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Running head: King Danforth Elementary Environmental Scan

Module 2 Assignment 2: King Danforth Environmental Scan Rhonda Singletary May 29, 2009 E7134 Comprehensive Planning and Implementation Dr. Carl Beekman

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An environmental scan helps to determine an organization future position based on current observation. According to Argosy University Online, No educational organization can plan effectively without understanding its environment. This includes both the internal environment as well as the external environment. Educational leaders should scan their organization's environment to understand the external and internal forces that influence longterm and short-term planning. (Argosy University, 2009) In an effort to understand the future of King-Danforth Elementary an environmental scan will be perform to analyze the position of this educational facility to gain insight into the future of the organization.

The Environmental Scan looks at the current state of things like infrastructure, hardware, personnel, abilities, structure, etc. and as the starting point for examining what the organization will need in the future if it is to reach its goals in that area of its business. It makes sure everyone and everything is in place to ensure an effective research and analysis process that will help the organization reach those objectives during the research and analysis process. (Albright, 2004)

Although there are many areas to focus on in reference to an environmental scan, the major focus in this analysis of the organization will focus on the schools parent involvement, performance statistics, school curriculum, and administrative roles.

King Danforth is located in Macon, Georgia. Georgias law mandates that all public schools have an operating School Council. The purpose of the School Council is to bring communities and schools closer together in a spirit of cooperation, commitment, and dedication. The purpose of the School Council also involves forming a coalition of concerned and involved parents and citizens who have a special interest in the effectiveness of the total school program.

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Although the school council is in place in King Danforth Elementary, there is a problem that exists with the actually number of parents who are involved. There have been several programs to bring parent, community and school together. The principal has worked hard to get the community involved by reaching out in the community to local businesses. Dr. Brown has invited businesses into the school during events so that business leaders would feel as though they are a part of the schools community. She has also established a monthly meeting among the school, community, parents and businesses in the area near the school to join each other as each group is invited to the monthly "Lunch and Learn." Each month the Home/School Facilitator conducts a "Lunch and Learn." The "Lunch and Learn" occurs once a month for 1-2 hours where the principal, lead teacher and committee members sit round-table style and talk about whatever the community wants to talk about. Any questions, concerns, or suggestions that the parents or community members may have are discussed. If a question or concern comes up that needs more thought, it is placed on the agenda for the next month so the meeting does not stop its discussion on issues they gathered to discuss until a solution is found that speaks to all of the concerns. The committee attends four meetings before the close of the school year. The meetings are announced at least 1 week in advance, and have an agenda, and the minutes of the meeting are recorded.

Another issue that King Danforth has faced in the past is the issue related to performance statistics. King Danforth is a combined elementary school that merged with a previously all primary school and an elementary school that closed. King has faced consecutive years of not making Adequate Yearly Progress. Due to not making A.Y.P. the state department was sent into the school two years ago to assist the school with rebuilding and restructuring. For the past two years, the school has made A.Y.P.. One of the major changes in the school was the switch to a

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program called Americas Choice the program is designed to help improve the status of the school by following a program that was designed and scripted to lead to success. One of the major focuses of this observation is the way the teachers work together to develop the learning experience of their students. In the past there were not many opportunities for collaboration among the teachers. However, all stakeholders are identified and target areas are being discussed on the grade levels to create implementation steps ,as a grade level, that grade level teams will focus on during the next specified period of time. There is a data room to help keep track of progress as it goes forth, timelines and the persons responsible for the timeline. Educating children in this building is becoming more of a team effort as oppose to the traditional method of individual efforts. This is one of the most important factors in improving the status of the school, as far as A.Y.P. is concerned. The administrators in the building are the Principal, Counselor, Lead Teacher. The Instructional Coach and Math Coach also play an important role in the administering of standards. One of the major roles the Principal play is creating a team that consist of leaders to analyze data such as test scores to see if there are loses or gains. The teachers also play an important role in analyzing the data. Every week the students practice a particular skill during Instructional Focus lessons. During this time the students practice the same skill each day. The students are quizzed on the skill on Thursday. On Friday the students have an enrichment class or remediation based on the results on the mini test taken. The following week the teacher must make notation in a log identifying strengths and weaknesses of the students. The log is kept as a checklist listing the skills Instructional Focus is focusing on each week. The log says Mastered or Not Mastered. In order for this to work effectively the Lead Teacher, Instructional coach and

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Math Coach meet at least once a week with the team of teachers on grade level to discuss how the teacher will implement a plan to reteach skills that students have not mastered.

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References Albright, Kendra. (2004) "Environmental Scanning: Radar for Success", Information Management Journal 38 (3), May/June 2004: p. 38 Argosy University. (2009). Argosy University. Retrieved May 27, 2009, from Argosy University: http://myeclassonline.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=3432396&Survey=1&47=4923978& ClientNodeID=404511&coursenav=2&bhcp=1