ONTARIO FOCUSED INTERVENTION PARTNERSHIP (OFIP)

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ONTARIO FOCUSED INTERVENTION PARTNERSHIP (OFIP)
Dr. Avis E. Glaze Ruth Mattingley Ontarios
Education Commissioner Senior Executive
Officer Senior Adviser to the Minister of
Education The Literacy and Numeracy
Secretariat May 2008
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What is the OFIP Strategy?

• The goal of the OFIP program is to partner with
  boards and schools to improve student achievement
• Schools identified to be low-performing and/or
  static (based on EQAO results in grades 3 and 6
  over three years) are provided targeted support
  in order to improve student achievement
• Efforts are focused on the implementation of
  high-yield classroom and school strategies
  through school and board improvement planning
  processes
• OFIP funds are used for professional learning
  opportunities, resources, release time to allow
  teachers to participate collaboratively in
  professional learning in their schools and also
  may be used for literacy and numeracy coaches and
  other high yield strategies.

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Key Purposes of OFIP

• Ensure equity of outcomes for all students across
  the province
• Provide support for low-performing schools
• Strengthen and support instructional leadership
  and classroom practices for implementing precise
  interventions
• Build collective responsibility within the
  schools towards continuous student learning and
  improvement
• Implement research-based strategies to improve
  student learning
• Collaboratively build capacity in boards and
  schools to ensure long-term sustainability and
  high levels of student achievement

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Components of the OFIP Strategy

OFIP
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OFIP 1 Schools Criteria

• OFIP 1 schools have less than 34 of students
  achieving Levels 3 and 4 on EQAO assessments of
  reading in any two of the past three years
• In schools with both grades 3 and 6, where only
  one grade satisfies this criteria, the school is
  included in OFIP 1 if the achievement in the
  non-qualifying grade is less than 50.
• A minimum number of students is required for the
  school to qualify.

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OFIP 2 Schools Criteria

• OFIP 2 schools have between 34 and 50 of
  students achieving Levels 3 and 4 on the most
  recent EQAO assessments of reading and show a
  three-year declining" or static" trend
• In schools with both grades 3 and 6, achievement
  in both grades would have to have be in the 34-50
  range with any combination of declining or
  static trends in both grades 3 and 6
• A minimum number of students is required for the
  school to qualify

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OFIP 3 Schools Criteria

• OFIP 3 schools have between 51 and 74 of
  students achieving Levels 3 and 4 on the most
  recent EQAO assessments of reading and show a
  three-year declining" or static" trend
• Schools with both grades 3 and 6 can have with
  any combination of declining or static trends
  in reading for both grades 3 and 6
• A minimum number of students is required for the
  school to qualify

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Benefits of Involvement in OFIP

• Direct support for low-performing schools and
  student groups
• Support for improvement planning
• Short-term resource support (human and financial)
• Assistance in the use of assessment, monitoring
  and evaluation of improvement strategies
• Capacity-building opportunities for school and
  board staff
• Opportunities for staff to be active participants
  in professional learning communities in their
  school
• Opportunities for networking and sharing within
  and across boards and schools

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OFIP 1 and OFIP 2 School Strategy

• The goal is to
• Provide intensive support for low-performing
  schools (OFIP 1) and static and/or declining
  schools (OFIP 2)
• Strengthen and support instructional leadership
  and classroom practices and implement precise
  interventions
• Share best practices and implement focused
  strategies effective in supporting low
  performing, static and/or declining schools

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OFIP 1 and OFIP 2 School Strategy

• Student Achievement Officers will support OFIP 1
  and 2
• schools by
• Developing a plan for differentiated support for
  the school, including number and timing of visits
• Reviewing and assisting in revising School
  Improvement Plans and targets for student
  achievement
• Assisting with analysis of assessment data to
  identify strengths and weaknesses and ways to
  improve student achievement
• Reviewing school timetables to ensure
  uninterrupted blocks of learning time for
  literacy and numeracy learning
• Supporting the development of professional
  learning communities focused on student learning
  and achievement,
• Monitoring the progress of individual schools and
  revising support (where necessary)

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OFIP 3 Schools Strategy

• The Secretariat Team Leader will work with OFIP
  Board Leads, Supervisory Officers and School
  Effectiveness Leads to
• Identify the focus of the board-wide strategy
• Prioritize the needs of schools
• Review current board improvement plans and
  targets and assist in revising where necessary
• Support board-wide use of The School
  Effectiveness Framework
• Determine the deliverables and indicators of
  success
• Develop monitoring strategies
• Assess and identify progress of OFIP 1, 2, and 3
  schools
• Determine specific intervention strategies for
  static or declining schools

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OFIP 3 Schools Strategy (contd)

• Develop and prioritize a differentiated approach
  to OFIP 3 schools drawing on the successes of
  strategies implemented in OFIP 1 and 2 schools in
  2006-07
• Work with the board to develop and embed a plan
  for OFIP 3 schools into the Board Improvement
  Plan
• Support the development and implementation of
  literacy/numeracy coaches
• Advise on alignment of supports (human and
  resource) for schools
• Work with Superintendents of Schools to support
  improvement in family/cluster of schools
• Identify and implement capacity building
  strategies to strengthen instructional
  effectiveness for teachers, principals and
  supervisory officers
• Foster professional learning networks within
  schools and across clusters of schools
• Make school improvement and student achievement a
  whole school priority in every school

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Expectations for Schools

• Schools will be expected to have in place
• Uninterrupted blocks of time for literacy and
  numeracy
• A common assessment tool for primary and junior
  divisions
• A School Improvement Team that uses the School
  Effectiveness Framework as a guide to examine
  data, identify instructional interventions and to
  plan for next steps in meeting ambitious targets
  for student learning
• A School Improvement Plan (S.I.P.) revised based
  on the schools self-assessment and linked to the
  Board Improvement Plan (B.I.P)
• Resources to implement a comprehensive literacy
  and numeracy program across the school
• A process to regularly monitor the growth and
  progress of specific students to ensure equity of
  outcome
• Interventions for struggling students

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The School Effectiveness Frameworks Role within
OFIP

• The School Effectiveness Framework will serve as
  a guide
• the principals, school staff and school board
  staff to
• Review school implementation of the essential
  components student learning and achievement
  instructional leadership assessment and
  evaluation strategies and curriculum and
  instructional strategies
• Diagnose strengths and areas for growth and
  improvement
• Identify key strategies to improve student
  achievement
• Identify strategies for monitoring implementation
  and improvement

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Role of OFIP Board Lead

• The following are suggestions regarding the role
  of the
• OFIP Board Lead
• Collaborate with the district School
  Effectiveness Lead
• Review board and school strategies and revise
  when necessary
• Work with board personnel to build capacity of
  staff
• Collaborate with board, school teams and
  Secretariat staff (SAOs) in the development of
  interventions for low- achieving and static
  schools
• Ensure a common assessment tool is available to
  all schools in the strategy

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Role of OFIP Board Lead (contd)

• Provide guidance and support in the development
  and implementation of data-informed School
  Improvement Plans
• Meet periodically with SAOs to review board and
  school progress and to discuss next steps
• Ensure that resources are in place to achieve
  equity of outcomes for all students in all
  schools
• Completes and forwards to The Secretariat the
  OFIP Final Report

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Role of Superintendents with Responsibility for
Schools

• Research indicates that the following actions of
  superintendents result in
• improved student achievement
• Visiting schools regularly to meet with
  principals to review school achievement data and
  implementation of high-yield strategies
• Articulating high expectations for all students
  in all schools and ensuring strategies are in
  place to achieve equity of outcomes
• Facilitate and monitor the District Review
  Process in schools
• Supporting schools in the analysis of student
  achievement results including EQAO assessments
  and other relevant data
• Ensuring that targeted interventions for
  low-achieving and static schools are
  implemented
• Providing guidance and support in the development
  and implementation of data-informed School
  Improvement Plans
• Monitoring School Improvement Plans and ensuring
  alignment with the Board Improvement Plan
• Fostering professional learning networks across
  clusters of schools
• Facilitating job-embedded capacity building

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Role of Superintendents with Responsibility for
Schools (contd)

• Posing critical questions to staff addressing
  equity issues, such as
• Has achievement data been disaggregated to
  identify students who are not meeting the
  provincial standard (Level 3)?
• Does the School Improvement Plan identify
  strategies to meet the needs of specific student
  populations?
• Do professional learning opportunities address
  equity issues?
• Have EQAO exemption rates been examined to ensure
  that optimum opportunities are provided for
  students that need to be assessed?
• Does the budget provide additional resources for
  targeted groups?

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Role of Principals

• Research indicates that the following actions of
  principals result in
• improved student achievement
• Ensuring that strategies are in place to provide
  targeted interventions for specific groups of
  students who are not meeting their potential
• Developing a School Improvement Plan aligned with
  the components of the School Effectiveness
  Framework, establishes ambitious targets for
  student achievement and identifies SMART goals,
  collaboratively with staff
• Ensuring the effective use of data and assessment
  tools to inform instruction
• Monitoring student progress

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Role of Principals (contd)

• Visiting classrooms on a regular basis to provide
  support and monitor progress
• Overseeing the implementation of targeted
  interventions
• Scheduling and monitoring the implementation of
  effective blocks of uninterrupted time for
  literacy and numeracy learning
• Aligning budget and resources to the School
  Improvement Plan
• Supporting capacity building for all staff to
  strengthen instructional effectiveness
• Engaging parents and community in student
  learning and school initiatives

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Role of Teachers

• Research indicates that the following actions of
  teachers result in
• improved student achievement
• Communicating high expectations for all students
• Using classroom assessment data to inform
  instruction
• Implementing a range of strategies to meet the
  needs of diverse learners in order to narrow the
  achievement gap among specific groups of students
  
• Establishing lesson plans that make optimum use
  of literacy and numeracy blocks of time
• Organizing the classroom to ensure effective use
  of space and materials
• Utilizing a tracking system to monitor the growth
  and development of each student
• Participating in school improvement planning and
  target-setting

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Role of Teachers (contd)

• Sharing the responsibility for the implementation
  of the School Improvement Plan
• Working collaboratively with colleagues to extend
  professional learning
• Participating actively in professional
  development opportunities
• Using resources that reflect ethno-cultural,
  linguistic and racial diversity in positive ways,
  encouraging children to value their own cultures
  and appreciate others
• Engaging parents and the community in student
  learning

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Role of Student Achievement Officer

• To act as a critical friend to the school staff
• To assist with school-self assessment to
  determine strengths and areas of greatest need
• To assist in the implementation of high yield
  strategies
• To meet with staff on a regular basis during
  professional learning time
• To assist in the determination of resources
  required
• To build capacity within the school for
  continuous improvement
• To assist with school improvement planning and
  monitoring of progress
• To provide pressure and support for improvement

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Interventions and Strategies for Improvement

• Improvement strategies focus on the
  implementation
• of instructional and assessment practices
  outlined in the
• School Effectiveness Framework. Some examples
• include
• Teacher moderation of samples of student learning
  which leads to instructional planning
• School and classroom organization and scheduling
• Building a school culture that makes school
  improvement a whole school priority
• Professional development and capacity building
  for teachers and principals aligned to the SEF
  and the SIP that strengthens instructional
  practice
• Parental involvement and community engagement

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Overcoming Challenging Circumstances

• ESL/ELD OFIP 1 schools have almost three times
  the proportion of students in ESL/ELD programs
  compared to the provincial average.
• Over a fifth of OFIP1 schools have more than 20
  of their students in special education programs.
• 65 of OFIP1 schools have more than 16 of their
  students living in low income households
  (provincially, 27 of schools meet the same
  criteria).
• Only 1 of OFIP 1 schools have 46 or more
  students whose parents have some university
  education (provincially, 23 of schools meet the
  same criteria).

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High Yield School and Classroom Strategies

• Although each OFIP schools support program
  varies based on specific needs, the combination
  of strategies that make a difference include
• access to appropriate books and other learning
  resources
• effective professional learning teams, including
  use of teacher moderation activities and
  collaborative working to inform instructional
  strategies
• school improvement planning with specific goals,
  actions and monitoring
• raising higher expectations that all teachers can
  teach and all students can achieve (given
  sufficient time and supports)
• engaging school principals and developing
  instructional leadership throughout the school.

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High Yield School and Classroom Strategies

• effective instruction in comprehensive literacy
  and numeracy programs
• blocks of classroom time for literacy and
  numeracy teaching and learning
• use of student data and assessment for learning
  strategies to review
• student progress and inform classroom practices
• identification and supports for struggling
  learners, including tutoring within classrooms
  and through before and after school opportunities

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Year 1 Program Findings

• Program had a positive impact on professional
  learning and student achievement
• 74 identified the implementation of professional
  learning communities as a key strategy in the
  success of the program
• 94 of the schools discussed developing or
  continuing to develop collaborative inquiry
  through professional learning communities for
  student improvement and learning

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Demonstrating Improvement Through Focused Action

• Provincial assessment show that in 2006-07
• 76 of OFIP1 schools improved in Grade 6 Reading
• 66 of OFIP 1 schools improved in Grade 3 Reading
• 67 of OFIP 2 schools improved in Grade 6 Reading
• 77 of OFIP 2 schools improved in Grade 3 Reading
• Having a focused intervention leads to success!