OUR TEAM IDENTIFIED FOUR AREAS TO IMPROVE AT SYCAMORE JHS TO HELP IT ACHIEVE ITS ACADEMIC GOALS AND BECOME A MODEL SCHOOL…

1. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT2. PARENT INVOLVEMENT3. ACADEMIC INSTRUCTION4. GANG PREVENTION

Making Sycamore Junior High a Model School

Sycamore’s Statistics

Sycamore Junior High1801 East Sycamore St.Anaheim, CA 92805

School Type: Middle SchoolDistrict: Anaheim Union High Website: http://sycamore.auhsd.k12.ca.us Ranking compared to similar schools: 8 Achieved API growth target: No API Score to meet growth target: 730 School Schedule: Standard Grades: 7-8 Core Academic Courses: 27

State Rank: 3 out of 101

API Score: (2011)7252

Demographic Information: GATE students: 2% English learners: 32% Reclassified as English proficient:

52% Migrant education program

participants: 0% Eligible for free/reduced price lunch:

91% Special education within past two

years: 10%

Notes: 1. The State Rank is determined by a school's API Score in comparison to all other schools in California. (1 is the worst, 10 is the best). An equal number of schools occupy each rank. 2. This rank comes from the 2011 California Academic Performance Index (API) Base report. The API Score is a number between 200 and 1000 that reflects a school's performance on statewide student assessments administered in 2011.

School-ratings.com website: http://school-ratings.com/school_details/30664316058895.html

Sycamore’s StatisticsPercent Proficient - Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs)

English-Language ArtsTarget  78.4 %

Met all percent proficient rate criteria? No 

MathematicsTarget  79.0 %

Met all percent proficient rate criteria? No

GROUPS Valid Scores Number At or Above Proficient

Percent At or Above Proficient

Met 2012 AYP Criteria

Alternative Method

Valid Scores Number At or Above Proficient

Percent At or Above Proficient

Met 2012 AYP Criteria

Alternative Method

Schoolwide 1415 576 40.7 No 1417 528 37.3 No

  Black or African

American 7 -- -- -- 7 -- -- --

  American Indian or

Alaska Native 3 -- -- -- 3 -- -- --

  Asian 14 9 64.3 -- 14 9 64.3 --

  Filipino 12 12 100.0 -- 12 9 75.0 --

  Hispanic or Latino 1344 528 39.3 No 1347 490 36.4 No

  Native Hawaiian or

Pacific Islander 5 -- -- -- 5 -- -- --

  White 29 17 58.6 -- 29 13 44.8 --

  Two or More Races 0 -- -- -- 0 -- -- --

  Socioeconomically

Disadvantaged 1339 530 39.6 No 1342 485 36.1 No

  English Learners 1081 350 32.4 No 1083 364 33.6 No

  Students with

Disabilities 154 35 22.7 Yes SH 156 34 21.8 Yes SH

California Dept of Education Website: http://ayp.cde.ca.gov/reports/Acnt2012/2012APRSchAYPReport.aspx?allcds=30664316058895&df=2m

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

First Area for Improvement

School + Community Partnerships

Low-income students who participate in structured after school programs spend more time on academically enriching activities and significantly less time engaging in unorganized activities outdoors. (Fashola 1998)

School and community partnerships may increase students’ likelihood of success by limiting academic and personal stressors for economically disadvantaged students. (Bryan 2005)

Collaborative partnerships with community-based organizations are beneficial to student academic performance (Soria 2012)

Strengthening the School + Community

Through the Anaheim Achieves Collaboration, SJH is one of 48 schools that are supposedly partnered with a community organization to provide after school care/tutoring and mentorship, and recreational activities/field trips

However, it has been reported that student participation in after school programs is low Identify student interests and pair interests

with activities that can be made available through the program (science, sports, art, etc)

Lesson plan with community partners to assure that activities are meaningful for all students

A Community Resource Specialist will be in charge of facilitating access to a variety of resources for families and students

Strengthening the School + Community

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Second Area for Improvement

Gang Prevention Program

Bullying G.R.E.A.T targets bullying within their lessons.

How Does G.R.E.A.T. Address Bullying? Role playing.

G.R.E.A.T. Families—“Reducing Bullying by Developing Personal Character”

“Families in the Electronic Age”

Parent Involvement

The neighborhood demographics have changed dramatically over the past fifteen years• 77% of English Language Learners.• 91% are socioeconomically disadvantaged

Along with the change in demographics, parent participation has steadily declined. as a result of the language barrier between the parents and

the staff at sycamore. it may be the fact that since the parents are

socioeconomically disadvantaged they may have a difficult time taking time off work to get involved or they may have other children at home to take care of.

Current Parent Involvement

Sycamore has had a lot of programs implemented to get parents involved.

Some of these programs are listed below: Family nights Parent welcome week Monthly parent meetings Parent workshops Parent conferences The Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA).

The Question Still Begs…. Why is Parent Involvement still Lacking?

lack of knowledge about the existence of these programs; opportunities are not clearly advertised to parents. the language barrierthe limited time most parents have.

Recommendations

We would suggest implementing a teacher on special assignment to create multilingual flyers informing parents of these programs.

Translators for the parent meetings. We could also offer different parent meeting

times, for those parents with difficult work schedules, and someone to watch their other children while they attend these meetings.

Incentives for participating (Gift cards, tickets to local events)

GANG PREVENTION

Third Area for Improvement

Gang Prevention Program

Middle School Components Introduction Goal Program Structure Lesson

Gang Prevention Program

Sycamore Junior High has a gap in services being provided for gang activity.

Gang Prevention Program

Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.)  Evidence-based and effective gang and violence

prevention program built around school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curricula.

ACADEMIC INSTRUCTION

Fourth Area for Improvement

Sheltered Instruction Observational Protocol

The SIOP® Model offers an empirically-validated approach to teaching that helps prepare all students—especially English learners –to become college and career ready.

As a framework for organizing instruction, The SIOP® Model supports teachers in planning and delivering high-quality instruction for all students.

It is also the model used by the Brockton HS model we learned of earlier this semester

The Eight Interrelated Components:

Lesson Preparation Building BackgroundComprehensible Input Strategies Interaction Practice and Application Lesson Delivery Review and Assessment

When implemented to a high degree, SIOP® is proven to:

Increase student achievementImprove academic content skills and

language skillsDeliver results aligned to district objectivesPrepare students to become college and

career ready

With these in mind, SIOP will help Sycamore JHS to reach its AYP goals for the school year 2013-2104 and potentially for years to come.

Teacher SIOP Training

There are several means for training Sycamore JHS teacher including On site trainings Webinars National and State Seminars

Training Team

A team of Sycamore educators composed of Department Heads, Administrators, the School Psychologist and other volunteers will become on-site experts in SIOP

They will develop a SIOP based school wide program that is specific to Sycamore JHS’s needs and utilizes the already plentiful resources available for SIOP training

The program will utilize, correlate, and integrate already existing and successful programs such as the RTI2 and College Club programs.

The SIOP team should also find useful integrations with the other proposed areas of improvement – particularly Parent & Community Involvement as these have shown statistical significance in student achievement.

Specific to the School Psychologist

The school psychologist needs to be aware of the structures and expectations of the SIOP model for Sycamore JHS.

She will suggest and make use of the strategies and interventions used in the model to assist in specializing teaching to each specific student.

She track student progress toward academic goals, keep photocopies of work, and utilize that inform and direct further development.

She will be aware of all the programs designed to make Sycamore a model school and utilize them to benefit each student which will in turn benefit the school and its goals.

References

Bryan, J. (2005). School Family Community Partnerships Can Foster Achievement. Clinicians Research Digest. 4.

Fashola, O. (2002). Building Effective After School Programs. 72-73

SIOP information. Downloaded from http://siop.pearson.com/about-siop/index.html on December 10, 2012.

Soria, M. (2012). The Impact of Collaboration in After-School Programs on Student Achievement and School Attendance. Dissertation Abstacts International Section A. 72. 3978

Sycamore JHS Statistics. Downloaded fromhttp://school-ratings.com/school_details/30664316058895.html on December 10, 2012.

http://ayp.cde.ca.gov/reports/Acnt2012/2012APRSchAYPReport.aspx?allcds=30664316058895&df=2 on December 10, 2012.