Continuous Improvement Plan
Lexington Public Schools Continuous
Improvement Plan
Position Statement
April 14, 2010
The Lexington Public Schools Continuous Improvement (CIP) Team has identified two goals for the current CIP cycle:
- All students will improve reading across the curriculum
- All stakeholders will participate in students' progress toward graduation
The process and rationale behind choosing these goals for continuous improvement is based upon analysis of data collected under the Accreditation Standards for Quality Schools. The continuous improvement profile is comprised of 7 standards.
- Standard 1: Vision and Purpose
- Standard 2: Governance and Leadership
- Standard 3: Teaching and Learning
- Standard 4: Documenting and Using Results
- Standard 5: Resources and Support Systems
- Standard 6: Stakeholder Communications and Relationships
- Standard 7: Commitment to Continuous Improvement
The CIP district committee requested all staff members to serve on at least one of the seven committees formed to study the extent to which Lexington Public Schools meets each of the standards. Committees gathered evidence from surveys, assessment results, budget documents and other sources of information. Items were identified that would be collected. Then, staff members on each of the standard committees reviewed the data and made generalizations in areas of need within each building. Data was presented in a district group meeting to identify common areas of need throughout Lexington Public Schools. The findings revealed that each school had similar needs in varying degrees. Reading was determined to be a high priority as an area that could be improved. The five areas pertaining to reading most commonly stated by each building were the following: fluency, comprehension, understanding of varied text, main idea, and supporting details. In addition, it was determined that the district should focus attention on the graduation rate. Therefore, a district goal to positively impact the number of students graduating from high school was also identified.
In order to accommodate the variances from school to school, yet recognize the commonalities within the district based on data collected and analyzed by staff, the CIP team generated an essence statement for each goal. The essence statements are intended to focus efforts of the CIP on the seven standards in order to achieve the goals.
The district's essences are written as follows:
- Increase reading comprehension and fluency through the use of research based instructional strategies in teaching reading skills.
- Improve transition year-to-year and mid-year program, focus on physical, intellectual, emotional, social issues, decrease the number of failing grades and recognize student success.