Kathleen Meighan, System Superintendent kathleen.meighan@tdsb.on.ca Mike Gallagher, Central Co-ordinating Principal mik

1. Kathleen Meighan, System Superintendent kathleen.meighan@tdsb.on.ca Mike Gallagher, Central Co-ordinating Principal mike.gallagher@tdsb.on.ca The OFIP Journey to School Effectiveness: Shift and Spread within the Toronto District School Board

2. Education is conversation. Conversation creates change. ~Karl Fisch www.thefischbowl.blogspot.com

3. TDSB FACTS: 550 Schools 475 Elementary Schools 25 Families of Schools 77 OFIP 3 Schools

4. “When the focus is vague or not visible, it is possible for everyone to relate to it but for no-one to use it to explore what it means for changes in their thinking or their practices” (Earl, Katz, et al)

5. “Schools are responsible for preparing pupils for this changing world. The ultimate goal of school improvement is to enhance pupil’s progress, achievement, and development, but the learning outcomes for the future need to capture the breadth of what it is likely to flourish in the 21st century.” (Louise Stoll, University of Bath)

6. THE TDSB CONTEXT • LNS Initiatives • OFIP • School Effectiveness Framework • Character Development • TDSB Initiatives • EYLP, EYNP • Quest • Inner City Model • Continuous Improvement • Schools on the Move Lighthouse Program

7. DEFINING THE MESSAGE

8. DEFINING THE MESSAGE Defining the Message The School Effectiveness Framework (SEF) is a collaborative tool for continued growth in teaching and learning. All schools will use the SEF as a tool to capture, define, and refine their efforts to improve school effectiveness and student achievement.

9. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Gathering Evidence Area of Greatest Need Current Practice Rubric, Data Wall, Culminating Task Pathway PLC Moderated Marking Next Steps

10. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Gathering Evidence: EQAO CASI DRA REPORT CARD CLASSROOM WORK SEF: Assessment & Evaluation “Assessment is used to inform classroom instruction”

11. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Highfield Junior School Area of Greatest Need: • Focused • Precise • Explicit • Based on Expectations 1.4 - demonstrate an understanding of a variety of text by identifying important ideas and some supporting details SEF: Instructional Leadership: “Teachers collaborate to develop and evaluate common assessment tools and practices to ensure consistency of standards across grade levels.”

12. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Current Practice: How are you currently teaching these expectations? Which high-yield strategy can we agree upon that is best to teach these expectations? SEF: Instructional Leadership: “Principals and teachers work together to align curriculum and classroom practice with the goals in their school improvement plan.”

13. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Rubrics, Data Walls, Culminating Tasks • Collaborative • Powerful learning • Messy, difficult SEF: Student Learning & Achievement “Ongoing analysis of student achievement is integral to the work of the PLC and informs instructional decisions”

14. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Rubrics, Data Walls, Culminating Tasks • Collaborative • Powerful learning • Messy, difficult SEF: Student Learning & Achievement “Ongoing analysis of student achievement is integral to the work of the PLC and informs instructional decisions”

15. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Rubrics, Data Walls, Culminating Tasks • Collaborative • Messy, difficult • Powerful learning Reading Expectation 1.5 Grades K-5: Culminating Question: How do you think Trixie was feeling when she wasn’t able to communicate with her dad? Use information from the text and your own ideas to support your answer. SEF: Curriculum and Instructional Strategies “All students are engaged in intellectually demanding tasks that require higher order and critical thinking.”

16. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Pathway PLC’s • Share Student Work • Share What Worked/What Didn’t Work • Do We Need some Professional Learning? SEF: Instructional Leadership: “Principals and teachers work together to align curriculum and classroom practice with the goals in their school improvement plan.”

17. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Moderated Marking: • Powerful Learning Issues that frequently arise: • Rubrics • Assessment Tasks • Choice of Text SEF: Instructional Leadership: “Teachers collaborate to develop and evaluate common assessment tools and practices to ensure consistency of standards across grade levels.”

18. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Next Steps: Setting up the next Pathway Block What was valuable? What do we want to do? SEF: Instructional Leadership: “Principals and teachers work together to align curriculum and classroom practice with the goals in their school improvement plan.”

19. TEACHING-LEARNING CRITICAL PATHWAY A Mental Model Next Steps: Setting up the next Pathway Block What was valuable? What do we want to do? SEF: Instructional Leadership: “Principals and teachers work together to align curriculum and classroom practice with the goals in their school improvement plan.”

20. “Educational change depends on what teachers do and think: it’s as simple and complex as that” (Michael Fullan) THE SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS FRAMEWORK IN THE TDSB: Key Principles

21. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Key Principles Multi-Level Conversations • School Staffs • Hub Schools • Family of Schools

22. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Key Principles • SEF process must honour what we’re already doing • Not a checklist • Must foster collaborative discussions • Actions must become apparent through discussions • Time must be given to have conversations • Focus must be on curriculum expectations • Teachers must always be included in the process

23. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: School Requirements • All schools to complete Self-Assessment • Self-Assessments submitted to FOS Superintendent • 2 Schools selected for District Review

24. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Narrowing the Focus 12 Indicators selected based on 6 TDSB Program Department Strategies Teachers and Administrators created rubrics, and plotted their school

25. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Narrowing the Focus • TDSB High –Yield Strategies to Improve Student Achievement • Use of data to focus and inform instruction • Blocked time for Literacy and Numeracy • Frequent and common assessment to inform instruction • Consistent non-fiction writing assessments in every subject • Immediate and decisive intervention for every student who is not achieving • Effective leadership to support student achievement and educational equity

26. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Evidence • Solid evidence is: - relevant - verifiable - measurable - representative - cumulative - actionable - tangible • demonstrates the voice/actions of students • demonstrates the actions teachers and administrators • Could you bring it in a box or a portfolio? Could you put it on display at a “science fair for adults”?

27. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Making the Connection • Leverage processes and language already known to be successful • Use FOS and School-based staff • Foster networks of learning based on shared goals and practices School Effectiveness Framework: The What Teaching-Learning Critical Pathway:The How

28. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: OFIP 3 Schools 2 Network Meetings: Administrator and 2 or more teachers First Network Meeting: • Began the SEF Conversation • Modelled the School Self-Assessment Second Network Meeting: • Sharing Evidence Collection

34. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Lessons Learned: School Self-Assessments • Schools are hesitant to rate themselves at the highest levels of rubrics • Principal’s participation is key to conversations and to the success of school effectiveness • Consensus-building is key to pursuing focused goals • To describe and capture evidence, schools must be involved in the action-reflection cycle • An articulated, transparent process links action and reflection and improves learning

35. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Lessons Learned: District Review • Articulation of the evidence is often difficult: teachers are constantly involved in the action of teaching • Through the door of student learning • Visits are anxiety-producing • Developing a set of common, agreed-upon practices is challenging in schools

36. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Challenges • Size of System • Consistent School Improvement Planning processes – understanding and requirements • Developing common language of teaching and learning across the system • Building capacity for sustainability • Developing and ensuring support from all stakeholders

37. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Underlying Principles • Critical Literacy: A New Basic (Dr. Allan Luke) • Moral Purpose • Professionals are engaged in service • Time to reflect on work is welcomed • Focused Conversations foster change • Professional Learning versus Workshop model • Invitational Language makes collaboration acceptable • Shift versus change • Work up and down simultaneously; school improvement is driven by teachers in their classrooms

38. THE SEF IN THE TDSB: Networking “In a real sense, all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

39. Education is conversation. Conversation creates change. ~Karl Fisch www.thefischbowl.blogspot.com

40. Kathleen Meighan, System Superintendent kathleen.meighan@tdsb.on.ca Mike Gallagher, Central Co-ordinating Principal mike.gallagher@tdsb.on.ca The OFIP Journey to School Effectiveness: Shift and Spread within the Toronto District School Board