Mcnary Elementary District

The McNary Build Back Better Plan will address lost instructional time by implementing a comprehensive support system designed to recapture lost instruction time and to improve student learning outcomes and to remediate learning gaps. The following framework meets WWC minimal strong level of evidence-Vulnerable Population: The vulnerable populations to be served by this project are Native Americans, Low-income (Free and Reduced Lunch) students. Arizona's Multi-Tier System of Support formulates the backbone of this grant. MTSS features accommodate students with varying service demands including high performing students, students academically or behaviorally challenged. All strategies and activities of this grant are designed to provide adequate support for the specific needs of Native American Students. Individual student needs will be met by the establishment of a Site Intervention Team (SIT). The school principal will be the chairperson of the team. Team members will be comprised of the counselor, regular education teachers, and special education teachers. The SIT team will be provide surveillance over all students and will be responsible to ensure students are directed to the appropriate resources needed to remediate or direct needed interventions that will help each student succeed academically and emotionally in school. Project services will be delivered using three Pillars services (1) develop a culture of achievement (academic interventions), (2) develop a culture of support, and (3) develop a culture of evidence.
PILLIAR #1- DEVELOP A CULTURE OF ACHIEVEMENT (Academic Interventions):
Provide intensive, individualized support to students who have fallen off track and face significant challenges to success. Engages students by offering curricula and programs that connect schoolwork to college and careers. STRAETGY 1-Summer School (20% set aside) Responds to students' academic and social needs. Eligibility: Students performing at C average or below and/or iReady, ACT ASPIRE Assessment scores for this project, eligible students will participate in a 5-week summer school which will be designed to remediate student learning gaps and improve student achievement. Indicators includes test scores and grades. Summer school will be offered in summers of 2022, 2023, and 2024. McNary will use evidence based SAVVAS for Science, Math, Reading, and Social Science. (all purchased with ESSER II funding) for the summer school curricula.
PILLAR #2-DEVELOP A CULTURE OF SUPPORT-FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: When schools, community groups and parents (families) work together to support the learning, children are more likely to earn higher grades and test scores, enroll in higher-level programs, be promoted, attend school regularly, have better social skills, have improved behavior, graduate and go on to higher education. This component of the project will create small, personalized communities to facilitate learning, monitor progress and to support the student academically and emotionally. This pillar is based on moderate research evidence which suggests that schools scan build a culture of support by surrounding students with adults and peers who support and sustain their educational aspirations. STRATEGY #1: Tutoring (20% set aside) (see Tutoring Plan Related Documents) Respond to students' academic needs. ELIGIBILITY: Students performing at C average or below and/or iReady, ACT ASPIRE assessment scores indicate needs Tutors will use Khan Academy as a supporting platform and curriculum for small group and one-on-one tutoring instruction targeting student learning gaps. Khan academy was recognized as one of the the twelve "tech innovators who are transforming campuses" by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Through this medium, tutors and students will have access to thousands of short "how to do videos" covering Math, science, reading, and language arts, and other applications to support learning. Students needing remediation will be referred to tutoring. STRATEGY #2: Proactive Counseling (20% set aside) responds to students' emotional and mental health needs. ELIGILIBITY: All students. Counselors will use early warning systems to target eligible students. The warning system will consist of classroom performance measures such as attendance, test scores, report cards and teacher referrals. The counselor will provide assistance and refer each students to the appropriate intervention service or resources and ensure that they receive the help that they need. Proactive counseling/advising is action oriented. Rather than passively waiting for students to make contact with the counselor, the counselor proactively reaches out to students. This system that focuses on identifying the needs of students and offering appropriate intervention services to them. Counseling sessions may occur at the beginning of the school year, at regular intervals throughout the year, after predefined triggering events requiring interventions (i,e, mid-term grades, early alerts from teachers, attendance issues, to communicate important information about upcoming deadlines or activities). An important component of proactive counseling is developing a personal relationship with students. Proactive counseling will be implemented as follow: (A) students will be required to meet with a counselor when registering for classes; (B) an appropriate messaging campaign will be developed to address triggering events. Messages suggesting "action steps" leading students to appropriate interventions services or requiring them to meet with their counselor will be communicated to the teachers and parents; (C) the counselor will maintain regular contact, throughout the entire school year, by targeting students who may need their help to stay on track for promotion and graduation. (D) community volunteers may be recruited to assist. STRATEGY #3: Peer Mentoring Responds to students' academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. ELIGIBILITY: All students. This project will use the Boomerang Project's Where Everyone Belongs (WEB) peer mentoring curriculum. WEB is a middle school orientation and transition program that welcomes 6th/7th graders and makes them feel comfortable throughout the first year of their middle school experience. During 6th and 7th grade, students are mentored by upper grade students. During subsequent years, these students become mentors to lower grades. Studies show mentoring programs increase student success rates dramatically.
PILLAR #3: DEVELOP A CULTURE OF EVIDENE ELIGIBILITY: All students STRATEGY #1: Academic Assessments Responds to students' academic needs. The third pillar emphasizes the importance of each individual student taking personal ownership and responsibility for his/her academic preparation. This pillar promotes a culture of evidence through the use of assessments to determine if students are on track for college. The project will use iReady (previously purchased with ESSER II Funds) and ACT ASPIRE assessment scores to measure academic progress and readiness. These assessments will also be used as "early warning systems" to identify students who are deficient in academic and non-cognitive skills preparation. iReady is a collection of rigorous reading and mathematics instructional resources designed to meet every student's learning needs, accelerate growth and enable all students to access grade-level learning. ACT ASPIRE measures student knowledge and academic preparedness in English, math, reading, and science. It provides longitudinal score reporting for each of these subject areas from grade 3 through 7. Scores are plotted over time and viewed alongside grade level readiness benchmarks to determine if students are on target to meet ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. This project will track grades 5, 6, and 7 performance.