Supporting School Reform Through Transition to Schoolwide Implementation

1. Supporting School Reform Through Transition to Schoolwide Implementation 2016 GCEL Annual Conference February 22-24, 2016

2. Presenters JaBra Harden Fuller Georgia Department of Education School Improvement – Federal Programs Title I, Part A Education Program Specialist jharden@doe.k12.ga.us (229) 563-6269 Elaine Dawsey Georgia Department of Education School Improvement – Federal Programs Title I, Part A Education Program Specialist edawsey@doe.k12.ga.us (478) 971-0114

3. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT & DISTRICT EFFECTIVENESS

4. Session Description This session will address opportunities that schoolwide programs provide for school reform. A timeline will be provided for schools intending to operate a schoolwide program instead of a targeted assistance program. Also included in the presentation will be a review of monthly responsibilities for successfully monitoring, implementing, and evaluating a schoolwide program. This session is designed for Title I Directors and School Administrators.

5. Title I Programs • Two Types of Programs • Targeted Assistance (TA) • The school is ineligible or has chosen not to operate a Schoolwide Program • Provides supplemental educational services to targeted students identified as having the greatest need for supplemental assistance • Schoolwide (SWP) • Comprehensive reform model used to upgrade the educational program in a Title I school and has as its primary goal of ensuring all student, particularly those who are identified as most at risk of meeting state academic standards

6. Title I Programs • TA and SWP Similarities • Enable participating students to meet state standards • Must be eligible to receive funds • Plans must be written based on comprehensive needs assessment • Must use scientifically proven instructional strategies • Must coordinate with and support the regular educational program, providing supplemental services • Must provide instruction by highly-qualified teachers and/or highly-qualified paraprofessionals

7. Title I Programs • TA and SWP Similarities • Must implement strategies to increase parental involvement • School-Parent compacts must be developed • Facilitate transition from early childhood programs • Professional development aligned to Title I program • On-going monitoring of student progress to determine intervention modifications • Evaluation of program strategies

8. Targeted versus Schoolwide Targeted Assistance Schools Schoolwide Program Schools All students may participate in Title I funded activities Maximizes flexibility in using federal funds Serves as a vehicle for whole-school reform with focus on improving achievement of lowest-achieving students Addresses students’ needs through a schoolwide plan based on a comprehensive needs assessment • Services must be targeted to specific at-risk students • Only eligible students may participate in Title I funded activities • Use of funds must be consistent with Title I statutes and regulations

9. Targeted versus Schoolwide Targeted Assistance Schools Schoolwide Program Schools Professional development for all staff to support students Allowed to consolidate funds • Professional development for staff who provide services to targeted students • Title I funds cannot be combined with other funds

10. Title I Schoolwide Section 1114 of Title I of the ESEA allows a school in which 40-percent or more of its students are from low-income families to use its Title I funds, along with other federal, state, and local funds, to operate a schoolwide program to upgrade the entire educational program in the school to improve the academic performance of all students, particularly the lowest-achieving students. [Section 1114(a)(1)] OR A schoolwide school must be an identified Priority or Focus school, even if that school does not have a poverty percentage of 40-percent or more.

11. Schoolwide Programs Requirements ESEA Section 1114 requires that a SWP: • Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment • Identify and commit to specific goals and strategies that address those needs • Create a comprehensive plan • Conduct an annual review of the effectiveness of the schoolwide program and revise the plan annually or as necessary

12. Schoolwide Programs Requirements All students become Title I students. One-year planning is required prior to implementation, unless it’s determined less time is needed. The school must consult with stakeholders prior to making the decision to become schoolwide.

13. Schoolwide Programs Requirements A Schoolwide program that chooses to consolidate other federal program funds is not required to maintain separate fiscal accounting records for each program, but must list all federal programs that are included for fiscal accountability in this model (Fund 400). Consolidation of federal funds is not a requirement. A Schoolwide program plan shall address the intent and purpose of each of the federal programs consolidated to support it. The amount of federal funds used in a Schoolwide program must be supplemental to the amount of state and local funds the school receives.

14. Schoolwide Programs Adopting the SWP reform strategy should result in an ongoing, comprehensive plan for school improvement that is owned by the entire school community and tailored to its unique needs. Services depend on the schools and can vary from one school to another, but must always be in addition (Supplemental) to what is already provided.

15. Benefits of Schoolwide Programs • Flexibility – serving all students, combining resources and programs, and redesigning the delivery of services • Coordination and Integration – reduces fragmentation in curriculum, instruction and assessment • Accountability – clear and coordinated goals where all students are responsible for achieving the same high standards • Unified Goals – the school, parents, and community working together to redesign and improve the school for all students • One Plan – the components in the plan address different needs within each school

16. Benefits of Schoolwide Programs • No distinctions are made between staff paid with Title I funds and staff who are not*. • All school staff are expected to direct their efforts toward upgrading the entire educational program and improving the achievement of all students, particularly those who are low achieving. *Fiscal and reporting requirements for Title I still apply.

17. Schoolwide Planning Timeline

18. Schoolwide Planning Timeline

19. Schoolwide Planning Timeline

20. Schoolwide Planning Timeline

21. 10 Required Components of Schoolwide Plan • Comprehensive needs assessment • Schoolwide reform strategies • Instruction by highly qualified teachers • High-quality and ongoing professional development for teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, and other appropriate staff • Strategies to attract and retain highly-qualified teachers to high-need schools

22. 10 Required Components of Schoolwide Plan • Strategies to increase parental involvement • Plans for assisting preschool children in the transition from early childhood programs • Measures to include teachers in the decisions regarding the use of academic assessments • Activities to ensure that students who experience difficulty mastering the proficient or advanced levels of academic achievement standards are provided with effective, timely additional assistance • Coordination and integration of federal, state, and local services and programs

23. Component 1:Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) The ESEA statute requires that a Title I schoolwide program include a comprehensive needs assessment of the entire school, including the needs of migrant students, based on information that includes how students are meeting the state’s challenging academic content and achievement standards.

24. Comprehensive Needs Assessment This is the foundation of the entire Schoolwide Plan Includes teachers, parents and community. Involves collecting and analyzing data for all student groups. Helps the school identify strengths and weaknesses. Helps to prioritize goals based on areas identified for improvement. Involves critical factors or “Focus Areas” that impact student achievement.

25. Comprehensive Needs Assessment Examine current data on the school’s demographics, test scores, teacher qualifications, attendance rate, discipline referrals, and survey results. The process must be objective, include multiple measures to identify students most in need, and establish a priority list for services.

26. Comprehensive Needs Assessment Guiding Questions: • How have the school’s needs changed from the previous year as reflected by the data? • What needs have been met or not met? • What contributed to meeting or not meeting the need? • What should be continued, be revised or eliminated?

27. Component 2:Implementation of Schoolwide Reform Strategies • Closely examine the instructional strategies to ensure they are scientifically based on research and are tied to the comprehensive needs assessment and academic standards. Guiding Questions: • How have the reform strategies chosen strengthened the core academic program? • After reviewing/analyzing the data, did the strategies target the specific needs of the students? • Are the strategies addressing the quality and quantity of learning time?

28. Implementation of Schoolwide Reform Strategies Guiding Questions Continued: • Did the strategies address the needs of all children in the school, but particularly low achieving children and those at risk of not meeting State standards? • Did the program merit the money budgeted for the strategies/programs/activities?

29. Component 3:Highly Qualified Teachers Strategies to attract highly qualified professional staff: • The school’s instructional staff constantly changes; therefore, a review of this section must provide for a plan to ensure that all teachers and paraprofessional are highly qualified. Guiding Questions: • Are all teachers highly qualified? If not, how will compliance be attained? • Are there procedures in place to ensure only highly qualified paraprofessionals are hired? • Are there plans in place to ensure that teachers and paraprofessionals remain highly qualified? • Are all paraprofessionals working under direct supervision of highly qualified teachers?

30. Component 4:Professional Development Professional development activities should align with the needs assessment to provide teachers and other staff with tools to ensure success for all students. Guiding Questions: • Are the professional development opportunities aligned to the identified needs? • Are the professional development activities provided directly impacting the identified needs of the school? How do you know?

31. Professional Development Guiding Questions continued: • What evidence does the school have that the professional development opportunities are making a difference with achievement of students? • What embedded support and follow up is provided to ensure implementation and effective use of the learned skills and strategies by the staff? • Does the data indicate additional professional development is needed to improve teacher delivery? • What have the teachers indicated as their professional development needs?

32. Component 5:Strategies to Attract and Retain Highly-Qualified Teachers Although recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers is an on-going challenge in high poverty schools, low-performing students in these schools have a special need for excellent teachers. Therefore, the schoolwide plan must describe the strategies it will use to attract and retain highly qualified teachers.

33. Component 6:Strategies to Increase Parent Involvement Plans must include strategies to build the capacity of parents to assist in their child's education. Guiding Questions: • What methods are used to ensure that all parents are notified and included in parental involvement activities? • Are there strategies in place to improve student learning for families? • How are the results of the annual survey used to evaluate the parental involvement strategies? How are the results shared? • What activities are offered to parents to build capacity? How does the school measure the effectiveness of these activities?

34. Component 7:Plans for Assisting Preschool Students in a Successful Transition This does not only apply to transitioning preschool children. A well thought out transition plan eases the stress of young children/students, their parents, and sets the tone of success for years to come. Guiding Questions: • Are the present preschool transitional plans working successfully? • Are all demographics and backgrounds of incoming students included? • What are the survey results in regard to pre-school transition? How is this data collected? • How is this data used to improve pre-school transition to elementary schools? • What transition plans are in place for students transitioning to middle school? To high school? Are plans successful? How do you know?

35. Component 8:Teachers Included in Decisions Regarding Assessments In addition to state performance data, measures must be in place to include teachers in the decisions regarding the use of academic assessments in order to provide information on, and to improve, the achievement of individual students and the overall instructional program.

36. Component 9: Effective and Timely Additional Assistance to Students A schoolwide plan must include activities to ensure that students who experience difficulty mastering the proficient or advanced levels of academic achievement standards are provided with effective, timely additional assistance.

37. Component 10:Coordination and Integration of Funds Procedures should be in place for the coordinating and integrating Title I resources with other resources to enable children served to meet the State standards. Guiding Questions: • Are all the programs and services available coordinated and integrated? • What strategies and/or activities are coordinated with other school improvement efforts? • Are the services and programs meeting the needs?

38. Comprehensive Schoolwide Plan • A comprehensive schoolwide plan must include strategies that: • Meet the educational needs of the historically underserved populations. • Address the needs of all students but particularly the needs of low-achieving students and those at-risk of not meeting the State’s standards who are members of the target population of any program included in the schoolwide/school improvement plan. • Identify reform strategies, aligned with the needs assessment, that are research-based and provide opportunities for all children to meet the state’s challenging academic content and achievement standards.

39. Schoolwide Plan An LEA operating a schoolwide program must comply with all other applicable laws, including: civil rights laws; laws affecting the education of English Learners; and laws affecting the education of students with disabilities, such as the IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. If a schoolwide program consolidates federal funds, it must ensure that it meets the intent and purposes of each federal program whose funds it consolidates.

40. Evaluation of Plan • The school must evaluate annually the outcomes and the plan’s implementation to determine: • whether the academic achievement of all students, and particularly low-achieving students, improved; and • whether the goals and objectives contained in the plan were achieved.

41. Purpose of Evaluation Review To improve delivery strategies to be more efficient and effective. To identify program strengths and weaknesses. To assist district and school level leaders in making informed decisions. To address stakeholder questions. To increase understanding of improvement strategies.

42. Decisions • Do you have effective ongoing and annual evaluation/monitoring procedures in place to make informed decisions about what is working and what is not? • Are there programs that need to be eliminated? • Are there means of providing the same service without additional funds? • Are you getting what you are paying for? • Evaluation is the key.

43. Purpose of Evaluation Review To determine whether the program was effective in increasing the achievement of students meeting the State’s academic standards. To determine if the right students and services are being provided. To verify, increase or change the impact of services for students.

44. Implementing a Schoolwide Program • In summary the three basic components to implementing a schoolwide program are: • Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of the entire school. • Preparing a comprehensive schoolwide/school improvement plan. • Annually reviewing and evaluating the schoolwide/school improvement plan.

45. Use of Funds Examples Based on Needs Assessment Increased learning time- High-quality preschool or full-day kindergarten- Evidenced-based strategies to accelerate the acquisition of content knowledge for English Learners (EL)- Equipment, materials and training needed to compile and analyze data to monitor progress, alert the schools to struggling students and drive decision making- Devices and software for students to access digital learning materials and collaborate with peers, and related training for educators School climate interventions-

46. Making A Difference: Using Federal Funds to Support School Reform • The supplement not supplant does not apply to a schoolwide program school. However, the district must ensure it is providing equitable services to all schools in the district. • For example, all schools in the district must receive the same amounts for instructional services that other schools in the district are receiving.

47. Making A Difference: Using Federal Funds to Support School Reform The presumptions used to determine if supplanting has occurred do not apply to the use of Title I funds in a schoolwide program. However, in order for federal funds to make a difference in supporting school reform in a schoolwide program, they must supplement those funds the school would otherwise receive.

48. Making A Difference: Using Federal Funds to Support School Reform • To ensure that federal funds have the opportunity to make a difference, a schoolwide program relies on the equitable distribution of non-federal funds. • Equitable distribution of non-federal funds requires that: • A schoolwide program school shall use Title I funds only to supplement the amount of funds that would, in the absence of Title I funds, be available from non-federal sources for the school, including funds needed to provide services that are required by law for children with disabilities and English Learners. Note: “Supplement not Supplant” in a schoolwide program is no longer determined at the expenditure level. It is determined at the district level and looks to ensure non-federal funds are distributed to all schools across the district in equitable ways.

49. Making A Difference: Using Federal Funds to Support School Reform This requirement ensures that the federal funds a schoolwide program school receives do not replace non-federal funds the school would otherwise receive if it were not operating a schoolwide program.

50. Handout Monthly Responsibilities for Title I Schools