Virginia WebEx Program

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Division Support for Substantial School
Improvement

• Virginia WebEx Program

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Sponsored byVirginia Department of
EducationKathleen Smith, Office of School
ImprovementVirginia Foundation for Educational
LeadershipRandy Barrack, Executive
DirectorWith assistance fromAppalachia
Regional Comprehensive Center andCenter on
Innovation Improvement
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Virginia WebEx Faculty Working with School
Divisions

• Roger Jones
• John Porter

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Related Reading

• The Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial
  School Improvement published by the Center for
  Innovation and Improvement is the background text
  for this series of WebExs.
• Pages 1-44 cover material related to WebEx 1.

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WebEx Session 1 Division Support for School
Improvement

• Agenda for the Session
• Welcome and Introduction to Series 5 minutes
• Introduce Indicator 1 8 minutes
• Discuss Indicator 1 Questions 15 minutes
• Introduce Indicator 2 8 minutes
• Discuss Indicator 2 Questions 15 minutes
• Introduce Indicator 3 8 minutes
• Discuss Indicator 3 Questions 15 minutes
• Introduce web-based planning and reporting
  process 5 minutes

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Welcome

• Our purpose is to help divisions provide their
  schools with the support and direction necessary
  for improvement.
• We will emphasize support and direction for
  schools in need of substantial improvement.
• The schools may or may not be in the process of
  restructuring.
• The division support system, however, will
  benefit all schools and the division itself.

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Substantial Improvement

• By substantial improvement, we mean a school that
  needs comprehensive reform rather than
  improvement of a specific program and/or
  component.
• By substantial improvement, we also mean that
  change must occur over a short period of
  timeincrementally over a long period of time.

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The WebEx Series

• 7 WebEx Sessions
• Attended by division-level teams
• Presented by the VDOE WebEx faculty of veteran
  division administrators
• 20 Success Indicators (about 3 per session)
• Content, discussion, and post-session team
  discussion focused on improvement
• Use of a web-based planning and reporting system
  to support improvement efforts

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Priorities

• The first priority of this series of WebExs is
  to strengthen the divisions ability to
  systematically support school improvement.
• A similar process for each schools improvement
  planning and implementation will be part of the
  program.

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Focus on the How

• An Indicator is an element that research connects
  with successful school improvement.
• This project will focus on the how as each
  division team carefully addresses the Indicators,
  plans improvement, documents its work, and shares
  its experiences.

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WebEx 1 Indicators

• Indicators of Success
• IA02 - Community. The division includes civic
  leaders and community organizations in division
  and school improvement planning and maintains
  regular communication with them.
• IA07 - Achievement Targets. The state sets
  minimum division, school, and student subgroup
  achievement targets. The division sets maximum
  division, school, and student subgroup
  achievement targets.
• IA11 - Data System. The division ensures that key
  pieces of user-friendly data are available in a
  timely fashion at the division, school, and
  classroom levels.

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Community and Civic Support

•  IA02 - Community. The division includes civic
  leaders and community organizations in division
  and school improvement planning and maintains
  regular communication with them.

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• When the division operates within a framework of
  civic and community responsibility for school
  success, the difficult options of restructuring
  substantial school improvement meet with
  greater support and understanding.
• Kenneth Wong, Handbook on Restructuring and
  Substantial School Improvement

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Communication and Coordination

• Close linkages among school division, school
  board, and community leaders can be beneficial in
  reforming schools
• Civic/community support must be nurtured at the
  division level and for each school
• Civic/community support are nurtured through
  intentional, coordinated efforts of the division,
  with regular and effective communication

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Superintendent and School Board

• Present united front
• Publicly provide support for reform help sell
  vision to community
• Ensure that student learning is the top priority
  for attention and resources
• Engage in periodic self-evaluation of their own
  performance
• Galvanize broad-based support for initiatives

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Discussion Build Civic Support

• How do the superintendent and board show unity of
  purpose with division/school improvement?
• How does the division build civic and community
  support for school improvement?
• Mayors and elected officials
• Civic and community leaders
• What communication systems must be put in place
  to keep everyone informed?

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Achievement Targets

• IA07 - Achievement Targets. The division sets
  division, school, and student subgroup
  achievement targets.

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Setting Achievement Targets

• Determine reasonable trajectories for
  improvement for the
• Division
• Each school
• How specific?
• Grade level
• Subject area
• Student subgroups
• Incremental trajectory vs. immediate turnaround
• Which schools need which trajectory?

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Discussion Achievement Targets

• Who is involved in setting achievement targets?
• How are division targets explained to
  stakeholders?
• Who gets what information?
• How are different trajectories for different
  schools explained to each schools stakeholders?
• What are division staff, principals, and teachers
  expected to do with the information?

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Data System

• IA11 - Data System. The division ensures that key
  pieces of user-friendly data are available in a
  timely fashion at the division, school and
  classroom levels.

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Build Technical Capacity

• Division research and evaluation units shift
  emphasis from compliance monitoring to building
  accessible data systems.
• Create a single, comprehensive data system rather
  than multiple ones for special purposes (e.g.,
  special education, categorically-funded
  programs).
• Focus on diagnostic uses of data.
• ARDT
• PALS
• EIMSJason.Ellis_at_doe.virginia.gov

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Formative Assessments

• Types of formative assessments
• State or division-created formative assessments
• Teacher team (school grade level or subject area)
  formative assessments
• Vendor-provided formative assessments
• Example Northwest Evaluation Associations
  assessments
• Focus and strengthen use of formative assessments
  at all three levelsdivision, school, and
  classroom
• Focus teacher team efforts on modifications in
  instructional planning based on formative
  assessment results

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Use Data to Drive Decisions

• Determine appropriate data to disseminate to
  parents, principals, teachers, school board, and
  civic and community leaders.
• Use data to make decisions about programs and to
  allocate resources.
• Use data to monitor progress and to keep
  attention on goals.

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Productive Data Use

• Data should focus primarily on student learning,
  at least at first, then secondary data, for
  example
• Attendance
• Discipline
• Parent and teacher perceptions
• Classroom observations of patterns of practice
• Analysis of lesson plans (individually and in
  teams)
• Staff members need training and time to analyze
  data and apply conclusions to instruction.
• School boards need training in understanding data
  and applying what they learn to decision making.

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Discussion Division Data System

• How does the division develop a comprehensive
  data information system that is user-friendly and
  timely?
• How can training in data use be provided for
• School board and community/civic leaders
• Division staff
• Principals
• Teachers
• Parents
• How can data be used to effectively inform
  instruction?

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Moving Forward as a Division Improvement Team

• www.centerii.org
• Select Division Support for Substantial School
  Improvement
• Register your division (if not already
  registered)
• Form your team
• Plan tasks for each indicator-based objective
• Monitor progress regularly
• Read pages 45-62
• Be prepared for a 3-minute presentation on the
  indicators from WebEx 1 using the questions on
  the next slide

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Team Questions for Reflection and Reporting at
the Next WebEx

• Which indicator received the most attention?
• What were some of the tasks developed to support
  progress on this indicator?
• Highlight successes, no matter how small. Be
  specific.
• Now highlight speed bumps and, again, be
  specific. Have strategies to address these been
  developed?