About LPS

2008-2009 System Goals

The following three core purposes represent the essential and enduring commitments of the Lexington school community:

- Academic excellence
- Respectful and caring relationships
- A culture of reflection, conversation, collaboration and commitment to continuous improvement.

As such, these three core purposes serve as the basis for the district's 2008-2009 System Goals

1. Ensure that the Academic, Social, and Emotional Needs of Students are Identified and Matched with Appropriate and Effective Curriculum and Instructional Experiences
   
   
Key Indicators:


1. Conduct Year 3 of the K-12 curriculum review processes for Mathematics and Physical Education/Wellness.
   
   
   • Continue to work on finalizing the creation of a clearly articulated, comprehensive, and coherent K-12 curriculum document.
     
     
   • Conduct two all-day meetings with grades 5 & 6 teachers and grades 8 & 9 teachers to discuss the goals, outcomes, and assumptions about student benchmarks at transition periods to insure that grade level transitions into the middle school and high school curricular programs are smooth and seamless (Mathematics).
     
     
   • Continue to address the expressed need for professional development and teacher training in curriculum-specific areas related to content expertise, use of informative assessment.
     
     
   • Conduct an extensive review of various textbook publications and material resources for possible implementation at the 6-12 level (Mathematics).
     
     
   • Work to address the goals of Year 3 of the review process through the four scheduled all-day committee meetings, as well as via sub-committee work.
     
     
   • Project the budget required to fully implement the new curriculum.
     
     
   • Decide whether to pilot or fully implement the new curriculum during the 2009- 2010 school year.
     
     
   • Continue to identify professional development needs to successfully implement new curriculum and train all faculty members appropriately.
     
     
   • Share new curriculum program goals with all stakeholders.
     
     
   • Design and implement interdisciplinary projects that include the new curriculum.
     
     
   • Identify ways that teachers and students can effectively use technology to further new curriculum goals.
     
     
   • Meet with grade-level teams and curriculum specialists to discuss the new curriculum and share best practices.
     
   
   
2. Conduct the year 2 of the K-12 curriculum review processes for Science/Technology/Engineering
   
   
• Develop standards-based benchmark outcomes/assessments consistent with revised curriculum.
  
  
• Based on student performance data, produce the first draft of a K-12 written curriculum aligned with state and national standards.
  
  
• Project the budget required to fully implement the revised curriculum.
  
  
• Decide whether to pilot or fully implement the revised curriculum during the 2009-2010 school year.
  
  
• Plan sustained professional development and consultation for teachers implementing the revised curriculum.
  
  
• Provide lesson-modeling, coaching, and mentoring opportunities for teachers implementing the revised curriculum.
  
  
• Share revised curriculum program goals with all stakeholders.
  
  
• Design and implement interdisciplinary projects that include the revised curriculum.
  
  
• Identify ways that teachers and students can effectively use technology to further revised curriculum goals.
  
  
• Meet with grade-level teams and curriculum specialists to discuss the revised curriculum and share best practices.
  
  
3. Begin to close the achievement gap for Lexington special education, METCO, African- American, and low income students who are not performing at the proficient level.
• Begin implementation of an Achievement Gap Action Plan that will address specific, research-based initiatives that will close the achievement gap.
  
  
• Send a team of K-12 teachers and administrators to the Montgomery County Schools, MD, to learn about the district's practices to close the achievement gap (e.g., school/district data teams, tiered intervention programs, use of PLCs, establishing curriculum benchmarks for each grade). Share best practices with LPS colleagues.
  
  
• Build strong, trusting, and encouraging teacher-student relationships that will contribute to improving student achievement.
  
  
• Strengthen communication between faculty members and Boston parents focused on student learning.
4. Expand the district's capacity to use data to assess programs and student work.
   
   
• Build a "Data Culture" where teachers engage in data teams to assess and analyze student work to plan appropriate interventions.
  
  
• Expand the use of professional learning communities to increase opportunities for teachers to collaboratively assess student work, based on mutually developed performance expectations to include the development and implementation of common, formative assessments to inform instruction.
  
  
• Continue to develop site council school improvement plans that include measurable academic goals.
  
  
• Implement recommendations from the literacy leadership committee, including Response to Intervention pilot at the first and second grade at Bowman.
  
  
5. Expand the capacity of the school system to deliver services for general education and special education students.
• Increase collaboration among all educators and between general educators and special educators in order to provide a coordinated delivery of instruction and learning opportunities for all students.
  
  
• Pilot a new tiered literacy intervention model at Bowman, which will require close collaboration between classroom teachers, literacy specialists, and special educators.
  
  
• Conduct a special education referral analysis to determine when students are referred to special education, the reasons for the referrals, and what types of services are needed (special education or general education).
  
  
• Continue to review and expand service delivery models.
  
  
2. Ensure that the faculty and staff are of high quality and are enabled and supported to perform at the highest professional level.
   
   Key Indicators:
   
   
   1. Support teacher professional development that increases learning and student achievement.
      
      
   • Continue to explicitly link the professional development program to school and district goals.
     
     
   • Support and focus the development of professional learning communities as a way to respond to assessed student needs.
     
     
   • Expand the work of professional learning communities to include the development and implementation of common, formative assessments, K-8, as a tool to inform teaching and learning.
     
     
   • Utilize data teams to assess student progress toward proficiency and plan appropriate intervention.
     
     
   • Provide embedded professional development and other professional development opportunities tied to new curriculum and instruction implementations.
     
     
   • Implement mentor program and coaching program as support for first and second year teachers.
     
     
   • Provide all teachers three hours of instruction by Dr. Robert Marzano, who is an international expert on "effective teaching", at the October 16, 2008, professional development day.
     
     
   2. Provide administrator of professional development to improve supervision and evaluation
      
      
      • Continue to train all new administrators in standards-based supervision and evaluation.
        
        
      • Link supervision and evaluation training to current research on Professional Learning Communities and effective teaching.
        
        
      • Professional learning communities training for eighty administrators and teachers - Summer 2008.
        
        
      • District-level and building professional development focused on professional learning communities, effective teaching, and building common, formative assessments  2008 2009.
        
        
   3. Enhance the district's capacity to utilize technology both as an instructional and administrative tool.
      
      
   • Continue to improve staff technical literacy.
     
     
   • Improve staff's access to electronic information to inform instruction and operations through the implementation of the X2 student information package.
     
     
   4. Foster a more diverse workforce in keeping with Lexington's goal to embrace diversity.
      
      
   • Continue active membership in Affirmative Action Recruiting Consortium.
     
     
   • Work with the district s advertising company to develop marketing strategies that will reach minority applicants through publications that target minority audiences.
     
     
   • Investigate attendance at national and regional diversity conferences and seminars.
     
     
   • Attend local and regional diversity job fairs.
     
     
   • Continue to work with Lexington's Diversity Task Force to identify strategies to attract minority applicants to Lexington
     
     
   5. Continue to improve the safety programs in all schools.
      
      
   • Work with town officials to upgrade the emergency management plans for each school.
     
     
   • Students and staff will practice safety procedures in all schools, based on the revised emergency management plans.
     
     
   • Provide training for all new teachers and administrators on fire safety in all schools.
     
     
   • Implement options to improve school-to-home communication using telephone/electronic-messaging technology.
     
     
3. Obtain and manage the financial resources, which maintain and improve the quality of the educational program and physical condition of our schools.
   
   Key Indicators:
   
   
   1. Continue to implement cost-savings opportunities through the school system while maintaining high quality service
      
      
      • Continue to look for opportunities to reduce costs in purchasing, energy, facilities, and special education.
        
        
      • Review the use of part-time employees, in order to determine ways to reduce fringe benefit costs without impacting the quality of instruction.
        
        
        
        
   2. Continue the focus on maintaining, reviving or establishing basic operational procedures throughout the school system to ensure consistent delivery of operational services.
      
      
      • Develop and disseminate a procedures manual for financial operations.
        
        
      • Continue to use the Superintendent's Bulletin to regularly notify Staff about contractual deadlines.
        
        
      • Revise policies and procedures for renting school facilities.
        
        
   3. Improve the district's capacity to monitor and forecast the school budget.
      
      
   • Continue to develop the district's capacity to monitor all non-appropriation revenues and FY '09 budget recommendation.
     
     
   • Take all other steps necessary to improve budget forecasts, including consideration of special education out-or-district placements.
     
     
   4. Negotiate six labor contracts.
      
      
   5. Improve the information technology infrastructure.
      
      
      • Investigate options for uninterruptible web and email delivery.
        
        
      • Review space allocations for Technology Department.
        
        
      • Update and upgrade the LPS web site look and function.
        
        
      • Prepare a four-year technology plan that identifies the hardware, personnel, and professional development needed to support high quality instruction and administrative uses of data and technology.
        
        
      • Continue working in partnership with Town for the development of a unified telephone system with voice over IP capabilities.
        
        
   6. Continue initiatives started last year.
      
      
   • Fully utilize new software to implement the Facility Department's work order system.
     
     
   • Continue to update energy controls and efficiencies at all schools and monitor energy consumption.