Catalyst for Change Grant Recipients 2023-2024

Project title

Westwood PBIS: Leveraging School-Wide Behavior Systems to Improve Academic Achievement for Students Performing Below Grade Level

Project background

The Catalyst For Change grant will enhance a strong school-wide PBIS structure, which is hands-on by its very nature. Students take an active role in the process which creates a sense of ownership of the goals the school is reaching for. Students will participate in creating videos that will be shared in all classes and help to create and develop a few of our PBIS assemblies, creating an environment where students are seen and heard and their ideas on how to support and increase positive behavior are taken into account. In this way, Westwood will grow a strong culture of positive student leadership and community among all students, encompassing both hands-on learning and new opportunities. Our Student Services Team and our PBIS Team are working closely to align and refine behavior management systems that are data driven, adaptable, measurable, and successful! Our number one driving motivator and objective is to increase the academic achievement of all students performing below grade-level. Therefore, this project is 100% aligned with the district’s plan and Westwood’s school improvement plan to decrease the achievement gap. The PBIS Team, led by the PBIS Coach, met over the summer for a two day workshop, and now meets monthly during the school year. PBIS Team members represent all “pockets” of the school, ESOL, ESE, Deans, Counselors, Family Liaison, Administrators, PTSA, and teachers from each grade level. First we analyze school data (Skyward attendance and office referrals, FAST scores, student G.P.A’s, student and faculty surveys). Then we develop programs/initiatives to address the concerns. Finally, we assess the impact of the program using data and determine whether to continue, refine, or stop the program. The PBIS Coach is responsible for tracking the progress of, and ensuring the completion of, PBIS programs and initiatives.

Project title

4th Grade Majors Program Production of “John Henry: An American Tale”

Project background

The 36 4th Grade Students participating in the production of John Henry: An American Tale were 10.7% lower than the state average, 10.3% lower than the district average, and 11.4% lower than the school average on their Grade 4 FAST ELA Reading PM1 2023-2024 achievement test. The goal of having these students participate in this production is to close their achievement gap on the FAST ELA Reading PM2 and PM3 2023-2024 test. This grant will fund the diverse, and purposeful whole group and independent reading and writing activities based on and including the production of this play. These students are in need of a creative outlet through the current curriculum that will promote their reading competencies and capabilities. Teachers can improve a child’s reading achievement level and foster a student’s sense of story structure through dramatic story reenactments, which promotes their narrative competence (Martinez, 1993). Funding these reading activities and the production of John Henry: An American Tale, will not only affect this group of students, but with the improvement in reading gains, can also allow any ELA teacher at the school to have the materials and activity models needed to produce a play that will help their student’s reading achievement.

Project title

Giving Students Choice to Make Gains

Project background

Supporting students with disabilities to achieve growth through Universal Design of learning. Creating flexible strategic instructional opportunities that increase student’s ability to have autonomy and monitor their own learning. The students in our school have struggled to make growth– which is primarily students with disabilities and or behavioral issues. Majority of students are lower income. Eighty-two percent of the students have Autism and/ or Attention Deficit Disorder. These students have been unsuccessful in less Least Resistive Environments. Teachers are looking for new ways to be help students achieve and retain learning. Through collaboration teachers will work through the implementation of various techniques that create flexible learning opportunities. Creating classroom spaces that focus on choice, collaboration between students and increase small group instructional opportunities. Through these techniques research has shown increased ability to focus, retain and improve core physical needs of their bodies. Creating learning environments that teachers can facilitate quality differentiated and when necessary individualized for student growth.

Project title

Cross-cultural Communication via Virtual Exchange

Project background

Once this grant is approved, I will work with students to create accounts on the LinguaMeeting platform. Afterward, we will schedule their sessions with a language coach. LinguaMeeting sessions consist of working with a couple of classmates and a native speaker to practice and enhance their conversational skills in Spanish. Topics are assigned by me, the instructor, beforehand, and then the language coach prepares a digital presentation to facilitate conversation and comprehension during their time with the students. In this way, the coaches are familiar with the students’ level of Spanish and can better assist them. Students will also learn more about the Spanish-speaking world, particularly with regard to their coach’s homeland. Each session will be recorded and then shared with me in case I need to review it for any reason. In addition, I will receive a rubric completed by the language coach with feedback regarding each student’s participation in the conversation. By the end of each course (Spanish 1, Spanish 2), students will have completed a total of six 30-minute sessions with their language coach. All sessions will take place during class. By having students participate in LinguaMeeting sessions, they will: -improve their interpersonal communication skills -improve their listening skills During each LinguaMeeting session, students will: -improve their usage of specific vocabulary and grammar taught in class (school, family, friends, routines, cities, etc.) -learn additional relevant vocabulary provided by the language coach -improve their ability to express themselves in Spanish when speaking about specific topics -comprehend more in Spanish regarding specific topics -increase their knowledge of their coach’s homeland Before each LinguaMeeting session, students will have already done the following in class to prepare: -reviewed the necessary vocabulary to be able to participate -written about the proposed topic in Spanish -spoken about the proposed topic with partners during class The district has emphasized the importance of the CORE (College/Career Opportunities with Rigor and Engagement). One of the key components of this framework is developing clear academic goals that are aligned with state standards. Many of the world language standards focus on communicating in the target language.

Project title

GDCs to Support Underrepresented students in AP Precalculus and Beyond

Project background

Not every high school student has the opportunity to take AP Calculus. This limitation is not necessarily a bad thing; however, the College Board has specifically introduced their AP Precalculus course to provide access to a rigorous mathematics curriculum that is attainable for most high school students. If a student begins high school in Algebra 1 and moves through a normal progression, precalculus is the highest class they can take in high school. Success in any AP math course requires fluency with a graphic display calculator (GDC). Typical GDCs cost $100 – $150 each. This price-point is prohibitive for many of the students who normally do not have access to AP math courses. Hence, to execute the AP Precalculus course with the explicit goal of increasing access and equity, GDC access goes hand in hand. Graphic Display Calculators have many functions and a lot of buttons. Students need more than in-class practice with these devices. To this end, having enough GDCs for students to check them out, as they do textbooks, for use at home, increases students’ ability to use the device efficiently and well.

Project title

Oak View Middle School IXL Science Grant

Project background

The Oak View Middle School IXL Science Grant will provide our school with a subscription to IXL’s science platform, a comprehensive, research-based, and standards-aligned online learning tool, for grades 5 through 8, ensuring equitable access for all students. This investment will help our teachers to deliver high-quality lessons, prepare our students for state and district assessments, and improve our overall science scores. Currently, our district provides IXL for mathematics in all schools, supporting the program’s merit for improving student learning outcomes in state and district testing scores. The program’s approach to reinforcing key concepts and question format resembling state assessments boost familiarity and testing confidence. As a one-to-one technology school, we aim to replicate this success in the realm of science education. Grant success would allow us to petition the district to provide IXL for math and science in the coming years, securing a brighter future for Oak View Middle School students.

Project title

Mindful Mornings

Project background

Our Mindful Mornings project is a multi-faceted endeavor seeking to improve student behavior, and consequently academic success throughout our campus. Funds would be used to enroll our Newberry Elementary Media Specialist in Breathe for Change’s “Mindful Classroom Management” training, which emphasizes school community and improved student behavior, while focusing on classroom management, student self-awareness, self-management, engagement, and participation. Additionally, we would be creating an area for our small-group meetings, by purchasing a carpet and flexible seating to establish a comfortable, tranquil meeting space in the back of our school library. While we are specifically focusing on select students who, based on administrator, BRT, and teacher recommendation, are thought to be likely to benefit from meeting in a small-group environment, students in all classes and grade levels should be positively impacted. Our Media Specialist will be able to apply aspects of the “Mindful Classroom” training in all of her classes, and students in Media classes would also be able to utilize the flexible seating area. In order to measure effectiveness on the Primary Student Participants, we will compare data from student discipline referrals in the 3rd quarter of this school year, to data from the 2022-23 school year.

Project title

St. Augustine Field Trip

Project background

The Catalyst for Change grant would allow students from an underserved community to participate in an educational field trip to St. Augustine without the stress of affordability. Years past have shown us that this field trip contributes to student interest and investment into their social studies learning. We will visit many important landmarks and learn through first-hand experience the history and influence St. Augustine and its early inhabitants had on the settlement and development of Florida. Through these experiences, students will develop valuable background knowledge that will contribute to their reading comprehension of passages on the topic. Students with greater background knowledge are known to perform better on comprehension exams. A combination of interest and adequate background knowledge gives our students the tools to increase their level of understanding and thus their assessment scores. With the help of this grant, we will be able to provide a highly engaging and enriching experience to high-need, low-performing students with little to no cost for them. Providing this opportunity will allow us to break down barriers of education these children face every day. Through real-world first-hand experience, students will gather necessary background knowledge to tackle difficult texts based on Florida history. These factors will help to lessen the achievement gap and help make their education equitable to students from more affluent communities.

Project title

College Bound and Career Ready

Project background

The Education Foundation of Alachua County wants to make accessing college easier for
students of lower socio-economic backgrounds through a multi-pronged approach to college readiness. Collaborating with Eastside, Loften & Santa Fe High School and expanding this
year to include Hawthorne, there are more than 400 seniors and juniors who still need a
concordant score for graduation. We will work with over 2,500 students offering SAT/ACT
Prep, FAFSA completion assistance, college readiness workshops, classroom guidance
days, career day and Gold Seal Vocational Scholarship Program information sessions for 9th
through 12th graders. These schools plan to implement parent nights to provide financial aid
and college prep resources. At the end of the project, we will report on the following
outcomes: number of students who participated in ACT/SAT Test Prep and took either test,
the test scores, number of students who graduated high school and have plans to attend
college, number of families who attend the grade level parent and Cash for College nights,
number of students who completed the FAFSA, and number of students who were eligible
and received the Gold Seal Vocational Scholarship. This project will also address students in
lower grade levels by offering college and career exploration.