Northwest Public Schools, A Culture of Excellence
An exceptional community of learners committed to continuous growth. District Improvement Goal
We will provide a learning environment where all students are highly engaged and demonstrate growth in academic performance in order to be ready for the next stage of their lives. What is Continuous School Improvement?
School improvement is an ongoing process that involves analyzing achievement data, finding strengths and weaknesses, setting goals and implementing a plan to improve student learning. The goal of school improvement is to improve learning. How does it work? Our staff analyze data from multiple levels including performance data from classroom based assessment (unit and chapter tests), screeners/predictors, AIMS-WEB, norm-referenced assessment (NWEA MAP), ACT, and state tests (NeSA ELA/M/S/W) . Along with perceptual data from surveys, observations and anecdotal records. This data is used to draw conclusions regarding areas of strength and need. We review subgroups and patterns over a period of years to determine what is working well and where we need to make significant changes. From these findings our teachers, collaborating with their PLC team and administrators develop goals. These goals are set at all levels including the classroom, school, and district. The goals are monitored by individual teachers, PLC teams, school data teams, the district steering committee and our school board. These goals and the actions, strategies, and programs we put into place make up the heart of our school improvement process. To help ensure that Northwest Public Schools is maintaining a strong an effective continuous school improvement process we participate in the AdvanED review at the high school level and Nebraska Frameworks review at the K-8 level every five years. This process brings in a team of experts from other districts within our state to meet with students, teachers, parents, administrators, and other stakeholders. During their visit they review our entire plan, process, and how it is affecting our school system and the community. At the end of their visit they will provide feedback that will aid in our long term growth as well as offer support should we need it. Northwest High School currently has national accreditation through AdvancED. |
AdvancED School Quality Factors AdvancED’s deep experiential base combined with 21st century perspective on effective schools, led to the identification of seven research-based school quality factors that are the keys to driving improvement. These seven factors are foundational to the School Quality Factors Diagnostic, a tool that can be used by institutions for self-evaluation along their improvement journey. Each of these seven factors has an explicit definition of quality as described here: Clear Direction The capacity to define and clearly communicate to stakeholders the direction, mission, and goals that the institution is committed to achieving. Healthy Culture The shared values, beliefs, written and unwritten rules, assumptions and behavior of stakeholders within the school community that shape the school’s social norms and create opportunities for everyone to be successful. High Expectations An institution’s stated commitment to expectations for all stakeholders, including student learning outcomes, teacher quality, leadership effectiveness, community engagement and parent involvement. Impact of Instruction The capacity of every teacher to purposefully and intentionally create an environment that empowers all learners to be successful and reach expected levels of achievement, including readiness to transition to the next level of learning or career pathway. Resource Management The ability of an institution to plan, secure, and allocate its resources (human, material, and fiscal) to meet the needs of every learner. Efficacy of Engagement The capacity to engage learners and other stakeholders in an effective manner to improve learning outcomes. Implementation Capacity The ability of an institution to consistently execute actions designed to improve organizational and instructional effectiveness. |