VIRGINIA LEADS INNOVATION NETWORK – VALIN 4.0
FREDERICKSBURG CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OUR TEAM
OUR CONTEXT
OUR PLANS
OUR JOURNEY
OUR IMPACT
NEXT STEPS
REFLECTIONS
SECTION 1: OUR TEAM
Innovation Team Members
Lakishia Banister
High School AP
Lori Bridi
Chief Academic Officer
Nick Brousse
High School Student Support Specialist
Kim Doucette
High School Student Support Specialist
Kisha Frye
Middle School Assistant Principal
Tony Lewis
Middle School Dean of Students
Andrea Bumbrey
Director of Student Achievement
Things our school/team are good at and can help others with:
Things our school/team wants to grow in and can use help with:
Fredericksburg City Public Schools
If everything goes right this year, including support from VALIN, we hope we can …
Improve the graduation rate and decrease the dropout rate for English Learners in FXBG.
Word that best describes current progress toward Deeper Learning?
Motivated
SECTION 2:�OUR CONTEXT
Problem of Practice Statement
FCPS participation in VALIN 4.0 provides opportunities for collaboration with other divisions about our mission to engage all students in their education while increasing their access to authentic experiences that are mutually beneficial to our students and the community, culminating in graduation and life readiness.
FCPS current graduation and drop out rates do not match our student capability. We have maintained a graduation rate around 84% and a drop out rate around 11%. However, despite multiple years of focus groups, we have not successfully identified all barriers to improvement in ways that have resulted in action.��This is a priority because we continue to see generational poverty. The demographics of this data does not match our enrollment. Specifically, EL students have a significant dropout rate; however, they only represent approximately 20% of the student population. Recently, local media outlets have drawn attention to these areas, and the community has participated in Superintendent Roundtable events to express their concern and desire to participate and support problem solving efforts.��
Background
SECTION 3: �OUR PLANS
ELEVATOR PITCH
Our dropout rate is too high in FXBG for English Learners. We are identifying and implementing strategies to engage EL students and families in order to increase the likelihood that they will graduate.
Problem Interrogation Consolidation
Problem Statement: Our dropout rate is too high in FXBG for English Learners. We are identifying and implementing strategies to engage EL students and families in order to increase the likelihood that they will graduate. | |
Discussion: Commonalities among our drop-outs. Programs that work already? Alternate schedules? CTE pathways- instead of laborer, focus on being the business owner. Offer all clusters Challenges: not staying the course, allowing time for plans to make a difference before adding/switching, businesses don’t want to take on your problems- if a student is a behavioral issue, they don’t want them as an employee, careful about who starts as your poster child” Positives: financial support, city council interest, Louisa contacts for workforce development and computer science/technical (Kenneth), tying to course credit | |
Like | Wonder (questions and suggestions) |
Add art credit to middle school Leverage alt ed as part of govt and English in the morning Latino owned businesses: scholarships | Job fairs? Workforce Wednesdays- puts out job openings from local options- email to students and parents, available on division website Videos about the student success Graduation ceremonies with businesses- CTE signing day STEAM labs at elementary school, middle school has a creation station Club days every few weeks, STEAM part of exploratory rotation Don’t buy a CTE program- it’s about staff who want to do it. |
SECTION 4: OUR JOURNEY
SEPTEMBER 2022
VaLIN: September 19 and 20, 2022
Learned from Louisa's experience creating a division team focused on attendance
Learned to explore WBL and other CTE programs
Identified individual goals and action steps
Completed initial assessment
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2022
Reviewed project goals and tasks
Researched and created a middle to high school Individual Graduation Planner
Planned action steps for research to include internal data and reaching out to other divisions
Collected internal data on CTE enrollment (next slide)
DECEMBER 2022
Researched CTE offerings for EL learners
Reached out to VALIN partners to discuss programs for EL students in their division
Discussed possible hurdles facing EL students
Communicated with EL students regarding barriers
Discussed alternate schedules and learning pathways
All FCPS schools attended VDOE Attendance Cohort webinar to learn strategies
Created a survey to find out more directly from students what is missing/what is present in their school experience
EL students enrolled in CTE courses are representative to the overall population
Louisa County shared a robust plan for attendance; our team will see what will work for us
Some barriers: working during the day, childcare, SOL content/passing scores,
As a team, we feel we need other members of the FCPS team to support this work (Ana Johnson)
Tier I: School climate, academic rigor, and traditions/routines are integral to student successes (VDOE Attendance Cohort). School teams will need to dig into Tier I as well as support Tier II and III to show success
Eager to learn what students believe to support next steps
JANUARY 2023
VaLIN
February 17, 2023
MARCH-MAY 2023
Contacting EL familes in their native language through What’s App is effective.
When personal contact is made, EL familes are more likely to attend an event.
Students are eager to share their customs and talents with other EL families and native-English speaker peers.
Creation of EL Student Individualized Graduation Plan
Creation and Opening of Connections Resources Center
As part of our multicultural week celebration, we recruited EL students to promote the spirit days and the grand opening of the Connection Resources Center; a family resource for the multilingual families in our school division.
During the CRC Grand Opening Event, we hosted over 100 people with different multilingual backgrounds.
We showed our EL students’ work portraying their personal stories and cultures.
SECTION 5: �OUR IMPACT
NELP STANDARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Team Focus | | | X | | | | | |
Lakishia Banister | 3 | |||||||
Lori Bridi | 3 | |||||||
Nick Brousse | 3 | |||||||
Andrea Bumbrey | 3 | |||||||
Kim Doucette | 3 | |||||||
Kisha Frye | 3 | |||||||
Tony Lewis | 3 | |||||||
ALIGNMENT TO NELP STANDARDS
PROJECT TASKS (HIGH LEVEL) | TERM | STANDARD DOMAIN(S) | TEAM MEMBER(S) |
Investigating why EL students are dropping out of school. What do they need to feel graduation is possible? (EL student focus group) | Short Term | 3.3 Integrating voices of those impacted | Lakisha Banister |
Educating schools on our project | Short Term | 3.2 Implementing components which cultivate a district culture of action | Lori Bridi |
Define path of the team | Immediate | 3.2 Implementing components which cultivate a district culture of action | Completed |
Create Welcome Center | Short Term | 3.1 District culture of inclusivity | Ana Johnson, FACE |
Redesign Remediation | Short term | 3.1 Redesign processes based on values of unique cultures to better serve students | Andrea Bumbrey |
Identify workplace experience options and procedures for placement & monitoring | Long Term | 3.2 District and community-wide access for all students | Tony Lewis |
Create Graduation Plans for grade 8 EL students | Short Term | 3.2 Implementing components which cultivate a school culture of action | Kisha Frye |
INDIVIDUAL TASKS AND ACTIONS FOR GROUP SUCCESS
INDIVIDUAL TASKS AND ACTIONS FOR GROUP SUCCESS
PROJECT TASKS (HIGH LEVEL) | TERM | STANDARD DOMAIN(S) | TEAM MEMBER(S) |
Host regional event on developing local partnerships for internships and externships | NA | Removed due to shift in project focus | NA |
Parent/family engagement experiences (Family night, Cultural fair) that engage a community partner and location (SIG grant) | Long Term | 3.1 District culture of inclusivity | Ana Johnson, FACE |
Create opportunities to foster school climate (Tier I) and partner with students/families with barriers | Long Term | 3.1 District culture of inclusivity | Doucette, Brousse (from JMHS Attendance Committee) |
Survey/find out directly from students what is missing/what they need to be successful | Immediate | 3.2 District and community-wide access for all students | Doucette, Brousse |
Take part in a division-wide team charged with creating a mission and vision for FCPS | Short Term | 3.1 District Culture | Lewis, Brousse, Bridi |
District wide PD on Responsibility Centered Discipline | Short Term | 3.3 Instructional & Behavioral Practices | All |
Create Connections Resources Center for EL families and students | Short Term | 3.1 District culture of inclusivity 3.2 District and community-wide access for all students | Bridi, Johnson |
THE IMPACT OF OUR ACTIONS ON THE INTENDED OUTCOMES
Level 1: Affective
EL families and the CRC Liaison developed positive relationships
Level 2: Knowledge & Understanding
FCPS administrators expanded their knowledge of EL family considerations
Level 3: Skills/ Competencies of Targeted Stakeholders
More inclusive practices are expected for school communication, instruction, and events
Level 4: Student Learning
Identified need to provide more professional development to teachers of EL students in order to improve their achievement
SECTION 6: OUR NEXT STEPS
PLANS FOR NEXT STEPS ACTIONABLE / SUSTAINABLE PLAN
Extend
Short Term: Extend graduation plans to all grade 8 EL students
Long Term: Extend graduation plans to all grade 8 at-risk student groups
Expand
Short Term: Expand CRC services for EL families
Long Term: Expand CRC services for all at-risk student families
Continue
Short Term: Responsibility-Centered Discipline and Restorative Circle Processes
Long Term: Annual Inclusivity Training
Begin
Short Term: Family Engagement Events that focus on Graduation
Long Term: Offer alternative school hour programs for all at-risk students in need
SECTION 7: OUR REFLECTIONS
THE IMPACT OF VALIN EXPERIENCES ON OUR LEARNING
3.1 Developed the capacity to use data to advocate for an inclusive division culture.
3.2 Created tool to support equitable access to educational resources.
3.3 Provided culturally responsive professional development to all administrators and staff
THE IMPACT OF OTHERS IN THE NETWORK
ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS/LEVELS OF SUPPORT WITH OTHER DIVISION LEADERS
BENEFITTED FROM FEEDBACK OF OTHER PARTICIPATING DIVISIONS
GATHERED RESOURCES FROM OTHER DIVISIONS THAT WERE ALREADY IN USE
ADVICE WE WOULD GIVE TO FUTURE COHORTS
Know what your focus will be before starting
Include research/data in your work
Keep the division informed as you progress
Get the right people on the team