Butler staff offer goals for student progress

A trend for toward improvement in student performance for those in Clinton City Schools continued this week with teams presenting ideas for their individual schools. Among them was staff from Butler Avenue, who detailed updated plan to the Board of Education earlier this week.

“Butler Avenue School is committed to providing a safe learning environment where all students are loved and encouraged to grow into successful members of society,” stressed Butler Avenue teacher Heather Jordan during the presentation.

Those words were the school’s mission statement, the meaning of which, Jordan said, was at the core of their team’s school improvement plan.

Following the same framework as the other city schools, Butler’s plan was divided into goal areas which sought to increase student growth. Reading and math were still the two primary outliers, and parental engagement was also part of the strategy. Along with those was an added emphasis on engaging students with disabilities.

Butler staff said they plan to achieve the desired goals through student collected data from mClass, a digital assessment system that measures student reading and math skills; Heggerty, a program that goes through essential parts of early literacy for the children; and iReady, an online program that aids teachers in personalized instruction for students through diagnostic assessment.

Through those programs, teachers will evaluate student data collected during beginning of year, middle of year and end of year assessments, with the goal of reducing non-proficiency in students during the school year.

For reading, the plan, by June 2025, was to have 82 percent of first graders and 71 percent of second graders to be at our above grade level based on end of year assessment results. Using the same colored system for proficiency showcased by LC Kerr, student were broken up between red, yellow, green and g/green, red being the least proficient and g/green being highest.

Based on middle year data presented, first grade had 18 percent red, 17 percent yellow, 39 percent green and 26 percent g/green, which showed 65 percent of students are at the targeted benchmark. Second grade was red (26 percent), yellow (22 percent) green (20 percent) and blue (20 percent), putting 52 percent at or above the benchmark.

“The school implements a tiered instructional system that allows teachers to deliver evidence-based instruction aligned with the individual needs of students across all tiers,” Jordan said. “All teachers differentiate assignments to provide the right balance of challenge and attainability for each student.”

To achieve that key action items are in place to assist the school and teachers.

Butler Avenue will have weekly PLC (Professional Learning Community) meetings with teacher pods and central office specialists; monthly MTSS (multi-tiered system of support) meetings with teachers to discuss student progress; differentiation book study for all staff; quarterly reading celebrations as an incentive to meet reading goals; utilize IAs (instructional assistants) and reading interventionist to support small group instruction and participate in professional development on core curriculum materials.

Math followed this same outline — by June 2025, the goal was to have 62 percent of all first graders and 57 percent of all second graders to be at or above grade level by the end of year assessments.

Per Butler’s middle year color scale, students in first grade were five percent red, 68 percent yellow, 11 percent green and 17 percent g/green, with 28 percent at or above the benchmark. Second grade had 15 percent red, 68 percent yellow, 11 percent green and 6 percent g/green, putting 17 percent at or above the benchmark.

“Let me just add that, as I compare the data to previous years, it looks just like this, and then by the end of the year, it jumped significantly,” Butler Principal Dr. Angela Harding said. “So don’t look at the 28 and the 17 and think it’s impossible to reach our goal. I just want you to know it is in line with over three years of data. This is typically what it looks like, for mass, at the middle of the year.”

Math also focuses on using a tiered instructional system that allows teachers to deliver evidence-based instruction aligned with the individual needs of students across all tiers. And all teachers differentiate assignments which aims to provide the right balance of challenge and attainability for each student.

Math and reading implement similar ‘Key Action Items’, with the addition of classroom incentives for passing lessons on iReady Math.

Goal three centered around parental engagement and involvement.

“Parent involvement in education is crucial for the academic success and overall development of children,” attested Butler Avenue teacher Meghan Barefoot. “When parents actively engage in their children’s education, it fosters a positive learning environment, strengthens the relationship between home and school, and supports children in reaching their full potential.”

The improvement plan goal, by June 2026, will be to increase the total level of parent participation by 10 percent in school program, which Butler aims to achieve by increasing levels of participation in existing programs, evaluating current programs and/or developing new programs.

“Butler Avenue will increase our family and community involvement activities by providing events for parents/guardians to attend and participate in at school” Barefoot said. “These events include open house, curriculum night, and multi-language night and engaging parents in student learning through parent/teacher conferences.”

The final component, goal four, involved engaging students with disabilities. As with each goal indicator, by June 2025, Butler aims to increase that proficiency by at least four percent by end of year assessments, with an additional80 percent showing growth from beginning of year to the end.

Based on baseline data presented from 2023-24 mClass EOY, students well above average were 39, below average (15) average (11) above average (8) and well above average were three.

Among the listed ‘Key Action Items’ to achieve those goals were: students will receive small group instruction, content replacement, hands-on activities with resource teachers that support reading and math instruction and individual support from instructional assistants and classroom teachers to bridge gaps.

“The importance of students working on grade level in both reading and math goes well beyond the four walls of the classroom,” was written by Butler staff on the school’s summary slide. “It improves critical thinking and reasoning abilities. It increases their confidence and motivation. It can also lead to long-term educational opportunities, career readiness, and life skills needed in adulthood.”

The summary continued, “Parental involvement in our school is paramount for the development of our students. It is important that our parents/guardians have open communication with teachers. Parents need home support to assist with homework and establishing routines for success. Parents need to feel they are an integral part of the school community.”

To view a full breakdown of Butler Avenue’s school improvement plan visit Clinton City Schools web page www.go.boarddocs.com/nc/clintoncs/Board.nsf/public .