Federal Programs School Improvement Plan Overview: ESSA requires that an eligible school operating a schoolwide or targeted assistance program must develop a comprehensive plan that is designed with the involvement of teachers, principals, parents, etc. The plan is developed around a comprehensive needs assessment. The plan should be implemented, regularly monitored, and revised as necessary. The plan is based on students’ needs to ensure that students are provided opportunities to meet the challenging State academic standards.
Alabama State Department of Education School Improvement Plan Process: The Federal Programs Coordinator and/or central office designee should ensure that all components of the ACIP are complete, including the applicable Schoolwide and Targeted Assistance Diagnostics, which are found in eProve Diagnostics and the school plan. The Central Office must provide feedback to the schools before approving the schools’ ACIPs. Final approval from the central office can be done verbally or in writing to the schools. ALSDE Office of School Improvement may have additional ACIP requirements for schools in Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) or Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) status. Unless otherwise noted, all references to ESSA in this document refer to the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. The plans should be monitored and evaluated throughout the year. It is a working document that can be adjusted as needed. Schools should complete a thorough evaluation at the end of the year.
Schools are required a strong ACIP Committee/Leadership Team in Place. This team must include the following: teachers, administrators, other appropriate school staff, students (secondary school), parents, and other appropriate Community Members. Schools are not required to “submit” their plans to Federal Programs for approval. Federal Programs can view the plans at any time by logging into the eProve platform. CSI schools will have a different procedure for submitting their plans to the Office of School Improvement. As a reminder, schools must include any federal dollars that are being spent in their yearly plan. Funding should connect to an objective, critical initiative, or activity within the plan.
Baldwin County Federal Programs Process: Federal Programs monitor the schools to ensure completion of all school improvement plans (ACIP) and the Alabama State Department of Education requirements for ACIP components. ACIPs are developed within the eProve platform as required by the ALSDE. School plans align with the District Strategic Plan as voted on by the Baldwin County Board of Education. This alignment results in all schools having the same Objectives, Critical Initiatives, and Key Measures. School leadership teams, as required by the ALSDE, individualize school plans through Strategic Activities. The Strategic Activities are more specific and developed annually with the intention of targeting needs identified through the annual Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA). Title I school budgets reflects how funds are utilized to support the activities to meet the identified needs and are accounted for in the ACIP. Every school completes the Implementation Plan with all the mentioned components. Schools are required to complete a mid-year review and end-of-year evaluation of the school improvement plan. The mid-year reviews provide school leadership teams the opportunity to make changes to the plan if current data indicate a need for revision within the school year. The evaluation phase allows for school leadership teams to make pertinent information to make informative judgments of the effectiveness of the plan. Completed school improvement plans can be accessed through the front office of each school as well as school websites.
