Northbrook Middle will promote a positive school climate by improving by 5% from the previous year for positive student responses in the “Supportive Learning Environment” category of the EES Survey.

At Northbrook Middle, our vision is to cultivate high performing students in a nurturing environment. We know that students learn best when they feel supported, challenged, and engaged. We want our students to feel that they belong and see meaning in their work.

Our student survey data shows that Northbrook students are engaged, but there is room for improvement to meet our goal of “each and every” student performing at their fullest potential. The “Supportive Learning Environment” EES survey theme poses questions to help our staff ensure students feel supported so they can perform at their very best.

Northbrook staff will use Pride Time to support advisement and PBIS lessons on Mondays and Fridays. These 40-minute lessons allow for teachers to work with students on a variety of topics, including student behaviors, student leadership, student goal-setting, social-emotional wellbeing, academic support, and belonging and engagement. Lessons will emphasize teaching and reteaching students how to set goals for success in their classes, how to problem solve, and how to get involved in school and community activities.

Northbrook staff use PBIS and classroom management strategies to support student belonging, engagement, and behaviors.  

Northbrook teachers will use class time and Pride Time to champion our students through enrichment and remediation, providing specific feedback to students about their levels of learning, and connecting their content to real-life applications.

Northbrook Middle will promote a positive school climate by improving by 5% from the previous year for positive student responses in the “Supportive Learning Environment” category of the EES Survey.

Northbrook Middle provides high-quality Tier 1 instruction for all students that includes targeted small groups, grade-level curriculum, ongoing formative assessments, and progress monitoring, resulting in 70% of students with improved placement in literacy and math scores from Fall to Winter screeners (using diagnostic growth report).

Northbrook Middle will provide universal screeners in literacy and math to identify the needs of each and every student.

Northbrook staff will use Pride Time to provide literacy and math support for all students. During 40-minute Pride Time sessions, students at Tier 1 will engage in literacy lessons on Tuesdays and math lessons on Thursdays. Lessons for each are designed using a three-part lesson design in which classes will participate in a whole-group "engage" activity on a literacy or math skill. Students will then participate in skills-based lessons based on individual student needs and screener data. Students will work independently and/or in collaborative groups to work through these lessons. 

Students with Tier 2 supports will receive literacy or math support twice per week during Pride Time (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and will work in smaller class sizes with a certified math or language arts teacher to target skill deficits. Progress monitoring will determine levels of student growth and will determine next steps to support the child's learning. 

Students at Tier 3 will receive support during Connections for 90 minutes every other school day. Language Arts Remediation and Math Remediation classes are available to support students, provide skill-based interventions, and progress monitor growth. 

Administration will provide training to teachers on the MTSS framework and interventions. The MTSS Team will develop checkpoints to ensure that appropriate interventions are in place and that progress monitoring is occurring. Northbrook will have a dedicated staff member serving as RTI/SST Coordinator for the 2023-2024 school year to monitor the effectiveness of the MTSS process.

Northbrook Middle provide high-quality Tier 1 instruction for all students that includes targeted small groups, grade-level curriculum, ongoing formative assessments, and progress monitoring, resulting in 70% of students with improved placement in literacy and math scores from Fall to Winter screeners (using diagnostic growth report).

Northbrook Middle will have zero student groups (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged) that are overrepresented in exclusionary discipline (OSS, ISS) as measured by a student group with a Discipline Disproportionality Index score above 1.2.

At Northbrook Middle, our vision is to cultivate high performing students in a nurturing environment. Our goal is to provide a learning environment that is conducive to teaching and learning for each and every student and to provide consistent, fair, and equitable application of behavior standards in order to promote, teach, and reteach appropriate expectations for positive behavior.  

Our purpose is for each and every student to (a) experience a culture of belonging, where they are cared for, respected, and affirmed; (b) be taught expectations about how to conduct themselves at school; (c) be provided with interventions as part of a multi-tiered system of supports; (d) use disciplinary incidents as teachable moments with responses designed to teach appropriate behavior and self-control; (e) receive behavioral interventions that are restorative and corrective; (f) receive exclusionary discipline as a consequence when behavior disrupts the learning environment and/or threatens the safety and security of the school.  

Northbrook uses a positive-behavior framework to support students. Northbrook staff teach, reteach, and reinforce "PRIDE" behavior expectations: Positivity, Respect, Integrity, Diligence, Excellence. One PRIDE expectation is emphasized each week through the morning announcements, teacher look-fors in the classroom, and a weekly recognition of students who exhibit the targeted behavioral characteristic.

Staff administer the Northbrook Positive Behavior Plan and the district Discipline Handbook in a fair and equitable manner, review student discipline and behavioral data, participate in professional learning, provide students with opportunities to be taught and re-taught behavioral expectations, and improve our restorative practices to help students avoid repeating mistakes. Teachers employ the STEP Plan as a means of teaching and reteaching student behavioral expectations and to avoid students receiving disciplinary referrals. Northbrook teachers use of the Positive Discipline Reflection tool for students after a classroom-managed behavior incident occurs. The reflection tool asks students to identify the choice that they made, the PRIDE focus that was violated, and the consequence that he/she received. Teachers review student responses with the student as part of the teach/reteach cycle. 

Northbrook will participate in full PBIS implementation during the 2023-2024 school year. Staff will participate in professional learning focus on effective classroom management strategies, employing consistent responses to student behaviors, recognizing and acknowledging positive behavior, teaching and reteaching student expectations, and consequences students.

Students will participate in PBIS lessons on Mondays during Pride Time and use lessons to discuss school improvement practices surround student behaviors, teach/reteach opportunities, data review, and student leadership. In addition, students are taught the school-wide STEP Plan. 

Northbrook has an Away for the Day electronic device policy to ensure students are focused on instruction.     

Northbrook administration provides professional learning to teachers on student behavioral expectations. The instruction is rooted in the following vision: “We strongly believe that students have the right to a safe and nurturing learning environment. To support their learning, Northbrook staff will teach and reteach school-wide expectations, rules, and procedures to our students. Our staff will observe and identify problem behaviors and will provide consistent and fair support to students.”

Teachers receive training on classroom-managed and administrative-managed student behaviors. Teachers are trained to employ classroom-managed behavior corrections, including (a) Remind the student of the rule or expectation, (b) Explain the expected behavior, (c) Utilize the school step-plan, (d) Assign the logical and appropriate consequence, and (e) Partner with parents. Additional teacher training included consulting a counselor and/or administrator if the behavior continued and to provide Tier 2 behavior interventions. 

Northbrook administration reviews discipline data monthly and conducts data reviews with grade level teams during monthly meetings.

Northbrook Middle will have zero student groups (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged) that are overrepresented in exclusionary discipline (OSS, ISS) as measured by a student group with a Discipline Disproportionality Index score above 1.2.

Discipline Disproportionality Index is calculated as follows: the percent of one subgroup of students with ISS and OSS divided by percentage of the school enrollment for that subgroup. Any number above 1.0 shows over-representation . Any number below 1.0 shows under-representation. 

Northbrook students will increase by 3% in the combined Proficient & Distinguished categories on End-of-Course and End-of-Grade Milestones Assessments from the previous school year.

At Northbrook Middle, our vision is to cultivate high performing students in a nurturing environment. Our goal is to ensure that each and every student demonstrates mastery of the district and state standards.

Mastery learning is measured in a variety of ways. Northbrook staff use daily formative assessments to measure student learning and to provide enrichment or remediation to support learning outcomes. Our teachers use other assessments, including teacher- created tests and district created assessments, to measure learning outcomes. Teachers analyze these data to improve instructional decisions and to provide interventions to those students who need additional support. 

Across these data sets, “mastery” learning is calculated in four mastery bands: beginning, developing, proficient, and distinguished. Northbrook teachers measure mastery by combining the proficient and distinguished level percentage on formative and summative assessments to measure progress and determine effectiveness. 

Northbrook teachers use Achievement Level Descriptors and Analyzing the Standards tools to ensure that instruction and assessment align to the proficient and distinguished levels of the targeted standards. Teachers work collaboratively to develop standards-based learning targets for daily lessons.

Gradual release is the primary instructional framework for Northbrook teachers. This scaffolding approach is designed to move classroom instruction from teacher-centered, whole group delivery to student-centered collaboration and independent practice. Teachers design lessons that include teacher-led mini lessons, collaborative opportunities for students to practice, and independent work time for students to demonstrate their understanding of the targeted skill and/or content. 

Northbrook teachers create quality formative and summative assessments to measure levels of student learning. Curriculum teams develop assessments collaboratively by analyzing the Achievement Level Descriptors of the targeted AKS. Common assessments include appropriate depth of knowledge and rigor to assess student learning at the proficient and distinguished levels of the standards. Teachers use assessment results to drive future instructional practices.

Teachers and teams analyze results from common formative and summative assessments, district assessments, and Milestone data. Teachers and teams use data analysis to support student learning through differentiation, small-group instruction, and/or reteaching. Teachers and teams use the ATLAS protocol for summative, district, and state assessments. Teachers and teams use student work protocols, standards analysis, and other “quick check” protocols to analyze formative assessment data. 

Administrators attend weekly curriculum meetings to support teachers and ensure alignment to the implementation plan and school-wide non-negotiable expectations. Administrators conduct weekly walkthroughs of classrooms to ensure that instruction and assessment align to the implementation plan and to determine the quality of student engagement and teacher use of formative assessment data. 

Northbrook will use Pride Time for targeted Tier 2 supports for student in literacy and math. Students in Tier 3 will participate in Connections supports. All students will receive Tier 1 support during Pride Time and classroom instruction.

Northbrook students will increase by 3% in the combined Proficient & Distinguished categories on End-of-Course and End-of-Grade Milestones Assessments from the previous school year.

The 3% goal would be calculated by determining the P/D and multiplying the score by 1.03 (ex: 75% P/D x 1.03 = 77.25%).

The percentage of students in grades 6, 7, and 8 will improve by 3% on the “on or above grade level Reading Status” as measured on the End-of-Grade Milestones English Language Arts Assessment from the previous school year.

At Northbrook Middle, our vision is to cultivate high performing students in a nurturing environment. Our goal is to ensure that each and every student is able to read on or above grade level, or is making progress towards on-grade level reading. Reading is the fundamental skill that allows students to access information and to understand the world around them. Strong readers are better able to access content and skills in other subject areas, interpret facts from misinformation, and develop critical thinking skills.

Language Arts teachers collaborate in weekly curriculum meetings and a department to collaborate on instructional strategies to use Quality-Plus Teaching Strategies to promote reading and literacy skills. All Northbrook teachers use Achievement Level Descriptors and Analyzing the Standards tools to ensure that instruction and assessment align to the proficient and distinguished levels of the targeted standards. Teachers work collaboratively to develop standards-based learning targets for daily lessons.

Teachers use gradual release instruction to move classroom instruction from teacher-centered, whole group delivery to student-centered collaboration and independent practice. Teachers design lessons that include teacher-led mini lessons, collaborative opportunities for students to practice, and independent worktime for students to demonstrate their understanding of the targeted skill and/or content.

Teachers create formative and summative assessments to measure levels of student learning. Teachers and teams analyze results from common  assessments, district assessments, and Milestone data. Teachers and teams use data analysis to support student earning through differentiation, small-group instruction, and/or reteaching.  

Northbrook Middle provide universal screeners in literacy to identify the needs of each and every student. Northbrook staff will review Fall and Winter iREADY Reading Screener data to determine the literacy needs of our students. Students who demonstrate a need for reading support will be reviewed through the school MTSS team and offered support through Tier 1+, Tier 2, or Tier 3 interventions.

Northbrook staff use Pride Time to provide Tier 1 students 40-minute literacy lessons each Tuesday. These Pride Time lessons focus on key literacy skill and provide students opportunities to participate these skills at the appropriate level given their needs and screener data. 

Students with Tier 2 supports receive literacy support twice per week during Pride Time (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and will work in smaller class sizes with a certified Language Arts teacher to target reading deficits. Progress monitoring will determine levels of student growth and will determine next steps to support the child's learning. Students at Tier 3will receive support during Connections for 90 minutes every other school day. Language Arts Remediation classes support student reading development, provide skill-based interventions, and progress monitor growth.

Administration provides training to teachers on the MTSS framework and interventions. The MTSS Team develops checkpoints to ensure that appropriate interventions are in place and that progress monitoring is occurring. Northbrook will have a dedicated staff member serving as RTI/SST Coordinator for the2023-2024 schoolyear to monitor the effectiveness of the MTSS process.

The percentage of students in grades 6, 7, and 8 will improve by 3% on the “on or above grade level Reading Status” as measured on the End-of-Grade Milestones English Language Arts Assessment from the previous school year.

The 3% goal would be calculated by determining the P/D for each EOG and EOC and multiplying the score by 1.03 (ex: 75% P/D x 1.03 = 77.25%).