Chaparral Elementary School

Demographics

Number of Students: K-5 = 882
Number Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: (1%)
Percent of Limited English Proficient:               (5%)
Percent of Special Education:                             (6%)
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White                                 (82.5%)
• Black                                  (1.4%)
• Hispanic                                      (4.4%)
• Asian/Pacific Island           (5.4%)
• Other                                  (6.3%)

Present Student Achievement Data in at least three points to demonstrate trends – for example, three consecutive years or the first, third, and fifth years. The data report should always include the most recent school year and should always offer a basis of comparison.

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.

Implementing Professional Learning Community best practices, Chaparral has demonstrated significant growth in student learning over time.

In 2006, Chaparral became one of California’s schools to register an Academic Performance Index (API) score over 900 with an API mark of 910. Based on California’s accountability system, an API score of 800 is considered the bar of excellence. API scores of 800 and above are regarded as excellent schools.

State of California Academic Performance Index (API) Scores since our opening in 2001:
2002 = 877
2003 = 877
2004 = 881
2005 = 899
2006 = 910

Chaparral is a featured elementary school in the upcoming PLC video to be released this year.

Please present additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact on students and/or teachers.

Chaparral has hosted numerous school visits from fellow educators looking to improve their own Professional Learning Community. The principal and staff have modeled best practice and offered ideas for PLC implementation. Many of our staff members share their practices at district, state, and national conferences.
The principal has presented PLC concepts and implementation strategies to audiences in several other school districts.

Please elaborate strategies you have found to be effective in the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Grade level teams give frequent formative assessments to identify: 1) the students who need additional time and support to learn, 2) the students who have already learned it, and 3) the instructional strategies that generated the highest levels of learning.

The grade level teams also use other time during the week – both during and after school – to help improve student learning.

Chaparral utilizes a teacher-driven grade 1-5 Physical Education program that allows for additional collaboration time and extra intervention time for students who need the extra time and support. All students receive P.E. instruction from half of the teachers while the other half of the teachers collaborate. On a rotation basis throughout the school year, the teachers trade places so that all students receive P.E. and half the teachers are collaborating to improve teaching and learning.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Classroom teachers provide additional assistance to students who need it during the school day. Teachers are assisted in the intervention effort by two intervention teachers (three days per week). One intervention teacher works exclusively with students in grades K-1-2 while the other offers intervention to students in grades 3-4-5.

In addition, before and after school intervention time is offered to students who need it.

Grade level teams have identified essential learning or power standards for each content area.

Grade levels have created and maintain PLC notebooks or accountability binders which contain all of the useful content they deal with as a grade level team.

PLC Accountability Binders:
Making the Products of Our Collaboration Explicit

Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap: To help build the leadership capacity of our staff to function in high-performing teams, the principal will work with the staff to create specific targets and timelines for the completion of a series of tasks that will call upon the team to create products to guide their work. It could be as simple as the following calendar for team products:

By the end of the ___ week of each trimester, grade level teams will:

2nd week of trimester (September 13; January 3; April 4)
• Grade level teams will present team norms and protocols that will guide the interactions and work of the team

4th week of trimester (September 27; January 17; April 25)
• Grade level teams will present its SMART goal(s)

6th week of trimester (October 11; January 31; May 9)
• Grade level teams will present a listing of the essential learning or power standards all students are to achieve that trimester

8th week of trimester (October 25; February 14; May 23)
• Grade level teams will present a common formative assessment it is using to assess each student’s mastery of essential learning

10th week of trimester (November 8; February 28; June 6)
• Grade level teams will present its analysis of student performance on the common assessment, including areas of strengths and weaknesses and strategies for addressing those students who are experiencing difficulties

Grade Level Teams (PLC Binders): Each member of team will assemble and keep a notebook containing everything. Each team member needs ownership and access to the information. Most importantly, every team member needs to use the information in the notebook.

• Meet regularly to identify essential and valued student learning. (Binder: Minutes, curriculum maps, work products, etc.)
• Develop common formative assessments. (Binder: Common assessments.)
• Analyze current levels of achievement. (Binder: Charts, tables, graphs, narrative summary, etc., working with the common assessment data.)
• Set achievement goals. (Binder: Grade level SMART goal(s).)
• Share teaching strategies with each other. (Binder: as appropriate and be prepared to share with ideas and strategies with the balance of the staff.)
• Create lessons to improve upon current level of student learning. (Binder: Lesson plans that others can use.)
• Follow agreed-to team norms guiding collaboration. (Binder: Agreed upon norms with review and update each trimester.)

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that  focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

All members of Chaparral Elementary School are members of grade level teams. Each team meets at least one time per week to focus on student learning.

During banked minutes time each Wednesday, all members of the teaching staff meet in the multipurpose room for our PLC collaboration time. Typically, with four Wednesdays per month, the PLC meetings follow this format:
Week1: Staff Meeting/Staff Development
Week 2: Grade Level Team Meeting
Week 3: Staff Development
Week 4: Inter-Grade Level Articulation (Example: Grade 3 meets with Grade 4 on month then Grade 3 meets with Grade 2 the next month)

The area of focus for staff development is selected by the teachers and is conducted on a schoolwide basis for an entire school year. SMART goals are linked to the staff development area of focus. This year Chaparral is focusing on mathematics. Our schoolwide staff development area of focus last year was writing.

List awards and recognitions your school has achieved

Opening as a brand new school in 2001, Professional Learning Community best practices have been implemented since day one. In fact, our PLC began with the formation of a planning team (five teachers and the principal) formed in the months before the school opened.

Recognized as a California Distinguished School in 2004.

Principal recognized as California’s Early Intervention for School Success (EISS) Educator of the Year in 2004.

For more information on Chaparral Elementary School, go to:
http://www.capousd.org/chpes/