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Board Priority: Curriculum Development and Support <br />Unit Lesson Design and Unit Lesson Purchases: This request also supports Goal 1 of our <br />strategic plan. Teachers and students deserve a well - articulated and defined curriculum. <br />Without a well - defined curriculum, effective lesson planning occurs less frequently and student <br />learning expectations can vary among teachers and across schools. With the foundational <br />training and continued training in UBD (described above), some of our teachers have begun to <br />develop unit lessons and common - formative assessments. Developing excellent unit lessons <br />takes time, collaboration, and focus. While these activities can sometimes be scheduled during <br />teacher work days or at common planning times, we need to move at a quicker pace. We are <br />requesting funding to provide release time or summer stipends for teachers to dedicate <br />concentrated blocks of time to the initiative. We may also purchase some exemplary units to <br />complement what our teachers create. In total we are requesting $30,000 for this work next year. <br />Board Priority: Supports for Students and Equity <br />Equal Opportunity Schools Support: Our ongoing work and Goal 2 of our strategic plan has <br />focused on the elimination of the achievement gap. One of the strategies, Strategy 2.3 seeks to <br />create support systems and opportunities for typically under- enrolled segments of the student <br />population to advance to Honors and AP level classes. Two of our three comprehensive high <br />schools (ECHHS and CHS) began this work with a grant 2 years ago. We have seen increased <br />enrollment and increased success in minority student participation in AP courses at these <br />schools, however, we need to sustain the work. We have requested funding for these schools to <br />provide stipends for counselors and teachers to advise and support minority students who are <br />taking or are interested in taking an advanced level course for the first time. We will begin to <br />support this effort at Chapel Hill High School next year with the remaining grant funding. <br />Change Middle School ISSpositions to become Positive Behavior and Student Support <br />Specialist: We have requested funding to support students at the middle school level. We <br />previously reported data that demonstrates minority students are disproportionately disciplined <br />and suspended. We are recommending to change the In- school Suspension (ISS) position at the <br />middle school level to be a Positive Behavior and Student Support Specialist. This position <br />would still be responsible for ISS, but an important focus will be to keep kids out of ISS or from <br />being suspended from school. The position is aimed at creating a positive behavior culture at the <br />school and helping kids recover after a mistake. This position would work closely with <br />classroom teachers, school administration, counselors, social workers, and other student services <br />professionals. <br />Counseling Program and Mental Health Review: Goal 3 includes a strategy that calls for <br />external program review for one major program area each year. Due to budget limitations last <br />year, we delayed our Guidance and Mental Health program review. It remains a priority to <br />review this program area and make recommendations for improvements to support all students. <br />1 -4 <br />