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C.S. Porter Middle School

School Information

School Name: C.S. Porter Middle School
District Name: Missoula County Public Schools
School Address: 2510 W. Central Ave., Missoula, MT 59804
School Phone: 406.542.4060
School Fax: 406.542.4098
Principal:  Gail Chandler
Principal E-Mail: gchandler@mcps.k12.mt.us
Web Address: http://www.mcps.k12.mt.us/portal/Default.aspx?alias=www.mcps.k12.mt.us/portal/porter

Demographics

Number of Students: 458
Number eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 57%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 2%
Percent of Special Education: 16%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

  • White: 87%
  • Black: 2%
  • Hispanic: 4%
  • Asian/Pacific Island: 1%
  • Other: 9%

Present Student Achievement Data (% proficient and advanced on school scores vs. district scores)

Grade 6 Math Reading Science
2007 70/71 86/88 n/a
2009 70/71 90/90 n/a
2011 66/72 85/89 n/a

 

Grade 7 Math Reading Science
2007 61/65 83/88 n/a
2009 65/71 79/87 n/a
2011 72/77 83/89 n/a

 

Grade 8 Math Reading Science
2007 52/65 73/81 n/a
2009 71/70 85/86 59/67
2011 71/75 85/89 72/75

 

Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the data that you feel is particularly significant.

Of significance is the data that is not displayed in the above tables, but is included in the table below:

AMO 83 68 83 68 74 51
YEAR 2011 2011 2009 2009 2006 2006
SUBJECT Reading Math Reading Math Reading Math
ALL STUDENTS 89 73 87 71 83 60
ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS 84 61 79 55 74 44
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 53 29 53 29 46 20

In 2011, 73% of all C.S. Porter students were proficient in Math, up 13 percentage points from 2006.  89% of all C.S. Porter students were proficient in Reading, up 6 percentage points from 2006. 61% of Economically Disadvantaged students were proficient in Math, up 17 percentage points since 2006.  84% of Economically Disadvantaged students were proficient in Reading, up 10 percentage points since 2006.  29% of Students with Disabilities were proficient in Math, up 9 percentage points since 2006.  53% of Students with Disabilities were proficient in Reading, up 7 percentage points since 2006. 

In addition, in 2011, 59% of our students scored in the Advanced range in Reading, up 25 percentage points from 2006, and 34% of our students score Advanced in Math up 12 percentage points since 2006.

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

In the fall of the 2006-2007 school year, we implemented Collaborative Team Meetings with the following staff targets:

  • I will participate in collaboration meetings that have purpose and direction.
  • I will respect and value the input and discussion during a collaboration meeting.
  • I will use the feedback and encouragement that I receive at collaboration meetings to improve my pedagogical skills.

It was tough going, with many staff changes having to occur in order for the culture to change from one of isolation to one of empowerment. We began to trust each other, to focus on assessment results, and to raise the levels of achievement in our school by changing pour pedagogical practices to meet student needs. The PLC process brought about a true focus on student work, outcomes and learning targets. Our teachers have never worked harder and the results are telling.  Of significance, too, is what teachers are saying about our learning community:

  • “Everyone steps up to lead at different times and with different purposes.” Teacher
  • “I don’t think the yoke is worn by anyone too long and so the 'burden' isn't too daunting.  I think we also have a lot of great support.”  Teacher
  • “Our students benefit from collaboration all the time.  From big things like One Book or our more recent IEFA story-telling day to simple day-to-day collaborations on curriculum ideas or RTI/MBI implementations.  I, too, benefit!”  Teacher
  • “Having the knowledge and support to try new and different things (behavior modifications, teaching strategies…etc.) has helped me become somewhat of an expert and able to take on a leadership role in the school.”  Teacher 
  • As our committee identifies challenges we work together to devise plans and solutions which are then often implemented at the classroom and/or grade level.  My participation on the committee has enabled me to facilitate and support those needed changes and I have seen a positive impact on our students.”  Teacher
  • “As a member of a district-wide IEFA project, I have gained insight and skills which enable me to develop classroom modelsand meet the unique needs of our American Indian students, and to share this knowledge with my grade-level team.”  Teacher
  • “Based on the strength of the C.S. Porter curriculum development model I have presented workshops on the district level and at the alternative high school on developing in-depth units of study.”  Teacher

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

  1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

We spent a significant amount of time working on creating common assessments with which to measure student progress.  Students complete progress-monitoring charts after each common assessment, charting their growth over the course of the year and keep the charts in a portfolio which travels with them from grade-to-grade.  In addition to the common assessments, students chart their progress on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) in both reading and math.  Teachers work with students to create year-long growth goals and analyze the Descartes model to frame their instruction.  The goal-setting chart and the MAP progress monitoring chart are kept in the portfolio as well.  The portfolios are examined by teachers at the end of the school year and student progress is discussed in cross-grade level collaborative teams during a summer institute.

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

We have created placement pathways for all students, from students with disabilities (Intensive), to talented students (Advanced).  Students are placed on the pathway according to their MAP, MontCAS, and additional screeners such as MAZEs, ORFs and SRA math placement tests.  Student who are identified on the Intensive or Strategic pathways receive as additional 55 minutes of math and/or reading instruction per day.  Students on these pathways have 55 minutes of the regular core curriculum in these content areas and an additional 55 minutes of skills-based instruction.  “Exit” scores are identified in pathways to allow students to move up to the next highest pathway with minimal transition and with support.  Students identified as Advanced are provided with opportunities to enrich and extend their learning beyond the regular classroom and into the real world.  Coursework for these students in 7th grade has included working with students in the high schools to design, build, and sell birdhouses.  In 8th grade, students are provided an opportunity to participate in a teacher-designed curriculum entitled “Real World Ventures” which has engaged students in advertising in several different media, working with community experts and having their work judged by the agencies for which they are creating the advertising.  Additional time and community expertise is provided to these students during the school day, sometimes supplanting a unit of coursework in the core curriculum. 

In addition to the placement pathways, all students are given the opportunity to participate in after school Academic Labs, Flagship Homework Zone, and 21st Century math tutoring.

3. Building the capacity of teachers to work as members of high performing collaborative teams who focus the efforts of their team on improved learning for students.

Our collaborative teams began as grade level teams, focused on improving student achievement in the area of reading. After state reading test scores were analyzed, teams wrote a SMART goal to help focus the reading instruction in all content areas.  Common reading assessments were then written and administered by the grade level teams.  Scores were analyzed and instructional practices examined in order to improve student success on the goal.  We have since moved into content-specific collaborative teams, both horizontally and vertically.  Horizontally to examine common assessment scores and work to increase student achievement and success, and vertically to create the curriculum maps.  Vertical teams write SMART goals and focus on student skills and abilities.

Every member of our school staff is dedicated to increasing  student achievement.  Over time, our staff has had to overcome barriers and roadblocks in order to effectively collaborate.  From putting our school up for sale in order to reorganize our school support committees, to collaborating as a school community to write our mission and belief statements, our school has overcome the roadblock and barriers so that we can focus on what matters most: our students.  Every staff member contributes to collaborative committees, teams and horizontal and vertical content cadres.  All members of the staff have professional goals and collaborative teams and committees have SMART goals, focused specifically on increasing student achievement.  Content cadres have created curriculum maps, meeting to pull out the power standards from the district curriculum document and worked to write common assessments for grade level content teams.  Student progress is monitored and adjustments made in instructional practices in order to increase student mastery of learning targets.  All of our teachers have had the opportunity to lead, to teach others, and to train others across the district and at the state level.  Our staff’s ability to collaborate as a community has been recognized both at the district and state levels.

List any Awards and Recognition Garnered by Your School

Missoulian’s 2011 A+ Middle School Award for best classroom project.  We were recognized for our whole-school One Book, One Community project.  This is a school-wide literacy project in which the entire school community is engaged in reading one book.  Every student and every staff member receives their own copy of the book and many are checked out of our Family Resource Center by parents and community members.  The project lasts from four to six weeks and include multi-grade level activities, book clubs and community speakers, all focused on the central theme of the book.

In 2011, our school success story was presented at the National Association of Elementary School Principals National Conference in Tampa, Florida.

In 2011, our school success story was presented at the Montana State Title I Conference.

In 2010, our school was recognized as a “Turnaround School” and our success story was presented at a Northwest Regional Lab Conference on school improvement.

In 2007, our school was recognized as a Montana State Title I Distinguished School for our efforts in closing the achievement gap in reading for our economically disadvantaged students.