Data and Rationale used to Select Target Area:
The School Improvement Team has identified a target goal in the area of reading strategies and improvement of students’ reading skills. The School Improvement Team found through developing a school profile that Creek Valley students compare favorably to both state and national students in most content areas. Consequently, we were forced to look at relative weaknesses within our students. The consensus among the School Improvement Team and district staff members was that Creek Valley students have a relative weakness in the area of reading nonfiction and analyzing a variety of text. The district-wide staff also felt as though reading skills are vital to student success in a wide range of content, and was a life-long learning skill. The data supporting a reading goal include the following:
- In the 2006 testing year, 31.9% of Creek Valley 4th Graders, 45% of Creek Valley 8th Graders, and 54.5% of Creek Valley 11th Graders scored below the 50th percentile in the Reading portion of the Terra Nova. This indicates a need for additional attention in reading comprehension and application.
- In the 2005-2006 school year, 77.78% of Creek Valley 8th Graders met or exceeded Nebraska State Standard 8.4.1 in Reading. This standard addresses analyzing fictional works.
- In the 2005-2006 school year, 66.67% of Creek Valley 11th Graders met or exceeded Nebraska State Standard 12.1.8 in Reading. This standard addresses analyzing literary works, nonfiction, films, and media. This percentage is slightly lower than the 68.57% reported in the 2004-2005 school year.
- The School Improvement Team and teaching staff members could justify with data a writing goal due to low achievement in the Nebraska Statewide Writing Assessment for 11th grade, but was not warranted in the 4th or 8th grades.
- The staff recently completed two School Improvement Goals targeted at “writing across all curricular areas” and “reading across all curricular areas,” and while successful, some staff members felt hesitation to entering into another writing goal. The School Improvement Committee and teacher staff members had the desire to improve student achievement in a content area they felt comfortable in implementing in all classrooms.
- The teaching staff considered a target goal of improving spelling and mechanics in student writing. Although this would lead to a goal of writing, it was determined these particular areas were too narrow and did not lend themselves to a School Improvement Goal at this time. These may become a component of a building level or grade level goal throughout the implementation of the new goal.
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