SIG Year Two Application Process

1. SIG Year Two Application Process Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How are we going to get there?

2. Renewing of the Grant • LEAs must set and track progress against benchmarks that demonstrate student achievement • “The SEA’s decision to renew a grant is, in part, determined by progress towards these student achievement goals.” School Turnaround Group – Mass Insight Education • http://www.massinsight.org/stg/research/additionalresearch/evaluation-toolkit/

3. SIG Grant Year 2 Your plan needs to answer the following questions: • Where are we now? • Where do we want to go? • How will we get there? • How will we know we are there? • How can we keep it going?

5. Implementation Status • Identify the strategies/action steps you have completed from your Transformation or Turnaround goal of your CIP. • Evaluate the effectiveness of the completion of the identified strategies/action steps. • See planning sheet… • What data do you have to confirm?

6. Stages of implementation • Exploration –actively considering a change • Installation–preparing for use of the innovation • Initial Implementation –actively engaged in learning how to do and support the doing of the innovation • Full Implementation –actively working to make full use of the innovation as part of the organizations typical functioning • Innovation–Being able to make adjustments to implementation • Sustainability –what’s working/best practices become part of the culture of doing the work Fixen, Blasé, Horner & Sugai(February)

7. Measuring Programs and Processes • What was put into place in Yr1? • To what degree was the program implemented? • Who was it intended to serve? • What was the intended, desired result? • Did it do what it was supposed to? What data do we have to support this conclusion?

8. What’s working…what’s not… • What in the Yr 1 SIG plan accomplished what it was supposed to accomplish? How will the LEA/school ensure the continued success? What’s needed to continue the success? • What in the Yr 1 SIG plan didn’t accomplish what it was supposed to accomplish? Why? What are you going to do about it? What’s needed to correct this?

9. Time issues? • Is there something in the Yr 1 plan that wasn’t implemented due to lack of time? • Why did time run out? • How will that be addressed in Yr 2?

10. Activity #1 “Table Talk”Assign a recorder for your discussion • Accomplishments • Evaluate progress on the mandatory components of the model chosen, using the LEA & School CIP strategies, action steps, and Budget Components • Strengths • What is working? • What has been accomplished? • Evidence? • Needs • Where do we need to continue our efforts? What adjustments need to be made? Data?

11. Student Achievement • (Page 5 of application) • Using the data from diagnostic testing (other than AIMS scores) down to the teacher and student level, describe the progress you are making regarding student achievement. (Attach any documents that show student level data.)

12. The Data • Remember that data can be organized by: • Levels: District, School, Grade, Classroom and Student level • Content Areas: Reading, Writing, Math • Standard Strand, Concept, Performance Objective • Aggregated and Disaggregated: All students and subgroups

13. Analyzing student achievement data (including AIMS) (Section A of application) • What is the trend in mathematics/reading for each grade level? Each subgroup? • Which grade levels/subgroups are not moving in the right direction? • Did percent proficient go up or down? • What is the difference in achievement from last year and this year? • What growth can be seen from the beginning of the year to the end of the year?

14. Analyzing Student data (including AIMS) • What are the gaps between the sub-groups and “All Students”? • Which grade level has the smallest/largest gap? • What might contribute to these gaps?

15. Analyzing Student data (including AIMS) • Has the performance of different subgroups of students improved over time(last three or four years)? • What might be some of the reasons for the gaps between groups?

16. Specific to AIMS data • How are students performing on AIMS? • What percentage of students fell into each proficiency level (exceeds, meets, approaches, FFB)? • What contributed to the student achievement scores? • Is there a correlation between the benchmark scores and the AIMS results? If not, why?

17. Examples of other types of data • Attendance records (teacher and student) • Enrollment records • All assessment data • Teacher, student, and parent surveys • Report cards • Teacher evaluations • Principal evaluations • Progress charts or checklists • Others?

18. Activity #2 • As a group, discuss what types of data are available (academic as well as other). • In what ways do we need this data be disaggregated? • In what ways can this data show the growth of the school/LEA?

19. Interpreting the data • Interpreting data gives staff an opportunity to explore the meaning of the results. Knowing what contributed to improvements is as important as knowing the results. • The interpretation process digs deeper into knowing the reason for the results. (Why did we get what we got?) Example: • How did the students with disabilities improve so dramatically in such a short time? What changes in teaching, resources, staff, or professional development occurred in this time that might have influenced the results?

20. Interpreting the data: the 5 whys… The 5 Whys is a questions-asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem. Ultimately, the goal of applying the 5 Whys method is to determine a root cause of a problem. By repeatedly asking the question "Why" (five is a good rule of thumb), you can peel away the layers of symptoms which can lead to the root cause of a problem. Although this technique is called "5 Whys," you may find that you will need to ask the question fewer or more times than five before you find the issue related to a problem. Benefits Of The 5 Whys Help identify the root cause of a problem. • Determine the relationship between different root causes of a problem. • One of the simplest tools When Is 5 Whys Most Useful? • When problems involve human factors or interactions.

21. Activity #3 • How will the school/LEA ensure there is time to analyze and interpret the data? • Who will be involved in this process? • How will this interpretation be explained to stakeholders? (board, parents, community, teachers, students, new staff, etc.)

22. Now we know why…but what are we going to do about it? (Section C of the application) What in your plan specifically addresses the issues? Also important and not to be forgotten: What in your plan supports the strengths and gains that have been achieved?

23. Identify priorities and setting Yr 2 goals • Specific & Strategic (what and why) • Measurable (if you can measure it, you can manage it) • Attainable (it will stretch you, but it is within reach) • Results-based (must have an outcome) • Time-bound (a clear beginning and a clear end point)

24. How will we achieve these goals? An action plan Action plans need to clarify how decisions are made, identify professional development required to learn new skills and gain new knowledge, and clarify the use of partners to achieve the vision.

25. Action planning

26. Things to remember… • Make sure the action steps are realistic. • Make sure the actions steps address the goal. • Make sure the goal is based on a “need” that has data analysis to back it up. • Make sure your goals will accomplish closing the achievement gap/ increase graduation rates.

27. Activity #4 • When will the team convene to create action steps for next year? • Who will be involved? For each person involved, what is their role? • How will these action steps be communicated to stakeholders?

28. Addressing implementation within the action plan • How will the use of what is adopted/implemented be monitored for fidelity? • How will we monitor fidelity over a period of time? • How will we know if the action is making a difference?

29. Remember…

30. Stages of implementation • Exploration –actively considering a change • Installation–preparing for use of the innovation • Initial Implementation –actively engaged in learning how to do and support the doing of the innovation • Full Implementation –actively working to make full use of the innovation as part of the organizations typical functioning • Innovation–Being able to make adjustments to implementation • Sustainability –what’s working/best practices become part of the culture of doing the work Fixen, Blasé, Horner & Sugai(February)

33. Activity #5 • What is in place/ will be put in place to ensure fidelity? • What parties will be responsible for seeing this happen?

34. The District/Charter Holder Role… is this in the plan? • Ensure the school plan is aligned to the district/charter plan • Review district and school data on a regular basis • Provide recognition and support for schools making progress • Create a district-wide “data culture”

35. The District/Charter Holder Role • Develop an assessment plan used for every grade and every school • Use/create a database to collect and provide immediate access to school achievement data • Assist principals in scheduling enough time for literacy instruction • Do walk-throughs to monitor the use of programs (we are not talking about coach or principal walk-throughs, but LEA walk-throughs)

36. The District/Charter Holder Role • Ensure a scientifically-based core program and a menu of supplemental programs for struggling learners that are aligned with the core are in place • Ensure on-going, job-embedded PD is in place and focuses on student achievement

37. Activity #6 • What is currently in place at the district/charter holder level to support the SIG? • What is currently not in place at the district/ charter holder level? How will this be addressed?

38. Questions?

39. Applications • Annual Report/Year 2 Application due on July 8, 2012