How did we get here?

2. How did we get here? • Jt Dir work to improve the performance of low SES, Spec Ed, racially and culturally different • Iowa Core is critical for making a difference for low-achieving • Iowa Core is the emphasis of the system work • Changes in child find • Child Find process does not control the system, it is an end product • How well we do the Core impacts how much we do child find

3. The Core Curriculum is… • A state-wide effort to improve teaching and learning to ensure that all Iowa students engage in a rigorous & relevant curriculum.

4. Supporting the Iowa Core Curriculum Informed and engaged Communities Integrated Schools and Support Agencies Committed Leadership actions

5. The Core Curriculum Provides… • Comprehensive picture of effective curriculum that addresses: • Content • Instruction Assessment

6. Promising Practices with Low Achieving Students • Research in Texas, (Just for the Kids, Inc. 2000), identified six promising practices used in high performing schools with low income students • High-energy, hands-on principals that articulate vision and keep focused on instruction • Broad-based planning that sets clear instructional priorities and meaningful benchmarks • Focused research-based professional development that is driven by instructional needs • Continual monitoring and assessment • Flexible grouping for instruction based on student needs • Immediate intervention for struggling students

7. How Can Principals Turn Around Low-Achieving Schools? • Washington School Research Center (2000) by interviewing teachers and administrators in elementary schools where percentage of students meeting state standards was significantly above the state average found four “primary factors” • Caring and collaborative environment • Strong leadership • Focused, intentional instruction, and • Use of assessment data to guide instruction • This pattern was the same for high and low socio-economic status

8. Beyond Islands of Excellence* • Moral and legal imperative to improve educational performance for all students • Looked at 5 school districts across the US • All had issues of achievement, ethnicity, socio-economic status • Looked at 5 questions extensively in each • Seven common findings among districts that were making significant improvements in student performance for all students *Learning First Alliance, 2003

9. Islands of Excellence:Findings • #1 Districts had the courage to acknowledge poor performance and the will to seek solutions • #2 Districts put in place a system-wide approach to improving instruction • #3 Districts instilled vision that focused on student learning and guided instructional empowerment

10. Islands of Excellence:Findings • #4 Districts made decisions based on data, not instinct • #5 Districts adopted new approaches to professional development • #6 Districts redefined leadership roles • #7 Districts committed to sustaining reform over the long haul

11. Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making • Report prepared for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, by the What Works Clearinghouse • Considerations for the use of data • Assess what students are learning • Measure the extent to which students are making progress toward goals • Monitor continuous improvement • Tailor instruction to the needs of each students

12. Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making • Recommendations • Make data part of an ongoing cycle of instructional improvement • Teach students to examine their own data and set learning goals • Establish a clear vision for school-wide data use • Provide supports that foster a data-driven culture within the schools • Develop and maintain a district-wide data system

13. Why a system-wide approach? Dr. AlexaPosny, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education

14. Common Key Features For Successful Schools/Districts • System-wide approach with flexible grouping to address needs • Strong instructional leadership on multiple levels • Effective instructional/intervention programs at all levels implemented with integrity • Alignment of curriculum expectations, curriculum materials, instruction, and assessments • Frequent assessment of student performance • Use of data to make instructional/intervention decisions • Data-based professional development with opportunity to practice with feedback

15. Positive Aspects of System Work • Shared responsibility • Alignment (assessment, instruction, curriculum, materials, and programs) • Do what works (formative and summative) • Efficient use of resources • School needs drive services • Allows us to address each and all

16. The Basic Tool Kit • School-wide assessment data on all students • Ability to collect and analyze data • Knowledge of and accessibility to research based strategies • Teachers skilled to instruct differentially to the need of the group • Monitoring and Decision-Making Skills

17. All Means All…Addressing Learner Differences • “The Commission finds that locally driven, universal screening of young children is associated with better outcomes and results for all children. Effective and reliable screening of young children can identify those at risk for later achievement and behavioral problems, including those most likely to be referred and placed in special education”

18. What is the Connection? • How can we visually depict the relationship between the Iowa Core and Child Find?