Student Investment Account
2022 - 2023 Student Investment Account Annual Report
2022 - 2023 Student Investment Account Annual Report
What changes in behavior, actions, policies or practices have you observed related to SIA implementation during the 2022-23 school year? How do you see these changes contributing to the goals and outcomes in your SIA plan?
The district was committed to student-centered goals such as increasing students’ growth and achievement in two languages in all content areas by providing instruction that is grounded in culturally and linguistically sustaining practices. The district also committed to increasing access to holistic education to support students in their academic development, including fine arts instruction and access to a variety of career and technology courses, also affording students equitable access to engage in the academic pathway that best supports them to achieve the district mission of students being prepared to learn and lead in society. The district also prioritized supporting students' growth, achievement and social emotional learning through small group instruction and increased individualized support utilizing high leverage instructional practices. SIA funds enabled the district to invest in staffing in order to provide these services and supports to students through a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS).
One area in particular that the district invested in was behavioral and mental health supports through the hiring of additional counselors, social workers and behaviors specialists. The district will continue to build on this investment in years to come by strengthening the MTSS, and in particular the behavioral side. With the addition of these positions, schools are able to focus on tier 1 SEL and PBIS implementation for all students, and tiers 2 and 3 supports for specific students such as: self-regulation groups, student mentoring, check-in-check-out systems, drug and alcohol counseling, and supporting student behavior plans for students.
What barriers or challenges to SIA implementation have you experienced that are helpful for your community and/or state leaders to be aware of? What adjustments, if any, did you make to your SIA plan as a result of these challenges?
A large portion of the district's SIA funds were allocated to staffing. Hiring, training and retaining personnel was an ongoing challenge. At this point, the majority of SIA funded positions have been filled, and now going forward, the district is investing SIA funds into training and retention efforts. Training is particularly critical for these positions in order to positively impact student outcomes. Providing training was challenging as securing substitutes to release staff from their duties to receive training was very difficult. Administrators also received training in order to be able to better support the new and existing staff.
Retention efforts include activities such as paying for Dual Language Specialization programs to retain high quality dual language teachers, which will support increased access for students to developmentally and culturally responsive programs and practices. SIA funds, in combination with other funds, will also be used to pay for “grow your own” opportunities in the field of special education. General education teachers have the opportunity to complete a special education endorsements program and educational assistants can complete a teacher education program with a special education endorsement. These programs attract and retain high quality special education teachers and help ensure appropriate caseloads for students in special programs, such as Special Education.
SIA implementation includes ongoing engagement with all students, focal students, families, staff, and community partners. How have relationships with or between those groups changed and/or been maintained throughout this academic year?
Throughout the school year the district and schools gathered data through surveys such as the Youth Truth Survey, a communications survey, and a Dual Language Survey. There were also in-person opportunities to engage with partners such as student focus groups at the high school, empathy interviews with students, and the parent advisory committees and Site Councils. The district and schools also published regular newsletters that were shared with the community. Educators had a variety of opportunities to be involved at the involve and collaborate levels through adoption committees, the Dual Language Advisory Board, Math Taskforce, etc. We did not have as many opportunities for families, students, and community partners to participate at this level of engagement. While we had a variety of opportunities for engagement, this is an area of growth for us as we were predominately in the inform and consult categories with families and community members. To support improvements in this area and move us into the involve and collaborate levels, the direction of the Communications Department has shifted and is now directly supporting schools and departments to create consistency in district-wide communication practices. There has also been a shift to ongoing two-way communication and schools are transparently sharing the feedback they are getting with all partners. We need a greater focus on partner engagement and two way communication and we will strive to seek opportunities to engage more deeply with families, students and the community.
As you think about what guided your choices and prioritization efforts in this year of SIA implementation, what stands out? How will what you’ve learned this year impact future SIA implementation efforts?
One of the district's priorities was supporting access to developmentally and culturally responsive programs and practices. This provided the opportunity to fund activities such as the Dual Language Specialization program through OSU for teachers, instructional materials for Spanish language arts at the secondary level, bilingual instructional materials for science and social studies at the elementary level, instructional coaching to implement the new language arts materials, and the translation of elementary dual language materials into Russian. As a dual language district, having the funding to support the necessary professional learning and instructional materials is critical in fulfilling our district's core value of multilingualism, and will continue to be a priority for SIA funding in the future.
A substantial amount of SIA funds was also allocated to behavioral health and wellness efforts. While we made significant investments in this area, there is still more work to do. We need a continued focus on behavioral health and wellness in order to strengthen all three tiers of the behavior side of MTSS. We are creating a position that will coordinate the PBIS work and seek out new community partnerships for tiers 2 and 3 supports. This position will also help coordinate the health services plan implementation. We are committing to continuing to invest in our behavioral health and wellness systems so that students are receiving the services they need to be able to fully engage in learning at school.