Workable School Improvement Plans: Evaluating Consequences And Benefits

What is a School Improvement Plan?

Question:

Evaluates three workable school improvement plans. Address the following in your paper:

• Include the consequences of reforms noted in the plans.

• Include the benefits of reforms noted in the plans.

• Defend the one that you think would work best at your school.

A school improvement plan means a type of road map that gives a basic idea that a school needs to make in order to give a better result to the student educational development. This sort of plan not only helps the students but also the teachers and principal as well. This improvement plan also lays down where and when such plan is required to be implicated. This type of plans help in monitoring the development of student achievements and other necessary factors like school environment which are also quite influential in development of student mind and capibilities. This type of school improvement plans has quite a few advantages like it helps to keep a up-to-dated knowledge about the development of the student and also this in turn helps the school to understand the needs of the students, teachers and parents. It is also influential in the accountability of performance of a particular school as results of the students gives knowledge about the school to the people at large. School Improvement Plan is a sort of mechanism. At the very first in order to create a school improvement plan ,the student councils, teachers, principals and other community members concerned with it starts seeking information about a particular school and then after analyzing the information gathered, they set out a degree changes required to be done to that particular school for the development of the student. While making these changes as set out in the plan, the comparison keeps going on between the original condition that was prevailing and the present changes that are being done. The basic changes that are required to be considered are curriculum delivery, school environment, parental involvement etc.

The very first example that was set out applying the newly initiated school improvement plan was New York’s Johnson City Central School District. They found a new way out for communicating the newly found rules without nullifying or conflicting the existing rules termed as ODDM. They believed that it not enough to have effective teaching system but a teaching system congruent with district objectives. There basic motives which they wanted to bring in for the development of the students .This particular school introduced ODDM (outcome driven development models). For example, in a school where ODDM is not present, suppose there are some major issues regarding the homework patterns given to the student. Parents complained about it and every teacher and a different or no reason for it. So, in order to make the teacher-parents communication smooth and effective, if a set of central rules are laid down then every teacher and every parents will be bound to follow it. Using the ODDM model it was analysed that homework will be more effective if the homework is related to the study which the student have already studied. This would help in Student Development. The basic missions of ODDM are mainly research base including pshycological base, transformational base, administrative support etc.

Advantages of School Improvement Plans

Halton District School Board sets out another example of School Improvement Plan. The two main purposes lay down by the school for improvement plan is to seek more capability in the skills and knowledge of the educators and also to improve student learning, achievement and well beings.

The basic works of the Improvement Development board is to analyse both quantitative and qualitative data for specific development of the student and also to determine the policies and evidences that will help in this development of the student capacities and abilities. The Board should also allocate resources including professional learning.

The basic benefits that the students will draw out of this School Improvement Plan are they will achieve high levels of academic knowledges, develop their skills and become a good example of  good citizen. The benefit of the educators will be that they would learn continuously and would turn out to be the best educators of the world.

Toronto Catholic District School Board sets out another remarkable example of workable school improvement plan.

The basic mission of every School  Improvement  Board is  developing  grace and knowledge in student and in turn helping them to live a life with dignity and faith. The initial and the basic cause for developing this boards are to ensure that the learning process for the students become richer with passing days and that they learn as well as the educators develop their in built skills since birth and continue till adulthood.

The recent plan set out by the Toronto Catholic District School Board includes increasing student engagement, nurturing the catholic community, improving student learning and reducing the learning opportunity gap.

The initial improvement plan was initiated by New York’s   Johnson City Central School District named ODDM. Consequences would have been vast if this plan wasn’t initiated during that time. Schools were facing different issues like homework related issues or school administration issues. After introducing ODDM quite a few issues were solved. The introduction of ODDM helped in administering the schools in a systematic matter. It could provide a logical way for learning of the students. Even the most desired thing when it comes to running a school is the parents-teachers communication so that both the teachers as well as the parents understand the basic needs of the children ad can take an initiative to work in the manner desired.

The consequence of this Improvement plan  programme was that the teachers, the principals all became more aware of the environment and status of education in the society, and opted to give best education to their child in all manner  possible. Schools started working hard to develop the skill of the educators so that they proper education can be provided to the students. If this initiative was taken then most of the schools as well as the parents of the student would be still stuck in old patterns of teaching and as result neither  the school will have any development nor the teachers nor the students.

It is to early to understand the effects of this plan but the implementation of this improvement plans were having quite a few consequences among schools, nearby communities and individuals. The basic side- effect   was that since individuals were being introduced to new plans and ideas about the educational system, their in-built concepts were getting  hampered and as such a lot of queries and confusions were being cropping into their mind. This resulted into personal conflicts within oneself. It also started having issues in the social system because the previous educational system and the present changes opting to be brought   in were conflicting with each other. It wasn’t  being easy for people or students or educators even to accept the changes so smoothly.

Examples of Workable School Improvement Plans

Halton District School Board while implementing the Improvement   plan faced quite a few issues. The implementation of the school Improvement plan faced certain consequences  which made it difficult for them to manage the administration of school. While implementing the improvement   plan, issues were raised regarding the proper advisory board. The parents felt that  there was no proper evaluation of the datas and facts collected about the needs of the educational system. They felt that there was some defaults on the part of the advisory board to analyse the facts collected and investigated. As such the basic side-effect was that the students faced quite a few difficulties .Sudden changes in the educational system without proper information being applied made it difficult for them to adopt. Again due to improper and inadequate communication, the parents at the initial begin faced little problem in understanding the new methods that were being implemented.

There were some positive effects as well for the new introduced Improvement Plan. The Principals, The educators, The students  and the parents as well being able to get introduced to thoughts and scopes of education which they didn’t have any idea about. Students and educators got a new bloom to the educational system. They weren’t anymore part of the patent old pattern educational system . They had something new to learn for themselves and for the community at large.

As observed, Toronto Catholic District School Board had a mixed result of this newly introduced Improvement Plan. There were few good consequences and few adverse ones. The basic good consequences were a benefit for both the school authorities as well as the students. Students being introduced to the new system, accepted the changes in a very well mannered. The new system initiated a lot of interest in the students mind. Students who initial avoided school, started going to school regularly for they found a new interest in their boring educational system. Now the teaching method  seem to be more interesting for them. Teachers even showed more interest in teaching method now. New interesting ways were being  introduced newly and as such even the educators were getting to learn new applications while teaching the students.

One more benefit that the school was getting after introducing the new Improvement Plan for the school development was that the school name was getting a lot of recognition in the society. Due to the newly introduced ways a lot of parents were being more interested in educating their children from this particular school. As a result the school reputation was getting higher and even the school was getting more approachable by the people at large. This was benefiting the school administration at large to run the school with good reputation and facilities.

Few adverse effects were also being noticed while this changes were taking place. People in the society who have accepted and are well acquinted with the old patterns of education found it difficult for themselves to adopt to the new system. They felt that the new introduced method would confuse the students more than giving them ease in this system. Even they felt that the educators would now work less to gather knowledge for the purpose of teaching the students. There capibilities and teaching qualities would be degrading in nature instead of any development.

Consequences of Workable School Improvement Plans

New York Johnson School City District:

This school was the first one to introduce the School Improvement  Plan. It worked  hard on this plan at the base and as a consequence it  had quite a few benefying results in hand. Johnson School City District became a highly effective school on introducing this Improvement Plan. Now their vision became more clear and focused and far-sighted. The environment of the school became safer and manageable. It also became eco-friendly for student to spent their time. This in turn helped them to be more nature cautious and also to grow up to be a better human being .

Parents becoming aware of the new introduced system, now started expecting high rate of success from the students. Their expectation towards the school authority also increased with there growing needs. They now expected a better administration from the school authority in managing their children and a better developed educational system that would be benefiting their child’s growth both physiological and pshycological.

The benefit that the school drew by introducing this new improvement system was that the reputation and recoginition of the school increased with eventually in the city. People became more aware about  this particular school due to their newly introduced methods that attracted the parents at large to give their students a better education. In this manner the school gained a lot of popularity and such it became benefiting for them to run this education business with proper administration and management .

Another reputed school that introduced or worked for the improvement of school and educational system was Halton District School Board. The management of the school as well the parents of the student were benefited in a lot of manner. Enhancing their communication management among the teachers and the parents   now helped both the classes  to know better about the needs of the children studying . Teachers on  communicating  with the parents could get aware about the developed or lacking skills of a particular student, and hence could take initiative to work on that particular student according to the need. Parents on the other hand were now being introduced to the new developed system which not only helped them  to give their children a better education but it also gave them a better opportunity to upgrade themselves with the changing pattern. They could also develop themselves.

The most advantageous part of this plan was that now students were being monitored more frequently and as such the faculty of educators as well as the head authority of the school was getting to know better about the students need. Accordingly they could work on their plan for development. The school being more aware about the students need their focus shifted to high level of students achievement thereby focusing on the activities relating to learning .

The students were the ones who were benefited the most. System of education were being channelized according to their needs and requirement. As a result students became more friendly with the atmosphere and their interest towards the school increased. They were becoming more comfortable with studies. Introduction of curriculum activities help the students not only to enhance their educational knowledge but also skills in other activities .

The Importance of School Improvement Plans

Since Toronto Catholic District School Board was a catholic school one of the improvements that they opted for was centrally development of Catholic churches and their  beliefs and faiths in the work and the goals of school in the Catholic system . The basic explanation to this central development of catholic beliefs and faiths are that this schools based on catholic system would work more on their catholic churches and their parishes so to reflect that the development opting by them reflects their motives .

Another positive result that could be reflected from the introduction of this Improvement plan is that a strong relation grew between the home and school. Frequent meeting between the parents and the teachers helped both sides to understand the system being used .

Also another thing that needs to be mentioned is that the educational system overall was benefited. Introduction in one school drew focus of other schools to introduce and work on the same Improvement Plan analyzing their basic facts and requirements . Overall this particular new motivation used in the educational system helped the society to grow at large making people aware more about education, its need and developments required or already being made. It helped parents, educators and the students to enhance their knowledge and skills and also to groom themselves to be a better citizen to live in .

After researching, studying and analyzing the various school improvement plans that have been working out in different zones of the world, I’m of the opinion that the initiative taken so many years back was a futuristic one and its still being utilized in different parts of world today . The educational system have been vastly benefited . Students of today’s day are more advanced in knowledge .

If I’m given a choice of adopting any of the above mentioned improvement plans ,I would like my school to adopt the Improvement Plan structured by the New York’s Johnson City Central School District. In my opinion the first thing that needed to be improved in my school would be the management of the administrative department . Administration is something that forms the base of running any institution . So it is very necessary to manage the administrative department with proper care . Another thing that needs to be taken care of in our school is the homework managening plan that was adopted by the Johnson City Central School District. Parents need to get accustomed and have a knowledge about the homework given to their children and why. Only if they understand the need of homework for students, there involvement in the studies of their children would be more for they would have to guide their children at home and at the same time more interaction will take place between the teachers and the parents .

Meetings should be arranged frequently between teachers and parents, so that teachers get to know that where their respective students are lacking and where do they need to concentrate, and parents would get to understand the process of how their children are being educated, their performance scale and how they should be guided at home. Interaction between parents and teachers are very important for this the only way out through which both the sides get knowledge about the current knowledge status of their child .

Another thing that needs to be taken care of is the proper management of the administrative department. Administrative department is the main system in running a school . Hence it is very important to manage the administrative department with proper knowledge and under perfect guidance. Principal the head of the school should be appointed to someone who has ample knowledge about how to run a school and should have been worked earlier somewhere as a teacher . This is one of the improvement plans Johnson City Central School District took in hand so as to manage the school students, educators and the parents in a systematic manner so that none of the ends have any sort of complain against the education system they have taken up. This plan should be initiated in my school as well .

Lastly, the thing that needs to be taken up for my school, is the way how New York Johnson Central School District is the introduction of necessary subjects that would be profitable for the students in later years . The basic requirement of benefiting subjects and curriculum activities will grow more interest in students towards education. Engaging students in curriculum activities will expand their capibilities of doing more activities together else than studies. Even the skill capacity of students will be explored at a huge scale .

These are the basic changes required to be brought in accordance to the plans above cited.

Reference

Bernhardt, V. (2013). School Portfolio Toolkit: A Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation Guide for Continuous School Improvement. Routledge.

Bird, J. J., Dunaway, D. M., Hancock, D. R., & Wang, C. (2013). The Superintendent's Leadership Role in School Improvement: Relationships Between Authenticity and Best Practices. Leadership and Policy in Schools,12(1), 77-99.

Dimmock, C. (2013). School-based management and school effectiveness. Routledge.

Duke, D. L. (2013). Are We Pushing for Greatness? School Improvement Is about More Than Closing Achievement Gaps. Schools Also Must Balance Equity and Excellence. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(5), 45.

Dunaway, D. M., Bird, J. J., Wang, C., & Hancock, D. (2014). Superintendents’ perceptions of the school improvement planning process in the southeastern USA. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 42(4), 460-473.

Forsyth, P. B., Adams, C. M., & Hoy, W. K. (2011). Collective Trust: Why Schools Can't Improve without It. Teachers College Press. 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027.

Harris, J., Davidson, L., Hayes, B., Humphreys, K., LaMarca, P., Berliner, B., ... & Van Houten, L. (2014). Speak Out, Listen Up! Tools for Using Student Perspectives and Local Data for School Improvement. REL 2014-035. Regional Educational Laboratory West.

Hartnell-Young, E. A., Marshall, R., & Hassell, R. (2014). Implementing a generic school improvement framework: experience of the National School Improvement Tool in Australian settings.

Harvey, D. (2011). School Improvement Team.

Mangan, M. T., Hillman, K., Madl, T., Rossi, C., & Wings, S. (2014). Illinois School Improvement Grants: Strategies and Conditions for Improving Student Outcomes.

Osses, A., Bellei, C., & Valenzuela, J. P. (2015). External technical support for school improvement: critical issues from the Chilean experience. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 47(3), 272-293.

Rogers, L. (2014). Schoolwide/School Improvement Plan.

Seifert, D., & Hartnell-Young, E. (2015). An Effective School Improvement Framework: Using the National School Improvement Tool.

Taylor, D. L., Tashakkori, A., & Crone-Koshel, L. (2014). A Model of Planning for School Improvement and Obstacles to Implementation. Jsl Vol 11-N6, 11, 493.

Van Der Voort, G., & Wood, L. (2014). Assisting School Management Teams to construct their school improvement plans: an action learning approach. South African Journal of Education, 34(3), 01-07.

Yang, H. R., Shin, H. W., Kim, J. Y., Ryu, H. G., & Kim, T. H. (2012). Improvement Plan for School Facility Management-Focusing on Public Educational Buildings in Gyeonggido. The journal of Sustainable Design and Educational Environment Research, 11(1), 32-41.

Yatsko, S., Lake, R., Bowen, M., & Cooley Nelson, E. (2015). Federal School Improvement Grants (SIGs): How Capacity and Local Conditions Matter.Peabody Journal of Education, 90(1), 27-52.

Zepeda, S. J. (2013). Instructional leadership for school improvement. Routledge.

Duke, D. L. (2013). Are We Pushing for Greatness? School Improvement Is about More Than Closing Achievement Gaps. Schools Also Must Balance Equity and Excellence. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(5), 45.

Harris, J., Davidson, L., Hayes, B., Humphreys, K., LaMarca, P., Berliner, B., ... & Van Houten, L. (2014). Speak Out, Listen Up! Tools for Using Student Perspectives and Local Data for School Improvement. REL 2014-035. Regional Educational Laboratory West.

Osses, A., Bellei, C., & Valenzuela, J. P. (2015). External technical support for school improvement: critical issues from the Chilean experience. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 47(3), 272-293.

Van Der Voort, G., & Wood, L. (2014). Assisting School Management Teams to construct their school improvement plans: an action learning approach. South African Journal of Education, 34(3), 01-07.

Rogers, L. (2014). Schoolwide/School Improvement Plan.

(Myocyte enhanced factor 2C (MEF2C), 2014)

 (Weishaar, 2015)

Yatsko, S., Lake, R., Bowen, M., & Cooley Nelson, E. (2015). Federal School Improvement Grants (SIGs): How Capacity and Local Conditions Matter.Peabody Journal of Education, 90(1), 27-52.

Hartnell-Young, E. A., Marshall, R., & Hassell, R. (2014). Implementing a generic school improvement framework: experience of the National School Improvement Tool in Australian settings.

Yang, H. R., Shin, H. W., Kim, J. Y., Ryu, H. G., & Kim, T. H. (2012). Improvement Plan for School Facility Management-Focusing on Public Educational Buildings in Gyeonggido. The journal of Sustainable Design and Educational Environment Research, 11(1), 32-41.

Dunaway, D. M., Bird, J. J., Wang, C., & Hancock, D. (2014). Superintendents’ perceptions of the school improvement planning process in the southeastern USA. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 42(4), 460-473.

Seifert, D., & Hartnell-Young, E. (2015). An Effective School Improvement Framework: Using the National School Improvement Tool.

Forsyth, P. B., Adams, C. M., & Hoy, W. K. (2011). Collective Trust: Why Schools Can't Improve without It. Teachers College Press. 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027.

Zepeda, S. J. (2013). Instructional leadership for school improvement. Routledge.

Harvey, D. (2011). School Improvement Team.

Bird, J. J., Dunaway, D. M., Hancock, D. R., & Wang, C. (2013). The Superintendent's Leadership Role in School Improvement: Relationships Between Authenticity and Best Practices. Leadership and Policy in Schools,12(1), 77-99. (Editorial Board, 2015)

Dimmock, C. (2013). School-based management and school effectiveness. Routledge.

(Guivarch and Hallegatte, n.d.)

Mangan, M. T., Hillman, K., Madl, T., Rossi, C., & Wings, S. (2014). Illinois School Improvement Grants: Strategies and Conditions for Improving Student Outcomes.

Bernhardt, V. (2013). School Portfolio Toolkit: A Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation Guide for Continuous School Improvement. Routledge.

Taylor, D. L., Tashakkori, A., & Crone-Koshel, L. (2014). A Model of Planning for School Improvement and Obstacles to Implementation. Jsl Vol 11-N6, 11, 493.

 (Guivarch and Hallegatte, 2013).

(Editorial Board, 2015)