Carson Middle School
Eagles don't just survive. We THRIVE!
Rigorous and Engaging Instruction
High levels of rigor and student performance are expected outcomes for all Colorado Academic Standards.
School leadership consistently monitors the implementation of the Colorado Academic Standards and curriculum resources.
Instructional staff implements a standards-based system of instruction in all content areas that informs how student learning is measured.
Instructional staff implements a tiered system of support and intervention in response to student learning needs.
Instructional planning is collaborative and includes the use of highly effective instructional strategies and technology. (Teachers attending AVID SLI- Denver 2022)
Instructional planning engages students in authentic, relevant, and meaningful learning experiences.
What does this look like at Carson Middle School?
Addressing Student Academic Learning Needs
Academic Tiered Systems of Support- Read 180
One of the main priorities for the 2022-23 school year was to align our work to address learning gaps and reintroduce student specific skill sets that were impacted during the pandemic. The work of our PLC communities and data reflection- allowed teachers to identify a significant decrease in student essential skills, social emotional coping strategies, and foundational academic needs (reading, writing, mathematics). To begin the process of rebuilding it was determined to restructure our reading interventions (2022-23) through a new roll out of the READ 180 intervention program. In addition, it was determined for the 2023-24 school t a Mathematics intervention system wll be implemented and built into the master schedule to support student academic learning needs. The READ 180 program was a tremendous success as seen by the following updated data.
2022-2023 READ 180 Data Update
READ 180 Growth Measurement- Students are assessed by the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) and will take the SRI periodically to compare pre-test and post-test scores. Students will show 50-100 points growth in their Lexile score from pre-test to post-test by the conclusion of the READ 180 course.
Carson Middle School used August and September to assess common formative assessments in their respective grade level ELA classrooms. Through analysis of this data and our vertically aligned content PLC schedule/set up- our teachers identified 30 students that they determined qualified for our READ 180 program.
From October to current the following data is indicative of the success of our program.
● The initial Lexile score of students was 437.
● The current Lexile score of students has increased to 592. This is an average change in score of 155 points.
Common Academic Language/Equity for Student Learning
AVID- Achievement Via Individual Determination
AVID at Carson Middle School offers targeted support to both teachers and students. The program prioritizes WICOR skills and strategies (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading) that are designed to support high school, colleage, and post secondary readiness for students. The AVID Site Team is comprised of teacher leaders across the school who are AVID trained and exceptional in their field. They routinely engage in AVID program evaluation, school-wide needs assessment, and planning through the use of targeted AVID school-wide initiatives. For the 2023-2024 school year Carson Middle School will have a 7th and 8th grade elective course offering where student essential skills will be demonstrated in tutoring, service learning, and representatives of Carson Middle School in multiple venues throughout District 8. In addition, as an AVID schoolwide initiative Carson Middle School will be offering an AVID Basics course that introduces AVID strategies in regards to organization, executive functioning, and foundational WICOR skill sets for our students. This will primarily be offered in our 6th grade electives options and will be used as a support intervention to help student increase targeted skill sets.
Update 2022-23 AVID Student measurement
AVID Elective Student Measurement- All AVID elective students will be measured based on an Attendance, Behavioral, and GPA rubric. Goal- AVID Students attain 92% higher attendance rate, represent less than 5% of student behavioral data, and have a Semester cumulative GPA of 2.8 or higher (including a 2.0 or higher in one stretch/advanced class).
Progress:
● 2.86 GPA
● 93.4% Attendance
● .09% Behavioral incidents
Standards Based Grading- Under Construction
Authentic, Relevant, and Meaningful Learning Experiences
Robust Course Offerings
During the 2021-2022 school year student provided us feedback on what meaningful and relevant learning experience look like. Based on their input our course offerings tripled in selections- including an exploratory model and advance pathway track.
Update Student Interest Course Offerings 2022-2023
Increased elective course selection through student interest scheduling systems. This schedule added a third elective period to the daily schedule that aligns with high school career pathways and reflects ten new course offerings. These course offerings will provide fifteen new classes, and approximately 350 students seats to previous electives course offerings at CMS.
Progress Update:
● All elective course requests at 80% capacity based on student course selection data.
● August 2022- New elective course seating capacity/per student request ratio. Eight new courses offered= 350 classroomseats/401seats filled. 115% full capacity.
● 2023-2024 - Course offering design changeor sixth grade students (Exploratory) and advanced pathway design for seventh and eighth grade students.
Student Voice/Student Testimonials
Update 2022-2023
576 students responded during the spring student climate survey. This data reflects a signficant change in student perspective on school where 83.6% of students find value in what they are learning at CMS. Although, this is a great indicator of student interest, we are still working on new ways to reach the 16.2% of students that are not finding value, interest, or have not found their pathway at CMS.