Incentive Schools: Monitoring

Includes memorandums and ''1993-1994 Incentive School Monitoring Guide,'' Office of Desegregation and Monitoring
School Franklin Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens Garland 1993-94 inceptive SCHOOL MONITORING SCHEDULE Date Tuesday, May 3rd Wednesday, May 4th Thursday, May Sth Friday, May 6th Monday, May 9th Tuesday, May 10th Team Leader Connie Tanner Horace Smith Margie Powell Connie Tanner Melissa Guldin Margie PowellOffice of Desegregation Monitoring United States District Court Eastern District of Arkansas Ann S. Brown, Federal Monitor 201 East Markham, Suite 510 Heritage West Building Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 (501) 376-6200 Fax (501 >371-0100 Date: April 27, 1994 To: From: Subject: Incentive School Principals Ann Brown, Melissa Guldin, Bob Morgan, Margie Powell, Horace Smith, and Connie Hickman Tanner Monitoring the Incentive Schools Enclosed you will find a schedule of our upcoming monitoring visits and a draft copy of the incentive school guide. As you will note, it contains very few changes from last years guide. Please do not complete any of our monitoring forms
ODM monitors will use the school data to complete all charts. During our visit, we will interview you and your theme specialist and conduct some classroom site observations. We will need a workspace and a copy of the following 1993-94 records regarding: Class enrollment by race and gender Staff roster by name, race, gender, and position for the 1993-94 and 1991-92 school years School staffing goals Job descriptions for Instructional Aides and Supervision Aides Staff development activities held specifically for Instructional and Supervision Aides Teacher inservice sessions regarding the use of Instructional Aides Theme implementation plan Discipline, Suspension, and Expulsion by race and gender Building-level discipline plan Gifted and Talented enrollment by race and gender Field Trips Pre-professionals Individual student test profiles Building-level counseling plan Parent Center Committee by race, gender, and position Parent Center recommendations and an indication of the suggestions incorporated into the center The name, gender, and position of the parent trained to operate the centerMonthly communication packets distributed by the Parent Center List of parent meetings including topic, time, location, and sign-in sheets The total number of home visits conducted as of April 1994 A description of the mechanism designed to ensure that parents regularly sign homework A description of early indicators and early intervention programs including alert and success cards to update parents on their childs progress List of community meetings and activities by topic, time, location, and sign-in sheets List of three-key communicators by race, gender, and position The number of signed contracts for each school and a description of follow-up procedures Speakers Bureau roster by name, gender, race, and position, along with a list of speaking engagements including the time, location, and participant sign-in sheets Recruitment Team roster by race, gender, and position Recruitment Plan, including a list of all recruitment strategies implemented and planned Extended Day schedule Extended Week schedule The following documents should be available for review, but copies need not be provided: Teacher-made tests generated by Abacus Records of individual and classroom academic progress as measured by CMIT If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call your team leader, as designated on the monitoring schedule. cc: Dr. Russ Mayo Sterling IngramSchool Franklin Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens Garland 1993-94 INCENTIVE SCHOOL MONITORING SCHEDULE Date Tuesday, May 3rd Wednesday, May 4th Thursday, May 5 th Friday, May 6th Monday, May 9th Tuesday, May 10th Team Leader Connie Tanner Horace Smith Margie Powell Connie Tanner Melissa Guldin Margie PowellOffice of Desegregation Monitoring United States District Court Eastern District of Arkansas Ann S. Brown, Federal Monitor 201 East Markham. Suite 510 Heritage West Building Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 (501)376-6200 Fax (501) 371-0100 Date: April 27, 1994 To: From: Subject: Sterling Ingram, Associate to the Deputy Superintendent Desegregation Monitoring Team: Ann Brown, Melissa Guldin, Bob Morgan, Margie Powell, Horace Smith, and Connie Hickman Tanner Incentive School Monitoring Visits - Schedule and Request for Documents ODM is planning to monitor the incentive schools on the dates indicated on the enclosed schedule. We will need the following information from the districts central administration. In order to expedite this process, please furnish the following information by May 16,1994: 1993-94 Incentive School Staffing Committee membership by school represented, race, and sex Minutes of 1993-94 Incentive School Staffing Committee meetings Documentation of hiring criteria and procedures established by the Incentive School Staffing Committee Copy of the 1993-94 incentive schools staffing needs assessment guide Documentation (e.g. agendas, handouts, guides, etc.) of inservice held during the 1993-94 school year regarding the staffing needs assessment process Documentation of the LRSD Human Resources Departments involvement in the staffing assessment process Copy of the Spanish curriculum currently in use in the incentive schools Description of the incentive school parent program, including program goals, objectives, timelines, and person responsible for this program Copy of community needs assessment and resultsIncentive School Monitoring Information (Cont) List of adult education opportunities, description of how parents were notified, the type, location, and time of the educational opportunities, and number of participants by race and gender Description of the parent internship program and a list of parent interns at each of the incentive schools by race and gender Description of the parent/ teacher mentorships and a list of parent/ teacher mentorships at each incentive school by race and gender Documentation of parent workshops including topic, time, location, number of participants by race, gender, and childs school, and evaluation results Volunteer documentation including the number of volunteers by race, gender, and the number of hours at each school Mentor documentation by race, gender, participation hours, and a brief description of the types of activities shared by students and their mentors. Mentor training records List of community meetings including time, location, and copies of sign-in sheets Documentation of identified parent pick-up points for school functions Parent Council membership lists by race, gender, and organization represented Copies of Parent Council monitoring instrument, meeting minutes, and quarterly reports Biracial Committee membership list by race, gender, and address Copies of Biracial Committee meeting minutes, monitoring schedule, and monitoring guide Copies of 1993-94 Planning Research and Evaluation quarterly reports of the Biracial Committee monitoring visitsIncentive School Monitoring Information (Cont) A list of all incentive school recruitment strategies or activities planned and implemented for the 1993-94 school year Examples: A. If a strategy involves developing a brochure: identify the person(s) responsible for its development and distribution
provide a copy of the brochure it it has been completed
identify the audience targeted to receive the brochure
state the brochure distribution dates
identify the amount of money allotted for the brochures development and distribution, the amount actually spent to date, and the amount remaining: and explain how you will track the brochures results. B. If an activity involves a presentation: identify the person(s) responsible for developing and making the presentation: identify the audience targeted for the presentation
briefly describe the type of presentation, and its date and location
provide sample participant sign-in sheets
and explain how you will track the results of the presentation. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. cc: Dr. Russ MayoDate: May 11, 1994 From: To: Subject: MEMORANDUM Margie, Melissa, and Horace Ann Incentive School Report Schedule We met and discussed a timeline for writing the report on the incentive schools and believe we can meet the deadlines listed below. This schedule allows for one day of court preparation, but does not take into account attendance at the budget hearings. We would like to remain here, working on the report, rather than attend the May hearing. If any issues arise that are crucial to our areas of responsibility, we are only a phone call away. May 12- June 3 Complete gathering report information and write report June 6 Begin Team Edit June 10 Complete changes generated by team edit processreceived MAY 1 6 1994 Office of Desegregation .... ..,y LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT 810 WEST MARKHAM LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201 Date: May 16, 1994 To: Desegregation Monitoring Team Members: Ann Brown, Melissa Guldin, Bob Morgan, Margie Powell, Horace Smith, and Connie Hickman Tanner From: Sterling Ingram, Associate to the Deputy Superintendent Re: Response to Request for Documents Attached are responses to your April 27,1994 memorandum. If you have any questions, please contact me at 324-2124. bjgRECESVco MAY 1 6 1994 LIST OF ATTACHMENTS Office of Desegregation Monitoring 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. Staffing Committee Membership Staffing Committee Meeting Minutes Staffing Committee Hiring Criteria/Procedures Staffing Needs Assessment Guide Staffing Process Inservice Documentation Staffing Process Human Resources Documentation Spanish Program Curriculum Parent Involvement Program Community Needs Assessment Adult Education Opportunities Parent Internship Program Parent/Teacher Mentorship Parent Workshops Volunteer Documentation Mentor Program Documentation Mentor Training Records Community Meetings Transportation for School Functions Parent Council Membership Parent Council Monitoring Biracial Committee Membership Biracial Committee Meetings Planning, Research and Evaluation Biracial Committee Monitoring Recruitment Strategies/Activitiesreceived MAY I 6 1994 LIST OF ATTACHMENTS Office of Desegregation Monitoring 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Staffing Committee Membership Staffing Committee Meeting Minutes Staffing Committee Hiring Criteria/Procedures Staffing Needs Assessment Guide .-'Staffing Process Inservice Documentation ^ Staffing Process Human Resources Documentation Spanish Program Curriculum 'Parent Involvement PrograriT^ ^Community Needs Assessment -' Adult Education Opportunities Parent Internship Program Parent/Teacher Mentorship -4*arent Workshops Volunteer Documentation Mentor Program Documentation "IVlentor Training Records Yl. ^'Community Meetings 18. - Transportation for School Functions 19. Parent Council Membership 20. Parent Council Monitoring 21. 22. 23. 24. i/Biracial Committee Membership ^Biracial Committee Meetings Planning, Research and Evaluation Biracial Committee Monitoring ' Recruitment Strategies/ActivitiesINCENTIVE SCHOOL MONITORING GUIDE 1994 Introduction Five-Year Enrollment Staffing Discipline, Suspension, and Expulsion Facilities Program and Operations Parent and Community Involvement Parent Recruitment Comprehensive Planning Double Funding Rockefeller Early Childhood Magnet ProgramFIVE-YEAR ENROLLMENT COMPARISON 1. The incentive program is successfully desegregating each incentive school. (LRSD Plan, pg. 149)STAFFING 2. The district is making progress toward racially balancing both the certified and noncertified staff. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 6) 3. The Incentive Schools Staffing Committee is composed of teachers, parents, supervisors, principals, other administrators, and the Joshua Intervenors. The committee assesses staffing needs, sets criteria, assists in recruiting quality staff, and determines hiring procedures. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190) 4. Full-time positions recommended in the desegregation plan include classroom teachers, counselor, media specialist, music, art, P.E., social worker, permanent substitute, remedial reading, remedial math, computer lab attendant, resource, speech, alternative classroom specialist, media clerk, instructional aides, non-certified supervision aides, program specialist, principal, and assistant principal. (LRSD Plan, pg. 191) 5. Each school has an appropriate number of instructional aides, based on a ratio of two aides to three classrooms if no kindergarten through sixth grade class has more than 20 students, or a one-to-one aide-to-classroom ratio if any classroom, K through six, has more than 20 students. (May 1992 Order, pg. 34) 6. A staffing needs assessment process determines which plan-recommended positions should be filled, based on the needs and interests of the student population. Factors considered include the number of students per grade level, their race and gender, academic achievement needs and interests, disciplinary needs, social interaction needs, and health needs. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190
May 1992 Order, pp. 41-42)TEST DATA 7. The parties shall have as a high priority the elimination of educational achievement disparities between black and white students, and recognize that eliminating disparity may place greater demands on the black students in racially identifiable schools than on others. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 6)DISCIPLINE, SUSPENSION, and EXPULSION 8. Disaggregate data related to student discipline and review student data to address issues of racial disparity. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 27) 9. Attendance and behavior guidelines include time-out rooms staffed with trained personnel. Students help develop school-based management rules and receive assistance with problem solving. (LRSD Plan, pp. 175, 184)FACILITIES 10. The district will provide clean and safe facilities and make all repairs fundamental to maintain the incentive schools. (LRSD Plan, pg. 129)PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS Themes 11. Parents and staff at each school develop school themes which are integrated into the curriculum. (LRSD Plan, pg. 20) 12. Each school has a program specialist to support the thematic emphasis. (May 1992 Order, pg. 41) Science Labs 13. Students in grades 3-6 have access to either mobile or permanent science labs with adequate materials that allow children to execute long-term experiments and study science in the fullest sense. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153
ODM 1992 Report, pg. 15) Foreign Language 14. Each building operates foreign language labs with appropriate equipment and materials. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) 15. The curriculum at each school incorporates foreign language instruction using the foreign language lab and the "total physical response" method of instruction. Emphasis is on basic vocabulary, conversation, and cultural material. (LRSD Plan, pg. 156) Computer Managed Instructional Technology (CMIT) 16. The district uses CMIT to track student progress. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) 17. The district uses computer-generated criterion referenced tests for student assessment. (LRSD Plan, pg. 154) Extended Year and Extended Week (Saturday Program) 18. Extended year is a continuation of the regular school year which also includes summer remediation and enrichment options at all incentive schools at no cost to students. Summer courses are prescribed for students. (LRSD Plan, pp. 172, 180
ODM 1992 Report, pg.25) 19. Schools record attendance by grade level, race, and gender for extended programs . (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) 20. Cumulative records document host and guest schools participation in Saturday program. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Extended Day 21. Extended Day includes the homework center, special skills training, and leisure time activities. (LRSD Plan, pp. 173, 174, 181, 184) 22. The LRSD is required to survey parents and students to determine the most appealing extended day activities. School staff must use information gleaned from SEPs, school staff, parents, and students to develop the extended day program. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25)PARENT and COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 23. The district will establish a program to equip parents with the job skills needed to work in school settings. Program objectives and activities include: designing and administrating a needs assessment
providing adult community education opportunities, encouraging teachers to serve as mentors to parents, establishing an internship program to recruit and employee parents. (LRSD Plan, pp. 178,189, 206, 207) 24. A Parent Center in each school is staffed by a trained parent volunteer who oversees the loan of materials to parents. Schools solicit parent recommendations to help guide the purchase of materials, and document the degree to which parents use the centers. The centers are also a source of a monthly communications packet for parents. (LRSD pp. 206, 208
ODM Report, Pg 39) 25. The incentive schools offer workshop for parents that are designed to help them understand and respond to school expectations. The district documents participation in these workshops by topic, date, time, and location along with the number of participants by race, gender, and school affiliation. (LRSD Plan, pg. 209
ODM Report, pg. 39) 26. The district will encourage parent volunteerism, providing transportation at identified pick-up points in the community. (LRSD Plan, pg. 174) 27. 28. 29. The district will establish a mentoring program (LRSD Plan, pg. 157) Each school will require at least two home visits. (LRSD Plan, pp. 206, 211) Each school must name three key communicators and establish a speakers bureau to address education issues to community groups. (LRSD Plan, pp. 210, 213) 30. The Incentive School Parent Council is a districtwide body consisting of two parents from each incentive school and four members appointed by the Joshua Intervenors. The council monitors all aspects of the incentive school program, reporting quarterly to the LRSD Board and Joshua. (LRSD Plan, pg. 151) 31. The districtwide Biracial Committee, whose members represent various geographic areas of the community, will monitor the incentive schools quarterly. (LRSD Plan, pp. 224, 225) 32. The Biracial Committee will furnish copies of their monitoring reports to incentive school principals and various district officials. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (PRE) will prepare quarterly reports that summarize all monitoring visits. The superintendent will share the PRE document with the Board of Directors. The Associate Superintendent for Desegregation is responsible for eliminating any noted deficiencies in a timely manner. (LRSD Plan, pg. 225)33. By July 1 of each year, the district will convene a committee to revise the instrument used to monitor the incentive schools, ensuring that it conforms with the expectations set for the program. The review committee shall consist of
incentive school principals, the superintendents senior management team, specialists from PRE, and six members of the Biracial Committee (two of whom must be Joshua appointees). Any resulting revisions must be submitted to the LRSD Board and Joshua by August 15. (LRSD Plan, 225)PARENT RECRUITMENT 34. Recruitment will be an ongoing process with each school establishing a parent recruitment team to encourage voluntary assignments that enable the schools to comply with desegregation requirements. (LRSD Plan, pp. 132, 135, 215
Interdis. Plan pg. 57) 35. Parent recruiters will focus on recruiting white students to desegregate the incentive schools and conduct recruitment activities. (LRSD Plan, pp. 216, 222) 36. The district will inform the community about the incentive schools and their special features by providing informational sessions to special interest and community groups, including churches. Additional strategies will include conducting Saturday information booths at malls and neighborhood stores, securing special media coverage, and developing an incentive school telephone hotline. The district will distribute highlight sheets to all elementary parents and local businesses. (LRSD Plan, pp. 215, 218-219) 37. The districts recruitment strategies will include public service announcements, billboards, a media blitz, videocassette recordings, flyers, open houses, targeted neighborhood blitzes, small group tours, a special designation from the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), and celebrity endorsements. Each school will establish a speakers bureau and help the district develop a brochure highlighting their school. Meetings will be held with NLRSD and PCSSD parents and PT A groups to encourage M-to- M transfers. (LRSD Plan, pp. 215-216, 220-222) 38. The LRSD will establish a speakers bureau to target parents of four-year-olds
identify a database of four-year-old white residents within Pulaski County by July 1991 for targeted marketing
and develop a method of identifying and making systematic contact with parents of newborns and children up to three years of age. (Marketing Plan, pp. 8, 10, 11) 39. All parties have made firm commitments to assist the LRSD in desegregating the incentive schools. (May 1992 Order, pg. 29) 40. The LRSD will develop a strategic plan for recruitment that includes a timetable, and the district will develop a tracking system. (ODM 1992 Report, pp. 4, 5) 41. The district will increase the number and variety of recruitment activities. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 5 ) 42. The LRSD Incentive School Marketing Plan includes the following strategies: implementing a tracking system
prioritizing target audiences
holding promotional training sessions at each incentive school
and developing an open house program. Additional strategies include developing an annual communications program to highlight staff and student achievements
creating a communications process between each school and the district to encourage systematic input of newsworthy events
and pre-testing communication materials prior to production. (Marketing Plan, pp. 5-7, 9, 12, 14, 15-17, 18)43. The Biracial Committees monitoring instrument will include a recruitment assessment. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 5) 44. The Biracial Advisory Committee, with the advice of marketing and advertising experts, will serve as the steering committee for incentive school recruitment. The committee will review bimonthly recruitment reports from the desegregation office, evaluate the program quarterly, and recommend needed changes to the Board of Directors. (LRSD Plan, pp. 217, 223)COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING 45. The school effectively utilizes the project manage tool to document activities and progress towards goals.INCENTIVE SCHOOL DOUBLE FUNDING 46. Funding for the incentive schools shall be set at two times the level for the elementary area schools to ensure that the children who are in racially-isolated setting are provided meaningful opportunities for desegregated experiences and activities. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 4) 47. The Little Rock School District Board of Directors is committed to improving educational quality and student academic performance in all schools and doubling the financial resources in schools identified in the Court-approved desegregation plan as incentive schools. (LRSD Plan, pg. 1)ROCKEFELLER EARLY CHILDHOOD MAGNET SCHOOL 1. The Rockefeller Early Childhood Magnet Program will be available to children from six weeks to four years old. The program will serve as a model for improving the academic achievement of disadvantaged students and attracting students to comply with desegregation requirements. (LRSD Plan, pg.12) 2. The district uses the early childhood education program at Rockefeller as a desegregation tool and includes the early childhood program as an integral part of the whole school. (LRSD Plan, pp. 12, 13) 3. The early childhood program receives the same attention and support as the grades K through six. (LRSD Plan, pg.13) 4. Rockefeller is designated as a Cooperative Early Childhood Education Demonstration Magnet between UALR and other area colleges. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) 5. Rockefeller develops, emphasizes, and pilots innovative early childhood education practices. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) 6. College students, the countys teachers, and daycare workers use Rockefeller as a demonstration site. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) 7. All aspects of planning and implementation for the early childhood program incorporates the advice of parents and educational professionals. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) 8. The district has explored the development of a year-round, full day school for children from infancy through sixth grade. A biracial group of teachers, parents, administrators, and experts from local universities works with the district to assess the feasibility of such a program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 13) 9. The district evaluates the early childhood program to determine its impact on desegregation. In addition, the parent committee routinely evaluates matters related to child care policies and procedures. (LRSD Plan, pg. 13)OFFICE OF DESEGREGATION MONITORING Heritage West Building 201 East Markham, Suite 510 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 1993-94 INCENTIVE SCHOOL MONITORING GUIDE Monitors GuideSchool Franklin Etem Garland Elem Ish Elem SIX YEAR ENROLLMENT COMPARISON : Stack White Other Total % Blk Black White Other Total % BIk i Black 88-89 89-90 90-91 91-92 92-93 93-94 4^4 364 343 428 352 300 28 72 59 71 SO 40 12 -9 8 9 S 442 448 >411? 507 345 <<'94: - ^181: <.83 84 86 87 276 23 299 92 ' 178 268 211 262 233 181 15 18 15 17 3 2 11 2 6 21 285 240 279 256 205 94 88 94 91 88 157 142 188 182 Closed after 1992-93 school year. White 19 7 4 9 5 Mitchell Elem Rigfttsell Elem Rockefeller Elem Stephens Elem Grand Total Other Total 197 <,% ak
Black White Other Total % BIk Btai^
White Other Total w,ak Black White Other Total % BIk Slack White Other Total %<ak: Black White Other Total % BIk 220 41 261 84 196 45 241 81 255 45 300 85 227 :6 233 1,766 207 0 1,973 90 0 0 . .< 3 0 164 146 200 187 96: S7 94 97 220 183 285 232 215 19 24 27 28 12 0 0 0 4 3 239 207 312 264 230 92 88 91 88 93 194 is 92 215 33 2 250 86 225 :6i '1 226 100 1,643 162 18 1,823 90 191 282 239 184 1 1 193 99 195 71 5 271 72 190 T2
0: 202 94 1,455 189 26 1,670 87 8 9 4 I 1 1 289 249- 189 96 98 97 282 250 240 116 104 93 5 7 7 403 361 340 70 69 71 236: 202 141 7 3 1 9 i 245 20 145 86 97 97 1,962 1,690 1,261 253 220 155 20 27 38 2,235 1,937 1,454 88 87 87 The incentive program is successfully desegregating each incentive school. (LRSD Plan, pg, 149)f Make recruiting white students to the incentive schools among district priorities, focusing the energy and resources necessary to ensure that the incentive schools become fully desegregated. Identify the factors that are working to make Rockefeller a desegregated school and adopt or adapt them for the other incentive schools.STAFFING The selection and support of quality staff members will be critical factors in the success of incentive schools. Carefully plarmed staff-selection criteria and procedures will provide the quality persoimel capable of successfully attaining the goals and implementing the programs and curriculum of these schools. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190) Progress is being made toward racially balancing both the certified and non-certified staff. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 6) Position Black 1992-93 White Total % Black M F M F Stall
Certified Non-certified Total Percent CJsssroom Teachers: Early Childhood Primary Intermediate Total Percent Establish goals and objectives for racially balancing each incentive school staff as part of a comprehensive long-range strategic plan for implementing the incentive school features. In order to focus on racially balanced staffing, the district must have distinct goals, explicitly defined objectives, coordinated strategies, timetables, and benchmarks against which to measure progress. Without a comprehensive but specific plan for hitting its targets, the district will achieve racially balanced staffs only by happenstance. Although many aspects of staffing are beyond the control of administrators and then- best laid plans, they can nevertheless make many useful assumptions and forecasts based on such factors as past staff turnover patterns and anticipated retirements. Exempt incentive schools from being forced to accept any employees that have not been interviewed and recommended by the principal and the schools staffing committee. Although the LRSD must hire new staff and relocate some employees each year, the districts current practice of personnel assignments to the incentive schools is counterproductive to establishing a high quality school staff through a rigorous screening process. No employee should be assigned to an incentive school without first having been informed of the strong commitment and specific responsibilities required of staff at that school. Nor should staff be assigned to an incentive school unless they have been screened and recommended by the building staffing committee and principal. The Incentive Schools Staffing Committee is composed of teachers, parents, supervisors, principals, other administrators, and the Joshua Intervenors. The committee assesses staffing needs, sets criteria, assists in recruiting quality staff, and determines hiring procedures. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190) A staffing needs assessment process determines staff selection based upon the needs and interests of the student population. Factors to be considered include the number of students per grade level, their race and gender, academic achievement needs and interests, disciplinary needs, social interaction needs, and health needs. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190) The district must staff the schools in accordance with equitably meeting the identified needs of the staff and students in a particular school, making decisions regarding plan-recommended staff positions based on criteria linked to a current needs assessment of the individual school. The district is required to determine the need for alternative classrooms and establish them where necessary. (May 1992 Order, pp. 41-42) Institute staffing needs assessment as an annual process in the incentive schools. The assessment process for determining staffing needs in the incentive schools should be more than a perfunctory exercise in complying with the letter of the desegregation plan. A well designed and conducted needs assessment is an excellent means of determining how best to serve incentive school students while meeting the districts need for fiscal responsibility. Annually assessing the staffing needs in each incentive school will allow the district to stay abreast of the changing needs of each incentive schools population, help indicate the progress made on a comprehensive long-range strategic plan, and support general budgeting processes. Develop a comprehensive guide for assessing staffing needs which incorporates the factors listed in the plan as well as other relevant archival and anecdotal data. Whatever specific form it takes, the assessment should be a user-friendly document that guides the staffing committee to certain logical conclusions based on the evidence generated by the assessment document. Data alone does not automatically show a certain need. The key is whether the needs assessors can translate "data" into "information" that suggests the level of need for certain specific positions. Train principals and staffing committees in procedures for effectively assessing staffing needs. Training before initiating the staffing needs assessment can mean the difference between task success and failure. Training should include at least the purpose of the assessment process, types of data to be gathered, an orientation to the assessment instrument itself, introducing materials and people available to help in the process, and a "walk-through" of the process that includes how to analyze, correlate, and report the results. Involve the LRSD Human Resources Department as an integral part of the assessment process. Given the experience and expertise that should be resident in the districts Human Resources Department (HR), that staff should be involved in the needs assessment process. Ultimately, it is Human Resources that will develop job descriptions and coordinate recruitment and hiring for positions identified by the needs assessment process. Involving HR on the "front end" should help ensure smooth continuity of the entire staffing process. Full-time positions recommended in the desegregation plan include classroom teachers, counselor, media specialist, music, art, P.E., social worker, permanent substitute, reading (remediation), math (remediation), computer lab attendant, resource, speech, alternative classroom specialist, media clerk, instructional aides (one per classroom), non-certified supervision aides, program specialist, principal, and assistant principal. (LRSD Plan, pg. 191) The district uses a current needs assessment of each school to determine the plan-recommended positions that should be filled, whether additional or different positions may be needed, and the need for alternative classrooms. (May 1992 Order, pp. 4M2) Each school has an appropriate number of instructional aides, based on a ratio of two aides to three classrooms if no kindergarten through sixth grade class has more than 20 students, or a one- to-one aide-to-classroom ratio if any classroom, K though six, has more than 20 students. (May 1992 Order, pg. 34) Develop specific, comprehensive job descriptions for instructional and supervision aides. Each incentive school is unique in its expectations of the aides who serve in the building. Written job descriptions will help delineate specific job responsibilities. A clear understanding of job responsibilities will enhance the working relationships between teachers and aides, as well as provide the basis for performance evaluations and developing growth plans. Make sure all aides receive a thorough orientation to their individual job along with comprehensive, ongoing formal training in areas such as child development, supervision and classroom management, learning styles, and discipline techniques. The training should be pre-service, so aides begin the year well-prepared and confident, as well as ongoing throughout the school year so aides knowledge can expand along with the awareness they gain from their day-to-day experiences. Tailor the training to the district needs of the instructional aides and supervision aides so that both their common and individual job responsibilities and challenges are addressed. Provide teacher inservice training in the effective use of instructional aides that includes team-building activities for teacher and aide teams. The district must not assume that the act of pairing teachers and aides automatically produces an effective instructional team. Guided team-building activities give teachers and aides an opportunity to discover more about each other, identify and workout areas of potential conflict, and develop mutual understandings. Furthermore, training will familiarize teachers with the appropriate role of the instructional aide so teachers can determine the most effective ways in which their classroom assistants can foster a positive learning environment.TEST DATA The parties shall have as a high priority the elimination of educational achievement disparities between black and white students, and recognize that eliminating disparity may place greater demands on the black students in racially identifiable school than on others. (Interdis. Plan, pg.DISCIPLINE, SUSPENSION, and EXPULSION School Short-term Suspensions Black White Long-term Suspensions Black White Expulsions Sent-Homes Black White Black White M F U F M F U F M F M F M F U F Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens Disaggregate data related to student discipline and review student data to address issues of racial disparity. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 27) Carefully collect discipline data and closely monitor the discipline program to make modifications that are indicated by formative as well as summative information. The district would be wise to analyze the factors that contribute to some schools having fewer overall discipline problems and less disparity in discipline between black and white students. Identifying and emulating these factors and closely scrutinizing progress should result in interventions that reduce the number of students suspended or expelled as well as the disproportionate number of black students referred for disciplinary action. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Attendance and behavior guidelines include time-out rooms that are staffed with trained personnel. Students help develop school-based management rules and receive help with problem solving. (LRSD Plan, pp. 175, 184) Staff, parents, and students cooperatively design discipline policies. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Discipline policies and procedures are well-publicized, clearly indicate what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior, and spell out consequences for infractions. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Policy enforcement is fair and consistent. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Make an effort to pair aides and teachers who are compatible with each other, and provide training that will enable instructional aides and classroom teachers to work together as an effective team. Provide pre-service orientation and training for all aides, and follow-up with regular inservice, on topics that include behavior management techniques and other subjects that will contribute to the aides effectiveness. Classroom management approaches are appropriate for the work being done. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32)GIFTED AND TALENTED ENROLLMENT The district devotes special attention to identifying and placing in gifted and talented programs black students and students from low and middle socio-economic levels. (LRSD Plan, pg. 58) Gifted and talented education is tailored to challenge, exercise, and enlarge students individual talents and intellectual aptitudes. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 18) Black White School Total % Black M F M F Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens Increase the amount of time the gifted and talented program specialists spend in the incentive schools so they can fully implement the G/T program and spend more time identifying the children whose needs can be met through the program.FACILITIES The district will provide clean and safe facilities and make all repairs fundamental to maintain the incentive schools. (LRSD Plan, pg. 129) Continue to repair roof leaks at Franklin as they occur. Once a leak is corrected, repair or replace water damaged ceiling tiles and carpet. Repaint the interior of Ish, if the school remains open. The spot-painting completed during the summer of 1992 improved the appearance of the building, but the walls need a complete paint job. Repair or replace the leaky roof in Mitchells reading room. Replace the loose floor tiles in Mitchells hallway. Develop a schedule of carpet repair or replacement for Rockefeller, Mitchell, and Rightsell. Repair the floor and wall in Rightsell classroom 3-B, and then replace any damaged carpet. Take steps to correct the remaining drainage problems at Rightsell, including relocation of any downspout draining toward the foundation. Make sure all incentive school principals are aware that district funds are available to improve landscaping at their schools if a parent, teacher, or community organization will take maintenance responsibility for plantings. All seven incentive schools would benefit aesthetically from the addition of attractive landscaping. Once plantings are installed, train the custodial staff in proper plant care to prevent loss of plantings to improper pruning or underwatering. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 43)Each school as a program specialist to support the thematic emphasis. (May 1992 Order, pg. 41) Fresh imaginative themes are established based upon each schools unique strengths. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 20) Ensure that each school develops and executes a plan for fully implementing its theme by the opening of the 1993-94 school year. Provide equal treatment for Stephens Incentive School by providing full support for a school theme. Children at Stephens are entitled to every incentive school feature guaranteed them by the Settlement Plans, unless the district should seek, and the Court grant, permission to temporarily or permanently deviate from a particular plan provision. Establish a schedule of regular meetings among the incentive school program specialists so they can discuss effective theme implementation strategies, share ideas, and review experiences. Encourage interaction among the incentive school program specialists and those specialists assigned to the magnet schools. Capitalizing on in-house expertise and encouraging cooperation among the schools will help strengthen the districts programs. Students in grades 3-6 have access to either mobile or permanent science labs with adequate materials that allow children to execute long-term experiments and study science in the fullest sense. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153
ODM 1992 Report, pg. 15) The curriculum at each school incorporates foreign language instruction using the foreign language lab and the "total physical response" method of instruction. Emphasis is on basic vocabulary, conversation, and cultural materials. (LRSD Plan, pg. 156) Schedule science inservice training for teachers who need or want help improving their science instruction. Principals should be able to determine which teachers are not fully using the science labs and steer them to staff development sessions devoted to enlivening science in the classroom. Ensure that the materials needed for all science experiments are available to school staff and make sure teachers are aware of procurement procedures. Each building operates foreign language labs with appropriate equipment and materials. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) Capitalize on the districts resident expertise and experience to assist the incentive schools in establishing a foreign language program as an integral part of the overall school program. For some years, the LRSD has maintained a very popular and successful elementary international studies program at Gibbs Magnet School. At every grade level, foreign language instruction is an integral part of this schools program. Administrators and program developers should tap the cumulative expertise of the Gibbs staff to assist the incentive schools.PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS The incentive school program promotes and ensures academic excellence in schools that have been difficult to desegregate. The incentive school program compensates the victims of segregation and serves as a tool for promoting meaningful and long-lasting desegregation in these schools and in the entire school district. (LRSD Plan, pg. 149) A comprehensive long-range strategic plan has been developed for implementation of the incentive school program. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 20) Each district will make a quarterly report to the Office of Desegregation Monitoring. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 6) The four-year-old program uses High Scope or a comparable curriculum model and a parent component is incorporated into the program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 152) Four-year-old enrollment is limited to 18 children per class. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 10) The Early Childhood Education Task Force is an avenue for parent, teacher, and community input. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 17) Include as a member of the Early Childhood Education Task Force at least one instructional aide or teacher from each school having a four-year-old program. Increase the involvement of area colleges and universities by naming active higher education representatives to the task force. Reading and oral expression are infused throughout all curriculum areas. (LRSD Plan, pg. 152) Reading comprehension and reading for meaning are stressed at every grade level. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32) Base staff development activities on areas of demonstrated need. Some teachers may need more training than others in a given area in order to succeed. Now that the new curriculum has been in place for a full school year, principals should be able to determine which teachers need additional assistance. Utilize Teacher Assistance Plans (TAP) for those teachers who need the help available through the TAP approach. Teachers who are unable to effectively deliver instruction in any curricular area should get immediate help
assistance should not be reserved for those in imminent danger of dismissal. Encourage principals and assistant principals to attend subject area inservice meetings so they, too, are well informed and understand the new curriculum. Parents and staff at each school develop school themes which are integrated into the curriculum, (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) Place as many qualified foreign language teachers as needed to provide Spanish instruction to incentive school students as part of the regular school day instructional program. Encourage the Spanish teachers to develop a series of Spanish "mini-lessons" for each grade level to help the regular classroom teachers reinforce foreign language instruction across the curriculum. The Spanish teachers can develop daily 10 minute lessons to help classroom teachers reinforce the Spanish instruction provided by the foreign language teacher. The minilessons could also include activities centered on cultural materials. Increase the amount and improve the quality of Spanish language materials available in each school. Once foreign language teachers are employed, they should be able to work with the districts Foreign Language Supervisor and the IRC Incentive School Specialist to acquire a variety of Spanish language materials, including computer software. The quality and quantity of foreign language materials available to schools has increased dramatically in recent years, so the district should have little difficulty locating many fine resources to enhance Spanish instruction. Parent Home Study Guides in each core subject area for each grade (1-6) will be available by the 1993-94 school year. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) The district uses Computer Managed Instructional Technology (CMIT) to track student progress. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) The district uses computer-generated criterion referenced tests for student assessment. (LRSD Plan, pg. 154) Provide sufficient training and support to enable all schools to fully implement Abacus during the 1993-94 school year. The district has had a year to pilot the program and work out some of the bugs. Administrators should be able to design an effective training program and support system that can help each school use the new technology for the purpose intended in the desegregation plan. The school emphasizes a classics reading program and uses the basal reader to augment the classics. (LRSD Plan, pg. 154) Physical education (PE) and health are included in the total elementary curriculum with emphasis on wellness, lifelong leisure skills, nutrition, and respect for those with disabilities. (LRSD Plan, pg. 156) Incorporate leisure time activities, which students can pursue throughout their lifetime, as part of the physical education curriculum.Social skills are taught, when appropriate, through the core instructional program. The total school staff serves as models of positive social interaction. Social skills instruction includes such programs as Rites of Passage, Role Models, and Mentoring. (LRSD Plan, pp. 156-157) Strengthen efforts to recruit mentors for the students. Having at least one special friend, coach, and encourager can be so important to a childs development that every student who needs or wants a mentor should have one. Consider a trainer of trainers program or similar means to equip principals or other school staff to train volunteer mentors. New school volunteer recruits are usually highly motivated to help children and want to get "on the job" right away without having to wait a lengthy period for a formal group training. Volunteers should not have to delay their service any longer than is absolutely necessary in order to receive training and orientation. Having on-site training available can expedite the period between volunteer sign-up and getting to work. However, because adequate training is so vitally important to the quality of a program and school volunteers success in meaningfully helping children and teachers, under no circiunstances should the scope and quality of volunteer training be compromised or circumvented for the sake of expediency. Any job worth doing for kids is worth doing well, and volunteer jobs are no exception. The schools use local, state, and national field trips to enhance learning and broaden cultural experiences. Trips provide community access and racially desegregated experiences and activities for incentive school students together with other LRSD students. Exhibits and performances are also brought to the schools, and students participate in shadowing activities. (LRSD Plan, pp. 158, 173, 181
Interdis. Plan, pg. 4) Abandon the practice of limiting three- and four-year-old children to walking field trips and allow them to travel by bus to any appropriate site, with parental approval. Whatever the past misunderstanding that resulted in travel restrictions for young students, ADE should confirm that, with appropriate parent permission, it is lawful to transport children of these ages in public school busses. The schools use a Career Skills Development Program to develop career choices using written information, guest speakers, films, and interest inventories. (LRSD Plan, pp. 172, 180) Treat and teach career skills development as an integral part of school life. School personnel should consistently point out relationships between all school activities and the world of work. They must also stay informed of changing job markets and have up-to-date labor market information so they can give their students the best possible instruction. Extended year school includes summer remediation and enrichment options at all incentive schools at no cost to students. Summer courses are prescribed for students. (LRSD Plan, pp. 172, 180)Extended year is a continuation of the regular school year. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Academic enhancements are evident in extended programs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Attendance at extended programs is recorded by grade level, race, and gender. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Cumulative records document both host and guest schools participation in Saturday programs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Saturday programs will be developed to enhance learning. These programs will include but shall not be limited to field trips, enrichment activities, tutoring, parent/child make-and-take sessions, book fairs, and physical education activities. (LRSD Plan, pg. 179) Solicit candid feedback from summer school participants (including staff, parents, and students) about what they most and least valued about the summer school programs. Ask them to identify those elements that enticed them into the program, what facilitated their participation, and any barriers that impeded it. Ask incentive school parents and students who did not take part in summer school to identify why they did not participate and what would most likely induce them to attend. Seek broad-based input from incentive school staff, parents, and students to leam what course offerings or other program features make summer school most appealing to prospective participants. Routinely monitor and evaluate summer school as part of a comprehensive, ongoing process for continuous improvement. Include the incentive school principals, teachers, students, and parents in the assessment, publish and analyze the results, and then act decisively upon what the evaluation reveals. Mount an aggressive marketing campaign for summer school recruitment, getting ideas from staff, students, and parents and also encouraging them to help recruit. Maintain thorough and accurate records of all summer school information, including planning, recruitment efforts, surveys or other means of input and feedback, evaluations, a tally of children participating in each program category and individual class, and a record of these students home school. Comprehensive records will enable program planners to track success and make appropriate program modifications as needed. Consider implementing the recommendations made by the extended year administrative staff in the districts summary report. Encourage partnered schools to develop some joint projects and co-activities so students will learn how to plan, organize, and cooperate on activities that they develop. Shared ventures could help increase participation in Saturday School activities. The principals should collaborate with each other to provide the necessary resources and to ensure successful projects. Consider pairing Franklin with two smaller incentive schools for Saturday School activities so no incentive school is without a partner to encourage sharing and variety. The schools schedule Special Skills Programs during the time designated for extended day activities. Scheduling for extended day meets the needs of students and includes the homework center, special skills training, and leisure time activities. Students finishing activities early report either to the homework center, CARE, or leave the campus at the request of a parent or guardian. (LRSD Plan, pp. 173, 174, 181, 184) The district surveys parents and students to determine the most appealing extended day activities. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) The extended day program, which is based on information gleaned from SEPs, school staff, parents, and students, reinforces and extends the SEP to meet individual needs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Design the extended day survey to include a description of the skills a student develops while engaged in leisure time activities. This design will help parents and students recognize the importance of a good balance between work and play. Make sure all extended day students have an opportunity for some fun activities, such as jump rope, board games, or making up and reciting rhymes. Its developmentally and emotionally healthy for students to participate in wholesome activities just for fun. Compacts provide students access to community support programs, such as volunteers and preprofessionals from colleges and universities, and assistance from social agencies. (LRSD Plan, pp. 175, 183) Students have access to a wide spectrum of community-based programs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg- 39) Consider having VIPS train incentive school principals to serve as instructors for new mentors so these building leaders can conduct their own streamlined, on-site mentor training. Allow principals to contact and select pre-professionals from institutions of higher education when the opportunity presents itself. Sometimes the best deals occur because of a chance meeting at a seminar or conference. It doesnt make sense for a good opportunity to get lost in bureaucratic wastelands. Expand contacts with and widen access to the variety of community-based programs designed to support children and families. Study skills training enhances skills in test taking, listening, and studying. Test taking skills are being taught and students practice test taking. (LRSD Plan, pp. 153, 176, 183
ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32) Regular tracking of student attendance, behavior, discipline, and achievement is systematic and assessed at least quarterly. Individual and class profiles are utilized. Individual student plans and interventions are based on needs determined through ongoing data review. (LRSD Plan, pp. 176, 186) Disaggregate test results to enable an assessment of the short- and long-term correlation between test performance and such variables as how long a student has been enrolled at a particular school, behavior and attendance records, and participation in such programs as early childhood and extended day, week, and year. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32) Allow teachers who want to leave the incentive schools to do so with impunity. If staff members wish to transfer elsewhere, they are not necessarily unfit or incompetent
they may simply not be suited for the incentive school experience. It cannot be overemphasized that the district should only assign people to the incentive schools who are not only talented, committed, and experienced, and who also want to be there. Comply with the requirement to develop complete student performance profiles for each child and then use the information to define and guide each students learning path and to help determine the effect of the variables these profiles record. Students receive individual and group counseling and are taught conflict resolution. The school uses peer facilitators. (LRSD Plan, pp. 176, 184) The staff has developed written building guidance plans to address personal growth, social development, career awareness, and educational development. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 27) The school collaborates with the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and Department of Health. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 27) Make sure that each incentive school has a full-time certified guidance counselor on staff throughout the school year. Decide each incentive schools need for a social worker, then staff accordingly. Require incentive school counselors to meet as a group on a regular basis. Such meetings will provide an informal atmosphere in which to discuss problems unique to incentive schools, develop solutions, share ideas and success stories, and to explore ways to expand their resources. Counselors need the support and encouragement they could get from an organized group of peers.PARENT AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT The district will establish an incentive school parent program to equip parents with job skills necessary for employability at all levels within the school. Program objectives and activities include: designing and administrating a needs assessment to determine community interests and needs, adult education opportunities, a parent internship program to recruit and employ neighborhood parents as teacher aides and other positions, and mentorships between parents and teachers. (LRSD Plan, pp. 178, 189, 206, 207) Assign a district employee the responsibility for fully developing and implementing the plan requirements for a program that will equip parents with job skills necessary for employment at all levels within the incentive schools. Be sure to include program goals, objectives, timelines, persons responsible for each step of implementation, and evaluation criteria. Follow up to provide appropriate assistance to survey respondents who have expressed interest in receiving specialized help from the district, such as obtaining their GED. Evaluate the cost effectiveness of using local community resources, such as the Parent Learning Center, as a means for providing education opportunities for parents. A Parent Center in each school provides resources and materials, recommended by a parent and staff committee, that can be loaned to parents. A parent has been trained to operate the center, which is to be the source of a monthly communications packet that is distributed to parents. (LRSD Plan, pp. 206, 208) The schools actively seek parent recommendations for resources to be housed in the Parent Centers, incorporating as many of their suggestions as possible. The school documents the degree to which parents use the center and its resources. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 39) The schools offer parent workshops to assist parents in understanding and carrying out school expectations. The workshops include such topics as study skills, discipline, time management, pre-reading skills, financial management, and developmental learning skills. (LRSD Plan, pg. 209) Document parent training activities by topic, time, and location along with the number of participants by race, gender, and the childs school. Participants feedback on how well the session was conducted and their perception of the potential helpfulness of the training is regularly collected and analyzed. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 39) Evaluate the parent workshops offered to determine if they are meeting the plans goal of helping incentive school parents understand and carry out school expectations. Ask workshop participants to evaluate each session at its conclusion to make candid suggestions for training improvement and future session topics. Then carefully analyze the feedback to assess the quality and relevancy of the training and make changes accordingly. Recognition is used as a tool for community and parent involvement. The school recognizes parents and the community at monthly PT A meetings, displays awards, gives school lunch vouchers to award winners, and involves students in the recognition selection process. (LRSD Plan, pp. 209-210) The school makes parent and volunteer recognition an integral, ongoing, and highly visibly part of school life. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38) Home and school communication is evident at each incentive school. Parents attend school activities and monthly school meetings and serve as volunteers. The staff formulates early indicators and early intervention programs using alert and success cards to update parents on their childs needs and achievements. Parents have access to the school through identified transportation pick-up points within the school community. (LRSD Plan, pp. 174, 176, 183, 184, 188, 206, 210-211) Complete documentation of all parent meetings and activities is maintained including sign-in sheets that reflect parents race, gender, and the school their child attends. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38)School 1993-94 Volunteers Hours BM BF WM WF Unidentified Total Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens TOTAL Parents are asked to sign all homework assignments on a daily basis. (LRSD Plan, pp. 174, 183, 210) Mechanisms are established at each school to ensure that parents regularly sign homework. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38) Require at least two or more home visits. (LRSD Plan, pp. 206, 211) The staff documents the number and date of visits to each students home, along with who made the visit, to determine if each family is visited at least twice yearly. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38) School 1993-94 Home Visits Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Right sell Rockefeller Stephens TOTAL Each school provides community role models and a mentoring program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 157) The district has mounted an intense mentor recruitment campaign. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 29) Individual school volunteer mentoring programs are coordinated with VIPS and all volunteers are screened and trained prior to being matched with students. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 29) The school maintains mentor-student records that include the race, gender, participation hours, and types of activities shared by the mentors and their students. Records of training participants by race, gender, and classification (i.e. student, mentor, parent, teacher) are also maintained. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 30) Standardize the method staff uses to document and report home and school communication to promote data consistency and accuracy. In order to standardize reporting and minimize the burden of dociunentation, schools could use a simple form identifying the contact date, type of contact (such as parent/teacher conference, home visit, interim or monthly report, phone call, success or alert card), which staff member contacted whom (parent, grandparent, guardian, or other), and a brief description of the results of the contact or any other pertinent information. Train incentive school principals and staff to serve as trainers for new mentors so they can conduct their own mentor training, if needed, and thereby expedite mentor placement. Develop transportation policies and procedures, ensuring that principals are aware of this service, know how to identify parents transportation needs, and understand how to arrange for it to support parent participation where needed. Parents sign contractual commitments prior to enrolling their child in an incentive school. (LRSD Plan, pg. 211) The schools have follow-up procedures to remind parents of the commitments they made in the contracts they signed at registration. (ODM 1992 Report, pg, 38) Provide parents with current school year contracts to sign when they register their children in the incentive schools. Contracts with old dates and information convey a sloppy message that parents can interpret as a sign that the either the school, the district, or both dont place much value on the contracts or parent commitments. A speakers bureau on education issues for community groups exists in school zones. Each school has identified three key communicators. The school staff coordinates events to promote neighborhood pride. These strategies work together to raise the trust level between the school and the community. (LRSD Plan, pp. 210, 213) Assign a LRSD employee the responsibility for coordinating the speakers bureaus and assisting the key communicators. Without consistent direction and support, those who volunteer as a speaker or key communicator cant be expected to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Develop and implement a comprehensive plan for utilizing the services of the speakers bureaus and key communicators that includes specific goals, objectives, the persons responsible, and evaluation criteria to determine success and where changes need to be made. Develop job descriptions for the speakers bureau and key communicators that clearly identify the job goal, qualifications, performance expectations, the participant and district responsibilities, and the amount of time that will likely be required to successfully perform each job. The Incentive School Program Parent Council functions as a districtwide council of incentive school parents. Membership includes two parents from each incentive school and four appointed by Joshua. The Council monitors all activities related to the incentive school program and reports quarterly to the LRSD Board of Directors and the Joshua Intervenors. (LRSD Plan, pg. 151) Create job descriptions for council members that clearly identify the districts expectations of the council, membership responsibilities, and the amount of service time involved. Outline the councils organizational structure and its working and reporting relationship to the school board, district administrators, the incentive schools, and other monitoring entities. Provide a comprehensive orientation for the council at the beginning of each school year so all members will understand their role, district policies and procedures, communication channels, and what district resources and support are available. Develop and carry out a specific plan for meeting council obligations that includes goals and objectives, tasks, timelines, persons responsible, and evaluation criteria that address the councils desegregation plan obligations. Develop a monitoring instrument for council use that correlates specifically with desegregation plan and court order requirements. Such an instrument and the information it elicits will facilitate an ongoing assessment of how well the district is complying with its legal obligations. Help the council develop monitoring and reporting procedures, guidelines, and schedules that provide members clear direction for their monitoring tasks. Coordinate monitoring activities with other internal monitoring groups including the district biracial committee, school biracial committee, and the Department of Planning, Research and Evaluation. Such coordination will help avoid monitoring gaps and duplication and also help ensure more effective use of time and other resources. The districtwide Biracial Committee, whose members represent various geographic areas of the community, will monitor the incentive schools quarterly. (LRSD Plan, pp. 224, 225) The Biracial Committee will furnish copies of their monitoring reports to the incentive school principals and various district officials. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (PRE) will prepare quarterly reports that summarize all monitoring visits. The superintendent will share the PRE document with the Board of Directors at their regularly scheduled meetings. The Associate Superintendent for Desegregation is responsible for eliminating any noted deficiencies in a timely manner. (LRSD Plan, pg. 225) Before July 1 of each year, the district will convene a committee to revise the instrument used to monitor the incentive schools, ensuring that it conforms with the expectations set for the program. The review committee shall consist of: incentive school principals, the superintendents senior management team, specialists from PRE, and six members of the Biracial Committee (two of whom must be Joshua appointees). Any resulting revisions must be submitted to the LRSD Board and Joshua by August 15. (LRSD Plan, 225)PARENT RECRUITMENT The district will inform the community about the incentive schools and their special features by providing informational sessions to special interest and community groups, including churches. Additional strategies will include conducting Saturday information booths at malls and neighborhood stores, securing special media coverage, and developing an incentive school telephone hotline. The district will distribute highlight sheets to all elementary parents and local businesses. (LRSD Plan, pp. 215, 218-219) Recruitment will be an ongoing process with each incentive school establishing a parent recruitment team to encourage voluntary assigiunents that enable the schools to comply with desegregation requirements. (LRSD Plan, pp. 132, 135, 215
Interdis. Plan, pg. 57) The districts recruitment strategies will include public service announcements, billboards, a media blitz, videocassette recordings, flyers, open houses, targeted neighborhood blitzes, small group tours, a special designation from the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), and celebrity endorsements. Each school will establish a speakers bureau and help the district develop a brochure highlighting their school. Meetings will be held with NLRSD and PCSSD parents and PTA groups to encourage M-to-M transfers. (LRSD Plan, pp. 215-216, 220-222) The LRSD will establish a speakers bureau to target parents of four-year-olds
identify a database of four-year-old white residents within Pulaski County by July 1991 for targeted marketing
and develop a method of identifying and making systematic contact with parents of newborns and children up to three years of age. (Marketing Plan, pp. 8, 10, 11) Parent recruiters will focus on recruiting white students to desegregate the incentive schools and conduct recruitment activities. (LRSD Plan, pp. 216, 222) All parties have made firm commitments to assist the LRSD in desegregating the incentive schools. (May 1992 Order, pg. 29) The LRSD will: establish a strategic plan, based on the recruitment section of the desegregation plan, that reflects a well thought-out, interrelated process
present a firm timetable in its recruitment plan and strictly adhere to it
develop a tracking system to determine the success of particular awareness and recruitment efforts, especially with identified geographic areas and specific groups
increase the number and variety of specifically targeted recruitment activities. (ODM 1992 Report, pp. 4, 5) The LRSD Incentive School Marketing Plan includes the following strategies: implementing a tracking system
prioritizing target audiences
holding promotional training sessions at each incentive school
and developing an open house program. Additional strategies include developing an annual communications program to highlight staff and student achievements
creating a communications process between each school and the district to encourage systematic input of newsworthy events
and pre-testing communication materials prior to production. (Marketing Plan, pp. 5-7, 9, 12, 14, 15-17, 18) The Biracial Advisory Committee, with the advice of marketing and advertising experts, will serve as the steering committee for incentive school recruitment. The committee will review bimonthly recruitment reports from the desegregation office, evaluate the program quarterly and recommend needed changes to the Board of Directors. (LRSD Plan, pp. 217, 223) The Biracial Committees monitoring instrument will include a recruitment assessment. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 5) Evaluate the means parent recruiters are using to inform the community about the incentive schools hotline, then analyze the findings to determine more effective ways to heighten awareness of this service. For example, district recruiters could distribute the hotline number to patrons as part of presentations about the incentive schools. The number could be featured in television and radio public service announcements
it could also be placed in brochures or other printed materials to inform parents of the hotline service. Ensure that prospective parents receive information about the incentive schools by expanding the target audience. Parents and their children are the primary customers of the districts services, so the LRSD must ensure that its message about the incentive schools is reaching the potential consumers. One way recruiters could expand their targeting efforts is by making presentations about the incentive schools to groups that include parents, such as neighborhood associations, churches, civic and social organizations, and the districts Partners in Education. Assign specific district employees the responsibility and accountability for fully developing and implementing all the districts recruitment obligations identified in the desegregation plans, marketing plan, and court orders. The district must demonstrate its commitment to the incentive schools by identifying specific individuals who are responsible for incentive school recruitment, and adjusting job descriptions as necessary to reflect the duties required of these employees. Further, the district should hold these employees strictly accountable for implementing recruitment strategies for the incentive schools. Develop a system to ensure that employees responsible for incentive school recruitment receive all monitoring reports and court orders that deal with the incentive schools. Before employees can be held accountable for the districts legal obligations, workers must know what they are. Employees working with incomplete or outdated information will not be able to do the thorough job that is necessary for successfully desegregating the schools. Establish parent recruitment teams in each incentive school, staffing the teams according to qualifications and job descriptions that clearly state the team charge, the districts expectations, qualifications (such as skills, experience, or school affiliation), the amount of time involved, and the precise duties anticipated. Implement an orientation and training schedule for the recruitment teams that utilizes the skills and expertise of parents and district personnel who have a track record of successfully promoting desegregation. The district will be wise to capitalize on the inhouse expertise that abounds in the experiences of parents and employees who have learned what works. These veterans can give suggestions, guidance, and support to others. Utilize up-to-date enrollment and school capacity data to develop a plan to target specific schools and neighborhoods for recruitment to the incentive schools.The voluntary transfer aspect of the desegregation plan is a strong ally in promoting school racial balance if the district will capitalize on this feature of their plan. For example, parent recruiters and school recruitment teams can target westside schools with high white enrollment, acquainting parents with the features of the incentive schools that offer special advantages and conveniences for downtown workers who commute from the western areas. Schools having a high percentage of white enrollment, like Otter Creek or Teny for example, could be the focus of a neighborhood blitz. Survey white parents in LRSD and PCSSD to find out what features they consider when selecting a school and what would prompt them to request a desegregation transfer to an incentive school for their children. Develop a comprehensive and detailed annual recruitment plan for each incentive school. This plan should reflect each schools individual needs while also capitalizing on the schools strengths. It should take into account districtwide enrollment distribution and survey feedback from parents on what prompts them to choose a certain school for their children. It should include all the districts legal recruitment obligations
specify goals, objectives, and timelines
identify persons responsible for each step of implementation
and delineate evaluation criteria. For example, because the best salesperson for any school is a satisfied parent, the district could focus its recruitment strategy on the parent recruitment teams in each building. Then, each team could work with the district to develop a plan that includes the districts legal obligations along with areas of interdistrict collaboration. These teams, along with the biracial committee, could regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment. Annually identify specific recruitment goals for each incentive school and regularly track the headway made toward each goal. Each year recruiters need to calculate exactly how many white students they need to sign up in order to achieve a specified racial balance goal at individual schools. They need to target recruitment toward that end, and keep a regular tally so they have an accurate accounting of progress and know how much farther they have to go. A clear and current recruitment picture will enable the district to fine tune recruitment objectives and activities as needed.ROCKEFELLER EARLY CHILDHOOD MAGNET SCHOOL The Rockefeller Early Childhood Magnet Program will be available to children from six weeks to four years of age. The program will serve as a model for improving the academic achievement of disadvantaged students and attracting white students to comply with desegregation requirements. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) The early childhood program is an integral part of the whole school, not a separate or "add-on" program. It receives the same attention as to supervision, support, staff development, resource allotment, accountability, monitoring, and evaluation as grades K through six. (LRSD Plan pg 13) The LRSD designated Rockefeller as a Cooperative Early Childhood Education Demonstration Magnet between UALR and other area colleges. The district works cooperatively with local colleges and universities to enhance and support the program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) At Rockefeller, the district gives special emphasis to developing and piloting innovative approaches to the education of young children. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) The countys teachers, administrators, aides, HIPPY (Home Instruction Program for Preschool youngsters), and daycare program workers use Rockefeller as a demonstration center for training. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) Parents and educational professionals from UALR and other area colleges advise the school and district staffs on all aspects of planning and implementation of the early childhood program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 12) The district allows students who attend the Rockefeller three-year-old program to continue on into the four-year-old program and the grades beyond. Siblings of early childhood students may attend Rockefeller in order to help retain children in the school. (LRSD Plan, pg. 13) Explore developing Rockefeller as a year-round, full-day school for children from infancy through sixth grade. A biracial group of teachers, parents, administrators, and experts from local universities and colleges works with the district to assess the feasibility of such a program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 13) Evaluate Rockefellers early childhood education policies in terms of their impact on desegregation and educational goals. The parent committee on early childhood education is to evaluate policies (including private pay rates, lunch charges, vacation days, enrollment age, and sick days) for their impact on the early childhood programs viability as a desegregation tool, its competitiveness with private schools and daycares, and its ability to retain both its private paying and Title XX students. (LRSD Plan, pg. 13) Seriously consider placing at Rockefeller an early childhood program specialist who has the credentials and experience that clearly illustrate adequate training and interest in the education of very young children. Such a specialist could work to enhance the early childhood program by coordinating all educational activities, including working with area agencies and universities to form the cooperative parmerships envisioned in the plan. If the magnet program is to achieve its full potential, the district must concentrate on more than just a solid basic child care program. The plan promises that the magnet will be a site for excellence and innovation. Re-establish the Rockefeller advisory group. A local biracial advisory committee, that is comprised of representatives from area colleges and universities and the schools parents, teachers, aides, administrators, and other staff members, can help Rockefeller live up to the many expectations outlined for the magnet program in the desegregation plan. Regularly evaluate Rockefellers early childhood education policies as specified in the plan and then publish the results in an informational handbook for parents. The schools program for young children is a key to the schools ability to successfully meet desegregation goals. The policies which govern that program must reflect the current needs and input of the parents the program is expected to attract and serve. Make sure that the early childhood students receive the services of the schools counselor. Very young children can need the specialized insights and services of a counseling professional just as much as older children. Concentrate the same level of attention, funding, and materials on the Rockefeller Early Childhood Magnet Program that the district lavishes on other magnet schools and programs. The Rockefeller Early Childhood Magnet Program is a desegregation success story. More attention must be given to perpetuating the current success as well as improving the program. Broadly publicize the Early Childhood Magnet Program. This program is truly unique and the district should capitalize on its success. Refrain from placing any uncertified teacher in an early childhood classroom. In order to work effectively with young children a teacher needs special training and skills. The State has recognized this need by creating special early childhood certification requirements. The district should never assign an unqualified teacher to an early childhood classroom, nor should certificated teachers be placed involuntarily in an early childhood position. The job of an early childhood teacher is too important and demanding to be filled by the unqualified or unwilling. Provide regular, quality staff development opportunities for the early childhood education staff. Both the aides and teachers of young children require and deserve inservice that is specifically geared to their daily experiences, their need for professional growth, and their role in helping Rockefeller fulfill its mandate for developing and piloting innovative approaches to educating young children. Ensure that Rockefeller serves as an early childhood education model, demonstration site, and training center by initiating the innovative practices described in the desegregation plan, utilizing advice and expertise from parents, teachers, and college and university staff.INCENTIVE SCHOOL DOUBLE FUNDING Funding for the incentive schools shall be set at two times the level for the elementary area schools to ensure that the children who are in racially-isolated settings are provided meaningful opportunities for desegregated experiences and activities. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 4) The Little Rock School District Board of Directors is committed to improving educational quality and student academic performance in all schools and doubling the financial resources in schools identified in the Court-approved desegregation plan as incentive schools. (LRSD Plan, pg. 1)^7 'fon. Ou, 'ci '3 OFFICE OF DESEGREGATION MONITORING Heritage West Building 201 East Markham, Suite 510 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 1993-94 INCENTIVE SCHOOL MONITORING GUIDE Monitors GuideSIX YEAR ENROLLMENT COMPARISON School 88-89 89-90 90-91 91-92 92-93 93-94 FranWin Etem Slack 414 364 343 423 352 300 Garland Elem Ish Elam White Other Total %Blk Black White Other Total % BIk Black 28 442 94 276 23 299 92 178 72 12 448 81 268 15 2 285 94 157 59 71 50 40 O' 8 9 0
4ST^ 507 w 345 83 84 86 87 211 262 233 181 18 15 17 3 11 2 6 21 240 279 256 205 88 94 91 88 142 188 182 Closed 3110114992*93 school year. White / 40^ 7 4 9 5 Other 0 0 3 0 Total 197 164 146 200 187 %JB!k 90 96 97 94 97 Mitchell Elem Black 220 220 183 285 232 215 White 41 19 24 27 28 12 Other 0 0 0 4 3 Total 261 239 207 312 264 230 % BIk 84 92 88 91 88 93 Righlsell Elem Black 196 194 191 282 239 184 White 45 Ta 6 9 4 Rockefeller Elem Other Total Black White Other Total % BIk 241 193 289 249 189 81 92 99 98 96 97 255 215 195 282 250 240 45 33 71 116 104 93 2 5 5 7 7 300 250 271 403 361 340 85 86 72 70 69 71 Staptteft^Bero Slack 227 225 190 235 202 White 6 12 9 7 3 Other 0 Total 233 226 202 245 209 145 97 100 94 96 97 97 Grand Total Black 1,766 1,643 1,455 1,962 1,690 1,261 White 207 162 189 253 220 155 Other 0 18 26 20 27 38 Total 1,973 1,823 1,670 2,235 1,937 1,454 % BIk 90 90 87 88 87 87 The incentive program is successfully desegregating each incentive school. (LRSD Plan, pg. 149) Make recruiting white students to the incentive schools among district priorities, focusing the energy and resources necessary to ensure that the incentive schools become fully desegregated. Identify the factors that are working to make Rockefeller a desegregated school and adopt or adapt them for the other incentive schools.STAFFING The selection and support of quality staff members will be critical factors in the success of incentive schools. Carefully planned staff-selection criteria and procedures will provide the quality personnel capable of successfully attaining the goals and implementing the programs and curriculum of these schools. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190) Progress is being made toward racially balancing both the certified and non-certified staff. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 6) Position Black 1992-93 White Total % Black M F M F Sttlt Certified Non-certified Total Percent tStsssroom Teachers
Early Childhood Primary Intermediate Total Percent Establish goals and objectives for racially balancing each incentive school staff as part of a comprehensive long-range strategic plan for implementing the incentive school features. In order to focus on racially balanced staffing, the district must have distinct goals, explicitly defined objectives, coordinated strategies, timetables, and benchmarks against which to measure progress. Without a comprehensive but specific plan for hitting its targets, the district will achieve racially balanced staffs only by happenstance. Although many aspects of staffing are beyond the control of administrators and their best laid plans, they can nevertheless make many useful assumptions and forecasts based on such factors as past staff turnover patterns and anticipated retirements. Exempt incentive schools from being forced to accept any employees that have not been interviewed and recommended by the principal and the schools staffing committee. Although the LRSD must hire new staff and relocate some employees each year, the districts current practice of personnel assignments to the incentive schools is counterproductive to establishing a high quality school staff through a rigorous screening process. No employee should be assigned to an incentive school without first having been informed of the strong commitment and specific responsibilities required of staff at that school. Nor should staff be assigned to an incentive school unless they have been screened and recommended by the building staffing committee and principal. The Incentive Schools Staffing Committee is composed of teachers, parents, supervisors, principals, other administrators, and the Joshua Intervenors. The committee assesses staffing needs, sets criteria, assists in recruiting quality staff, and determines hiring procedures. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190) A staffing needs assessment process determines staff selection based upon the needs and interests of the student population. Factors to be considered include the number of students per grade level, their race and gender, academic achievement needs and interests, disciplinary needs, social interaction needs, and health needs. (LRSD Plan, pg. 190) The district must staff the schools in accordance with equitably meeting the identified needs of the staff and students in a particular school, making decisions regarding plan-recommended staff positions based on criteria linked to a current needs assessment of the individual school. The district is required to determine the need for alternative classrooms and establish them where necessary. (May 1992 Order, pp. 41-42) Institute staffing needs assessment as an annual process in the incentive schools. The assessment process for determining staffing needs in the incentive schools should be more than a perfunctory exercise in complying with the letter of the desegregation plan. A well designed and conducted needs assessment is an excellent means of determining how best to serve incentive school students while meeting the districts need for fiscal responsibility. Annually assessing the staffing needs in each incentive school will allow the district to stay abreast of the changing needs of each incentive schools population, help indicate the progress made on a comprehensive long-range strategic plan, and support general budgeting processes. Develop a comprehensive guide for assessing staffing needs which incorporates the factors listed in the plan as well as other relevant archival and anecdotal data. Whatever specific form it takes, the assessment should be a user-friendly document that guides the staffing committee to certain logical conclusions based on the evidence generated by the assessment document. Data alone does not automatically show a certain need. . The key is whether the needs assessors can translate "data" into information" that suggests the level of need for certain specific positions. Train principals and staffing committees in procedures for effectively assessing staffing needs. Training before initiating the staffing needs assessment can mean the difference between task success and failure. Training should include at least the purpose of the assessment process, types of data to be gathered, an orientation to the assessment instrument itself, introducing materials and people available to help in the process, and a "walk-through" of the process that includes how to analyze, correlate, and report the results. Involve the LRSD Human Resources Department as an integral part of the assessment process. Given the experience and expertise that should be resident in the districts Human Resources Department (HR), that staff should be involved in the needs assessment process. Ultimately, it is Human Resources that will develop job descriptions and coordinate recruitment and hiring for positions identified by the needs assessment process. Involving HR on the "front end" should help ensure smooth continuity of the entire staffing process. Full-time positions recommended in the desegregation plan include classroom teachers, counselor, media specialist, music, art, P.E., social worker, permanent substitute, reading (remediation), math (remediation), computer lab attendant, resource, speech, alternative classroom specialist, media clerk, instructional aides (one per classroom), non-certified supervision aides, program specialist, principal, and assistant principal. (LRSD Plan, pg. 191) The district uses a current needs assessment of each school to determine the plan-recommended positions that should be filled, whether additional or different positions may be needed, and the need for alternative classrooms. (May 1992 Order, pp. 41-42) Each school has an appropriate number of instructional aides, based on a ratio of two aides to three classrooms if no kindergarten through sixth grade class has more than 20 students, or a one- to-one aide-to-classroom ratio if any classroom, K though six, has more than 20 students. (May 1992 Order, pg. 34) Develop specific, comprehensive job descriptions for instructional and supervision aides. Each incentive school is unique in its expectations of the aides who serve in the building. Written job descriptions will help delineate specific job responsibilities. A clear understanding of job responsibilities will enhance the working relationships between teachers and aides, as well as provide the basis for performance evaluations and developing growth plans. Make sure all aides receive a thorough orientation to their individual job along with comprehensive, ongoing formal training in areas such as child development, supervision and classroom management, learning styles, and discipline techniques. The training should be pre-service, so aides begin the year well-prepared and confident, as well as ongoing throughout the school year so aides knowledge can expand along with the awareness they gain from their day-to-day experiences. Tailor the training to the district needs of the instructional aides and supervision aides so that both their common and individual job responsibilities and challenges are addressed. Provide teacher inservice training in the effective use of instructional aides that includes team-building activities for teacher and aide teams. The district must not assume that the act of pairing teachers and aides automatically produces an effective instructional team. Guided team-building activities give teachers and aides an opportunity to discover more about each other, identify and workout areas of potential conflict, and develop mutual understandings. Furthermore, training will familiarize teachers with the appropriate role of the instructional aide so teachers can determine the most effective ways in which their classroom assistants can foster a positive learning environment.TEST DATA The parties shall have as a high priority the elimination of educational achievement disparities between black and white students, and recognize that eliminating disparity may place greater demands on the black students in racially identifiable school than on others. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 6)DISCIPLINE, SUSPENSION, and EXPULSION School Short-term Suspensions Black White Long-term Suspensions Black White Expulsions Sent-Homes Black White Black White M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens Disaggregate data related to student discipline and review student data to address issues of racial disparity. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 27) Carefully collect discipline data and closely monitor the discipline program to make modifications that are indicated by formative as well as summative information. The district would be wise to analyze the factors that contribute to some schools having fewer overall discipline problems and less disparity in discipline between black and white students. Identifying and emulating these factors and closely scrutinizing progress should result in interventions that reduce the number of students suspended or expelled as well as the disproportionate number of black students referred for disciplinary action. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Attendance and behavior guidelines include time-out rooms that are staffed with trained personnel. Students help develop school-based management rules and receive help with problem solving. (LRSD Plan, pp. 175, 184) Staff, parents, and students cooperatively design discipline policies. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Discipline policies and procedures are well-publicized, clearly indicate what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior, and spell out consequences for infractions. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Policy enforcement is fair and consistent. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 23) Make an effort to pair aides and teachers who are compatible with each other, and provide training that will enable instructional aides and classroom teachers to work together as an effective team. Provide pre-service orientation and training for all aides, and follow-up with regular inservice, on topics that include behavior management techniques and other subjects that will contribute to the aides effectiveness. Classroom management approaches are appropriate for the work being done. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32)GIFTED AND TALENTED ENROLLMENT The district devotes special attention to identifying and placing in gifted and talented programs black students and students from low and middle socio-economic levels. (LRSD Plan, pg, 58) Gifted and talented education is tailored to challenge, exercise, and enlarge students individual talents and intellectual aptitudes. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 18) Black White School Total % Black M F M F Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens Increase the amount of time the gifted and talented program specialists spend in the incentive schools so they can fully implement the G/T program and spend more time identifying the children whose needs can be met through the program.FACILITIES The district will provide clean and safe facilities and make all repairs fundamental to maintain the incentive schools. (LRSD Plan, pg. 129) Continue to repair roof leaks at Franklin as they occur. Once a leak is corrected, repair or replace water damaged ceiling tiles and carpet. Repaint the interior of Ish, if the school remains open. The spot-painting completed during the summer of 1992 improved the appearance of the building, but the walls need a complete paint job. Repair or replace the leaky roof in Mitchells reading room. Replace the loose floor tiles in Mitchells hallway. Develop a schedule of carpet repair or replacement for Rockefeller, Mitchell, and Rightsell. Repair the floor and wall in Rightsell classroom 3-B, and then replace any damaged carpet. Take steps to conect the remaining drainage problems at Rightsell, including relocation of any downspout draining toward the foundation. Make sure all incentive school principals are aware that district funds are available to improve landscaping at their schools if a parent, teacher, or community organization will take maintenance responsibility for plantings. All seven incentive schools would benefit aesthetically from the addition of attractive landscaping. Once plantings are installed, train the custodial staff in proper plant care to prevent loss of plantings to improper pruning or underwatering. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 43)PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS The incentive school program promotes and ensures academic excellence in schools that have been difficult to desegregate. The incentive school program compensates the victims of segregation and serves as a tool for promoting meaningful and long-lasting desegregation in these schools and in the entire school district. (LRSD Plan, pg. 149) A comprehensive long-range strategic plan has been developed for implementation of the incentive school program. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 20) Each district will make a quarterly report to the Office of Desegregation Monitoring. (Interdis. Plan, pg. 6) The four-year-old program uses High Scope or a comparable curriculum model and a parent component is incorporated into the program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 152) Four-year-old enrollment is limited to 18 children per class. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 10) The Early Childhood Education Task Force is an avenue for parent, teacher, and community input. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 17) Include as a member of the Early Childhood Education Task Force at least one instructional aide or teacher from each school having a four-year-old program. Increase the involvement of area colleges and universities by naming active higher education representatives to the task force. Reading and oral expression are infused throughout all curriculum areas. (LRSD Plan, pg. 152) Reading comprehension and reading for meaning are stressed at every grade level. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32) Base staff development activities on areas of demonstrated need. Some teachers may need more training than others in a given area in order to succeed. Now that the new curriculum has been in place for a full school year, principals should be able to determine which teachers need additional assistance. Utilize Teacher Assistance Plans (TAP) for those teachers who need the help available through the TAP approach. Teachers who are unable to effectively deliver instruction in any curricular area should get immediate help
assistance should not be reserved for those in imminent danger of dismissal. Encourage principals and assistant principals to attend subject area inservice meetings so they, too, are well informed and understand the new curriculum. Parents and staff at each school develop school themes which are integrated into the curriculum. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153)Each school as a program specialist to support the thematic emphasis. (May 1992 Order, pg. 41) Fresh imaginative themes are established based upon each schools unique strengths. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 20) Ensure that each school develops and executes a plan for fully implementing its theme by the opening of the 1993-94 school year. Provide equal treatment for Stephens Incentive School by providing full support for a school theme. Children at Stephens are entitled to every incentive school feature guaranteed them by the Settlement Plans, unless the district should seek, and the Court grant, permission to temporarily or permanently deviate from a particular plan provision. Establish a schedule of regular meetings among the incentive school program specialists so they can discuss effective theme implementation strategies, share ideas, and review experiences. Encourage interaction among the incentive school program specialists and those specialists assigned to the magnet schools. Capitalizing on in-house expertise and encouraging cooperation among the schools will help strengthen the districts programs. Students in grades 3-6 have access to either mobile or permanent science labs with adequate materials that allow children to execute long-term experiments and study science in the fullest sense. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153
ODM 1992 Report, pg. 15) The curriculum at each school incorporates foreign language instruction using the foreign language lab and the "total physical response" method of instruction. Emphasis is on basic vocabulary, conversation, and cultural materials. (LRSD Plan, pg. 156) Schedule science inservice training for teachers who need or want help improving their science instruction. Principals should be able to determine which teachers are not fully using the science labs and steer them to staff development sessions devoted to enlivening science in the classroom. Ensure that the materials needed for all science experiments are available to school staff and make sure teachers are aware of procurement procedures. Each building operates foreign language labs with appropriate equipment and materials. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) Capitalize on the districts resident expertise and experience to assist the incentive schools in establishing a foreign language program as an integral part of the overall school program. For some years, the LRSD has maintained a very popular and successful elementary international studies program at Gibbs Magnet School. At every grade level, foreign language instruction is an integral part of this schools program. Administrators and program developers should tap the cumulative expertise of the Gibbs staff to assist the incentive schools. Place as many qualified foreign language teachers as needed to provide Spanish instruction to incentive school students as part of the regular school day instructional program. Encourage the Spanish teachers to develop a series of Spanish "mini-lessons" for each grade level to help the regular classroom teachers reinforce foreign language instruction across the curriculum. The Spanish teachers can develop daily 10 minute lessons to help classroom teachers reinforce the Spanish instruction provided by the foreign language teacher. The minilessons could also include activities centered on cultural materials. Increase the amount and improve the quality of Spanish language materials available in each school. Once foreign language teachers are employed, they should be able to work with the districts Foreign Language Supervisor and the IRC Incentive School Specialist to acquire a variety of Spanish language materials, including computer software. The quality and quantity of foreign language materials available to schools has increased dramatically in recent years, so the district should have little difficulty locating many fine resources to enhance Spanish instruction. Parent Home Study Guides in each core subject area for each grade (1-6) will be available by the 1993-94 school year. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) The district uses Computer Managed Instructional Technology (CMIT) to track student progress. (LRSD Plan, pg. 153) The district uses computer-generated criterion referenced tests for student assessment. (LRSD Plan, pg. 154) Provide sufficient training and support to enable all schools to fully implement Abacus during the 1993-94 school year. The district has had a year to pilot the program and work out some of the bugs. Administrators should be able to design an effective training program and support system that can help each school use the new technology for the purpose intended in the desegregation plan. The school emphasizes a classics reading program and uses the basal reader to augment the classics. (LRSD Plan, pg. 154) Physical education (PE) and health are included in the total elementary curriculum with emphasis on wellness, lifelong leisure skills, nutrition, and respect for those with disabilities. (LRSD Plan, pg. 156) Incorporate leisure time activities, which students can pursue throughout their lifetime, as part of the physical education curriculum.Social skills are taught, when appropriate, through the core instructional program. The total school staff serves as models of positive social interaction. Social skills instruction includes such programs as Rites of Passage, Role Models, and Mentoring. (LRSD Plan, pp. 156-157) Strengthen efforts to recruit mentors for the students. Having at least one special friend, coach, and encourager can be so important to a childs development that every student who needs or wants a mentor should have one. Consider a trainer of trainers program or similar means to equip principals or other school staff to train volunteer mentors. New school volunteer recruits are usually highly motivated to help children and want to get "on the job" right away without having to wait a lengthy period for a formal group training. Volunteers should not have to delay their service any longer than is absolutely necessary in order to receive training and orientation. Having on-site training available can expedite the period between volunteer sign-up and getting to work. However, because adequate training is so vitally important to the quality of a program and school volunteers success in meaningfully helping children and teachers, under no circumstances should the scope and quality of volunteer training be compromised or circumvented for the sake of expediency. Any job worth doing for kids is worth doing well, and volunteer jobs are no exception. The schools use local, state, and national field trips to enhance learning and broaden cultural experiences. Trips provide community access and racially desegregated experiences and activities for incentive school students together with other LRSD students. Exhibits and performances are also brought to the schools, and students participate in shadowing activities. (LRSD Plan, pp, 158, 173, 181
Interdis. Plan, pg. 4) Abandon the practice of limiting three- and four-year-old children to walking field trips and allow them to travel by bus to any appropriate site, with parental approval. Whatever the past misunderstanding that resulted in travel restrictions for young students, ADE should confirm that, with appropriate parent permission, it is lawful to transport children of these ages in public school busses. The schools use a Career Skills Development Program to develop career choices using written information, guest speakers, films, and interest inventories. (LRSD Plan, pp. 172, 180) Treat and teach career skills development as an integral part of school life. School personnel should consistently point out relationships between all school activities and the world of work. They must also stay informed of changing job markets and have up-to-date labor market information so they can give their students the best possible instruction. Extended year school includes summer remediation and enrichment options at all incentive schools at no cost to students. Summer courses are prescribed for students. (LRSD Plan, pp. 172, 180)Extended year is a continuation of the regular school year. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Academic enhancements are evident in extended programs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Attendance at extended programs is recorded by grade level, race, and gender. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Cumulative records document both host and guest schools participation in Saturday programs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Saturday programs will be developed to enhance learning. These programs will include but shall not be limited to field trips, enrichment activities, tutoring, parent/child make-and-take sessions, book fairs, and physical education activities. (LRSD Plan, pg. 179) Solicit candid feedback from summer school participants (including staff, parents, and students) about what they most and least valued about the summer school programs. Ask them to identify those elements that enticed them into the program, what facilitated their participation, and any barriers that impeded it. Ask incentive school parents and students who did not take part in summer school to identify why they did not participate and what would most likely induce them to attend. Seek broad-based input from incentive school staff, parents, and students to leam what course offerings or other program features make summer school most appealing to prospective participants. Routinely monitor and evaluate summer school as part of a comprehensive, ongoing process for continuous improvement. Include the incentive school principals, teachers, students, and parents in the assessment, publish and analyze the results, and then act decisively upon what the evaluation reveals. Mount an aggressive marketing campaign for summer school recmitment, getting ideas from staff, students, and parents and also encouraging them to help recmit. Maintain thorough and accurate records of all summer school information, including planning, recruitment efforts, surveys or other means of input and feedback, evaluations, a tally of children participating in each program category and individual class, and a record of these students home school. Comprehensive records will enable program planners to track success and make appropriate program modifications as needed. Consider implementing the recommendations made by the extended year administrative staff in the districts summary report. Encourage partnered schools to develop some joint projects and co-activities so students will leam how to plan, organize, and cooperate on activities that they develop. Shared ventures could help increase participation in Saturday School activities. The principals should collaborate with each other to provide the necessary resources and to ensure successful projects. Consider pairing Franklin with two smaller incentive schools for Saturday School activities so no incentive school is without a partner to encourage sharing and variety. The schools schedule Special Skills Programs during the time designated for extended day activities. Scheduling for extended day meets the needs of students and includes the homework center, special skills training, and leisure time activities. Students finishing activities early report either to the homework center, CARE, or leave the campus at the request of a parent or guardian. (LRSD Plan, pp. 173, 174, 181, 184) The district surveys parents and students to determine the most appealing extended day activities. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) The extended day program, which is based on information gleaned from SEPs, school staff, parents, and students, reinforces and extends the SEP to meet individual needs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 25) Design the extended day survey to include a description of the skills a student develops while engaged in leisure time activities. This design will help parents and students recognize the importance of a good balance between work and play. Make sure all extended day students have an opportunity for some fun activities, such as jump rope, board games, or making up and reciting rhymes. Its developmentally and emotionally healthy for students to participate in wholesome activities just for fun. Compacts provide students access to community support programs, such as volunteers and preprofessionals from colleges and universities, and assistance from social agencies. (LRSD Plan, pp. 175, 183) Students have access to a wide spectrum of community-based programs. (ODM 1992 Report, pg- 39) Consider having VIPS train incentive school principals to serve as instructors for new mentors so these building leaders can conduct their own streamlined, on-site mentor training. Allow principals to contact and select pre-professionals from institutions of higher education when the opportunity presents itself. Sometimes the best deals occur because of a chance meeting at a seminar or conference. It doesnt make sense for a good opportunity to get lost in bureaucratic wastelands. Expand contacts with and widen access to the variety of community-based programs designed to support children and families. Study skills training enhances skills in test taking, listening, and studying. Test taking skills are being taught and students practice test taking. (LRSD Plan, pp. 153, 176, 183
ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32) Regular tracking of student attendance, behavior, discipline, and achievement is systematic and assessed at least quarterly. Individual and class profiles are utilized. Individual student plans and interventions are based on needs determined through ongoing data review. (LRSD Plan, pp. 176, 186) Disaggregate test results to enable an assessment of the short- and long-term correlation between test performance and such variables as how long a student has been enrolled at a particular school, behavior and attendance records, and participation in such programs as early childhood and extended day, week, and year. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 32) Allow teachers who want to leave the incentive schools to do so with impunity. If staff members wish to transfer elsewhere, they are not necessarily unfit or incompetent
they may simply not be suited for the incentive school experience. It cannot be overemphasized that the district should only assign people to the incentive schools who are not only talented, committed, and experienced, and who also want to be there. Comply with the requirement to develop complete student performance profiles for each child and then use the information to define and guide each students learning path and to help determine the effect of the variables these profiles record. Students receive individual and group counseling and are taught conflict resolution. The school uses peer facilitators. (LRSD Plan, pp. 176, 184) The staff has developed written building guidance plans to address personal growth, social development, career awareness, and educational development. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 27) The school collaborates with the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and Department of Health. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 27) Make sure that each incentive school has a full-time certified guidance counselor on staff throughout the school year. Decide each incentive schools need for a social worker, then staff accordingly. Require incentive school counselors to meet as a group on a regular basis. Such meetings will provide an informal atmosphere in which to discuss problems unique to incentive schools, develop solutions, share ideas and success stories, and to explore ways to expand their resources. Counselors need the support and encouragement they could get from an organized group of peers.PARENT AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT The district will establish an incentive school parent program to equip parents with job skills necessary for employability at all levels within the school. Program objectives and activities include: designing and administrating a needs assessment to determine community interests and needs, adult education opportunities, a parent internship program to recruit and employ neighborhood parents as teacher aides and other positions, and mentorships between parents and teachers. (LRSD Plan, pp. 178, 189, 206, 207) Assign a district employee the responsibility for fully developing and implementing the plan requirements for a program that will equip parents with job skills necessary for employment at all levels within the incentive schools. Be sure to include program goals, objectives, timelines, persons responsible for each step of implementation, and evaluation criteria. Follow up to provide appropriate assistance to survey respondents who have expressed interest in receiving specialized help from the district, such as obtaining their GED. Evaluate the cost effectiveness of using local community resources, such as the Parent Learning Center, as a means for providing education opportunities for parents. A Parent Center in each school provides resources and materials, recommended by a parent and staff committee, that can be loaned to parents. A parent has been trained to operate the center, which is to be the source of a monthly communications packet that is distributed to parents. (LRSD Plan, pp. 206, 208) The schools actively seek parent recommendations for resources to be housed in the Parent Centers, incorporating as many of their suggestions as possible. The school documents the degree to which parents use the center and its resources. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 39) The schools offer parent workshops to assist parents in understanding and carrying out school expectations. The workshops include such topics as study skills, discipline, time management, pre-reading skills, financial management, and developmental learning skills. (LRSD Plan, pg. 209) Document parent training activities by topic, time, and location along with the number of participants by race, gender, and the childs school. Participants feedback on how well the session was conducted and their perception of the potential helpfulness of the training is regularly collected and analyzed. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 39) Evaluate the parent workshops offered to determine if they are meeting the plans goal of helping incentive school parents understand and carry out school expectations. Ask workshop participants to evaluate each session at its conclusion to make candid suggestions for training improvement and future session topics. Then carefully analyze the feedback to assess the quality and relevancy of the training and make changes accordingly. Recognition is used as a tool for community and parent involvement. The school recognizes parents and the community at monthly PT A meetings, displays awards, gives school lunch vouchers to award winners, and involves students in the recognition selection process. (LRSD Plan, pp. 209-210) The school makes parent and volunteer recognition an integral, ongoing, and highly visibly part of school life. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38) Home and school communication is evident at each incentive school. Parents attend school activities and monthly school meetings and serve as volunteers. The staff formulates early indicators and early intervention programs using alert and success cards to update parents on their childs needs and achievements. Parents have access to the school through identified transportation pick-up points within the school community. (LRSD Plan, pp. 174, 176, 183, 184, 188, 206, 210-211) Complete documentation of all parent meetings and activities is maintained including sign-in sheets that reflect parents race, gender, and the school their child attends. (ODM 1992 Report, pg- 38)School 1993-94 Volunteers Hours BM BF WM WF Unidentified Total Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens TOTAL Parents are asked to sign all homework assignments on a daily basis. (LRSD Plan, pp. 174, 183, 210) Mechanisms are established at each school to ensure that parents regularly sign homework. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38) Require at least two or more home visits. (LRSD Plan, pp. 206, 211) The staff documents the number and date of visits to each students home, along with who made the visit, to determine if each family is visited at least twice yearly. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38) School 1993-94 Home Visits Franklin Garland Ish Mitchell Rightsell Rockefeller Stephens TOTAL Each school provides community role models and a mentoring program. (LRSD Plan, pg. 157) The district has mounted an intense mentor recruitment campaign. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 29) Individual school volunteer mentoring programs are coordinated with VIPS and all volunteers are screened and trained prior to being matched with students. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 29) The school maintains mentor-student records that include the race, gender, participation hours, and types of activities shared by the mentors and their students. Records of training participants by race, gender, and classification (i.e, student, mentor, parent, teacher) are also maintained. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 30) Standardize the method staff uses to document and report home and school communication to promote data consistency and accuracy. In order to standardize reporting and minimize the burden of dociunentation, schools could use a simple form identifying the contact date, type of contact (such as parent/teacher conference, home visit, interim or monthly report, phone call, success or alert card), which staff member contacted whom (parent, grandparent, guardian, or other), and a brief description of the results of the contact or any other pertinent information. Train incentive school principals and staff to serve as trainers for new mentors so they can conduct their own mentor training, if needed, and thereby expedite mentor placement. Develop transportation policies and procedures, ensuring that principals are aware of this service, know how to identify parents transportation needs, and understand how to arrange for it to support parent participation where needed. Parents sign contractual commitments prior to enrolling their child in an incentive school. (LRSD Plan, pg. 211) The schools have follow-up procedures to remind parents of the commitments they made in the contracts they signed at registration. (ODM 1992 Report, pg. 38) Provide parents with current school year contracts to sign when they register their children in the incentive schools. Contracts with old dates and information convey a sloppy message that parents can interpret as a sign that the either the school, the district, or both dont place much value on the contracts or parent commitments. A speakers bureau on education issues for community groups exists in school zones. Each school has identified three key communicators. The school staff coordinates events to promote neighborhood pride. These strategies work together to raise the trust level between the school and the community. (LRSD Plan, pp. 210, 213) Assign a LRSD employee the responsibility for coordinating the speakers bureaus and assisting the key communicators. Without consistent direction and support, those who volunteer as a speaker or key communicator cant be expected to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Develop and implement a comprehensive plan for utilizing the services of the speakers bureaus and key communicators that includes specific goals, objectives, the persons responsible, and evaluation criteria to determine success and where changes need to be made. Develop job descriptions for the speakers bureau and key communicators that clearly identify the job goal, qualifications, performance expectations, the participant and district responsibilities, and the amount of time that will likely be required to successfully perform each job. The Incentive School
This project was supported in part by a Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives project grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Council on Library and Information Resoources.