Just for the Kids-New York Questar III Superintendents Meeting October 24, 2008 Janet Angelis

1. Just for the Kids-New York Questar III Superintendents Meeting October 24, 2008 Janet Angelis Partnership of The Business Council of NYS, State of New York, and University at Albany/SUNY

2. Background: • Nationally, Just for the Kids began in 1995 (UT-Austin): JFTK-NY began in 2004 • Relies on achievement data (state assessments) over time • JFTK-NY has completed three in a series of studies • Elementary schools (2005) • Middle schools (2007) • High schools (2008) • (2008-9: Middle school science)

4. Our Sample 10 consistently HP schools with 5-6 similar but consistently APs, based on 3 years of NYS Assessment data Favor poverty (F/RL) Urban, rural, suburban Open admissions NYS average per pupil expenditures In consultation with our Advisory Board

5. Just for the Kids–New York Best Practices Studies 2005-8 Higher-performing Elementary Schools Higher-performing Middle Schools Higher-performing High Schools

6. The Business Council of New York State, Inc. Conference of Big 5 School Districts Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability IBM McGraw-Hill Companies NY Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NYACTE) NY Charter School Association NY City Department of Education NYS Association of School Business Officials (NYSASBO) NYS Association of Small City School Districts (NYSASCSD) NYS Association of Teacher Educators (NYSATE) NYS Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc. (NYSPTA) NYS Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) NYS Education Department (NYSED) NYS Governor's Office NYS School Boards Association (NYSSBA) NYS United Teachers (NYSUT) School Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS) State Farm Insurance State University of New York (SUNY) University at Albany Advisory Board Representatives of

7. Made 2-day site visits Interviewed teachers and administrators using JFTK survey questions Collected documents Analyzed and wrote a case study for each site Conducted and wrote cross-site analysis Wrote summary report Cases and reports available at: http://www.albany.edu/aire/kids/ Methods

10. 1. Trusting and respectful relationships 2. Social/ emo-tional well-being 3. Teamwork 4. Evidence- based decision making 5. Shared vision of mission and goals Higher-Performing Middle Schools

11. JFTK-NY Relationships Emotional Well-Being Collaboration Evidence-Based Decision Making Shared Vision NYS Essential Elements Basic goals Intellectual development/academic achievement of all students Personal and social development of each student JFTK-NY cf. NYS Essential Elements

12. JFTK-NY Relationships Emotional Well-Being Collaboration Evidence-Based Decision Making Shared Vision NMSA This We Believe Culture Matters: Collaboration Shared vision Safe environment High expectations for all Adult advocate for every student JFTK-NY cf. NMSA This We Believe

13. Relationships Lay the Foundation 5 Key Elements Trust and respect make possible - security, well-being for students and faculty - constant collaboration/teamwork - honest evaluation of results; adjustments - shared vision – developing and enacting it Each necessary but not sufficient alone or with only a few others.

14. The single most important thing . . . is to build trust with your faculty. Trust • Deliberate and planned • “Family” • Provides safety to disagree, to share challenges, even failures • Set it as a priority – from the top

15. I feel totally comfortable to talk about concerns with the principal. When the principal comes into my classroom, we have strong support and trust. We have had a trusting administration – they put full trust in us. We’ve learned to embrace the state exams – if you can’t beat them join them. What the state tests are asking for is what we’re asking for – we’ve tried to look positively at the state tests. Queensbury Teachers

16. Respect:Expected from and for all Board for the professionals The Board remains strategic . . . They respect the leadership of the Superintendent. Administrators for teachers Their association is their safety net. Our work is too challenging to be worrying about professional mistrust. Teachers and administrators for students There is a measure of respect and loyalty everyone has foreach other—we truly believe in the kids. Educators for the community and parents . . respectful of the diversity and value it as a positive.

17. High & Explicit Expectations Routines and consistency across the school . . . Two rules—respect and responsibility . . . are posted in the office, in classrooms, and in other places around the building. Teachers refer to these rules, and they form the basis for decision making about program and policy. Students hear about them on the first day of school and every day after that. . . . and rewarded The teams recognize student achiever of the month—for example, improvement, was failing and now has an 80 average; or success comes from being respectful.

18. Sharing Responsibility • Some teams know each others’ standards • Choosing new materials and programs in light of shared vision and evidence of success with similar students • Literacy across the curriculum • Support rather than blame For example, the scores on last year’s ELA were lower than we wanted. Rather than a reprimand or finger pointing, the assistant superintendent asked what more the administration could do to help us be more successful.

19. 5 Key Elements Social and Emotional Well-Being • Its lack interferes with learning • Connect with every student: - teaming, looping, “guide rooms,” activities, social services - special attention for those at risk • Transitions: ES – MS; MS – HS • Safety, security, diversity

20. We . . . focus on what’s common among us and not on what is different. • We define success also [as] the ability to work in a group,be a member of a team and a good citizen.

21. 5 Key Elements Collaborative Conversations/Teamwork • Purpose: student learning & achievement - collectively, individually • Consistent, expected, frequent • Scheduled and unscheduled • Teams, committees - within, across, grades and subjects - within, across, outside of school

22. You need to work as a team; there’s nothing a teacher can accomplish alone. We communicate from one grade to the next. We respect teachers in the grades below.

23. 5 Key Elements Evidence-Based Decision Making • Multiple sources - student performance data - teacher and administrator experience - student, parent, and community input - adopted program data (piloting and assessing) • Ongoing and acted on • Focus beyond the state assessments: standards

24. We invite students back after a semester or two at college and ask what was most helpful . . . [and not] so helpful. [The school improvement model we chose] expects teachers to make professional choices. We analyze the state exam – kid by kid, question by question.

25. Shared Vision 5 Key Elements • Raising learning and achievement for all students • Built by all • Clearly articulated • Echoed from central office to classroom • Never done

26. You never arrive, you are always becoming. It’s a goal without a finish line. Complacency bothers me.

28. } } What makes high schools work The higher-performing high schools can be characterized as • Rigorous • Innovative 3.Transparent 4.Evidence-driven 5.Strategic Higher- Performing High Schools Wilcox, 2008

29. } What makes high schools work Other research re effective high schools • Close monitoring of student progress • Develop particular habits of mind • Master teachers • Course variety and innovative scheduling Achieve, Goldware & Housman, Huebner & Corbett, et al.

30. } What makes high schools work Some middle school concepts work – e.g., • Smaller learning communities • Teaching cognitive strategies • Interrelatedness of some skills and content knowledge ACT, Adelman, Conley, et al.

31. Rigorous Curriculum, Expectations Just for the Kids-NY Our high school objective is 70% of students getting an advanced Regents diploma. • Provide a rigorous curriculum • Focus on encouraging -- and supporting -- typically lower-performing students to enroll and succeed in honors and AP courses .

32. Decrease tracking • Add more inclusion classes • “Emerging scholars” program for minority 8th-graders • Open enrollment in AP courses We put the middle kids in the most challenging classes. We try to hit kids early on in honors track to get the motivation. Even if they falter, they can pick it up again later.

33. Variety of electives to capture and hold interest • Academics-athletics-arts • Loss of extra curricular activities and sports if failing (lower than a C)

34. Focus on meeting state determined performance targets Tracking and self-contained SPED classrooms prevalent Lower expectations and willingness to accept limitations (e.g., student poverty) State determined targets not sufficient Higher-level courses offered to more students All students challenged academically and to contribute to the larger society } What makes high schools work Rigor: How AP and HP schools differ

35. Innovative Instructional Programs, Practices Innovation and risk taking encouraged Resources, including teacher expertise, deployed where most likely to have the greatest impact Creative and flexible scheduling New ideas and suggestions taken up, considered, nurtured if relevant to needs “Disciplined:” proposed innovations must meet identified needs

36. Micro-managing stifles innovation. You need to develop a culture of participation throughout the school. • “What if . . .?” questions encouraged • Teachers report department chairs, curriculum coordinators supportive • Teacher suggestions often the source of an innovation • Technology use supported and encouraged, with adequate training We insist on maintaining flexibility with the master schedule. When we need to move kids around and reassign teachers mid year, we have done it.

37. Schedule inflexible – how it’s always been done Work from failure backward Technology without adequate training Flexibility – assign resources according to need Keep students on track before AIS needed Technology supported with adequate training } What makes high schools work Innovation: How AP and HP schools differ

38. Transparent Communication Just for the Kids-NY Know your teachers, students, and parents. Take the temperature and pulse of your school everyday. Reporting student performance Developing and articulating goals and strategic plans Sharing successes, challenges, problems.

39. We have parents at the table with the instructional support teams at the very first sign of a problem about a child’s needs. • Trust and transparency feed each other • School = the heart of the community • Know all students – well being of each student everyone’s business: shared responsibility

40. Humility, lack of face-saving behavior when facing problems • Willingness to acknowledge problems and make them opportunities to innovate • Mechanisms for knowing students and communicating with families The kids know if they need something in this building . . . they can turn to somebody.

41. } What makes high schools work Transparency: How AP and HP schools differ • Top-down approach to articulating goals and vision • No curriculum map or just begun • School-community tensions • Dialogue around goals and vision • Transparent curriculum available to all • School the heart of the community

42. Evidence-Based Decision Making Just for the Kids-NY • A variety of evidence used in making decisions about new initiatives. • Systematic sharing and use • of test score data (formative, summative, and state) to inform instruction and interventions • parent and student input • surveys • exit and post-grad interviews

43. It’s not just having the data and dispersing them, but making sense of them.By the time the results come from the state, we’ve already had a headstart on the data • Use of data embraced by all • Data constantly analyzed and used

44. } What makes high schools work Evidence: How AP and HP schools differ • Data analyzed primarily by administrators • Still resistance to evidence-based decision making • Close analysis and discussion of data among teachers and administrators • Embrace of the use of a variety of evidence to inform practice

45. Strategic Targeting of Resources Just for the Kids-NY • All resources targeted where they are most likely to have the greatest impact on student performance. • Teachers • Programs • Time • Talent • Technology

46. We will not: Adopt any new program or service unless it is: consistent with and contributes to our mission; accompanied by an analysis of the resources and the staff development needed for its effectiveness; accompanied by a plan to assess its ongoing effectiveness. • Proactive – look for trends in data to spot potential problems • Assign strongest teachers to neediest students • Vary class size by need • Vary class length by need • Outward and inward focus

47. } What makes high schools work Strategic: How AP and HP schools differ • No particular professional development agenda linked to evidence • Use of data to inform specific interventions not systematic • Lack of continuity and clarity of priorities and vision • Professional development foci informed by teacher needs • Strategic use of data to target interventions • Constant dialogue re vision and plans to reach it.

48. Just for the Kids – New York www.albany.edu/aire/kids Case reports Cross-case reports Documentary evidence Self-surveys