MSDE has set targets for all schools and districts based on NCLB guidelines and requirements. Maryland school districts set goals that comply with state goals and any other goals they believe are priorities. Maryland schools must identify their individual school objectives based on the district goals and their data analysis results. Though many, if not most, schools develop three to five year plans, schools still choose annual objectives that would lead to the attainment of the goal. Attainment of the AMO (Annual Measurable Objective) will be the evidence for meeting AYP. Schools must also identify the data they will collect throughout the year to monitor progress toward the objective.
After you have identified your school improvement goal, the team must select the best strategies to accomplish the goal. You should base your selection on the key processes that need to be in place and the problem clarification findings. You also need to identify the individuals or groups that will be responsible for implementing these strategies and collecting or submitting the monitoring data. At this point, the plan becomes an action plan.
Strategies are an enormous investment of resources (both time and money), so school teams will want to be rigorous in their evaluation and selection of school improvement plan strategies to ensure a wise investment. Choosing too many strategies will overwhelm and exhaust staff.
Some schools choose a strategy to identify those students who did not meet satisfactory standard and to address their needs through remediation. This may increase individual students' scores, but it does not necessarily improve the quality of the instructional program. With this strategy, remediation may become an ongoing need, whereas a change in the way instruction is delivered may address future student needs in a more systematic way.
When you have completed your plan, you may want to use the self-evaluation or peer review process to make sure your plan addresses your critical needs.
