Montana Schools of Promise

1. Montana Schools of Promise Montana Office of Public Instruction November 18-19, 2010 Sam Redding Center on Innovation & Improvement

2. When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more. • Superintendent Denise Juneau

3. Getting Beyond Ready • Ready to Learn - Families and Schools Working Together • Ready to Teach – Preparing and Caring • Ready to Act – Teams, Time, and Expectations Ready, Set, Go!

4. Start with a Student in Mind

5. What matters most to Alaina’s success?

6. It’s really very simple Proximal variables matter most – the people closest to the student and what they do And the people who that support them

7. Proximal variables to student learning The student’s – • prior learning, which teachers have provided; • metacognitive skills, which can be taught; • motivation to learn and sense of self-efficacy, which a teacher nurtures; • effort and time on task, which a teacher expects; • interaction—academic and social—with teachers and other students; • family’s engagement and support for learning, which a teacher curries. The teacher’s - • instructional planning and classroom management; • instructional delivery through a variety of modes; • personalization (individualization) of instruction for each student; • taught and aligned curriculum, designed by teacher teams.

8. Alaina’s Family Alaina’s family’s role is to: • Love her and talk with her every day • Read to her and listen to her read • Teach her to be kind and to behave in school • Aspire for her to succeed • Expect her to do her best • Build her habit of studying at home • Stay in touch with her teacher • Know her friends and their parents

9. Alaina’s Teacher Alaina’s teacher’s role is to: • Know Alaina well and care about her • Know the subjects well and how to teach them • Meticulously plan every detail of every day • Set and reinforce clear expectations for students • Know what Alaina already knows and what she needs to learn • Adapt instruction for Alaina and for each student • Inspire Alaina to love learning and do her best • Stay in touch with Alaina’s parents and support them in their role

10. Alaina’s Teacher’s Team Alaina’s teacher’s team’s role is to: • Add flesh to the bones of the aligned curriculum • Develop and share instructional plans, strategies, and activities • Monitor the progress of their students • Adapt their plans, strategies in response to assessments • Mentor new teachers • Observe each other’s teaching and make suggestions • Contribute to each other’s professional growth

11. Alaina’s Principal Alaina’s principal’s role is to: • See that Alaina has the best teachers possible by: • Hiring good teachers • Clearly communicating and reinforcing expectations for teachers • Monitoring teachers’ performance • Evaluating teacher’ performance, especially through classroom observations and student achievement • Providing teachers with opportunities for growth aligned with their evaluated performance • Removing inadequate teachers • Monitor student and school progress and make adjustments • Coordinate the work of teams • Manage the “business” of the school’s operation • Set the tone of attitude toward students and their families

12. Families and Schools Working Together

13. Building Blocks of a School Community • Policies • Extend from and express values • Include • District parent involvement policy • District-school expectations for governance • School parent involvement policy • School Community Council, school teams, parent organizations • Compact • Homework • Class visits • Parent-teacher-student conferences • Report cards (two-way, standards focused)

14. Building Blocks of a School Community • Shared Leadership • Decision making –who makes which decisions? • Teams with purpose, accountability, time • School Community Councils at the site • Communication • Two-way; school-home • Education • For parents, teachers, and students • Connection • Association, common experience, welcoming place

15. Parents

16. What is parent involvement? 1. Parent’s involvement with own children. 2. Parent’s involvement with parents of other children. 3. Parent’s involvement with their children’s school.

17. Curriculum of the Home • Parent-Child Relationship • Daily conversation about everyday events • Showing affection • Family discussion of books, magazine, newspapers, TV, internet • Family visits to libraries, museum, zoos, etc. • Encouragement to try new words

18. Curriculum of the Home • Routine of Family Life • Formal study time at home • A daily routine that includes time to eat, sleep, play, work, study, and read • A quiet place to study and read • Family interest in hobbies, games, educational activities

19. Curriculum of the Home • Family Expectation and Supervision • Priority given to reading, school work over television, video games, recreation • Punctuality – children expected to be on time • Children expected to do their best and accept responsibility for what they do • Concern for correct and effective use of language • Parental knowledge and discussion of what is watched on TV and viewed on the internet • Parental knowledge of school achievement and personal growth

20. Other Considerations about Parents • William Jeynes: aspirations and expectations • Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey: self-efficacy perception • The Ongoing Conversation about expectations and obligations – every opportunity • Reaching Parents: Three Types of Parent Relationships with Children and with School • Distressed Families • Child-Centered Families • Parent-Centered Families

21. Lessons Learned

22. Lessons Learned • Policies must support community building • Expectations of school leaders for building community, engaging parents • Structures for shared leadership at school and district levels • Line items for parent engagement • Flow of information and accountability • Report up-channel to board on indicators of school community, parent engagement

23. Lessons Learned • Leadership matters • Principal • Team • Correlation with success: regular meetings, well-attended, and focused • Cliques are counterproductive • Continuity and sustainability are necessary but difficult • Cult of the charismatic leader • The new New Thing

24. Lessons Learned • Direct interaction focused on student learning is paramount • Home visits and home gatherings • Parent-child activities (home links) • Focused, three-way, linked parent-teacher-student conferences • Open house that includes role of parents at home • The work never takes a back seat • Purposeful activity rather than simply more activity

25. Working with Indicators • Activity • Assess and Plan for Full Implementation

26. Preparing and Caring

27. Learning Making instructional decisions about a child’s learning requires the teacher to know the curriculum, know the child, and know the child’s progress in mastering the curriculum. The teacher must also know a variety of ways to bring the child and the curriculum together, and which ways are most likely to be effective with which children.

28. Curriculum:What Students Must Know & Do

30. Learning Standards • STATE GOAL 1: Read with understanding and fluency. • LEARNING STANDARD A. Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections. • LATE ELEMENTARY BENCHMARK 1.A.2a Read and comprehend unfamiliar words using root words, synonyms, antonyms, word origins and derivations. • GRADE LEVEL OBJECTIVE (4th GRADE): Use synonyms and antonyms to define words.

31. The Unit Plan • Collaborative Development of Unit Plans • Alignment of Standards/Benchmarks to Unit Objectives • Leveled and Differentiated Learning Activities

33. Leveled Objectives • Target Objectives • Criteria for Mastery: Conditions & Level of Accuracy • Pre-Test and Post-Test • Prerequisite Objectives • Enhanced Objectives

34. Assessment:What Each Student Knows and Can Do

35. Instruction:Teacher and Student

36. Teacher’s Choice

37. Teacher-Student Interaction • Academic and Social Interaction • Praise and Reinforcement • Questioning and Discussion

38. Teacher as Conductor

39. Co-Teacher Center Student Desk Student Desk Student Desk Teacher’s Resources Student Desk Student Desk Student Desk Student Desk Teacher Center L I B R A R Y Area for Students’ Independent Work Arranged to Face Teacher During Whole-Class Instruction S C H E D U L E Exploratory Center Cooperative Center Activity Center

40. Whole Class Instruction • Behavior Check • Review and Homework Check • Think – 20% • Know – 60% • Show – 20%

41. Work Time • Independent Work • Teacher Center • Co-Teacher Center • Activity Center • Cooperative Center • Exploratory Center

43. Targeted Learning • Student Learning Plan • Student Motivation to Learn • Metacognition • Attribution • Student Self-Direction

44. Targeted Learning in the Classroom Units of Standards/ Target Objective Leveled/Differentiated Instruction Benchmarks Objectives Levels Learning Activities Unit 1 A T 1 E Whole-Class Instruction Behavior Check Review Think Know Show Work Time Student Learning Plan Classroom Management Work Time Schedule Teacher Calls Student Folder Wait Time Activities Independent (E, T, P) T 2 B T Unit 2 Teacher Center (E, T, P) T 3 C P Unit 3 T 4 Activity Center (E, T, P) D Unit 4 Homework (E,T, P) Unit 5 Monitoring Student Progress Class Progress Chart Student Monitoring SLP Student Learning Report Unit 6 Cooperative Center (Target Only) Unit 7 Exploratory Center (Options) Unit 8

45. Working with Indicators • Activity • Assess and Plan for Full Implementation

46. Teams, Time, and Expectations

47. Types of School Teams Three types of school teams (by whatever names): • Leadership Team • Instructional Teams • School Community Council • How are teams organized in your school?

48. Culture of Candor • Accountability to students and to each other • Willingness to polish the craft together • High expectations for adults • Focus on the practice and not the person • Openness to the data about student outcomes and about the practices that contribute to the outcomes

49. Characteristics of Good Teamwork • High level of interdependence exists among team members. • The team leader has good people-skills and is committed to a team approach. • Each team member is willing to contribute. • The team develops a relaxed climate for internal communication. • Team members develop a mutual trust. • The team and individuals are prepared to take risks. • The team is clear about goals and establishes targets and dates. • Team members’ roles are defined. • Team members know how to examine team and individual errors without personal attacks. • The team has capacity to create new ideas. • Each team member knows he or she can influence the team agenda.

50. Instructional Teams Teacher teams meet in sufficient blocks of time to prepare differentiated and aligned units of instruction, review student learning, share strategies, develop and share materials. [See Indicators in Action]