Project Title: Increase the performance composite score from 47% to 70% by the end of the

2016-2017 school year by preparing 9th Grade students to be able to achieve high performance
on state assessment measures; by targeting students who perform below 85% on benchmark
assessments in Math I and by offering remediation opportunities for those identified students.

I. Findings/Observations through Data Elements

As I have examined the different data elements that affect how teaching and learning
Mathematics occur in Northeastern North Carolina High Schools particularly the school district to
which I am serving the principal residency, I have found the following range of unproductive
realities besetting in too many Math classrooms today. These findings have been summarized
and documented by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) as follows:

a. Too much focus is on learning procedures without any connection to meaning, understanding,
or the applications that require these procedures;
b. Too many students are limited by the lower expectations and narrower curricula of remedial
tracks;

c. Too many teachers have limited access to the instructional materials, tools, and technology
that they need;

d. Too much weight is placed on results from assessmentsparticularly large-scale, high-stakes

assessments that emphasize skills and fact recall and fail to give sufficient attention to problem
solving and reasoning;

e. Too many teachers of mathematics remain professionally isolated, without the benefits of
collaborative structures and coaching, and with inadequate opportunities for professional
development related to mathematics teaching and learning;

In view of the above, a small number of students particularly from the disadvantaged
sector of our society are achieving high levels of performance in mathematics.

As an aspiring instructional leader, I have to adhere and support the recommendation of

the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the worlds largest Mathematics education
organization to promote systemic improvement in Mathematics education by observing the
effective Mathematics teaching practices. These practices are as follows:

a. Establish mathematics goals to focus learning. Effective teaching of mathematics establishes

clear goals for the mathematics that students are learning, situates goals within learning
progressions, and uses the goals to guide instructional decisions.
b. Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving. Effective teaching of
mathematics engages students in solving and discussing tasks that promote mathematical
reasoning and problem solving and allow multiple entry points and varied solution strategies.

c. Use and connect mathematical representations. Effective teaching of mathematics engages

students in making connections among mathematical representations to deepen understanding of
mathematics concepts and procedures and as tools for problem solving.

d. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse. Effective teaching of mathematics facilitates

discourse among students to build shared understanding of mathematical ideas by analyzing and
comparing student approaches and arguments.

e. Pose purposeful questions. Effective teaching of mathematics uses purposeful questions to

assess and advance students reasoning and sense making about important mathematical ideas
and relationships;
f. Build procedural - fluency from conceptual understanding. Effective teaching of mathematics
builds fluency with procedures on a foundation of conceptual understanding so that students,
over time, become skillful in using procedures flexibly as they solve contextual and mathematical
problems.

g. Support productive struggle in learning mathematics. Effective teaching of mathematics

consistently provides students, individually and collectively, with opportunities and supports to
engage in productive struggle as they grapple with mathematical ideas and relationships.

h. Elicit and use evidence of student thinking. Effective teaching of mathematics uses evidence of
student thinking to assess progress toward mathematical understanding and to adjust instruction
continually in ways that support and extend learning.

II. Guiding Principles for Mathematics

A. Teaching and Learning - An excellent mathematics program requires effective teaching

that engages students in meaningful learning through individual and collaborative
experiences that promote their ability to make sense of mathematical ideas and reason
mathematically.

B. Access and Equity. An excellent mathematics program requires that all students have
access to a high-quality mathematics curriculum, effective teaching and learning, high
expectations, and the support and resources needed to maximize their learning potential.

C. Curriculum. An excellent mathematics program includes a curriculum that develops

important mathematics along coherent learning progressions and develops connections
among areas of mathematical study and between mathematics and the real world.

D. Tools and Technology. An excellent mathematics program integrates the use of

mathematical tools and technology as essential resources to help students learn and
make sense of mathematical ideas, reason mathematically, and communicate their
mathematical thinking.

E. Assessment. An excellent mathematics program ensures that assessment is an integral

part of instruction, provides evidence of proficiency with important mathematics content
and practices, includes a variety of strategies and data sources, and informs feedback to
students, instructional decisions, and program improvement.
F. Professionalism. In an excellent mathematics program, educators hold themselves and
their colleagues accountable for the mathematical success of every student and for
personal and collective professional growth toward effective teaching and learning of
mathematics.

III. Overarching Action Steps

A. Plan and implement effective instruction as described by the Mathematics

Teaching Practices;

B. Develop socially, emotionally, and academically safe environments for

mathematics teaching and learning environments in which students feel
secure and confident in engaging with one another and with teachers;

C. Evaluate curricular materials and resources to determine the extent to which

these materials align with the standards, ensure coherent development of
topics within and across grades, promote the mathematical practices, and
 support effective instruction that implements the Mathematics Teaching
Practices;

D. Incorporate mathematical tools and technology as an everyday part of the

mathematics classroom, recognizing that students should experience
mathematical action technologies and physical or virtual manipulative to
explore important mathematics;

E. Provide students with descriptive, accurate, and timely feedback on

assessments, including strengths, weaknesses, and next steps for progress
toward the learning targets;

F. Work collaboratively with colleagues to plan instruction, solve common

challenges, and provide mutual support as they take collective responsibility for
student learning.

IV. Specific Goals and Strategies

A. Strategy 1: Protect the fidelity of school-wide AVID, After-school and school-day

tutorials, and ACT/Work Keys training through the development of an effective
Master Schedule and effective management of funding .

1. Create and maintain an operational Master Scheduling Team

2. Use data to identify student needs (Common Formative Assessments, PLAN Work Keys,
School Net Benchmarks)
3. Establish schedules that provide increased learning time in Mathematics
4. Provide focused intervention for students below proficiency
5. Provide enrichment to extend learning opportunities and challenges to students who have
already mastered the basic curriculum.

B.Strategy 1: Maintain effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to

promote a positive culture and climate and a strategic focus on data analysis.

1. Develop data teams (student achievement, demographics, school process, perception)

2. Provide on-going Professional Developments and effective PLCs on disaggregating data
3. Conduct monthly meetings to analyze and share data
4. Implementation of strategies observable during instruction.
5. Reflection on effectiveness of strategic application and revision when needed.

C.Strategy 3: Support classroom teachers and instruction by effectively utilizing the

Fishbone Model, Working On the Work initiative and Curriculum & Instruction
Monitoring Frameworks/ Rubric, LEA Instructional Support Staff, AVID strategies/site
team members and technology professional development to monitor and adjust
instruction to meet the needs of the students.

1. Prepare and administer formative assessments aligned with Common Core and Essential
Standards based tests.
2. Provide results and feedback on the formative and benchmark assessments.
3. Provide resources, co-teaching, and professional development.
4. Provide on-going professional development on AVID strategies
5. Instructional teams will develop standards aligned units of instruction for each subject and
grade level (i.e. PBL, SAS Pathways, 7 Cs-21st century lifelong skills)
 6. Partner with LEA Instructional Coaches, Curriculum and Instruction Team, EL and AIG
Team, Curriculum Director;

V. The following data will be used to determine whether the strategies were implemented
with fidelity.

Lesson Plans & Agendas, Attendance Data for staff and students-monthly Minutes from
Professional Learning Communitys, School improvement Team meetings and Department
meeting Student achievement data and Administrators' observations & Summative reports,
Artifacts from Professional development; Student work portfolios/work samples, ACT Score
Report;

Prepared by:

Andrea G. Dagnalan
NELA Cohort V Principal Resident (MSA Intern)
Southeast Halifax High School
go.ncsu.edu/NELA-dst

References:

Class notes

Interviews and Classroom Observations

Southeast Halifax High School Improvement Plan SY 2016-2017

http://www.nctm.org/principlestoactions/