School Improvement Plan

What is a School Improvement Plan?

A School Improvement Plan (SIP) is a strategic blueprint that schools use to enhance student learning and improve educational practices. It outlines specific goals for improvement, actions to achieve those goals, and methods for measuring progress.

Key Points of a SIP:

Goals: Clear objectives the school aims to achieve to enhance student outcomes.
Actions: Steps and strategies the school will implement to reach its goals, based on research and effective practices.
Monitoring: Regular review of progress with adjustments made to ensure the school stays on track toward its improvement objectives.

The purpose of a SIP is to provide a clear roadmap for schools to improve educational outcomes for all students, particularly focusing on eliminating disparities and ensuring equitable opportunities for every student.

Every school in Washington State is required to have a School Improvement Plan.

Monitoring and Adjusting:

A SIP is not set in stone. It's reviewed regularly, with progress monitored against the set goals and activities adjusted as needed to stay on track toward improvement.

Visit the Issaquah School District SIP website to learn more about SIPs.

District - School Improvement Plans

Achievement Goals

By Spring 2024, 87% of all students at Briarwood will meet standard on ELA/Reading as measured by ELA SBA and i-Ready Diagnostic.
By Spring 2024, 80% of students who scored below benchmark in the fall of 2021 will meet their annual stretch goal measured on the i-Ready Reading Diagnostic.

Guiding Questions

Reflecting on previous action plans

What actions were successfully implemented?

We had several action plans focused around professional development in reading. During the 21-22 school year, this was our main focus during PD. Our Instructional Coach focused her time on Reading Foundational Skills, incorporating information about the recent laws and best practices while training staff on our new curriculum. Every grade level was up and running with Success Blocks by the end of January. Prior to this incredible lift and in addition to all the PD, teams met in data groups to go over every student. Students were called by name and discussed what program they qualify for and what level would best fit their needs. Each student then participated in differentiated Success Blocks at their level to address Foundational Skills and areas of need/growth – implementing Words Their Way (WTW), Really Great Reading (RGR), Benchmark and Haggerty. Teams divided up all grade level students based on individual reading levels assessed by the spelling inventory for the Words Their Way program. Most teams decided to split the students amongst each other, similar to a “walk to” model.
In addition to our focus around Foundational Skills, we also held PD on small group differentiated instruction (in both reading and math) and how to use some of our new tools as well as our prior adopted curriculum to help with these groups. Our Instructional Coach not only taught large group PD, she also met with grade level teams as well as individuals seeking help with differentiation.
Our Tier 2/3 meetings and systems continued to develop. Each student that was brought up to the staffing team was brought through Tier 2 first. We refined paperwork and protocols so that we have a consistent, functioning system. This includes 6-week intervention cycles for students who are struggling.
Student Learning Plans and growth goals were shared with parents and students, per the Literacy Law.
Regular review of attendance and student growth data was done at Tier 2/3 meetings in efforts to provide interventions to reduce barriers to student success. Attendance concern notices were sent and several meetings were held resulting in more interventions/incentives being put in place to support families.
i-Ready diagnostic was implemented school-wide. PD was held in large and small groups regarding using i-Ready as a tool to teach, goal-set and self-monitor.
Building GLAD Leaders held several PDs regarding strategies that many could use with their students in reading, math and general topics.
Recovery services were held for many students with great success.

What was observed? What evidence did you use to determine impact?

A significant impact of all of our reading PD was that fact that teachers used each curriculum. Many teachers switched students. Data was reviewed again and small changes made. Based on program data, many students made gains and advanced within the programs.
78% of students at Briarwood were on grade level (early, mid, or above) Spring 2022 in i-Ready Reading. Our students have shown growth over the year in phonics with our WTW adoption and RGR groups. Success Blocks have served as a great tool for all students to access phonics instruction at their level. Most classrooms are using guided reading groups and comprehension strategies to support our learners in reading.
Tier 2/3 work helped us determine some areas where small group instruction was not as strong and we were able to use our Instructional Coach to work with a couple of teachers to increase their strategies and comfort level around these groups.
Leadership Team feedback helped us determine pacing, where teams were in terms of adopted curriculum and where they may need support or coaching.
Improved IEP goal progress with several students showed us that some Recovery Services were having a great impact.

How did actions impact disproportionality and equity?

80% of our students from 1–3+ grade levels behind from their baseline level in the fall of 2021 on the i-Ready Diagnostic had met their annual typical growth by spring 2022.
Our data protocols and MTSS process allowed us to analyze data on each and every one of our students multiple times with multiple data points in reading. This ensured that no student was overlooked. Plans were built for each student who qualified for Tier 2/3 supports.
Since returning fully from COVID-19 protocols, our full attendance procedures are back intact. This allowed us to partner with more families around access and barriers to school.
Our Tiered System incorporates the MLL Matrix at the early intervention stage allowing us to deeply analyze the needs of students qualifying for MLL and not making progress. This matrix also helps us put targeted interventions in place at school and communicate with and support the family.
We partnered with community resources such as, Treehouse, VOICE, CPS, Swedish, etc. to best support our most at-risk students.

What actions would you continue or change?

Our reading PD focus for the 22-23 school year includes sustaining Success Blocks and differentiated instruction while adding in comprehension strategies and resources.
Continue data teams and Success Blocks in reading.
Continue use of i-Ready Reading and Math.
Continue to analyze and develop Tier 1/2/3 practices.
Specific coaching has decreased due to the elimination of Instructional Coach and PBSES coach.
Recovery services were complete on all students except 4. These continue this year.

Backed by Data

Schools use multiple data sources to inform their planning. Progress toward school improvement in overall achievement and disproportionality is monitored using state and district measures using a common School Improvement Data Dashboard.

Data Workbook for Elementary School

Process
Findings

Process

Briarwood’s Leadership Tier 1 Data Team reviews i-Ready reading and math data monthly. At this time, the SIP data dashboard was also reviewed. Additionally, teams review i-Ready data in data teams to determine Success Blocks. At these data meetings, the SIP data dashboard was analyzed to determine growth, goals and action steps. Last year, Leadership Team developed a three-year SIP. This was reviewed along with the data. The team agreed that while our goals are aggressive, they are still relevant and leading to great results for students and staff.

This is the second year of a three-year goal. Even though our math scores continue to be slightly lower than reading, our team felt strongly about continuing our reading focus. We have included math vocabulary, math and science reading, etc. to help improve math scores as well as reading in our SIP PD.

Findings

As we analyzed overall achievement, we found that our reading scores are steadily improving. This indicated to us that we should continue our goal and the majority of our action steps, adding new ones to continue to propel us forward. The work that we did last year in analyzing the data for all of our individual students helped us to name and identify all our students who are being impacted by disproportionality. While we recognize there is still much work to be done and many barriers, we felt that the goal and projection we are on is the best way to continue to see growth.

Throughout our work, we continued to ask why some students were not progressing at the same rate as their peers. Many factors were discovered as potential root causes. These include extensive COVID absences, continued attendance issues, intense behaviors that limit access to quality instruction, extraneous family matters, students identified through our Child Find process and those who are in our Tier 2/3 system. To help reduce these barriers, we continue to work closely with families of students who struggle to attend school on a regular basis. We worked all year with district behavioral specialists who helped us identify and put programs in place for students with intense behavioral needs. We continue to wrap around students with extraneous family matters at school and in helping to find resources outside of school. Continuous meetings were held with Tier 2/3 members to bolster our systems of supports for our students most at risk.

In addition to all of this, we recognize that there is still much work to be done and possible root causes that may not have been identified as of yet. We continue to look at individuals and ask why progress is slow and what can be done to support them.

School-Based Action Plan

Action	Implementation	Impact: Evidence/Monitoring
Most teachers wrote their Student Growth Goals around reading.	Continue PD around reading: small groups, using adopted curriculum, using book room, supplementing appropriately. Building Leaders are committed to assessing needs, developing and delivering just-in-time PD.	Exit Tickets after each PD. Time for staff to implement new learnings. Achievement Data. Growth Data. Learning/Planning.
New Title Math Program: Bridges.	Commitment to modeling Title Math after Title Reading in the way data is analyzed and used and groups are formed. Commitment to small group math time. Work during small groups in math reading and as well as skills.	Achievement Data. Growth Data. Learning/Planning.
Strengthening Tier 1 Math.	PD around math reading – math vocab, math story problems, math discourse, math conversations, etc. Use extra time that Title Math Teacher has to model Tier 1 Strategies in classrooms.	Exit slips after PD. Achievement Data. Growth Data. Learning/Planning.
Strengthening Book Room.	Clean and organize book room for maximum use. Dedicate Para time to keeping Book Room organized. Train staff on how to use book room, what is already in there and professional books that can help guide reading groups. Look into purchasing additional resources to strengthen Book Room and encourage use.	Monitor use of Book Room. Achievement Data. Growth Data. Learning/Planning.
Participate in CR-TFI.	Form small committee to participate in CR-TFI. Participate in CR-TFI. Review data in small and large groups. Develop Action Plan. Implement Action Plan.	Even though this is a behavioral tool, improving Tier 1 behavior will allow more students to access instruction and improve scores. Achievement Data. Growth Data. Behavior Data. Tier 2/3 Data and Percentages. Learning/Planning.
Math Night.	Plan and conduct Family Math Night. Emphasize the connection between reading and math.	Math Night turnout. Math Night Feedback. Achievement Data. Growth Data. Learning/Planning.
Continue to strengthen Tier 2/3 Systems.	Staff training on how to access T2/3. Adapt forms and systems as needed to maximize system. Include interventionists as experts in meetings and with help with intervention cycles.	Use of Tier 2 system. Tier 2/3 Data and Percentages. Achievement Data. Growth Data. Learning/Planning.
Attendance Meeting with families.	Track attendance closely. Send emails alerting families when attendance is becoming an issue. Train staff on when to alert Admin to attendance-related concerns. Hold Family Meetings when needed.	Improved attendance. Attendance Data. Achievement Data. Growth Data. Learning/Planning.
Family Engagement Training.	PD to staff about how and when to engage families including conference and other meetings. Encourage the use of volunteers again. Engage in activities that partner with our community: Field Trips, Volunteers, VOICE, PTA Events. Assess needs. Develop additional trainings/events based on needs. Start Watch Dogs program. Use of Site Council and PTA Board and forums.	More parent involvement in day-to-day functioning. More parent involvement in volunteering, PTA, and events. Feedback from Site Council and PTA Board and forums. Parents indicate an understanding of systems. Learning/Planning.
Parent Education.	Determine need through student behavior, staff feedback, parent feedback. Develop articles to include in weekly bulletins. Consider more family nights based on needs.	More parent involvement in day-to-day functioning. More parent involvement in volunteering, PTA, and events. Parents indicate an understanding of systems. Learning/Planning.
Continue to strengthen PBSES Systems.	Train staff, students, and parents on current systems. Train staff on the use of SWIS. Engage in calibration activities around when, what, and how to enter concerns in SWIS. Participate in CR-TFI. Hold expectation assemblies multiple times a year. Update families on systems.	Even though this is a behavioral goal, improving Tier 1 behavior will allow more students to access instruction and improve scores. Achievement Data. Growth Data. SWIS Data. Tier 2/3 Data and Percentages. Learning/Planning.

SIP Team & Final Review

Principal: Tia Kleinkopf
Site Council/PTSA Review Date: January 10, 2023
Supervisor Review: Melinda Reynvaan, January 9, 2023
School Board Review Date: February 15, 2023

Leadership Team

Julia Dorn – Assistant Principal
Belma Martin – Counselor
Dana Geist – Kindergarten
Sarah Rahlfs – 1st Grade
Kim Brousseau – 2nd Grade
Michelle Peeples – 3rd Grade
Lynn Evans – 4th Grade
Patty Horvath – 5th Grade
Abby Yahna – Title/LAP Reading
Jody Loranger – LRCI Teacher
Leilani Kollasch – 5th Grade/Equity Rep

Checklist

Action plan includes use of educational technology.
Action plan includes strategies for family engagement.
Action plan includes strategies for engaging students and/or addressing the social, emotional and/or mental health needs of students and barriers to learning
Action plan includes a school-based action to implement one (or more) of Culturally Responsive Practices, Universal Design for Learning, Trauma Informed Practices, &/or the 4 High Leverage Instructional Practices.

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