Santa Susana High School is a thriving educational community committed to building on its strengths and successes to advance from “good to great.” During the school’s ten year history, Santa Susana has worked to make its “Statement of Purpose” a reality. Santa Susana High School realizes that “good to great” transformations do not happen over night – they are the result of continued and collaborative self-analysis, efficacy, diligence and dedication. The Santa Susana High School Action Plan, created as a result of the Focus on Learning process, provides a road map for the sustained, substantive school improvement necessary to lead us to the “greatness” we have within reach.

Under the guidance of the principal and the Leadership Team, the FOL process has been the standard way of “doing business” at Santa Susana High School since the school first opened in 1996 and has resulted in an intense sharing of ideas, hopes, and aspirations by the entire school community. Focus Groups were first organized at Santa Su in the spring of 1997 and since then, they have consistently provided the structure for guiding the school’s future. Students, parents, faculty and staff have used focus groups to study student achievement, analyze data, study current literature, identify strengths and areas of growth and to formulate school goals. From this process, the Santa Susana High School mission statement and ESLRs also emerged. The mission statement and ESLRs were first adopted in October 1997, and revised in September 1999, September 2002 and most recently in December 2004.

Additionally, the Focus on Learning process has led all departments to align course standards directly to state and national content standards, and to the school’s ESLRs. An increased focus on data analysis has become an integral part of both department meetings and Friday Morning Meetings (FMMs), in order to monitor and assess student mastery of the standards and to guide curriculum and instruction school-wide. As a result of this self-study process, SSHS has created and implemented a system of Schools and Academies that provide true curricular pathways and guide students through rigorous and relevant courses of study.

Staff has come to realize that the objectives of the Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) must align with those of the SSHS Action Plan. The Action Plan lays out the long term goals while the SPSA supports those goals with the necessary resources to accomplish and sustain them. The SPSA developed in the spring of 2005 and the newly developed SSHS Action Plan both address the needs of the students, faculty, staff and the school community, and can be realistically accomplished over the next six years. The five Action Plan components comprise a statement of our goals for the future: student proficiency of essential standards; student support structures for student achievement; refinement of the School and Academy structure to support a rigorous and relevant curriculum; increased curricular and instructional support; and, articulation of the vision of Santa Susana High School to the community at large.

Finally, the stakeholders at Santa Susana High School have addressed the five “Expected Outcomes of the Self-Self Study as set forth in the WASC/FOL Process Guide:

1. The involvement and collaboration of all staff and other stakeholders to support student achievement

   There has been extensive involvement of all stakeholders in the Focus on Learning process. Since 1997 when ESLRs were first identified, students, faculty, parents, staff and district administrators have been involved in the self-study process. Each focus group includes representatives from all stakeholder groups to ensure that input and viewpoints are collected from all levels to continually improve school programs and support student achievement. The entire school community has worked diligently and constructively in building a school dedicated to promoting academic achievement while allowing students to pursue their interests and talents in specialized programs.

   The school’s inclusive Leadership Team has been the guide for steering stakeholders through the Focus on Learning process. Collective decisions have been made with a single purpose in mind: to effectively use the Focus on Learning process to support student achievement and help move Santa Susana High School from “good to great.”

2. The clarification and measurement of what all students should know, understand, and be able to do through the expected school-wide learning results and academic standards

   Since the 1997-1998 school year, each department has been required to write, develop, and identify content standards and update them as necessary. As part of the Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) and in order to receive funding from the School Site Council (SSC), all departments are required to align their standards with local, state, and/or national content standards and one or more of the school’s ESLRs. Over the course of time, departments have also developed course standards, identified power standards, and created common assessments. In addition, faculty members continuously design and revise performance assessments to assist in measuring student mastery of the content standards and the ESLRs. Faculty members have been trained in data analysis techniques and recently data teams have been developed to more formally and regularly analyze student performance. The improvement of instructional practices is an on-going process and Santa Susana has made advances in this area particularly within the last two years.

3. The gathering and analyzing of data about students and student achievement

   Beginning with our very first “School and Community” profile in 1997, Santa Susana High School has used a variety of data for assessment of student achievement. Focus Group members and department members have gathered and analyzed student work, standardized test results and other means of assessment as part of the FOL process. Department work on performance standards and rubrics has included specific data gathering and analysis strategies. This work is on-going and is a central part of ALL components of the SSHS Action Plan.

   With the acquisition of the Smaller Learning Communities Grant (Federal) and the Specialized Secondary Program Grant (State), there has been an increased focus on data analysis, particularly to measure student achievement for the purpose of modifying instructional practices. New programs and structures (outlined in Chapter 4) such as Data Teams, Intervention Specialists, and DART-Math, are all founded on the basis that consistent monitoring of student performance is necessary for improved student achievement.

   Data analysis is a high priority of the SSHS professional learning community. Santa Susana High School begins each year with analysis of standardized test data on the first staff development day in August prior to the opening of school. Faculty then meets regularly to continue assessment of student progress throughout the year.

4. The assessment of the entire school program and its impact on student learning in relation to the expected school-wide learning results, academic standards and the WASC/CDE criteria

   Throughout the Focus on Learning process, Focus Groups have met to consider the WASC/CDE criteria as it applies to the school program as a whole. Each group has read and discussed the WASC/CDE criteria specific to their area of focus. Discussion has revolved around the content and the meaning of the FOL rubrics as they apply to the SSHS school program. Each focus group has thoroughly analyzed all aspects of the school in relation to their particular focus area and, as a result, strengths and weaknesses have been identified in relation to the ESLRs, academic standards and WASC criteria.

   During the FOL process, the Focus Groups realized that there was a circular relationship linking the analysis of assessment data with the development of program changes to benefit students. While the realization that data analysis affects student achievement is not new, this relationship became crystallized as Focus Group work progressed. Thus, data analysis is the thread that ties all Action Plan goals to a focus on student achievement.

5. The alignment of a long-range action plan to the school’s areas of need; the development and implementation of an accountability system for monitoring the accomplishment of the plan.

   Consideration by the Leadership Team of the identified needs from the Focus Group reports led to the creation of an Action Plan that addresses the most significant areas of need at SSHS. We are confident that the Action Plan will meet the needs of all stakeholders and fully address the areas for growth at Santa Susana High School.

   While administrative participation and guidance are essential in adhering to the Action Plan, ultimate accountability is centralized with the collaborative oversight of the Leadership Team and the School Site Council. Nevertheless, the school community recognizes that whole-group involvement is necessary to achieve our goals.

   The Leadership Team will continue to meet each academic quarter to examine the school’s progress in meeting the Plan. At each meeting, an update will be provided to the Leadership Team by the staff. A formal assessment will be written annually. Information from student-parent-staff surveys will be compiled and presented to all stakeholders. The Student and School Profile will also be updated yearly as test information and other data are received. The formal assessment and the Profile will be reviewed and approved by the Leadership Team at its third quarter meeting. This assessment will be shared with all stakeholders via the Troubadour Express, the Web-site and other publications and will be part of the school SPSA written each May. The SPSA, as in the past, will be approved each June by the School Site Council.

Mrs. Sally Claunch, Teacher of Special Education & Co-coordinator, Focus on Learning
Mr. Gary Vale, Teacher of Technology & Co-coordinator, Focus on Learning
Mrs. Pamela Carter, Principal

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