ABSTRACT
Alston Ridge Middle School, located in Wake County, opened to students in
Implementing
Instructional
Expectations at
Alston Ridge
Middle School
Mr. Jesse H. Gore
Principal Resident
Alston Ridge Middle School
2019-2020
PROBLEM STATEMENT
What steps need to be taken in
order to design, share,
implement, and monitor
instructional expectations at
Alston Ridge Middle School?
RESULTS
100
July 2019. With the pressures of opening as a year-round school in a very
competitive area of Northwest Cary, creating a welcoming and positive school
culture took precedence over developing an instructionally-sound program for
students.
The administrative team at Alston Ridge Middle School quickly realized that
without having baseline expectations for teaching, rigorous and relevant
learning would be out of reach for students. With the help of Ed Elements, an
educational consultant firm, steps were taken towards determining the gaps in
our educational program and in developing the “Instructional Floor.” By
utilizing the remainder of the 2019-2020 instructional year to get all teachers
at baseline, Alston Ridge Middle School will be able to raise the bar
academically in the future.
LOGIC MODEL
PLAN OF ACTION
Design of the Alston Ridge Middle School “Instructional Floor”
1 based on staff input and baseline data gathered from informal
walk-throughs.
Development, sharing, and implementation of the Alston Ridge
2 Middle School walk-through tool with questions directly aligned to
the Instructional Floor expectations.
3 Continued meetings with Ed Elements to dissect data and inform
immediate action steps.
Long-term planning session to determine instructional
4 expectations and professional development needed during the
2020-2021 school year.
DESIRED OUTCOMES
By developing a shared understanding of baseline instructional
expectations throughout the building, instructional needs will be a
focus and frequent discussion piece between teachers and
administrators.
Having explicit instructional expectations will drive professional
development needs and school improvement planning, which will
allow the school to raise the bar on instructional expectations over
time.
Teachers will more intentionally prepare for and implement lessons
that are aligned to standards, which will increase both student
achievement and growth over time as measured by EVAAS.
A clear instructional plan will allow students to be more engaged
and feel that they have more control of their learning, which will
improve student perception on their schooling experience as
measured by WCPSS Student Survey results.
90
80
70
60
6th Grade
50
7th Grade
8th Grade
40
30
20
10
Week 1 Week 2
Chart 1. Percentage of Standards Posted by Grade Level
Week 3 Week 4
Posting a standard in student-friendly language and aligning tasks to the
standard became the primary emphasis when determining the Instructional
Floor. As indicated in Chart 1, teachers within all three grade levels showed a
weekly increase in their posting of standards before a lesson. Walk-through
data, however, showed that only 64% of tasks and/or assessments were
appropriately aligned to the standard posted.
Another Instructional Floor emphasis centered around the use of academic
language and vocabulary. Data collected during walk-throughs showed that
teachers used academic language effectively, although students did not. These
results also aligned to the third component of the Instructional Floor, which is
the creation of a learner-driven classroom. As seen in Chart 2, data showed
that almost 50% of lessons were teacher-centered.
12%
Teacher
48%
-
Centere
40% d
Learner-
Centere
d
Chart 2. Levels of Engagement
RECOMMENDATIONS
Having explicit expectations of staff beginning at the start of the
2020-2021 school year is imperative to improve the instructional
output at Alston Ridge Middle School. These expectations should be
embedded into the School Improvement Plan and shared clearly
with staff during teacher workdays.
Instructional walk-throughs should continue in order to collect data
on implementation efforts. The Instructional Leadership Team
should conduct these walk-throughs and monitor progress.
Accountability and professional development structures need to be
put in place to ensure expectations are being followed with fidelity.
REFLECTION
It is a challenging task to open a school that emphasizes both creating a strong
school culture and designing rigorous instruction for all students. I made it my
mission to make instruction a priority at Alston Ridge Middle School after early
observations showed a lack of standards-aligned instruction and student
engagement. While the school year ended abruptly, Alston Ridge Middle
School began making steady progress in its academic goals beginning in
January. I feel confident that the school has the structures in place to start the
2020-2021 school year strong if it provides explicit expectations to staff. The
current staff is talented and more than capable to exceed growth; it just needs
the push to get there.