Liberty High School (2020)

School Information

School District: Frisco
School Address: 15250 Rolater Road , Frisco, TX 75035, US
School Phone: 469-633-5802
Principal: Ashley Rainwater
Contact E-Mail: whalings@friscoisd.org
Web Address: http://schools.friscoisd.org/hs/liberty/site/home

Demographics

Number of Students: 1,924
Percent Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 10.8%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 2%
Percent of Special Education: 6.3%

Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

White: 39.2%
Black: 10.8%
Hispanic: 9.1%
Asian: 36.3%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 0.5%
American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.7%
Multiracial: 3%
Other: 0.4%

As part of our focus at Liberty High School to meet the needs of all students and support improvement for educators in their craft, we have committed to the growth and continued development of our campus professional learning community (PLC). The development of our PLC was established around the focus on addressing the needs of each individual student during the learning process. In addition, there was an opportunity for educators to also identify areas for improvement and adjustments to instruction. The focus for our PLC journey was on establishing a culture committed to working together in support of all students through ongoing assessments to monitor gaps in understanding and the utilization of effective instructional practices. A key structure as part of our master schedule was the inclusion of a dedicated collaborative teaming period for teachers. This common team period allows for the collaborative planning and discussion that supports the ongoing work of our PLC. During this planning period, our educators have the opportunity to review results of a CFA to identify students and their specific needs based on the standards along with applicable interventions and adjustments to instruction. This provides direction for team members as to how to support struggling students. As part for this commitment to common collaborative team time, our instructional coaches provide educators with specific opportunities to address the 4 critical questions. Through their efforts we created a collaborative team time menu to better align and support the work of collaborative teams. Another opportunity to continue to foster the culture for our PLC was to re-purpose our monthly staff meeting from an information-sharing session to an engagement with our campus PLC to interact and connect on our focus and best practices in support of struggling students and growth as educators. We were also intentional during this staff meeting time to celebrate the commitment to the work of our PLC with colleagues sharing out how they are effectively addressing the 3 Big Ideas and 4 Essential Questions. Through this journey, it has been essential to grow and develop teacher-leaders who are confident in the direction of our campus and the importance of our approach to identify and address the needs of each individual student, along with promoting the expectations for our teachers to incorporate a growth mindset into their approach to learning. Our work within collaborative teams has been centered around the use of common formative assessments (CFA) to assess the level of understanding during the learning process, so the group of educators can effectively determine deficits in understanding for each student by standard and how it can be addressed. As part of this work with CFAs, we have emphasized the importance of not only identifying the necessary interventions for specific students but also having educators reflect on the effectiveness of the additional support and determining approriate next steps. It is through the CFA process where we have worked to create an environment for the team that is free of anxiety and apprehension about the results, so that the focus for this time can solely address the needs of our students without judgement in a supportive and collaborative setting. Our efforts in using the CFA data to impact instruction and student learning has also been supported by the use of our in-school intervention time that was also built into the master schedule. This twenty-five minute block of time allows for teachers, in conjunction with their team, to create a targeted, uninterrupted small group setting to address specific students based on specific standards identified on CFAs. In addition, we incorporated the use of Priority Days to better support students that had struggles in multiple classes. Our work with CFAs is also connected to our efforts with Response to Intervention (RtI). We have been diligent to constantly communicate with our staff that the work of our PLC and RtI are interdependent and are all supporting one system in support of meeting the needs of all students.

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Our campus focus in regards to evaluating the level of understanding by students is to seek and utilize feedback during the learning process to provide assistance and additional support based on individual need. A key component of this process has been the intentional use of common formative assessments (CFAs) to better inform the work for our collaborative teams of educators. Through the CFA process, collaborative teams are designing these formative assessments, gathering data from CFAs and working with their team to identify students and their specific struggles along with identifying gaps and/or deficits in instruction that need to be addressed and adjusted moving forward. The team also identifies how to best provide interventions to support students through the use of all team members. This process can include specific duties related to re-teaching certain standards for all students of the team. In addition, this can involve the use of our Advisory Period where students can be designated to come in for additional support and assistance without interfering with class instructional time but available during the school day. After a plan for support for specific students has been identified and implemented, the team will reconvene to discuss effectiveness and explore appropriate next steps. As referenced previously, our campus offers in-school intervention time in the form of Advisory Period. Students can be assigned to specific content area tutorials during the school day through a campus process that also incorporates “priority days” for designated content areas to allow for struggling students to receive assistance in all required areas.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

In designing the Master Schedule, our campus implemented a block of time in the school day for in-school interventions that did not interfere with class instructional time for students to receive additional assistance. These in-school interventions, referred to on our campus as Advisory Period, also incorporate teacher/team feedback into the support a given student may need to receive. Based on common formative assessments (CFAs), formative assessments, and teacher interactions through questioning and feedback, students are identified by educators for additional support. Through the work of collaborative teams, educators use CFA data to identify specific students in need of additional support along with the related standard linked to a lack of understanding. These teams of educators designate roles during advisory period to better support all students by creating small, targeted learning environments for assistance. Students are assigned to Advisory Period through an online registration form that allows educators to check student availability and also communicate with parent and student as to the purpose, date and expected outcome from the in-school intervention. In addition, our campus has implemented a “Priority Day” structure that allows for struggling students to have certain days designated by content. This allows for students encountering issues with understanding in multiple classes to still be available to receive the support needed. These efforts in providing interventions for students provides a direct link between the work of the campus professional learning community (PLC) and the efforts of response to intervention (RtI). Our focus during this phase of our implementation of the RtI process focuses on being intentional with utilizing CFA’s and their data as part of a collaborative team effort to identify the specific needs of students by standard and areas for improvement in instructional practice. These needs are addressed through re-teach efforts in the class, as well as additional support provided through the Advisory Period time. In addition, our campus is currently developing a plan to address students that are choosing to not complete work by creating an opportunity to support their needs during a supervised academic lunch period starting next school year.

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

As part of the process of assembling a staff committed to supporting the needs of all students, our campus felt it was critical to articulate the characteristics and values that are most important in staff members at Liberty High School. In turn, we developed our campus Educator Profile. Through this profile, we have strategically developed questions, as part of our interview script, that seek to identify individuals that we feel are representative of what a Liberty High School educator embodies as a colleague, educator and learner. In addition, educator teams are provided with dedicated time multiple days each week to work together as part of their content area team. This work is centered on a focus on learning, working collaboratively and a focus on results. Further, we seek to frame our efforts in team time around the 4 essential questions of a PLC. As part of this effort, our instructional coaches and administrators developed a Collaborative Team Time Menu that we have displayed in each of the team meeting rooms. This menu seeks to specifically identify how each of the 4 Essential Questions can be actualized around standards, assessments, learning experiences and communication. We have seen this menu provide more intentionality to our team time efforts and help to connect the important concept of the 4 essential questions of a PLC to actual practice and application. Another opportunity to instill this focus on our efforts to improve student learning occurs each month as we have “celebrations” during our staff meeting where colleagues share with each other how they are successfully implementing one of the 4 essential questions for the benefit of their students. As part of the work in team time, common formative assessments (CFA) are an invaluable tool to help provide educators with perspective for the needs of students during the learning process, along with the need for adjustments in instructional practices. Our administrators and instructional coaches are also active participants in team time meetings to provide support, assistance and direction for this collaborative time. In addition, having these lead learners make a time commitment to be a part of these meetings has also reinforced the level of importance for this time and establishes a high expectation for the work of the group. The work of the collaborative team is built around norms that establishes how the group will focus their time and establishes protocols to keep efforts targeted on the 3 Big Ideas and 4 Essential Questions.

Achievement Data Files

Liberty High School 2018-2019 Accountability Rating: 'A'

Liberty High School 2018-2019 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Academic Achievement in ELA/Reading

Liberty High School 2018-2019 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Academic Achievement in Mathematics

Liberty High School 2018-2019 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Academic Achievement in Science

Liberty High School 2018-2019 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Academic Achievement in Social Studies

Liberty High School 2017-2018 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - ELA/Reading

Liberty High School 2017-2018 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Mathematics

Liberty High School 2017-2018 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Science

Liberty High School 2017-2018 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Social Studies

Liberty High School 2017-2018 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Top 25% in Student Progress

Liberty High School 2017-2018 TEA Texas Education Agency Distinction

Designation - Top 25% Comparative Closing Achievement Gaps