WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

FOCUS ON LEARNING

 

 

Visiting Committee Report

 

 

CONNECTING WATERS CHARTER SCHOOL

Waterford, CA 95386

 

 

Text Box: Making Parent Choice A Reality Today

 

March 6 - 9, 2005

 

 

WASC Visiting Committee

 

Ralph G. Vigil, WASC Chair

Dr. Sam Butscher, Principal

Dr. Brad Huff, Principal

Melinda Leiser, Teacher

Pam Coronado, Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter I:  Student/Community Profile

 

Briefly summarize the most critical information from the student/community profile that impacts the school.

 

Since August 16, 2002, Connecting Waters Charter School has served grades K-12 students residing in the counties of Alameda, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus and Tuolumne. The program is a non-traditional non-classroom based model that involves parents as the primary facilitator of the student's education. As of October 2004, over 1,429 students were being served. 

Connecting Waters Charter School serves as a public school for non-classroom based students. Waterford is a small community in Stanislaus County and doesn't realize the level of resources necessary to provide alternative education programs. Having designed an initial charter to serve the Waterford community to address the needs for an alternative choice for the Waterford School District, a hybrid independent study-home school program was established to address the needs of students not being successful in the local school system. Connecting Waters Charter School has grown to operate two learning centers in the regional communities of Ceres and Manteca.

The school organization is a multi-layered system that includes a Parent Council (decision-making body), an Executive Director (district relations), Education Specialist Support Director, ES Support Department Manager, Education Specialist Advisors, and Education Specialists (teachers and teacher support), all of whom coordinate educational resource support to parents and students.   The structure allows resources to be deployed in accordance to the family and student needs and wants for curriculum.  Support services are provided by a special education director, an assessment director, a school counselor, an English Language Arts specialist, a math specialist, a school secretary, an IT director, contracted services, a student records technician, and a student assignment clerk.

Individualized education allowing the student to progress at his/her own pace describes the mission of the program. Collected work provides evidence of student work. Support activities include tutoring, school organized group educational activities, contract program courses, internships, mentoring, distance learning, and community service. 

The unique operational funding model provides families direct input in the selection of non-sectarian educational materials.  The instructional funding budget for education specialists (teachers) offers a scale of service per grade (K-8: $1,200 and 9-12: $1,550) per year.  A budget is placed in an account under the education specialist's name amounting to the number students the education specialist is serving.  Unspent ES funds are not carried over year-to-year, but instead allocated to areas of instructional costs in accordance with SB740.

 

 

School Analysis of student achievement data

 

According to the data represented in the self-study the results of the California State standards tests show that in the area of language arts the 2nd grade students for 2003-2004 scored below the state and district averages; however, the results for the 3rd through the 11th grades scored slightly higher than the district average except for the 6th and 9th grades.  They were below the state averages with the exception of 5th and 7th grades.

The California State standards math results showed that Connecting Waters scored below the state and district averages overall.

 

The percentage of students testing for STAR is below the state average.  The school did not receive an AYP score due to the 80% participation rate of students testing.  The school received a base API score of 594 and was placed in the third decile statewide and in the first decile with similar schools.

 

The CAHSEE results show 91% of those tested in 2004 passed the ELA portion while 40% passed the math.

 

Analysis of transcripts revealed that about one-third of the high school enrollees for the 2003 school year and about one-half of the enrollees for 2004 were about 31 to 34 credits deficient when they enrolled in Connecting Waters. 

 

CELDT results for 2003 show that 1 12th grade student tested at the beginning level, 0 students tested at the early intermediate level, 4 students tested at the intermediate level, 2 students tested at the early advanced level, and 1 student tested advanced.  Where as, 2004 data showed that  1 12th grade student tested at the beginning level, 0 students tested at the early intermediate level, 5 students tested at the intermediate level, 3 students tested at the early advanced level, and 1 student tested advanced.

 

The certificated staff for Connecting Waters charter school showed that in 2003 there were a total of 64 teachers, 58 with full credentials, and 6 with emergency permits.  For program year 2004 a total of 59 teachers were represented, 54 with full credentials, and 5 with emergency permits.  Currently there are a total of 79 teachers, 4 with emergency permits. The average number of years experience was 11.5 years and 27% have 15 or more years teaching experience.

 

The school administered a survey asking graduates to indicate whether their experience at Connecting Waters had successfully prepared them for success after high school.  The Liekert scale survey indicated that more than three-quarters agrees that the charter had prepared them for success in their post high school careers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter II:  Progress Report

 

Since the last visit for WASC candidacy the following recommendations were addressed respectively:

 

COMMITTEE RECOMENDATIONS

 

1. The administration should work with the staff to create a systematic objective assessment designed to measure individual student growth.

 

Since the candidate visit last year, the administration and Connecting Waters' staff selected Edusoft to create standards-based, school-wide benchmark assessments for students in grades 2-11 Edusoft is a web based standards-based assessment program.  These benchmark tests determine when to give interventions to students; allow students to test in and out of grade level and to measure student progress. More immediate and more frequent feedback is facilitated. The benchmark tests help ESs assist parent/teachers choose proper curriculum for all students to meet NCLB targets. The benchmark tests help remove test anxiety.

 

STAR tests are the determining factor to measure the effectiveness of the charter school. A school committee read, discussed and concluded that it would be very difficult to teach every California standard in each subject.  As directed by Waterford School District's Curriculum Director, who worked with West ED, they decided to base the CWCS benchmark tests on the Ôessential' standards, as determined by West Ed.

 

Math and Language Arts benchmark tests are being used in the current 2004-2005 school year. Students are tested four times a year: September 20-24, November 15-19, January 24-28 and March 14-18.  All assessments will be completed prior to the STAR testing.  There are two bands, proficient and non-proficient, to measure student success.   Proficient is 80-100% and non-proficient is 0-79%. Studies show that five or more questions per standard show whether a student has mastered a given standard. Six questions are generated by Edusoft on each standard tested.

 

All ESs and parent/teachers are given access to Edusoft and can access the benchmark exams when they are released for the testing period.  Teachers bring the exam to those students who do not have Internet access.

 

Visiting Committee observations:

A)   Training of parent/teachers and ESs in the use of Edusoft has begun but is by no means complete. Sufficient training has been made available to enable the ESs to administer and track the Benchmark Exams.

B)   Analysis by the V.C. of the sample benchmark tests included as evidence showed developmental stages. This may be due to the limited number of questions in the question bank. Edusoft was used to create the tests viewed by the V.C. or the effect of selecting Ôessential' standards. At the time the Benchmark Exams were created in Edusoft, the Edusoft exam bank of questions was not complete in some of the subjects. The lack of use may lead to more training.

 

2. Administration should develop strategies for bringing the parent community together for purposes of improving communication.

 

The Connecting Waters administration has developed several strategies for bringing the parent community together for communication this year.  The administration has developed a parent list-serve where parents can receive information about upcoming events from the staff or other parents.  An Internet bulletin board has been developed so parents can discuss various issues of concern, but this has not met expectations.  Currently, they are working on finding a more secure system. ESs are required to provide this school information to all parents who do not have online access at their monthly assessment conferences.

 

The curriculum department has monthly trainings for parents called Parent Monthly Curriculum Trainings (PMCT).  Previously they were only offered in the two largest counties, Stanislaus and San Joaquin, but this year they have been also offered in the outlying areas served by the school as well.

 

The administration provides a monthly newsletter that informs the parents of upcoming events they might want to attend.  At these events they may network with other parents.  The other networking activities provided for parents have included: back to school night, open house, new parent orientation, quarterly parent council meetings, Group Education Activities, student craft activities that required parent attendance, etiquette training for students that involved parent judging and the end of the school year picnics. All of these events were well attended.  

 

3. Administration should work to increase the number of learning centers and expand the available course offerings at the centers.

 

Due to the structure of the school and the limitations set by CDE SB740 waiver process for independent charter schools, it is not possible for CWCS to fund a learning center in every city where there are students.  CWCS currently operates two learning centers, one in Manteca and the other in Ceres.  The Ceres Learning Center has been very successful at increasing its course offerings each year.  The Manteca Learning Center had a slight decrease in course offerings in the 2003-2004 school year because a few instructors resigned.  The course offerings are also determined by student need, which may vary from year to year. 

 

In addition to students taking courses at learning centers, CWCS contracts with outside vendors to provide courses for students. These courses include, but are not limited to: English, writing, algebra, art, science camp, geometry, Spanish, Tae Kwon Do and music.

 

4. The administration should provide additional professional growth development training for educational specialists and parents.

 

Education Specialists (credentialed teachers) are required to attend monthly Professional Growth training in the areas of 1) teaching strategies; 2) classroom management and other training designed to improve pupil performance; 3) conflict resolution; and, 4) academic content in the core curriculum. Training videos are housed with the small group leaders (Area Facilitators) and are available for check out by the ESs at any time.

 

Chapter III:  Self-Study Process

 

Connecting Waters Charter School Expected School-wide Learning Results (ESLRs).

 

Connecting Waters will prepare its graduates to be:

 

1.  Effective Communicators who:

 

2.  Effective Citizens who:

 

3.  Technologically Skilled Individuals who:

 

4.  Historically-Aware Learners who:

 

5.  Mathematical Thinkers who:


6.  Scientific Thinkers who:

 

7.  Lifelong Learners who:

 

 

 

The school's self-study process with respect to the expected outcomes.

 

The self-study resulted in seven Expected Learning results. Due to the nature of the school design, focus groups were established according to region. Seven-eight active participants were listed.  Parents that instruct their own children also serve as Education Specialists are often times parents.  Measurements of what students should know and learn were imbedded in the California State standards testing, STAR9/CAT 6 and CAHSEE. All curricular selections are done independently for each student, therefore it was difficult to identify school-wide measures from the school itself and all its regions. One-to-One conferencing is identified as the strongest curricular educational strategy school-wide. It was seen in work samples, discussions, oral quizzes, demonstrations of skills, and project presentations, students, parents, and ESs are continually assessing student growth.  This format allows the school to adjust to improve each student's individual learning plan.  Individual -pacing was an obvious design to the program.  The tools to independently select data from the school came from surveys, Edusoft (an online database assessment tool), Filemaker Pro, student portfolios, and teacher designed examinations (some by demonstration).  There has been some discussion regarding school-wide assessments.  School-wide curricular efforts connecting to the ESLRs are in the emerging stages.  The ESLRs were written to identify academic direction and the school expected to have found a need to strengthen the school-wide assessments toward meeting state standard and proficiency measures.  They also recognize the challenge to maintain individualized choice for parents in regards to self-paced learning.  Monitoring the progress of the ESLRs is in its infancy stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter IV: Quality of the School's Program 

Part A - What Currently Exists

 

A.             Standards Based Student learning:  Curriculum and Instruction

 

A-1.     To what extent do all students participate in a rigorous, relevant, and coherent standards-based curriculum that supports the achievement of the academic standards and the expected school-wide learning results?  To what extent are the expected school-wide learning results accomplished through standards-based learning?

 

 The school reports that the "cornerstone" of their philosophy is based on utilizing, "É parental involvement, providing ample learning programs and opportunities for all learning styles, and supporting an individualized approach to learning."  The report further states that integral to the philosophy of the school are the following principles: parent choice, performance-based assessment and recognition that schooling is but one aspect of an education. In viewing schooling as one aspect of an education, Connecting Waters states, "the entire community serves as the school campus and lessons and learning take place beyond the confines of traditional school hours.  These principles present Connecting Waters with unique curricular and instructional challenges.  These challenges are to maintain the flexibility required to serve the community as a parent choice school and at the same time offer a challenging, standards aligned curriculum which is supported by the school's ESLRs.

 

 At Connecting Waters the student's parent or guardian is the primary vehicle for delivery of instruction in most cases.

 

This is done in collaboration with a family's assigned Education Specialist who works with the parent in the following ways:

-      Selecting a curricular path and the concomitant curriculum material

-      Using Edusoft to assess the student's efforts in meeting the state standards of a rigorous curriculum

-      Assessing completed assignments then assigning grade values and credits

-      Meeting with the family on a regular, contractually agreed upon basis

 

Through its offering of an individualized program the school offers a variety of curricular choices. A system needs to be implemented that will ensure the curriculum meets with the state required standards of rigor. The addition of a curriculum committee would assist the school in maintaining consistency with all curriculum materials and assuring their alignment with the standards.  The team observed two of the learning centers (Ceres and Manteca) and noted that while there are many curricular materials in each of the centers, there appears to be a lack of multicultural materials as required in the state standards. Upon interviews with families, the visiting team understands that many materials are checked out to the homes of the students.

 

Following are the methods Connecting Waters has implemented in its beginning efforts at engaging students and ensuring that all students have access to a rigorous, relevant, and coherent curriculum:

 

 

A-2.  To what extent do all students have access to the school's entire program and assistance with a personal learning plan to prepare them for the pursuit of their academic, personal and school-to-career goals?

 

The report states that by empowering "a community of parents, students and teachers to create learning opportunities which will develop accountable, responsible and contributing members of society who are independent, life-long learners...", Connecting Waters is providing access to the entire program for all of its students.  As a parent choice school, parents have the opportunity at Connecting Waters to design and oversee the course of their child's education, to teach lessons and subjects directly, to choose qualified local community instructors for a wide variety of subjects and to network with other parents and students.  If the parent or older student/ independent learner prefers the assistance of tutoring or more guidance from the Educational Specialist, those options are also available to them through Additional Education Specialist Services.

 

During the first meeting between the Education Specialist and the family, the groundwork is laid for the partnership in learning.  Together with the Education Specialist, the parent(s)/caregiver(s) make choices that will help create learning opportunities for the student.  These may include choosing non classroom-based instruction, independent study or a combination of learning formats. 

 

With the recent addition of a certificated school counselor, Education Specialists and high school students now have an additional support (ES is the primary support) in designing a high school path that will lead them to graduation and assist them in preparing for their post-secondary goals. The Education Specialist, using their knowledge and experience and information posted on the website provided by the school counselor, assists each high school student in developing a graduation plan considering the interests expressed by the student and the seven growth area requirements (corresponding to the ESLRs) which guide these decisions. Each student, with their parent, ES, and the assistance of the counselor, selects from the following three avenues, their individual path to graduation:  Carnegie units/credits, Connecting Waters' demonstration models or a student developed demonstration model. Both the school and guidance counselors, along with the guidance links via the Internet, are available to all students and ESs (teachers) by e-mail, phone, and at regular inservices and personal appointments.

 

Connecting Waters offers a variety of learning opportunities enabling students to access many aspects of the program. As a means of offering a wider choice in curricular activities Connecting Water has a process for arranging school-sponsored group educational activities as interest and funding support them.  The two largest learning centers, are located to serve the largest population of students in Manteca and Ceres.  Waterford maintains a smaller sized learning center associated with the office.  At these sites, students are tutored in math and writing, take classes in visual and performing arts, languages and science.

 

The report states that ELD and special needs students benefit from the independent study approach used at Connecting Waters in the following ways: individualized curriculum, one-on-one instruction by their parent, ES and tutor. Personal accountability for learning helps students develop a sense of responsibility and independence, which will serve them well in the future.

 

 

A-3.  To what extent are students able to meet all the requirements of graduation upon completion of the high school program?

 

As stated in the report, Connecting Waters' students must meet the state requirements for graduation as detailed on the school's website. Students, parents, and their ES determine long-term goals and fashion a plan, which allows the student to meet those goals. At the beginning of each school year all parties agree on a curricular plan.  This yearly plan may be changed at any time with parent and student approval, provided the consequences of the change, as explained by the ES, are understood.  ESs advise students using this and other information so they can review student goals regularly.  The report states that recommended a-g texts are listed for college prep students, as is general education and community college information.  

 

Connecting Waters provides testing for all sophomores in the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Students from 8th grade up are encouraged to take the writing and math classes offered by the school, practice with the benchmark tests or enlist the services of tutors to help prepare them to take and pass the test.  To help students be successful Education Specialists are encouraging parents of high school students to enroll their students in tutoring and algebra classes as well as offering Additional Education Specialist Services as necessary.

 

A-4.  To what extent are all students involved in challenging learning experiences to achieve the academic standards and the expected school-wide learning results?  To what extent do all teachers use a variety of strategies and resources, including technology and experiences beyond the textbook and the classroom, that actively engage students, emphasize higher order thinking skills, and help them succeed at high levels?

 

The report states that Connecting Waters will support learning and assessment modalities based on current research that identifies best practices regarding how students learn. Connecting Waters depends on a collaborative parent/Education Specialist relationship for the success of its students because it serves as a parent choice school.  On a continuum of involvement, the parent may choose to plan and teach all the coursework or they may verify attendance and check that assignments are ready to be shown to the ES once a month. High school students often come to Connecting Waters on their own, and, if they are motivated to take direction in the independent study program, schedule their work, and make progress toward achieving the ESLRs on their own, this program works well for them. The report further states that with many choices, encouraged and guided by the Educational Specialist and informed with a clearer understanding of the requirements of state standards and the need for students to achieve the ESLRs, all students in Connecting Waters may be involved in challenging learning experiences.

 

Areas of Strength

 

Areas of Growth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B.             Standards Based Student learning:  Assessment and Accountability

 

B-5 To what extent do teachers employ a variety of strategies to evaluate student learning?  To what extent do students and teachers use assessment results to enhance the educational progress of every student?

 

Global statements: Connecting Waters' ESs, parents and students employ a wide variety of strategies and measures of assessment to evaluate student learning. The school's Parent survey shows that the parents feel strongly that they can use a myriad of means to monitor their child's progress.

 

Although the flexibility to assess individual student progress by using a variety of measures is viewed as a strong point at Connecting Waters, it also presents a challenge on how to translate that into representative school-wide data. The school's commitment to encourage their stakeholders to address the ESLRs and State Standards by using a wide variety of evaluative tools makes it difficult to gather large standard samples that translate into usable data.

 

All stakeholders, including staff, are in agreement that the ESLRs are important goals and they appear in various places, but there is little evidence that all seven ESLRs are at the forefront of daily thinking, planning, and assessments. ESLRs are written on the monthly learning records, school growth areas are tied directly to the stated ESLRS, and parents report monthly on growth in these areas to their ESs.

 

¥ Longitudinal tracking of students is possible using Edusoft.  Edusoft is a standards-based computerized online assessment tool that Connecting Waters is using. This assessment measures student achievement relative to the standards across all grade levels.  Advantages of this assessment are that the results are immediate and yield information about skills the student has attained, as well as providing direction for further instruction based on the results. The evidence that Edusoft has been fully implemented reflects limited conditions in relation to its lack of data analysis being applied to resource selections for all students in addressing the ESLRs.  ESs were unable to clearly articulate the ESLR/data connection when asked about the resource selection process for students. The ESs and parents have all been trained on its usage, and its capabilities have been fully utilized by the parents who have chosen to use this tool with their students, and it is the parents' use that fulfills the goal of providing on-demand assessments and immediate feedback to students.

 

ESs use WRAT to assess grade level of students new to the school at all grade levels, not just K, 1 and 12, as stated in the Self Study.

 

A)   Assessing student progress in a personalized learning environment: Varying philosophies, mobility rates and the overall configuration of Connecting Waters creates an assessment challenge.  Developing and applying assessments that provide immediate feedback to students, parents and ESs has been identified as the most important aspect in the designing of personalized learning plans and guiding instruction.  Immediate results are important, as they can then be integrated into forming effective learning plans for every student.  For this reason, the creation of standards-based assessments, namely benchmark tests in mathematics and English, using the computerized software program, Edusoft, will be given four times yearly.

 

Parents on the Internet who have received training in the use of Edusoft can generate practice benchmark tests with answer keys to provide immediate feedback. Parents without internet access can pick up the exams at the learning centers, school office,

or ask their Education Specialist to bring an exam to their home. The results of ES administered benchmark tests are conveyed to the student or parent/teacher by phone or email, usually within 24 hours.

 

Sample benchmark tests in mathematics and English/Language Arts were provided as evidence of assessment and accountability. The questions, generated by Edusoft, are tied to the California Academic Content Standards. The questions for grades 9 - 12 were reviewed by the V.C.

 

Currently, Connecting Waters has piloted the benchmark exams.  ESs and parents have been informed that there may not be test questions yet available for all standards to be mastered. The effectiveness of the benchmarks will be re-evaluated in the Spring of 2005, once all tests for this school year are completed.

 

Geometry: All six geometry questions were based on Standard 17.0 (coordinate geometry) on the 3rd quarter sample test provided, but without addressing the use of coordinate geometry to prove theorems. There were no questions on Standards 14.0 and 16.0 included in the 3rd quarter curriculum.

 

Algebra I: All four Standards were addressed by the 24 questions on the benchmark test, but there were no higher order skills assessed: Standard 10.0 "Students solve multi-step problems, including word problems, by using these techniques,"  and Standard 13.0 "Students solve both computationally and conceptually challenging problems by using these techniques," were not tested.

 

Algebra II: The twelve questions on the benchmark test all dealt with Standards 9.0 and 10.0 on graphing parabolas. There were no questions testing Standards 11.1, 11.2, or 12.0 on exponential and logarithmic concepts and skills that are listed in the 3rd quarter curriculum.

 

Language Arts 9th and 10th: The twelve questions on the benchmark test were all reading comprehension questions. Although the Category listed in the Standards is Reading Comprehension, none of the specific 3rd quarter standards listed below were tested by the twelve questions on the test:

2.4 "Synthesize the content from several sources of works by a single author dealing with a single issue; paraphrase the ideas and connect them to other sources and related topics to demonstrate comprehension."

2.5 "Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation and elaboration."

 

Language Arts 11th and 12th: The sixteen questions are supposed to address Standards 3.5 and 3.9

3.5 "Analyze recognized works of American literature representing a variety of genres and traditions" - There is an adequate connection between the readings presented, the multiple-choice questions, and this Standard.

3.9 "Analyze the philosophical arguments presented in literary works to determine whether the authors' positions have contributed to the quality of each work and the credibility of the characters" - The questions do a creditable job of assessing this Standard.

 

 

The sample benchmark assessments in English and mathematics to be administered each quarter for grades 9 - 12 do not adequately assess the Standards indicated.  There were no observations of benchmark use or test questions generated from the test bank for student use.

 

 A good feature of using Edusoft, as a developing normalized test, is that parent/teachers with Internet access and training can generate practice benchmark tests for their children/students. For families lacking Internet access, the ES can provide sample tests.

 

B) Rubrics - Basic rubrics for writing and mathematics have been developed. This effort is in its infancy. The rubrics are very basic and need further development to be useful. Obtaining rubrics from the Golden State Exams or other sources is highly recommended for the high school level and we intend to further develop these for each grade level

 

C) Learning Styles - The school's Parent Support/Curriculum department has recently trained parents in standards-based education and learning styles.

 

D) Career Preparation/Future Goals - The need for specific direction for high school students in making decisions and goals about their future is a component that is encouraged.

 

E) Character Training and Technology Education - Character training and technology education is being enhanced.

 

F) Statewide Mandated Testing - Ensuring that each student participates in the CST and STAR testing is a priority.  This proves to be a challenge because 17% (83% tested last year) of the parents are opposed to these measures and sign waivers to opt their child out of testing.  This makes it even more important that Connecting Waters utilizes multiple assessment methods. There is a need to increase participation in STAR, so that the results will be reflective of the total population and to ensure the renewal of the charter. In addition, this will allow long term planning by analyzing more complete data for student improvement, particularly in the focus areas of math and writing.

 

G) One-on-One Conferencing - An important component of the assessment system at Connecting Waters is the one-on-one conferencing used school-wide.  Assessment is an integral part of these weekly to monthly conferences with students and parents.  Through work samples, discussions, oral quizzes, demonstrations of skills, and project presentations, students, parents, and ESs are continually assessing student growth.  This format allows the school to adjust to improve each student's individual learning plan.  All stakeholders report finding these conferences valuable and supportive. The opportunity to assess and evaluate as stated above provides a method of measurement that informs and drives instruction for those below grade level, on grade level, and above grade level.  The results of these conferences become learning records, which allow all stakeholders to keep track of progress.

 

H) Need for Benchmark Assessments in Other Core Areas: Each year assessments will be added to include all of the core subjects." 

 

Areas of Strength:

  -    Personalized assessment: A variety of assessment tools are used; multiple measures are used when evaluating individual student achievement

      One-on-One Conferences: One-on-one conferencing produces learning records to track student progress

-      Benchmark Tests: Standards-based benchmark tests generated by Edusoft provide immediate feedback to parent/teachers and students and also reduce anxiety about statewide testing.

-      Recognition of Need for Training in Learning Styles: ESs and parent/teachers are being trained in identifying and adapting instruction based on students' learning styles.

 

Growth Areas:

-      Standardization of Results from Personalized Assessments: Multiple assessment tools and highly personalized measures must be validated by common standards. State academic content standards must be addressed regularly by ESs at learning record conferences with students and parent/teachers.

-      Representative School-wide Data Results: 95% participation is required for AYP; 90% participation is required for API. Renewal of the school's charter may be in jeopardy, if participation is too low.

-      Rubric Development: Refine rubrics and train ESs and parent/teachers to use quality rubrics.

 

 

B-6 To what extent do the school district and community regularly review student progress toward achievement of the academic standards and the expected school-wide learning results and report to the parents and other stakeholders of the community?

 

A)   Global: Review of student progress toward achievement of the academic content standards and the expected school-wide learning results is accomplished through the Connecting Waters Executive Director reporting to the following: CWCS Parent Council, President of Innovative Educational Management, CWCS Department Heads, CWCS Resource Center Coordinators, Waterford Unified School District Administration and the Waterford USD Board of Education.

 

There is evidence that the CWCS Director reports student progress from statewide testing and internal assessments to the stakeholders listed above. ESLRs are embedded in the monthly learning records, our school growth areas are tied directly to the ESLRS, and parents report monthly on growth in these areas to their ESs. Aside from this condition, there is little or no visible evidence that the seven ESLRs are part of the day-to-day instruction and assessment. The administration and ESs are focusing on ESLRs 1 (Communication, that is English/Language Arts) and 5 (Mathematics), so this should carry over to the parent/teachers and students. These ESLRs are being assessed. The other five ESLRs are laudable principles for a school and assessments may be able to be related to them, but there is limited evidence of the depth that the students, parent/teachers, ESs and members of the CWCS community have internalized them, teach to them, and assess them at this time.

 

The ESs' evaluation of student work based on student portfolios, learning records and parent input forms a picture of student growth.  These results stimulate the development of workshops and classes offered to students and parents at Connecting Waters.

 

Connecting Waters publishes a School Accountability Report Card (SARC) annually.  This report is posted on the web site and is available to the community.

 

The monthly parent newsletter and parent list-serve are forums for sharing school workshops, group education activities (GEA), community events, new theories in education, showcasing student work and ways to be involved in the school and community.

 

B)   ESLRs Assessment: The Self Study states that students are given the opportunity to be: Academic Achievers, Self-directed Learners and Socially Responsible Individuals.  Through high standards, community and environmental projects, long-term assignments and interest-driven curriculum, students are encouraged to fully participate in achieving the ESLRs. Attendance at workshops and GEAs is monitored.  Participation in community events such as the County Fair, Author's Fair and Science Fair is encouraged and supported by Connecting Waters. The correlation of these activities to some of the CWCS ESLRs can be made and documented anecdotally,

and there is limited evidence on each student's monthly learning record that all students and parent/teachers are making conscious connections between instructional activities, GEAs, etc., and assessing and achieving the stated ESLRs.

 

 

 

Areas of Strength:

 

-      Regular reporting of progress to the Parent Council

-      Preparation of School Accountability Report Card and posting on the CWCS web site

-      Monthly newsletters and parent list-serve postings of workshops, GEAs, student achievement, community events, etc. inform the school community.

 

Growth Areas:

-      Continued analysis of workshops, classes and/or strategies needed to improve student academic and ESLR instruction and assessment through more frequent  and indepth analysis.

-      ESs and parents indicate a need for more widespread assistance in writing and mathematics instruction, specifically algebra and number sense.

 

Evidence:

-      Administration's quarterly meetings at Connecting Waters Parent Council meetings, and other governing bodies connected with Connecting Waters, IEM, and Waterford Unified School District.

-      Program Evaluation mails annual reports to parents on CAT6/CST results Monthly parent newsletters.

-      Open House and community events that showcase student work.

-      Monthly meetings with parents to assess learning and collect work samples.

-      Report cards.

-      Transcripts.

 

B-7 To what extent does the assessment of student achievement, in relation to the academic standards and the expected school-wide learning results drive the school's program and resource allocation and use?

 

Global: Connecting Waters uses assessment results, ES observations, parent and student input and State guidelines to determine resource acquisition and allocation.  Our goal is to become a standards-based school with a wide array of resources, so that every student will successfully meet academic goals and the ESLRs.

 

Individual: Both formal and informal assessments determine the individualized learning plan for each student.  The ES, parent and student work together to develop a program that will meet the student's academic and personal goals. CWCS works with parents to purchase and upgrade a variety of materials at different achievement levels for their students.  This is accomplished by regularly scheduled meetings of ESs with the families.  CWCS encourages curriculum that supports the California State Standards.  The goal is to use all the school's resources to assist students in becoming life long learners who will be positive contributors to society. (Two of the ESLRs.)

 

A)    There is a philosophical and financial commitment to purchase materials that can help the students achieve the ESLRs and achieve grade level standards. Resource allocations are focused on purchasing California standards-based materials to accommodate the varied academic levels and learning styles of our students.  It was not evident by design that the assessment of student achievement was driven by driven resource allocation.

 

B)     "Our goal is to assure mathematical competency for all of our students. Many students find that math is difficult.  Some parents find that they need additional assistance in providing instruction."  CWCS is continuing to explore resources to support our parents and students in math. Computer purchases are subsidized to make them available to all families who want them.  "We are prepared to offer more tutorials, both in classes and individual settings."

 

C)     CWCS parents continue to ask for support in helping and encouraging their children to write. "We need to look at more grade level writers' workshops, developing a bank of anchor essays and writing prompts.   We also need to explore additional writing software programs for students.  Also, more classes dedicated to the writing process should be a continuing priority.  Providing parent-friendly rubrics to use with their children would give them confidence, direction and support.  Monitoring student learning by using the Edusoft benchmark assessments is another means of tracking progress.  Additional opportunities for our students to participate in writing related activities within the community could also be explored.  Information on writing and literacy conferences should be publicized and shared with staff and parents."

 

Areas of Strength:

-      Committed to providing curriculum that fits each student's learning style

-      Additional assistance such as tutors are provided where needed to assist students toward achievement of academic standards

 

Growth Areas:

-      Explore resources to support our parents and students in mathematics and writing (providing writing workshops of ESs and parent/teachers.

-      Provide computer training to parents and students

-      Refine math and writing rubrics for ES and parent use

-      Widespread discussion and buy-in to ESLRs by students, parent/teachers, families, ESs, administration and Parent Committee, ESLR-driven curriculum decisions, incorporation of ESLRs in instruction, and assessment of ESLRs.

-      Use of Parent/student surveys in the use of resource allocation.

 

Evidence:

"The following list is evidence that we support our community of learners with a wide variety of ways to access state standards and ESLRs " But this section is to show how instruction is driven by assessment and how assessment of student achievement drives resource allocation.

-      Standards based texts with standards embedded in curriculum

-      Adapted grade level materials to help students below grade level access grade level reading and math

-      Software for all subjects

-      Edusoft (create standards-based assessments to check for mastery in all academic areas) -

-      Weekly workshops, classes and labs to support independent work

-      Tutorials - group and individual student

-      Professional development opportunities (Curriculum Development Workshop)

-      Purchase orders

-      Staff Meeting Agendas and Parent/student surveys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C.            Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth

 

C-8  To what extent do all students receive appropriate support to help ensure academic success?

 

The Connecting Waters charter school has reported as one of its strengths its ability to appropriately support their students in pursuit of academic success.  The premise of Connecting Waters is to provide individualized curriculum and instructional support where students can learn at their own pace.  As stated by the report, an initial meeting is scheduled between the parent, student and the educational specialist, in order to formulate an individual educational plan. State standards are discussed and goals and methods of assessing achievement are set. 

 

During this initial meeting with families and students, as reported by the self-study, the course requirements are explained and semester course goals are developed between parent, education specialist, and students.  At each successive meeting between the family parent/teacher, student and the education specialist, progress is reviewed and adjustments are made as necessary.  Changes are made depending upon level of achievement based upon parent evaluation, education specialist evaluation and observation.   Test scores such as STAR, CAHSEE, WRAT, student self-evaluation and interest are also taken into consideration when adjusting curriculum.  Also, according to data in the self-study, the percentage of students who passed the English Language Arts portion of the CAHSEE was 91% and 40% passed the Math. 

 

High school students may choose to work on a traditional track toward graduation, or they may choose an accelerated path where they attend courses at the local community college, or they may enroll in A-G courses as an option.  Currently according to staff, approximately 50% of the high school student's state they are 2 or 4-year college bound with approximately 10% opting for A-G course work. 

 

According to a survey of 151 graduates more than three-quarters agreed that Connecting Waters prepared them for success in their post high school careers.  Of these graduates surveyed, 50% have gone onto 2 or 4-year colleges, universities, or certificated training, and 61% are working.  As per discussion with the visiting committee, work is in progress to increase the number of students going on to college and choosing A-G course work.

 

As per the self-study, one of the basis of Connecting Waters is to provide their students with performance-based, self-directed and family-directed learning.  The parents understand that they will be the primary educational facilitator and will work in partnership with an education specialist.  Part of being a self-directed learner is being able to make choices.  According to parents interviewed by the visiting committee, the flexibility of making instructional decisions based on family dynamics is key to why they enrolled in the charter school.  Some of the curricular choices available to families include unit studies, individualized portfolios, and extra curricular activities such as ballet, drama, or music, karate, or horse back riding just to name a few.

 

As per conversations with the visiting committee, education specialists, administration, parents, and students, reported that Connecting Waters provides a supportive school environment for families and students choosing an alternative path to education.  Connecting Waters has a wide variety of curriculum for parents to build an individualized program for their children. Reports from parents and students affirm that they choose Connecting Waters because of the strong support and flexibility in choosing curriculum designed to meet their student's needs.

 

Connecting Waters charter offers a wide variety of classes to meet the diverse needs of a K-12 school.  A comprehensive K-8 curriculum is available and the charter offers A-G courses that are approved by the UC/CSU system for students who wish to take college preparatory course work.  As stated in the self-study, contract programs courses are offered in various towns within the service area of Connecting Waters including Modesto, Turlock, Gustine, Ceres, Manteca, Linden, San Jose, Oakland, Murphys, Waterford, Delhi, Dublin, Coulterville and several others.  Some of the course topics include art, music, pre-algebra, writing, beginning Spanish, health and fitness, hands on science, math, Spanish, Tae Kwon Do, Irish Dance, Biology Lab, French, Drawing, Computer-Aided Illustration, and several others.  However, the visiting team was able to meet with only a few parents from outside the main service areas to confirm the accessibility of these offerings. Database evidence also confirms that contract programs courses are offered to students in outlying areas.

 

Connecting Waters used their special education teachers and contracts services through an independent service provider to address the needs of their students who have been identified as special education.  A full continuum of special education services are provided by this independent contractor including but not limited to providing:  speech, resource services, and support to mild to moderate population, and when needed support to medically fragile students.  The special education teachers meet with their students and families on minimum of once per week and may meet up to twice per week depending on their needs.  Waterford Unified also supports the charter with SELPA support services for qualified students.  The teachers are fully credentialed special education teachers.

 

The education specialists meet with their student's weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depended on the needs of the student.  Additional courses are offered at two learning centers where students may attend to receive additional tutoring or to take elective or advanced courses.  As evidenced in the database, elective courses are accessed in various community locations in the 8 county service area. Students who need intervention or additional support are assigned an additional educational support specialist that will meet with him/her as needed to provide additional instruction.   

 

The structure of the charter provides each Education Specialist a budget of instructional funds that may be used for curriculum, computer technology, additional tutorials, elective courses, etc. to serve each of their students' needs. Many families already have computers, but for students who do not have computers, and if funds are available, students are provided a computer for use for their educational school activities. CW has established a site-based computers at each learning center and the Waterford office for use in the instruction of several of these computer-based courses as well as language arts, art, science, history, math and other courses. Because the Waterford site is not regularly used as a learning center, an employee at the Waterford site stated to the Visiting Committee the computers are "hardly ever" used by students. The survey reflected that 92% of the students have access to a computer and 83% have Internet access.

 

C-9 To what extent do all students have access to a system of personal support services, activities, and opportunities at the school and within the community?

 

Connecting Waters charter is a family-directed charter school that allows for individualized support of its students.  Because parents seek out this charter, mostly by word of mouth, the parental support is positive with many choosing to get together for group educational activities.  In addition, Connecting Waters sponsors several group educational activities in a variety of locations applicable to growth areas (ESLRs) such as science and history.  This school has the flexibility to be creative in their educational endeavors and allow for additional time to complete projects.  Students also have more time to pursue elective interests such as art, drama, sports, cooking, etc.

 

The premise of the charter is to provide personal assistance to families choosing an alternate educational route for their children.  One method of providing support to students is by the educational staff encouraging and helping students to enroll in community colleges to pursue courses of interest to enhance their educational experience.

 

The charter has a staff of experts to support the instructional needs of its students.  A language arts specialist and math specialist have been added to the team of education specialists to provide additional support to the teachers and parents. The school has a highly qualified staff of teachers serving as the education specialists, credentialed special education teachers to serve the special educational needs, an ELA specialist, a math specialist, and a highly qualified school counselor with a pupil personal services credential.  The students also have access to the local SELPA for additional special educational resources. 

 

Connecting Waters is a community based alternative educational institution.  The charter has two learning centers that are equipped with a variety of resources including a library center, mini computer labs, piano, and offices where education specialists meet with their students.  The charter utilizes community support to provide for the individualized needs of their students.  They utilize a litany of independent providers in order to accommodate for individual educational choices for enrichment and support of each student, such as: PE option(s), Sylvan Learning Center for tutoring, Visual and Performing Arts courses, ROP, etc.

 

The visiting committee commends Connecting Waters for their approach in providing a litany of support services to supplement instruction and resources to their students as well as the highly qualified staff.  However, it appears that not all parent/students are aware of the resources or are unable to attend activities at the learning centers due to distance and it is recommended that an effort to improve communication and availability of support be made for all parent/students.  It is also recommended that additional support be made available to students at-risk of academic failure and who may not have a strong family support system in place. 

 

Areas of strength:

 

-      Strong family support and involvement in the charter

-      Collaboration among parents and education specialists

-      Credentialed education specialists

-      Positive nurturing environment

-      The staff are committed and deeply care about the success of Connecting Waters

-      Variety of educational options

-      Collaboration and networking of families

-      Highly skilled and knowledgeable special education services provider

-      An experienced PPS credentialed school counselor

 

 

Areas of growth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D.            Culture: The school is a safe, clean and orderly place that nurtures learning. Trust, professionalism and high expectations characterize the culture of the school for all students, and a focus on continuous school improvement.

 

The culture of Connecting Waters Charter School is to facilitate individualized learning resulting from parent choice. The structure of Connecting Waters Charter School in Waterford is a public school that serves non-classroom based students.  The central office operates as a conduit of public school resources for individual family and student academic choice. Having designed an initial charter to serve the Waterford community in Stanislaus County, Connecting Waters Charter School serves as an alternative educational resource for the Waterford School District addressing the need of students not being successful in the local school system.  This school solution can be described as a hybrid independent study-home school program.  Waterford is a small community in Stanislaus County and doesn't realize the level of resources necessary to provide alternative education programs. Connecting Waters CS operates three learning centers in the regional communities of Waterford, Ceres and Manteca.

The Executive Director of Connecting Waters Charter School serves as the liaison in coordinating the varying elements of the program serving as a liaison.  The Executive Director explained that the WASC process has been a driving force for the efforts presented to the visiting team and that the emergence of efforts and discussions are on-going.  The charter document itself is not mentioned in the self-study aside from its essential philosophy. The charter document does identify the school's essentials.

 

The pursuit of WASC accreditation exemplifies the desire to align the programs curricular selections, establish a viable program that guides students to various post-secondary options, and provide a guide to developing the best support of maintaining individualized education. School and district administration stated in conversation that the demographics of the student population reflected that of the Waterford School District.  There were no comparison data to support this finding but was referred to in the SARC report.

 

Connecting Waters Charter School parents believe that the home is where a young person's life-long love for learning is established and positive values and beliefs are formed (Self Study: p. 62).  Connecting Waters Charter School home environment, non-classroom based style education, enables students to learn within a safe, secure and orderly environment.  Parent participation is germane to the support of this non-classroom based philosophy.  The visiting team heard this echoed throughout the various discussions with education specialists, parents and students.  Reasons for parents to choose this charter school varied.  It was explained to the visiting team the "ills" of socializing at the public schools with the negative peer influences, lack of personalization, individual pacing, and crowded classrooms were some of the motivational tones for parents to choose this charter school.

 

The school operates over eight counties. The process for acquiring school textbooks for students is routinely done by using the mail system to send textbooks directly to the ESs to provide to their students. Through the established learning centers in the towns of Waterford, Ceres, and Manteca, supplemental instructional materials may be checked out directly by the parent/teachers and students.  These learning centers also offer space for meeting with students, providing academic assistance, accessing technology if none is in the home, connecting to enrichment activities, accessing classroom based instruction, serve as a "lending" library, and meeting centers for school business.  Observation at the Ceres learning center reports a white board display that had the courses scheduled day and time for the facility. Community colleges are used to take courses for advancing students.  This was defined in student and parent interviews.    

 

Technology is used as a management tool.  Internet stability, and habit of use determine the levels of staff communication. This issue is addressed with technology (e-mail) use and the connection to a website that guides parents, teachers and students to school information.  Parents have an opportunity to use allocated resources towards the purchase of computer equipment.  The family maintains a purchased computer until graduation or exit from the program. The tech support is strong in maintaining equipment and software programs. Technology as an educational tool continues to provide opportunities to students. Discussion with the Director of Technology, the Waterford Superintendent, and the Executive Director revealed the use of "Edusoft" software was acquired to assist in a more effective tracking of student performance on the California State Standards and the California High School Exit Exam by establishing benchmarks. Demonstration of the charter school website opened links to "Edusoft" and showed the ESLRs posted on the assessment questions retrieved from the link. The visiting team saw this developing use of technology as a positive of the school.  Student use of technology was reflected in the self-study. A technology survey indicated 92% of the students have computer access and 83% have internet access (Self Study: p 63). Student technology use was not directly observed and only talked about with a few parents.  Parents and Education Specialists indicated that further training in Edusoft would be welcomed.

 

Parents guide, and in some instances lead, the educational process with information delivered by the education specialist.  This collaborative effort allows the selection of educational material for the student. The relationships developed between the education specialist and the families are strong. It was the visiting teams observation that standards aligned material was not emphasized but is currently being addressed. Grade level standards are provided to every parent/student at the beginning of each school year and the benchmark aligned exams are provided and made available to each student throughout the year.

 

oweve

 

 

 

Innovative Educational Management (IEM) provides contracted business services, fiscal, personnel, vendor relationships, and legal services to Connecting Waters Charter School.  Many of the employees describe the IEM and Connecting Waters Charter School relationship as a mutually strong business partnership. The ES Support Director and IEM personnel manager have implemented a plan so that the staff is progressing in becoming NCLB compliant.  This is described in the self-study and through conversation with staff and stakeholders.  The challenge of coordinating the growing program and its proximal region is critical to the success of the program. Communication is critical and is done via e-mail (list serve), newsletters, monthly meetings, website, and through the education specialists to the families.  Through group discussions, gaps appeared to be identified within the communication process.  Needs are reported to the school administration, then addressed as soon as possible.

 

The Education Specialists (ES) are given a budget per student that they serve.  The family in turn can make requests for educational materials that fit the student's course of study.  Although the self-study and parent conversations state the strength of the program is the fact their child's learning style is being addressed, the team found no evidence of learning style assessments or measures being analyzed and connected to the selected resources. The delivery styles observed by the team were one-on-one interaction, demonstration of singing and a lecture at an assembly, and small-group hands-on science lesson.   

           

Areas of Strength:

 

-      Highly skilled and knowledgeable special education services provider

 

Growth Areas:

 

-  There is a need to provide additional training to parent/student in how to utilize technology.

-  There is a need to provide additional support services to those parent/student outside of the center service areas.

-  There is a need to ensure each parent/student has access to a computer with Internet access in order to gain the information about special projects or services offered.

 

Evidence:

 

-      Connecting Waters charter document

-      Administration's quarterly meetings of Connecting Waters Parent Council

-      Connecting Waters profile

-      Connecting Waters and IEM business relationship

-      Test data

-      Connecting Waters website

-      ES Handbook

-      ES Webfiles

-      Observation and committee discussions

-      Interviews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E.         Leadership and Staff

 

E-11. To what extent does the school leadership and staff make decisions and initiate activities that focus on all students achieving the expected school-wide learning results and academic standards?

 

Findings

The school reports that Connecting Waters Charter School's leadership team consists of the executive director, faculty, students, staff, and parents who work together to shape and promote the culture of the school. It is also reported that the school administration and the parent council promotes the culture and vision of the school, empowers the staff, ensures parents and staff involvement, and encourages ongoing communication and assessment. It is reported that the school administration and the parent council make decisions about the allocation of resources, in collaboration with Education Specialists (ES) and parents, to ensure that the established expected school-wide learning results and academic standards are achieved.

 

The school's leadership team works closely with key members of various stakeholder groups to shape and promote the school's culture and vision. The leadership team reports that regular assessment procedures are in place to examine students' learning results in connection with state standards through Edusoft.   It is reported that the ESs in collaboration with parents use a variety of methods and strategies to instruct, coach, and assess all students. The learning records and portfolios include samples of students' test results which are used to make decision at Connecting Waters.  The school is governed by the Parent Council, which consists of 29 parents with students in the school. The assessment folders contain standards assessed by the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), the CELDT, CST, and the STAR by which the leadership team made a major decision, that the two areas of critical need were mathematics and reading/writing, although the test results did reveal that Connecting Waters students performed better in English than mathematics. Another area of focus is to increase the number of students taking the standardized test by encouraging parents to allow their youngsters to participate in the testing process.

 

The Executive Director encourages staff involvement in instructional planning, goal setting, and implementation of standard based curriculum and instruction as related to the ESLRs, as well as the development of rubrics to assess them. She actively works with the school leadership team and the school parents to promote the school's vision for learning results and instructional goals. It was reported by the leadership team that the benchmark results from Edusoft formed the basis for the development of rubrics for the evaluation of standards and ESLRs. It was observed by the visiting committee that the process of developing and using rubrics an integral part of the ongoing operation of Connecting Waters is in the emerging stages. 

 

It was observed that the Parent Council and the Executive Director work in partnership with Innovative Education Management to oversee budgetary matters.  Leadership at Connecting Waters promotes a means for a full continuum of services for our identified special education students.  They are all monitored throughout the school year for accountability and achievement.  Special education youth are encouraged to participate in standardized testing or alternative forms of assessment based on their individual needs.  Goals and objectives for a student's IEP are developed based upon California State Standards.

 

E-12 A qualified staff facilitates achievement of the academic standards and the expected school-wide learning results through a system of preparation, induction, and ongoing professional development.

 

E-13 Leadership and staff are involved in ongoing professional development that focuses on identified student learning needs.

 

Findings

It is reported that each Connecting Waters student is assigned to an ES who is certified by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Connecting Waters and/or IEM may hire additional certified and non-certified personnel to assist in providing supplementary instruction, management and support services.  It is reported that all Connecting Waters' staff will have the necessary qualifications, skills, experience and credentials to fulfill their job description.  These documents and job descriptions shall be maintained on file at the charter school and/or at IEM corporate headquarters, and shall be subject to periodic inspection upon request by the chartering authority. It appears that the systemic teacher evaluation process in place was limited. The evidence binder reflected that the teacher and other credentialed staff evaluations are conducted at the employee's 6 month employment date, then once a year thereafter. None of the teachers interviewed clearly stated the process.

 

It is reported that Connecting Waters provides a formal system to share and build staff expertise.  Once hired, teachers participate in an initial online training program.  This program includes an IEM philosophy video, 12 other training videos on various aspects of the school program, and 14 phases to be read and tested, which cover attendance, learning choices, learning records, portfolios, purchase orders, computers, curriculum and seven other categories related to an ESs job responsibilities.  Each phase has several subcategories to read and comprehend.  For example, learning records are a vital part of an ES's job.  Phase four covers learning records.  Within that category, a teacher reads about learning record policy and procedure, high school learning records, learning records do's and don'ts, checklists, growth areas/subject guides, Bloom's Taxonomy and other topics related to learning records.  All the information needed by ESs to enter learning records for their students into the school's webfiles is available in a clear, concise, step-by-step format in the ES Handbook, which is used by ESs continually throughout their employment as a reference for all aspects of their work.  The ES handbook, available to ESs on the Connecting Waters website, contains information on many other aspects of an ES's job, and is updated on an ongoing basis.  All information covered in training that is not covered in the handbook (such as information on different types of curriculum and individual learning styles), is also available at the website for reference as needed on the Curriculum webpage.  All information in the ES Handbook and at the website is also available to parents. ESs at Connecting Waters did not refer to content of the extensive written professional development plan identified in the self-study. Monthly meetings were referred to as a mode to communicate and opportunities to introduce concepts and resources. But through discussion, there were no references to strategic implementation with coaching, and process checks.

 

In addition, an ES advisor is assigned to each ES to answer educational questions during and after the initial training. Advisors serve as an ongoing resource for all ESs, and provide information and support.  ESs can refer to their advisors regarding any issues which may arise in the course of performing their job, and the advisors in turn have access to a wide variety of resources and support personnel to help them provide needed answers and information to ESs. The support system for ES is provided on an ongoing basis. 

 

E-14 The school leadership employs a wide range of strategies to encourage parental and community involvement.

 

Findings

It is reported that Connecting Waters was developed in response to parent and teacher requests.  Our most significant collaboration, by the very nature of our design, is with our parents who partner with us to be fully involved in their children's education.  Connecting Waters offers parents support and options to teach their children in ways that they believe their children learn best.  It also requires that the parents have a strong stake in the education of their child.  Part of that partnership includes teachers and parents as well as administration collaborating extensively to provide enriching community learning experiences using all available community resources. This happens to be one of the strength of the school.

 

It is reported that over the past year, the executive director has developed several strategies for bringing the parent community together and facilitating communication. One, the parent list serve, like the ES list serve, delivers important information by e-mail about upcoming events from the staff or other parents.  The online bulletin board has also been developed so that parents can discuss various issues of concern. Other networking activities provided for families include back to school night, open house, new parent orientation, quarterly parent council meetings and GEAs (group educational activities). Networking activities, which school families have created, include student craft activities, monthly musical recitals, etiquette training for students involving parents as judges and the end of the year school picnic. All of these events were well attended.

 

Each month our curriculum department has made training meetings available for parents, which we call Parent Monthly Curriculum Trainings (PMCT).  This past year we offered them only in our two largest counties, Stanislaus and San Joaquin.  In the 2004-05 school year, the training meetings were offered in other counties in response to the WASC initial visit recommendations.

 

 

 

Areas of Strength:

-      Qualified teachers assigned to assist parents in all aspects of teaching and learning

-      Advisors provided to mentor ESs on an ongoing basis

-      A variety of personalized assessment tools used for evaluation of various test results

-      Multiple measures are used when evaluating individual student achievement

-      Curriculum adaptation based on one-on-one conferencing

-      Full range of special education services offered

-      Initial training program for teachers

-      Monthly and annual meetings, handbooks, Edusoft, CTAP some professional development, guided by the professional growth plan.

-      Area Facilitators provide additional networking and arrange time and location of the  monthly meetings

-      ES and Parent list serve, bulletin board, networking opportunities, monthly newsletter and training workshops provided

-      Governing board comprised of 29 parent members

-      Regular reporting of progress to the Parent Council

-      Website and School Accountability Report Card

 

Growth Areas:

-      Aligning and addressing State content standards as an integral part of ES's responsibilities

-      Establish clear benchmarks and strategies to assess state standards

-      Development of rubrics for evaluating student work and provide workshops for ESs and parents to learn how to use quality rubrics.

-      Need to increase the number of students taking the standardized tests to 95%.

-      Increase the capacity of the students to do well on the test.

-      Assure all students are exposed to the UC, A-G curriculum requirement.

 

Evidence:

-      Connecting Waters charter document

-      Administration's quarterly meetings of Connecting Waters Parent Council

-      Connecting Waters profile

-      Connecting Waters and IEM business relationship

-      Test data

-      Connecting Waters website

-      ES Handbook

-      ES Webfiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F.         Vision and Purpose:  The school has a clearly stated vision or purpose based on student needs and current educational research, and the belief that all students can achieve at high levels.  Supported by the governing board and the central administration, the school's purpose is defined further by expected school-wide learning results.

 

Connecting Waters Charter School has an established logo (a Bengal Tiger splashing through water), and a vision statement "Making Parent Choice a Reality Today." The logo image is displayed on the central office wall as you enter the office located in Waterford, (refer to front of report for image).  Parent participation is established through the nature of non-classroom based education for their children. All parents are guided by education specialists to meet the academic direction and need of the student.  A parent council serves as the decision-making body and guides the Executive Director to connect and manage the activities related to the program.   The vision statement is highly recognizable as the philosophy is steeped in the culture of the school.

 

The mission states "The mission of CWCS is to Empower a community of parents, students, and teachers to create learning opportunities which will develop accountable, responsible, and contributing members of society who are independent, life-long learners." The mission statement is posted on the school website and at the school office and both Ceres and Manteca Learning Centers where it was in evidence of observation.

 

The charter school was established on June 28, 2002 to serve K-12 students seeking a

non-traditional educational setting.  Connecting Water's parents, students, ESs and administration believe that the best learning occurs when curricula is tailored to an individual student's learning styles, one-to-one teaching is used as appropriate and real life context-based learning is emphasized.  Connecting Water Charter School subscribes that learning occurs best when there is supplemental enrichment through classroom instruction, independent learning, group educational activities, apprenticeships and appropriate uses of technology.  Traditional school is viewed as one aspect of education. Connecting Waters Charter School also believes that the entire community serves as the school campus.  Although measurements were taken, the visiting team found no evidence of student learning style data being used to determine educational material selection. Currently teachers find out how the student learn best in interviews with the student and parent and will order curriculum accordingly. Further training using PLS to address learning styles is being addressed. One-to-one instruction was apparent throughout the program, reflected through the funding mechanism and student records.  Supplemental enrichment was demonstrated through art displays, music performances, group educational activities, community events, small group hands-on instruction, assemblies and student interviews.  The charter document was evident in the self-study in its mission statement and philosophy.

 

Written in the school's charter, it is identified that an educated person in the twenty-first century as a person who is literate, can understand and function sufficiently in the world around them, has an overview of the history of mankind, has an understanding of United States political processes, has an ability to solve mathematical problems, can think scientifically and has the values necessary to enhance the world in which they live.  This person has realized their own unique educational interests, talents, or abilities, whether it is in the arts, sciences or other areas.  It is the goal and vision of Connecting Waters to help students become educated individuals who are intrinsically motivated to learn, and who have diverse, yet well-developed interests. In view of the vendor list, it is apparent families have a wide variety of curriculum textbooks to select. Flexibility in delivery of curriculum and meeting schedules gives families options and contribute to the choices in how their child(ren) are instructed. Inquiries were made to the School Counselor and several Education Specialists regarding the Charter components, and aside from the vision statement and signing of the charter summary by parents, members did not articulate connection of the charter document to the mission or the process.

 

Connecting Waters has reported that, by participating in real-life context-based activities in the community, students learn to apply knowledge and learn new skills.  It also allows them to see themselves as part of a community.  When students participate in cooperative school programs comprised of small groups at one of Connecting Waters' two school sites or in classes within their community, they receive not only supplemental enrichment, but also an opportunity to demonstrate social skills.  Connecting Waters' governing board (comprised of parents) and administration, feel all student's skills, goals and interests are assessed in a variety of ways to ensure suitable modalities in curriculum are provided to meet their individual needs.  Guidance by qualified teachers further enables families to acquire resources and develop an individualized learning plan. The evidence for these areas was expressed in discussion and did not appear to be recognizably defined with parents who were not ESs and students.  The management repeatedly stated that request for participation by parents was difficult given the proximity and variance of schedules from families.

 

Keeping in mind the vision for Connecting Waters students to achieve high academic standards, administration, parents and the teachers have identified two subject areas needing improvement, which are mathematics and reading/writing. Through discussion groups, Education Specialists and the Executive Director have stated that they support the selected subject areas for improvement.  The data reflects that English language Arts are strong in delivery and improving as reflected on the SAT9/CAT6 and the CAHSEE results for 2002 - 03 and 2003-04.  The school has not reached the testing threshold for participation on the state standardized tests.

 

By way of management, a strong partnership is identified through the discussion and revelation of audit documents, full charter funding allocations, budget development, special education operations, and staffing credentialing.  This strength ion partnership provided a core of operations that is highly supportive on improving the day-to-day and long term goals of the program. Innovative Education Management, The Waterford School district and the Connecting Waters Charter School demonstrate a sense of accomplishment in maintaining the charter's philosophy.

 

 

 

Areas of Strength:

 

 

Growth Areas:

 

 

Evidence:

-      Connecting Waters charter document

-      Administration's quarterly meetings of Connecting Waters Parent Council

-      Connecting Waters profile

-      Connecting Waters and IEM business relationship

-      Test data

-      Connecting Waters website

-      ES Handbook

-      ES Webfiles

-      Staff interviews

-      Student/Parent interviews

-      Discussion with partners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part B - School-wide Strengths and Critical Areas for Follow-up

School -Wide Strengths:

 

I. Individualized, Home- based instructional focus

 

II. Parent/School Connections

 

III. School Services

 

IV. Communications

 

V. Management

 

 

 

Critical Areas of Follow-Up:

 

    I.     ESLRs The visiting committee recommends that the development of the ESLRs be re-visited in a way that involves the representation of all stakeholders and reflects the true nature of the school's vision and purpose by:

 

-      Developing a system to increase the knowledge and understanding of the purpose of the ESLRs

 

-      Revisit, analyze and alter ESLRs as appropriate, to reflect the characteristics of the charter.

 

-      Developing an assessment tool to provide evidence of the attainment of the ESLRs ensuring that they are embedded into the school program

 

 

      II.     Action Plan The action plan is a vehicle by which school improvement can be monitored, analyzed, and modified throughout the next six years.  The visiting committee recommends that the action plan be adjusted to reflect key elements of the self-study findings such as:

 

-      A systemic staff development plan to improve student achievement.

 

-      A plan to address the implementation of the various assessments and how they are being monitored and integrated into the school program for the purpose of informing instructional practices based on data

 

-      A plan to assess and evaluate instructional resources to ensure alignment with the California State Academic Content and Performance Standards.

 

        III.     Curriculum The visiting committee recommends that a systemic process be developed to increase the capacity of both Education Specialists and parents to critically analyze curriculum and instructional materials to ensure alignment with the California State Academic Content and Performance Standards and the school's identified ESLRs.

 

        IV.     Testing The visiting committee recommends that a plan be developed to raise student participation in the STAR assessment to the state mandated rate of at least 95%

 

 

      V.     Communication The visiting committee commends the school's efforts in providing information to the stakeholders via technology and the Education Specialists and recommends that the school evaluate the effectiveness of and continue to improve the existing communication system so that all stakeholders will have equal and timely access to information

 

 

 

Chapter V:  Ongoing School Improvement

 

-      Include a brief summary of the school-wide action plan.

 

The Connecting Waters Charter School presented a school-wide action plan within the self-study that reflected three goals:

 

Goal #1:  Improve Student Achievement in reading and Writing,

Goal #2 Improve student achievement in Mathematics, and

Goal#3 Increase STAR student participation Rate.

 

The Action plans are adequately written and placed in a matrix-format that makes it user friendly. There is evidence of commitment to the plan as a Math and an English specialist were hired as defined in Goal #1 and #2 for additional support. Connected to the Action plans are defined ESLRs, tasks, responsible persons, resources, means to assess improvement, a timeline, methods of reporting, and costs. Results from goal number #3 should be reflected on the state standards testing this year to adjust efforts accordingly.  The action plans are feasible, school-wide communication of these goals are not strongly evident in discussion.  The timeline is realistic as many of these efforts have been initiated.

 

Existing factors that will support the school plan are the hired subject specialists, credentialed staff, strong Special education support and a developing guidance plan through a credentialed counselor.  The Parent Council is informed and anticipates the reports regarding the results of the applied supports and the outcomes on the state standardized tests.  Other supports come in the way of applying tools such as kaleidoscope (learning styles tool) addressing the resource list to make it user friendly for families identifying specific subject resources and learning style connections.  The development and use of Edusoft to track student performance and to regulate benchmark exams that direct the student to perform and acquire the necessary rigor to increase performance on the State standardized tests.

 

The biggest impediment to improvement is to blend the philosophy of school choice- individualized learning with student proficiency on the state standardized tests.  The second most challenging impediment, given the proximity of the programs region, is the school-wide communication efforts regarding resources and results regarding the level of progress. With the monitoring efforts of administration, the current action plan is current to the need of achievement.  Identifying the ESLRs as common ground is not evidently communicated and sets forth the concern of articulation.  The administration has committed the resources and has taken the initial steps of the action plan.  The strongest driving force is the charter school renewal in 2007 given the mandated legislation in charter law regarding student performance.