LEADING MIDDLE SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOLS TO PROFICIENCY

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LEADING MIDDLE SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOLS TO
PROFICIENCY

• A Workshop from the Kentucky Department of
  Education and the Kentucky Association of
  School Councils

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OBJECTIVES

• After completing this workshop, participants will
  be familiar with the
• following keys to School Council Proficiency
• Student achievement
• Research-based practices, including those
  outlined in Kentuckys Standards and Indicators
  for School Improvement
• Community-wide participation in understanding and
  meeting school challenges
• Positive relationships that support effective
  teamwork
• A planning process of needs assessment, plan
  development, implementation, monitoring, and
  revisions
• Policies that support school strategies
• Ongoing learning about effective SBDM practices
• In addition, participants will understand
• Key issues that specifically affect middle and
  high schools
• Three main strategies to use in leading secondary
  schools to proficiency

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• All the workshops approved by KDE for school
• Council member training credit are aligned with
• the School Council Proficiency Keys, the best
• practices in Standards and Indicators for School
• Improvement, and all legal requirements for
• school councils (What Councils Do).

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STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

• Humans have a success instinct. This is what
• makes humans different from all other living
• things. They want success, and they strive for
• their success potential. You can accomplish
• anything with students if you set high
  expectations
• for behavior and performance by which you
• yourself abide.
• How To Be An Effective Teacher The First Days
  of School, Wong

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Key 1A proficient school council keeps its
focus on student achievement.

• What student proficiency goals does the law
  mandate for schools? PROFICIENCY GOALS DOES
• Kentucky An accountability index of 100 (of a
  possible 140) by 2014 for each school.
• The overall goal is for all students to be
  proficient in reading, math, science, social
  studies, writing, arts humanities, and
  practical living/vocational studies. However, a
  school accountability index of 100 can still be
  reached without all students being proficient,
  since students who score distinguished score 140
  points. The accountability index is primarily
  based on the results of the Kentucky Core Content
  Test (KCCT).
• Two years of scores are averaged to judge whether
  schools have reached incremental goals on the way
  to 2014. These biennial (two-year) goals are
  unique to the school and are based on where the
  school started.

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Proficiency Goals Mandated By Law (contd)

• Federal requirements / No Child Left Behind
  (NCLB) Every student must be proficient in
  reading, and math by 2014.
• The focus is on proficiency in every population
  free and reduced lunch, minority groups, students
  with disabilities, and students with limited
  English proficiency (ESL).
• Each state defines proficient Kentucky uses the
  same definition for NCLB as for our state
  accountability system. There is no separate NCLB
  test.
• Schools have to meet the NCLB goal Annual
  Measurable Objectives (AMO) for every
  population of students to be successful. The
  objectives are a specified percentage of students
  scoring proficient or above. If a school meets
  the goals for all populations, it is labeled as
  making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). If a
  school misses AYP for two years in a row the
  tiered sanctions begin.

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• For NCLB, the expectation for the district is the
  same as for schools proficiency for all
  students. The district could be labeled as not
  making AYP even if some of the schools do make
  AYP. The district numbers for populations are
  taken from ALL the students in the district in
  that student population group. It is best for
  school councils to work closely with the district
  to make AYP.

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WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFULSECONDARY SCHOOL?

• As a part of the Kentucky Department of Education
  Voices of Reason Student Summits, Middle and
  High School students attended a session entitled
  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. When
  discussing what is good about their schools,
  students were asked to talk about what is
  awesomewhat makes them want to go to school
  every day.

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WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFULSECONDARY SCHOOL?

• Teachers and administrators who care, students
  having a voice, teachers having high
  expectations, positive teacher attitudes, a good
  sense of community, student-teacher relationships
  
• Kentucky Students

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WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFULSECONDARY SCHOOL?

• According to the CATS Briefing Packet 2007 on the
• Kentucky Department of Educations website, there
  are
• only eight middle schools and four high schools
  that have
• reached an accountability index of 100. This
  session will
• focus on leading schools to high levels of
  achievement,
• guided by research focused on secondary
  education.
• Part of having a clear mission and vision for
  your council is defining what
• success means. You can start with some basic
  measures of success
• Reaching proficiency as a school
• Every demographic group reaching proficiency
• ?Every student reaching proficiency
• Students not needing remediation in college

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• Research on successful secondary schools reveals
  that a school must have two foundational beliefs
• We believe all students can master the necessary
  content
• High Expectations for All Students
• We believe it is our job to help students master
  that content
• High Expectations for School Staff
• If the culture of your school doesnt reflect
  high expectations, begin leading your school in
  having high expectations for your students and
  staff.

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• This workshop will focus on three main
• strategies that build on the foundation of
• high expectations
• 1. Know the students personally
• 2. Know the students academically
• 3. Make students part of the team

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1. KNOWING YOUR STUDENTS PERSONALLY -
RELATIONSHIPS

• Extensive research has shown that building
• relationships with students is essential to
• their achievement. We will be exploring the
• importance of relationships with middle and
• high school students and how this
• translates into the real world after high
• school.

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From National Association of Secondary
Principals, Breaking Ranks II Strategies for
Leading High School Reform (2004)

• Many of the practices associated with
  personalization set
• the stage for learning. They are practices that
  address
• the school environment, climate and culture, such
  as
• Establishing schedules and priorities that allow
  teachers to develop an appreciation for students
  abilities
• Creating structures in which the aspirations,
  strengths, weaknesses, interests, and levels of
  progress of each student are known well by at
  least one adult
• Ensuring that the physical and mental health
  needs of students are addressed
• Research shows that personalized learning
  initiatives
• can increase attendance, decrease dropout rates,
  and
• decrease disruptive behavior.

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From Blankstein, Failure is NOT an Option
Six Principles that Guide Student Achievement in
High Performing Schools. (2004)

• The research is clear that relationships are a
  crucial element of student achievement and school
  success. (Barth, 2001 Bryk and Schneider, 2003)
• Leaders create relationships, and often those
  relationships are between individuals and their
  work. Ultimately we all work for a purpose, and
  that purpose has to be served if we are to feel
  encouraged. Encouraging the heart only works if
  theres a fit between person, the work, and the
  organization.
• Schools reporting strong positive trust levels in
  1994 were three times more likely to be
  categorized eventually as improving in reading
  and mathematics than those with very weak trust
  reportsschools with weak trust reports in 1994
  and 1997 had virtually no chance of showing
  improvements in either reading or mathematics.
  (Bryk and Schnieider, 2002)

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From Purkey and Novak, Inviting School
SuccessA Self-Concept Approach to Teaching,
Learning and Democratic Practice (1996)Also
from High-Performing Kentucky Middle Schools
and High Schoolspresentations from annual KASC
conference 2004 through 2006

• Emerging research continues to support the
  concept that boys and girls are more committed to
  academic learning when they are surrounded by a
  caring and supportive school environment.
  (Eccles Midgley 1989 Matthews, 1991)
• Success requires close relationships between
  students and staff.
• Schools need to have positive parent
  (family/guardian) relationships and communicate
  high expectations for students.
• Know the students and the parents.
• Students need to know that the staff cares about
  them. Staff needs to know that the administrators
  care about them and will provide support for
  their student learning efforts.

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From Sanborn, The Fred Factor (2004)

• Here is proof that success is built on
  relationships.
• The Fred Factor is a true account of an amazing
  mail carrier who is passionate about his job and
  serving others. Fred went so far above and beyond
  the call of duty that one of his clients, Mark
  Sanborn, was moved to write a book about him. The
  Fred Factor has been on The Wall Street Journal,
  The New York Times, and Business Week bestseller
  lists.

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FRED FACTOR PRINCIPLES

• The idea of building relationships is not
  unique to schools. Relationships are crucial in
  the real world and important to all
  organizations. Principles from The Fred Factor
  provide a way for us to explore the importance of
  relationships with middle and high school
  students.
• Principle 1 The quality of the relationship
  determines the quality of the product or
  service.
• Principle 2 Leaders succeed when they recognize
  that their employees are human.

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Strategies for Building Relationships

• The Fred Factor proposes actions you can take
  to build relationships. These strategies are
  worded in the book as ways to Be (Be
  interested, Be a better listener). Weve adapted
  The Fred Factors list to address the middle
  school and high school setting.
• A) Be a better listener.
• B) Be consistent with high expectations for all
  students.
• C) Be empathetic.
• D) Be helpful.
• E) Be interested.

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2. KNOWING YOUR STUDENTS ACADEMICALLYCONTINUO
US ASSESSMENT

• What Do We Mean By
• Continuous Assessment?
• An important key to success for individual
  students is the use of regular classroom
  assessment to guide instruction. Continuous
  assessment occurs throughout instruction and
  encompasses all the different ways to find out
  what students know and are able to do. When we
  use this information to guide instruction, we are
  talking about assessment for the purpose of
  improving learning. Assessment for learning is
  using the assessment process not merely to gauge
  student learning, but also to cause students to
  learn morethat is, to increase student
  achievement.

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Examples of Continuous Assessment

• Common Assessments or Learning Checks are an
  effective way to monitor each students progress.
  Working in teams, teachers identify the
  standard(s) they will assess and develop a test
  all of the students will take. After completing
  the assessment, teacher teams analyze the results
  and use the data to guide instruction for
  adaptations such as enrichment, review, and
  reteaching.
• Bell Ringers and Flashbacks are popular review
  tools. Before a class or lesson begins, the
  teacher gives students about 5 questions that
  review content. The questions are usually
  fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice or short
  answer. The teacher can collect these daily to
  see where content knowledge is lacking and
  provide appropriate re-teaching.

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Examples of Continuous Assessment

• Exit Slips or Exit Tickets are given during the
  last few minutes of class. The teacher gives the
  students slips of paper with space for writing.
  One or two questions are written on the board for
  students to answer. The teacher collects slips as
  students leave class. The teacher reviews the
  student responses to learn how many students got
  the big idea and what kinds of misunderstanding
  exist. Lessons for the next day are adjusted to
  address student needs.
• Journals, Learning Logs, and Electronic Blogs
  allow teachers to respond to each child
  individually, sharing their questions and ideas.
  Some teachers hold individual conferences with
  their students and use these journal/learning
  logs as part of the conference discussion.

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Why Should Your School Use Continuous Assessment
to Know Your Students Academically?

• 1. Uses respected, common-sense,
  research-based practices
• 2. Focuses the schools work on student results
• 3. Allows teachers to catch gaps or
  misunderstandings early and address them before
  the problem worsens

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CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

• The successful schools, described in Its
  Being Done Academic Success in Unexpected
  Schools by Karin Chenoweth, use data analysis to
  know more about their students. They embrace and
  eagerly study all the data they can get their
  hands on state test data, district data,
  classroom test data, and any formative assessment
  data. That data represents a kids face or a
  group of kids faces. Each of these schools has
  found ways to pay attention to every student.
  Thats a life. Thats a future.

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CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

• Success in your classroom has to be defined
  by student work that demonstrates mastery and
  meets the minimum standard of proficiency. The
  goal is always for every student to do quality
  work, not just to get work done. We want
  demonstrations of learning. The focus has to be
  on the end result of student learning. With this
  as a foundation
• Students understand and can say what they are
  expected to know, understand, and be able to do.
• Students know and can explain quality work.
• Teachers constantly assess student progress
  mastery and adjust instruction.
• Students know about their own level of mastery
  and how they can work to increase it.
• High-Performing Kentucky Middle Schools and High
  Schools
• presentations from annual KASC conference
  (2004-2006)

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Special Note to Teachers

• Knowing what students need to know
• and be able to do and continuously
• assessing their learning can actually give
• you back more time in your life. Education
• is overwhelming and being able to focus
• specifically, frees up time for you and your
• students, because you are working smarter.
• Once you are focused on the needed outcome
• and you are monitoring student progress toward
• that outcome, you can focus your time and
  energy
• at the heart of the problem.

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3. MAKING STUDENTS PART OF THE TEAM

• Students are great, untapped resources in
  improving student achievement. We need to include
  students as part of their own education team.
  Many students are not mature enough to realize
  the limits they are putting on their future by
  not learning. In schools featured in the book,
  Its Being Done Academic Success in Unexpected
  Schools, students are part of a team. The schools
  know what the stakes are. They know that if their
  students dont get a good education, they face
  the probability of a lifetime of struggle.

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WAYS TO INVOLVE STUDENTS AS PARTNERS IN THEIR OWN
EDUCATION

• Ask Students How to Solve Problems
• Expect Students to Know What They Need to Learn
  and Help Monitor Their Own Mastery
• Lead Students in Setting Goals For Their Future
  and Using The Individual Learning Plans (ILP)
• Give Students Choices

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THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLYKENTUCKY STUDENT RESPONSE
SUMMARY

• Earlier we shared what Middle and High School
  students who were part of the Kentucky Department
  of Education Voices of Reason Student Summits
  said was good about their schools. They were
  also asked to tell what they did not like about
  their schools, The Bad. Last, they were asked
  to indicate what was absolutely in need of change
  in their schools, The Ugly. While The Good
  and The Bad lists indicated many cultural
  issues, it was The Ugly that revealed serious
  barriers, particularly in light of recent
  Refocusing Secondary discussions. Here is what
  the kids said

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COMMITMENT TO ACTION

• In order to make sure the adults in our school
  know the students personally, academically, and
  include them as part of the team
• What work do we need to as a council?
• What guidance and direction need to be given to
  the professional development committee?
• What policies need to be reviewed?