F) Accountability Plan

Describe the measures by which the school proposes to be judged (these should include the statewide tests applicable to the grades served in that location). Lay out student achievement goals. Explain how student performance data will be used to drive student achievement, if this is your intention. ONE PAGE

Accountability

CSCS takes a unique approach in its accountability structure by measuring the school's success not only in terms of student achievement, but also in terms of teacher achievement. We believe school success comes when teachers have to prove themselves through both the progress of their students and through a professional commitment to curriculum development, collaboration with colleagues, continual reflection on teaching strategies, and action research on how students learn best. Our teachers will be required to join Open Planner (http://www.openplanner.org), a non-profit curriculum collaboration web site, as a way to meet their accountability standards.

1) Academic Goals against which the school’ success will be judged

· Students will graduate prepared to study higher level mathematics, science, and engineering at the college level, as well as apply their math, science, and engineering skills to a real-world community service project.

• Students will pass a minimum of one college-level course in order to graduate.
• Teachers will publish their instructional units on the internet, providing open access to administrators, colleagues, parents, and members of the community.
• Teachers will collaborate with colleagues from around the country in their discipline, refining pedagogy and assessing best practices in their field of expertise, and will also collaborate with colleagues in the school, implementing interdisciplinary units whenever appropriate.

2) Indicators of Performance

• Annual increase in the number of students scoring 85 or higher on the Physics Regents Exam, the Chemistry Regents Exam, the Living Environment Regents Exam, the Math A Regents Exam, and the Math B Regents Exam.
• Annual increase in the number of Junior and Seniors taking more than the minimum one college level course, either an AP course or a course at Columbia University.
• Annual increase in college acceptance rate (once the school reaches capacity and is graduating seniors), specifically in Tier 1 and Tier 2 schools.
• Annual increase in the number of students entering Math, Science and Engineering Technical programs at the college level.
• Annual increase in scores on both the PSAT and the SAT
• Annual increase in the number of parents and community members visiting Open Planner and participating in a dialogue with our faculty on curriculum and student performance.

3) Reporting Performance and Progress

• Official data on student performance and progress will be made available on a yearly basis, as required by the New York State Charter Law. Informal, on-going snapshots of student performance will be available at all times on the school's website, and through teacher reflection and pedagogical research being conducted at Open Planner.

• Through the use of Open Planner, each teacher's progress will always be available to all interested parties. Performance reporting is a dialogue, where the authentic day to day work of teachers is on display for question, comment, and constructive feedback.