FCMAT’s assessment of McKenzie Middle School indicates that the school and Guadalupe Union Elementary District are having difficulty meeting many basic legal and professional standards related to Pupil Achievement. In an implementation scale developed by FCMAT to measure each of the legal and professional standards in the pupil achievement area, with 10 being the highest score and zero the lowest, McKenzie earned an overall score of 3.

In order to facilitate more effective improvement of student achievement, FCMAT recommends that the school convene its Action Team to develop an Action Plan for submittal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction by the April 15, 2000 deadline, which will address the various recommendations in the report. The school will be expected to implement its Action Plan during the 2000-01 school year.

This report includes a complete list of the various findings and recommendations for the McKenzie Middle School. Each finding and recommendation addresses the professional and legal standards for Pupil Achievement and selected standards from the other areas of district operations as they apply to pupil achievement. The following is an overview of the general findings and recommendations that are presented in detail in section two of this report. This overview is organized into the three general areas of leadership, curriculum and instruction, and communications.

The staff reports a strong collaborative, family feeling at the school. The instructional staff members are supportive of one another, and all have strong regard and respect for their principal. The school principal is the only administrator at the site and has insufficient time to visit classrooms regularly in order to assess the effectiveness of instruction. Administrative support and coaching is not provided to teachers to the extent necessary to effect improvement of instruction.

Emphasis will need to be placed on building a stronger collaborative team for site and district leadership. This might include collaboration from the education community outside the community of Guadalupe. High school administration and county office personnel should be more involved in assisting the site leadership to achieve the desired goal of increased student performance. The role of the site leadership needs to be focused on increasing student achievement. Support from the district will ensure this occurs.

There does not appear to be an articulated sequence of instruction between grade levels, nor an articulated agreement between teachers of the same grade level concerning the content of instruction. For example, the staff has reviewed student standardized test scores and has identified reading comprehension as an area requiring improvement. However, there appears to be little agreement on reading strategies to be used or on how reading comprehension should be improved.

Although "applied language arts" classes have been established, the content of the classes seems to consist of the subject matter the teacher ordinarily teaches but with an emphasis on more reading and writing. Except for lessons on vocabulary and grammar exercises, FCMAT did not observe reading strategies being taught.

The district office has curriculum guides, but these guides do not appear to be widely disseminated among staff and are not present at the site. The district curriculum director indicated that the district adopted language arts standards, and teacher subcommittees were reviewing the state’s math and science standards. Many staff members, however, indicated that they were not utilizing these guides. Instead, staff members indicated that most of the instruction presented is textbook driven, supplemented with teacher-developed lessons and activities. Three teachers, one from each of the three grade levels at the middle school, participate in the district’s curriculum council, which deals with curricular issues such as promotion-retention and textbook adoption. Assessment tools and curriculum are not aligned, which means what is being tested is not what is being taught.

Teachers approach instruction with positive energy. However, not all staff share high expectations for students. Some readily acknowledge that many of their students will not continue education beyond high school. Yet without a common vision or direction, much of this energy appears to be dispersed as teachers try whatever they feel works best for them. Much emphasis is placed on activities and projects, so that students are very involved in group work and appear to be busy. However, they lack a clear sense about what is being learned through the activity. FCMAT observed some examples of good instruction with good student involvement and interaction, but there also were incidents of time wasted on teacher administrative tasks, lax classroom control and excessive time spent on getting the class organized. Subsequently, there was less time spent on instruction. However, the staff members’ energy and willingness to do whatever is necessary to assist students will help move McKenzie in the direction of improved student performance. The site administrator and the instructional staff have developed a positive working relationship as a school team.

Teachers attempt to modify and adjust instructional plans according to student needs; however, there is no agreed-upon plan for the adjustments made. Staff development is encouraged, and teachers are free to choose whatever workshops they feel will enhance their professional skills. A lack of coordination exists between the school’s regular programs and the categorical supplemental programs such as migrant education.

Another possible barrier to effective instruction was the student schedule, which may not be conducive to keeping students on task. Periods are 46 minutes long, which means that there is perhaps 30 minutes available for any meaningful instruction after students settle in, except in those classes where teachers have good routines and students are immediately at work. Students have a 26-minute homeroom period in the morning, where they engage in a variety of activities such as reading silently, doing homework, checking their agendas/assignments or nodding off. They attend six 46-minute periods during the day, with a 15-minute recess and a 46-minute lunch, and have a 6-minute homeroom period at the end of the day. This schedule calls for students to switch rooms an excessive number of times during the day.

Clearly defined discipline practices have been established and communicated to students, staff, board and community. However, inconsistent classroom implementation of the practices require the principal to deal with discipline problems, not allowing for sufficient time to be devoted to pupil achievement.

The district will need to develop a strong, written, taught and tested curriculum, aligned with state standards and the assessment program, that will assist instructional staff in setting high expectations for all students. Curriculum guides need to be widely disseminated among the staff. Student assessment data needs to be utilized by district and school staff to determine strategies and techniques for improving pupil achievement, to make instructional and program decisions, and to evaluate program effectiveness.

Staff development needs to be ongoing and address topics that will enhance the professional skills of the instructional staff. These topics include using assessment data to direct instruction towards improved student achievement, identifying strategies that go beyond a textbook-driven curriculum, and using effective time-management and disciplinary strategies for the classroom in order to ensure students learn and remain on task.

Expectations for student performance need to be raised for all students. Few activities that required higher-level thinking skills were observed in the classroom. Support in developing and delivering instruction that allows students to achieve at higher levels should be provided by site leadership. The McKenzie Middle School staff and administration have the skills and commitment to improve student achievement. They have approached the goal of improving reading comprehension as a team. However, they must focus their improvement efforts, establish common agreements on research-based strategies to use, and maintain an ongoing dialogue to determine the effectiveness of their efforts, making adjustments as necessary. Programs such as tutorials and a migrant program must supplement the regular instructional program.

Parents indicated there is little regular communication between the school and the home. The school has no Parent-Teacher Association or Parent-Teacher Organization and has no other regular opportunity for parents to voice their opinions on school operations and decision-making. Decisions and other information are not effectively communicated throughout the system in a timely manner.

Staff members feel parents and community members are encouraged to be involved in the schools, but parents do not feel welcome or informed. Clearly defined discipline practices have been established and communicated to students, staff, board and community, however, the superintendent and principal need to ensure they are conveying the same message.

The school’s Action Plan should include a comprehensive communications plan that allows for two-way communication between all staff, between the site and the district office, and between the site and the elementary school and the high school. Formal channels of communication must be established to include and empower parents and community members to become partners in the effort to improve student achievement.

The FCMAT report provides the school, district and its partners with a comprehensive list of the standards and recommendations by which progress will be measured. The recommendations provide clarity as to the expected outcomes. The school is not expected nor could it implement all recommendations during the next few months. The Action Team is encouraged to identify standards to focus on in the development of the Action Plan, to include specific efforts to be addressed in the next school year.

The time line for the work of the Action Team is prescribed by the state and the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP). The Action Team will need to complete its Action Plan by late February to submit to the Guadalupe Board for approval prior to March 15, 2000. The Action Plan, which also serves as the district’s application for state funding for implementation during the 2000-2001 school year, must be postmarked by April 15, 2000 to the California Department of Education.