Danita's+Project

Bridging the Achievement Gap in Writing Danita Doan danita.doan@waldenu.edu Walden University EDUC 8843 - 7103 Carla Johnson June 15, 2012

**Name of Organization:** Newton County Theme School

**Problem Summary:** Students are not making adequate yearly progress on the state mandated writing test.

**Background of Organiztion:** The Newton County Theme School is a tuition free public school located in Covington, Georgia that serves students in kindergarten through 6th grade. The Newton County Theme School had 35 teachers who served 825 students in the 2011 -2012 school year.

Data from annual state reports and surveys from teachers and students will be used in preparing an intervention. The URL for this organization is []


 * Stakeholders and Decision Makers: **The implementation of this plan will affect both the teachers and the students, especially students who are in grades 3rd & 5th grades as they are required to take the state-wide standardized writing test.

Administrators will have to approve the intervention plan to bridge the gap in writing achievement before it can be implemented by teachers.


 * Peformance Gap Analysis: **

**Actual Current Performance:** Students aren’t making sufficient progress in writing, especially students in 3rd-5th grades as noted on the state mandated writing assessment.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Desired Performance:** The school’s goal is for at least 85% of the students in 3rd – 5th grades to meet and/or exceed performance standards on the state mandated writing test.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Performance Gap:** Students in 3rd - 5th grades aren't making adequate yearly progress on the state mandated writing test. Suggested interventions will help the school meet their goal of at least 85% or more of their students meeting and/or exceeding performance standards on the state mandated writing test.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Cause Analysis:** Teachers cite that lack of training and confidence in their own writing abilities along with insufficient time to teach the steps of the writing process is to blame for their students’ poor writing skills (Appendix A).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**The Organization's History and Background:** The Newton County Theme School was founded in 2009 by community members who were interested in creating a school of choice within the Newton County School System. In order to be a part of Newton County Theme School, students and parents must make a commitment to adhere to the Theme School contract. This contract includes items such as following a uniform code of dress, an emphasis on increased behavioral expectations and parental reinforcement of the instructional program. Parents are a vital part of the Theme School and are required to contribute 20 hours of volunteer service per school year. In addition to the volunteer hours, parents are expected to partner with the school, ultimately strengthening the educational environment.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> **Three Intervention Strategies** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">I have chosen three intervention strategies that will aid in bridging the achievement gap in writing. The low end strategy would be to require students to complete a writing assignment as part of their homework each night. The middle end strategy would be to have a writing expert come in and model writing lessons, and a high end strategy would be to send teachers to a writing seminar.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Low End Intervention:** All teachers, including teacher’s whose students aren’t required to take the state mandated writing assessment, could assign a writing activity as part of their student’s nightly homework. Teachers could award students with extra recess time and/or “dress down” days for completing writing assignments over a preset period of time.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Middle End Intervention:** The school could bring a writing expert in to model writing lessons for the teachers. He/she could also sit in on writing lessons given by some of the teachers and conference with them afterwards to discuss possible improvements.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**High End Intervention:** A more costly, yet highly effective, intervention would be to send the teachers to a 2 day writing workshop in Atlanta, Georgia to get specialized training. With 41 teachers at a cost of $625 a person, this would cost roughly $25,625 (Appendix B).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Justification for Intervention Strategy:** The best intervention strategy to bridge the achievement gap in writing is to have a writing expert come in and model writing lessons. Having a writing expert model lessons and give constructive feedback is an extremely effective strategy and will have a longer lasting effect on both the teachers and the students than the other two strategies. Additionally, it would be less expensive than sending teachers to a writing workshop. Its only limitation is being able to arrange an expert to come in at a time that will coordinate with the teacher's schedule.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Requiring writing homework is sure to bring about positive results because it provides students with the practice of putting their thoughts down on paper; however, it is limited because some parents will not take the time to help their child proofread his/her writing and make the necessary corrections.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Although sending teachers to a writing workshop would be beneficial because it would give them an opportunity to observe model writing lessons as well as collaborate and get ideas from fellow teachers; however, budget cuts in a struggling economy, make it unfeasible at this time.


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The Manager as a Change Agent **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Project Manager Techniques:** The first thing the project manager would need to do is take on the role of a leader and get approval from the school’s administrators as well as the Board of Education to fund bringing an expert in to model writing lessons. Once approval is secured, the project manager would need to take on the roles of team builder and motivator and meet with the teachers to discuss performance gap and the suggested intervention strategy to be put in place and get them excited about the positive results it could bring. They also need to discuss when they would like to have the writing expert come in that would be the most efficient and effective. Finally, the project manager needs to arrange for the writing expert to come in and work with the teachers.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Resource Management Techniques:** The resources needed for chosen intervention is the funding for a writing expert. Teachers can use materials that are already in the building. Tracking will occur through writing assessments using a common rubric for each grade level. Grade levels will meet to discuss their students’ progress and possible improvements needed.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Delivery System Management Techniques:** Coordinating the delivery of model writing lessons in the teachers’ classrooms that best meets their needs is an extremely important part of this project. Once the writing lessons have begun, the project manager will need to communicate with teachers regularly to make sure that the intervention is meeting their needs as well as the needs of their students.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Document Information Management Techniques:** The documentation information will be stored in Infinite Campus under each student’s name. A written copy of each student’s progress will be kept in file folders. The assistant principal will periodically compile all the information and put it into a graph for easy comparison of students’ progress. Then the information will be presented to the principal and school board.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Financial and Budget Information:** Teachers can use materials that are already available to them. They may also use multi-media resources readily available via the internet at no additional cost. The only additional cost would be for the fee for the writing expert to come in model/critique writing lessons. See Appendix B for link to website.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Project Assessment/Evaluation:** The state mandated writing assessment at the end of the school year will serve as a summative evaluation instrument as to the effectiveness of the proposed intervention strategy. Grade level writing assesssments as well as a teacher questionnaire (Appendix C) will serve as a formative evaluation instrument to gauge the effectiveness of the intervention.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">As you know, our students are not meeting adequate yearly progress in writing. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Please take a minute and answer the questions below? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">6+1 Trait Writing Workshop []
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Appendix **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Appendix A **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">How do you feel about your writing instruction?
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What do you think will enhance your writing instruction for your students?
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What do you think is hindering our students’ progress in writing?
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Appendix B **


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Appendix C **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">In comparison to before the writing workshop, how do you feel about your writing instruction now?
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Do you think the effects of the workshop have positively influenced your student’s writing progress?


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> References **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Chevalier, R. D. (2007). A manager's guide to improving workplace performance. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">New York, NY: American Management Association.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Education Northwest (2012). 6+1 Trait writing institute. Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Newton County Theme School []