FAQs about School Improvement

What is School Improvement?
School Improvement refers to a continuous process of improvement in which school leaders, staff, parents, central office leaders, and other stakeholders work together to improve teaching and learning across the school. The primary goals of this ongoing process are to:

• Ensure all students have the opportunity and support to achieve to high levels;
• Close achievement and opportunity gaps between groups of students and between students and state standards; and
• Build educator skills, knowledge, and capacity to implement and sustain innovations and changes which significantly improve student, educator, and school performance.

What do high-performing schools have in common?
Research has shown that there is no silver bullet – no single thing that schools can do to ensure high student performance. Rather, high-performing schools tend to show evidence of the following qualities identified in OSPI's Nine Characteristics of High-Performing Schools:

1. Clear and shared focus
2. High standards and expectations for all students
3. Effective school leadership
4. High levels of collaboration and communication
5. Curriculum, instruction and assessments aligned with state standards
6. Frequent monitoring of learning and teaching
7. Focused professional development
8. Supportive learning environment
9. High level of family and community involvement

What are the essential elements of a school improvement process?
OSPI's Web-based School Improvement Process Planning Guide provides guidance to school leaders across Washington State for engaging in essential elements of the improvement process illustrated below:

OSPI's (Research & Studies, Improvement Processes & Tools and Needs Assessments & Diagnostic Tools) offer additional support for schools as they develop and implement a continuous process of improvement.

What resources are available to support our school's improvement efforts?
OSPI developed a variety of Web-based resources to support schools across the state to implement improvement processes, evidence-based practices, and effective systems found in high-performing schools.

Districts with schools identified as Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III based on federal School Improvement Grant guidelines are eligible to apply. Districts are notified of their eligibility to apply for these grants through OSPI's electronic application system (iGrants). Based on federal guidelines, awards for individual schools range from $50,000 to $2,000,000.

Districts/schools may be eligible to apply for additional services based on their placement on the Washington Performance Management Framework.