School Improvement Plan

Implementation of Benchmark Advance Literacy

Training

• All staff will participate in ISD district training
• All teaching staff will meet on a determined schedule with the school implementation specialist
• Training parents through a literacy event in the fall to learn about Benchmark Advance and how they can support literacy at home

Teaming

Recommendation: describe how and how often teams commit to discuss Benchmark Advance assessment data and implications for implementation centered on the following questions:

1. What do we want all students to know and be able to do?

2. How do we know if they learn it?

3. How are we responding when some students do not learn it?

4. How do we extend learning when students demonstrate mastery?

Integrity of Delivery

• Use of implementation goals provided by Benchmark / Teaching & Learning Services
• Collaboration in planning the literacy blocks

Resources Allocation

• Implementation specialist (district)
• Dedicated staff meeting time to training & collaboration
• Commitment of team meeting time

Intended Impacts

• Increase in reading decoding, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension
• Increase in proficiency with grammar, writing structure, and effective communication of ideas in writing
• Acceleration of achievement in key gap areas including phonics, overall reading, written expression

Key Data

• i-Ready Phonics & Overall Reading
• Achievement of stretch growth goals / accelerated growth for students scoring below standard in fall/prior spring.
• Maintaining proficiency for students scoring at standard (level 3) in fall/prior spring.
• Progress as monitored through embedded assessments:
  • Benchmark Performance Tasks
  • Benchmark week 2 assessments for each unit
  • RFS Assessments and Title/LAP progress monitoring

Tiered Teams

Action – Combine Tier 2 Teams to create 1 MTSS team

• Use data tracker for all students receiving supports – both academic and behavior in one place
• One team to support all student needs – often needs are in more than one area
• Consistent follow up and next steps for any student in T2 (email, intervention, data tracking)

Action – Formalizing all interventions and entry/exit criteria

• 3 SWIS referrals for same behavior in 3 weeks, after 6-8 weeks of CICO determine exit or continue
• If student does not qualify for LAP supports – intervention options are increased: increased i-Ready minutes, in-class small groups, and assistive technology tools
• After tracking interventions for 6-8 weeks, have a follow up meeting and analyze updated data – determine to exit or continue

Action – New Interventions

• Breaks Are Better (BRB) – CICO is successful and consistently done with fidelity, it is time for another intervention. We see a high need for breaks for some of our students in CICO, so this is a great alternative to CICO for students needing breaks.
• Attendance – based on 23-24 historical data, 10 students have been placed in an attendance intervention for the year to improve their attendance (emails, education, and reward chart)

Intended Impacts

When we were all getting used to the system, we separated the Academic and Behavior team for efficiency. We always looked at the whole child, just at different times. Our team is running very smoothly now, and we feel we will have a bigger impact combining.

Key Data

• i-Ready Reading and Math
• SWIS
• Benchmark and Eureka Assessments
• Title/LAP Data
• Attendance Data

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) / Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

Action – Tier 1 (New BW Way)

• Implement a new BW Way that was created with input from all stakeholders last school year
• New posters, teaching materials, etc.

Action – Targeted Lessons about Character Traits

• In-class lessons about BW Way traits and Character Strong lessons, which supplement the Second Step Curriculum
• Lunchroom lessons with Admin or Counselor to target kindness and other goals

Action – Small Groups based on SAEBRS and mySAEBRS data

• Based on SAEBRS and mySAEBRS data, students will be selected to be in small, focused groups with Counselor
• Groups will target things like executive functioning, friendships, etc.

Intended Impacts

Our old BW Way was great and needed refreshing. We used all stakeholder voices to create a new one. Now, our intention is to highlight and teach these words: Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Strong, Do the Right Thing. We want to incorporate this Way into students’ whole day, including family discussions.

Key Data

• Surveys
• SWIS
• SAEBRS

Additional School Improvement Plan Components

Family engagement

ISD Priority 4

Action

• Our school’s attendance intervention system focuses on early, positive communication and personalized support to improve student attendance. We used attendance data to identify 10 families whose children had the lowest attendance records at Briarwood during the 23-24 school year. We sent emails to those families celebrating strong attendance at the start of the year while emphasizing its importance for academic success, building relationships, and life skills. We also provided tips to help maintain consistent attendance, such as establishing routines and preparing for the next day. For students reaching an absence threshold of 8 absences in a year, we implemented a fun and supportive check-in system, where students earn small prizes for 5 consecutive days of attendance. The goal is to increase the reward threshold throughout the year. This approach, tailored to individual needs, helps students stay engaged, builds positive connections with staff, and ensures that attendance challenges are addressed early and constructively. As of the end of October, only one of the ten families needed this additional intervention.
• Bulletin to families weekly that could include school news and helpful tips for supporting students at home. We will be running a series of Parenting Tips and Tricks in our bulletins this year. We are using SWIS data and staff input to determine relative topics.
• Teacher Newsletters are sent consistently to inform families of curriculum developments and classroom specific updates. Newsletters also include ways for parents to support at home.
• Meetings: Out staff is very open and receptive to having 2-Way conversations with families through email, phone and in person meetings.
• August: In August, we reached out to all new families who have students on IEP, Health Plans or 504s. We talked about the students and the school to help both be prepared for the best year. We also reached out to families of students who had challenging last school year with attendance and/or behavior.

Intended Impacts

The goal of increasing family engagement is to increase our student and family connections to Briarwood. A bi-product of this will be an increase in attendance and partnership across all areas of our school. With more partnership comes more opportunity for family voices to positively impact change in our building.

Key Data

• Attendance Data
• Weekly Bulletin
• Teacher Newsletters

Technology Integration

• Personalized Learning
  Teachers use district technology tools such as Seesaw, Book Creator, Microsoft tools, and Canva to present content in multiple ways and to allow students to demonstrate mastery using multiple means of expression. These adaptive learning platforms enable teachers to utilize Universal Design for Learning principles, which in turn help close gaps for students disproportionately impacted by one-size-fits-all instruction. 
• Access to Resources
  Teachers use tech tools to provide widespread access to learning materials, including standards-aligned online lessons via Zearn, Benchmark, Amplify, or i-Ready, e-books via Learning Ally or Sora, or age-appropriate digital research databases such as PebbleGo or World Book Online. Access to these resources continues outside the school day, removing barriers for families and allowing students opportunities for additional review and practice of new skills and concepts.
• Assistive Technologies
  Teachers use tools like speech-to-text, screen readers, and customizable user interfaces to help students with disabilities or language barriers to fully participate in learning, promoting inclusivity and equity.
• Project-Based and Creative Tools 
  Briarwood teachers utilize multimedia creation tools (Seesaw, Book Creator, Canva, Microsoft tools), coding environments (BrainPop coding, code.org), and collaborative software (Microsoft Teams, Book Creator) to give students varied ways to express learning. These foster creativity and give students from diverse backgrounds more opportunities to succeed beyond traditional methods.

Intended Impacts

• Increase student engagement in learning.
• Reduce barriers and provide access to learning.

Key Data

• Track data on learning platform/digital tool usage through Clever
• i-Ready and Benchmark Assessments to track the impact on student learning
• Tracking academic outcomes for students who are using technology as part of a tier 2 intervention