Prince Current Reality

1
Runninghead:CurrentRealityandGSAPS
Current Reality and GSAPS Review

Lakeya Prince
Kennesaw State University
Ballard-Hudson Middle school consist of 815 6 th - 8th grade students. Ballard-Hudson Middle open its doors
in 2010 giving it 6 years of operation. 95 percent of the students who attend Ballard-Hudson Middle School live
in Low socio-economic status homes which means below the poverty line. Considering more than half of our
students are from low ses families, that has contributed to the title I rating of the school. Technology has been
the focus of the school and district within the last 3 years. Ballard- Hudson has three fully functional computer
labs consisting of 35 dell desk tops. Two out of the three computer labs are classes dedicated to career and
business management. The media center also houses 25 computer stations, a Promethean board, wireless
printers, and poster creator. The school also has eight lap top carts and seven Ipad carts that are free to check
out to teachers daily. There are 30 lap tops and Ipads per cart. In the last two years, Ballard-Hudson has been
equipped with clear touch interactive screens, wireless keyboards, and cameras and audio enhancement
devices. Every class in the building including principals offices are provided previous equipment. All teachers
are assigned lab tops and web 2.0 software and SIS programs; for instance, each teacher in the building has
access to Microsoft office 356, Infinite campus, and Safari Montage. Students as well as parents have daily
access to technology. Students have full access to computer labs and media center daily and the BYOD
initiative gives students opportunities to utilize technology brought from home as a resource. The family
engagement coordinator at Ballard-Hudson Middle has a fully functioning parent resource room with desktop
working stations. Parents can use the technology and other resources daily.
Vision
As I closely examined the professional learning and SIP plan with the AP and Principal of our school, the
document explicitly expresses the vision of the school with integration of technology. The learning gap between
the district and Ballard is significant. One of the major outcomes of the vision is that Ballard students perform
within 5 standard deviations of the mean to the district. Ballard-Hudson aspires to utilize technology daily in all
classes by teachers using audio enhancement and cameras. It is not only an expectation, but also a vision that
every teacher is fully equipped with the technological material and training in that expands upon technology
integration at high levels of integration. It is the mission of the school to enhance student achievement and
performance in every classroom for all children through the use of online assessments, engaged lessons, and
collaborative planning. It is the vision that students are using technology in flexible grouping, audio and visual
applications, hands on projects and assignments, and global interaction and communication. The schools
vision is to have effective technology integration fully functional and observed by all staff and administration
within the next 3- 5 years. The principal and schools vision will be obtained through weekly intense training,
coaching, and professional developments with constructive feedback. Many professional developments are
offered based on the needs of the students, faculty, and school.
Forms of Professional Learning

Bibb county school district has always implemented and required all teachers to participate in professional
development. The district calendar the 2016-2017 school year has embedded 5 days for students and
professional development days for teachers. During the day instruction, teachers are placed in learning
communities across the district based on content, instruction, and differentiation. This years professional
development sessions have focused on rigor, assessments, and project based learning with technology. All of
the professional development training is based upon previous years end of the year assessments, LKES and
TKES evaluation, and state evaluation or CCRPI. Ballard-Hudson Middle was placed on the opportunity school
list last year based on the assessment tools. Professional Learning opportunities based on proven scientific
research will be provided throughout the school year to increase the level of proficiency in the area of math
instruction, writing and reading across curricula, and quality assessments. These areas were determined
through data analysis and teacher input. Teachers will participate in professional learning conducted by the
Districts Teaching and Learning Staff; attend content level state conferences to stay updated on current trends,
as well as various consultants in math instruction and written response strategies. The coordinators will work
with the teachers on rigor and relevance, disaggregating data, instructional planning, math instructional
strategies that work for middle school students, written response writing skills, class-room management,
conferencing with students, performance-based activities, and model best standards-based classroom
practices. The schools academic coaches will deliver weekly school-based Professional development to help
teachers develop the skills to increase the achievement of all of our students. Professional learning for each
grade level is held weekly to discuss curriculum and assessments. Data will be disseminated and
communicated with the Leadership Team, and each grade level. All professional development sessions will be
based on the needs of the staff and will be designed to provide teachers with new strategies to improve
instruction based on scientific research data. Each staff member is afforded the required time necessary to
complete all training (E. David, personal communications, September 27, 2016). Collaborative planning will
also take place weekly to facilitate reading and writing across all curricula and cross-curricular support Using
data and needs of the school, teachers engage in weekly professional development that focus on the
integration of technology, audio enhancement, and safari montage once a week. The intent of the professional
learning is to equip teachers with necessary training so that all teachers can reach the expectation of utilizing
technology within the classrooms and become confident and comfortable with integration of technology. The
professional learning plan for the current year was created to reflect the needs of our teachers and students.
Professional Developments occur frequently at Ballard-Hudson. The weekly professional developments are
differentiated based on knowledge and usage level of technology with individual teachers. Teachers in all
content areas work closely with academic coaches; there are two academic coaches at Ballard-Hudson one
academic coach focuses on ELA and Social Studies while the other coach specializes in Math and Science.
Teachers are required to attend weekly professional development training on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
weekly. Weekly professional learning are designed so that teachers collaboratively work with content teachers
and coaches. Ballard-Hudson also has professional learning communities with department chairs that meet
monthly. Professional development at Ballard-Hudson Middle school occurs weekly and many technology
related professional developments have been offered; for instance, the staff at Ballard has been offered classes
in audio enhancement, clear touch, safari montage, school city, synergy, and several other web 2.0 tools. The
district also offers endorsement programs that teachers benefit from such as gifted and leadership endorsement
programs. The professional development sessions at Ballard-Hudson occur weekly; furthermore, every session
starts with data that has been collected within the classroom whether it be common assessments or informal
assessments on technology usage. District technology specialist visits the school and conducts grade level
meetings every two weeks. During this meeting questions and concerns are addressed, classroom
implementation is examined, new software of technology is shared, and teacher training occurs.
SIP Alignment
Based on the assessments and analysis of data the following depicts the needs that will be addressed in
the SIP:
An increase in students qualifying for free and reduced lunch program.
An increase in homeless students.

An increase in students with aberrant behavior patterns.
An increase in students referred for special services including Response to Intervention (RTI), Read 180, and
Special Education.
A lack of parental participation.
An analysis of test data indicating the need to strengthen critical thinking skills, literacy skills, reading and writing
skills and math skills for all students.
A need to provide professional learning for all current staff in differentiated instructional practices, co-teaching,
disaggregating student data, instructional strategies to teach CCGPS standards in science and social studies,
Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) in Math and ELA, writing for response to learning strategies, reading
across the curriculum, classroom management, teaching in the standards based classroom, and other areas
pertinent to increasing student achievement.
A lack of gifted programs; currently, there is one teacher on staff who is gifted certified and approximately 6
students who have a gifted designation.
Overcoming a culture of poverty and low expectations.
Assessment of and for learning.
Effectively integrating the use of technology in all content area classes.
Effectively conducting Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

Creating a college-going culture.
Establishing fiscal responsibility through timely and effective use of all expenditures.
Increasing the level of rigor in all content areas.
Improving student attendance.
Increasing the literacy rate of all students (E. David, personal communications, September 27, 2016).
The professional development is aligned to our school improvement plan in that our schools main focus areas
are proficiency on statewide assessments of students and doing so providing adequate professional
development to all staff that will build foundations in collaborations, reading ,and engaging lessons. The
highlighted areas above that were a part of the school improvement specifically indicate directions and
initiatives Ballard-Hudson has taken to improve the schools performance. Professional development that caters
to special needs and cultural diverse occurs through the special education department. The district does
provide PL in special needs or cultural diverse backgrounds ;for instance, This year the district has coordinated
specific trainings on co teaching models, collaborative planning, functional behavior assessments, response
team interventions, and on technology software tools and programs like reading 180, systems 44, FlP , and
snap and read. Teachers at Ballard-Hudson collaborate with content teams, grade level teams, leadership
teams, and PBIS (positive behavior instructional strategies) teams. Collaborative teams mainly focuses on our
vision and goals to promote a highly qualified and trained team to enhance achievement and performance of
every child all of which are directly correlated to the school improvement plan. Our school is a data driven
school in which we use common assessments, district assessments, and statewide assessments to identify
strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement. Individual teacher evaluations are monitored and assessed
through TKES or teacher keys effectiveness system.
Professional Learning Funding
Bibb County public schools are funded by the state, local, and federal funding. 58.2 % of the school districts
funding comes from state funding while 40.7 percent of the funding comes from local taxes. This fiscal year
Bibb County had a budget of 73,784,500 dollars. Each school in the district is allocated funding based upon
student projected enrollment. Ballard-Hudsons budget for this year was set at 5,056,570. Of the allocated
amount distributed by the district, 30 percent of the budget will spent on instructional practices, training, and
professional development. That means that this school term a total of 1,516,971. Conferences, endorsement
courses, outside vendors, and additional resources for professional development training all comes out of the
set aside budget provided by the district. In house weekly training and professional development materials are
also paid by the allocated funds. Incentives for attending conferences, endorsement, or additional training have
not been implemented or put in place.
Evaluation and Change

Ballard-Hudson teachers evaluate themselves in the system, administrators host pre conferences, set
expectations, mid conferences are administered followed by end of the year conferences. During the
conferences, teachers have opportunities to display usage of best practices and effectiveness by failures or
successes of student data collected. District wide assessments administered on schoolcity are evaluation tools
used to determine the impacts of professional development of student learning as well. Students take district
assessments in all areas three assessments in ELA and Math and twice in science and Social Studies.
Immediate feedback is provided to students, teachers, administration, and district coordinators for use of
instruction, differentiation, enrichment, and remediation. Classroom cameras ,classroom assessments, detailed
lesson plans, and walk through are important and ways that teachers can show translation of professional
development into practices within the classroom. Ballard-Hudson Middle School goals for the next three years
as stated in SIP plan by Principal Eclan David are:
3-5 year plan Starting 2015
Whole school accountability, with incentives for increased student achievement and graduation rates and
removal of ineffective personnel
Opportunities for promotion and career growth and more flexible work conditions that are designed to
recruit, place, and retain staff with the skills necessary to meet the needs of the students in a
transformation school
Intensive professional development, including subject-specific pedagogy, instruction that is responsive to
the community served by the school, differentiated instruction, and technology-infused instruction,
supported by establishing and sustaining professional learning communities across SIG schools, the
state, the nation, the world

Flexibility in staffing, calendars and time, and budgeting to fully implement a comprehensive approach to
improving student success;

Increased learning time with a focus on rigor and differentiation, including 30 minutes daily for academic
support and a summer bridge program for rising 9th graders

A vertically-aligned and research-based curriculum, with technology integrated
Increased family and community engagement, including the adoption of Georgias 360
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Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS
PROFESSIONALLEARNING
Themeansbywhichteachers,administrators,andotherstaffacquire,enhance,andrefinethe
knowledge,skills,practices,anddispositionsnecessarytocreateandsupporthighlevelsof
learningforallstudents
ProfessionalLearningStandard1:Alignsprofessionallearningwithneedsidentifiedthroughanalysisofavar
Level4
Exemplary
Professionallearningneedsare
identifiedanddifferentiatedthrough
acollaborativeanalysisprocess
usingavarietyofdata(e.g.,student
achievementdata,examinationof
studentwork,processdata,teacher
andleadereffectivenessdata,action
researchdata,perceptiondatafrom
students,staff,andfamilies).
Ongoingsupportisprovided
throughdifferentiatedprofessional
learning.
Level3
Operational
Professionallearningneedsare
identifiedthrougha
collaborativeanalysisprocess
usingavarietyofdata(e.g.,
studentachievementdata,
examinationofstudentwork,
processdata,teacherandleader
effectivenessdata,action
researchdata,perceptiondata
fromstudents,staff,and
families).
Level2
Emerging
Professionallearningneeds
areidentifiedusinglimited
sourcesofdata.
Profes
areide
nodat
EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above
13
RECOMMENDATIONS: SLDS is a great tool to use to assess how students are preforming, base
attendance, and reading levels; however, the summative assessments are administered yearl
be evaluated and used until the next school year. In order for Ballard-Hudson to measure grow
effectiveness of professional development common classroom assessments need to increase
needs to be collected that reflects the type of professional development. Once common asses
collected and placed on a visual, academic coaches should use data to differentiate profession
communities.
ProfessionalLearningStandard2:Establishesacultureofcollaborationamongadministratorsandstafftoenh
collectiveperformance
Level4
Exemplary
Administratorsandstaff,asa
foundationalpractice,
consistentlycollaborateto
supportleadershipandpersonal
Level3
Operational
Administratorsandstaff
routinelycollaboratetoimprove
individualandcollective
performance(e.g.,construct
Level2
Emerging
Administratorsandstaff
routinelycollaborateto
improveindividualand
collectiveperformance(e.g.,
Admini
routinel
improve
collectiv
14

accountabilityandtoenhance
individualandcollective
performance(e.g.,construct
knowledge,acquireskills,refine
practice,providefeedback).
Teachersconductactionresearch
andassumeownershipof
professionallearningprocesses.
knowledge,acquireskills,
refinepractice,provide
feedback).
constructknowledge,acquire
skills,refinepractice,provide
feedback).
construc
skills,re
feedbac
Last Friday of every month staff breakfast provided by each department
Administrative- August, February
Connection Teachers-September, March
8th Grade Teachers-October, April
7th Grade Teachers-November, January
6th Grade Teachers-December, May
15
RECOMMENDATIONS: TKES, monthly, and weekly collaborative activities are obvious that a co
developing ;however, in order for the school to move up the scale it is recommended that mo
consistent individual conferences occur and are documented that will display growth, professi
development, collaboration, and performance of teachers, coaches, and administration.
16

ProfessionalLearningStandard3:Definesexpectationsforimplementingprofessionallearning
Level4
Exemplary
Administrators,teacherleaders,
orbothconsistentlydefine
expectationsforthe
implementationofprofessional
learning,includingdetails
regardingthestagesof
implementationandhow
monitoringwilloccuras
implementationprogresses.
Level3
Operational
orbothregularlydefine
expectationsforthe
learning.
Level2
Emerging
orbothoccasionallydefine
expectationsforthe
learning.
Administr
orbothra
expectatio
implemen
learning.
Collaborative Weekly/ Monthly Calendar
Monday- RTI ( Responsive Team Interventions)
Tuesday- ( Collaborative planning for ELA, Math, and Science)
Wednesday- Professional Development with academic coaches, Principal, and or Technology)
Thursday- Collaborative Planning Social Studies)
Friday- Parent Conferences ( 504, RTI, IEP)
Professional Development Communities
1st Monday- Social Studies
2nd Monday- ELA and Science
3rd Monday- Math
4th- Faculty meeting
Monthly Meetings
1st and 3rd Tuesday- PBIS meetings
2nd and 4th Tuesday- Leadership team meeting
Agendas,signinsheets,andnormsarerequiredforeverymeetings.Agendaselaborateonthevisio
BallardHudsonMiddleSchool.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Professional development calendar, norms, routines, and meetings stres

expectations of the school, the vision and mission. In order to reach exemplary not only schoo
expressed but also detailed feedback.
17
ProfessionalLearningStandard4:Usesmultipleprofessionallearningdesignstosupportthevariouslearning
Level4
Exemplary
Staffmembersactively
participateinjobembedded
professionallearningthat
engagescollaborativeteamsin
avarietyofappropriate
learningdesigns(e.g.,
collaborativelessonstudy,
analysisofstudentwork,
problemsolvingsessions,
curriculumdevelopment,
coursework,actionresearch,
classroomobservations,online
networks).Professional
learningincludesextensive
followupwithdescriptive
feedbackandcoaching.
Level3
Operational
Staffmembersactively
participateinprofessional
learning,mostofwhichisjob
embedded,whichincludes
multipledesigns(e.g.,
collaborativelessonstudy,
analysisofstudentwork,
problemsolvingsessions,
curriculumdevelopment,
coursework,actionresearch,
classroomobservations,online
networks)tosupporttheir
variouslearningneeds.
Professionallearningincludes
followupwithfeedbackand
coaching.
Level2
Emerging
Somestaffmembersare
engagedinprofessional
learningthatmakesuseof
morethanonelearningdesign
toaddresstheiridentified
needs.
Staffmem
standalon
learninge
informatio
grouppres
RECOMMENDATIONS: The recommendation for standard would be to evaluate teachers, meet

needs, group according to needs, and differentiate instruction practices and meeting facilitatio
18
ProfessionalLearningStandard5:Allocatesresourcesandestablishessystemstosupportandsustaineffective
Level4
Exemplary
Extensiveresources(e.g.,
substituteteachers,materials,
handouts,tools,stipends,
facilitators,technology)and
systems(e.g.,conducive
schedules,adequate
collaborativetime,model
classrooms)areallocatedto
supportandsustaineffective
professionallearning.
Opportunitiestopracticeskills,
receivefollowup,feedback,
andcoachingareprovidedto
supporttheeffectivenessof
Level3
Operational
Adequateresources(e.g.,
substituteteachers,materials,
handouts,tools,stipends,
facilitators,technology)and
systems(e.g.,conducive
schedules,adequate
collaborativetime,model
classrooms)areinplaceto
supportandsustain
Level2
Emerging
Someresourcesandsystems
areallocatedtosupportand
sustainprofessionallearning.
Few,ifan
systemsa
supporta
professio
Collaborative Weekly/ Monthly Calendar
Monday- RTI ( Responsive Team Interventions)
Tuesday- ( Collaborative planning for ELA, Math, and Science)
Wednesday- Professional Development with academic coaches, Principal, and or Technology)
Thursday- Collaborative Planning Social Studies)
Friday- Parent Conferences ( 504, RTI, IEP)
Professional Development Communities
1st Monday- Social Studies
2nd Monday- ELA and Science
3rd Monday- Math
4th- Faculty meeting
Monthly Meetings
1st and 3rd Tuesday- PBIS meetings
2nd and 4th Tuesday- Leadership team meeting
Agendas,signinsheets,andnormsarerequiredforeverymeetings.Agendaselaborateonthevisionand
HudsonMiddleSchool.
19

RECOMMENDATIONS:
ProfessionalLearningStandard6:Monitorsandevaluatestheimpactofprofessionallearningonstaffpractice
learning
Level4
Exemplary
Monitoringandevaluatingthe
impactofprofessionallearning
onstaffpracticesandincreases
instudentlearningoccurs
extensively.Evaluationresults
areusedtoidentifyand
implementprocessestoextend
studentlearning.
Level3
Operational
onstaffpracticesandstudent
learningoccursroutinely.
Level2
Emerging
onstaffpracticesoccurs
sporadically.
Monitorin
impactof
onstaffp
ifever.
20
RECOMMENDATIONS: Monitoring and evaluations are routine for academic coaches, yet in ord
exemplary the feedback form provided to each teacher weekly should be reflective in professi
developments and differentiate and scaffolding of teachers.
KSUITECProfessionalLearningStandard:Professionallearningreinforceseducatorsunderstandingandus
promotingequityandhighexpectationsforallstudents,applicationofresearchbasedteachingstrategiesandass
andinvolvementoffamiliesandotherstakeholdersinpromotingstudentlearning.
Level4
Exemplary
Classroom practices (e.g.,
considering interests,
backgrounds, strengths, and
preferences to provide
meaningful, relevant lessons
and assess student progress,
differentiating instruction,
and nurturing student
capacity for selfmanagement) of all teachers
reflect an emotionally and
physically safe environment
where respect and
appreciation for a diverse
population is evident. There
are high achievement
expectations for all students
and teachers. The principal
and other leaders provide
professional learning for
teachers lacking
understanding of the impact
that attitudes regarding
race, disabilities,
background, culture, high
expectations, and social
class of both students and
teachers have on the
teaching and learning
process.
Level3
Operational
Classroom practices of
most teachers reflect skill
in communicating high
expectations for each
student and adjusting
classroom activities to
meet student needs.
Respect for students
cultures and life
experiences is evident
through the emotionally
and physically safe
learning environment
where students of diverse
backgrounds and
experiences are taught the
school code of conduct
(customs) to help them be
successful in the school
context.
Level2
Emerging
Classroom practices of
some
teachers reflect evidence
of teachers training in
understanding the impact
that attitudes regarding
race, disabilities,
background, culture, high
expectations, and social
class of both students and
teachers have on the
teaching and learning
process.
Classroom
littleorno
teacherst
understand
attitudesr
disabilitie
culture,hi
socialclas
andteache
teachinga
21
RECOMMENDATIONS: School digger and infinite campus are the many tools used to identify th
gender, and socioeconomic status or the students. This standard is not evident at the time in
are identified; however, that data collected is not used to drive instruction nor provided profes
development to better support the subgroups within the school. It is recommended that traini
gender based instruction, and co-teacher be given in conjunction with technology uses and co
collaboration. Also, it is suggested that teachers are given opportunities and allocated funding
similar to Ballard-Hudsons demographics.
References
22

E. David, personal communication, September 27, 2016
Performance Matters. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from
https://tle.gadoe.org/U/P/Channel/-/Guest/Login
SchoolDigger.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from
https://www.schooldigger.com/
Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS). (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from
http://www.gadoe.org/Technology-Services/SLDS/Pages/SLDS.aspx

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Current Reality and GSAPS Review

Forms of Professional Learning

An increase in homeless students.

Effectively conducting Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

Evaluation and Change

state, the nation, the world

improving student success;

support and a summer bridge program for rising 9th graders

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

RECOMMENDATIONS: Professional development calendar, norms, routines, and meetings stres

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

RECOMMENDATIONS: The recommendation for standard would be to evaluate teachers, meet

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

Lakeya Prince: ASSIGNMENT 1: CURRENT REALITY & GAPSS

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