Curriculum

Curriculum at Intercoastal High School

Where are we now?


 * 1) Currently, the students at Intercoastal High School have an eight period class schedule. We have twenty-six academic courses and thirty-five electives (arts, music and physical education).
 * 2) In the classrooms, there are 13% of teachers who are teaching outside of their certification. And that percentage has increased from 2009 to 2011.
 * 3) The graduation rate has dropped continuously from 2009 to 2011. From 87% to 71%. And we have a drop in students attending school and the percentage attending school has dropped 7 percentage points from 2009-2011. Currently 80% of students are attending school. That means about 760 students are not showing up to school. Where are they going?
 * 4) Due to major budget cuts over the past three years, all advanced placement courses have been eliminated, as has the schools AVID and ROTC programs.
 * 5) Intercoastal H.S was designed as an Open School. So classrooms are modeled after the one-room schoolhouse concept.
 * 6) According to the FCAT assessments, the percentage of students scoring proficient or higher has dropped with the exception of reading for the last three years. And we have conflicting data about the percentage of students making learning gains. One paints the picture of a school in trouble and another piece of data is a school sinking. Which is the accurate picture?

Information from the Principal's List:
 * 1) There is limited integration of technology in the classroom.
 * 2) Currently the high school does not have a formal subject area or grade level course of study or curriculum.
 * 3) We are battling low expectations from the students, teachers and the community. Everyone's parents work at the mills and their children will have the same future.
 * 4) In the past three years the school grade has fluctuated from a C, to a D and back to a C.

Where do we want to be in the long term?
 * 1) I would like Intercoastal High School to be place of enriching activities and student-centered learning. I would like the course load of the student to lessen so that they are not crammed with information. Perhaps limit the course load from 8 periods to 6. Or even 5? It would limit the number of electives they would have, but they would spend more time in their classes, and it would lessen their homework burden.
 * 2) We need to have teachers who are qualified to teach in their subject areas. Perhaps create a timeline for teachers who are teaching outside their certified areas to get the proper certification they need. Or even hire more teachers.
 * 3) Increase our graduation rate, perhaps ask the community for help and advice. What isn't Intercoastal H.S doing?
 * 4) We need those higher level classes and if our focus is to engage student and help them to become leaders in their community, then our focus should be take budget and revise it so that we have classes that broaden the student horizons.
 * 5) We have this Open School concept and in the long-run I would like to abandon it because I do not think it is beneficial to our students.
 * 6) I would like to raise our FCAT scores, but I do not agree with getting into the whole high-stakes testing game. Intercoastal High School is a place for whole-student learning and making our teacher focus on raising reading and math scores by intense drilling is not the way.

Goal Statement for Curriculum:

At Intercoastal High School, we believe in the full-academic potential of every student. Every teacher and member of faculty is committed to the intellectual, emotional and social growth of the students at IHS. We strive to create a curriculum the promote higher-order thinking, problem solving and reasoning through differentiated instruction in constant collaboration with parents. Our students, through continuous reflection and self-inquiry, will become culturally aware of the ___ around them and become the compassionate leaders in our community and beyond.

How do we make this happen?

Ideally we would like to solve all these problems, but I do not think it is possible especially in the short term. I think we need some short term goals and then build up on those success towards long term goals. In the long term, I would like to have Intercoastal High School to be everything we have in the goal statement for the curriculum, but what goals can we focus on the short term (first 1-2 yrs since our change) and then long term (3-6 yrs)?

Set of objectives designed specifically to accomplish the goal statement
 * 1) Re-align teachers so that they are teaching within their field. For those not certified in their area of expertise, a professional plan must be estalished where certification is earned within 3 years.
 * 2) Increase school grade to a B in two years.
 * 3) Establish and communicate revised diploma tracks to include a college prep/scholars program of AP and Honors courses, a standard program that could include both challenging and regular level classes, and mandatory community service hours.
 * 4) Target special services needed for students with learning difficulties.
 * 5) Using a vocational aptitude assessment tool, such as ASVAB, determine highest percentage of interest and include needed courses towards that interest (engineering - Physics and AP Calculus; health services - Anatomy and AP Biology)
 * 6) Teachers will integrate technology within their instruction. Evidence of this integration will be required during teacher classroom observation.
 * 7) Intercoastal will design existing facilties to provide optimal learning environments.

List of specific action oriented activities designed to accomplish each objective
 * 1) Re-structure master schedule so that teacher assignments are alignment with their area of certification. Work with uncertified teachers in developing their professional plans to include coursework, in-service training, or PEC
 * 2) Develop overall 9-12 curriculum guides for every discipline to include goals for graduates, vertical and horizontal teaming, units of study, objectives, critical thinking focus, technology focus, and formative assessments. Develop departmental curriculum groups.
 * 3) Implement a Career Research mandatory class in 9th grade that includes career interest inventory, college requirements, and career/college preparation goals. Organize a college fair and career shadowing for interested students.
 * 4) Hire exceptional education specialist to coordinate special services. Include Intensive Reading, Intensive Math or other remedial courses for struggling students.
 * 5) Hire a technology specialist to both train and maintain current supply of equipment. Install existing interactive boards, projectors, etc in classrooms.
 * 6) Ad hoc committee including community design and construction professionals. End result -hire an architect to redesign existing space to include interior walls, modern furnishings, and up-to-date equipment. Contractors to install networking, sound barriers, address storage issues.
 * 7) Ad hoc committee to examine instructional program, addressing ideas for advanced classes and additional elective courses.
 * 8) Conduct a survey of parents and students to inquire what changes they would like to see in terms of added classes
 * 9) Modified block schedule - 6 or 7 periods. Expansion of electives

An assignment of responsibility and authority for each activity.
 * 1) Principal/AP - master schedule and teacher assignment
 * 2) Department Head - to lead curriculum group in the compilation of curriculum guide
 * 3) Exceptional education specialist - ensure RTI initiatives are developed for targeted students, teachers - tutoring sessions,
 * 4) IT Coordinator - staff training, maintenance and installation
 * 5) Facility ad hoc committee
 * 6) Academic ad hoc committee

Identify and allocate resources to accomplish each activity Process and identification of the individuals to be responsible for monitoring the progress toward accomplishing the action plan objective
 * 1) Committee sponsored Grad Night to honor graduating seniors.
 * 2) Committee sponsored College Night-Invite colleges and universities to show life outside of the mill

Process and individuals who will both present and receive feedback on the progress toward accomplishing each objective

Timeline for the accomplishment of each objective
 * 1) Fall - parent/student survey, formation of ad hoc committees
 * 2) Spring - committee recommendations, master schedule, class registration, bids and contracts complete
 * 3) Summer - construction, curriculum guides, AP Summer Institutes, staff development

How the plan will be introduced to the school community and how it will have visibility that represents an open and public process
 * 1) A Beginning-of-School Night