Becoming a

1
Spokane Public Schools

• Becoming a
• World-Class System

2
History Quiz

• Where was the districts first administration
  building?
• What was the name of the correctional school that
  was part of SPS from 1909-1942?
• What was the name of the school on east Wellesley
  that is now the Zion Church?
• Who was the principal at Sacajawea who painted
  lines down the hallways to control student
  walking patterns?
• Who was the superintendent who had the nickname
  Silver Bullet?
• What was the starting salary for a teacher in SPS
  in 1958?

3
Todays Agenda

• History Lesson where have we been?
• Education from a National, State, and Local
  perspective
• Superintendents Work Plan where are we going?

4
Our Journey in Review 2002-2003

• August 19, 2002 the Journey Begins
• Urgency all kids to standard 90 goal
• New roles
• Director Assignments emphasis on being in
  schools
• Principals as Instructional Leaders emphasis on
  being in classrooms
• Principal conferences emphasis on building the
  capacity of administrators to improve instruction
• Learning organization focus - leadership is a
  learning activity
• Commitment to walkthroughs 3Cs and an E

5
Organizational Culture

• Culture of an organization consists of the norms
  and behaviors in an organization in other words,
  everyones shared understanding of how things
  work around here.
• Culture changes gradually and is reshaped by
  changes in many individual practices and beliefs.

6
Reculturing a System2002-2009

• From using averages and single school scores to
  dis-aggregation of data by gender, race, poverty,
  classroom, and special programs.
• From teacher-developed curriculum to
  district-designed and supported curriculum.
• From teachers as generalists to teachers as
  experts in content and pedagogy.
• From random professional development to
  intentional, job-embedded instructional coaching
  for teachers and administrators.

7
Reculturing a System2002-2009

• From focusing our energies on work that is
  primarily technical to work that is adaptive.
• From one size fits all programs to programs
  designed to fit diverse needs of students.
• From new schools designed for building operations
  to new schools designed for improved learning.
• From technology as gadgets and gizmos to
  technology-enabled learning and working
  environments.

8
Reculturing a System2002-2009

• From developing budgets for supporting
  departments to designing budgets for strategic
  learning priorities.
• From the independence of department silos to the
  interdependence of the system to support student
  learning.
• From intermittent bond elections every 8-10 years
  to a comprehensive, long-range school facility
  and technology improvement plan with bond
  elections every 6 years.
• From saying, I dont really see color to
  understanding that race and color make a
  difference for all of us.

9
Other Cultural Shifts

• With a partner at your table, examine the work
  you have been involved in and write another
  From . . . .to cultural shift statement that
  you will share with the group.

10
A National Perspective

• President Obamas Focus on Education
• July 17 speech to the NAACP Centennial Convention
• March 10 speech to U.S. Hispanic Chamber of
  Commerce
• Four pillars of education reform
• Development of cutting edge plans to raise the
  quality of early learning programs
• Adoption of world-class standards in every state
• Recruitment, preparation, and rewarding of
  outstanding teachers
• Promotion of innovation and excellence

11
A National Perspective

• Arne Duncans Race to the Top Program
• Adopting internationally-benchmarked standards
  and assessments that prepare students for college
  and the workplace.
• Recruiting, developing, retaining, and rewarding
  teachers and principals.
• Building data systems that measure student
  success and inform teachers and principals how
  they can improve practices.
• Turning around our lowest performing schools.

12
A National Perspective

• Being able to link teacher and student data is
  absolutely fundamental its a building block.
  When youre reluctant or scared to make that
  link, you do a grave disservice to the teaching
  profession and to our nations children.
• Arne Duncan, 2009

13
A National Perspective

• Arne Duncans Race to the Top Program
• Eligibility Requirements
• A state must not have any legal, statutory, or
  regulatory barriers to linking data on student
  achievement to teachers and principals for the
  purpose of teacher and principal evaluation.
• A state must describe how the funds would be used
  to increase student achievement, reduce the
  achievement gap across student subgroups, and
  increase the rates at which students graduate
  from high school prepared for college and careers.

14
A National Perspective

• Common Core State Standards
• Why is this important?
• Currently every state has its own set of academic
  standards, meaning students in each state are
  learning at different levels.
• All students must be prepared to compete with not
  only their American peers, but with students from
  around the world.
• Expectations will be consistent for all kids and
  not dependent on a students zip code.
• Allows for the development of common assessments.
• Allows states to align curricula to
  internationally- benchmarked standards.
• Creates the opportunity for Americans to compete
  for high-wage, high-skilled jobs in a
  knowledge-based economy.

15
A National Perspective

• Common Core State Standards
• What is being produced?
• The National Governors Assoc. and the Council of
  Chief State School Officers, in partnership with
  ACT, the College Board, and Achieve will jointly
  oversee the process of standards development.
• The standards will be based on research and
  evidence from leading national organizations and
  high-performing states and countries.
• College and career-ready standards in English and
  Math ready by August 2009.
• K-12 standards completed by December 2009.

16
Reflections

• What changes do you see in the national agenda
  for education?
• Will the impact on SPS be positive or negative,
  why?

17
Washington State Perspective

• House Bill 2261 (full implementation 2018)
• Expanded definition of basic education to
  include
• Increase in instructional hours from 1000 to 1080
• 24 credits
• All-day kindergarten
• Early learning
• Highly capable
• Transportation to and from
• Other elements of the legislation
• Use data to drive more individualized instruction
• Establish more competitive salaries and a
  relevant certification process
• Develop and implement prototypical funding mode

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Washington State Perspective

• State Budget
• State budget and funding for education expected
  to become more dire in next two years.
• Anticipated retirement rate increases and COLA
  catch-up will significantly drive up costs to
  school districts.
• Possible reduction in state levy equalization
  assistance could require districts to determine
  whether to increase local levy tax rates to cover
  shortfall or lose funding.
• State funding may be reduced or eliminated for
  all programs not considered basic education under
  the current definition (e.g., full-day
  kindergarten, gifted education, LAP, K-4 class
  size enhanced funding ratio, etc.)
• Significant reductions in funding for education
  will occur in 2011 when federal stimulus funding
  ends (over 20 mil per year for Spokane Schools)
  if state funding is not reinstated.

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Superintendents Work Plan2009-2010

• Board of Directors
• Retreat
• August 8, 2009

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Work Plan - Major ComponentsSchool Support
Services

• In compliance with the State Performance Audit,
  conduct cost studies of
• Express Program
• Capital Projects Department
• Study, purchase, and install a new phone system
• Develop and approve updated educational
  specifications for elementary and high school
  modernization/replacement projects
• Develop an operating budget for 2010-2011 with
  possible additional funding reductions from the
  State.
• Develop and implement training for a new student
  records software system.

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Work Plan Major ComponentsHuman Resources

• Complete bargaining with
• Spokane Principals Association
• KSPS Engineers
• Electricians
• Plumbers/Steamfitters
• Conduct cost study of middle and high school
  extra-curricular programs prepare staffing
  models for middle school study
• Complete bargaining task forces related to
  special education case load and sec.-clerical
  allocation model
• Develop a technical support system for principals
  working on cultural competency skills with their
  staff
• Nurture labor relationship with new SEA
  leadership team and streamline working processes
  related to grievances

22
Work Plan - Major ComponentsTeaching and Learning

• Improve K-12 Mathematics (AYP focus of DIP)
• Implement Standards-Based Reporting and Grading
  at all elementary schools
• Conduct a Middle School Study
• Re-vision the Skills Center
• Close the Graduation Gap
• Research and study competency-based credit
  options
• Study, research, and implement a system of
  nationally normed assessments to determine where
  our students are relative to students of similar
  demographics across the nation

23
Work Plan - Major ComponentsTeaching and Learning

• Increase responsibility to demonstrate
  improvement in academic achievement
• Develop and implement School Improvement Plans to
  promote continuous improvement with supporting
  data
• Use data more intentionally at all levels to
  drive instructional programming and decision
  making
• Intentionally build rigor and assessment into
  programs and practices across the system

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Work Plan - Major ComponentsTeaching and Learning

• Intentionally build rigor and assessment into
  programs and practices across the system the
  red threads
• With a partner, discuss whether or not you
  believe that we need to be intentional about
  increasing the level of rigor in our
  classrooms, in our curriculum, in our general
  work. Give examples.

25
Other Projects

• Summer school plan what is the focus? Who will
  be involved?
• Explore choice programs for students including
• International Baccalaureate
• Cambridge Curriculum
• And make a recommendation about possible
  implementation
• Examine feasibility and explore possible
  locations for expansion of TEC (The Enrichment
  Cooperative)
• Prioritize policy review and link to work plan
  where appropriate.
• Reinstitute a schedule for program evaluation
  (Tessera, Odyssey, Sprint, TEC, Navigation 101,
  etc.)
• Establish a common expectation for instructional
  hours at the high school level.

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Closing the Graduation Gap

• Only 66 of students in SPS actually graduate
  from high school.
• In small groups, talk about the reasons for this
  prioritize what you believe to be the most
  significant cause for dropping out of school.

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Closing the Graduation Gap

• Develop and implement strategies across the K-12
  system to keep students on track for graduation.
• Research suggests that students begin to get off
  track for graduation as early as 6-7th grade.
  However, they can get off track at any point in
  their education career.
• Conduct a comprehensive review of the research on
  effective strategies for closing the graduation
  gap.
• Through extensive data collection, profile
  students who fail to graduate (who are these
  students, why do they fail to graduate) and use
  the profiles to create a portfolio of schooling
  options that addresses specific student learning
  needs.

28
Closing the Graduation Gap

• Assess the effectiveness of the current Havermale
  On-Track program including a cost analysis, and
  make recommendations for the future of the
  program.
• Set on-time graduation targets based on current
  (2009) graduation rate.
• Study, plan and implement 8-9 transition
  strategies that prepare students for high school.
  The transition strategies would include a common
  core set of most effective practices used by
  all high schools, but would not be limited to
  those practices.
• Develop intensive support strategies to address
  credit deficiencies as early as first semester of
  9th grade. Course failure at 9th grade is the
  single most powerful indicator of students who
  will fall off track.
• Ensure that the technical process used for
  reporting the districts graduation rate is the
  same process used in other districts.

29
Elimination of the Achievement Gap for Students
of Color

• The Washington State Institute for Public Policy
  provided data analysis as outlined in HB 2722 and
  concluded that the achievement gap persists
  across subject areas, grade levels, and
  assessment measures.
• More than an issue of poverty, the achievement
  gap is also about race. WASL data reveal that
  White and Asian students in poverty score higher
  than African American students not in poverty.
• HB 2722 Advisory Committee (2008)

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Elimination of the Achievement Gap for Students
of Color

• Causes of the Achievement Gap
• Lack of cultural competence among teachers,
  school staff, administrators, curriculum and
  assessment developers and the school system
  itself
• Institutional racism
• Inequitable access to demanding, pre-college
  coursework
• Insufficient and inequitable funding
• Inequitable distribution of skilled teachers as
  well as technology and instructional materials
• HB 2722 Advisory Committee (December 2008)

31
Elimination of the Achievement Gap for Students
of Color

• Continue district-level training of
  administrators and teachers provided by the
  Peoples Institute and funded by the Stuart
  Foundation.
• Engage in extensive district-wide data analysis
  to identify areas where students of color are
  either under- represented or over-represented to
  include, but not be limited to, advanced classes,
  special education, gifted education, student
  discipline, attendance, graduation rates,
  assessment results (WASL, SAT, AP).
• Use data analysis as a baseline to set
  improvement goals in identified categories.
• Require School Improvement Plans to disaggregate
  data for students of color and to set improvement
  goals.
• Develop a schedule for review of district
  curriculum to ensure that curriculum materials
  are culturally accurate.

32
From the President . . .

• 100 years from now let it be said that this
  generation did its part, that we too ran the
  race that full of faith that our dark past has
  taught us, full of the hope that the present has
  brought us, we faced, in our lives and all across
  this nation, the rising sun of a new day.