Margaret

Title of Your Performance Improvement Intervention  Rocky Hill High School toc

**Problem Summary**
With the recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards by the state of Connecticut, English teachers at Rocky Hill High School are overwhelmed by the level of writing proficiency learners will be expected to demonstrate, specifically learners in General level courses. Most of the learners at the General level scored below the state’s goal in writing as measured by the current state standards and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test administered in March 2011. Though a correlation between the current assessments used by the state and the new standards is not yet available, commentary from the Connecticut Department of Education suggests that the expectations are rising. Research in the area of writing instruction suggests that frequent writing opportunities coupled with specific strategies, goal setting, and timely feedback are the most effective means of improving both student writing and self-efficacy. The RHHS English department needs to improve both its instructional and formative assessment practices in General level composition courses. Additionally, English faculty members need to achieve greater consistency in scoring assessments to better differentiate instruction and ensure that all students can effectively communicate in writing at a level on par with the state's goal.

** Background of Organization **
Built in 1980, Rocky Hill High School is located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut and serves its community members by providing 9th-12th grade education to approximately 785 students.

In May of 2011, the high school was awarded continued accreditation by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (Allison, 2011); however was placed on warning status in the areas of Standards for Curriculum and Community Resources for learning. To improve curriculum, the Rocky Hill Public School district has begun curriculum revision using A Balanced Curriculum approach. While still in the early stages, curriculum in all disciplines is being aligned to the recently adopted Common Core State Standards and will include a scope, sequence, and common assessments which will better enable faculty to use data to evaluate the effectiveness of their instructional strategies and practice. Also new to the district is the adoption of Google Aps for Schools. This technological addition has provided students (as well as faculty and staff) e-mail accounts, data storage, as well as file sharing capabilities. Though still in its early stages, the district is laying the foundation for 21st century learning environment.

School documents that will be useful in developing an intervention to the above stated problem would include: district budget, Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) results, SAT results, and student records.

General information about Rocky Hill High School is made available to the community on the school’s website: [].

Rocky Hill High School’s annual reports (including those already listed above) and other public relations materials are available on the district’s public website (__ http://www.rockyhillps.com)/ __ and or intranet site. Non-published materials, including memos and working papers can be accessed directly at the high school and/or district offices.

** Stakeholders and Decision Makers **
The primary stakeholders addressed by this intervention plan include the learners in General level composition courses and the English department faculty at Rocky Hill High School. However, it is expected that parents, town officials and residents will obtain secondary benefits.

Instrumental to the successful implementation of the proposed intervention are: Principal Mario Almeida, Assistant Superintendent (and Curriculum Coordinator) Marian Hourigan, and the faculty members of the English department. Input from faculty and students will also be essential to better understand current instructional decision-making practices and attitudes toward writing and the writing process and to evaluate the success of the proposed intervention.

What is the gap between where the organization currently is and where they want to be regarding the problem stated? States as the following:  **History.** Start writing immediately after this level 3 heading and describe the history of the organization you are working with. You will include a paragraph briefly introducing your three intervention strategies here and then explain each in more detail. Share which of your three intervention strategies you selected to propose to the organization. Describe the strengths and limitations of each of the strategies you selected. Share why the intervention strategy you selected is more likely to resolve the problem than the other two. Include data from documents provided by the organization, interview data, or other information gleaned from the Web to support your choice. Share the strengths and weaknesses of each of the two intervention strategies you didn’t select. Describe why you rejected it supporting your decision with data and sound reasoning. Write one paragraph for each of the rejected intervention strategies. Demonstrate how your chosen interview strategy best meets the organizational goals stated in the performance gap in Module 2.  Project management techniques: Explain your role as project manager for this intervention strategy. Resource management techniques: Describe the resources that will be used for this intervention and how they will be tracked. Delivery system management techniques: Identify the medium for the delivery of the intervention strategy and how the technology will be implemented within the instructional context. Information management techniques: Describe how information related to this intervention strategy will be stored, accessed, and processed. This may include information that l be used for evaluation of the intervention. Write an introduction here. Supporting documentation for your budget, including links to Web sites where purchases can be made and the costs of implementation.  Describe the formative evaluation plan you will use. Include your formative evaluation instrument in an Appendix.  Describe the summative evaluation plans you will use. Include your summative evaluation instrument in an Appendix.
 * Performance Gap: Cause Analysis **
 * Actual Current Performance. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Describe the current situation that includes the identified performance problem.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Desired Performance. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Identify would the performance look like is the problem were resolved.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Performance Gap. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Explain the difference between actual and desired performance. The Gap is what will be solved by your intervention.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cause Analysis. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Why did the people you interviewed think this problem developed in their company? Why does this gap exist?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Organizational History and Background **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Goals. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Describe the organizational goals as they relate to the problem you are resolving. Relate this to the gap you identified that is the subject of your PII
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mission and Vision. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> What is the mission of this organization? Describe the Vision of the organization. Most organizations have adopted a mission and vision statement that provides a foundation for the decisions that are made.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Three Intervention Strategies **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Low end intervention. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Write your explanation here in sentence form.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Middle end intervention. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Write your explanation here in sentence form.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">High end intervention. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Write your explanation here in sentence form.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Justification for Intervention Strategy **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Manager’s Many Roles **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Manager as Change Agent **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Financial and Budget Information. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tentative budget for your intervention strategy, along with supporting documentation; consider technology purchases, personnel training, additional support, and other considerations specific to your proposal.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Project Assessment. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Describe how the project objectives will be evaluated.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">All references you used to develop your PII should be included in this list. Please remember to use APA 6th formatting for your references. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">You will also use hanging indentations for your references as shown in this example.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendices ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">NOTE that you may not need all of the Appendices listed below. Select the ones that are relevant to your project and include that data to support your work. Letter your appendices in the order they are referenced in your document. Each Appendix will begin on a new page. All of you will include Appendices A through E. Select the other topics and include them as relevant. You will letter the Appendices in the order you mention them in your paper, once you decide which ones you will use.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix A: Formative Evaluation Instrument <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix B: Summative Evaluation Instrument <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix C: Interview Questions <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix D: Interview Transcripts or Summary <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix E. Budget <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix ?: Detailed and appropriate technical information for implementing your intervention <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix ?: Layout sketches, if relevant <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix ?: Specifications of equipment and purchases <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix ?: Data charts and graphs, as relevant <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Appendix ?: Resources that support your proposal