Leadership Institute Addressing Barriers to Learning & Teaching and Re-engaging Disconnected Students

1. Leadership InstituteAddressing Barriers to Learning & Teaching and Re-engaging Disconnected Students UCLA

2. We just missed the school bus. \ Don’t worry. I heard the principal say \ no child will be left behind. / UCLA

3. We’ve included more handouts than we probably can cover on some topics. Our hope is that you will look over the others when you have time. Feel free to use any handout as is or by adapting them. UCLA

4. Topics to be Covered I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement? II. What is a System of Learning Supports? Rethinking Intervention III. What is a System of Learning Supports? (cont.) Reworking Infrastructure UCLA

5. Topics IV. Intrinsic Motivation: Engaging and Re-engaging Students, Families, & Staff V. What’s involved in Getting From Here to There VI. Planning Next Steps UCLA

6. I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperativefor School Improvement? UCLA

7. <><><><><><><><><> The current focus of school improvement policy and practice is too limited to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed at school. <><><><><><><><><> UCLA

8. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates UCLA

9. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates UCLA

10. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap UCLA

11. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap • So Many Schools Designated as Low Performing UCLA

12. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap • So Many Schools Designated as Low Performing • High Stakes Testing Taking its Toll on Students UCLA

13. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap • So Many Schools Designated as Low Performing • High Stakes Testing Taking its Toll on Students • Plateau Effect UCLA

14. Some of the data: The dropout rate for our nation remains unacceptably high. In 2006, the Education Trust reported that nearly 25 percent of the ninth grade population will not end up graduating from high school. UCLA

15. Some of the data: Take reading levels as an example. Despite reports of small recent gains, most American students, across grade levels, are reading at the most basic levels and “only about 30 percent of high school students read proficiently and more than a quarter read below grade level.” UCLA

16. Data from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) clearly shows the plateau effect related to academic achievement. UCLA

17. Trend in NAEP reading average scores for 9-year-old students Trend in NAEP reading average scores for 13-year-old students UCLA See key on next slide

18. Key Original Assessment Format Revised Assessment Format See note below Trend in NAEP reading average scores for 17-year-old students * Significantly different (p < .05) from 2008. Note: The long‑term trend assessment was updated in several ways in 2004. Outdated material was replaced, accommodations for students with disabilities (SD) and for English language learners (ELL) were allowed, and administration procedures were modified. A special bridge study was conducted in 2004 to evaluate the effects of these changes on the trend lines. The study involved administering both the original and revised formats of the assessments to determine how the revisions may have affected the results. UCLA

19. I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperativefor School Improvement? (cont.) Three Lenses for Viewing School Improvement Efforts UCLA

20. Lens #1 = All Students Not some -- ALL youngsters are to have an equal opportunity to succeed at school UCLA

21. Lens #1 = All Students Range of Learners I = Motivationally ready and able II = Not very motivated/lacking prerequisite skills/ different rates & styles/minor vulnerabilities III = Avoidant/very deficient in current capabilities has a disability and/or major health problems UCLA

22. Lens #2 = Barriers to Learning and School Improvement Range of Learners Instructional Component Classroom Teaching + Enrichment Activity I = Motivationally ready and able Not very motivated/ lacking prerequisite II = skills/ different rates & styles/ minor vulnerabilities III = Avoidant/ very deficient in capabilities No barriers Desired Outcomes (High Expectations & Accountability) Barriers To Learning, Development, Teaching (High Standards) UCLA

23. About Barriers to Learning Categories of Risk-Producing Conditions that Can be Barriers to Learning >Environmental Conditions >Family >School and Peers >Individual UCLA

24. Examples ofEnvironmentalConditions • extreme economic deprivation • community disorganization, including high levels of mobility • violence, drugs, etc. • minority and/or immigrant status UCLA

25. Examples of Family Conditions • chronic poverty • conflict/disruptions/violence • substance abuse • models problem behavior • abusive caretaking • inadequate provision for quality child care UCLA

26. Examples of School & Peer Conditions • poor quality school • negative encounters with teachers • negative encounters with peers • inappropriate peer models UCLA

27. Examples of Individual Conditions • medical problems • low birth weight/neurodevelopmental delay • psychophysiological problems • difficult temperament & adjustment problems • inadequate nutrition UCLA

28. Caution: Don’t let anyone misinterpret the term >Barriers to learning It encompasses much more than a deficit model of students. UCLA

29. And, it is part of a holistic approach that emphasizes the importance of >Protective Buffers (e.g., strengths, assets, resiliency, accommodations) & >Promoting Full Development UCLA

30. Lens # 3 = Engagement & Disengagement Source of Motivation Extrinsics Intrinsics Intrinsics/ Extrinsics Engagement Intervention Concerns Disengagement (psychological reactance) UCLA

31. Engaging & Re-engaging Students in Classroom Learning How are schools >maximizing Intrinsic Motivation? >minimizing Behavior Control Strategies? UCLA

32. Motivation, and especially Intrinsic Motivation are fundamental intervention concerns related to student (and staff) problems UCLA

33. First Concern – Enhancing understanding of intrinsic motivation as related to academic achievement and the achievement gap • Second Concern – Reducing overemphasis on behavior/social control & enhancing appreciation of the impact of psychological reactance • Third Concern – Re-engaging students who have become actively disengaged from classroom instruction • Fourth Concern – Teacher motivation UCLA

34. <><><><><><><><><><><> From the perspective provided by these three lenses, schools need to revisit their school improvement plans with an eye to what’s missing. <><><><><><><><><><><> UCLA

35. I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement? (cont.) School Improvement Planning: What’s Being Done & What’s Missing? UCLA

36. School Improvement Planning Missing: A Comprehensive Focus on: • Addressing Barriers to Learning & Teaching • Re-engaging Disengaged Students in Classroom Learning UCLA

37. This becomes evident when we ask: What do schools currently do to (1) address barriers to learning and teaching and UCLA

38. This becomes evident when we ask: What do schools currently do to (1) address barriers to learning and teaching and (2) re-engage students in classroom instruction? UCLA

39. How is the district/school addressing barriers to learning? Psychological Testing Clinic After-School Programs HIV/Aids Prevention Pupil Services Health Services Violence & Crime Prevention Talk about fragmented!!! Physical Education Special Education Health Education Nutrition Education Juvenile Court Services District School Lunch Program Community-Based Organizations Drug Prevention Counseling Mental Health Services Drug Services Social Services Pregnancy Prevention Codes of Discipline Smoking Cessation For Staff HIV/AIDS Services Child Protective Services UCLA

40. What does this mean for the district and its schools? UCLA

41. What does this mean for the district and its schools? Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports • Marginalization UCLA

42. What does this mean for the district and its schools? Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports • Marginalization • Fragmentation UCLA

43. What does this mean for the district and its schools? Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports • Marginalization • Fragmentation • Poor Cost-Effectiveness (up to 25% of a school budget used in too limited and often redundant ways) UCLA

44. What does this mean for the district and its schools? Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports • Marginalization • Fragmentation • Poor Cost-Effectiveness (up to 25% of a school budget used in too limited and often redundant ways) • Counterproductive Competition for Sparse Resources (among school support staff and with community-based professionals who link with schools) UCLA

45. With all the budget problems, We have to do everything on a shoestring. \ Are you saying you \ still have a shoestring? / UCLA

46. What’s the community doing? UCLA

47. AGENCY REFORM Restructuring and Reforming Community Health and Human Services UCLA

48. The intent of current agency reform policy – >end fragmentation >enhance access to clientele The focus – >interagency collaboration >school-linked services, sometimes based (co-located) at a school UCLA

49. Problems – >doesn’t integrate with school’s efforts to address barriers to learning >limits the focus to current agency work As a result, current agency policy produces – >an additional form of fragmentation >counterproductive competition >greater marginalization UCLA

50. It is important to remember that Community Agency Reform is not the same thing as Strengthening Communities UCLA