Effective Planning for Continuous Board and School Improvement

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• Effective Planning for Continuous Board and
  School Improvement
• Dr. Avis E. Glaze Ruth Mattingley
• Ontarios Education Commissioner Senior
  Executive Officer
• Senior Adviser to the Minister of Education
  The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat
• May 2008

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Overview

• Effective Planning for Continuous Improvement
• Lessons Learned
• Inquiry Process Narrowing the Focus
• SMART Goals
• Components of an Effective Plan
• Questions

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Planning for Continuous Improvement

• The only way to continuously improve is to
  continuously come up with new and better ideas
  than can be shown to produce better results.
• Professional learning happens when
• Theory and practice interact
• Past experience and new knowledge meet
• Data confirm or negate perceptions
• Separate, isolated events or facts emerge into
  patterns, trends, or new ideas
• Two or more individuals creative potentials
  collide
• (Conzemius and ONeill, 2002)
• This is the work of professional learning
  communities.

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Effective Planning

• Effective board and school improvement efforts
  include
• Ensuring a collaborative and inclusive
  improvement process
• Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment
• Establishing a small number of SMART Goals
• Setting ambitious targets based on both external
  standards and internal measures
• Developing a well designed plan
• Implementing key strategies
• Monitoring progress
• Revising as needed in a timely fashion
• Evaluating effectiveness of the plan and
  identifying lessons learned

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Every School A Great School

• Schools must use external standards to clarify,
  integrate and raise their own expectations.
  Equally, schools by themselves and in networks
  must be enabled to lead improvements and
  innovation in teaching and learning, with the
  support of highly specified, but not prescribed
  best practices.
• David Hopkins (2005)

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Continuous Cycle for Improvement

• Improvement planning is a continuous and cyclical
  process of analysis, planning and implementation
  designed to enhance student achievement
  measurably over time.

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What an Improvement Plan is Not....

• Not an annual report
• Not a narrative of everything currently being
  done
• Not a list of events
• Not a static document
• Not a document is developed in isolation

An improvement plan should focus only on those
vital few things that we intend to improve or
refine, not everything that we are already
doing.
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Narrowing the Focus
Myth If it is not in the school improvement plan
then it is not important

• Focus doesnt mean that this is all we care
  about..... it means that this is what we are
  focusing our improvement efforts on at this
  particular point in time.
• The school improvement plan focuses on the most
  urgent learning needs of our students.......
  setting priorities for this point in time.

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Virtues of Ugly Plans

• Im sorry this is a bit of a mess, but since my
  leadership team wrote this plan a few months ago,
  weve had changes in student population, changes
  in our faculty, and new student achievement data.
  Weve had to modify some goals and add others.
  We have had to add some intermediate objectives
  so that we can continuously monitor our progress
  and be aware of continuing changes during the
  school year. In fact, I cant promise you that
  this document wont change again the months to
  come as we attempt to monitor our progress and
  make midcourse corrections.
• (The Learning Leader, Dr. Douglas Reeves,
  2006, p. 63)

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School Improvement Plans Always Under
Construction
Reviewedand revised regularly.
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Provincial Trends

• Strengths
• Focus on cross-curricular non-fiction writing
• Use of frequent common assessment
• Immediate and decisive intervention
• Constructive use of data
• Research-based leadership
• Collaboration in developing the plan
• Use of technology
• Time and opportunity for students to learn
  (interventions for struggling students focus on
  equity)
• Focus on differentiated instruction
• Use of scoring guides (rubrics) and/ or display
  of data

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Provincial Trends

• Areas for Improvement
• Goals were not specific (SMART need for
  clarity)
• Too many initiatives (too complex, overly
  ambitious)
• Needs assessment focused mainly on EQAO (little
  data gathered about teaching practice, or
  leadership)
• Monitoring strategies were either lacking or not
  time-bound or specific in who was responsible
  (assign responsibilities and implementation
  protocols)
• Inquiry needs to be focused with clear priorities
  established
• Evaluation cycles need to be built into the plans
• There was a lack of precision in timelines
• Minimal reference to strategies to engage parents
• Need to identify precise research-based
  strategies
• Need to ensure that capacity building is aligned
  to implementation of strategies (there wasnt
  always a link from the key priorities to capacity
  building initiatives)
• Improvement plans tend to be narratives or annual
  reports in nature (list everything the board is
  doing)

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ResearchLeadership and Learning Centre

• Research shows that effective improvement plans
• identify key elements of school/ board
  improvement
• reduce duplication of effort
• are simple to administer
• translate into action in the classroom
• accelerate implementation and monitoring
• focus on teaching and learning

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The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Le
Secrétariat de la littératie et de la numératie
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Focus of Professional Development

• The research suggests that when professional
  development efforts are focused on a few key
  elements, such as improving classroom feedback,
  assessment practices, and cross-disciplinary
  non-fiction writing, the yield in student
  achievement is significantly greater than when
  professional developers yield to the flavour of
  the month approach in which fads replace
  effectiveness.
• (Douglas Reeves, 2006)

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Universal Components of School Improvement

• Planning Needs Assessment, Inquiry, SMART goals
• Implementation Research-based strategies,
  design, professional learning, leadership
  development, parental engagement
• Monitoring Plan, Frequency, Measuring Progress
• Dr. Stephen White (2007)

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Components of an Effective Plan

• Comprehensive Needs Assessment (SEF and Board
  data)
• A small number of SMART Goals
• A manageable number of research-based strategies
  that will be implemented to achieve the goal (no
  more than 5-10)
• Resources
• Professional development supports
• Strategies to engage parents/ community
• Monitoring strategies and timelines
• Measures of progress in achieving goals
• Overall evaluation of the plan lessons learned
  and next steps

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Comprehensive Needs Assessment

• Engage staff to
• gather and reflect on school data (school self
  assessment- SEF)
• Reflect and celebrate school strengths
• Determine what is currently working well
• Identify areas in need of improvement
• Identify possible cause and effect scenarios.
• Identify a vital few key areas upon which to
  focus improvement efforts

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The School Effectiveness Framework

• The School Effectiveness Framework (SEF)
• is a resource that
• guides discussions for reflection of key
  components of school effectiveness
• focuses conversation on research-based best
  practices
• acts as a catalyst for collaborative and
  collegial conversations about school strengths
  and areas for improvement
• Provides a tool to assist with monitoring our
  progress
• informs board and school improvement planning in
  order to determine next steps and narrow the
  focus to a vital few SMART goals.

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Thinking Chain
Which instructional strategies lead to the most
rapid rate of growth for different student
populations?
A treasure hunt into learning and school
improvement begins with a need to know something,
a theory, a question, or a hypothesis that has
come to us through some natural flow of logic.
Evidence
What sub-group of students are most in need of
improvement?
Evidence
Data -Aspects of ____ -Skills
Which critical expectations are our students the
weakest?
Evidence
Data ?Disaggregated sub-groups
Evidence
What part of the curriculum do our students
struggle with most?
Data -EQAO -SEF -District/School Assessments
Adapted from The Handbook for SMART School Teams,
2002) p.63
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SMART Goals

• Specific and Strategic Have you articulated
  precisely what you want to achieve and have
  priorities been strategically selected based on a
  comprehensive needs assessment?
• Measurable- Are you able to assess/ measure your
  progress?
• Achievable- Is the goal within your reach and
  within your control? Are targets ambitious yet
  attainable?
• Results-Based Have established base-line data
  and targets of where you want to end up?
• Time-bound- What is the dead-line for completing
  your goal?

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Specific and Strategic

• Ask questions such as
• In what area are a significant number of students
  experiencing difficulty?
• What specific aspect of this area of concern
  would make the biggest impact for students if
  improvement occurred?
• If students could change and do X in this area,
  would they benefit greatly would it positively
  impact other areas of their learning?
• If our goal was achieved and the specific area
  identified was significantly improved, what would
  students be doing? In other words, what would be
  the indicators?

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Measurable

• Ask questions such as.....
• What tool(s) will best measure if targets have
  been achieved?
• Can the tool(s) be used to establish a baseline?
• What is the achievement target for your students?

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Attainable

• Ask questions such as.....
• Is what we are expecting reasonable?
• Do we have the capacity to make the desired
  change?
• If yes, how do we most effectively use our
  capacity to make the changes?
• If no, how do we prepare ourselves so we
  have the capacity to make the changes

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Setting Attainable Targets

• According to The Leadership and Learning Centre
• If student performance is in the
• 1st quartile the percentage increase should be at
  least 20
• 2nd quartile at least 12
• 3rd quartile around 7
• Top quartile around 4
• (Dr. Douglas Reeves, 2007)

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Results -Oriented

• Ask these questions...
• Why is it important for staff to achieve this
  goal?
• Have ambitious yet attainable targets been set?

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Time Bound

• Ask questions such as....
• What is the timeframe for achieving this goal?
• What strategies are in place to keep us on track
  (monitoring strategies and time

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First Drafts Goals from Ontario Schools
Is this a SMART Goal?
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First Drafts Goals from Ontario Schools
Is this a SMART Goal?
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Goals from Ontario Schools
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Goals from Ontario Schools

• Specific
• Measurable
• (There is no baseline data)
• Attainable
• Results Oriented
• Time-Bound

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SMART Goal
Strategic and Specific

• 76 of primary and junior students will achieve
  Level 3 or 4 in making connections
  (Curriculum Reading Expectations (1.5 Making
  Inferences/ interpreting text, 1.6 extending
  understanding, 1.7 analyzing text, 1.8 responding
  to and evaluating text and 1.9 point of view) in
  reading as measured through the primary and
  junior EQAO assessment by May 2008. Currently
  65 of primary students and 59 of junior
  students are achieving Level 3 or 4.

Results-based
Measurable
Time-bound
Attainable Targets are established that are
ambitious yet realistic.
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Board and School Improvement Plan Design

• A comprehensive needs assessment will help narrow
  the focus on the vital few priorities
• Strategies focus on what should happen in the
  classroom
• Strategies are research-based
• Required resources are identified
• Professional learning needs are addressed
• Leadership development needs are addressed
• Strategies to engage parents are identified
• Monitoring strategies are identified (timelines,
  those responsible, measures of progress)
• Evaluation related to the overall plan is
  scheduled in order to determine next steps,
  midcourse corrections and lessons learned

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SMART GOAL?

• To improve student writing scores on the Grade 3
  and 6 assessment.

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Goal-To improve student writing scores on the
Grade 3 and 6 assessment.
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SMART Goal

• Increase the percentage of Grade 3 students from
  63 to 70 and Grade 6 students from 68 to 75
  who are able to develop and organize content
  (target expectations 1.1 through to 1.6) at
  Level 3 or 4 in the writing strand of the
  provincial primary and junior assessment by June
  2008.

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SMART GOAL Increase the percentage of Grade
3 students from 63 to 70 and Grade 6 students
from 68 to 75 who are able to develop and
organize content in the writing strand (target
expectations 1.1 through to 1.6) of the
provincial primary and junior assessment by June
2008
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Communicating the Plan
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Keeping Goals at Forefront Ongoing Communication
Staff share school goals and improvement plan
with students during a school assembly
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Keeping Goals at Forefront Ongoing Communication
Memos to staff keep the school goals front and
centre.
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Evaluating Success

• How will we know when we have achieved our goal?
• What will be different for the students?
• What influence has our plan had?
• What data to we have to support our conclusions?
• What lessons have we learned?
• How will we apply these lessons as we move
  forward?

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• The true measure of improvement planning
  effectiveness, of course, is the degree to which
  improvement planning, implementation and
  monitoring produce positive changes in student
  achievement and growth over time.
• (EQAO Guide to School and Board Improvement
  Planning, 2005)

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Planning for Deep Implementation
Board Improvement Plan
School Improvement Plan
School Improvement Plan
School Improvement Plan
School Improvement Plan
Implementation of High Yield Strategies,
Monitoring and Revisions of Plan
Implementation of High Yield Strategies,
Monitoring and Revisions of Plan
Implementation of High Yield Strategies,
Monitoring and Revisions of Plan
Implementation of High Yield Strategies,
Monitoring and Revisions of Plan
Improved Student Achievement
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Resources

• Reeves, Douglas. The Learning Leader How to
  Focus School Improvement for Better Results.
  ASCD, 2006.
• EQAO Guide to School and Board Improvement
  Planning. www.eqao.com. 2005.
• Hopkins,David. Every School A Great School.
  ARTV Seminar Series, Paper No. 146. August
  2005.
• Dr. Stephen White. The Leadership and Learning
  Center. www.leadandlearn.com
• Marzano, Robert. The Art and Science of
  Teaching. ASCD, 2007.
• Fullan, Michael Hill, Peter Crevola, Carmel.
  Breakthrough. Corwin Press. 2006
• Conzemius, Anne and ONeill, Jan. The Handbook
  for SMART School Teams. National Education
  Service, 2002.