Introduction
Spring Road Elementary School has not been performing as expected and needs a concrete improvement plan to achieve its goals. The schools’ initial step to understanding the unique challenges in conducting a need assessment. A Need assessment is a unique and indispensable tool that schools can use to understand the exact problem in an institution and offer an amicable solution to it (Klein & Schwanenberg, 2022). The absenteeism rate at Spring Road Elementary School is a formative assessment result and has been rising from 4.6% in 2017 to 10.2% in 2020 (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2021). The increased nonattendance implies that the declining performance is partly due to it.
Discussion
The summative assessment shows the general academic performance of the selected students. Equally, the graduation rate is an example of summative results, which shows the transition from the twelfth grade to institutions of higher learning. Spring Road Elementary School report shows a graduation rate of 52.4% (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2021). The rate insinuates that almost half of the students do not perform well in their exams to warrant graduation. The Spring Road Elementary School further lacks a framework to deal with students with special needs and those with financial disadvantages. The school can improve its academic performance if the student’s needs are addressed. Failure to identify and address unique learner cases may jeopardize performance.
SMART Goals
Engaging students in the learning process motivates and increase their critical thinking capacity, which improves their performance. When students are actively involved in the learning process, their level of curiosity, passion, optimism, interest, and attention rises (Jie et al., 2019). Consequently, the knowledge transfer rate increases, and the students perform better as absenteeism is reduced. When students are curious to learn in the next lesson, they will communicate any hindrance to their class attendance which is then addressed and solved on time. The engagement goals cover a broad spectrum of academic, personal, social, and school engagement to make students realize their special talents.
Conclusion
To conclude, once students know their unique features and roles in the school and community, they will perform better. The key SMART student engagement goals for Spring Road Elementary:
- Through the creation of communication platforms, student-teacher contact will be enhanced both within and outside of the classroom throughout the 2022–2023 school year.
- Students will be involved in personal engagement and SWOT analysis to understand themselves concerning the world and find their place.
References
Jie, Z. L., Ying, Z., & Zhao, M. Z. (2019). The correlation between students’ mathematics learning engagement and their academic performance in junior high school. Journal On Education, 2(1), 205–219.
Klein, E. D., & Schwanenberg, J. (2022). Ready to lead school improvement? Perceived professional development needs of principals in Germany. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 50(3), 371-391.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (2021) Spring Road Elementary Neenah Joint Report Card, 2020-21. Neenah Joint, Wisconsin: Public Report.