Program Focus Group Report, 2011-2012

2011-2012 Report | Student Objectives Review | Profile | Progress Report | Focus Group Reports | Plan | Process

Program: An exemplary, sustainable, Bible-based educational program

That’s what CAJ strives to provide—an exemplary, sustainable, Bible-based educational program. Why? Because that’s the kind of program we need to equip students to impact the world for Christ.

Strengths and Growth Areas

Strengths

1. CAJ provides a Bible-based program.
2. CAJ staff are using current educational research and thinking to maintain and modify our curriculum.
3. CAJ works to give all students access to a challenging, relevant, and coherent curriculum through ESL support, classroom accommodation, differentiated instruction, and a relatively wide curricular offering.
4. CAJ teachers regularly use a variety of assessment strategies to measure student progress.
5. CAJ teachers use a variety of instructional strategies and effectively engage students at a high level of learning.
6. Teachers regularly collect student assessment data from a variety of sources.
7. CAJ's Leadership Team and teachers collaboratively examine the curriculum and student performance in order to improve learning and teaching.
8. Overall, CAJ provides an effective array of support services that foster student achievement of the student objectives.
9. CAJ provides excellent communication of student progress towards student objectives and curricular standards to stakeholders.
10. CAJ has made significant improvements in the support given to second language learners by providing teachers from the ESL Department as co-teachers in all middle school English classes and differentiating instruction for ESL using the ESL Strategies Treasury document.

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Growth Areas

1. The student objectives, standards/learning targets, assessments/rubrics, and instructional strategies are not fully aligned.
2. All unit maps do not yet meet baseline criteria.
3. Some scope and sequences are not fully articulated.
4. Biblical perspective standards/learning targets are not yet fully implemented, due in part to not all departments having a Biblical perspective standard and to not all appropriate department assessments being backwards designed from senior comprehensives.
5. Data is not optimally used to make decisions about curriculum modification at the professional learning community level and to make decisions about resource allocation and professional development at the schoolwide level.
6. Differentiated instruction is not yet fully implemented.
7. ESL support is not provided in content courses other than in middle school English classes and elementary school language arts classes. Data is needed to determine if additional ESL support is needed in other content courses.
8. More information is needed to determine whether secondary parents’ lower satisfaction rating with support services compared to elementary school parents (on the parent surveys) is referring to the parents’ perception that support services are inadequate or if parents lack awareness of support services.
9. More data is needed to determine whether another educational track for students with educational plans who have difficulty accessing the current curriculum is needed.

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Summary of Findings

Content

1. CAJ staff are using current educational research and thinking to maintain and modify our quality curriculum.
2. CAJ has defined curricular standards and learning targets for most subject areas and/or courses that reflect a comprehensive and sequential documented curriculum.
3. CAJ implements a standards-based curriculum that also addresses the student objectives.
4. CAJ students demonstrate acceptable student achievement of the student objectives and curricular standards.
5. CAJ has an ongoing curriculum review and evaluation process that has a significant impact on providing a challenging, coherent, and relevant curriculum for all students.
6. There are a variety of ways in which CAJ Leadership Team and teachers use collaborative strategies to examine curriculum design and student work in order to refine lessons, units, and/or courses.
7. CAJ works to give all students access to a challenging, relevant, and coherent curriculum through ESL support, classroom accommodations, differentiated instruction, and a relatively wide curricular offering; CAJ currently does not have a gifted program.
8. CAJ has clear policies regarding course completion, certification, credits, grades, homework, etc., that guide student progression through the program.
9. Although CAJ has no formal method for conducting student follow-up, there is some data available to provide insight into the effectiveness of the instruction to prepare students for pursuing further education, entering the work force, or meeting their personal goals.
10. CAJ provides a Bible-based program.
11. CAJ works to capitalize on the benefits of being an international school.

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Assessment

1. CAJ teachers regularly use a variety of appropriate assessment strategies to measure student progress toward acquiring understanding of a specific body of knowledge or skills.
2. CAJ’s curriculum framework calls for the alignment of the student objectives, standards/learning targets, assessments, and instructional approaches, and CAJ’s alignment has not been updated since CAJ started developing and adopting new standards in SY2006-2007.
3. Assessment data is regularly collected (Board Policy 2.4.7), is regularly used by individual teachers, is sometimes used by groups of teachers to modify instruction, and is beginning to be used to make decisions about professional development and resource allocation.
4. Student work and other assessments demonstrate student proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the standards.
5. CAJ teachers regularly monitor student progress over time, and the use of feedback from students ranges from emerging to proficient.
6. 17% of teachers either somewhat disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree that they give students enough opportunities to choose how they will be assessed (2011 Staff Survey, 19).

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Instruction

1. Teachers use a variety of strategies to remain current in research-based professional knowledge and apply their knowledge to improve teaching and learning.
2. Teacher planning, including the use of formative assessment results, focuses on engaging all students at a high level consistent with CAJ’s standards and student objectives.
3. CAJ’s Leadership Team and teachers collaboratively examine the curriculum and student performance in order to improve learning and teaching.
4. To increase student achievement of the learning targets, teachers use a variety of instructional strategies and effectively engage students at a high level of learning, including critical thinking, problem solving, and application.
5. CAJ currently integrates a basic level of technology so that all students develop a foundational level of technological skills. The school is seeking to grow technology integration by implementing updated K-12 technology standards and learning targets, by providing training, and by increasing access to technology.
6. Students have a general understanding of what teachers expect them to know and be able to do, and an awareness of the significance of the student objectives. Evidence does not support a clear articulation of class goals (daily, unit, overarching) relating to standards and to student objectives.
7. CAJ students use resources for learning beyond the limits of the textbook, including technology, library/media resources, and community resources.

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Student Support

1. CAJ’s Leadership Team and staff provide a wide range of personalized student support correlated to student achievement of the curricular standards and the student objectives for all students, including those admitted with special needs and those learning English as an additional language.
2. The level of coordination of CAJ’s system of support services (including the processes for intervention and referral) allows for moderate-to-maximum effectiveness.
3. The Leadership Team and staff effectively use several approaches to personalize learning.
4. The Leadership Team and staff effectively ensure that the support services and related activities have a direct relationship to student involvement in learning within and outside the classroom.
5. The Leadership Team and staff strongly connect co-curricular activities to the student objectives.
6. CAJ offers a range of student support services, including ESL support (elementary, middle school, high school divisions), guidance services (career and personal counseling), Health Center services, library, technology, and a variety of academic assistance services, including LRC support, homework club in elementary and middle school, and referral to qualified outside professionals when indicated.
7. CAJ does not have an integrated, schoolwide process for evaluating the level of student involvement in curricular/co-curricular activities and student use of support services; however, monitoring of this involvement does take place on a number of levels.
8. Overall, students think that CAJ provides adequate services.
9. The primary role of the library is to support student achievement of the student objectives.
10. The Technology Department supports student objective achievement by meeting student needs.

Reporting

1. CAJ student progress on the student objectives and curricular standards is determined and monitored by a number of procedures.
2. CAJ has procedures to ensure that staff, students, parents, and other school community members understand student progress toward the student objectives and the curricular standards.

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Findings

Content

1. CAJ staff are using current educational research and thinking to maintain and modify our quality curriculum.

CAJ uses a standards-based curriculum that is developed locally using best practices (for example the Understanding by Design model and curriculum mapping) that combine our educators’ experience, research, and carefully reviewed outside programs and materials. Departments have established goals and are studying and implementing principles of Understanding by Design. Rubicon Atlas unit maps are structured according to Understanding by Design principles (standards, enduring understandings, essential questions, content, skills, assessment). The Learning Team has developed a checklist for a baseline unit map, and departments are using this to bring maps to baseline.

CAJ staff agree that CAJ offers a high quality education (2011 Staff Survey, 8). This is achieved through the Professional Development Plan which outlines the training, time, and tools that staff receive in order to maintain a quality curriculum.

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2. CAJ has defined curricular standards and learning targets for most subject areas and/or courses that reflect a comprehensive and sequential documented curriculum.

All 12 subject areas except for vocational arts have a complete set of standards and learning targets loaded into our curriculum mapping software. This year we are working on the significant revision of the standards and learning targets for K-12 Bible, K-12 computer, K-5 science, and K-5 social studies.

Some academic departments use their standards/learning targets as the basis of their scope and sequences. Some standards/learning targets’ scope and sequences have been further defined by content and skills fields in unit maps, for example, a specific scope and sequence in English Language Arts for literary terms for grades 6-12 (Rubicon Atlas > References tab > English 2010 > any grade 6-12, reading strand; scroll to standard 2 and click on the “+”). There is no documented scope and sequence for number/length of assessments (aside from the required 1 department assessment per semester in secondary, and specific assessment prompts in unit maps), for example, number/length of presentations and essays from grade to grade, intentionally culminating in the senior comprehensives papers and presentation. And there is not sufficient articulation of scope and sequence across divisions.

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3. CAJ implements a standards-based curriculum that also addresses the student objectives.

The student culminating events such as the twelfth grade Senior Comprehensives, Eighth Grade Encapsulating Extravaganza (E3), and the fifth grade Independent Study Project (ISP) are prime examples of student work that demonstrate the implementation of a standards-based curriculum that also address the student objectives. The divisional culminating events demonstrate a high level of student engagement, executed over a long period of time, with authentic assessments (presentations open to the community) as part of the 8th and 12th grade events. The 5th grade ISP involves research, writing, and presentation, fully integrated into the curriculum, over a 5-month period. The 8th grade E3 involves a visual display set up in public spaces in the school and manned by their creators, giving a presentation of their middle school experience to faculty evaluators and anyone else who wants to view it. Many elementary classes take the opportunity to do so. Senior Comprehensives are fully integrated into the 12th grade year, serving as a showcase for skills of research, writing, presentation, application of Biblical perspective, and application of a real life response (project) built throughout the students’ 13 years’ experience of the CAJ curriculum (see rubrics and sample presentations).

The department assessments, School Without Walls (SWOW), and student portfolios are further examples. Department assessments were chosen by each department to ensure that every class will address every student objective. The School Without Walls program engages high school students in learning experiences outside the usual classroom for 4 days each October. The segments of this program are being increasingly aligned with student objectives.

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4. CAJ students demonstrate acceptable student achievement of the student objectives and curricular standards.

This is demonstrated by data collected from elementary core and secondary department assessments and elementary, middle and high school student portfolios.

In elementary, acceptable student achievement of the student objectives has been articulated in a scope and sequence across grades K-5. Elementary report cards report these grade-level benchmarks.

In secondary, acceptable student achievement of the student objectives and standards/learning targets has been defined as 90% of students at or above standard. This data is collected on the Phoenix database and can be viewed by rubric, by assessment, or by student objective. For the 2010-11 school year, the student objective indicator summary on Phoenix shows that all student objectives were at or above standard for over 90% of the students, except for “solving problems” which was at 78%.

Standardized test data serves as an outside reference point for student achievement level of key knowledge and skills. This data consistently shows vocabulary, reading and writing scores to be lower than math on ITBS, PSAT, and SAT. Only AP scores show math scores falling and English scores rising slightly.

Student portfolios are maintained for the elementary, middle, and high schools as an on-going record of student achievement of the student objectives and curricular standards/learning targets. Secondary students have the opportunity once a year to evaluate their performance in all their classes, compile a portfolio, and present a reflection on their work and achievement of the student objectives to their parents at Student-Led Conferences in February. 4th and 5th grade students do a similar process in November, with K-3 students also doing a simpler presentation of their portfolios. Student artwork prominently displayed throughout the school and performances of musical groups also showcase student achievement.

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5. CAJ has an ongoing curriculum review and evaluation process that has a significant impact on providing a challenging, coherent, and relevant curriculum for all students.

The expectation for a comprehensive curriculum review cycle has been set by CAJ board policy (Programs and Services: 2.4.5). CAJ uses a curriculum mapping model and is committed to ongoing, continuous curriculum articulation and review at the teacher, department, divisional, and schoolwide levels. A standards-based curriculum is developed locally using best practices (for example the Understanding by Design model) that combine our educators’ experience, research, and carefully reviewed outside programs and materials.

We have a curriculum planning and evaluation system in place and time built into our meeting schedule to implement the plan. The plan for this school year (2011-12) was 2-fold:

• Department chairs train teachers in Understanding by Design (with emphasis on Stage 2: assessment) to support teachers as they continue to design quality assessments that provide evidence of student achievement of the learning targets.
• Teachers bring a significant number of maps to baseline, using the Unit Map Baseline Checklist.

Each departmental professional learning community (PLC) has set and is implementing its own annual goals. Both chairs and teachers are vested in pursuing these goals in order to further the level of challenge, coherence, and relevance the curriculum has for all students.

Our objective is not for occasional intensive curriculum review on a cycle for each department, but ongoing, well-placed review and implementation throughout all departments. However, textbook and major purchasing cycles are being established which will require additional department and timeframe specific work for selection, adjustments to the curriculum, and for changing the maps. For instance, we are in the process of adopting new textbooks which have online components. (A documented textbook review cycle was ready to be posted SY 2011-12 when 1-year austerity measures were adopted in order to enable to school to comply with a cash-in-hand requirement for the change in legal status. This should go into effect now in SY 2012-13.)

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6. There are a variety of ways in which CAJ Leadership Team and teachers use collaborative strategies to examine curriculum design and student work in order to refine lessons, units, and/or courses.

Included are monthly department chair/principal (Learning Team) meetings which have recently discussed the book Understanding by Design, developed a Unit Map Baseline Checklist, and practiced using the checklist on their own maps; monthly divisional meetings where elementary is addressing technology integration, middle school is addressing grading practices, and high school is addressing formative assessment (see divisional goals); and twice monthly department (PLC) meetings (Wednesday mornings: see iCal) where teachers are applying Understanding by Design, revising standards, and working on getting maps to baseline. Middle school teachers have daily common meeting/planning time.

CAJ has co-teaching in a number of classes in the elementary, middle, and high school division. This enables the teachers to collaboratively plan lessons and units that address the various learning styles and needs of the students.

Senior comprehensives provides many opportunities for teachers to collaborate. At the end of each year, high school English, social studies, and Bible teachers spend 1 day reading and marking the papers in pairs. Then on the senior comprehensives presentation day, all CAJ teachers serve on panels of 3 to assess up to 3 seniors’ presentations. Findings from examination of seniors’ papers and presentations are relayed to senior English, social studies, and Bible teachers, who collaboratively refine expectations and individually modify courses to improve student learning and performance. During the year, these teachers and other high school teachers who volunteer as “senior shepherds” meet individually with the seniors assigned to each to monitor progress and give guidance. The “senior shepherds” also meet together every other Wednesday afternoon.

A collaborative model for integrating technology into the curriculum is enabling the classroom teachers and the technology education facilitator to plan integrated lessons and units. At all levels technology such as Google Docs, Rubicon Atlas, SOPHIE and file sharing are used to help the organization and collaboration among teachers. Teachers agree that they collaborate with others to examine curriculum design and student work (2011 Staff Survey, 12), and the school environment as a whole is collaborative: staff are overwhelmingly positive in their agreement (53% strongly agree, 47% agree) that they collaborate with other staff (2011 Staff Survey, 42).

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7. CAJ works to give all students access to a challenging, relevant, and coherent curriculum through ESL support, classroom accommodations, differentiated instruction, and a relatively wide curricular offering; CAJ currently does not have a gifted program.

CAJ has an ESL (English as a Second Language) Department that focuses on the specific needs of ESL students. The teachers provide modifications and accommodations in all classes for the students who need support in English language. Elementary has pullout classes as well as support teachers in the room. Middle school has support teachers in the room, and high school offers an Effective Writing class for 9th, 10th, and if needed, 11th grades, while also emphasizing that all teachers are "ESL teachers" and asking for a record of support offered on Google Doc reports (monthly for elementary and middle school, quarterly for high school). Monitoring reports are reviewed by the ESL coordinator in collaboration with divisional principals.

CAJ has a Support Team that oversees the implementation of proactive, teacher-directed strategies to ensure an individual student’s academic success. An identification process is in place, and students who require modifications and accommodations because of identified learning needs (IEPs and OAPs) are monitored by the resource staff and in the Learning Resource Center (LRC). The purpose of the LRC is to provide a learning environment that welcomes and helps all students and is a place without barriers.

Teachers increasingly employ differentiation strategies as a result of the last 2 years’ professional development special speakers (SY 2009-10, 2010-11) and follow-up in monthly divisional meetings (secondary in SY 2010-11, elementary in SY 2011-12). This makes the curriculum increasingly accessible to students with varied learning styles and learning needs.

Students who are gifted have limited opportunities to be challenged; however, the CAJ high school does provide a variety of courses for a small school including several art, music, and computer courses as well as Advanced Placement courses (depending on demand and teacher availability) in English language and composition, English literature and composition, calculus, chemistry, biology, physics, world history, American history, Japanese, and psychology.

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8. CAJ has clear policies regarding course completion, certification, credits, grades, homework, etc., that guide student progression through the program.

Clear policies maintain a high degree of rigor and coherence. By board policy, “the headmaster shall not fail to ensure that the programs and services provided by Christian Academy in Japan meet or exceed student objectives and accreditation standards and are consistent with the philosophy of Christian Academy in Japan” (Programs and Services B 2.4). Graduation requirements, credit information, homework policy, and grading scale (elementary, middle, and high school) are clearly laid out on SOPHIE, as well as policies about what to do when problems occur: late work, adding/dropping courses, repeating courses, and academic probation and suspension. A policy for moving from division to division provides additional guidance.

Department assessments give coherence to the curriculum, ensuring departments target the same assessments at least twice a year from year to year. For example, as presentations are consistently targeted, students entering CAJ later in their school career clearly display a lower level of presentation skills than students who have been at CAJ most of their educational career.

Senior Comprehensives also give an integration and focus to content and skill learning in high school as all courses target student success in that project which contributes to making curriculum relevant.

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9. Although CAJ has no formal method for conducting student follow-up, there is some data available to provide insight into the effectiveness of the instruction to prepare students for pursuing further education, entering the work force, or meeting their personal goals.

In the past 3 years, over 80% of our graduates have gone to college, either immediately or after a gap year, demonstrating effective academic preparation. Alumni return to visit campus in large numbers at Christmas and summer vacations, demonstrating a positive attitude toward the school. Anecdotal feedback indicates that students are well prepared—making and performing at a high level in any musical groups they try out for, finding college-level writing and research no problem, and receiving freshman academic awards. The administration is aware that a more systematic follow-up study would be helpful.

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10. CAJ provides a Bible-based program (2011 CAJ Strengths, Parents: CAJ’s student objectives 1-11, CAJ’s classes 8-11, 16-21; 2011 CAJ Strengths, MS Students: CAJ classes 1, 8, 10, 13-17, 21, 23).

There are regular divisional chapels (elementary monthly, secondary weekly), Bible classes every year K-12, service opportunities (middle school homeless outreach, Social Studies 12 Senior Ministry Trip), and an annual Spiritual Life Emphasis Week (SLEW). In addition, most departments have adopted Biblical perspective standards to ensure meaningful incorporation of the Bible into the course content (see department standards in Rubicon Atlas), culminating in Senior Comprehensives. Teachers are strongly committed to this mission; in the 2011 Staff Survey (67) all teachers agreed to some extent that they were committed to equipping students to impact the world for Christ, and 71.8% strongly agreed.

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11. CAJ works to capitalize on the benefits of being an international school.

Although the curriculum is based upon an American approach and U.S. educational standards (Board Policy 2.4.1.1), we have included courses and units of study that take advantage of our international setting and clientele, for example, through our emphasis on Asia in Art 8 and Social Studies in grades 2-4, 8, and 12 (see also Rubicon Atlas for those courses); and our School Without Walls (SWOW) program.

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Assessment

1. CAJ teachers regularly use a variety of appropriate assessment strategies to measure student progress toward acquiring understanding of a specific body of knowledge or skills.

Overall teachers, parents, and high school students believe that teachers use a variety of assessments (2011 High School Student Survey; 2010 Parent Survey, 28, 41, 58; 2011 Staff Survey, 15).

This variety flows from the practice of having secondary academic departments select types of assessment, for example, collaboration, competency tests, discussion, labs, presentations, projects, and writing. These assessments were designed to ensure that students are assessed every semester on their achievement of the student objectives and the department standards to which they are correlated.

This variety also flows from teacher understanding of the need to use different types of assessment to address different learning targets. Teachers design assessments to determine how well students have learned, and overall parents believe that teacher assessments adequately reflect their children’s learning (2010 Parent Survey 28, 41, 58).

Rubicon Atlas shows that to varying degrees, courses have assessments aligned to learning targets. Continued progress on alignment of learning targets and assessments will help CAJ more effectively determine the extent to which appropriate assessment strategies are used to measure student progress toward achieving the learning targets.

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2. CAJ’s curriculum framework calls for the alignment of the student objectives, standards/learning targets, assessments, and instructional approaches, and CAJ’s alignment has not been updated since CAJ started developing and adopting new standards in SY2006-2007.

CAJ strives to equip students to impact the world for Christ. The way we do this is through the student objectives, which form the basis of our educational program (2011 Staff Survey, 11). Board policy outlines the expectation for using the student objectives as the basis for curriculum.

In current practice, teachers and departments target student achievement of the student objectives when selecting learning targets, assessments, and instructional strategies. This year, the majority of academic department professional learning communities are working to align learning targets and assessments. Next year, departments will focus on instructional strategies (Understanding by Design, Stage 3), which should provide for further alignment of instructional strategies with learning targets and assessment. (There is no Rubicon Atlas field for aligning instructional approaches.)

CAJ's curriculum framework calls for the alignment of student objectives, standards, assessments, and instructional strategies. In other words, we aim for students to experience 1-4 engaging instructional strategies that prepare them for a given department assessment that allows them to demonstrate achievement of the learning targets and standards and, consequently, the student objectives.

Prior to 2006, the school used this model, documented in MOSAI charts, and had reasonable alignment of student objectives, standards (not learning targets), department assessments/rubrics, and instructional strategies. Understanding of standards was limited, with the rubrics serving as the de facto standards and learning targets. Insufficient understanding of the standards and learning targets inhibited the development of a full-orbed curriculum. In response to this and to the 2006 visiting committee recommendation on curriculum, the school began actively revising existing standards, developing grade-level learning targets, and building teacher understanding of the standards and targets.

In summary, while we have not yet fully re-aligned and re-documented the new standards/learning targets with the student objectives, assessments/rubrics, or instructional strategies, our current teacher practices, curriculum framework, and department goals will help us do so. And the correlation between student objectives and criteria on nearly all of the rubrics for department assessments (secondary) still holds, though new staff may not be sufficiently aware. This means that in every class, every semester, teachers give assessments aligned to the student objectives.

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3. Assessment data is regularly collected (Board Policy 2.4.7), is regularly used by individual teachers, is sometimes used by groups of teachers to modify instruction, and is beginning to be used to make decisions about professional development and resource allocation.

Teachers collect data from classroom assessments (formative and summative) and from standardized tests (ITBS, PSAT, SAT, AP). Data is stored in a variety of ways including lists, charts, reading records, gradebooks, Easy Grade Pro, report cards, an online data base, and the school profile. The elementary school collects assessment data for both standards and student objectives on their electronic report cards. The secondary school collects assessment data from department assessments via the Phoenix database. Here data can be viewed by student objective achievement, by rubric, or by assessment. Departments are encouraged to discuss the data and use it to make decisions about instruction to increase student performance. Individual teachers regularly review assessment data to modify content, assessment, and instruction (2011 Staff Survey, 17), with elementary teachers making greater use of formative assessment than secondary teachers and with all teachers using classroom assessment data more than standardized test data. Groups of teachers sometimes use assessment data to modify instruction. For example, in response to ITBS scores, the elementary school has implemented new methods of teaching vocabulary and a reading program that teaches reading strategies (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary). The secondary English Department adopted the use of reading strategies as a department standard in response to consistently low reading comprehension scores. Groups of secondary teachers are not yet regularly reviewing department assessment data. Assessment data is beginning to be used to make decisions about schoolwide professional development and resource allocation. For example, as a result of analyzing profile data, staff determined that CAJ is continuing to experience a demographic shift and that a potential growth areas is Effective Communicators in terms of reading, writing and vocabulary. Consequently, the Leadership Team is working to invite Virginia Rojas to do a workshop on ESL strategies in the mainstream classroom.

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4. Student work and other assessments demonstrate student proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the standards.

This is demonstrated by culminating events at the end of each division (5th, 8th, and 12th grade) and at the end of each high school semester class, as well as by student portfolios and a range of other activities.

The 5th, 8th, and 12th grade culminating events require that information has been taught, reinforced and assessed over a period of years. Fifth grade students take part in a culminating event at the end of the year called the Independent Study Project (ISP). Eighth grade students take part in a culminating event at the end of the year called the Eighth Grade Encapsulating Extravaganza (E3).

The centerpiece of a CAJ education, demonstrating what a student has received from his or her education, is the Senior Comprehensives. This is a year-long culminating event that is fully integrated into senior year classes. The assessment includes 4 components: a research portfolio, a writing portfolio, a hands-on project, and an oral presentation (see sample presentations).

Most high school courses require a culminating event each semester. The term “culminating” may refer to a written exam but in each case, a project that reflects an understanding of student objectives and targets is also required. The skills and information required for presentations, projects, and written assignments reflect the depth of understanding.

Student work demonstrating achievement of the standards can be seen in student portfolios maintained K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Other examples include exhibitions, classroom presentations, middle school science events, artwork on display around the school, the yearbook, and music and drama presentations.

All assessments and their alignments can be found in unit plans on Rubicon Atlas.

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5. CAJ teachers regularly monitor student progress over time, and the use of feedback from students ranges from emerging to proficient.

Secondary teachers monitor student progress mostly through regular updates of online grades and once-a-semester collection of data on department assessments. Some departments reflect on the data in PLC meetings. Elementary teachers have more standardized structures in place. For instance, elementary electronic report cards track achievement of student objectives and standards, and elementary teachers keep student files with a history of their work with student self assessments attached. Elementary teachers also keep a record of student reading standard by using ongoing Benchmark Assessment System testing in the autumn and spring.

Teachers agree that they use student feedback to monitor student progress (2011 Staff Survey, 18). Elementary school has most thoroughly integrated division-wide opportunities for using feedback from students. All students do unit reflections in Every Day Math and a monthly reflection on a selected learning area, and also prepare portfolio presentations 3 times per year (selecting pieces, reflecting on them, setting goals, and presenting portfolios to parents).

In secondary, middle school students set goals twice a year. High school students are given time to reflect on their progress and set goals toward reaching them early in 1st semester (to make 1st semester SMART goals) and more thoroughly in preparation for February Student-Led Conferences (reflections on a most rewarding and most challenging piece from each class as well as 2nd semester SMART goals). This is mostly for self-monitoring, however, and is not monitored by teachers. Individual secondary teachers use feedback from students to monitor progress, as in reflections on completed presentations or essays, learning logs, or book talks. However, there is not sufficient evidence that these are thoroughly integrated into the teaching/learning process.

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6. 17% of teachers either somewhat disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree that they give students enough opportunities to choose how they will be assessed (2011 Staff Survey, 19).

Only 1 teacher strongly agreed that they gave their students enough opportunities, so this many be an area for future growth.

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Instruction

1. Teachers use a variety of strategies to remain current in research-based professional knowledge and apply their knowledge to improve teaching and learning.

To remain current in research-based professional knowledge that supports teaching and learning, teachers are involved in professional development (2011 Staff Survey, 65), within the context of CAJ’s Professional Development Plan and resources. Teachers participate in professional learning communities (which meet on Wednesday mornings and currently focus on standards, curriculum mapping, and Understanding by Design), have memberships in professional organizations, read publications and books, participate in book discussions (for example, differentiation, reading strategies, and collaboration), and participate in on-site training (for example, grading practices, co-teaching strategies and technology integration).

In addition, teachers use professional development funds to attend off-site professional development, including training in technology integration, Advanced Placement biology, and physical education. Music teachers attend instrument repair, instructional and conducting seminars. Teachers are increasingly using professional development funds, and some teachers have not used their funds from SY2009-2010 to the current date. When surveyed, teachers indicated that professional development helped them enhance the curriculum and improve learning and teaching (2011 Staff Survey, 32; teacher anecdotal feedback).

Teachers apply their research-based knowledge to plan and implement engaging learning experiences to help students master content and skills (2010 Parent Survey, 26, 39, 56). For example, teachers use standards and the Understanding by Design framework to map units in Rubicon Atlas. Teachers use a variety of teaching strategies (Staff Survey, 31), including comparison/contrast, feedback, group work, goal setting, and diagramming (2011 Staff Survey, 20, 22-24, 27); and are increasingly using differentiation, reading strategies, and modifications and accommodations for students with identified learning needs and for ESL students in mainstream classes.

For example, after Nanci Smith put on a 2-day on-site professional development workshop on differentiation, the ESL coordinator followed up throughout the year with presentations/discussions in monthly middle and high school divisional meetings. Google Docs for reporting on progress of ESL students in elementary, middle, and high school include suggestions for instructional strategies that will benefit ESL students, and teachers use the documents to report on strategies which they have used in their classes each reporting period, and the frequency with which they use each strategy.

Teachers understand that varied instructional strategies benefit not just ESL students and those with identified learning differences, but all students, and thus vary their instructional strategies to address student needs and student learning styles (2011 Staff Survey, 34). High school students agree that their teachers use a variety of teaching methods (2011 High School Survey).

Principals monitor teachers using the “Continuous Professional Growth Model for Teachers to Improve Student Learning.” They report that teachers are applying teaching strategies presented in on-site professional development workshops, that middle school ESL/English teachers are applying learning to improve their co-teaching, and that Japanese language teachers have applied tech training to use iPads in the classroom (interview). back to top

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2. Teacher planning, including the use of formative assessment results, focuses on engaging all students at a high level consistent with CAJ’s standards and student objectives.

Teachers are expected to demonstrate evidence of planning (semester, monthly, weekly, daily), to choose teaching strategies to match learning targets, and to use students’ background knowledge and information about students’ needs in order to plan appropriate instruction (Teacher Evaluation Rubric, 2).

Currently, teachers map standards-based units, using the Understanding by Design framework, with mapping fields for learning targets, enduring understandings, essential questions, content, skills, assessment, and resources. (Maps do not include a field for instructional strategies.) Teachers are expected to keep maps current, and this year the majority of academic department professional learning communities are targeting curriculum mapping, with the goal of getting more units maps to baseline. Regarding lesson plans, teachers are expected to plan and to have lesson plans for substitute teachers; teachers are not expected to submit lesson plans.

Overall, teachers indicate (1) that they vary instructional strategies to make classes interesting and to address student needs and learning styles, (2) that students are on task, (3) that they use feedback to monitor student progress, and (4) that they use assessment results as the basis for regular evaluation and improvement of content, assessment, and instruction (2011 Staff Survey, 17, 18, 29, 31, 34). Use of formative assessment is highest in elementary and lowest in high school. This year the high school staff is targeting using formative assessment.

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3. CAJ’s Leadership Team and teachers collaboratively examine the curriculum and student performance in order to improve learning and teaching (2011 Staff Survey, 12).

Collaboration happens in a variety of settings and at two levels. At the divisional level, principals and teacher collaboratively plan for culminating events, for activities like School Without Walls (SWOW), and for some units (middle school ESL and core teachers collaboratively plan units in Bible, English, and social studies). They also assess student performance and well being in meetings (monthly high school grade-level and daily middle school core-team meetings) and through google docs (for ESL students and students with learning differences). Principals and teachers also learn together about a range of topics (for example, co-teaching, differentiation, and formative assessment) in order to deepen shared understanding of teaching and learning.

At the professional learning community (PLC) level, teachers also use collaborative strategies to examine the curriculum and student work in order to improve learning and teaching. Academic department PLC meetings take place twice each month. During these meetings, teachers focus achieving annual PLC goals by focusing on curriculum design (by discussing standards and learning targets, upgrading unit maps and assessments, and identifying ways to teach more effectively) and by examining student work on a limited basis. The Learning Team (a PLC composed of Leadership Team members, department chairs, and the curriculum coordinator) meets 1-3 times each month to monitor progress on annual PLC goals, to study Understanding by Design, and to discuss student learning.

In elementary there is co-teaching in all language arts classes and in some math classes. ESL teachers collaborate with classroom teachers for both push-in and pull-out times, depending on the needs of the class and the schedule of the teacher. Middle school ESL and social studies/language arts teachers collaborate to teach ESL students in the regular classroom. High school choir uses co-teaching with a music teacher assigned as an accompanist. The accompanist is actively involved in day-to-day work of the classroom, watching student performance and enhancing overall student learning.

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4. To increase student achievement of the learning targets, teachers use a variety of instructional strategies and effectively engage students at a high level of learning, including critical thinking, problem solving, and application.

Teachers use a variety of engaging instructional strategies (with varying regularity), including compare/contrast, note-taking, feedback, group work, goal setting, testing hypotheses, and diagramming (2011 Staff Survey, 20-27). Teachers indicate they vary instructional strategies to make classes interesting and to address student needs and learning styles (2011 Staff Survey, 31, 34), in order to support student achievement of the learning targets. Parents indicate that teachers effectively teach the content and skills covered in classes (2010 Parent Survey, 26, 39, 56). High school students indicate that teachers use a variety of teaching methods (lectures, presentations, group work, projects, presentations, labs, etc.) appropriate for the type of class.

As a result of experiencing of this variety instructional strategies, students are engaged at a high level of learning, including critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and application. This can be seen in the following instances (observation):

• 1st grade science students experimenting with constructing a boat out of aluminum foil that will float the most marbles.

• 3rd grade science students reinforcing learning about camouflage by looking for uncolored butterflies in the room, coloring them, and then hiding them "in plain sight" but using the color to disguise them.

• 4th grade language arts students using readers' theatre to practice reading with good expression and pacing.

• 5th grade science students doing experiments, using blog discussions online, and showing their thinking and learning by writing out their thoughts.

• Middle school girls' PE students teaching specific skills to small groups of students and then observing their group members practicing the skills in order to provide feedback to specific students to aid in their skill development.

• 6th grade science students paired with high school physics students measuring and calculating the physical forces in effect in roller coasters, while on a field trip to an amusement park.

• 8th grade English students practicing collaborative skills and engaged in critical thinking strategies by working through a "who-done-it" in small group teams.

• High school choir students auditioning for honor choir assessing their own recordings to determine which to submit, leading some to articulate growth areas and learning goals.

• 9th grade history students practicing skits based on Greek myths.

• 10th grade English students sharing in small groups examples of good beginnings and endings to articles they found in Time Magazine.

In addition, CAJ seeks to offer a variety of engaging learning opportunities including the 1st grade/10th grade zoo field trip, the 5th grade camping trip, middle school homeless outreach and annual science event, 8th grade Tokyo Tour, high school School Without Walls, senior ministry trip, Brain Bowl, and Math Field Day.

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5. CAJ currently integrates a basic level of technology so that all students develop a foundational level of technological skills.

Teachers integrate technology into their classes. They ask students to use technology to do research, do drill and practice, collaborate using Google Docs, post assignments on Turnitin and Moodle, check homework schedules on iCal, communicate using email and chat, and complete assignments using a variety of software (including iWork, Typing Pal Online, IXL, online textbooks, iMovie, Quizlet, and inDesign) and hardware (computers, projectors, cameras, and video cameras). Parents indicate that CAJ’s technology resources appropriately support student learning (2010 Parent Survey, 25).

To grow technology integration in the classroom, CAJ is developing and implementing updated K-12 technology standards and learning targets. Once these are loaded into Rubicon Atlas, teachers will use these as they design their units of instruction. This year, CAJ has discontinued elementary exploratory classes for computer, and instead students are receiving computer instruction in the regular classroom. Elementary teachers, assisted by the elementary technology integration specialist, are working to integrate technology standards into 3 units per grade level. All elementary staff are receiving training in technology integration in the PLC meeting time, and 3 key elementary staff members are pursuing professional training in educational technology integration (2 working on masters degrees and 1 on a certificate). Next year, middle school teachers will integrate technology standards into their units. Fifty-two percent of teachers agree or strongly agree that they teach technology skills in their classes (2011 Staff Survey, 33), and the technology coordinator wants to increase this percentage, using the updated standards to do so.

Training in technology integration is available upon request from the technology coordinator, and weekly open labs are held for staff to assist with technology questions related to classroom use.

Another way CAJ is working to grow technology integration is through increased access to technology. Data projectors are being installed at a rate of 3-5 classrooms per year, the number of cameras available for student checkout in the library has increased to 16, and a 1-to-1 laptop program has been implemented in high school and is being phased in at a rate of one grade level per year, starting with the seniors moving toward the freshmen.

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6. Students have a general understanding of what teachers expect them to know and be able to do, and an awareness of the significance of the student objectives. Evidence does not support a clear articulation of class goals (daily, unit, overarching) relating to standards and to student objectives.

Seven teachers representing all 3 divisions canvassed students in informal classroom surveys or individual conversations about the students’ understanding regarding their expected performance based on standards and student objectives.

Most students said they know or mostly know what their teacher wants them to know and be able to do in their classes. However, expanded answers showed that students had interpreted the question to be about the clarity of teacher expectations for classroom behavior (“We are expected to listen to what the teacher says”) or explanations of the content/skill (“the instructions are very clear”; ESL students attribute their lack of understanding to their English ability) rather than about understanding what the daily, unit, and course objectives are. Particularly telling were comments like:

• "I understand what my teacher wants me to learn in class because as I go through the year, I realize that the teacher may keep on emphasizing a certain point, and that's how I know that that is what the teacher wants me to learn."
• "At the moment I don't fully understand what the teacher wants me to learn, but throughout the year I think I will understand more."
• "Sometimes I wonder what the point of certain activities are because teachers don't clarify the lesson."

Students are familiar with the student objectives. Elementary students can explain and give examples. In secondary, newer students are less familiar than students who have been at CAJ for several years. Students recognize the value of learning, thinking, communicating, and collaborating. Any perceived difficulty they have with the skills they attribute to their personal weakness. There is a lack of clear distinction between Responsible Learner and Discerning Thinker. And responses to Faithful Caretaker implied that students understand it mostly as applying to their treatment of school property rather than inclusive of all of creation and learning, including their own minds, bodies, and time.

This is not to say that teachers do not articulate the level of performance of standards and student objectives they expect of students, just that they do not articulate it clearly and frequently enough that all students understand it to the level that the student who wrote this response does:

In English I understand what the teacher is trying to teach me. She is trying to teach us how to interpret clues and hidden meanings in books. We learn how to write descriptive, engaging pieces of writing, and we learn how to discuss and collaborate with other classmates. Most importantly, we learn how to connect what we are learning to God and to life.

What does being an Effective Communicator mean to me? Being an effective communicator is a very important skill to have. Communicating in life is key in relationships, jobs, etc. You need to be able to get your point of view across in a respectful manner. At CAJ they teach us to do this through debates, presentations, and discussions.

Which one do I understand/learn the least? I am not sure I completely understand what being a responsible learner means. Obviously it means being organized, etc., but I don't understand what the whole term means.

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7. CAJ students use resources for learning beyond the limits of the textbook, including technology, library/media resources, and community resources (2011 Staff Survey, 30).

Students use technology to do research, do drill and practice, collaborate using Google Docs, post assignments on Turnitin and Moodle, check the homework schedule on iCal, communicate using email and chat, and complete assignments using a variety of software (including iWork, Typing Pal Online, IXL, online textbooks, iMovie, Quizlet, and inDesign) and hardware (computers, projectors, cameras, and video cameras).

Students also use library/media resources. The library, which houses 26,825 volumes, circulated 25,088 volumes in SY 2010-2011 and was used for classes. In 2010-2011, elementary classes came to the library regularly for library instruction, middle school classes used the library 33 times, and high school classes used the library 59 times. Students can check out 5 laptops, 16 cameras, and 6 projectors. The library provides an online catalog and an online database, along with training on how to use these. Students have received training and use the online catalog to find materials and the online database to do research.

Students use community resources through hearing in-class presentations and through going on a variety of field trips, including the 1st/10th grade zoo trip, Fifth Grade Camp-out, middle school homeless outreach, senior ministry trip, 8th grade collaborative activity with 5th grade Japanese school students, 8th grade Kyoto trip and Tokyo Tour, Japanese teachers' relationship with Jiyugakuen, and Math Field Day.

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Student Support

1. CAJ’s Leadership Team and staff provide a wide range of personalized student support correlated to student achievement of the curricular standards and the student objectives for all students, including those admitted with special needs and those learning English as an additional language.

CAJ offers personalized student support through the Support Team, Guidance Office, Health Center, Learning Resource Center (LRC), ESL Department, elementary and middle homework clubs, classroom instruction (for example, differentiated instruction), and teacher-to-student after-hours interactions.

The Support Team (consisting of the school counselors, school nurse, resource teachers, and administrators) meets weekly to address the needs of students who are struggling in school. The Support Team uses an internally developed process (AIM Lite) to provide personalized student support on a continuous basis, including pre-referral interventions, Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs), Official Accommodation Plans (OAPs), and Care Plans. AIM Lite is under revision this year.

The Guidance Office offers individual counseling for students with psychological, social, and academic problems, as needed. During the first semester of 2010-2011, guidance counselors served 138 individuals in 321consultations. The guidance counselors make referrals to outside resources for students as needed when concerns are beyond the scope of school counseling. Career and college advisement is provided individually to all students in grades 9-12 through personal interviews and the Naviance software program.

The Health Center provides individual care to students with chronic and emergent health concerns. In addition, the nurse conducts yearly individual health screenings and provides Emergency Action Plans for students with significant allergies and other physical health problems.

The Learning Resource Center (LRC) provides a variety of personalized academic supports to all students during their study halls and after school. Students with special learning needs are assigned their study hall in the LRC, where the resource teachers are available to help them with class work, study skills, organization, and other academic supports.

The ESL Department offers classes to students in Grades K-11. CAJ places students in one of three levels of ESL intervention based on their entrance assessments. Student progress is assessed monthly by the ESL Department, using classroom teacher data reported on Google Docs. ESL teachers provide direct instruction in middle school language arts classes using co-teaching. In elementary, ESL teachers provide personalized in-class support during some of the core subject areas. ESL students receive individualized interventions based on A Treasury of ESL Strategies, which was developed in collaboration with the Support Team to promote individualized support during the language acquisition period.

CAJ provides elementary and middle school homework clubs for students who need individualized homework support. Participation is by invitation upon recommendation of classroom teachers. Elementary students sign contracts to set forth participation rules and to encourage accountability. Currently, 10 elementary students and 8 middle school students are participating in homework clubs.

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2. The level of coordination of CAJ’s system of support services (including the processes for intervention and referral) allows for moderate-to-maximum effectiveness.

The Support Team is made up of a multi-disciplinary team of staff members who are responsible for coordinating support services for individual students and for making recommendations to the Leadership Team regarding students who are struggling at school. The Support Team uses the AIM LITE process, which is an internally developed system of proactive, teacher-directed strategies designed to ensure each student’s academic success. The Support Team initiates interventions, collaborates with the classroom teacher, and refers students to outside resources as needed. In addition, the Support Team provides Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and Official Accommodation Plans (OAPs) to qualifying students, and monitors students’ progress. The support team coordinator collaborates with the resource, guidance, and ESL coordinators to help link students to appropriate services and monitor progress.

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3. The Leadership Team and staff effectively use several approaches to personalize learning.

For example, the Guidance Office purchased the software program Naviance (in 2009) and a student-friendly form of the Meyers-Briggs personality assessment, which is available to all high school students and parents from the guidance web page. Grade 10 English links results of the personality assessment to a major assignment called “Who am I Now?” In SY 2011-2012 all high school Bible classes use the Multiple Intelligences Test to assess learning style, multiple intelligences, and recreational pursuits, which help guide instruction and increase students’ understanding of their personal learning style.

The Support Team utilizes a personalized approach to learning through all stages of the AIM process, including implementing Pre-Referral Intervention Plans (AP1s) IEPs, OAPs, and Care Plans. These educational plans provide individualized accommodations and modifications for students with special needs. At times, students with special needs who have an educational plan and are being provided resources, have difficulty being successful in the regular classroom; CAJ does not offer a vocational/general education track for these students (see Board Policy 2.3.1.3).

The ESL Department utilizes a personalized approach to learning through individual assessment and placement within ESL (three levels and watch list). A Treasury of ESL Strategies provides accommodations and modifications based on individual English proficiency using a tiered approach.

For the past 3 years, CAJ has provided professional development in the area of differentiated instruction. On September 21-22, 2009, Chris Toy gave the workshop Differentiation: Vision and Practice, and on November 3, 2010, Nanci Smith presented the workshop Differentiated Instruction. In addition, staff has given presentations on differentiated instruction during divisional meetings. The strategies noted above help connect students to the learning environment as well.

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4. The Leadership Team and staff effectively ensure that the support services and related activities have a direct relationship to student involvement in learning within and outside the classroom.

Each school year Leadership Team members are assigned direct responsibility for the Support Team, Guidance Office, Health Center, and ESL Department as the portfolio holders. The portfolio holders ensure that the services and activities are working well to achieve CAJ’s mission. The individual portfolio holders work closely with the departmental coordinators to ensure that there is a direct relationship between support services and student learning.

ESL support is offered both in the classroom (using the co-teaching model) and outside the classroom in special ESL classes. At the secondary level, ESL classes are designed to support students’ learning in the core subject areas. Teachers use Google Docs to monitor and document ESL students’ progress, and to write monthly ESL reports. ESL teachers go to grade-level meetings in middle school and meet with the ESL coordinator weekly. Students in ESL, Writer’s Workshop, and Effective Reading and Writing report that their reading and writing has improved as a result of these strategies.

The Support Team meets weekly to discuss students who have been identified by classroom teachers as needing support, and develops pre-referral interventions following the AIM process, to help teachers meet individual student’s needs. The Support Team develops IEPs, OAPs, or Care Plans for students identified with learning disabilities or mild-related disabilities, and conducts yearly meetings with parents, secondary students, and staff to celebrate each student’s strengths and to develop strategies to compensate for areas of weakness. Secondary teachers share pertinent information about identified students through Google Docs.

The Learning Resource Center (LRC) provides education services for all students, including those with special needs. Secondary students who have educational plans usually are assigned one period per day in the LRC. Elementary school resource services students through pullout and push-in models for reading and math support, and offers an early intervention reading program to qualifying grade one students.

At the beginning of each school year, the guidance counselors hold a new student orientation session and visit the classrooms to familiarize students with the Guidance Office, introducing it as a friendly and caring place. Guidance counselors give lessons dealing with bullying, feelings, study skills, interpersonal relationships, conflict resolution, mandated reporting, etc., to be proactive about common problems. The guidance counselors are available for limited personal counseling and consultation and to help the classroom teacher develop strategies to work with students exhibiting social and emotional problems. The career counselor meets individually with many 9-12 grade students to develop a plan of study for high school that will prepare them adequately for post-high school transitions. According to the 2010 Parent Survey (29, 44, 61), parents feel that CAJ provides adequate resources for students with social, emotional, behavioral, and academic challenges; parents either strongly agree or agree that these support services are adequate. In addition, the high school parents strongly agree or agree that CAJ provides adequate college and career guidance (2010 Parent Survey, 62).

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5. The Leadership Team and staff strongly connect co-curricular activities to the student objectives.

The Leadership Team portfolio holders are responsible to ensure that cocurricular activities are intentionally linked to the student objectives. The headmaster is the liaison for the Athletic Department, and the high school principal is the liaison for the Fine Arts Department.

The Statement of Goals in the Athletic Handbook demonstrates the connection between athletics and the student objectives.

The Leadership Team sets forth student participation guidelines for the academic responsibilities and behavioral expectations for those involved in cocurricular activities, which are connected to the student objectives. A system exists for guiding students who are not meeting these academic and behavioral expectations.

CAJ offers many fine arts activities, which are directly connected to the student objectives. In response to the March 11, 2011 triple disaster, the Leadership Team implemented two ministry trips (June and October) for high school students to demonstrate this year’s theme, Love in Action.

In a survey of teachers who teach both curricular and co-curricular activities, 89% of them agree that they connect their classes to the student objectives in both situations.

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6. CAJ offers a range of student support services, including ESL support (elementary, middle school, high school divisions), guidance services (career and personal counseling), Health Center services, library, technology, and a variety of academic assistance services, including LRC support, homework club in elementary and middle school, and referral to qualified outside professionals when indicated.

When asked about currently available student support services, the following results were obtained:

• Of 123 ES students surveyed, 95 were aware of Guidance Office services, 107 students felt that school strengthened their computer skills, and all students were aware of CAJ’s Health Center services.
• Secondary students responded positively about the adequacy of support services. In a random sample of 57 middle school and high school students, 95% somewhat to strongly agreed that “CAJ provides good support for my student life in health, guidance, resources, spiritual needs, and English language needs (for ESL students).” 100% of the respondents somewhat to strongly agreed that library and technology support is adequate. While the respondents overwhelmingly knew where to go to access support services from the LRC, Health Center, and Guidance Office (89%, 91%, and 95%, respectively), most respondents reported rarely using these services (once/semester or less: LRC, 88%; Health Center, 78%; Guidance Office, 82%). These results indicate that the students know where to get support when needed and are generally satisfied with the level of support.
• Responses from parents to the 2010 Parent Survey show a high level of satisfaction with CAJ’s current student support services, overall. 90% of ES parents, 79% of middle school parents, and 77% of high school parents somewhat to strongly agree that the school “provides adequate resources for students with challenges (social, emotional, behavioral, and academic).” Regarding library services, 89% of all parents agreed that CAJ provides a “good variety of books and services.” As for college and career guidance, 69% of parents agreed that CAJ provides adequate support.
• In the 2011 Staff Survey, 78% of staff agree or strongly agree that students with need for learning support have a variety of options available at CAJ.

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7. CAJ does not have an integrated, schoolwide process for evaluating the level of student involvement in curricular/co-curricular activities and student use of support services; however, monitoring of this involvement does take place on a number of levels.

Records are maintained on student use of support services in all three divisions.

• The Support Team maintains files and documents all services and outside referrals for students on their caseload. The LRC supervisor keeps records of student use of LRC services.
• The Guidance Department documents student use of Guidance Office services.
• The ESL Department records student progress within the ESL department. This includes maintaining records of admission assessments and annual assessments, collecting monthly reports from core teachers on each student’s performance in all of their classes (Google Doc), and discussing student progress at grade level meetings.

The registrar and high school principal monitor the level of student involvement in curricular activities for high school students to ensure that each student’s course load is not excessive. In the secondary, core teachers for each grade meet regularly. If a student requires intervention for academic issues, communication with the student and/or parents is made. The student may be recommended for homework club (elementary and middle school) or the AIM process may be initiated. In all divisions, principals monitor students’ academic progress through collaboration with classroom teachers, the Support Team, Guidance Office, and ESL Department. Rosters of participants in co-curricular activities are available on the Staff Quick Links: Student Group Rooster. Policies regarding student involvement are found in the High School Handbook.

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8. Overall, students think that CAJ provides adequate services.

The results of the survey on student support services that was conducted among middle and high school students in September 2011 indicate that there is a high degree of satisfaction with the level of support currently offered, with 95% (of 57 respondents) expressing somewhat to strong agreement that “CAJ provides good support for my student life in health, guidance, resources, spiritual needs, and English language needs (for ESL students).”

When asked about the effectiveness of the Writer’s Workshop program, participating elementary school students surveyed conveyed that they observed improvement:

• 6/32 indicated they improved very much.
• 14/32 indicated they improved a lot
• 12/32 indicated they improved a little bit
• No students responded that they observed no growth

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9. The primary role of the library is to support student achievement of the student objectives.

The library supports student learning by providing students with direct instruction. For example, K-5 classes each receive a 30-45 minute library class every week, and the librarians provide library orientation classes for middle school, high school, and Educational Support Services students. Additionally, the librarians assist individual students as they work on reports and class projects, responding to student needs upon request.

The library has approximately 26,825 volumes, with a total of 25,088 volumes being circulated in SY 10-11. The volumes include those related to study units and required reading lists. The library subscribes to 44 periodicals and 1 online periodical services (EBSCO) and has an online card catalog (Alexandria) accessible through the library web page. The library has laptops, cameras, and projectors that can be checked out. In SY 10-11, secondary classes booked the library for 92 periods using library resources to work on reports and projects.

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10. The Technology Department supports student objective achievement by meeting student needs.

Technology support services address the following student needs:

1. To help students complete their work, CAJ provides a supervised computer lab before, during, and after school.
2. To provide students with the technology they need to complete assignments, the Technology Department provides computer access through 1 computer lab and 1 computer classroom, the bank of library computers, 1-to-1 laptops for seniors, 4 laptop/netbook carts available for classroom usage, and classroom computers in elementary.
3. The Technology Department provides printers, a photocopy machine in the library, software (iWorks, InDesign, Photoshop, Safari, Mail), TV/VCR units in 25 classrooms, and data projectors in 23 classrooms.
4. The Technology Department maintains a large screen TV in the atrium to connect students to announcements and other student activities and special interest visual media.

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Reporting

1. CAJ student progress on the student objectives and curricular standards is determined and monitored by a number of procedures.

Student progress at CAJ is based on subject or course curriculum with standards and learning targets, which have been developed for most subjects and grade levels. Students are assessed both formally and informally using formative and summative assessments in order to determine their progress towards the student objectives and learning targets.

For example, summative assessments are based on department rubrics that are broken down by degree of achievement of schoolwide student objectives, as well as department-specific curricular learning targets. Portfolios of student work are collected also at all grade levels as evidence of student progress toward student objectives and curricular standards over a student’s career at CAJ. Finally, several forms of standardized testing are used at CAJ in order to measure student achievement. These include Iowa Tests of Basic Skills done in March for grades 2-8 and PSAT for all 10th and 11th graders in October. The SAT is offered at CAJ several times during the year.

CAJ student progress based on the student objectives and curricular standards is monitored through online assessment reporting by middle school and high school teachers. Teachers enter results from department assessments, which are aligned with student objectives and department standards/learning targets, then use this data to make adjustments to curriculum and instruction.

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2. CAJ has procedures to ensure that staff, students, parents, and other school community members understand student progress toward the student objectives and the curricular standards.

Principals and teaching staff use several communication modalities to report student progress and achievement to parents. According to the 2010 Parent Survey (24, 27, 53) and the 2011 Staff Survey (38, 39), both parents (98%) and staff (91%) agree that progress is reported adequately through online grades, conferences, and report cards.

Secondary teachers use grades online to provide students and parents with current information pertaining to student progress. Elementary school teachers send out weekly electronic newsletters. Divisional principals and classroom teachers contact parents of students who are achieving below content standards throughout the year.

High school and middle school teachers update grades online on a regular basis. K-12 report cards are issued twice a year at the end of each semester. Each line on the elementary report card is linked to a specific student objective, giving parents and students concrete evidence of progress toward student objectives. At this time, only the elementary school report cards are linked to the student objectives. Middle school and high school student progress on student objectives and curricular standards can be seen on the rubrics used for specific assessments.

CAJ schedules formal conferences twice during the school year to communicate with students and parents the student’s progress toward student objectives and curricular standards. Student-Parent-Teacher conferences are held in the fall, and Student-led conferences take place in February for middle school and high school and for 4th and 5th grades in November. At these conferences, student progress and growth areas are identified and communicated to parents. Standardized assessments given at CAJ include Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (grades 2-9), PSAT (grades 10-11), Advanced Placement tests in various subjects, and SAT. Results of CAJ student achievement on these tests are available on the CAJ Profile.

Information on student achievement (graduation, awards, college admissions, curricular, and extracurricular activities) is communicated to the wider school community through various publications: Knight Sounds, Chronicle, Community Bulletins, Daily Bulletins, Alumni News, Matsu, divisional newsletters, and elementary grade-level newsletters. Staff uses Google Docs to communicate student progress for English as a Second Language (ESL) monthly and for Support Team as needed. Increased communication among staff members leads to better collaboration and communication to parents about student progress.

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