Iowa Support System for Schools and Districts in Need of Assistance
Alignment
Consider revisiting with staff the ongoing alignment of standards and benchmarks, curriculum, instruction, and assessment (based on data analysis) so all stakeholders understand the relationship among the components and the overall relationship to student achievement. Involve staff in analyzing data to identify needs and making instructional decisions to serve those identified needs.
Consider using concepts and skills assessed on the ITBS/ITED as the focal point for instruction and professional development. This may involve, for example, revisiting the ongoing alignment among Reading First, the literacy curriculum, instruction, and assessment to ensure that the building/district goals encompass the intended ITBS/ITED outcomes. In particular, this would include examining the alignment between the depth of skill level of Reading First, for example, with the depth needed to be successful on the ITBS.
Consider investigating and documenting the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in order to ensure that all of the educators’ efforts are focused on improving student learning at each grade level. If there are initiatives that are not aligned, consider changing or eliminating them.
Assessment
Engage the staff in learning about the use of formative assessment data – focus on how teachers will share with students the concepts and skills expected of them, develop strategies for assessing the degree to which students have learned these concepts and skills, and use strategies for working collaboratively with students to set goals and then collect and analyze data.
Consider developing a comprehensive building/district assessment plan to help teachers understand the purpose of each assessment, what the results might tell them about their students, and how they might use the data to make decisions regarding future teaching practices. Such a plan could eventually lead to reducing the number of assessments given while at the same time improve the quality and use of the assessment data.
Consider engaging the staff in developing correlations between building-level/district-level assessment data (e.g., PAT, BRI, district criterion-referenced tests) and performance on the
ITBS/ITED, and then take action based on the correlation.
Diverse Learning Needs
Continue to revisit ways of meeting the diverse needs of all students.
What might be overlooked in terms of planning for ways to meet student needs when sorting all non-proficient students into one large group compared to sorting them into specific subgroups such as ELL students, Special Education students, and Low-SES students and developing specific strategies for working with each group?
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Iowa Support System for Schools and Districts in Need of Assistance
Which program(s), service(s), after-school activity(ies), instructional strategy(ies), etc., are increasing/accelerating student learning? Consider ways to support staff in using a variety of data (not just ITBS/ITED data) to determine the impact that each program, service, activity, instructional strategy, etc., has on student learning. This would allow a variety of data to identify students for participation in a given program, service, activity, etc. Finally, data must be used to adjust the program, instruction, service, activity, etc., in order to better meet a student’s learning needs or to move that student into a different program or service.
Professional Development
Consider building the professional learning community through expanding collaborative opportunities between and among all teachers and staff. In particular, staff should work collaboratively as they learn and implement current instructional practices as well as when learning new instructional strategies (including observing instructional time in each other’s classrooms). Consider establishing protocols for the collaboration and the visits to other classrooms.
Consider designing future professional development around 6 key questions: (1) What are you doing for professional development (student learning and research-based)? (2) Why are you doing it (connection to student learning data)? (3) How often are you doing it? (implementation data) (4) Are you implementing with fidelity? (appropriate use in classroom) (5) How are you documenting the impact on student learning? (6) How are you changing the professional development and support provided for teachers based on all of the above data?
Design staff development around the Iowa Professional Development Model. Working collaboratively to collect and analyze implementation data will insure that teachers are implementing strategies often and accurately. Continue to use data to inform future professional development and to drive instruction.
Consider ways to support staff in using a variety of data (not just ITBS/ITED data) to determine the impact that each program, service, activity, instructional strategy, etc., has on student learning. This would allow a variety of data to identify students for participation in a given program, service, activity, etc. Finally, data must be used to adjust the program, service, activity, etc., in order to better meet a student’s learning needs or to move that student into a different program or service.
The current focus for professional development at the building/district level does not show a balance between the learning environment (e.g., co-teaching, positive behavior supports, book studies) and content related to academic achievement, particularly in reading/mathematics.
Analyzing student reading/mathematics data will help guide the selection of professional development initiatives. These data will provide a baseline so that teachers and students will know if improvement in student learning occurs.
Establish a baseline prior to engaging in professional development so that teachers will know if and when improvement has occurred. This notion can be applied to working with students as well.
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Iowa Support System for Schools and Districts in Need of Assistance
Consider ways to increase teacher input in determining professional development needs based on strategy implementation and student data so that the building-/district-level efforts truly focus on meeting specific student needs. This may call for differentiating the professional development through the development of professional learning communities. The use of professional learning communities would include having teachers coach each other as they implement instructional strategies learned during district- and building-level professional development opportunities.
Establishing professional learning communities would allow for establishing a balance in time and resources for work in mathematics, reading, and climate.
Consider aligning all professional development opportunities (e.g., district level, building level,
Positive Behavior Supports) to focus on improving student learning.
Leadership
The data show strong, centralized building/district administrative leadership. Consider investigating ways of distributing leadership and broadening ownership among all building/district staff in order to continue responding to the changing needs of _______ students, staff, and community.
Parental Involvement
A team of teachers might investigate research-based strategies for effectively encouraging parents to be more actively involved in their child’s education. This might also be an opportunity to increase the cultural competence of all staff in order to work more effectively with parents for students’ learning.
Grade-Level Collaboration/ Collaboration by Staff
What might be overlooked in terms of planning for ways to meet student needs when sorting all non-proficient students into one large group compared to sorting them into specific subgroups, such as ELL students, Special Education students, and Low-SES students and developing specific strategies for working with each group?
Consider ways to support grade-level teams in working collaboratively and developing greater consistency as they use a variety of data to determine the impact (e.g., strategies, services, schedules) on student learning These data can be used make adjustments in order to better meet student learning needs and to determine whether additional support is needed and, if so, provided for teachers. Grade-level team members should include all who work with students at that level
(e.g., ELL, Special Education, Title 1, Gifted teachers).
Consider building on the support teachers feel for each other by investigating and implementing ways of distributing leadership and broadening ownership among all building/district staff in order to continue responding to the changing needs of _______________ students, staff, and community
How are support staff (e.g., ELL, Special Education, Gifted, Title teachers) actively participating/ collaborating in the daily instructional decision making that occurs in the general education classroom? Consider designing a daily schedule that includes collaborative meeting time for general education, ELL, Title I, Gifted, and Special Education teachers.
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Iowa Support System for Schools and Districts in Need of Assistance
Climate and Culture
How might students be more involved in building/district decisions and policies that relate to them?
Consider ways to involve building staff in organizing, analyzing, and using data from the
Climate Survey and Positive Behavior Resource Inventory, for example, to enhance the educational environment. Investigate ways to share this information with the community and involve parents in the solutions. Consider incorporating “new and good” sharing activities at staff meetings focusing on what’s going well.
Resource Allocation
Consider sharing financial decisions with building/district staff and soliciting input from staff on resource allocation. Collaborate with the parent-teacher organization on fundraising ideas linked to student learning..
What is the impact of having limited planning time, multiple areas for professional development that may or may not be focused on improving specific student achievement data, and frequent problems with student behaviors on student learning?
Consider addressing the impact on student learning when support staff members are serving as substitutes for either professional development or staff absences.
Communication
How might communication among teachers, students, and parents be used to improve student learning? In what ways to promote meaningfully, two-way communication?
Practices Inventory data consistently indicate that approximately ____ teachers are unclear about key issues (e.g., using data to guide professional development, communicate to parents about progress, using scientifically based research practices, how often teachers inform students about expectations). Consider ways to improve communication between and among staff and administration.
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