Campus Improvement Plan

Comprehensive Needs Assessment

Demographics

Demographics Summary

1. Panda Path serves a high poverty community with approx. 98% of our students economically disadvantage who qualify for free/reduced lunch. The majority of our students are English Learners and speak Spanish as their first language; however, we have seen an influx of new immigrants who speak a Mayan dialect.  Most of our students qualify as     "at risk" of not graduating from high school.
2. We started a PK3 year old program in the 2016-2017 school year as a mid-year pilot. In 2018-2019, we proceeded to implement the program for the full year and added an additional classrooms of students due to increased enrollment after the school year  started.
3. Panda Path currently has the following units:

• 2.0 PK3 classes:
  • 1 ESL/Mainstream sections 
  • 3 Bilingual Spanish sections
• 2 ESL/Mainstream PK4 classes
• 5 Bilingual Spanish PK4 classes 
• 1 ECSE class

Demographics Strengths

In 2021-2022, We enrolled 173 students, an increased from the year before and above the projections by 12 students. Parents in our community are worried about their child's education and are starting to bring them to school after the pandemic. We hope to see an additional increase in enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year.

In 2020-2021, we offered 2 classrooms of our PK3 program and 7 classes for our PK4 program which is an increase due to the previous year class sizes. Specifically, our bilingual PK4 classrooms were all full at between 24-26  students.

Our PK3 program began the 2016-2017 school year with two sections, 1 ESL/Mainstream and 1 Bilingual Spanish, but we doubled our enrollment during August 2017 registration and added two more sections for a total of 1 ESL/Mainstream section and 3 Bilingual Spanish sections. In August 2018, we had a waiting list so we added an additional teacher and opened an additional PK3 Bilingual classroom.

Two of our ten teachers were new to Panda Path in 2020-2021. 10 out of our 10 teachers are experienced early childhood teachers. Our families experience crises that would be expected of those living in high poverty, but we have family support in our social worker, our family University class, and a we have large number of community partnerships such as the Spring Branch Family Development Center. In 2018-2019, we opened additional open lab time in our parent center. As a result, we saw increased parent participation and engagement on campus. We continue to have a robust parent volunteer program and a number of community   partnerships.

Problem Statements Identifying Demographics  Needs

Problem Statement 1: Panda Path enrollment has been between at 71% (150) to 82% (173) of the school capacity. It dropped due to the Pandemic two years ago and we have not been able to get back to our capacity (210 students) Root Cause: Parents keep their child home for fear to contract the Corona Virus. Parents do not have transportation to bring back and forward their child to the PK3 program. Parents do not do not have all vaccines and documents needed for enrollment. Parents do not know Panda exist. Apartments do not allow yard signs in their property. Parents know PK is not mandatory so they keep their child  home.

Problem Statement 2: Students lack foundational development in oral language, vocabulary and social emotional development when they enter school for the first time (3 or 4 years old) Root Cause: Social economic challenges, homeless status, recent emigrant status, mobility rate, one parent home who works multiple jobs, limited interaction with other   members of the family, lack of education at home.

Problem Statement 3: Teachers have difficulties reaching some parents to discuss student academic performance, attendance concerns or student and/or parent participation in    school activities. Root Cause: Some students come from a single parent home where the parent work long hours to provide for the family Students living with relatives because their parents have been deported or are in jail Parents change their address and phone numbers often due to economic hardships

Comprehensive Needs Assessment

Student Learning

Student Learning Summary

PPS PK4 CIRCLE Literacy Assessment Campus & District Average at End of Year 2021-2022

• Rapid Letter Naming - Campus: 90% & District: 89% 
• Rapid Vocabulary - Campus: 87% & District: 79% 
• Early Writing - Campus: 96% & District: 94%
• Social Emotional- Campus: 97% & District: 95% 
• Math- Campus: 89% & District: 91%

PPS PK4 CIRCLE Literacy Assessment Campus & District Average at End of Year 2020-2021

• Rapid Letter Naming - Campus: 85% & District: 87% 
• Rapid Vocabulary - Campus: 78% & District: 72% 
• Early Writing - Campus: 75% & District: 92%
• Social Emotional- Campus: 96% & District: 89% 
• Math- Campus: 79% & District: 88%

PPS PK4 CIRCLE Literacy Assessment Bilingual & Mainstream Average at End of School Year 2018-2019

• Rapid Letter Naming - Bilingual: 83% & Mainstream: 79% 
• Rapid Vocabulary - Bilingual: 78% & Mainstream: 79% 
• Early Writing - Bilingual: 93% & Mainstream:  89%
• Social Emotional- Bilingual: 93% & Mainstream: 84% 
• Math- Campus: 83%

PPS PK4 CIRCLE Literacy Assessment Campus & District Average at End of Year 2017-2018

• Rapid Letter Naming in English - Campus: 69% & District: 84% 
• Rapid Vocabulary - Campus: 55% & District:  49%
• Story Retell and Comprehension - Campus: 93 & District: 89% 
• Book and Print Knowledge - Campus: 89% & District:  89%

Student  Learning  Strengths 

School year 2021-2022 Academics:

• In Literacy:
  • 90% of our students performed at the On Track level in Rapid Letter Naming (2020-2021  CIRCLE)
  • 87% of our students performed at the On Track level in Rapid Vocabulary Naming (2020-2021 CIRCLE) 
  • 96% of our students performed at the On Track level in Writing (2020-2021  CIRLCE)
  • 97% of our students performed at the On Track level in Social Emotional (2020-2021 CIRCLE) 
• In Math: 89% of our students performed at the On Track (2020-2021  CIRCLE)

 
Growth:
PK4 areas showing growth comparing End of Year 2020-2021 to End of Year 2021-2022:  

• Rapid letter naming increased by 5 percentage points from 85% in 2021 to 90% in  2022
• Rapid Vocabulary increased by 9 points from 78% in 2021 to 87% in  2022
• Early Writing skills increased 21 points from 75% in 2021 to 96% in  2022
• Social Emotional increased 1 point from 96% in 2021 to 97% in  2022
• Math increased 10 points from 79% in 2021 to 89% in  2022

Closing Gaps:

• Gaps in performance in the Circle assessment widen between Bilingual and Mainstream/ ESL students as   follows:
• Rapid Letter Naming - Bilingual: 87% ESL: 97% -Mainstream students outperform Bilingual students with 10 points difference 
• Rapid Vocabulary - Bilingual. 84% ESL: 97% -Mainstream students outperform Bilingual students with 13 points difference 
• Early Writing - Bilingual. 95%  ESL: 100% -Mainstream students outperform Bilingual students with 5 points   difference
• Social Emotional- Bilingual. 98%  ESL: 93% -Bilingual students outperform Mainstream students with 5 points   difference

School year 2020-2021 Academics:

• In Literacy:
  • 85% of our students performed at the On Track level in Rapid Letter Naming (2020-2021  CIRCLE)
  • 78% of our students performed at the On Track level in Rapid Vocabulary Naming (2020-2021 CIRCLE) 
  • 75% of our students performed at the On Track level in Writing (2020-2021  CIRLCE)
  • 96% of our students performed at the On Track level in Social Emotional (2020-2021 CIRCLE) 
• In Math: 79% of our students performed at the On Track (2020-2021  CIRCLE)

Growth:
PK4 areas showing growth comparing End of Year 2019-2020 to End of Year 2020-2021:  

• Rapid letter naming increased by 2 percentage points from 82% in 2020 to 85% in  2021
• Rapid Vocabulary Stayed the same from 78% in 2020 to 78% in  2021
• Social Emotional increased by 3 percentage points from 93%  in 2020 to 96% in  2021

Closing Gaps:

• Mainstream students increased from 80% to 96% in Rapid Letter Naming (CIRCLE 2020-2021) 
• The gap between Mainstream and Bilingual meeting benchmark (Reading) was only 3%   points

Problem Statements Identifying Student Learning  Needs

Problem Statement 2: Teachers have difficulties reaching some parents to discuss student academic performance, attendance concerns or student and/or parent participation in school activities. Root Cause: Some students come from a single parent home where the parent work long hours to provide for the family Students living with relatives because their parents have been deported or are in jail Parents change their address and phone numbers often due to economic   hardships

Problem Statement 3: Teacher instructional quality, efficacy and skills vary across campus as shown in EOY student performance data. Root Cause: Teachers are learning new curriculum and instructional techniques. Diverse years of professional practice and lack of quality bilingual teachers available for hire. EOY expectations are evolving and there is a need to align our practices and rigor to meet new  expectations.

School Processes & Programs

School Processes & Programs Summary

Instruction

We believe that Every Child has limitless curiosity and the ability to achieve their highest potential. Our goal, Spring Branch T-2-4, drives Panda Path’s vision to ensure student success.   Panda Path is a place where students are challenged, and where they form the understanding that school is a great place to   be!

• We are committed to meet every child’s unique needs through individualize instruction (small groups). 
• We utilize multiple data points to drive our targeted and purposeful  instruction
• We are dedicated to demonstrate college-ready performance by meeting all Prekindergarten targeted academic and social emotional benchmarks. 
• We are determined to close any achievement gaps in order to best prepare our students for Kindergarten   readiness.
• We teach bell to bell and maximize instructional time to ensure all our students receive quality   instruction.
• We are committed to follow a set schedule designed to guarantee quality time and instruction at Panda for all students regardless of their teacher.

Panda Path values and actively engages parent participation and community involvement in a variety of ways throughout the school year.

Recruitment

1.  All teachers met highly qualified status.
2. The leadership team participates on the hiring process and they have a say in the candidate  selection.
    

School Processes & Programs Strengths

At Panda Path, our professional learning time continues to be instrumental in allowing us to grow together as a staff. Our teachers are highly dedicated and hardworking. Additionally, in 2020-2021 we added the support role of a lead PK teacher, one of our existing Team Leaders, to coach and mentor our staff and lead professional learning. Other programs and supports we provide are as follows:

• Support is provided through team leaders, Lead teacher and district specialists.
• Team planning expectations are put into place to unpack the new curriculum, create rigorous lesson plans driven by data, and embrace collaboration among all team members that include best practices delivering instruction
• Staff professional development and training takes place weekly on Wednesdays
• Classroom assistants and intervention assistants schedule created to support the needs of all students
• Access to Professional Development and vast amounts of resources are available to teachers
• Team and Family school culture

Perceptions

Perceptions Summary

Panda Path is a school for early learning located on the far North side of Spring Branch ISD. The campus serves three and four year old students in Prekindergarten from 3  Elementary feeder schools. Each classroom is lead by a certified teacher and a teacher assistant. Campus languages of instruction are English and Spanish. Free bus transportation is provided to all four year old students. Breakfast and lunch is provided to students at no  cost.

At Panda Path Early Learning School, we strive to provide high quality pre-school learning experiences for 3 and 4 year old students. Our goal is to encourage learning through age appropriate play and exploration in order to help every child become an independent self-directed learner. At Panda Path we believe in developing a strong relationship with parents  and the community to strengthen our ability to provide the best educational experience for our students. Panda Path offers multiple opportunities for parents in our community to get involve with their child’s education through parenting classes, volunteer opportunities and community outreach events. We also work in collaboration with our community partners such as Boys and Girls program, Spring Spirit, and The Spring Branch Health Center to bring the community together to benefit our students and their families. Additionally, we also work in a partnership with parents, students and teachers through the Home/School Compact, which outlines the responsibil ties of each member in order to meet the individualized needs of our students.

At Panda Path, we follow the instructional program provided by SBISD and we follow state guidelines for Prekindergarten. We monitor student learning and track their progress through multiple assessment tools. We are committed to help every child be successful and we will provide additional assistance / Intervention to students who need it. Our teacher work together to plan quality lessons and to learn from each other. Our campus culture is one that allows for teacher’s growth and mutual learning.

At Panda Path, technology is used by students and staff to provide on demand access to information, to increase student engagement, to provide opportunities for students to create products, and to practice skills and apply knowledge. We use technology in our classrooms to deliver instruction through the use of the Promethean ActivPanels and we provide opportunities for our students to use IPADS for additional learning in the areas of Literacy and   numeracy.

Perceptions Strengths

1. Ongoing Professional Development for our teachers: Panda Path offers a variety of opportunities for our teachers to collaborate and develop their knowledge based and teaching skills by providing professional development for our teachers. We offer weekly campus PD for Teachers (2:45-3:30), weekly campus collaborative teams for Teachers (2:45-3:30); teachers engage in data digs, curriculum dives and individual and grade level planning. During planning sessions, teachers share Math & Literacy instructional strategies.
2. Increased number of teachers in leadership roles: Our teachers are empowered to become leaders in their teams and in their classrooms. Some of our teachers have taken the role of mentors to new teachers and they lead their teams during planning and PLC. Teacher's ownership in student performance is shown during PLCs and data digs.
3. Quality Instructional Program: Each day students participate in three learning workshops focused on higher level thinking skills and problem solving: literacy, math, and projects.
   • We maintained a balanced approach to literacy learning by taking each child where they are at the beginning of the year (Beginning of Year Assessment data) and building on their strengths (formative assessment throughout the school year) to help them reach their full potential in early reading and writing (End of Year Assessment data).
   • Our Math Program concentrated on growing understanding of math concepts by laying a concrete foundation for later abstract   thinking.
   • Students participated in class projects that allowed them to apply their recently acquired literacy, math, science, and social studies skills in authentic situations.
4.  Gross motor lab instruction: Students participate in gross motor instruction daily to allow development of their gross motor   skills.
5. Effective use of technology:  We use technology effectively to improve student learning as  follows:

 

1. Teachers use the internet to find research and resources to support their instructional content, planning and implementation. Need to continue to build collaborative networks (i.e. wikis, blogs, goggle docs, campus web page, Lync, Skype, etc.) to share information across   teachers.
2. Students use the apps on iPads and Chrome Books to practice literacy and math skills; generate collections of stories/books;   etc.
3. Students participate in electronic benchmark testing at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year (CIRCLE). Students engage with interactive and responsive software (iStation, ST Math) to practice skills on a weekly  basis.
4. Parents have access to Ready Rosie app 24/7 to practice suggested skills with their  child.

Problem Statements Identifying Perceptions  Needs

Problem Statement 1: Panda Path enrollment has been between at 71% (150) to 82% (173) of the school capacity. It dropped due to the Pandemic two years ago and we have not   been able to get back to our capacity (210 students) Root Cause: Parents keep their child home for fear to contract the Corona Virus. Parents do not have transportation to bring back and forward their child to the PK3 program. Parents do not do not have all vaccines and documents needed for enrollment. Parents do not know Panda exist. Apartments do not allow yard signs in their property. Parents know PK is not mandatory so they keep their child  home.
 

Comprehensive Needs Assessment Data Documentation

The following data were used to verify the comprehensive needs assessment analysis:

Improvement Planning Data

• District goals
• Campus goals
• HB3 Reading and math goals for PreK-3
• HB3 CCMR goals
• Performance Objectives with summative review (prior year)
• Campus/District improvement plans (current and prior years)
• Planning and decision making committee(s) meeting data
• State and federal planning requirements

Student Data: Assessments

• State and federally required assessment information
• Local diagnostic reading assessment data
• Running Records results
• Observation Survey results
• Prekindergarten Self-Assessment Tool
• Texas approved PreK - 2nd grade assessment data
• Texas approved Prekindergarten and Kindergarten assessment data
• Other PreK - 2nd grade assessment data

Student Data: Student Groups

• Race and ethnicity data, including number of students, academic achievement, discipline, attendance, and rates of progress between groups 
• Special programs data, including number of students, academic achievement, discipline, attendance, and rates of progress for each student group 
• Economically disadvantaged / Non-economically disadvantaged performance and participation   data
• Male / Female performance, progress, and participation  data
• Special education/non-special education population including discipline, progress and participation data 
• Migrant/non-migrant population including performance, progress, discipline, attendance and mobility data 
• At-risk/non-at-risk population including performance, progress, discipline, attendance, and mobility data 
• Section 504 data
• Homeless data
• Response to Intervention (RtI) student achievement data

Student Data: Behavior and Other Indicators

• Attendance data

Employee Data

• Professional learning communities (PLC) data 
• Staff surveys and/or other feedback 
• Teacher/Student Ratio
• Campus leadership data
• Campus department and/or faculty meeting discussions and data
• Professional development needs assessment data

Parent/Community Data

• Parent surveys and/or other feedback 
• Parent engagement rate
• Community surveys and/or other feedback

Support Systems and Other Data

• Organizational structure data 
• Processes and procedures for teaching and learning, including program implementation
• Budgets/entitlements and expenditures data
• Study of best practices