King William County - Our Schools - AdvancED Tips of the Week

by Stacy Johnson

The QAR begins on Sunday!  I want to thank everyone for their input and assistance as we have been preparing for this visit.  This process began over 18 months ago and has been a rewarding experience due to the hardwork and dedication of our staff members.  Again, I want the school chairs, Dana Walker, Nicole Phillips, Gail Cassidy, and Dena McKinney, to know how much I appreciate all the hours of hardwork that they put into this review. 

I am confident that the team will be impressed with the dedicated staff members that we have and their commitment to continuous improvement.  This QAR will provide us with the opportunity to "brag" about all of the good things that are happening in King William.

The QAR team will spend the day at the central office on Monday and Wednesday.  On Tuesday, the team will be at CSPS and HHMS in the morning and at AES and KWHS in the afternoon.

Stakeholders are encouraged to review the Standards Assessment Report and the Comprehensive Plan prior to March 21st.  Each building chairperson has a hard copy of the Standards Assessment Report.  However if you would like me to email you a copy, I will do that.

The King William County Comprehensive Plan was developed by a steering committee composed of administrators,  teachers, community members and students.  This plan includes a clear mission and objectives to ensure the implementation of the Standards of Quality.

Areas addressed in the Comprehensive Plan include the following:
- Objectives of the School Division
- Assessment of the accomplishment of objectives of the division
- Plan for handling enrollment changes
- Plan for parent involvement

All stakeholders are encouraged to read the Comprehensive Plan.  This plan can be found on our website under the "About KWCPS" tab.

Everything that we do should align with the mission and vision of King William County Public Schools!

Mission Statement
The King William County School Division provides instruction in a challenging atmosphere to meet the educational needs of all students by supporting the efforts of the professional team and encouraging community involvement.

Vision
King William County Public Schools will provide a high quality education for all students to become productive members of their community.

King William County Public Schools will host the District SACS/AdvancEd Quality Assurance Review from March 21st-March 24th.  (This visit was originally scheduled for Jan. 31st-Feb. 3rd.)  District Accreditation is a systems approach to improving student performance results over time.  District Accreditation recognizes that increasing student achievement is more than improving instruction.  It is a result of how effectively all the parts of the education system - the district, school, and classroom - work together to meet the needs of students.

Be reminded that all previous tips of the week are archived on the KWCPS website.  This information can be found under the staff resources link. 

Standard 7: The system establishes, implements, and monitors a continuous process of improvement that focuses on student performance.

A system is successful in meeting this standard when it implements a collaborative and ongoing process for improvement that aligns the functions of the system with the expectations for student learning.  Improvement efforts are sustained and the system and its schools demonstrate progress in improving student performance.  New improvement efforts are informed by the results of earlier efforts through analysis of student performance, system effectiveness, and assessment of the improvement process.

King William County Public Schools has implemented the following practices in order to meet the expectations of Standard 7:

- a broad range of stakeholder involvement in designing, managing, and implementing the district's improvement plan
- alignment of the district's improvement goals with needs identified and supported by data analysis
- professional development activities that are aligned with improvement goals
- a variety of data is collected to describe progress towards goals
- a continuous review process
- a rigorous data analysis process

Standard 6:  Stakeholder Communication and Relationships

A system is successful in meeting this standard when it has the understanding, commitment,  and support of stakeholders.  System and school personnel seek opportunities for collaboration and shared leadership among stakeholders to help students learn and advance improvement efforts. 

King William County Public Schools has the following in place in order to meet the expectations of Standard 6:
- perception data from stakeholders
- a variety of methods to communicate with stakeholders
- evidence that the division responds to stakeholder input
- a range of engagement by stakeholders in the work of the division

Standard 5: Resource and Support System

A system is successful in meeting this standard when it has sufficient human, material, and fiscal resources to implement a curriculum that: enables students to achieve expectations for student learning, meets special needs, and complies with applicable regulations.  The system employs and allocates staff well-qualified for their assignments.  The system provides ongoing learning opportunities for all staff to improve their effectiveness.  The system ensures compliance with applicable local, state, and federal regulations. 

King William County Public Schools has the following practices in place in order to meet the above standard:

-a mentoring program
-professional development opportunities
-evaluation of staff that includes focus on best practice
-individual staff members develop professional plans
-audit procedures are in place
-facilities are regularly inspected and maintained

Standard 4: Documenting and Using Results

In order for a division to meet Standard 4, the division must have a comprehensive assessment system that monitors and documents performance and use the results to improve student performance and system effectiveness. 

King William County Public Schools has the following systems in place to ensure that it is meeting the expectations in Standard 4:

-use of a variety of assessments with on-going data analysis
-efforts to determine gaps between achievement goals and improvement expectations
-a district-wide process of on-going data analysis and use of data to improve services
-disaggregation of assessment data to reflect relevant groups in the division

A system is successful in meeting Standard 3 when it implements a curriculum based on clear and measurable expectations for student learning that provides opportunities for all students to acquire requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The system ensures that teachers use proven instructional practices that actively engage students in the learning process; provide opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skills to real world situations; and give students feedback to improve their performance.

King William County Public Schools has the following practices in place in order to successfully meet the expectations set forth in Standard 3:

-Student engagement in the classroom and classroom strategies encourage active involvement of students in their own learning.
-Staff research and use data to improve instruction
-Various means are employed to protect student learning time
-A variety of services are provided that impact teaching and learning

Standard 2 of the District Accreditation process is governance and leadership.  A system is successful in meeting this standard when it has leaders who are advocates for the system's vision and improvement efforts.  The leaders provide direction and allocate resources to implement curricular and co-curricular programs that enable students to achieve expectations for learning.  Leaders function with clearly defined authority and responsibility and encourage collaboration and shared responsibility for system and school improvement among stakeholders.  The system's policies, procedures, and organizational conditions ensure equity of learning opportunities and support for innovation.

King William County Public Schools has implemented the following practices and these practices serve as evidence in meeting Standard 2:

-compliance with local, state, and federal laws
-reporting student learning results to stakeholders
-system for evaluating teacher and administrator performance
-professional development opportunities that reflect support for innovation and equity
-mentoring of new staff
-avenues for two-way communication

AdvancED has developed seven standards for quality schools. The first standard is vision and purpose. King William County Public Schools has a collection of evidence that assists us in determining how we are meeting standard one. Specifically, we have the following items:

Each AdvancED Tip of the Week has been archived on the King William County Public Schools website. These tips can be found under the staff resources button on the left-hand side of the home page.

All employees are strongly encouraged to review these tips as we prepare for our Quality Assurance Review.

The Quality Assurance Review Team will participate in school tours. The purpose of the tours are to see instruction in action and to view the implementation of improvement initiatives in our schools.

The Quality Assurance Review Team will conduct classroom visits during our review. The purpose is to view teaching and learning in action and to corroborate information obtained from interviews and artifacts. Specifically, the team will be looking for:
- Students actively engaged in learning.
- Students using thinking and reflective skills.
- Students being given the opportunity to demonstrate their learning.
- Students being challenged to meet high expectations.
- Instruction is adapted to meet student's individual needs.
- A variety of instructional delivery methods are used.
- A positive learning climate.

This process (AdvancED District Accreditation) validates that King William County Public Schools is on the right path to increasing student achievement. As test scores continue to rise, we need to be aware of new research-based strategies that will engage students and enhance instruction and increase student achievement. We must continue to create formative assessments that yield valid data, to identify a means to make data even more accessible to teachers, and continue to develop data tracking strategies between grade levels as the students progress through school. Identifying ways to help our teachers, parents, and students to become more aware of how to use the resources available to us will help us to work together as a community. We must seek strategies for developing stronger stakeholder relationships. We cannot be complacent, but should always strive to become better teachers, leaders, learners, parents, and students.

The King William County Comprehensive Plan was developed by a steering committee composed of administrators, teachers, community members and students. This plans includes a clear mission and objectives to ensure the implementation of the Standards of Quality.

Areas addressed in the Comprehensive Plan include the following:
- Objectives of the School Division
- Assessment of the accomplishment of objectives of the division
- Plan for handling enrollment changes
- Plan for parent involvement

All stakeholders are encouraged to read the Comprehensive Plan. This plan can be found on our website under the "About KWCPS" tab.

Everything that we do should align with the mission and vision of King William County Public Schools!

Mission Statement

The King William County School Division provides instruction in a challenging atmosphere to meet the educational needs of all students by supporting the efforts of the professional team and encouraging community involvement.


Vision

King William County Public Schools will provide a high quality education for all students to become productive members of their community.


It will be imperative for ALL employees and stakeholders to be able to describe the mission and vision of King William County Public Schools to our visiting team.