MARIETTA - Superintendent Fred Sanderson presented the Cobb school board with a filled-out version of the board's 30-page strategic plan at its Wednesday meeting.

"I see the strategic plan as a roadmap that tells me if the CCSD is headed in the right direction and where strengths and weaknesses exist," board member David Banks said.

Associate Superintendent Dr. Steve Constantino and Dr. Judi Jones, chief accountability officer, filled in the numbers for specific targets, Board Chairman Dr. John Abraham said.

Abraham hopes the board will adopt a finalized version of the plan by December.

The plan, which the board and staff have worked on since January, is intended to define the direction of the school district over the next five years, measuring everything from test scores to PTA participation.

For example, one item measured is the percentage of Cobb fifth graders who "meet or exceed" the national average on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. That was 64 percent last year. The proposed target this school year is one point higher at 65 percent.

Board member Alison Bartlett believes that's not challenging enough.

"I am concerned that the executive cabinet is not pushing to increase the percentages," Bartlett said.

"If our current trends are showing on average a one percent improvement, we are not setting goals that will take focus to meet. We are not changing how we do business. The goals need to push us out of our comfort zone and look for ways to get a larger gain in our student testing scores," she said.

Board member David Morgan also wants to see more rigor.

"I feel like it needs to be more ambitious. They need to be more rigorous. That's keeping with the spirit of continuous improvement by not listing readily easy numbers for everybody to meet. One of the biggest factors to student achievement is high expectations for teachers, and I think that this strategic plan has to have high expectation for our schools, and I think by doing that, ultimately people will stretch," he said.

Other targets include:

n Cobb's average SAT score last year was 1534. The proposed target for this year is 1538.

n Cobb's average ACT score last year was 22.1. The proposed target for this year is 22.3.

n Cobb recorded 1,478 incidents of fighting or bullying last year. The proposed target for this year is to reduce that number to 1,448.

n Cobb recorded 272 drug related incidents last year. The targeted number this year is 267.

n Cobb recorded 253 instances of students with weapons last year. The proposed target this year is 248.

n Cobb recorded 327 gang related incidents last year. The proposed target this year is 320.

Banks said it was the board's first look at the numbers, and he wants an evaluation process as to how these historical, current and projected numbers relate to expectations.

Banks believes that blue ribbon schools such as Walton High School, which may be at the 95 percent level, will have to struggle to gain an additional basis point, whereas a school at the 80 percent level has 20 points in which to improve.

"The closer you come to the 100 percent mark, and are able to maintain the level, the harder the effort becomes. So a factor that must always be considered each year is the quality of the material given each year, which the CCSD does not have absolute control over," Banks said.

Constantino said in developing the targets he looked at trend data over a period of five years, wherever possible.

"District staff and leadership have put in a great deal of time and effort to develop these indicators and targets. It was a real group effort, with every area represented. It has also been a learning experience that will result in the strongest possible plan as we work with the school board to hone the indicators and targets - so that we are truly measuring what we should be measuring and setting high expectations for success," Constantino said.