Implementing High School Reform with Fidelity

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Implementing High School Reform with Fidelity
Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey
Reforming High Schools Tools to Help Promote
Change

• Dr. Pascal D. Forgione, Jr.
• Superintendent
• Austin Independent School District
• Superintendent_at_austinisd.org
• www.austinisd.org

April 24, 2009
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A Working Definition of Leadership

• Leadership is the art of getting things done it
  is about execution, especially fidelity of
  implementation
• Leadership is about creating future, not
  defending status quo
• Leadership is context driven and constrained

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Setting a Context A System in Crisis in 1999

• Austin ISD was rated unacceptable for poor data
• quality by TEA.
• District was under indictment for manipulating
• dropout and test data.
• Bonding companies placed Austin ISD on the
• negative watch.
• Public confidence and staff morale was at its
• lowest point.
• Seventh Austin ISD Superintendent in the 1990s.

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Leadership in Context

• For me, there were the 1999 Austin realities.
• In August 1999, I set three priorities for my new
  administration
• Better data
• Better collaboration
• Better student achievement

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Setting a Context Leadership for Change

• AISDs Theory of Action
• Enhanced achievement for all students through
  improvements in teaching and learning and
• Adoption of the Principles of Learning.
• Three stages of reform in Austin ISD over a
  decade
• Crisis leadership strategies
• Managed instruction strategies and
• Now, system capacity building strategies.
• Data have played an essential but different role
  in each
• reform stage.

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Setting a Context AISDs Changing Demographics

• As profiled in Appendix A for School Year
  2007-08
• Austin is a large and complex urban school
  district with
• 82,541 students, with 70.2 children of color,
  60.7 economically disadvantaged and 28.2
  limited English proficient and
• 113 campuses, 5,925 classroom teachers, 11,700
  employees and an 864 million annual budget.
• Austin has experienced dramatic changes in
  student demographics over the past decade with
• 21 increase in economically disadvantaged
  students (from 50.2 to 60.7)
• 124 increase in limited English proficient
  students (from 12.6 to 28.2)
• Tripled the number of recent immigrant students
  and
• One in four students attend more than one school
  each year.

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Setting a Context AISDs Trajectory of
Academic Progress

• As profiled in Appendix B, Austin has shown
• Strong Improvements by all student groups on the
  TAKS tests from 2003 to 2008
• Substantial progress in closing the achievement
  gaps among student groups over this period
• Top performance among urban districts on the
  NAEP/TUDA assessments in 2005 and 2007, scoring
  at or above the national and international
  averages and
• A successful record in meeting state and federal
  (AYP) accountability standards for the past six
  years.
• Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)
  Tests
• National Assessment of Educational Progress
  (NAEP)/Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA)

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Cuban Assessment

• Professor Larry Cubans assessment of my success
  over the past decade Forgione was the right
  person at the right time for Austin.
• School Reform in Austin, Texas 1954-2008 by
  Professor Larry Cuban, Stanford University,
  September, 2008.
• Commentary The Turnstile Superintendency?
  How Some Urban School Leaders Have Defied the
  Odds and Thrived by Larry Cuban, Education Week,
  August 27, 2008.

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The Austin Redesign Process

• I Securing a commitment for change
• II Creating a shared vision for change
• III Engaging all stakeholders and deepening
  understanding
• IV Developing a portfolio of schools through an
  RFD process
• V Coaching to support redesign
• VI Completing RFD review process
• VII Providing support for Strategic Planning
• VIII Examining the role of the central office in
  high school redesign
• AISD and the School Redesign Network at
  Stanford University A Partnership for
  Successful School Redesign by Raymond Pecheone et
  al., 2006 (see pages 7 and 27-29).

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Summary of the Redesign Process

• Effective redesign of secondary schools requires
  a commitment for change from the school board,
  senior and campus leadership of the district, and
  all stakeholders in the community.
• A shared vision for change is necessary to
  effectively guide wall-to-wall high school
  redesign and answers the question for the public
  of why change.
• Building a deep understanding and authentically
  engaging all stakeholders in the need for change
  is vital in creating momentum and support for
  redesigning secondary schools.
• Creating multiple learning pathways is vital and
  can be achieved by providing educational choices
  for students and families through the development
  of schools that are purposefully designed to
  respect local context and individual student
  needs.

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Summary of the Redesign Process

• Effective redesign requires coaching and
  technical assistance that focuses on the
  essential elements of personalization,
  collaboration, and academic rigor.
• High School Design Plans are constructed to meet
  the unique needs of each campus. Creating an
  internal and external review process to fine-tune
  plans ensures quality of implementation and
  fidelity to redesign guiding principles.
• Technical assistance and support activities move
  from design and planning to preparing for
  implementation and identifying priorities for
  high school redesign.
• Transforming the central office into a more
  service-oriented system supports a portfolio of
  schools. SRNs 10 Challenges provide key senior
  central office staff from all departments with a
  framework to examine.

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AISD Needs Data and Processes to Monitor Progress
and Measure the Effectiveness of the System
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Practical ApplicationsData from Boardroom to
Classroom
AISD Framework
Goal Data Aligned at All Levels

• New perspective on familiar data
• Puts faces to the data
• Integrated into district work
• District wide application, not just high schools
• Allows for mid-course corrections, not just end
  of year outcomes
• Evolutionary process

High Level Overview
Board
District Leaders
Principals
Initiative Managers
Teachers/Advisors
Student Level Detail
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Austin ISD High School Reform

• The 4 Rs of Reform
• Rigor
• Relationships
• Relevance
• Results
• Formulation of a strategy to create a portfolio
  of high schools in AISD, including moving to
  scale with all eleven comprehensive high schools
  and developing innovative small schools to expand
  choice and district charters in AISD.

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Austin ISD Reform Initiatives Landscape
X
X
X
X
X
X
Asia Society Global Studies
X
X
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District Level Execution IndicatorsAdvisory
Implementation Status Across Campuses
FTF Campuses
ESR Campuses
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
I
J
K
L
H
Success Metrics
On Track to Launch
Pre-Launch Quality
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Campus Level Execution IndicatorsAdvisory
Implementation Status Using Quality Indicators
School A
School A
Overall
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Overall
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Summary

• In its simplest concept, Performance Management
  in AISD means Tools for Teaching Excellence.
• Performance Management in public education is
  essential for achieving our universal and shared
  goal of excellence and equity for all students.
• The District has a critical role in fostering
  innovative uses and practices of evidence and
  decision making at the district and campus
  levels.
• Pamela A. Moss, Editor, Evidence and Decision
  Making, the 106th Yearbook of the National
  Society for the Study of Education (NSSE), Part
  I, Malden, Massachusetts, 2007.

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Appendix ABasic Demographic and Statistical
Data Austin ISD
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Table 1 AISD Basic Data, 2007-2008
Our Students
Our Students
Our Employees
Our Budget
Tax Rate 1.163/100 valuation (the lowest of
any school district in Central Texas) Taxable
Value 50,570,268,178 Bonded Debt
606,781,532 Recapture (Chapter 41) Payment
109,279.634 Net Operational Budget (after
Recapture) 655,379,348 Net Operational
Expenditure per Student 7,882
AISD is the third-largest employer in the MSA.
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Data by Austin ISD Budget Department as of
11/7/07
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Table 2 Austin ISDs Changing Student
Demographics 1997-19212198 to 2007-2008
Source Texas Education Agency, Academic
Excellence Indicator System District
Reports 2007-2008 preliminary data by Public
Education Information Management System (PEIMS)
as of 11/6/2007
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Appendix BAcademic and Accountability
Information Austin ISD
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Table 3 Preliminary Analysis of Improvement 2003
to 2008
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Table 3 Preliminary Analysis of Improvement 2003
to 2008 (continued)
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Table 4 Importance of Accurate Reporting
2007 NAEP Grade 4 and 8 Mathematics Performance
for Trial Urban District Assessment
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Table 5 Encouraging Findings for Austin
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Table 6 Encouraging Findings for Austin (cont.)

• Austin at both Grades 4 and 8 in Math shows a
  strong level of performance
• Grade 4 Austin equals US percentage and above
  TIMSS and OECD percentages and
• Grade 8 Austin is above US and TIMSS percentages
  and equal to OECD percentage

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Table 7 Comparison of Preliminary State Ratings
with Preliminary AYP Status
CDC District Name Rating
2008 Completion 2008
PRELIMINARY AYP Areas Missed

Rate Impact AYP
Status 221901 Abilene
Acceptable
Missed AYP
Reading, Math 101902 Aldine
Acceptable
Missed AYP
Math, Grad Rate 188901 Amarillo
Acceptable AU
Met 227901
Austin Acceptable

Met 123910 Beaumont
Acceptable AU
Missed AYP
Reading, Grad Rate 031901 Brownsville
Acceptable
Missed AYP
Reading, Math, Grad Rate 178904
Corpus Christi Acceptable
Missed
AYP Reading,
Math 101907 Cypress-Fairbanks
Recognized
Met 057905 Dallas
Acceptable AU
Missed AYP
Reading, Grad Rate 068901 Ector
County Acceptable
AU Missed AYP
Reading, Math, Grad
Rate 071902 El Paso
Acceptable
Missed AYP
Reading, Math 220905 Fort Worth
Acceptable AU
Missed AYP
Reading, Math 057909 Garland
Acceptable
Met 101912 Houston
Acceptable AU
Missed AYP
Reading, Grad Rate 220916
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Recognized
Met 057912
Irving Acceptable

Met 101914 Katy
Recognized
Met 152901 Lubbock
Acceptable AU
Missed AYP
Math 108906 McAllen
Acceptable
Missed AYP
Reading 165901 Midland
Acceptable AU
Met 015910 North East
Recognized
Met 015915 Northside
Recognized
Acceptable Met 108909
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Acceptable
Missed AYP
Reading, Grad Rate 057916
Richardson Recognized

Met 246909 Round Rock
Acceptable AU
Met 226903 San Angelo
Acceptable AU
Met 015907 San Antonio
Acceptable AU
Missed AYP
Reading, Math, Grad Rate 101920 Spring
Branch Acceptable
Met 212905
Tyler Acceptable

Missed AYP Reading,
Math 240903 United
Acceptable
Missed AYP
Reading, Math 161914 Waco
Acceptable
Missed AYP
Reading, Math, Grad Rate 243905
Wichita Falls - ? Acceptable

Met Measures missed are performance measures
(not participation rates).
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