• Attendance Rates
• Discipline Rates
• Number of FARMS students
• Title I status
• Quarterly Assessments scores English
• Quarterly Assessments scores Mathematics
• PARCC Scores - Mathematics (Elementary grades 3, 4, 5) 
• PARCC Scores - English/Language Arts (Elementary grades 3, 4, 5)

Key Challenge #1: Attendance and Student Mobility                      

Attendance rates have been a long-standing area of concern at North Glen ES.The impact of chronic absenteeism has been shown to increase the likelihood of students being unable to read at grade-level during elementary school, failing classes in middle school, and dropping out in high school. Students diagnosed with disabilities, living in poverty, and from communities of color are affected disproportionately. 

During the 2018-2019 school year our overall attendance rate was 92.6%. With that, 27.2% of the total student population was absent from our school at least 5 days of school, and 42% was absent at least 10 days.  Similarly, during the 2017-2018 school year and 2016-2017 school year, 40.4% and 39.9% of the total student population missed at least 5 days. North Glen ES also saw an increase in the number of students missing 18 or more days of school from 38 students in 2016-2017 to 43 students in 2017-2018.

Furthermore, students in our school have a high mobility rate, which makes it more challenging to deliver a consistent education. While there are many students and families we have worked with from Pre-K through 5th grade, our classes often have an average of two to three students transferring in and out both over breaks and during the school year. In the 2018-2019 school year 42 of our 283 students in grades K-5 (14.8%) enrolled in our school after the first day of the school year and transferred out of our school before the end of the school year. The reasons vary from family to family, and we work to provide a variety of supports for all ranges of challenges because consistent education school enrollment is very beneficial to a child’s academic growth. 

Our School Counselor works closely with our designated Pupil Personnel Worker (PPW) to communicate and support families who may need assistance in addressing issues that directly impact attendance, such as homelessness, lack of transportation, or a lack of a sense of inclusion at school.  

Finally, at North Glen, we are dedicated and committed to cultivating a safe and supportive environment for all of our students and their families, and ensuring that our students and families feel welcome and cared for at North Glen. (Indicators 1, 2 and 10)

Key Challenge #3: Academic Growth and Performance in Reading and Math

Reading

North Glen Elementary believes in a balanced literacy approach to build proficient readers, which includes students being exposed to a variety of texts and experiences with text. On a daily basis students are immersed in literacy through interactive read alouds, direct instruction of skills during explicit comprehension, and guided reading which provides small group differentiated instruction. According to the reading data gathered from Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) during the 2017-2018 school year, 61% of students in grades 3-5 did not meet or exceed grade level expectations. In addition, our students struggled with PARCC Subclaim 4- Written Expression which requires students to “compose well developed writing using details from text.” It should also be noted that the data showed little to no discrepancy between gender, ethnicity, and students receiving Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS). 

Math

According to the 2017-2018 PARCC Math data, 69.5% of students in grades 3-5 did not meet or exceed grade level expectations. Our PARCC Math scores indicated that all student groups had difficulty mastering Math Subclaim C, which pertains to “expressing mathematical reasoning by constructing viable arguments, critiquing the reasoning of others, and/or attending to precision when making mathematical statements.” 

North Glen has been working toward fostering a love for mathematics and creating a culture of mathematics, through challenging our students with rigorous, standards-based questioning. Many of our students are reading below grade level which hinders their math performance on reading-oriented math tests. Consequently, our scores on the Math standards including problem solving are negatively impacted. To help support our students in these areas of weakness, North Glen has implemented the use of a problem solving rubric to help students to easily identify how they can best answer each question.

In addition, North Glen ES believes that all students can access math content in a variety of ways - concrete math manipulatives/tools, pictorial representation, and abstract-written equations. We use student conversation, productive struggle and collaboration to grow all students in heterogeneous classroom settings. 

Our Title 1 team works hard to build a community around mathematics through Title 1 parent workshops, which allows parents to access strategies and resources to help their students succeed in math. North Glen ES has also incorporated an extended day program for our Title 1 students that bolsters students ability to model, think and problem solve mathematically.

• Socio-Economic Issues (employment, income levels, housing costs) 
• Limited English proficiency for students and/or families
• Families in Crisis (mental, physical emotional, financial)

Key Challenge #2: Families in Crisis

Some families struggle to overcome the many barriers which often accompany poverty. Challenges such as lack of transportation, insufficient funds to meet basic household obligations or housing itself, mental health concerns, and employment instability may result in a lack of routines and structure within the home. The percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced meals (FARMS) can provide a measure of socioeconomic status (SES) and the degree of poverty for a school community. According to the FARMS data, North Glen students continue to experience some level of poverty, and there has also been an increase in students enrolled as "homeless". As a result, we have increased our resources and staff to accommodate all of our students and their families.

The following data shows FARMS percentages from the past three years:   

Academic School Year	% FARM Students
2016-2017	70.61
2017-2018	67.63
2018-2019	66.48

Moreover, North Glen ES is one of approximately 47 public schools participating in the Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) program, available to schools with at least 40% FARMS students. All of our students are provided with free breakfast through the long-standing School Breakfast Program.

At North Glen we believe in educating the whole child.  This includes addressing any social emotional needs a student may have as a result of challenges their family may be experiencing. We have many school-based programs to support our students in this area.  North Glen has also partnered with several outside organizations to help meet the needs of our students such as Villa Maria Behavioral Health Clinic, which provides in-school services for many of our students on a weekly basis. Services provided include individual counseling, family counseling, psychiatric evaluation, social and coping skills development, and medication management.   We have seen many of our students apply the skills they are learning in their counseling sessions in their classroom environment. 

• Socio-economic community issues (employment, income levels, housing costs) 
• Significant changes over time in student/community demographics 
• Significant increase/reduction in student enrollment numbers