North Carolina
School Improvement Planning
Implementation Guide
2009-2010
Dale Pelsey-Becton
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and
Academic Accountability
 Establishing
an understanding of the “big
picture”, which includes student achievement,
school climate, staff, and administrative issues;
 Reaching consensus across the school
community on which needs represent the
highest priorities for action to improve overall
student and school performance; and
 Identifying goals and strategies required to
address the school priorities.
Legislative
 Focus
on student performance in the basics of
reading, mathematics, and communications
skills in elementary and middle schools,
 Focus on student performance in courses
required for graduation and on other measures
required by the State Board of Education in
high schools.
School Improvement Team members
 The principal of
 Representatives
 Representatives
 Representatives
the school;
of the assistant principals;
of the instructional personnel;
of the instructional support
personnel;
 Representatives of teacher assistants assigned
to the building; and
 Representatives of parents of children enrolled
in the school.
Parent Representation
Parents serving on the school improvement teams shall reflect the
racial and socioeconomic composition of the students enrolled in that
school and shall not be members of the building-level staff.
Parental involvement is a critical component of school success and
positive student achievement. The law explicitly states “it is the intent
of
the General Assembly that parents, along with teachers, have a
substantial role in developing school improvement plans. To this end,
school improvement team meetings shall be held at a convenient time
to assure substantial parent participation.”
These are non-negotiable, legal requirements. Schools not following
these mandates of the law may be subject to legal action.
Required Strategies for Improving Student Performance
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Shall include the use of staff development funds;
Shall include preparation for K-1 students reading at grade level
by grade 2;
Shall include how safety and discipline is addressed;
Shall include the specific effective instructional practices and
methods to be used to improve the academic performance of
students identified as at risk of academic failure or at risk of
dropping out of school;
Shall include a duty-free lunch period for every teacher on a daily
basis or as otherwise approved by the SIT; and
Shall provide duty-free instructional planning time for every
teacher with the goal of providing an average of at least five hours
of planning time per week.
State Board of Education Goals
1. North Carolina public schools will produce globally
competitive students;
2. North Carolina public school will be led by 21st
Century professionals;
3. North Carolina public school students will be healthy
and responsible;
4. Leadership will guide innovation in the North Carolina
public schools;
5. North Carolina public schools will be governed and
supported by 21st Century systems.
Goal Alignment
Local school boards should align district
goals to the five State Board of Education
goals, and schools should align school
improvement plans to their district goals.
This process will help schools address all critical
components of educational reform and focus on
school needs.
Calendar Alignment
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
(NCDPI) recommends that schools align the annual
school
improvement planning cycle with the school calendar to
ensure the plan is finalized by the beginning of each new
school year. This allows faculty and staff to focus on
school
goals for the entire year, maximizing instructional time
devoted to improvement.
Data-driven Decisions
Analyzing and understanding data allows school
improvement teams to identify root causes for
problems and take action to address them. All
school improvement plans should be datadriven.
Limited Focus
While schools always have on-going initiatives and tasks,
School Improvement Plan goals and strategies should be
limited to the school’s top three to five priorities. These
priorities must guide the efforts of teachers and
administrators as they carry out the business of
educating
kids.
Distributed Leadership provides:
 An
opportunity to strengthen a
cooperative culture;
 Increases buy-in for the School
Improvement Plan across the
organization;
 Helps drive improvement; and
 Promotes quality teaching and learning.
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
 “Plan”
• Goal alignment
• Structured Needs Assessment
• Limited Focus
• Data-driven decision-making
 “Do”
• Data-driven decision making
• Effective measurement
• Distributed leadership
• Professional development alignment
• Calendar alignment
 “Check”
• Data-driven decision making
• District-level participation
 “Act”
• A continuation of the “Do” phase but reflects
changes resulting from the “Check” phase
review.
• Refreshes the continuous improvement process,
integrating new ideas with proven actions.