A schoolwide program is a comprehensive reform strategy to improve the academic achievement of all students in the school, particularly the lowest-achieving students. Schoolwide programs grew out of research about what makes schools work for disadvantaged students. Repeated findings show that staff in highly successful high poverty schools develop and carry out comprehensive schoolwide reform strategies, establish safe environments that are conducive to learning, and support enriched instruction in an expanded core of subjects for all students. Over the years, researchers have documented that, when the entire school is the target of change, schools serving even the most academically challenged students can achieve success.
There are three core elements of a schoolwide program which contain the 10 components of a schoowide program.
- A school operating as a schoolwide program must conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of the entire school to determine the performance of its students in relation to the State's challenging academic content and
achievement standards.
- Using data from its needs assessment, the
school must then develop a comprehensive plan to improve teaching and learning in the school, particularly for those students farthest away from demonstrating proficiency on the State's academic content and achievement standards. The comprehensive plan must:
- Include schoolwide reform strategies that are research-based and designed to strengthen the core academic program so that all students attain proficient and advanced levels of achievement;
- Provide for instruction by highly qualified teachers and contain strategies to attract them;
- Provide high-quality and ongoing professional
development for staff and parents;
- Include strategies to increase parental involvement;
- Provide activities to ensure that students
who experience difficulty attaining proficiency receive effective and timely additional assistance;
- Include plans for assisting preschool students in the successful transition from early childhood programs to elementary schoolwide programs; and
- Provide for coordination and integration of Federal, State and local services and programs.
- A school operating a schoolwide program must annually evaluate the implementation of, and the results achieved by, the schoolwide program and revise the plan as necessary based on the results of the evaluation to ensure continuous improvement of students in the school.
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