ESSA LEA Plan Narrative

1. Describe how you will monitor student progress in meeting the state academic standards. In answering this question, please make sure to address the following elements:

• Development and implementation of a well-rounded program of instruction to meet the academic needs of all students.
• Identification of students who may be at risk for academic failure.
• Provision of additional educational assistance to individual students. The local educational agency or school determines need help in meeting the challenging State academic standards.
• Identification and implementation of instructional and other strategies intended to strengthen academic progress and improve school conditions for student learning.

The core of Milestone Democratic School’s academic program is its commitment to self-directed learning. At Milestone, the very first things students do here is complete an exercise called “Profile of a Graduate” which asks them to imagine who they want to be when they graduate from Milestone. It is then the work of the student, advisor, and family member or guardian to backwards plan to create a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) for the trimester, which scaffolds their large goals into smaller, attainable ones. Through a series of conferences, the student will then get approval from their advisor and family member that the PLP is sufficiently rigorous, aligned to their larger goals, and will put or keep them on-track for graduation; at Milestone, this means mastery of 42 competencies that are aligned with Wisconsin’s Academic Standards. At the end of the trimester, students will complete an Exhibition, which is a demonstration of their learning throughout the trimester. Present at the Exhibition are the students advisor, family, friends, members of the community, and certified teacher content specialists who will award credit based on the presentation the student gives and the question and answer session that follows. Because Milestone prioritizes engagement, we think there is no better measure of success than this: In the 21-22 school year, 100% of students gave an Exhibition, and more than 90% of students demonstrated mastery or progress towards mastery to get or keep them on track for graduation.

Critical to the success of Milestone’s model is the Advisor. The Advisor is a certified teacher who spends 2 hours teaching Advisory every day. In the first hour of Advisory, Advisors will plan lessons, facilitate Transformative Justice Circles, discuss current events, take students for a hike, or do whatever else they feel builds their community. In the second hour, Advisors check in with students one at a time, and other students work on their Personal Learning Plans. This ensures that every student has at least 4 1:1 meetings per week, which helps advisors identify anyone who is struggling to fulfill the goals of their IEP, anyone who is struggling with something in the social-emotional realm, or identify any other need a middle schooler or high schooler might have. Advisors can then make referrals to special education if they are concerned about an academic struggle, or to Transformative Justice if they are concerned about a social-emotional struggle. This “high touch” system is very effective in helping us to identify students who are struggling. 

This year, 42%  of Milestone students either have a current IEP or have a documented disability with suspected educational impact who are currently going through the evaluation process. Our special education team works very closely with Advisors, and will be present for PLP conferences to ensure that the PLP and the IEP are aligned. Because of this, we have not noticed a difference in mastery progress rates of students in special education or general education. Finally, Milestone also uses MAP testing to benchmark students in the first three weeks of school, and then with three subsequent rounds of testing after each trimester to measure academic progress. 

Finally, as part of our learning model, students participate in a Community Engagement program. For some students, this means working, volunteer, or being in internship for two days each week. For other students, it means participating in a small group in planning field trips, site visits, or inviting guests to the school. Our Community Learning is deeply embedded into the PLP.

2. How will you identify and address any disparities that result in low-Income and minority students being taught at higher rates than other students by ineffective, inexperienced, or out-of-field teachers as defined in the state educator equity plan? Inexperienced is a teacher that has been teaching in a licensure area for three years or less. Out-of-Field is a teacher that is teaching on an emergency license/permit. Ineffective is a teacher that does not meet the Wisconsin teaching standards. LEAs are encouraged to use local data to help further determine ineffective teachers.

Milestone has not been immune to the attrition rates seen across education, especially due to COVID. That said, we have made some instrumental changes and have recruited an incredibly strong team as a result. This year, for the first time, we have a dedicated, full-time Director of Learning and Teaching whose entire role is to support learning in the building. This means putting an extensive professional learning and development plan into place, providing instructional coaching, ensuring a deep commitment to using the practices of Transformative Justice in the classroom, and ensuring the integrity of the credit awarding process. Our Director of Learning and Teaching has 11 years of classroom experience. Of our four Advisors, two are licensed teachers, one in his fourth year of teaching in WI, and one in his twelfth year of teaching (5 in Florida and 6 in WI). One of our other Advisors has ten years of teaching experience in international schools, and is currently working towards licensure in WI. Our fourth advisor is a brand new teacher this year, and is currently working towards full licensure (she has a Masters in Women’s History). All four of these individuals have done an incredible job so far this year. Finally, our Special Education Teacher is in her 11th year of teaching in WI, and all of our content specialists have at least three years of teaching experience in their content areas.

All members of our team are required to participate in an extensive growth and development plan including weekly training in Transformative Justice, trauma informed teaching practices, training in anti-ableism, anti-racism, and anti-bias in the LGBTQIA+ community, Big Picture Learning, and more. As members of a cooperative, all of our team members are also held accountable to upholding the values of the school, which include self-directed learning even amongst adults. 

5. Describe the services you will provide homeless children and youths to support the enrollment, attendance, and success of homeless children and youths, in coordination with the services the local education agency is providing under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.).

5.1 Public & Staff Awareness:

As part of our Staff Work Day Schedule for Growth and Development (first one on October 17th), we are hosting a workshop about McKinney-Vento policies and procedures for our LEA for all staff. These are both compliant with the Act, and are consistent with Milestone’s Values. 

We also make materials talking about the act accessible at our LEA, in our enrollment packet, and are soon adding it to our new website. Our website will also provide links to community resources written in English, Spanish, and Hmong. All of these are provided in approachable language. 

5.2. Community Coordination & Collaboration:

Our McKinney-Vento Liaison is our Director of Operations & Governance, though our Director of Culture & Climate is involved in any effort that supports the dignity and needs of our community. Our school works hard to provide a variety of resources to all of our students at no cost: transportation, food, school supplies, and technology supplies. We also work within our community to provide gas cards, groceries, referrals to health care professionals, and more for all students, and especially those who are unhoused. 

5.3. Identification & Referral:

We are a very small school with a big commitment to meeting all students needs in accordance with our values. Enrollment in our school begins with a meeting and tour that is co-facilitated by our Director of Operations & Governance (and McKinney-Vento Liaison) and our Director of Culture & Climate. In this meeting we ask families about any needs their family might have. If a family is unable to access records or documents due to being unhoused, we will still enroll them on the same day. We do not create any barriers to enrollment for any family. In our enrollment materials, we ask for an address, but we also ask at the meeting if they are experiencing being unhoused or any housing instability. If the answer is yes, we work with the family to immediately refer them to our McKinney-Vento liaison who can immediately begin the process to help them access resources. 

5.4. Policy & Procedure Review/Revision:

Admittedly, we have work to do on this front. While Milestone has always provided these services in a way that is compliant with the Act and our charter, we are so small that it hasn’t ever existed in a coherent, Board-approved policy before. It is referenced in a policy, but it does not fully pull together everything in the way we would like it to. This is a huge focus right now. Once we are able to codify our policies and procedures into one place, they will be presented to our Board for their adoption and presented to our staff on our October 17th staff work day. 

5.5. Transportation to & from School of Origin (including preschool):

We provide transportation between school and student’s current address to any student in need of transportation.

5.6. Immediate Enrollment:

Any family who is referred to us, reaches out to us, or finds us in any way is immediately put in touch with our Director of Operations & Governance (and McKinney-Vento Liaison) and our Director of Culture & Climate. Those two individuals will then work with the family to get as much information completed from our enrollment packet as possible. If the family is unable to find forms or documentation due to being unhoused, we will still enroll the student on the same day and then work with the family to continue to complete enrollment paperwork as possible.

5.7. Dispute Resolution: 

We will not create any barriers to enrollment. If there is a dispute about a student’s “school of origin”, but the student wants to enroll with us, we will still provide all services (free access to food, transportation, school supplies, technology supplies, a full schedule, etc.) while the dispute is taking place. The student will be treated like any other student here – with respect and dignity. We are using this as our guiding document to write our policy: https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/resolution.pdf

6. Describe the strategy you will use to implement effective parent and family engagement under Title I, Part A, Section 1116 of ESSA.

As mentioned previously, we are a small school committed deeply to our core values. One of Milestone’s hallmarks is that, as a Democratic School, our Community Engagement meetings are where all decisions affecting our community are made. When we had to adapt to COVID, a policy was drafted by a staff member, and went to the Community Engagement Meeting before it went to the Board for adoption. This school truly belongs to the Community it serves. Parents and families are obviously a critical component of our community. We accomplish engagement with this group in a few ways. First, every parent or family member is a voting member of our Community Engagement meetings, which are held bi-weekly. Second, families are brought in to the academic process early by requiring them to participate in the Personal Learning Plan conferences that happen each trimester. Third, we send out a bi-weekly newsletter notifying parents of things happening in our school. Fourth, we have several family members who are active as volunteers, board members, fundraisers, etc., and they are a fully engaged group always looking to engage new members, and finally, any family member is welcome at our weekly School Meeting (where decisions affecting the school can also be made) and parents are represented on our Design Team which is responsible for the school calendar, hiring decisions, and much more. 

7. Describe how you will implement strategies to facilitate effective transitions for students from:

7.2. Middle grades to high school:

Our students are not in grades. Students are enrolled here and placed in advisories, irrespective of age or any other demographic. We do a lot of work to help students transition to Milestone because it is such a unique learning model, and that is true regardless of when a student enters our school. After that, we of course provide support for the normal challenges of adolescence, growing up, graduating, etc., but we don’t need to provide specific support for the transition from middle to high school grades. Things like independent internships through Community Learning might be scaffolded to be age-appropriate, but we have had middle schoolers hold internships that have been very successful. 

8. Describe how you will support efforts to reduce the overuse of discipline practices that remove students from the classroom.

We do not use any practices that remove students from the classroom or the school unless they “display severe and/or chronic behavior which threatens the physical safety and/or emotional well-being of others who are attending, working, or volunteering at/with MDS and who have not been cooperative with efforts by the Advisors and Culture and Climate Team to transform their behavior through other methods may be subject to expulsion from MDS.”

Here is the wording from our Board Policy on removal: “The Board  remains committed to a discipline with dignity approach to responding to student behavior concerns. Through the use of Restorative Justice practices, Advisors will work with students and with families to support students as they “rebuild and restore.” The focus of any discipline at MDS is on the deed and not on the student.” 

Any member of our community can make a Transformative or Restorative Justice referral through our website, or through a paper form and lockbox system that we have out our school. Once the referral is made, our Transformative Justice Coordinator will act. If the incident that occurred involved a staff member, we have an outside Consultant who will facilitate the process.

12. Describe how you will use data and ongoing consultation to continually update and improve activities supported under Title II, Part A. Please note that consultation must include teachers, principals, other school leaders, paraprofessionals, specialized instructional support personnel, charter school leaders (if you have a charter school in your LEA), parents, and community partners.

Based on student evaluations at term end, MAP testing, and parent and student survey data, Milestone staff determines areas for staff professional development. Paid professional development is available for all Milestone staff at any time outside of the school year. This includes non-violent crisis intervention training, peer-, state-, and community partner-run personalized curriculum development training,  

13. Describe how you will implement strategies to facilitate effective transitions for students from high school to postsecondary education. Please note that this includes:

Milestone gives students two days a week to work toward fulfilling academic requirements in internships and other community-based and educational activities. These might include internships at local businesses that offer skills commensurate with the demands of their PLPs or even advanced study in higher education environments. Milestone facilitates and encourages all student activities and placement in internships. 

17. Describe the effective programs and activities, including language instruction educational programs, proposed to be developed, implemented, and administered under Title III that will help English learners increase their English language proficiency and meet the challenging State academic standards.

Milestone’s English Language Coordinator is responsible for collaborating with Advisors and families of any student who is an English Learner to ensure that their Personal Learning Plan includes effective experiences targeted at language proficiency, and supporting those experiences throughout each term. Personalized learning, in this way, allows students to engage in academic content simultaneously with developing English Language skills, all rooted in student interests.

18.1. Describe how you will ensure that elementary schools and secondary schools receiving funds under Title III assist English learners in achieving English proficiency based on the State’s English language proficiency assessment and consistent with the State’s long term goals.

Title III funding at Milestone will be directly tied to the English Language Coordinator’s budget to support personalized learning toward language proficiency. Although each student at Milestone has a dedicated Personal Learning Plan budget which allows them to access learning experiences and materials that are approved by their Advisor and family, EL students will have additional Title III funding available to support their language learning goal

18.2. Describe how you will ensure that elementary schools and secondary schools receiving funds under Title III assist English learners in meeting the challenging State academic standards.

As described in 18.1, the role of the English Language Coordinator is to support all EL students in accessing language-learning and rigorous academic content learning simultaneously. Personalized learning which originates with student interests, values, and culture, provides this opportunity.

19. Describe how you will promote parent, family, and community engagement in the education of English learners.

The academic program of Milestone, including our EL program, is rooted in robust, intentional relationship-building between Advisors, students, and their families. Every term, students co-create a Personal Learning Plan alongside their Advisors — and EL students further have the support of an EL Coordinator in this co-creation. The Personal Learning Plan then becomes the anchor for at least one intensive in-person conference between the student, their Advisor, and the student’s family, where learning goals, proposed experiences, and assessments are all discussed and deliberated over. Students only begin engaging in proposed learning experiences after they have the written approval of their families on their PLP. In addition, every student at Milestone is challenged to include “Community Learning Experiences” in their PLP — these may include high-quality internships, apprenticeships, job shadows, field observations, or service-learning opportunities, supported and facilitated by community mentors. These mentors become important members of each student’s support team in all learning, including language proficiency.

21. If determined appropriate by the LEA, describe how you will support programs that coordinate and integrate academic and career and technical education content through coordinated instructional strategies, that may incorporate experiential learning opportunities and promote skills attainment important to in-demand occupations or industries in the State.

As mentioned above, all learning at Milestone is individualized and student-directed. For this reason, the paths chosen by Milestone students are formed based on individual student interests rather than information about professional trends. However, advisors at Milestone offer their students educational guidance informed by their knowledge of any changes in state industries and rising or declining labor demand associated with an industry or profession. All advisers are expected to maintain a high degree of knowledge about professional trends in the state.

22. If determined appropriate by the LEA, describe how you will support programs that coordinate and integrate work-based learning opportunities that provide students in-depth interaction with industry professionals and, if appropriate, academic credit.

The learning program at Milestone is centered around “Community Learning” (CL) experiences. All enrolled students will participate in these experiences, whether as part of a group or as an individual, at least two days per week. Academic credit is awarded for CL activities, which can be field experiences, internships, higher education classes or individual projects happening outside the traditional classroom. Students at Milestone are encouraged to work with mentors who are experts in their field and participate in high quality internships. 

23. If determined appropriate by the LEA, describe how you will use ESSA funds to assist schools in identifying and serving gifted and talented students.

Gifted” or “talented” students at Milestone are students who consistently produce exceptional work during end-of-term “exhibitions.” ESSA funds would provide a means of opening student exhibitions to a wider and more specialized audience that, in many cases, may provide expert feedback for students who have chosen projects linked to a STEM fields, the trades, etc.

24. If determined appropriate by the LEA, describe how you will assist schools in developing effective school library programs to provide students an opportunity to develop digital literacy skills and improve academic achievement.

As an independent charter, The LEA/school plans to utilize available ESSA funds to outfit with enough technology to ensure that students are 1:1 with devices. Milestone is continuing to add equipment and resources that expose students to new technologies. As a small school, a large library with a designated librarian will not be attainable for some years. However, digital literacy skills will be woven into the Advisory curriculum and taught by all staff at Milestone. It is clear, particularly after opening remotely during a pandemic, that students must be technologically literate. Most learning activities at Milestone necessitate the use of technology, and it will be a continued focus of the education of students in our learning program.