Editorial: School Improvement Goals Based on the Four C’s

by Kevin Mowrer, Manchester High School Principal

Critical thinking. Creativity. Communication. Collaboration. These are the four Cs of 21st Century Learning. They are the foundation of the Manchester Community School’s District Improvement Plan (DIP). Each year, the district has to submit to both AdvancEd, a national certification agency, and Michigan Department of Education. They approve the plan, and this plan is what the school district follows for the year.

Our goals for the school year, as written in our DIP, are as follows:

1. All Manchester Community Schools students will become proficient in their literacy skills.
2. All Manchester Community Schools students will become proficient in critical thinking.
3. All Manchester Community Schools students will become proficient in mathematical skills.
4. All staff will engage in district-wide continuous improvement process.

Over the past four years, the district has been working to transform its instruction, with an end goal as the 4Cs, but the broad goal of personalizing, differentiating, and aligning instruction to students’ current and future interests. Teachers have redesigned lessons where students struggle to learn and retain skills, concepts, and vocabulary. They’ve implemented the professional development on 21st Century Teaching and Learning to do so.

As students go off to independent learning, either in the work or post-secondary education world, the goal is to equip them with self-awareness, core knowledge, and a wide array of skills to be successful.

The fourth goal is that the school will continuously improve. Surveys, connecting students, and enrichment all are a part of this process. These initiatives are described below.

Another key part of the school improvement process is surveys. The district utilizes random selection to keep surveys short, but also allow random groups of stakeholders to contribute to perception surveys. During the 2014-2015 school year, approximately 35% of those emailed surveys completed them. A goal for the community would be to increase that number to over 50%. The surveys are kept to less than 15 questions, so it shouldn’t take too long to complete. It would help the district understand a broader range of perspectives.

Connecting to students is another key part of the school improvement plan. Sometimes, at a smaller district like Manchester, it is easy to assume all students have a “go to” adult in the building. Through Leadership Workshops (at Klager), advisory (at Manchester Middle School), and Connect a Student (at Manchester High School), it is the district’s hope that every student has an adult with whom they connect throughout their school years.

Enrichment and acceleration for students K-12 also is a part of the school improvement plan. Over the last two years, the district has invested in training and programs to help provide all students with a rigorous academic course of study. Passion projects/Genius Hour, accelerated math, and Advanced Placement training for teachers all fall under this category.

When planning any initiative, District Improvement Plans require the district to get ready, implement, monitor, and evaluate. Building systems into evaluate initiatives allows the district to evaluate if things are working. Surveys, teacher observations, and tests (both local and standardized) allow the District School Improvement Team to undertake this task.

If you are interested in serving on the Manchester’s DSIT, please contact me, Kevin Mowrer, at kmowrer@mcs.k12.mi.us. There are building and district meetings at which participants always are welcome.

As a district, the goal is to improve communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. The DSIT thanks the community for its support and continued involvement in this process.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.