Fall Ed Council Westlake Village, CA

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Fall Ed CouncilWestlake Village,
CA Administrator Inservice November 7, 2006
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Continuous School ImprovementThambi Thomas,
Associate Director - Secondary

• Resources
• Continuous School Improvement,
• Zmuda, Kuklis and Kline, ASCD, 2004
• Journey to Excellence
• A Focus on Adventist Education in the 21st
  Century, North American Division Office of
  Education, 2003
• Using Test Results
• Dr. James Cox, NEA-Alaska, JK Educational
  Associates, 2000
• Data-Driven High School Reform THE BREAKING
  RANKS MODEL

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Continuous improvement may be defined as an
unwavering commitment to progress for all
students.
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Model of Continuous School Improvement
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Six Steps to Continuous School Improvement
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Step 1 Identify and clarify the core beliefs
that define the schools culture

• Operating Principle
• Each school is a complex living system with
  purpose
• Application
• School/community profile
• Involvement of all the stakeholders in
  identifying ESLRs/Schoolwide Goals
• Schools mission statement

• Explanation
• Why does this school exist?
• What are the core values?
• Academics?
• Social and emotional?
• Spiritual?
• The schools core beliefs
• and values must be
• identified and embraced by
• all

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Step 2 Create a shared vision by explicitly
defining what these core beliefs will look like
in practice

• Explanation
• Shared vision is a description of what is seen
  and heard in every part of the school community
• What do parents and students talk about?

• Operating Principles
• Shared vision translates to a coherent picture of
  what the school will look like when the core
  beliefs have been put into practice.
• Shared vision represents perspectives of
  shareholders
• Application
• The Schoolwide goals
• Attainment of goals

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Step 3 Collect accurate, detailed data and use
analysis of data (disaggregate data) to define
where the school is now and determine the gap
between reality and shared vision

• Explanation
• Collection and analysis of data leads to
• Honest assessment of teaching and learning
  practices
• Greater clarity on what must be done to achieve
  the shared vision.
• Application
• Analyze surveys, test scores and other assessment
  data
• Include in Chapter 1 Student and Constituency
  Profile

• Operating Principles
• Staff gain clarity of their responsibilities
  towards achieving the shared vision.
• Validity and reliability in the gathering and
  analyzing of data is important to understand what
  is working well and to reveal the gaps between
  reality and shared vision.
• Inspires collective action

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Breaking Ranks High Schools are able to
disaggregate data 9 strategies

• 1. Track the performance of specific student
  groups on multiple measures, including students
  participating in specific programs and students
  in learning academies/communities, courses,
  projects, or internships
• 2. Profile performance by gender, language
  proficiency, disability, socio-economic status
  and other equity factors to identify achievement
  gaps
• 3. Analyze student performance at multiple
  levels, including school, grade level, subject
  area, program, course, classroom, and individual
  student

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Disaggregating data (continued)

• 4. Compare student course grades to other
  standardized measures
• 5. Determine how factors such as absence and
  mobility affect assessment results
• 6. Analyze trends in absence, suspension, and
  dropout rates for specific student groups
• 7. Profile longitudinal performance trends on
  multiple measures
• 8. Track the longitudinal performance of specific
  student cohorts
• 9. Make data-informed decisions about
  instructional improvement.

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Step 4 Identify innovations that will most
likely bridge the gap between reality and shared
vision

• Explanation
• Staff must have opportunity to learn what the
  change is and its likely impact on students and
  the school

• Operating Principles
• All staff must see staff development as a
  necessary means to realizing the goal
• There must be an intentional linkage between the
  various components of staff development plans and
  the goals to be reached

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Step 5 Develop and implement an action plan that
supports teachers through the change process and
integrates the innovation within each classroom

• Explanation
• Staff must be trained, coached and supported
  throughout the process
• Resources must be allocated according to
  individual staff needs
• Leaders need to be responsive to specific
  concerns and hold teachers accountable

• Operating Principles
• Staff development that fosters collaboration
• Planning that provides clear, concrete directions
  necessary for systematic change
• Application
• School Improvement Action Plan

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Step 6 Embrace collective autonomy
(collaboration) as the only way to close the gaps
between current reality and shared vision and
embrace collective accountability.

• Explanation
• Student achievement is measured in order to
  assess the core beliefs identified in Step 1.

• Operating Principles
• Everyone within the system performs according to
  expectations
• Everyone accepts accountability for improvements
• Application
• Capacity to follow-up
• Continuous improvement

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Recap

• Step 1 Identify and clarify the core beliefs
  that define the schools culture
• Step 2 Create a shared vision by explicitly
  defining what these core beliefs will look like
  in practice
• Step 3 Collect accurate, detailed data and
  disaggregate data to define where the school is
  now and determine the gap between reality and
  shared vision

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• Step 4 Identify innovations that will most
  likely bridge the gap between reality and shared
  vision
• Step 5 Develop and implement an action plan that
  supports teachers through the change process and
  integrates the innovation within each classroom
• Step 6 Embrace collective autonomy
  (collaboration) as the only way to close the gaps
  between current reality and shared vision and
  embrace collective accountability

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Excellence is not an act. It is a
habit. Aristotle