NORTHFIELD — Pioneer Valley Regional School’s administration now has a
clear vision of what the school should look like in 2021, thanks to a
new five-year plan put together by the school council.
According
to Principal Jean Bacon, the main goals outlined in the plan include
improving seventh and eighth grade performances on Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests and giving students
necessary preparation for college or careers following high school.
“We
really want students to be college and career ready,” she said during a
recent school committee meeting where members of the school council
presented the five-year plan. “We want all Pioneer students to have
workplace readiness skills … And we want them to all have the personal
and social skills to support them in life.”
The school council —
which includes Bacon as chairwoman, four parents, four teachers and four
faculty members — has been meeting every other week since Pioneer’s
open house in September to draft the plan. The final draft was completed
Dec. 13.
Middle school improvement The plan
explains that the academic performance of Pioneer’s seventh and eighth
grade students lags behind that of 10th graders on MCAS tests, in part
because of the transition to a new school and the “relative isolation of
(the) middle school program from prior school improvement efforts.”
The goal, then, is to increase the proportion of seventh and
eighth grade students who score proficient or advanced on MCAS tests in
each subject by at least 5 percent by June 2017. This will largely be
done through goal setting.
“One of the most impactful ways to
raise student achievement is (to) help students develop clear
achievement goals and provide frequent formative feedback so they can
monitor their progress toward those goals,” the plan reads.
Additionally,
the plan dictates the administration will have its seventh and eighth
grade faculty hold monthly meetings to set student improvement goals and
monitor their progress; train seventh and eighth grade math and science
teachers in using new online assessment software to support
MCAS-aligned assessment practices; design MCAS-aligned frequent
assessments; and implement student-to-student tutoring and mentoring
programs for struggling middle school students.
“Juniors and seniors will devote their time for those who need a little more support, during study halls,” Bacon said.
College and career ready As
part of the second goal, all eighth and ninth grade students will
develop individual learning plans (ILPs) that link their courses and
co-curricular experiences to college and career interests by June 2017.
ILPs are recommended by the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education.
In the past, Pioneer has offered career fairs and
college tours, and in the 2015-2016 school year, introduced a
three-lesson career development education (CDE) curriculum for ninth
graders. The school council hopes to increase students’ understanding of
“the importance of the work they are doing every day in their classes
and in the co-curricular activities,” the plan reads.
Going
forward, the plan dictates the administration will: work with guidance
staff to review the current CDE curriculum; establish a CDE team made up
of administrators, faculty and students; incorporate CDE and ILP
discussion into conferences led by eighth graders; designate a college
and career facilitator from among existing faculty members to lead
development of the curriculum and oversee internship experience; and
purchase Naviance college and career readiness software. According to
Bacon, the software will cost just under $10,000 in the first year
because of the training involved, and just under $300 per year after
that.
Other improvements Outside the two
aforementioned goals, the plan states the school will offer more
advanced placement and online classes in heterogeneous groups to support
higher levels of student achievement.
Also toward that goal,
Bacon said Pioneer hopes to have a personal computer for every student
by 2021. She said the current proposal for fiscal year 2018, which is
under consideration, is to start by purchasing computers for next year’s
ninth graders, moving up over the next four years.
The school committee will vote on whether to approve the new five-year plan during its Jan. 26 meeting in Pioneer’s library.
