcome the support from our family community in helping IMS meet goals.
Monitoring Effectiveness. What on-going artifacts or evidence will be gathered to show this activity is making a difference in student learning?
IMS analyzes data in a variety of ways to help support goals and monitor progress in student learning. We are continuing to support MTSS strategies via our Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams and look forward to consistent growth and support in that area. The IMS Equity team uses data to analyze the needs of the school and recommend topics for discussion at the leadership team and administration levels. The IMS Building Leadership team reviews SIP goals, SBA data, i-Ready data, and other school-wide data systems. Through our MTSS strategies, we continue to use staffing meetings, guidance teams, 504 meetings, IEP meetings, attendance intervention meetings, and other partner opportunities to discuss and meet student needs.
Additionally, we will use the data that we have as we design the master schedule for the 22-23 school year based on student needs and interests.