Northern Tier Schools

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Northern Tier Schools

• School Improvement that Works!

National Rural Education Association November 12,
2007
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Northern Tier Schools

• Reasons to form the NTS?
• Common School Improvement Process
• Improve Learning for Children with Disabilities
  (ILCD)
• Internal/External Accountability
• Improve Learning Opportunities for ALL Children
• Improve Educational Efficiencies by Sharing
  Resources

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Northern Tier Schools

• How did this happen?
• Summer 2003
• superintendents worked with Dr. Christensen,
  Nebraska Commissioner of Education, to develop
  the concept of the Northern Tier
• August 2003
• District Boards voted to join the Northern Tier
• Implementation of the Northern Tier
• 2003-2008
• Interlocal agreement governing the Northern Tier
  was set for 5 years

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NTS
Lynch
West Boyd
Niobrara
Stuart
Verdigre
Chambers
Orchard
Ewing
Elgin
Clearwater
Wheeler Central
Robert VeselyLynch, NE
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Northern Tier Schools

• Development of Common . . .
• Accreditation
• Calendar
• Bell schedule
• Market of classes
• Professional Development

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Northern Tier Schools

• Enrollment
• Faculty Staff
• Facilities
• Land territory

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Mission Statement

• The Northern Tier Schools, in partnership with
  families and communities, provides all students
  with safe, positive learning environments in
  which they are challenged to reach their maximum
  potential in a global society. We empower
  students to become productive citizens and
  life-long learners.

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Northern Tier Schools

• Our first project began by . . .
• adopting a uniform Special Education policy
• compiling ILCD data for the 8 inquiries
• distributing ILCD surveys to parents and staff

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Northern Tier Schools

• Surveys data collection identified areas
  needing improvement
• Survey results demonstrated a lack of
  understanding about the Special Education process
  among NTS regular classroom educators

therefore . . .
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Northern Tier Schools

• NTS SPED teachers created SPED 101
• a power point presentation was developed for
  uniform training
• updated to include the new IDEA regulations

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Northern Tier Schools

• What next?
• Superintendents requested school counselors meet
  to . . .
• plan for group testing
• initiate a comprehensive counseling program
  required by Nebraska Counselors Academy

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Data Determination

• Initial meeting
• determined grades 4, 8, 11 would be tested
  (longitudinal data)
• identified reading comprehension as a priority
• disaggregated by income, gender, ethnicity
  educational placement

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Sample Data Income
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Sample Data Gender
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Northern Tier Schools

• Data in small schools is easily skewed
• It is difficult to get suitable student numbers
  to conduct a longitudinal study
• Northern Tier data is reliable and has validity

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Northern Tier Schools

• NTS data has . . .
• allowed data triangulation
• begun to provide longitudinal data that will
  guide curriculum decisions,
• provided the information needed for effective
  school improvement

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Northern Tier Schools

• Annual Data Team Work
• Review Norm Referenced Testing Data
• Review STARS Data
• Review DIBELS Data

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Information Flow Chart
Data Team
Local Schools
Faculty
Community
Local Boards
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Northern Tier Schools

• Data is collected, now what?
• NTS developed a staff reading and literacy survey
  
• School Improvement Goal is reading comprehension
• K-12 teachers developed Action Plans

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Northern Tier Schools

• Spring 2005
• First External Team Visit occurred
• We survived! and have a long way to go!

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Northern Tier Schools

• 2005-06 professional development implementation
  of action plans
• K-12 teachers attended Reading in the Content
  Areas
• training facilitated by Sue Presler
• Administrators observed, monitored and evaluated
  reading strategies in the classroom
• Counselors work as a team to develop the
  comprehensive counselor program attended the
  Nebraska Counselor Academy training

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Northern Tier Schools

• Counselors
• developed a mission statement and philosophy
• conducted a teacher survey
• conducted school counseling program audit

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Northern Tier Schools2006-2007

• Data Retreat decisions resulted in the . . .
• formation of a Literacy Council to meet quarterly
• training all SPED, Title I, K-3 teachers in
  DIBELS in eleven of the twelve districts
• gathering monitoring K-3 DIBELS Data
• beginning online assessments

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Summer of 2007

• Annual Data Retreat
• Reviewed Suggestions from Spring 2007 External
  Team
• Reviewed STARS Data
• Reviewed Norm Referenced Testing
• Reviewed DIBELS Data
• Went over accomplishments and next steps

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Suggestions for Next StepsTop Three

• Find ways to provide additional time for
  classroom teachers to collaborate, network,
  dialog, debrief.
• Hold grade level or department meetings for
  teacher collaboration
• Establish common calendar of professional
  development days for teacher networking

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2007-2008 Endeavors

• Reading Mastery
• Eight Schools implemented Reading Mastery as
  their main reading series K-3
• Signed a contract with ERI (Educational Resources
  Incorporated)
• Provided summer inservice
• Providing ongoing coaching
• Trained administrators in program supervision

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2007-2008 Endeavors

• Implemented DIBELS K-6
• Took over the distance learning curriculum
• Monitoring classes with few student
  numbers for the development of class
• pods
• Work on renewing the interlocal agreement for the
  next five years

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2007-2008 Northern TierChairpersons
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2007-2008 CommitteeChairpersons
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Where are we in Year 5?

• We have become a Professional Learning Community
• Northern Tier Schools are stronger because of
  ties to each other
• NT Schools are improving!

• We have added capacity to each of our schools
• We are using reliable data to drive decision
  making
• Workload has been shared among the schools

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Additional Benefits

• Each schools staff can collaborate and use
  others as a sounding board
• Teaching in a small school becomes less lonely
  when one can work with like minded professionals
• Seasoned staff members mentor beginning
  colleagues
• There is strength in collective wisdom

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The Northern Tier would like to thank

• Dr. Doug Christensen, Nebraska Commissioner of
  Education
• Members of the External Team who have visited our
  schools and given us valuable insights
• ESU 8 for their cooperation in this endeavor
• Faculty and staff from each school who continue
  to work for better educational opportunities for
  our students

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Additional Information

• To stay abreast of Northern Tier developments or
  for a copy of this PowerPoint and the SPED 101
  PowerPoint go to
• www.elgineagles.org
• Look in administration/superintendent

Dr. Gayla Fredrickson, Supt. at Elgin and Ewing
gfredric_at_esu8.org
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Questions