Shannon+Burns-Casimier

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As the manager and change agent, I will seek the approval of my Principal. Mrs. Stascia Hardy and the two Assistant Principals, Dr. Amy Loskoski and Mrs. Selina Gillans.
 * Tentative** **Budget**
 * The Manager as Change Agent**


 * Financial and Budget Information.** The tentative budget for my intervention strategy will consist of purchasing 12 kits of the Star Reading 50-Student Expansion Software/Hardware bundles at a price of $1,788 and 12 of the Star Math 50-Student Expansion Software/Hardware bundles at a price of $1,788. These products can be viewed at Renaissance Learning Website @ []. A Renaissance Consultant will conduct a series of training workshops on site at West Chatham Middle School to ensure that all teachers and other staff members’ needs are met to implement the new software/hardware. The training workshops will be held August 13th thru August 16th. This information can be viewed at []. All teachers and staff members (5) will be provided with $150 stipends for their participation in the training. The remainder of the allotted funds ($674) will be placed in a Response To Intervention account to purchase other miscellaneous products/items necessary for the RTI process.

The summative evaluations will assist the Principal, the RTI Committee, and parents in conducting formal and informal conferences to determine if the RTI program is meeting the needs of the students.
 * Project Assessment.** The objective of this Response to Intervention strategy is to improve the academic performance of the students at West Chatham Middle School. Math and Reading Teachers will use progress monitoring tools to assess the students’ performance using the Renaissance Learning’s Star Reading and Star Math program. The Math and Reading Teachers will use the data collected from the progress monitoring tools to determine each students’ growth to ensure their deficits are met within the RTI program. This data will indicate if the students are making the adequate progress necessary to close the gaps in the students’ academic performance.

The three intervention strategies that I chose to propose to my organization are the following: The low end intervention strategy provides opportunities for the teachers and other staff members to focus on the students’ strengths while developing their weaknesses in the areas of basic reading and math skills. Without basic reading and math skills, majority of the students at West Chatham Middle School (WCMS) struggle to master grade level standards and perform poorly on local and state assessments. Those students who are identified as needing extra assistance in the areas of reading and math will be placed in a different setting to receive extra instructional support. Only those teachers who are assigned to work with these students will track their academic progress to ensure that the interventions are indeed assisting them in developing those basic reading and math skills. Of the three intervention strategies, I have chosen to use the low end intervention. This intervention will better assist those students in improving and developing those deficits in basic reading and math skills. Once students are identified with deficits in one or both areas, they will be place in the Basic Skills Classes, and teachers can better accommodate those students’ learning styles and meet their needs. Students will be progress monitored on a weekly basis, and interventions will be implemented to ensure students are being challenged and successful. Only those Certified Reading and Math Teachers who are assigned to the Basic Skills Classes will deliver instructional information to the students. Hopefully by choosing this intervention, the moral of the teachers and staff members will not be affected.
 * Justification for Intervention Strategy**

The middle end intervention strategy will provide opportunities for the teachers and other staff members at WCMS to attend continuous trainings throughout the school year in order to gain a better understanding of how to implement new technology devices and software programs into their classroom curriculums. Using a blended curriculum within the classrooms will allow teachers and other staff members to meet their students’ needs. Teachers will be able to differentiate their lessons, class/homework assignments, assessments, and class discussions that will accommodate each of their students’ learning styles. If teachers and other staff members are unaware of how to effectively implement the new technology devices and software programs, the performance gap of the students at WCMS will continue to soar. If WCMS chooses to use this strategy, the moral of teachers and other staff members may be affected due to feeling overwhelmed with their workload of duties and responsibilities.

Although the middle end intervention strategy will provide opportunities for the teachers and other staff members at WCMS to attend continuous trainings throughout the school year in order to gain a better understanding of how to implement new technology devices and software programs into their classroom curriculums, teachers and other staff members may feel overwhelmed with attending these training sessions. In order to attend the necessary the continuous training sessions to effectively implement new technology devices and software program, staff members may lack motivation due to the change within the schools. Their daily schedules may be longer, and may require them to work before, after school, and on Saturdays. Majority of the staff members have other part-time jobs or other priorities outside of the school which will conflict with attending the training sessions. As a result, the moral of the school may or may not be affected due to the staff members’ of duties and responsibilities.

The high end intervention strategy will provide the school with a computer lab which houses a classroom set of 30 Notebooks, Tablets, and/or IPads with access to the reading and math software applications. Teachers and other staff members will periodically rotate their classes into the computer lab to access the technology devices. If WCMS chooses to use this strategy, teachers and students will lose valuable instructional time. At this present time, the daily schedule does not permit time for the teachers to access the computer lab on a regular basis due to pacing guides used in each content area. Teachers are allotted a certain amount of time (days/weeks) to teach specific standards, and if those standards are not addressed in a timely manner, students will not perform well on the district’s Quarterly Assessments (QA). Each school within Savannah-Chatham Public School System is evaluated on how their students perform on the QAs. Of the three intervention strategies, I selected to use the low end intervention strategy to resolve the students’ performance gap at WCMS. This strategy will be the most cost efficient for the school, and if implemented effectively teachers will use the Universal Screening Tool to identify those students who need extra support in developing basic reading and math skills. Once the students are identified, those students will be scheduled for “special classes” to receive small group and/or one-on-one instructional support in developing those skills. Only those teachers who are assigned to the “special classes” will be responsible for delivering instructional information, implementing math and reading strategies, and tracking/collecting data on those students. Those teachers will meet with the Response To Intervention (RTI) Committee, along with the school administrators, on a weekly basis to discuss the students’ data and interventions of the program. Using this strategy will alleviate other classroom teachers and staff members feeling overwhelmed with having to adjust their schedules to teach basic reading and/or math skills; instead, they will have more opportunities to focus on teaching their content standards and meeting the timelines of their pacing guides. Please click the attached link to view WCMS’s Report Card for the 2010-2011 school year [].

Since the high end intervention strategy will provide the school with a classroom set of 30 Notebooks, Tablets, and/or IPads, teacher must implement instructional time within the school day to access the computer lab. With over 1100 students enrolled at WCMS, teachers will not have an opportunity to effectively use the technology devices and software programs on a weekly basis. To ensure progress is monitored, students must utilize the program at least once a week. Statistics show that students tend to improve their basic reading and math skills if they receive hands-on practice and reinforcement regularly. If WCMS chooses to use this strategy, teachers and students will lose valuable instructional time. Teachers will also be required to meet deadlines with pacing guides for teaching content area standards. As a result, teachers and other staff members will be reluctant to change within WCMS, and this may cause division or tension among administrators and other staff members.

__**Project Manager**__ As a change agent and project manager, I will contact a Renaissance Learning Consultant (the company who produces the Reading and Math Software Programs) to acquire information about the software programs. I will place an order for all materials needed for implementation of the Reading and Math software programs, and I will schedule all training workshops for those staff members who will be implementing the new programs. Once students have been screened and identified for the Basic Skills classes, I will contact their parents to inform them of the new programs and Basic Skills classes. Upon obtaining parent's permissiom to place their child into the Basic Skills classes, each student will receive a new schedule to participate in the new program. I will hand select 2 Certified Math Teachers and 2 Certified Reading Teachers to deliver instructional information for the Basic SKills classes. I will attend all training workshops with those teachers who are involved in the implementation of the new Basic Skills classes. I will also ensure the new Reading and Math software programs are aligned with the needs of our students. I will attend the weekly meetings with Basic Skill teachers to discuss each student's progress monitoring and make changes to class interventions within the program, if needed. If any issues occur within the software program system, I will contact a consultant from Renaissance Learning. As an incentive for those teachers who work within the Basic Skills classes, I will conduct monthly raffle drawings for $50 gift cards to various establishments within our community. Hopefully, this will motivate the teachers as well as show my appreciation for their hadrwork and determination in putting the needs of our students first.

Resource management techniques: The Reading and Math Basic Skill classes will use software programs called Star Reading and Star Math. The four teachers will progress monitor each student’s progress on a weekly basis. I will meet with all four teachers once a week to discuss the Reading and Math software programs, students’ progress monitoring, and which interventions are being used within the classes. Delivery system management techniques: The four teachers and I will attend training workshops provided by a Renaissance Learning Consultant. The consultant will install all technology and software materials within the four classrooms and also provide step by step instructions to implementation of each program. Teachers will learn how to use progress monitoring information to track each student’s progress in their class. This data will be documented and discussed each week to ensure each student is improving in his/her deficit area(s). Information management techniques: The data collected within each Basic Skills classroom will be documented and discussed each week. This data will indicated if the interventions that are being used are working, or if interventions need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the students. Reference Chevalier, R. D. (2007). A manager's guide to improving workplace performance. New York, NY: American Management Association. Januszewski, A. & M. Molenda. (2008). Educational technology: //a definition with commentary//. New York, NY: Routledge.

Module 3


 * The low-cost strategy that would meet the minimum needs to solve the performance gap at West Chatham Middle School would be for my Principal, Mrs. Stascia Hardy, to purchase a Unviersal Screening Tool for the areas of Reading and Math. This tool would be used to screen all the students within the school, and also identify those students who are struggling with basic reading and math skills. By identifying which students who need extra support in reading and math, the teachers would be able to place these students in the correct classes to address those skills. Students will be tracked each week to ensure the interventions used are addressing the needs of the students.


 * The medium-cost strategy that would resolve the performance gap over several years' time is for Mrs. Hardy, the Principal at West Chatham Middle School, to provide all teachers and other staff members with continuous training throughout the school year in the areas of technical support with new software/devices, reading, and math strategies and curriculums. Providing all staff members with continuous training sessions will ensure that any concerns, questions, and technical issues will be addressed in a timely manner. This will also provide support for those staff members who are reluctant to implement new technology and software applications within their classroom curriculums.


 * The high-cost strategy that will give much more flexibility within West Chatham Middle School is to provide a classroom set of Notebooks/Tablets or IPads with access to the reading and math software applications. Teachers will have an opportunity to differentiate instruction and lessons for the students that will address each students' needs and their learning style. Students will have an opportunity to access the devices throughout the school day.

__Problem Summary__**:** Majority of the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who attend West Chatham Middle School, especially students who participate in the Exceptional Needs Program, are either reading below grade level and/or have not learned how to use/develop basic reading comprehension skills and math skills. To address the students' needs and improve the performance gap of the students within the school, the development of the Response To Intervention (RTI) Program will enable faculty and staff members to use the best (researched) practices/strategies within the educational field to challenge all students in developing higher-order thinking skills as well as develop basic reading skills, reading comprehension skills, and basic mathematical skills. The Response To Intervention (RTI) Program will assist faculty and staff members in using strategies, interventions, and technology devices/software to address the needs of all the students as well as increase the school's academic/behavioral performance.
 * Module 2**


 * Actual Current Performance: The 6th, 7th, and 8h grade students who attend school at West Chatham Middle School are unable to read on grade level instructional information (reading below grade level), and they have not developed an underatanding of basic math skills.**
 * Desired Performance: For all students to develop basic reading skills, reading comprehension skills, and basic math skills.**
 * Performance Gap: Majority of the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who attend West Chatham Middle School are currently reading below grade level, and they have not developed basic reading comprehension skills and basic math skills.**
 * Cause Analysis: There are several reason for the performance gap at West Chatham Middle School. The following are the reasons for the performance gaps: (1) Students are not developing the basic reading and basic math skills before leaving elementary schools, (2) Although students are lacking these basic reading and math skills, they are being promoted to the next grade level, and (3) With the increase class size, teachers and other staff members are not able to address all the needs of their students within the classrooms.**

__**Name of Organization**__: West Chatham Middle School
 * Module 1**
 * The Organization’s History and Background, Part 1**

__**Problem Summary**__: Majority of the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who attend West Chatham Middle School, especially students who participate in the Exceptional Needs Program, are either reading below grade level and/or have not learned how to use/develop basic reading comprehension skills and math skills. To address the students' needs and improve the performance gap of the students within the school, the development of the Response To Intervention (RTI) Program will enable faculty and staff members to use the best (researched) practices/strategies within the educational field to challenge all students in developing higher-order thinking skills as well as develop basic reading skills, reading comprehension skills, and basic mathematical skills. The Response To Intervention (RTI) Program will assist faculty and staff members in using strategies, interventions, and technology devices/software to address the needs of all the students as well as increase the school's academic/behavioral performance.

__**Background of Organization**__: West Chatham Middle School (WCMS) is located in Pooler, Georgia. West Chatham Middle School is a one of the middle schools within the Savannah-Chatham County Public School Systems located in Savannah, Georgia. West Chatham Middle School was built and established in 1999. West Chatham Middle School's is an urban school whose enrollment has increased tremendously over the past 13 years due to the development of communities and businesses within the surrounding area. West Chatham Middle School has approximately 1100 students who are currently in 6th, 7th and 8th grades. West Chatham Middle School's faculty and staff members pride themselves on the school's mission and vision which is "To ignite a passion for learning and teaching at high levels" and "From school to the world: All students prepared for productive futures". Each year, West Chatham Middle School receives an Annual Yearly Progress report which determines if the school has made yearly progress within the goals stated in its School's Accountability Plan. For the past two years, West Chatham Middle School has not met the criteria of meeting AYP. At this time, the administrators, faculty, and staff members of West Chatham Middle School are in the process of implementing different academic/behavioral programs to ensure all students are being successful in their studies. The school's website is located at [|West Chatham Middle School].

__**Stakeholders and Decision Makers**__: The stakeholders are primarily the students who attend West Chatham Middle School. With the support of parents and community leaders, the faculty and staff members will be the people who will implement the changes within West Chatham Middle Shool. The Prinicipal, Mrs. Stascia Hardy, and the Assistant Prinicipals, Dr. Amy Loskisko and Mrs. Selina Gillans, will make the final decisions as well as the recommendations for the implementation of the Response To Intervention (RTI) Program.