School Improvement Plan

AGORA RESOURCE CENTER

The School Improvement Plan (SIP) is Agora’s “road map” for school improvement. Our SIP is approved each year by Agora’s board of trustees.

Steering Committee

Name	Position/Role	Building/Group/Organization	Email
Rich Jensen, Ed.D.	Chief School Administrator	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Katy Giovanisci, Ed.D.	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Anne M. Butler, Ed.D.	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Regan Shebeck	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Michael Conti, Ed.D.	Board Member	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Nick Rotoli, Ed.D.	Community Member	Community	[email protected]
Sunny Weiland, Ed.D.	Community Member	Community	[email protected]
Jansen Hornbake	Principal	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Bridget Kozar	Principal	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Jeff Miller	Principal	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Caleb Cragle	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Lauren Wilson	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Crystal Long	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Robin Hartman	Other	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Susan Detwiler	Other	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Kierstin Reiber	Teacher	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Allison Keefe	Other	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Abigail Horvath	Student	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Roxanne Zeisloft	Education Specialist	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Annabel Keth	Student	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Adina Harkavy	Parent	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Donnie Marshall Jr.	Student	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Lauren Shaffer	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Amanda Harbaugh	District Level Leaders	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Heidi Lucier	Teacher	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Diane Broniszewski	Teacher	Agora Cyber CS	[email protected]
Donna Freeman	Parent	Community	[email protected]
Crystal Isenberg	Parent	Community	[email protected]

LEA Profile

Agora is a cyber charter school where the average enrollment over the 2022-23 school year was about 5200 students from 498 school districts. Roughly 31% of the student population are in need of special education services and supports which is nearly double the state average. Agora also serves a diverse student population with about 51.6% of students identifying as a race/ethnicity other than white, which is significantly higher than both the state average and the average among cyber charter schools, as well as a significant number of students from economically disadvantaged families. All of Agora’s teachers and school counselors are state-certified. Agora’s MTSS framework provides various services and supports to help with student academic and behavioral growth. Agora employs an extensive and robust student services department that includes family coaches, truancy prevention officers, nurses, parent engagement advisors, and other support staff to encourage engagement and support.

Mission

The mission of the Agora Cyber Charter School is to provide an innovative, intensive academic preparation that inspires and educates students to achieve the highest levels of academic knowledge and skills and develop proficiency in the design and use of new computer technologies and scientific research. Agora embraces a collaborative partnership between teachers and parents in order to empower students to reach extraordinary heights. Extraordinary results require extraordinary efforts! Through commitment, hard work, consistency, and responsibility, every student will meet the challenge of mastering high expectations.

Vision

To prepare all learners to achieve their highest potential by actively engaging in their own learning, achieving their personal learning goals, and cultivating success as lifelong learners.

Summary Of Strengths and Challenges

Strengths

Strength	Consideration In Plan
Students who are economically disadvantaged had higher attendance rates than the whole school rate, with fewer students considered severely at risk for truancy.	No
Agora has improved EL screening and support processes, and has realized a higher rate of identification of students with language support needs.	No
During the Winter 2023 Biology CDT administration, 41% of students score proficient or advanced. This is an increase from the Winter 2022 Biology CDT administration in which 36% of students scored proficient or advanced.	No
In the 2021-2022 school year, Biology (n=578) course passing rates were 69% (n=399). When looking at the 31% (n=179) of students that did not pass, 45% (n=81%) of them earned less than 50% in the course, suggesting that they did not engage in class or complete a significant number of work/assignments. (Source: EOY Grades 6/13/2022)	No
Agora exceeded growth expectations in grade 7 and met growth expectation in Keystone Algebra;	No
83% of students who completed constructed response items on their unit assessments earned at least half of available points as of January 2023.	Yes
During the Winter 2023 benchmark, 97% of students in grades K-5 completed the math assessment, with 48% scoring at or above grade level.	No
Organize programmatic, human, and fiscal capital resources aligned with the school improvement plan and needs of the school community	No
Continuously monitor implementation of the school improvement plan and adjust as needed	Yes
Data suggests that students in classrooms engaging in low stakes writing opportunities are more willing to participate in high stakes writing opportunities. It also suggests that these students will outperform students in classrooms not engaging in frequent low stakes writing opportunities. Students with teachers participating in the Collins cohort have an overall completion rate of 76% and a performance rate of approximately 65%.	No
All achievement groups except Quintile 5 (mid-high) realized positive growth during the 2022 reporting period, with quintiles 1, 2, 3, and 4 exhibiting blue “exceeded the growth standard” marks.	No
All Student Group met the standard for demonstrating growth, with an academic growth score of 72.5 (standard was 70.0) in ELA	Yes
Staff report high levels of satisfaction with professional learning, and see their learning as connected with school improvement efforts. They expressed the desire to observe their peers as a form of professional learning.	Yes
Use multiple professional learning designs to support the learning needs of staff	Yes
For 2022 Science/Biology Academic Growth Expectation, Agora achieved an academic growth score of 91.3, which far exceeded the state score of 70.	No
For 2022 English Language Arts/Literature Academic Growth Expectation, Agora has realized a positive trend in growth towards PVAAS English Language Arts/Literature with all student groups increasing performance for a second consecutive year. The All Student group had a growth standard of 72.5. That exceeded the statewide growth measure of 70.0.	No
In both Math and ELA Academic Growth Expectations, Students with Disabilities are exceeding the growth standard.	No
Local data tracking (2021.22 SmartFutures reports) revealed that 91% of students in Grade 5 completed all required career readiness activities during the 2021.22 school year.	No
For the ELD Program: We worked to streamline processes, resources, identification processes, workflows, and professional development offerings during the 2022.23 year. A challenge is keeping up with the changes of an ever-evolving group with a novice supervisor. Agora’s high number of transfer students complicates every aspect of our EL program. We are realizing an increased need for EL support with our transfer students as well.	No
Little variation is noted among subgroups for Reading Plus growth.	No

Challenge

Challenge	Consideration In Plan
In 2020-21 Regular Attendance, Agora was below the state average and statewide performance standard for regular attendance for All Student Group with 68.6%. The statewide average was 82.2% and the statewide performance standard was 94%.	No
For the 2022 Career Standards Benchmark, the statewide average was 88.3%; Agora’s All Student Group was 77.2%.	No
At the end of Qtr 3, 4 of 11 courses in Kindergarten through Algebra 1 were on pace to finish the prescribed written curriculum.	No
In the 2021-2022 school year, Algebra (n=592) course passing rates were 70% (n=414), When looking at the 30% (n=178) of students that did not pass, 53% (n=94) of them earned less than 50% in the course suggesting that they did not engage in class or complete a significant number of work/assignments. (Source: EOY Grades 6/13/2022)	No
During the Winter 2023 MS Math CDT, 84% (n=1074) of students completed the assessment. 14% (n=25) of 6th Grades scored proficient or advanced. 7% (n=27) of 7th graders scored proficient or advanced. 6% (n=38) of 8th graders scored proficient or advanced	No
In the 2021-2022 school year in Math, grades 6-8 (n= 1554) had a passing rate for 2022 school year was 71% (n=1197) students. 27% (n=357) of our students failed the math course. 79% (n=282) of these students did not successfully pass for the year, suggesting they did not engage/submit work in more than two classes. (Source: EOY Grades 6/13/2022)	No
According to our local data tracking (2021.22 SmartFutures reports), in grade 8, 77% of students completed all required activities; and in grade 11, 67% of students completed all required activities.	No
Provide frequent, timely, and systematic feedback and support on instructional practices	Yes
Implement an evidence-based system of schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports	Yes
During 2022/23 local assessment data collection, 31% of ELA prompts resulted in “no submission,” indicating students are not making an attempt in completing constructed response questions.	Yes
Grades 4 and 5 did not meet the growth standard, with scores lower than in previous years. Grade 7 met growth expectation, but that grade level also experienced lower scores than previous years. Grades 6 and 8 exceeded growth expectations and experienced higher growth scores than in previous years.	No
Approximately 71.8% of eligible students participated in ELA state testing during the 2022 administration, an increase from 26.8% the previous year. Of those, 28.6% of students earned Proficient or Advanced scores. This is moderate decrease from the last administration, where 35.4% of students scored proficient/advanced.	No
Only 64% of staff reported feeling that the leadership team knows what’s going on in classrooms, and 77% reported feeling they have received useful feedback to improve their practice from leadership.	No
Students in grades 9-12 with disabilities are attending ELA and Math classes at rates lower than the whole school average.	No
Students in grades 9-12 with disabilities are not current passing ELA and Math courses at rates equivalent to their peers.	No
During the Winter 2022 Biology CDT administration, 36% of students score proficient or advanced. This is a slight decrease from the Winter 2021 Biology CDT administration in which 37% of students scored proficient or advanced	No
Biology course passing rates for the 2021 school year was 66% passing with an A, B, C, or D in Biology and Honors Biology. When looking at the 34% of students that did not pass, 24% of the students (overall earned less than 30% in the course, suggesting that they did not engage in class or complete a significant amount of work/assignments)	No
Identify and address individual student learning needs	Yes
For 2022 Proficient/Advanced Math PA State Assessments, Agora did not meet the All Student Group indicator for Math in 2021-22, with a score of 6.4%	No
In 2021 High School Graduation Rate, Agora did not meet the 4-year cohort goal in 2020-21, with a 50.7% graduation score	No
According to the 2022 Proficient/Advanced ELA PA State Assessments, Agora did not meet the All Student Group indicator for ELA in 2021-22, with a score of 28.6%	No
For the ELD Program: A challenge is keeping up with the changes of an ever-evolving group with a novice supervisor. Agora’s high number of transfer students complicates every aspect of our EL program. We are realizing an increased need for EL support with our transfer students as well.	No
Risk is noted across all subgroups in both math and reading, but no subgroup is statistically significantly different from the all school group. Therefore, a focus on Tier 1/whole school instruction is recommended.	Yes

Most Notable Observations/Patterns

Agora has been committed to long-term solutions rather than chasing short-term successes which may not be sustainable. With 32% of Agora’s population holding an IEP, it is vital that our school improvement plan and our SSIP are aligned. We use problem-solving protocols and precision statements to articulate root causes, suggest actions, monitor fidelity of implementation, and evaluate effectiveness. Agora has realized success in student growth related to critical thinking and writing tasks with those who engage in the learning. Multiple data sources suggest that a common root cause is student engagement – students can’t or won’t engage with the critical thinking and writing tasks and assessments that have been determined to be critical success factors. Multiple data sources suggest that grade 9 should be an area of focus, as that grade level exhibits poor performance in work completion, attendance, engagement, and academic growth. Local assessment completion data shows that 26% of grade 9 students who exhibit poor completion of assessment (less than 50%) are also severely at risk for chronic absence. Agora has a high rate of student transience. A large number of transfer students enter Agora off cohort or without the requisite skills to earn graduation. Regular attendance rates for 2021 via the Future Ready PA Index is 68.6%. Local data for the 2022-23 school year indicates that 65.8% of students were demonstrating regular attendance as of May 4, 2023.