Each year, schools and districts review policies and practices to consider ways to improve and enhance student achievement. This process, commonly referred to as the school improvement process, is deeply embedded in building, district, and state planning and accountability systems, and has become an integral and necessary part of school and system reform. While this type of planning hasexisted for many years, recent state and federal mandates including annual testing directives and increased accountability have intensified the importance of this process and its outcomes.

To provide schools and districts with a comprehensive framework based on current research and best practice, the Michigan Department of Education in conjunction with school improvement specialists and educators across the state, has developed the Michigan School Improvement Framework to develop, support, and enhance school improvement plans. Throughout the 2006-07 academic school year schools and districts became familiar with the content and organization of the various components of the extensive framework. To assist in the establishment of consistency across schools and districts, the new strands of the framework are used to outline all general education programming that is offered for administrators, educators, and students.

STRAND 1: TEACHING FOR LEARNING
The school holds high expectations for all students, identifies essential curricular content, makes certain it is sequenced appropriately and is taught effectively in the available instructional times. Assessments used are aligned to curricular content and are used to guide instructional decisions and monitor student learning.

Teachers and administrators were offered several professional development sessions focused on various content and instructional areas:

• Examining Student Work to Improve Achievement
• Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support
• Lego Logo Robotics Workshops
• Teaching with the Brain in Mind book studies
• Lenses on Learning: a math leadership series
• Differentiation Strategies for a Mixed-Ability Classroom
• “Venn There, Done That: MME Writing Components”
• High School Math & Science Success
• Red Cedar Writing Project Workshops

STRAND 2: LEADERSHIP
School leaders create a school environment where everyone contributes
to a cumulative, purposeful and positive effect on student learning.

Area administrators attended regularly scheduled network meetings to receive updates from the Michigan Department of Education as well as leading content and professional organizations. Literacy training was also offered through this venue as well as the opportunity to discuss current issues in education across the state as well as those at the local level.

STRAND 3: PERSONNEL & PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
The school has highly qualified personnel who continually acquire and
use skills, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs necessary to create a culture
with high levels of learning for all.

• State Board Continuing Education Units are obtained by professional staff for the purposes of renewing professional certification. This past year, ICISD’s general education department registered 115 offerings approved by the Michigan Department of Education ranging from .3 to 4.0 SB-CEU’s. This service was also provided free of charge to partnering ISD’s with regard to some of ICISD’s initiatives.
  
• Teachers and administrators also had several opportunities to earn graduate credit from Central Michigan University through ICISD submission of several courses to CMU. Such courses included the following activities: Observing Young Readers & Writers to Inform Instruction, Environmental Education, Deepening Understanding of Measurement, Lenses on Learning, and Classroom Assessment for Learning.

STRAND 4: SCHOOL & COMMUNITY RELATIONS
The school staff maintains purposeful, active, positive relationships with families or its students and with the community in which it operates to support student learning.

• 80 middle school and 70 high school students from around the county participated in a writing workshop in April. After listening to a local author share his experiences, students attended sessions to produce individual pieces of writing that were published in anthologies for students.
• Several workshops that foster community involvement were offered. They included a Diversity and Hidden Rules workshop, a Strategic Marketing Plan workshop, a book-publishing workshop, and a workshop on building school-community partnerships.

STRAND 5: DATA & INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
School districts have a system for managing data and information in order to inform decisions to improve student achievement.

• Districts were provided with county disaggregated data for grades 3-8 MEAP assessments.
• Dave Buell, an independent data expert, facilitated discussion and shared data expertise with local administrators in order to help facilitate the completion of the mandated Comprehensive Needs Assessment for Title 1 funding.