Leadership Goal

The goal of my leadership project is to increase student achievement on benchmarks and the STAAR test while allowing those who perform satisfactory to pursue other interests. All students in grades 6-8 at Berry will be impacted by the ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS program, either with additional intensive study time during the school day, or time used to pursue other interests.

How I Will Achieve My Goal

To achieve the goal of increased scores on benchmarks and the STAAR test, we will add an additional period each day. During this period students will spend thirty minutes at lunch but the remaining twenty minutes will be ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS time. During ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS time students who are struggling or have been identified by their team as needing extra help will go to an ACHIEVE teachers classroom. Team teachers will have used benchmark scores and class assessment to identify what specific standards the student needs help with. The ACHIEVE teacher will use alternative teaching methods and additional technology to help solidify students learning during ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS time. For students who do not need additional help, there will be a variety of activities for them to participate in during this time. Sixth graders are offered social time, seventh graders may choose social time or library time, and eighth graders may choose social time, library time, or computer lab time for their OPTIONS. Other activities taking place during this time are office detentions and zero hall for students who have not completed or did not turn in their work. I will work closely with my principal and the selected ACHIEVE teachers throughout the year. We will meet approximately every three to six weeks to analyze the results of the program and refine it as the year goes on. The main materials will be student testing data.

Data Supporting the Goal

Our student test data (STAAR and benchmark) supports the need for this program. Teachers want to tutor, but many of our students cannot come before school or stay after school because they do not have a ride. Offering this program during the school day will hopefully increase student success.

Leadership Opportunities
This project will allow me to lead many of the teachers on my campus. I will have to coordinate the flow of information from teams to the ACHIEVE teachers, organize opportunities for students who are not in the ACHIEVE portion of the program, assign duties to teachers for the OPTIONS portion of the program, and analyze the success or need for improvement with the core teachers.

Partners
I will not have any COHORT partners for this project, as I am the only teacher on my campus in the secondary COHORT. Preliminary List of Target Dates May 17 Met with my principal to discuss project; approval granted June and July Complete list of alternative activities for ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS time; begin discussing plans with teachers for what they would like to contribute August During staff development, give a brief overview of the program and what the options for ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS time are September Meet with team teachers to identify students who will gain the most from ACHIEVE after first benchmark is complete. The ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS program will begin approximately the 4th week of school. October Meet with ACHIEVE teachers to analyze impact on students participating in ACHIEVE. Respond to teacher feedback and adjust as necessary and able. November - Meet with ACHIEVE teachers to analyze impact on students participating in ACHIEVE. Respond to teacher feedback and adjust as necessary and able.

Outcome Assessment
The main method of assessment will be student test data did scores improve for students who participated in the ACHIEVE program? I will also ask teachers to complete a survey about the program. Examples of assessment: Comparing student benchmark data from the third week of school, the sixth week, the ninth week, and the twelfth week of school. Did overall student scores rise? Were students who started in the program released due to improvement or did they need to stay in the program? Teacher survey: Have students expressed an interest in ACHIEVE? Do you feel that the ACHIEVE program is helpful to your students? Have students in ACHIEVE shown improvement on homework and/or test grades?

Permissions
I was speaking to my principal about my upcoming leadership class, and she mentioned this idea to me. Mrs. Bibb had heard about the ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS program from another district

and wanted to implement it at Berry, but needed someone to lead. I agreed that this sounded like a program that had much to offer to our students and volunteered to step in.

Part B May 17 Met with my principal to discuss project; approval granted June Completed list of alternative activities for ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS time music practice time, zero hall, computer lab, library, outside games July Discussed ACHIEVE AND OPTIONS with the registrar making the master schedule. We discovered that the large variety of options for students would not be able to come to fruition due to staffing and scheduling. My principal concluded that we needed just four of the options zero hall, computer lab, library, and outside games and that the computer lab would only be open to eighth graders August 13, 2013 Met with team leaders to explain the options for students and discuss teacher duties. August 30, 2013 Presented the program to all students during their lunch ACHIEVE, Office Detention, Zero Hall, Social time, Library, and Computer Lab. Explained each activity in detail and how to select (or be selected) for each option. September 3, 2013 Begin ACHIEVE and OPTIONS program. Core teachers selected their ACHIEVE students based on last years test data. September 11/12 First checkpoint; revise ACHIEVE student lists.