Unified Improvement Planning: District-Level Planning Sponsored by

Unified Improvement Planning: District-Level Planning Sponsored by The Colorado Department of Education Fall 2010 Version 1.0

Introductions Center for Transforming Learning and Teaching • Julie Oxenford O’Brian • Mary Beth Romke www.ctlt.org

Today’s Purpose Ensure you are prepared to facilitate district–level unified improvement planning

One in a series of CDE sponsored sessions on UIP. . . • School Level Support for Schools assigned a Priority Improvement or Turnaround Plan under state accountability • District Level Support for Districts with schools assigned a Priority Improvement or Turnaround Plan Under State Accountability • District Level Support for Districts Accredited with Turnaround or Priority Improvement plans under state accountability or identified for improvement under ESEA, including Titles I, IIA and/or III • Using the Unified Improvement Plan for Title I Requirements (Webinar Only)

Materials

Norms The standards of behavior by which we agree to operate while we are engaged in learning together.

Introductions • Introduce yourselves to the folks at your table: • Name/Role • One question you have about Unified Improvement Planning • Select top two questions from your table to share.

Outcomes • Understanding the key elements and processes embedded in the UIP Template • Recognize unique requirements for districts that are TA, PI and/or on improvement for federal programs. • Gather and organize data for planning. • Plan for developing major components of the UIP: • Significant Trends and Prioritized Needs • Root Causes • Annual targets and interim measures • Major Improvement Strategies • Practice root cause analysis. • Apply the UIP Quality Criteria (district level). Engage in hands-on learning activities and dialogue with colleagues. Complete readings. Facilitate processes locally.

Go to Progress Monitoring. Re-write the learning targets in your own language, describing what these learning targets mean to you. Create a bar graph which describes where you currently believe you are in relationship to each of learning target. Activity: Progress Monitoring

Agenda Unified Improvement Planning District Planning Requirements Section III: Data Analysis Section IV: Action Planning Planning to Plan

Purposes of Unified Improvement Planning • Support school and district use of performance data to improve student learning. • Transition from planning as “an event” to planning as “continuous improvement”. • Provide a mechanism for external stakeholders to learn about schools/district improvement efforts. • Reduce the number of required improvement “plans”. • Align improvement efforts within schools and districts. • Meet state and federal accountability requirements.

What District Planning Requirements will the Unified Improvement Plan Meet? • State accountability • State Accreditation • Graduation Completion Plans • Federal Accountability • Title IA • Title IIA • Title III • Other Grants • Tiered Intervention Grant • District Improvement Grant

Colorado Unified Planning Template for Districts Major Sections: • Summary Information about the district • Improvement Plan Information • Narrative on Data Analysis and Root Cause Identification • Action Plan(s)

Basic Steps in Improvement Planning • Summary Information about the district II. Additional Information III. Narrative on Data Analysis and Root Cause Identification IV. Action Planning

Theory of Action: Continuous Improvement Evaluate Evaluate FOCUS Implement Plan

Timeline Local plan development and review.

Submission Process for District Plans • Plans due: January 17th and April 15th, 2011 • Use Tracker to submit improvement plans • Each district identifies a lead submitter for improvement plans (respondent form) • Training for the lead submitters will be available (e.g., online resources, Webinars) • Targeting mid-November to have the Tracker open to accept improvement plans

Features of Tracker • Currently used for ESEA monitoring (e.g., desk monitoring, documentation for onsite reviews) • System is password protected. District controls who has access to system. • Districts upload and organize evidence (documents). • CDE can access districts’ documents and provide feedback. • CDE will pre-populate criteria questions. Only districts that must submit in January will be able to access the instruments for the necessary programs. • File cabinet arranged so that one plan will be linked to multiple programs (if needed).

Key Planning Resources Resource Uses Provide a “target” for plan developers for Section III and Section IV plan elements. Serve as the basis for plan review (local school boards, state department staff, state review panel) Examples of what might be included in each section of the plan. • Draft Quality Criteria for Unified Improvement Plans (district level) • Unified Improvement Plan Draft District Example

Quality Criteria • Individually read: the first 1.5 pages of the draft UIP Quality Criteria for Districts (General Directions and Meeting Specific Requirements in the Plan) • Table Group Discussion Questions: • What information do you need to know about your district to use the quality criteria? • Which criteria apply to your district?

Quality Criteria Overview • Designed to be used in conjunction with the district UIP Template. • General criteria apply to all districts. • Criteria designated with program specific icons only apply to select districts.

Federal Program Requirements • Districts identified for improvement under: Title IA, Title IIA, Title III • Each program has some specific requirements. • Detailed in: • program-specific checklists, and • quality criteria.

Identification under Title IA • Program Improvement (PI): • If an LEA does not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same content area (Math, Reading) in the same grade span • Corrective Action (CA): • If an LEA does not make adequate progress by the end of the second full school year it has been identified for improvement

Requirements under Title I Program Improvement • LEA develops a plan to address the areas it missed district AYP (see district level Quality Criteria) • Set aside 10% of the Title IA allocation for professional development (describe in the resource column of Section IV – Action Steps)

Requirements under Title I Corrective Action • The state may defer funds until an approved plan is in place that incorporates major improvement strategy(s) that will respond directly to serious instructional, managerial, and organizational problems in the LEA.

Identification under Title IIA (2141c) • Identification process: • Missed District AYP targets 3 consecutive yearsAND • Missed HQ targets 3 consecutive years • 50 districts were identified under 2141c in 2010-11

Requirements for 2141c • District cannot use Title IA funds to create new Title I instructional paraprofessional positions. • District must enter into a “financial agreement” with the state. • State sets priorities for the use of Title IIA funds • Professional development • Recruitment, retention and distribution strategies • HQ strategies • Must use UIP. Make sure to complete Section V.

Title III Improvement • Why is my district required to complete the Unified Improvement Plan Template for Title III? • ESEA, Section 3122 (b)(2) requirment • ……..If an LEA fails to make AMAOs for two or more consecutive years, the State shall make the grantee develop an Improvement Plan that will ensure that the grantee meets such objectives.

Title III – Things to Remember. . . • Narrative must address the factors that kept the grantee from meeting AMAO targets • Address for 08-09 and 09-10 • Address Root Causes as they relate to ELLs • Address Strengths and Weaknesses of Current Plan • Include Parent Involvement Efforts, ELD Standards and Professional Development

State Accountability Distribution of Districts by Preliminary State Accreditation Ratings

Dramatic change for “persistent low-performance” This idea is not new. . . • Comprehensive School Reform Designs (New American Schools Development Corp. & IASA) • Restructuring (NCLB) • School Improvement Grants Under Section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 -- January 2009 amendments – school turnaround,transformation, restart or closure. • Colorado SB09-163 Educational Accountability Act: Turnaround and Priority Improvement .

Rapid district improvement means that there are: • Dramatic changes in district structures, culture, policies, and process within one to three years of the start of the improvement effort; • Evidence of significant improvement in instructional practices and student academic performance within three to four years of the start of the improvement effort; and • Evidence that changes and improvements are system-wide and sustainable. • -- The Center on Innovation and Improvement

Incremental vs. Dramatic • Work with your table. Select a recorder. • Using a flip chart page create a t-chart • Brainstorm examples of incremental changes and dramatic changes • How do these compare to one another? Incremental Dramatic

Reviewing Turnaround Options • Work with a partner. Take out “District Turnaround Options” • Silently read one row in the chart (individually). • When each partner has completed a row, look up and “say something.” Something might be a question, a brief summary, a key point, an interesting idea or personal connection to the text. • Continue until you complete all of the rows in the chart.

Essential Strategies for Dramatic District Improvement • Acknowledge poor performance and the seek solutions. • Establish a system wide approach to improving instruction—one that articulates curricular content and provides instructional supports. • Instill a visions that focuses on student learning and guided instructional improvement. • Made decisions based on data, not instinct. • Adopt new approaches to professional development that involve a coherent and district-organized set of strategies to improve instruction. • Redefine leadership roles. • Commit to sustaining reform over the long haul. BEYOND ISLANDS OF EXCELLENCE: What Districts Can Do to Improve Instruction and Achievement in All Schools -- Learning First Alliance

Resources to help. . . • Resources available through: comprehensive school reform, NCLB restructuring, Turnaround/Transformation • Centers: • The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement: http://www.centerforcsri.org • Center on Innovation & Improvement (CII): http://www.centerii.org/ • Learning Point Associates: http://www.learningpt.org/ • Mass Insight Education: http://www.massinsight.org/ • Public Impact: http://www.publicimpact.com • U.S. Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/

Steps to prepare for dramatic change • Determine who will engage in planning for dramatic change. • Engage in a comprehensive qualitative review of the district (CADI). • Engage school and community stakeholders (input to the approach) • Establish the district data infrastructure. • Determine a the dramatic change approach. • Define a new vision.

Integrating your Thinking • Take out, Planning to Plan Notecatcher • Make notes about your efforts to determine a dramatic improvement approach and engage local stakeholders. • What tools will you use?

Section III: Narrative on Data Analysis and Root Cause Identification • Four Steps: • Gather and Organize Relevant Data • Analyze Trends and Prioritize Needs • Root Cause Analysis • Create the Data Narrative • Data Analysis Worksheet (table) • Data Narrative for School (text box)

Section III, Step One: Gather and Organize Relevant Data • Consider: • “Required reports.” and “Suggested local data sources” UIP Template, Section III. • Team Discussion: • Have you accessed all of the required state reports? • To which local data sources do you have access? • Highlight all of the “local data sources” that you currently use.

State Performance Data Sources • School and District Growth Summary • CSAP score reporting • Colorado Growth Model (both public and private) • Student-level CSAP files (from CTB) • Student-level flat files (growth, CSAPA, PSWR) from CEDAR

Multiple measures must be considered and used to understand the multifaceted world of learning from the perspective of everyone involved.-Victoria Bernhardt

Demographics Perceptions Student Learning School Processes What types of data do we have?

Demographics School Processes Provides information that allows for the prediction of actions, processes, programs that best meet the needs of all students. Perceptions Student Learning Victoria Bernhardt

To answer questions about performance: Significant Trends Priority needs? To determine why district performance is what it is (root causes)? To monitor district progress towards annual targets (interim measures). To monitor implementation of improvement strategies (implementation benchmarks). For what do you use multiple data sources in UIP? Performance Measures Process Measures

To answer questions about performance: Significant trends Priority needs To determine why district performance is what it is (root causes)? To monitor district progress towards annual targets (interim measures). To monitor implementation of improvement strategies (implementation benchmarks). Using Multiple Data Sources

Inventory Local Performance Data • Consider the following tools: • Survey of Assessment Data Example • Survey of Assessment Data Template • Working with your team, answer: • Do you know what assessment data sources are available within your district? • Do you have a comprehensive inventory of available performance data?

Practice: Drilling-Down into Performance Data • Consider Data Analysis: Drilling Down • Choose a sub-indicator for which your district did not meet state expectations. • Select questions that would help your staff to “drill-down” to better understand performance in that indicator area.

Unified Improvement Planning: District-Level Planning Sponsored by