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WASC Outcomes 2016

WASC Outcomes 2016

 

KHIS Schoolwide Areas of Strength

  • The ‘ohana spirit on campus continues to be highly evident with student, teachers, and community.
  • Students, staff, and community are extremely proud of the diversity on campus and the school embraces and celebrates this diversity.
  • Teachers have a strong desire to improve student learning and are using a variety of instructional strategies and methods to accomplish this.
  • The current administration is seen by students, staff, and the community as more visible, accessible, and supportive.
  • All classified staff take great pride in creating an environment that is conducive to student learning and success.
  • School-community partnerships are strong and address the needs of all stakeholders.

 

KHIS Schoolwide Critical Areas for Follow-up

  • Communication -  In order to improve transparency with the surrounding community, KHIS must develop new strategies to effectively communicate their celebrations of success, changes, direction, and focus with their community and stakeholders.  
  • Assessment/Data -  KHIS needs to develop a data-driven culture used to drive instruction and influence decisions designed to improve student learning and teaching.
  • Technology - KHIS needs to develop a comprehensive technology plan to address student/teacher access, infrastructure, purchase, replacement and future needs that supports teaching and learning.
  • Collaboration - Continue to develop and refine the collaborative culture that currently exists at KHIS with a focus on common assessments, grading policies, and horizontal/vertical planning.

 

 

 

WASC Category A.  Organization: Strengths and Growth Needs

 

Category A: Organization: Areas of Strength

  • Teacher’s and administrator’s desire to use data to make decisions about student support, lesson plans, student placement, technology needs and operations.
  • There are a variety of methods that administration, faculty, parents, and students use to communicate including print (newsletter and Redbook), technology (Edline, website, phone calls), and social media (Facebook and Instagram).
  • The School Community Council meets regularly with parents, community members and school staff to make decisions relating to school climate and budget.  The community is becoming a more active participant in school operations through development of the K-FAST and alumni support groups.
  • Middle school teachers and administrators have taken the initiative to form agreements to work together to support students and student learning.
  • The school-based health clinic helps attend to students’ medical and dental needs and save lost time in class.

 

Category A: Organization: Areas of Growth

  • KHIS needs to reach out and encourage more positive parent participation.
  • Some classroom facilities present problems with mold, excessive heat, and inconsistent models and age of student and staff furniture.
  • Keeping computers, printers, and copy equipment in working order is a challenge as is replacement of outdated equipment and infrastructure needs
  • Create a committee comprised of various stakeholders to determine what and how professional development is offered and its focus for those days available for the staff to designate.  
  • Investigate and begin the implementation of ways to delegate the responsibility of monitoring systems and programs such as RTI, technology, parent involvement and care of facilities.  
  • Develop a school Strategic Plan that provides identified philosophies for programs already in progress such as RTI, SART, PLC, and SLC.

 

Important evidence from the self-study and the visit that supports these strengths and key issues include the following:

  • Academic/Financial Plan & Comprehensive Needs Analysis
  • KHIS website, newsletters,
  • Survey Data (Tripod and parent, community, student and teacher survey data)
  • Focus group meeting agenda and minutes
  • Redbook planner
  • DOE Faculty Handbook & Faculty Handbook on the K

 

 

 

WASC Category B.  Standards-based Student Learning: Curriculum
Strengths and Growth Needs

Category B: Standards-based Student Learning: Curriculum: Areas of Strength

  • The KHIS Academic and Financial Plan supports identified school wide needs
  • The KHIS staff professional development activities are assisting teachers to gain effective and 21st century teaching and learning skills
  • Some teachers are moving toward the use of common grading practices
  • The KHIS staff continue to strive toward increasing both rigor and relevance
  • The emerging RTI program
  • The relatively new focus on cultural awareness electives

 

Category B: Standards-based Student Learning: Curriculum: Areas of Growth

  • Increase regularly scheduled classroom walkthroughs to provide formative information for staff
  • Additional training on the use of Common Assessments and grading practices
  • The collection of hard data to provide information for staff to drive teaching and instructional practices
  • A formal Response to Intervention Program with an identified school-wide philosophy

Important evidence from the self-study and the visit that supports these strengths and key issues include the following:

  • Self Study Report
  • Focus Group meetings
  • Classroom Observations/visitations

 

 

WASC Category C.  Standards-based Student Learning: Instruction
Strengths and Growth Needs
Category C: Standards-based Student Learning: Instruction: Areas of Strength

  • Teachers use a variety of strategies to differentiate instruction for students
  • Teachers have several outlets for looking at and collaboratively discussing student work and progress (SLCs and PLCs)
  • KHIS is working to create a technology enriched environment
  • Teachers receive regular in-servicing on various technology and support programs (eg. Go Math, IXL Math, Read 180)
  • Small Learning Communities (SLC)

 

Category C: Standards-based Student Learning: Instruction: Areas of Growth

  • Continue implementation and monitoring of technology related strategies, e.g. Google Apps for Education
  • Continue exploration and implementation of research based instructional strategies (versus lecturing and direct instruction)
  • Continue in-servicing on differentiated instruction and teaching strategies to more cohesively implement strategies and address needs of RTI
  • Increase monitoring, sharing, and communication of various instructional programs and initiatives such as academic competitions participation (e.g. We The People, Science Fair, etc.), support classes for reading and math, and other available resources to help support students (e.g. study hall, computer lab access)
  • Pacing guides for all content areas. Horizontal and Vertical Alignment
  • Continue to increase computer access

 

Important evidence from the self-study and the visit that supports these strengths and key issues include the following:

  • Self-Study Document
  • Focus Group Meetings
  • Meetings with Students
  • Classroom Observations
  • Meetings with Staff

 

WASC Category D.  Standards-based Student Learning: Assessment and Accountability

 

Category D: Standards-based Student Learning: Assessment and Accountability: Areas of Strength

  • Systems for the teachers to meet and have discussions on Standards-based Learning through the SLC/PLC process
  • KHIS Teachers are working on inter-rater reliability by looking at the student work and comparing ratings to develop common grading practices
  • The use of Edline allows students and parents the ability to monitor progress and grades
  • Teachers use a variety of assessments, both formative and summative, to monitor student progress

 

Category D: Standards-based Student Learning: Assessment and Accountability: Areas of Growth

  • Consistent and equitable standards-based grading from teacher to teacher, throughout all grade levels needs to be further developed through discussions and collective decisions
  • Development of a technology plan that is focused on student learning, teacher use, and PD
  • Use data to drive instruction
  • Expand the use of a common online grading tool

 

Important evidence from the self-study and the visit that supports these strengths and key issues include the following:

  • Focus groups discussions
  • Self study
  • AcFin
  • Master Schedule
  • AVID essentials
  • WASC team walkthroughs

 

 

 

WASC Category E.  School Culture and Support for Student Personal and
Academic Growth Strengths and Growth Needs

 

Category E: School Culture and Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth: Areas of Strength

  • KHIS has a very supportive and strong community with a strong feeling of ‘ohana
  • Teachers, alumna(e), parents, and leadership are very dedicated to KHIS and have an immense amount of pride to be part of the KHIS community.  
  • Diversity is affirmed and celebrated.
  • Students at KHIS feel that they have adults to turn to at the school if they need support.  New students at KHIS feel welcomed and supported.  
  • There are a myriad of curricular and co-curricular supports at KHIS that are student driven.  
  • Smaller learning communities (SLCs) are supportive for students in grades 7-10 in addressing any needs they have.   

 

Category E: School Culture and Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth: Areas of Growth

  • Increase communication with stakeholders; inclusive of ensuring that all successes both athletic and academic are shared with the community.   
  • Gender equity in accessing athletic resources.  
  • Improve sustainability of successful academic and curricular programs is an area of growth to ensure that programs don’t stop when teachers or administration leaves the school. Maintenance of programs of historical importance at the school such as “We the People”
  • Establish a shared philosophy and system for RTI.
  • Develop systematized supports for all students of varying subgroups (e.g. honors, ELL, SPED) based on student data
  • Regularly evaluate the efficacy of behavior supports, e.g. “lock out” policy, and explore other possible alternative discipline procedures to address changing student needs and concerns

 

Important evidence from the self-study and the visit that supports these strengths and key issues include the following:

  • Self Study Report
  • Classroom Visitations
  • Focus Group Discussions
  • Parent Night Discussions
  • Student Interviews

 

 

 

Schoolwide Strengths and Critical Areas for Follow-up

Comments

In 2010 KHIS went through a full WASC visitation and were left with four areas for follow-up and five areas of strength. The current visiting committee concurs with most of the identified areas of strength observing a continued spirit of “‘Ohana” or “Family” that exists throughout their community and definitely within the school itself.  Teachers, parents, and most importantly students feel this sense of family as many have had parents and grandparents attend KHIS and many alumni have returned to teach or work at the school.  It is also evident that teachers and other school staff have a sincere interest in their students’ well being and the academic focus at KHIS.  In the classroom the committee concurs with the prior finding that teachers are diligently working to increase rigor and relevance in the classroom.  Through their emerging focus on RTI as well as through site level interventions KHIS is developing effective practices for their struggling and at risk of failure students as well.  

 

The prior committee noted that “collaboration takes place within grade levels, content areas, and learning communities with a focus on student support and achievement.” This visiting committee sees a strong desire to continue in the development of a collaborative environment. Developing a more collaborative culture is a priority of the new administration.  This collaborative practice is emerging and is popular within the staff at KHIS yet not institutionalized.  The changes in administration and the tentativeness of leadership at the school is a factor that must be considered as this school looks toward continual improvement.

 

The Critical Areas for Follow-up left by the prior committee included improving and promoting greater two-way communication.  This visiting committee sees this as a continued area for follow-up focused on both internal school and external community communications.  

 

It appears the school has dealt with the identified need for time and support to refine the implementation of instructional strategies. However, the need for consistency in meeting times and process was repeatedly mentioned.  Additionally, these formal times can assist the staff in developing and using effective learning strategies to ensure students are learning and to know when they need to re-teach.  A systemic process to collect, disaggregate and analyze student performance data was also identified in the prior report.  This continues to be an area of follow-up with a focus on the use of data to drive instruction.  

 

The final Critical Area for Follow-up included a need to increase access for all student and staff to a wide variety of technology.  The visiting committee continues to see this as a Critical Area for Follow-up as no formal plan for technology currently exists at the site. Although a significant amount of funding was provided a few years ago, teachers and students feel that access to available technologies is still limited.  Additionally, a detailed look at their technology infrastructure and engineering is also necessary prior to the investment in more tools for teacher and student use.

 

Schoolwide Areas of Strength

  • The ‘ohana spirit on campus continues to be highly evident with student, teachers, and community.
  • Students, staff, and community are extremely proud of the diversity on campus and the school embraces and celebrates this diversity.
  • Teachers have a strong desire to improve student learning and are using a variety of instructional strategies and methods to accomplish this.
  • The current administration is seen by students, staff, and the community as more visible, accessible, and supportive.
  • All classified staff take great pride in creating an environment that is conducive to student learning and success.
  • School-community partnerships are strong and address the needs of all stakeholders.

 

 

Schoolwide Critical Areas for Follow-up

  • Communication -  In order to improve transparency with the surrounding community, KHIS must develop new strategies to effectively communicate their celebrations of success, changes, direction, and focus with their community and stakeholders.   
  • Assessment/Data -  KHIS needs to develop a data-driven culture used to drive instruction and influence decisions designed to improve student learning and teaching.
  • Technology - KHIS needs to develop a comprehensive technology plan to address student/teacher access, infrastructure, purchase, replacement and future needs that supports teaching and learning.
Collaboration - Continue to develop and refine the collaborative culture that currently exists at KHIS with a focus on common assessments, grading policies, and horizontal/vertical planning.