Title: DEVELOPING YOUR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
1DEVELOPING YOUR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Illinois North Central Association University of
Illinois 616 East Green St., Suite 201 Champaign,
IL 61820 217-333-1120
2Dick Spohr NCA Ambassador 21712 Oak Road Atwater,
IL 62572 (217) 854-5238 dspohr_at_motion.net
3Greetings From
- Susie Morrison, State Director
- Illinois NCA CASI State Office
- University of Illinois
- Smorriso_at_uillinois.edu
- Dick Spohr, NCA Ambassador
- 21712 Oak Road
- Atwater, IL 62572
- dspohr_at_motion.net
- Mark Elgart, CEO
- AdvancED
- Decatur, Georgia
-
4Housekeeping Matters
- Creature comforts
- Adult Learning Experience
- Audience participation required
- Relax, learn, and enjoy
5Todays Conversation
- What is NCA?
- How are NCA member schools different?
- What makes school improvement planning effective?
- How can an effective school improvement plan be
developed? - Other??????
6AGENDA
- 900-1015 NCA, SIP, Profile
- 1015-1030 Break
- 1030-1145 Profile, Environ. Scan and Goals
- 1145-100 Lunch (working)
- SIP Elements
- 100-110 Break
- 110-200 Logistics and Process Recomm
ended Next Steps Evaluation
7AdvanceED
8 Advancing Excellence in Education
- Unification of NCA CASI, SACS CASI, NSSE
- Together We
- Represent 23,000 public and non-public schools
- 30 States
- Navajo Nation
- Latin America
- Department of Defense
- 65 Countries
- Serve 15 million students
- Create the Worlds Largest Educational Community
9 Unification SACS CASI and NCA CASI
ND
North Central
MN
SD
WI
WY
MI
DoDEA
NE
IA
IND.
IL
OH
IN
CO
NN
WV
KS
MO
OK
AR
AZ
NM
AZ
KY
VA
TN
NC
Southern
SC
GA
AL
MS
LA
TX
FL
Latin America
10 Advancing Excellence in Education
- Together we share a commitment to help schools
and districts improve on behalf of their students - Accreditation and school improvement services
will - Maximize student success
- Build school and system capacity
- Bring together research, best practices and
resources - Together we can and will serve as a leader for
educational quality - Powerful advocate with a national voice and
international presence
11 Advancing Excellence in Education
- Core Services
- Accreditation (NCA, SACS)
- Pillars of Accreditation (High Standards,
Continuous Improvement, Quality Assurance) - Accreditation Process
- Professional Services (NCA, SACS, NSSE)
- Professional Development, Technical Assistance,
Conferences, Consulting - Research (NSSE)
- Publications, Resources, Tools, Education
Research, Evaluation
12Benefits of Accreditation
- Mark of Quality
- High Quality Standards
- Proven Improvement Processes
- Means to Meet Requirements (Local, State,
Federal) - Professional Services
- Technical Assistance
- Peer Review and Support
- Research-Based Products and Services
- Publications, Resources, Tools, Websites
- Reciprocity and Access
- Resources and Best Practices Network
13NCA CASI - SACS CASI - NSSE
14Think and Interpret
- Accreditation is an activity, not a status.
Schools are accredited because of the way they
move, not the way they stand. - John A. Stoops
- Former Middle States Executive Director
- Elementary Schools
- First Executive Director, CITA
15 Accreditation Process
- Beginning in 2007-2008 schools will be
accredited on a - Five Year Term
- On a continuous basis schools will
- Meet / exceed high quality standards
- Engage in continuous improvement
- Conduct periodic self - assessment
- Monitor standards, document results
- Receive and benefit from support and services
- Annual contact, expert assistance, resources,
research, best practices, professional
development - Learn, share and network with colleagues
- Effective 2006-2007
- There is no annual on-line report
16Accreditation Process
- Every Five Years
- School prepares for and hosts a Quality Assurance
Review Team - AdvancED schedules the visit and assigns a
qualified chair - School completes and submits a Standards
Assessment Report (within 6 weeks to 6 months of
the visit) - Two Years Following the Visit
- School submits an on-line Progress Report on the
Quality Assurance Review Teams recommendations - Five Years After the Visit
- School prepares for and hosts a Quality Assurance
Review Team
17Accreditation Process
- Ongoing
- Formative Assessment Learning and
Continuous Improvement - Self-assessments are conducted
- Feedback from assistance, coaching and contact is
received - Every Five Years
- High Stakes Summative Evaluation (QAR)
- Commendations and recommendations are received
- Accreditation status is determined
18Accreditation Process
Submit Progress Report Two Years After the Visit
Submit Standards Assessment Report 6 Weeks 6
Months Prior to the Visit
Every Five Years, Host a Quality Assurance
Review Team
19Three Pillars of Accreditation
- Accredited Schools Must
- Meet high standards
- Engage in continuous improvement
- Demonstrate quality assurance
20AdvancED Standards for Quality Schools
- Comprehensive statements
- of quality practices and conditions
- that research and best practice indicate
- are necessary for schools to achieve
- quality student performance and
- organizational effectiveness
- Standards are based on research and systemically
connected
217 Standards 56 Indicators (07-08)
- Vision and Purpose
- Governance and Leadership
- Teaching and Learning
- Documenting and Using Results
- Resources and Support Systems
- Stakeholder Communications Relationships
- Commitment to Continuous Improvement
22 High Standards
- Standard and Criteria
- Achievement of criterion
- Commitment to the Spirit and Intent
23Quality Assurance
- External Peer Review Visit At end of an
improvement cycle. Documentation of successes. - Assurance Review (QAR) Once every 5
years. Anytime during continuous improvement.
24QUALITY ASSURANCE Purpose for all NCA CASI
Visits
- Purpose 1
- Assist the school in improving the performance
and success of its students!
- Purpose 2
- Assist NCA CASI in ensuring the publics trust by
verifying that - Standards are met
- A quality improvement process is in place
- Students are receiving a quality education
25 Continuous Improvement
- An accredited school
- makes the commitment and demonstrates the
capacity to engage in ongoing improvement - Educators possess a can do attitude and
- have the competence and confidence to succeed
- are motivated by professional challenge and
achievement - have high expectations for themselves and
students - are willing to create, experiment, innovate, and
try new things - Educators build their capacity to improve
- develop knowledge, understanding and skills
- create a supportive organizational culture and
conditions
26Continuous Improvement
- An accredited school
- Has the responsibility and flexibility to
identify and implement an improvement process - The process should.
- meet the standards
- focus on improvement of student learning and
school effectiveness - satisfy local, state, federal improvement
requirements - allow the school to engage in one improvement
initiative - be implemented in a systematic and systemic
manner - be implemented in a culture of learning and
collaboration - be comprehensive
- address the four elements of continuous
improvement
27Continuous Improvement Process Elements
What future are you pursuing ?
What have you accomplished?
What is your current reality ?
Monitor and Adjust
PLAN
What actions will you take to improve ?
28 Continuous Improvement
- Process Flexibility
- NSSE Breakthrough School Improvement
- NCA Performance Accreditation (8 phase)
- NSSE Focus On Student Performance
- NCA Transitions
- High Schools That Work
- Baldrige Integrated Management System
- Strategic Planning Models
- State Initiated Frameworks
- Etc.
29 Continuous Improvement
- An accredited school has the responsibility and
flexibility to identify and implement an
improvement process.
30Elements of Continuous School Improvement
- Vision
- Profile
- Plan
- Results
31(No Transcript)
32Elements of Effective School Improvement
- Data Collection (Profiling and Scanning)
- Mission
- Goal Setting (Performance Targets)
- Interventions (Strategies)
- Assessments
- Professional Development
- Monitoring
- Documentation of Results
33Steps to ImprovementSTUDY PLANACT
DO
34PROFILING
35School Improvement Concept
A concise, stand-alone document which gives a
snapshot or picture of a school in data terms as
a cycle of school improvement begins.
36 Profiling Tasks
Step 1 Gather Data
Step 2 Sort Your Data into Categories
Step 3 Identify Implications
School Improvement Plan
Categories of Data
Compendium (Compilation of Data)
- Unique Local Insights
- Former Students
- Students
- Instruction
- Community
Goals Assessments Interventions Action Plan
37Findings
- A simple presentation of the data without making
judgments.
38Analysis
- Collect Data
- Sort Data
- Present Data (Findings)
- Analyze Data
- Trying to determine and describe why.
39Implications
- Student Performance Goals
- Did our analysis indicate a need for a goal that
will increase student performance? - Other Data To Be Collected
- Did our analysis indicate that we did not have
enough data to make a decision? If so, what other
data must we collect? - Clarification of Goals
- Did our analysis provide us with specific areas
of concern or was it too general? - Identification of Intervention Groups
- Did our analysis identify specific groups of
students in need of improvement? - Other Actions Needed Did our analysis indicate
other actions than those above are necessary?
40Disaggregation Categories
- After data has been collected, determine
categories for disaggregation. (NCLB plus?)
41Disaggregation of Data
Disaggregations
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Socio-economic status
- Quartiles
- Family Structures/Design
- Mobility Factors
- Title I
- ESL
- Rural vs. Urban
42To be blind is bad, but worse it is to have eyes
and not to seeHellen Keller
43 Profile
- What is the MUST HAVE data that a school should
collect for EACH category? -
Table Activity
44Environmental Scanning
45Environmental Scanning
- Environmental scan data is information about
society and the world that a faculty may use to
determine what skills and knowledge students will
need to be successful after leaving their school.
Current definition in NCA CASI material
46- The scan helps us understand the world in which
our school may exist at various times in the
future, and how we may have to adapt to be
successful in such a new world.
47The Scan
- Pulls together key trends and predictions from
good sources to give us a sense of the range of
possible futures we may see.
48Some Areas to Scan
- Demographic trends in population
- Employment
- Technology
- Human Resources
- Workforce
- Work Environment
- Health Care
- Legislation
- Socioeconomics
- Income Projections
- Public Attitudes
49Some Sources of Scan Information
- Review current literature
- Search the internet
- Hold discussions with experts
- Interview major decision makers regarding their
view of the most critical trends and developments
that could affect the institution.
50Environmental Scan The Key Question
What are the most important things we can
develop in our students, based upon the kind of
world in which they are likely to live?
51Mission
52Mission Statement
A statement that identifies the priorities and
educational beliefs of the school/district with
regard to what is to be developed within its
students.
53Mission Statement Boiler Plate
1) General philosophical statement.
2) Support of the district mission. 3) Self
imposed duty regarding the preparation of
students. 4) What needs to be developed within
students. Think about the skills you
needed when you graduated from high school.
Contrast those with the skills your current
students will need when they graduate from
high school. What skills will they need?
54From Eric Hoffer
- In times of change, learners inherit the earth,
while the learned find themselves beautifully
equipped to deal with a world that no longer
exists.
55 Mission
- Share your schools mission statement with
others. - What is the most important thing that all schools
must develop in all students? -
Table Activity
56Once the profile is completed and the mission is
written, it is time to write your student
performance goals.
"Bridging from Profile and Mission to Goal
Writing"
57Student Performance Goals
58School Improvement Concept Writing Goals
- Writing appropriate student performance goals is
one of the most important steps in the
development of the school improvement plan.
59Whoever writes the goals owns the goals.
60Understanding the Goal
Goal Types
Essence of the Goal
Student Performance Goals
Sources
Mission
Rubrics to Evaluate Goals
Profile
A Boiler Plate for Writing Goals
All students will increase ______________________
across the curriculum. clients will
improve across the school
in a variety of contexts.
61Essence
- Before an intervention can be established the
essence of the goal must be determined. Essence
involves determining the dimensions of a concept
on which the school wishes to focus. - Example What does citizenship mean to your
faculty?
62Essence of Citizenship
- 1. Compliance with the rules
- 2. Understanding participative governance
- 3. Service to humanity
-
- The focus a school takes can drastically
affect the interventions and assessments the
school in the School Improvement Plan.
63Goal Types
- Type I Knowledge
- Type II -- Ability to Apply Knowledge
- Type III --Habits/Patterns of Behavior
- Type IV -- Attitudes, Perceptions, Beliefs,
Opinions, Feelings - The Type of Goal Determines the Type of
Assessment
64Questions RE Student Performance Goals
- How many total goals?
- How many cognitive and affective goals?
- How are state and district goals addressed?
- How long does a school keep a goal?
- Does a school have non-student performance goals?
65School Improvement Plan(SIP)
66SIP Components
Assessments that will be used to document
program improvement Interventions that will
be used to improve student performance Professi
onal Development needed to implement the
interventions Logistical/Action Plan that will
support the implementation of the assessments,
interventions and professional
development.
67- Note
- The School Improvement Plan is comprised of the
SIP Abstract (the basic design) and the
Logistical/Action plan (which contains the
details for implementation.) - Available at Illinois website nca.uillinois.edu
- .
68Assessments
69Selecting Assessments
- Identify Assessments That Will Be Used To Show
Improvement on Each Goal - Match Assessment Type with Goal Type
- Align assessments with goals and interventions.
- Use multiple assessments.
70TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS Used for Assessing Student
performance
Portfolios
Nationally Normed Tests
Surveys/Interviews
Criterion Referenced Tests
CURRICULUM
PARENT SURVEY
TEST
STUDENT SURVEY
STAFF SURVEY
Observational Data Collection
Authentic Assessment
Evaluate performance at a "real world task"
which involves higher order thinking
71School Improvement Assessments
- Locally Developed Assessments
- Developed and used in specific schools or
districts - Usually classroom-based
- Standardized Assessments
- Widely administered
- Recognized and understood by the public
72Selecting/Creating Assessments
- Standardized
- Advantages Greater possibility of validity and
reliability - Politically more
acceptable to community - Procedures are standardized
- Disadvantages Cost
- Less likely to match your educational
program or curriculum - Appropriate common metric to
measure your goal may
not exist
73Selecting/Creating Assessments (continued)
- Locally Developed
- Advantages Better alignment to goal
- Improved match to curriculum and
instruction - Local control
- Disadvantages Validity and reliability
- Time/expertise to develop
- Standardization issues
74Key Questions Assessments
- How many assessments are needed for each goal?
- Are we assessing the goal or the intervention?
- Must every intervention have an assessment?
- Must every assessment be given to every student
every year?
75 ASSESSING OUR PERSONAL HEALTH
- How do we use the results of a physical
examination? - How do we use the results of an autopsy?
- Make an analogy to testing student performance.
-
Table Activity
76Interventions
77Definition
- An intervention is something that is done to or
with students that develops something desired
within the student. For schools involved in the
NCA school improvement process the something
desired should be the goal areas.
78Interventions address the reasons why students
are not being successful.
- Cause Effect
- Symptom versus Cause
- Thorough Analysis of Data
79How to Use Data to Create Powerful Interventions
- Start with Findings (facts).
- Analyze to explain why the facts are what they
are - intuitive analysis
- analysis using data
- research based
- For each explanation (or reason)
identify/determine the Implications for
interventions/strategies.
80Keys for Interventions
- Use the experience of staff for intuitive
analysis - For every reason - identify an intervention
- Need to put data in the hands of the teachers
- Regularly assess and revisit
81Good Interventions develop the goal area within
the student.
- They should do one of the following
- Develop Knowledge
- Apply Knowledge
- Develop Patterns of Behavior
- Develop Attitudes
82Research Based Interventions
- Discuss the ways schools could locate
research-based or best practice interventions.
R
83Key Questions Interventions
- How many interventions needed for each goal?
- Can some interventions only address subgroups and
not all students? - How do we incorporate teacher stuff if we are
to write interventions in student terms? - Do all teachers have to do all interventions?
- Can some interventions cross over into other
goals?
84Intervention Questions Contd
- Where do we put parent-related pieces in our
plan? - Must all interventions be research-based?
- How do we get the faculty to select
interventions?
85Professional Development
86Professional Development
- Helps faculty learn about the new interventions
and how to implement them. - Needs to be directly linked to the school
improvement plan.
87 Questions . . .
- What is required to move faculty from awareness
to actual transfer into the classroom? - How will you know the plan is being implemented
in classrooms? - What is the plan to bring new people up to
speed, and to advance skills of everyone? - What
88One purpose of staff development is to unite the
staffs of schools in studying ways of improving
the school and engagement in continuous programs
to make it better. Schools become outstanding
when school improvement is a prominent part of
the staff development activities. Bruce
Joyce and Beverly Showers
89Action Plan
90 Action Plans
- For every intervention in a school improvement
plan there is created at least one action plan
page. This page contains all the details that go
into the plan. The important word here is
details. Always provide more information than
you think necessary.
91LOGISTICAL ACTION PLAN
- Logistical Details what has to be done to
implement the interventions - Action Who will do what and when
- Plan . . . of mice and men . . .
92Action Plan Template
93Making Data Driven Decisions
- This is a very important lesson. You must never
confuse faith that you will prevail in the end
which you can never afford to lose with the
discipline to confront the most brutal facts of
your current reality, whatever they might be.
Collins, J. (2001), Good to Great, New York
HarperCollins Publishers, p. 85
94Student Performance
- Michael Schmoker, Results, 1996
- The Importance of Data
- You cannot fight what you cannot see.
- Data makes the invisible visible.
95Student Performance
- Why do we avoid data? FEAR!
- Of datas capacity to reveal strength and
weakness, failure and success . . . - Data almost always points to action.
96Student Performance
- Data is the enemy of comfortable routines.
- Without data, youre just another person
with an opinion. - Michael Schmoker, Results, 1996
97Assess Chart - Communicate
- Regularly assess student performance
- Chart growth on each goal.
- Communicate results.
- Review results, revise interventions, and
update professional development. - Prepare a documentation report on each of the
student performance goals that have been
implemented from the SIP.
98Elephant in the Room DATA
In God We Trust.All others must bring data.
99Baseline Data!!!!!!!
- Pre-test or PRE INTERVENTION
- Post-test or END OF CYCLE
- Same assessments
- Collect for each subgroup
100Never be afraid to try something new. Remember,
amateurs built the ark and professionals built
the titanic.
101Suggestions? Concerns? Questions?
102NCA CASIandIllinois NCA CASIThank You for
Participating
- We are here to help you with your school
improvement process.
103APPENDIX
104ASCD
- Association for Supervision and
- Curriculum Development
- 1703 North Beauregard Street
- Alexandria, Virginia 22311
- 1-800-933-2723
- www.ascd.org
- Magazine Educational Leadership
105Education Research Service
- Will provide research to member schools on any
topic requested. - 2000 Clarendon Road
- Arlington, VA 22201
- 703-243-2100
- ers_at_access.digex.net
106Northwest Regional Lab
- www.nwrel.org
- All regional labs available from this website
-
107- Educational Best Practices
- www.ed.gov/inits/statelocal/sl-best.html
108Preparing Students for Contemporary Work and
Society
109Conventional AcademicSuccess has Involved
- Mastery of basic skills
- Largely solitary study
- Generally uninterrupted work
- Concentration on a single subject
- Much written work
- High analytical ability
110Workplace Success Involves
- Mastery of basic skills
- Working with others
- Constant distractions
- Working at different levels across different
disciplines - Mainly verbal skills
- Problem-solving and decision-making
111Does it have to be either or?
- No, it must be both. However workplace skills do
not always come from academic skills. - Academics are neither good at finding novel
solutions, nor at synthesizing , nor at living
with ambiguity, nor making difficult decisions.
112Real Life Skills
- In a world of continuous change where creativity,
personal responsibility and innovation are in
ever greater demand, the ability of individuals
to plan and implement their own ongoing learning
without external direction has to be the key to
success.
113Here is the problem
- Society is recognizing the restrictive and
unimaginative. - Now television, video, linked with active
technologies such as the computer, CD ROM systems
and the Internet, provide an astonishing array of
tools for constructive learning.
114Documentation Report
- At end of the school improvement cycle, it is
necessary to write a documentation report
demonstrating student growth.
- Note Most schools also provide a yearly update
during the cycle for faculty, parents, board
members, and others.
115Documentation Report
- A communication vehicle
- A report to entire school learning community
- A document used by NCA CASI as part of the
total process of accreditation - A transition piece in process of continuous
improvement
116Address the BIG Questions
Why? So What?
- What worked?
- What didnt work?
- What needs to be institutionalized?
- What needs to be discontinued?
- What capacities need to be developed?
- Whats next - where do we go from here?
- Keep your document short, concise, and to the
point!!!
117Be Ready to Discuss and Document
- Baseline
- Summary of baseline data
- Assessment tools used
- Major findings and conclusions
- Process
- Conclusion
- Data collected at end of the cycle
- Assessment tools used
- Major findings
- Evaluation of the differences between levels of
student performance