• Attendance Rates
• Numbers of 504 students
• Numbers of English Learners (ELs)
• PARCC Scores - Algebra I (Grade 9)

Key Challenge #1: Chronically Absent Students

One of the biggest challenges at Broadneck High School is related to the poor attendance rate of many of our students.  While our overall attendance rate of 94% for the 2018-2019 school year is above average, 17.5% of our students qualified as being “chronically absent.”  Chronically absent students have been absent from school for 10% or more of the school days that they were enrolled. For most students, this is 18 or more school days. Additionally, 34.3% of our students were absent for more than 12 school days putting them in danger of being chronically absent without improvement. Not only does this impact the academic readiness of individual students, but this also impacts our overall school performance on important ESSA indicators.  Illness, mental health needs, and family needs contribute to the number of students who are chronically absent as do community events, appointments, family vacations, and other academic and extra-curricular opportunities.

Student attendance is critical for student achievement and success.  Every additional absence creates gaps in instruction, as each day of instruction builds upon previous lessons.  Students who are frequently absent have proven to have difficulty maintaining the same level of academic progress as their classmates who are consistently present for instruction.  When students are chronically absent, they face added roadblocks that can interfere with graduation.

It is the responsibility of our entire student services team – administrators, counselors, Pupil Personnel Worker, School Psychologist, and others – to provide supports for students and the families of students who present attendance related concerns.  Our teams meet regularly to identify our students who need supports and to implement those supports. We will work with those individual students and families to discover the root cause of student absences and create plans to improve attendance, such as check-in with counselors and administrators. We will also identify students who demonstrate excellent attendance, so we can celebrate them at our quarterly “On a Roll” assemblies, where they will enjoy school-based performances from the dance team, PVA students, and our theater program  (Indicators 2, 7, 10).

Key Challenge #2: Language Acquisition English Learners (ELs) 

The number of students identified as having limited English proficiency has grown by 63% over the last 3 years.  Our ELs have struggled to demonstrate improved English language skills over the course of the year. One challenge is that ELs must demonstrate growth over a 1 year period and are tested on that growth in January.  Because the language acquisition assessment for ELs, World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA), is administered in January, students spend three months on summer vacation followed by 4 months of instruction before having to demonstrate annual growth.  In an effort to offset this obstacle, Broadneck High School will offer a summer bridge program for our ELs working to accelerate their language acquisition. We have also scheduled a support period for many of our ELs where they will meet with a teacher who will foster academic growth through organizational skills and strategies. Many of these, such as marking the text and analyzing the prompt, augment the tools they learn in ESOL classes.

With the growing EL population comes the need to provide professional development for all of our teachers to support our students.  Broadneck High School teachers will engage in professional development provided by our EL teacher with support from Central Office Resource teachers.  The professional development will focus on supporting teachers by providing them with the knowledge and skills as well as specific, research-based instructional strategies that are necessary to meet the needs of our ELs (Indicators 2, 7, 11). 

• Substance Abuse
• Families in Crisis (mental, physical, emotional, financial)

Key Challenge #3: Students/Families in Crisis (mental, social, emotional, financial, etc.)

Awareness and support of the mental health needs of students has become one of the most discussed topics in education over the last few years.  During that time, Broadneck High School has experienced a significant increase in reported crises experienced by students and families. As a result, we have had difficulty meeting the needs of all of our students who are in crisis, and we are still experiencing students who are reluctant to report their needs to family, friends, teachers, or staff.  Students who are in crisis or are experiencing difficulty maintaining positive mental health frequently experience academic and social struggles. We will be working with a variety of outside organizations, including award winning mental health advocates and the One Love Foundation, to implement quarterly assemblies focused on social media/bullying, mental health, substance abuse, and relationships.  Additionally, our student services teams will continue to identify and work directly with students on coping mechanisms and managing stress (Indicators 2, 7).

• Access (or lack of access) to community health-related programs