What Is the Self-Study Instructional Audit?

1
What Is the Self-Study Instructional Audit?

• An Overview of the Self-Study Instructional Audit
  Tool
• Deborah Davis
• ACC/NW Lab
• Jon PadenEED

2
What Is the Roadmap for This Session?

1. Quick description of the Instructional Audit Tool
   as a basis for the Self-Study Instructional Audit
   Tool
2. Characteristics of the Self-Study and small group
   exploration of the Tool
3. Next steps and ways to approach the SS-IAT

3
What Is an Instructional Audit?

• A state-selected, independent, audit team
  conducts a review of district instructional
  practices - using the Instructional Audit Tool
  (IAT)
• Districts meeting certain criteria qualify to
  receive an instructional audit (e.g., AYP Level 2
  or greater)
• State law establishes the practice to examine 6
  domains

4
What Are the Six Domains?

• Curriculum
• Assessment
• Instruction
• Supportive learning environment
• Professional development
• Leadership

5
What happens during the Instructional Audit?

• Audit team develops a snapshot of district
  instructional practices by the school level
• Document review
• Focus groups interviews with staff and students
• Instruction observation
• The team combines these data sources to
  triangulate evidence and assign the rating
  Meets or Does Not Meet

6
What Happens As a Result of the Instructional
Audit?

• The audit team produces a Report of Findings for
  the Commissioners review
• This report complements other data (e.g., SBAs,
  district conversations) to develop a plan
• E.g., stay the course, give recommendations,
  direct instructional actions, redirect funds for
  student learning benefit, replace personnel

7
Is The Instructional Audit Tool Valid?

• Yes
• Validation study completed through the Alaska
  Comprehensive Center, Northwest Lab, and WestEd
  in 2008
• The conclusion Strong correlation between the
  audit tools assessment of a district and the
  district students proficiency levels

8
What Is This New Self-Study Instructional Audit
Tool? (SS-IAT)

• Based on Alaskas Instructional Audit Tool
• Incorporates changes made to Instructional Audit
  Tool based on considerable feedback from audited
  districts
• To be implemented by districts and guided by an
  EED Technical Assistance Coach

9
What are Similarities between the IAT and
SS-IAT?

• Evidence-based
• Provide diagnostic data to help with creation of
  improvement plans
• Based on the six domains and 44 key elements
  within domains (including parent and community
  involvement key elements)

10
And The Differences?

• IAT conducted by external team
• IAT conducted over one week
• IAT uses a dichotomous rating

SS-IAT conducted by internal team SS-IAT may take
several weeks or months SS-IAT uses a 4-point
rubric
11
So, What Is The SS-IAT?

• An evidence-based self-study
• A way to build awareness, buy-in and support for
  improvement efforts
• The end product is not a score instead it is the
  identification of current strengths and
  limitations

12
Your SS-IAT assignment

• Number off to six
• Curriculum
• Assessment
• Instruction
• Learning Environment
• Professional Development
• Leadership
• 1. Skim pages 2-9
• 2. Review materials for your assigned domain
• 3. Teach home group about your domain
• 4. Discuss if and how you might use it

13
What are the Self-Assessment Materials?

• Overview Step-by-Step pgs. 2-5
• Sources of Evidence pgs. 6-7
• Glossary pgs. 8-9
• Introduction to Domain Guiding Questions
  pgs. 10-46
• Domain Rubric
• Domain Summary

14
Options for use of the SS-IAT

1. One domain area
2. Some, but not all domains
3. All domain areas

15
Who is involved?

• SS-IAT is guided by
• An EED-trained technical assistance coach
• The Self-Study is conducted by
• entire school staff or
• small group of staff such as the leadership team
• or trained district staff in winter 2010

16
Getting started

• Review the rubric
• Discuss the guiding questions
• Locate the evidence necessary to make ratings for
  each domain
• Reach consensus on ratings
• Determine strengths and areas for improvement

17
Next stepsby September

• Technical Assistance Coaches will be trained to
  guide school teams
• Tool will be available electronically

18
Q A

• Can we do this self-study process on our own?
• Does the self-study help with creation of
  improvement plans?
• Is it best to do all the Domain areas at once?

19
Self-Study and PLCs

• a learning community consists of a group of
  people who take an active, reflective,
  collaborative, learning-oriented, and
  growth-promoting approach towards the mysteries,
  the problems and perplexities of teaching and
  learning.
• Mitchell Sackney, 2001