Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1)
For the purposes of OAR 581-022-2250 the following definitions apply:
(a) "Aligned with standards" means that the
taught curriculum (what teachers teach), the learned curriculum (what students
learn), and the assessed curriculum (what students are tested on) as identified
through state and national academic standards do not deviate significantly one
from another. This alignment includes four components:
(A) Content match - topical coverage, or
comprehensiveness and level of detail
(B) Depth match - level of difficulty, or
cognitive complexity
(C) Emphasis
match - the relative duration of the instruction about each topic/standard
within a subject
(D) Performance
match - the type of performance required to demonstrate proficiency of the
standard
(b)
"Data-driven" means the use of information available from a high quality data
system to focus decisions regarding curriculum, instruction, staff assignment,
and staff development to promote student achievement through a planned,
systemic program improvement effort.
(c) "Family and community engagement" means a
system of shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies
and organizations are committed to engaging families in meaningful and
culturally respectful ways while families are committed to actively supporting
their children's learning and development.
(d) "High quality data system" means a method
by which teachers and administrators have access to data needed for
instructional and administrative decision-making, one that makes available to
the public appropriate data content and displays and provides for regular
updates to the data, maintenance and upgrading of the system, and training for
key personnel on use and maintenance. The collection and use of data in such a
system would include district-, school-, and student-level data describing but
not limited to:
(A) Instruction;
(B) Accountability;
(C) Demographics;
(D) Achievement; and
(E) Assessment.
(e) "High quality instructional programs"
means that teachers teach knowledge and skills through the use of an
appropriate variety of instructional strategies reflecting best practice and
based on state/national standards and assessments that effectively measure what
the standards require. Such instruction is not universal but is situational
based on instructional context.
(f)
"Long-term professional development plans" means teacher training reflecting
best practice as defined by national standards related to content, process, and
context. Such training supports:
(A)
Continuing advancement of professional collaboration;
(B) Ongoing, job-embedded
experiences,
(C) Standards-based
instruction, and
(D) Continual,
guided reflection on school/student data a part of professional
learning.
(g) "Rigorous
curriculum" means multiple courses of study any one of which will prepare
students to successfully meet the Oregon diploma requirements. These courses
are cognitively demanding and challenging to students as those students apply
the fundamental concepts and skills from various disciplines to real world
problems in complex and open ended situations.
(h) "Safe educational environment" means a
healthy, positive school climate free of drug use, gangs, violence,
intimidation, fear, and shaming, ensuring the physical and emotional well-being
and academic and social growth of every student.
(i) "Service plans for students" means a
system of planned services outlining student educational activities, supporting
students in meeting expectations for one or more content areas and continuing
to academically challenge students who have exceeded expectations in one or
more content areas.
(j) "Short-term
professional development plans" means a component of a long term professional
development plan with a direct connection with one or more of the
following-individual continuing professional development plans; board, district
or school goals; state certification criteria; or other regulatory mandates.
Such plans may be responsive to emerging needs not yet addressed in long-term
professional development plans.
(k)
"Staff leadership development" means practices, policies, and procedures that
create shared leadership opportunities and empower teacher participation in
setting and achieving school goals and policies.
(l) "Strong school library program" means a
planned effort to ensure the instruction of students, school staff, and the
broader learning community in library skills, information literacy, and
educational technology; such a program promotes a rich array of literacy
experiences supporting life-long reading; facilitates collaboration in lesson
planning and instruction; ensures equitable access to library resources and
licensed school librarians; and develops and manages current, plentiful, and
diverse library collections of print and electronic resources that support
classroom curricula and student interests.
(2) Each school district shall conduct
self-evaluations in order to develop and update their local district continuous
improvement plans once every four years. Except as provided in subsection (3)
of this rule, the department may not require school districts or schools to
conduct self-evaluations or to update their local district continuous
improvement plans more frequently than biennially.
(3) Each school district shall:
(a) Submit its local district continuous
improvement plan to the Department of Education once every four years unless
there are substantial changes.
(b)
Notify the Department and update its local district continuous improvement plan
when there has been a substantial change.
(c) Substantial change is defined as changes
to:
(A) School or district improvement status
under state or federal law;
(B)
Student academic achievement;
(C)
Student demographics (including changes in excess of 10% in identified
subgroups);
(D) Instructional
staffing (either counts of personnel or changes in individual staff);
(E) Financial resources available to the
district; or
(F) The district's
goals for student achievement.
(4) The self-evaluation process shall involve
the public in the setting of local goals. The school district shall ensure that
representatives from the demographic groups of their school population are
invited to participate in the development of local district continuous
improvement plans to achieve the goals.
(5) As part of setting local goals, school
districts shall undertake a communications process that involves parents,
students, teachers, school employees and community representatives to explain
and discuss the local goals and their relationship to programs in the
continuous improvement plan.
(6) At
the request of the school district, department staff shall provide ongoing
technical assistance in the development and implementation of the local
district continuous improvement plan.
(7) The local district continuous improvement
plan shall include:
(a) A rigorous curriculum
aligned with state standards;
(b)
High-quality instructional programs;
(c) Short-term and long-term professional
development plans;
(d) Programs and
policies to achieve a safe educational environment;
(e) A plan for family and community
engagement;
(f) Staff leadership
development;
(g) High-quality data
systems;
(h) Improvement planning
that is data-driven;
(i) Education
service plans for students who have or have not exceeded all of the academic
content standards;
(j) A strong
school library program;
(k) A
review of demographics, student performance, staff characteristics and student
access to, and use of, educational opportunities; and
(l) District efforts to achieve local
efficiencies and efforts to make better use of resources.
(8) Each school district shall annually
review and report test results and progress on the district improvement plan to
the community.
(9) Each school
district shall maintain copies of the school and district improvement plans as
a public record.
(10) Each school
district shall submit the district improvement plan to the Department of
Education when requested.
