TIES/School Goals

Tools of Inquiry for Equitable Schools (TIES)
The new district accreditation process is multifaceted and involves periodic site reviews as well as quarterly reviews of progress on components of the TIES Portfolio. Under the TIES model, each school develops an accreditation portfolio to be reviewed throughout the year by the district. The portfolio documents the school’s progress on goals in the areas of student achievement, equity and organization. The Horizons Lead Teacher and the TIES team set goals and action plans for continuous school improvement.

Horizons TIES Goals for 2007-8
Equity
The staff and students of Horizons K-8 will narrow the achievement gap in writing between special education students and all students as measured by the CSAP writing scores in grades 3-8. The weighted index score for special education students taking CSAP in writing will increase from 78, as established in 2007, to 83 in 2008.

Achievement
The staff and students of Horizons K-8 will improve the achievement of all students in the area of reading over baseline and over time. The weighted index scores for all students taking the CSAP will increase from 106, as established in 2007, to 110 in 2008.  Other assessments, such as the SDRT, QRI, and individual student assessments will be used to create a body of evidence to measure this improvement.

Organization
The staff and students of Horizons K-8 will develop and exhibit a deeper understanding and acceptance of behaviors that promote the physical and emotional safety of all students. In the area of harassment, student responses to the following Climate Survey questions will increase, over baseline and over time, for students in grades 3-5, "I have not been called hurtful names or made fun of at school this year,” (49% in 2006, 64% in 2007) and "At school I have not heard students threaten to hurt someone or take their things,” (48% in 2006, 71% in 2007.) For students in grades 6-8, "Other students help if they see someone being bullied or harassed,” (33% in 2006, 39% in 2007) and "At school, I have not said hurtful things to another person,” (46% in 2006, 45% in 2007.) On each of these responses we will see an increase of at lease 7% in 2008.