Introduction
Spring Road Elementary School provides a student-centred learning environment that aims to improve academic performance and student’s social and emotional well-being. The school has an enrolment of 274 and an additional 4% space left for new enrolment (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2021). The 2020-21 annual report indicates poor performance from both the summative and formative assessments. The continued lower performance will likely jeopardize the school’s enrolment by ruining its reputation. Although there are notable improvements in Mathematics and English, the increased absenteeism and lower graduation rates put the school in the limelight and require a feasible plan to improve. This school improvement plan focuses on all the key areas of improvement and lays down strategies for improving the school’s score.
Specific Needs for Improvement
Spring Road Elementary School’s initial step is to conduct a need assessment. The report was evaluated on a two-pronged strategy to determine how the summative and formative assessment results displayed the unique improvement needs. A need assessment is an indispensable tool that institutions can use to understand a specific problem and offer an amicable solution to it (Klein & Schwanenberg, 2022). Spring Road Elementary school’s absenteeism rate is a formative assessment result which rose from 4.6% in 2017 to 10.2% in 2020 (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2021). The increased absenteeism is a unique need that must be addressed for the school to achieve its goal. The goals aim to eradicate all the causes of absenteeism and encourage students to have a 100% attendance rate.
Academic performance is an important summative assessment result that determines how well a school performs. The graduation rate is an important parameter that parents and sponsors can use to determine whether to take their children to school or not. Spring Road Elementary school report shows a graduation rate of 52.4% (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2021). The rate insinuates that almost half of the students perform dismally and do not achieve the required graduation threshold. The formative and summative assessment results complement each other and explain why graduation rates are low. The strategy to improve must address all the root causes of poor performance. The need assessment outcome is summarized in the graph below.
Goals to Achieve the Improvement Plan for the Black Students
The poor performance at Spring Road elementary school is attributed to absenteeism especially the blacks and the economically disadvantaged students. The higher rate of absenteeism may be due to student’s inability to be involved in school activities. Lack of student involvement in school schedules, poor or inadequate social activities, poor academic performance and health are the major causes of school absenteeism (Butler et al., 2021). The antidote to the absenteeism challenge is getting the students involved in school activities and work. Once the students fully participate in school activities, they will likely enjoy attending school. Engaging students in the learning process and other school activities motivates and increases their performance by expanding their critical thinking capacity. Students’ engagement increases the degree of curiosity, passion, optimism, interest, and attention when taught (Jie et al., 2019). Consequently, the knowledge transfer rate increases and the students perform better as absenteeism is reduced. The key SMART student engagement goals for Spring Road Elementary schools are:
- In the 2022/2023 academic year, student-teacher interaction will be increased inside and outside the classroom by developing platforms to increase communication.
- Students will be involved in personal engagement and SWOT analysis to understand themselves in relation to the world and find their place.
- In the 2022-2023 academic year, the school will increase the social activities and bonding between the students and their class attendance rate.
Interventions/Strategies
The management and staff of Spring Road Elementary School will work together to ensure that the absenteeism rate is reduced to 0% to improve school performance. The key interventions are broken down into the key areas of improvement, the people accountable for each action, the time frames for achievement, and the monitoring and evaluation to ensure all targets are achieved. Tables 1, 2, and 3 offer a breakdown of the three key smart goals to be implemented for improving school performance. Each intervention is broken down into key activities and the people in charge of the implementation plan. Further, the evaluation and monitoring process is described in detail. After the implementation of the three strategies in the 2022/2023 academic year, student improvement will be recorded.
Table 1.First Smart Goal to Improve Class Attendance for Black Students
Equity Considerations
The school is multicultural as it has students from different races, and its equity policy requires that all the students benefit from the programs. Each student, regardless of race, is given an equal opportunity to participate in the games and other activities to improve student-teacher interaction. It is prudent to note that all the games played in class must first be discussed by the teachers to ascertain that all practices and proposals are culturally responsive. Once teachers develop a positive relationship with students, the rate of absenteeism will reduce, and the teachers will have a chance to develop a positive relationship with the teachers (Galindo et al., 2022). Consequently, academic performance will increase, and the graduation rate will improve. Further, all games must be designed to meet the needs of the students and promote their well-being.
Table 2. Second Smart Goal to Improve Students Personal Engagement among the Blacks, Whites, and the Economically Disadvantaged
The smart goal aims at improving students’ behavioural, emotional, and cognitive abilities. However, equity is key to ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to develop their well-being in the discourse. Students from different backgrounds may have different beliefs, and the practice in achieving the strategy must therefore be culturally aligned. Before implementing the target objective, the teachers must impart cultural awareness and competence. The learning techniques and strategies should focus on students’ beliefs and relate to their racial identity. The games and classification must never discriminate against students based on race, gender, or background (Galindo et al., 2022). Further, the teacher must hold every student in higher esteem and diversify the curriculum to meet the needs of the students. When students feel that they are part of the class and that their presence is valued, absenteeism will be reduced, and their performance will improve in the discourse.
Table 3. Third Smart Goal to Improve Social Interaction for the Blacks and the Economically Disadvantaged
Equity in the classroom and the school is key to eliminating the barriers facing students and making them achieve their specified targets. When conducting social activities, equity must be addressed to ensure students are not disadvantaged by their race, immigration status, culture, religion or ethnicity. The implementation of social activities to improve student engagement. Unlike equality, where students are treated equally and given similar tests, equity investigates the special needs of students and offers specialized tests which are key to making the student succeed (Galindo et al., 2022). The activities conducted must therefore be scrutinized for cultural competence to improve students’ performance without jeopardizing the student’s well-being. Student participation is key from the start of the events to get them involved. When seeking responses, the teachers must use random strategies to ensure all students feel equal and be more productive in class and other activities. Further, the assessment strategies for social activities should not be fixed on one method. Instead, multiple assessment strategies must be used to ensure that different styles of learning are accommodated.
Conclusion
Spring Road Elementary school has not recorded positive results in the previous years. The analysis of the reports proved that the key cause of poor performance is absenteeism. As students miss school, their academic performance declines. The antidote to improving students’ performance is to increase student engagement at school. Student engagement is a unique way of ensuring that students participate in the activities involved in the school’s day-to-day running. The three key goals are geared towards increasing student engagement by improving the interaction between students and teachers, amongst students themselves, and personal engagement to make students understand their weaknesses and seek remedies for the same. The plan will be successful as all the teachers are trained on their respective duties, and the plan includes evaluation.
References
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Fernandez-Rio, J., de las Heras, E., González, T., Trillo, V., & Palomares, J. (2020). Gamification and physical education. Viability and preliminary views from students and teachers.Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 25(5), 509-524.
Galindo, C. L., Brown, T. M., & Lee, J. H. (2022). Expanding an Equity Understanding of Student Engagement: The Macro (Social) and Micro (School) Contexts. Handbook of Research on Student Engagement, 383-402.
Jie, Z. L., Ying, Z., & Zhao, M. Z. (2019). The correlation between students’ mathematics learning engagement and their academic performance in junior high school.Journal On Education, 2(1), 205–219.
Klein, E. D., & Schwanenberg, J. (2022). Ready to lead school improvement? Perceived professional development needs of principals in Germany. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 50(3), 371-391.
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Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (2021) Spring Road Elementary Neenah Joint Report Card, 2020-21. Neenah Joint, Wisconsin: Public Report.