INTRODUCTION/PROCESS The first step to any School wide Improvement Process is to gather a school improvement team to pull together all the elements of the plan. The following chart lists the staff members and community members who participated in the School Improvement team meetings. The school principal, Mr. Whelan, was named principal at Victory Academy in 06-07. Mr. Whelan received his masters degree in school principalship from Central Michigan University and is applying the skills that he learned at Victory Academy. He is also receiving training about school operations provided by the school’s authorizer, Bay Mills Community College, which includes training in needs assessment The SIT has analyzed student achievement data for 2006-2008. The members participated in needs assessment workshops under the leadership of Mr. Whelan. Mr. Whelan trained the teachers in data analysis procedures in order for the teachers to participate in the overall process. During these workshops, the teachers carefully analyzed MEAP, Terra Nova, and Ed Performance scores and included disaggregated sub-group achievement data in their analysis. Because Victory Academy has a small student population, some of the subgroups were not large enough to get reliable data for a score as a group. In these cases, the teachers looked at individual student data to determine the needs of the students at Victory Academy. Teachers looked at Item Analysis reports from the MEAP and EdPerformance tests across grade levels to identify standards and benchmarks that showed low scores. This information gave teachers insight into areas they were covering adequately with their curriculum and areas that needed stronger, more intensive instructional strategies applied. Victory Academy teachers were trained to administer the DRA test to monitor progress of student achievement in reading. DRA inventory results were taken into consideration and were compared with standardized test results for any discrepancies between the scores. Victory Academy uses Chapter tests in the content areas. Local assessments are used and constantly under development. Students who were not at grade level were recommended for the Summer School program and after school tutoring. The emphasis of the programs is on Reading and Writing across the curriculum and the goal was to increase each student’s level of academic achievement. Approximately 30 students attended the program under the instruction of three teachers. Victory Academy also analyzed perception data gathered from teachers and parents through surveys. This information is valuable for determining strengths and weaknesses in school processes and procedures. Education Yes information was gathered to determine strengths and weaknesses in the five Education Yes strands that are evident in highly achieving schools. Information gathered in the Education Yes process was taken into consideration when writing the school improvement plan. The following pages contain information gathered through the Comprehensive Needs Assessment and contain a plan of action based on all the collected data.
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