Did you have an MDE approved Achievement and Integration plan implemented in the 2020-21 school year?

                    Yes                    X     No

Annual Report

WBWF Requirement: For each school year, the school board must publish a report in the local newspaper, by mail or by electronic means on the district website.

Annual Public Meeting

These annual public meetings are to be held in the fall of each school year.

WBWF Requirement: School boards are to hold an annual public meeting to communicate plans for the upcoming school year based on a review of goals, outcomes and strategies from the previous year. Stakeholders should be meaningfully involved, and this meeting is to occur separately from a regularly scheduled school board meeting.

District Advisory Committee

The District Advisory Committee should be in place at the start of the school year. Report on your membership list.

WBWF Requirement: The district advisory committee must reflect the diversity of the district and its school sites. It must include teachers, parents, support staff, students, and other community residents. Parents and other community residents are to comprise at least two-thirds of advisory committee members, when possible. The district advisory committee makes recommendations to the school board.

Complete the list of your district advisory committee members for the 2020-21 school year. Expand the table to include all committee members. Ensure roles are clear (teachers, parents, support staff, students, and other community residents).

Equitable Access to Excellent and Diverse Educators

Staffing should be in place by the start of the 2022-23 school year. Report on your equitable access to excellent and diverse educators for the start of the 2022-23  school year.

WBWF Requirement: WBWF requires districts and charters to have a process in place to ensure students from low income families, students of color, and American Indian students are not taught at disproportionate rates by inexperienced, out-of-field, and ineffective teachers. The legislation also requires that districts have strategies to increase access to teachers who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of students.

While districts/charters may have their own local definitions, please note the definitions developed by Minnesota stakeholders during the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan development process:

• An ineffective teacher is defined as a teacher who is not meeting professional teaching standards, as defined in local teacher development and evaluation (TDE) systems.
• An inexperienced teacher is defined as a licensed teacher who has taught for three or fewer years.
• An out-of-field teacher is defined as a licensed teacher who is providing instruction in an area which he or she is not licensed.

The term “equitable access gap” refers to the difference between the rate(s) at which students from low income families, students of color, and American Indian students are taught by inexperienced, out-of-field, or ineffective teachers and the rate at which other students are taught by the same teacher types. This is not to be confused with the “achievement gap” (how groups of students perform academically); rather, “equitable access gap” is about which student groups have privileged or limited access to experienced, in-field, and effective teachers.

Districts/charters are encouraged to monitor the distribution of teachers and identify equitable access gaps between and within schools, but they may also make comparisons to the state averages or to similar schools. It is important to note that some of the most significant equitable access gaps occur at the school and classroom level.

Districts/charters may also use other indicators of “effectiveness” such as teachers receiving stronger evaluations overall, teachers with strengths in particular dimensions of practice (e.g., culturally responsive practices), teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or teachers with demonstrated student growth and achievement results.

Respond to the questions below. 

• Describe your process for ensuring students of color, American Indian students and students from low income families have equitable access to experienced, in-field, and effective teachers.
  • How did the district examine equitable access data? What data did you look at? How frequently do you review the data?
  • Who was included in conversations to review equitable access data?

Limit response to 200 words.

Administration and the District Assessment Coordinator review district demographics at least once a year. All students have equal access to the same teachers because our school is very small. For example, there is only one section of each elementary grade, so all students in a grade have the same teacher. There is only one PK-12 school, so there are not different schools serving different neighborhoods.

• • What strategies has the district initiated to improve student equitable access to experienced, in-field, and effective teachers?
  • What goal(s) do you have to reduce and eventually eliminate equitable access gaps?

Limit response to 200 words.

The district uses EdPost – the state’s primary source for teacher recruitment – to announce job openings. In addition, teaching jobs are posted at the Handshake website to recruit candidates from outside Minnesota. Job openings are also posted at school social media outlets and the local newspapers of record. In recent years few or no teachers (regardless of race) apply. GMR contacts teacher colleges to inquire about potential candidates.

The number of students in each sub-group is too small to draw conclusions, with the exception of students who might be labeled “low-income” by qualifying for free or reduced-price school meals. 9% of GMR students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. This figure probably does not accurately reflect the economic status of the district, because few families submitted a free/reduced meal application while all meals were free throughout the past two school years.

The GMR student population is 99% white, and 1% of students have special education plans.

WBWF also requires districts and charters to examine student access to licensed teachers who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of students. A growing body of research has demonstrated that all students benefit when they are taught by racially and ethnically diverse staff throughout their career, and students of color and indigenous students benefit even more.  Consequently, working to increase teacher racial diversity is beneficial to all schools.

• Describe your efforts to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of teachers in your district.

• Which racial and ethnic student groups are present in your district that are not yet represented in your licensed teacher staff?  How many additional teachers of color and American Indian teachers would you need in order to reflect your student population?

Limit response to 200 words.

All staff members are white, so the 1% of our student population who are not white are not yet represented in our licensed teaching staff.

• • What strategies has the district initiated to increase and retain teachers of color and American Indian teachers in the district? What goal(s) are you pursuing?

Limit response to 200 words.

Since there are few – or in some cases no – applicants for teaching jobs in our district, staff recruit future teachers from all races among our own student body.

Local Reporting of Teacher Equitable Access to Excellent and Diverse Educators Data

Districts are required to publicly report data on an annual basis related to student equitable access to teachers, including data on access for low-income students, students of color, and American Indian students to experienced, in-field, and effective teachers and data on all student access to racially and ethnically diverse teachers.

For this 2019-20 WBWF summary report submission, please check the lines below to confirm that your district publicly reported this data.

X       District/charter publicly reports data on an annual basis related to equitable teacher distribution, including data on access for low-income students, students of color, and American Indian students to effective, experienced, and in-field teachers.

X       District/charter publicly reports data on an annual basis related to student access to racially and ethnically diverse teachers.

Goals and Results

SMART goals are: specific and strategic, measurable, attainable (yet rigorous), results-based and time-based. Districts may choose to use the data profiles provided by MDE in reporting goals and results or other locally determined measures.

All Students Ready for School

Narrative is required; 200-word limit.

• What data have you used to identify needs in this goal area? How is this data disaggregated by student groups?  
• What strategies are in place to support this goal area?  

Goals and results noted above provide data. The district coordinates preschool with Head Start and Early Childhood Family Education.

All Students in Third Grade Achieving Grade-Level Literacy

Narrative is required; 200-word limit.

• What data have you used to identify needs in this goal area? How is this data disaggregated by student groups?
• What strategies are in place to support this goal area? 

Goals and results noted above provide data. In addition, K-3 students are assessed at least three times per year for phonics, high-frequency sight words, fluency and comprehension.

Close the Achievement Gap(s) Between Student Groups

Narrative is required; 200-word limit.

• What data have you used to identify needs in this goal area? How is this data disaggregated by student groups? 
• What strategies are in place to support this goal area? 

Strategy: professional development for evidence-based curriculum and instruction through the Northwest Service Cooperative and content area professional organizations.

All Students Career- and College-Ready by Graduation

Narrative is required; 200-word limit.

• What data have you used to identify needs in this goal area? How is this data disaggregated by student groups? 
• What strategies are in place to support this goal area? 

Goals and results noted above provide data. In the past, the district maintained an Academic Advisor position to plan and monitor these activities. That position has been greatly reduced for budgetary reasons. In 2022-23 some post-secondary activities will be continued dependent on COVID restrictions and Academic Advisor availability.

All Students Graduate

Narrative is required; 200-word limit.

• What data have you used to identify needs in this goal area? How is this data disaggregated by student groups? 
• What strategies are in place to support this goal area? 

Typically 0-2 students fail to earn a diploma in any given year. In the past, the district maintained a full-time Academic Advisor position to monitor student progress toward graduation, and to intervene early with options. In 2022-23 actions are dependent upon staff availability in light of budget-related position reductions.