Rachel's+Page

__﻿Performance Improvement Intervention Project__

The organization that I plan to develop this project for is the school system that I am currently employed with. The school system is Meriwether County Schools in Greenville, Georgia. I chose to use my own organization because their are some performance gaps that are clear to me, du﻿e to the lack of technology resources. This small town in south east Georgia was founded by David Meriwether in 1826 (Meriwether County Schools, 2010). Soon after a small school was created in the city of Greenville and about one hundred students attended. The school was held at a church and was considered to be "the best literacy school in the county"(Meriwether County Schools, 2010). The schools have of course developed greatly since. There are now two high schools, two middle schools, and three elementary schools in Meriwether County Schools.

Meriwether County Schools vision is  //**"In Meriwether County Schools the core value is doing what is right for students and student learning. Teachers care enough to do whatever it takes to make the difference for every child. High expectations for each student are demonstrated in every class, every day, and are supported at home. Learning experiences are highly engaging and motivating, frequently utilizing instructional technology. These are planned within the Learning-Focused framework and are based on the Georgia Performance Standards. Inclusion is the norm. How well students are learning is monitored using evidence of learning folders, performance assessments, benchmarks, and standards-based grading. If students aren't learning, supports outlined in the academic pyramid of interventions are implemented. Teachers, students, parents, and community members are proud of Meriwether County Schools. All students aim high, achieve, succeed - and graduate ! Why? Because it is the right thing to do for children ** " (Meriwether County Schools, 2010).//  ﻿ This organization has the goals and efforts to create the best for their students and their learning. But the lack of resources causes great obstacles for the students and teachers alike.

The lack of resources is mainly due to the statistics and lack of income in the area. The commercial income of Meriwether County is $259,660,000 where the average county in the state of Georgia's commerical income is $1,137,478,868 (2011 Georgia County Guide, 2011). This statistic alone causes a great difference in funding to the school system. There is very little local funding to Meriwether County Schools, it is all state funding. Therefore, there is a lack of funding to this school system compared to the other counties in the state of Georgia.

This organization would like to see all schools meet adequate yearly progress. Currently five out of the seven schools are meeting adequate yearly progress (GA Department of Education, 2011). Meriwether County School system is ranked 159 out of 164 districts in the state of Georgia (Schooldigger, 2011). Unity Elementary School is ranked 930 out of 1176 elementary schools in Georgia (Schooldigger, 2011). These rankings are based on CRCT scores.

__Module 2__ __﻿The Performance Gap__

The current problem that exists in Meriwether County schools, particularly Unity Elementary, is student academic achievement due to the lack of funds for resources. There is performance gap between African American, Caucasion, and students with disabilities that it clearly evident (Schooldigger, 2011).

The cause of this problem is clearly due to the socioeconomic status of the county and the lack of tax dollars in the county. There is very little commercial income which equals very little school funding. The school's are completly funded through state money versus the county supplementing the education systems funding. This gap of funding exists because there are not many commerical buisnesses present. The buisnesses that are present are Piggly Wiggly, banks, and convenience stores.

﻿__Module 3__ __Three Intervention Strategies__

Here are three different intervention strategies to close the performance gap that currently exists in Meriwether County Schools. These strategies are based on cost.

__The Low Cost Strategy __ This strategy is designed to meet the minimum needs to solve the performance gap. In order to gain more funds to provide the resources needed for our students, we must receive more funding. An easy lowcost strategy to go about this would be to require the schools to do more fundraising and using the money to purchase resources needed for their particular school. This may only be a temporary solution depending on the fundraisers and the leadership to implement this strategy.

<span style="color: #ff6900; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">__The Medium Cost Strategy__ <span style="color: #ff6900; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This strategy is designed to resolve the problem over several years. A medium cost strategy that would resolve this problem over time would be to require various staff members working at the board office to write two grants a month. If these employees were required to do this there would not be a need to hire a grant writer. This would not only save money but also gain the money for the resources needed. These students do not have text books, computers, or a curriculum. How are they to succeed without a curriculum?

__<span style="color: #ff6900; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">The High Cost Strategy __ <span style="color: #ff6900; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This strategy would be the highest cost strategy to solve this issue but it would allow for more flexibility and could resolve this problem entirely. In order to receive more funding, hire a full time grant writer. A person that is a certified grant writer and knows how to find the funds needed. With the full funding needed these schools can have the text books, computers, curriculum, extra tutoring services, and supplies needed. With these resources they will be able to close this performance gap and push these students to succeed in not only their studies but also in their lives.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿Due to my groups feedback and my opinion, I feel that the high cost strategy would be most effective with this scenario. It would resolve the problem and it would not require any other faculty or staff members to have to take on another task to their already busy schedules. This would benefit all students, at all schools, and eventually close the achievement gap along with increasing the graduation rate.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿__Module 4__

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I chose the high cost strategy for the most effective intervention. This is because the other two strategies would not completely resolve this issue currently present in this school. The low cost strategy is proposing that the school does more fundraisers and one hundred percent of the profits goes towards the resources needed. This is not a very effective strategy because it is only a temporary fix. Yes, it may be the lowest cost to the school system but it does not fix this issue at all. The funds that could be raised in a school year by selling items, doing festivals and benefits may not profit as much as it may take to put on these types of fundraising efforts. This strategy could also end up not being a very low cost intervention due to this fact. The medium cost strategy will eventually solve the problem. This intervention proposes that faculty members are required to wrie two grants a month each. This would eliminate the need for a grant writer and possibly result in a large amount of funding. However, this strategy would take time to implement and for it to become successful.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Therfore, I chose the high cost strategy. The high cost intervention proposes that a full time professional grant writer be hired. This is a member of the staff that is very common in other nearby school systems, such as Coweta County Schools and Heard County Schools (Georgia Department of Education, 2011). However, this school system lacks this member of their staff. This strategy would provide more reasonable results in a shorter period of time because someone is focused on this aspect of funding at all times. Yes, it is the higher cost strategy but it also will resolve the problem easier and quicker. There are many strengths to hiring a grant writer and one in particular is that the job will get done on time and correctly (Fritz, 2011). Having current employees write grants may hinder their current job responsibilities and the grants still may not be written and submitted on time. Professional grant writers also know how to write grants that will benefit non profit organizations, they are certified in this (Fritz, 2011).

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">My chosen intervention strategy best meets the organizational goals for the performance gap by providing further technology resources and curriculum to close the performance gap between African Americans, Caucasions, and students with disabilities. Emilie Simmons of California State University states that,"...technology enhances education and is becoming increasingly essential to learning. Student development of basic academic skills improves with the use of technology, especially for at-risk students" (2010).

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">After conducting several interviews with employees of Unity Elementary, one stated that "A full time grant writer would greatly benefit this county by providing resources to our teachers and students." Another employee stated that, "A full time grant writer would help the entire school system in many ways, but I do not see the county spending the money for a full time grant writer at this point in time." They all were in an agreeance that it would open more doors to learning and would increase these students likeliness to succeed.

__<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿ __ __<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿Module 5 __ __<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Financial and Budget Information __

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">According to [|www.payscale.com], an average professional grant writer's salary is approximately $32k-$52k annually. The salary would be determined by years of experience.

[]

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿This would be the only expense to the school system each year. However, with this new hire the benefits will save the school system approximately $65,880 in computers alone for Unity Elementary. That is for 120 new Dell computers for this elementary school. Two computer labs with thirty computers in each, and two student computers per classroom would be the perfect amount of computers to bring this school up to date.

[]

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿Another expense that would go along with this intervention would be software for the computers and technology support to install them. The software that would be a valuable purchase that would help close the acheivement gap with standardized testing is Classworks.

[]

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿Classworks is a computer software program that aligns with Georgia Performance Standards. It is formatted in a game like setting, so that the students are not only learning but they are also having fun. It has over 10,000 searchable activities and has a full suite of assessments for educators ([|www.classworks.com]). It is also proven to show gains in academics schoolwide.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This website shows one GA school's goal and results from using Classworks. []

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿The price of classworks is on a school by school basis and it costs the same for 1 student to use it or for 1,000 students to use it. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">﻿However, if the grant writer is successful this may be paid for by a grant also.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">The approximate time for the technology department to install these computers while handling other tasks would probably be two weeks. This task would be included in their salary, however the extra time they are using to put the effort into this task is what would cost the school system.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Budget

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Full Time Professional Grant Writer approximately= $40,000 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Technology Department, approximately two weeks of work =$6,000 <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Based on the average technology employee making an average of $36K annually.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Total= $46,000 initiailly and $40k annually.

__<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Project Assessment __ <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">The progress of the students after receiving the up to date computers and the software Classworks, will be monitored by the CRCT state standardized test that is given every spring. After the results are received they will be compared in depth to the previous years scores, taking into consideration the poverty levels and the racial differences. The progress will also be able to be evaulated before the CRCT test by the students grades in the classroom. After the first semester, we will be able to compare their grades with their previous effots to see if there is an improvement. The MAP test that is also in place currently with our school system is another indicator that we can use to evaluate progress. This test is given three times a year.