Commonwealth of Virginia Honor States Grant sponsored by the National Governors Association and

1. Commonwealth of Virginia Honor States Grant sponsored by the National Governors Association and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation CCSSO Education Leaders Conference St. Louis, MO September 12-14, 2007 Dr. Linda Wallinger Jim Firebaugh Tabitha Grossman

2. Education for a Lifetime • Education agenda of Mark Warner, Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006 • Educational funding commitment • High quality child care • Renewed commitment to student accountability • Improved teacher recruitment and retention • Senior year reform • And other initiatives

3. Senior Year Reform • Early College Scholars • Eligible high school seniors can complete their high school diploma and concurrently earn a semester’s worth of transferable credits (15 credit hours) that can be used towards a college degree. • Path to Industry Certification • Students who are not college bound are encouraged to continue working towards high school graduation while pursuing technical training for a selected industry credential. • Project Graduation • Students who have already earned the required standard credits to graduate receive additional assistance to help them earn the required verified credits towards graduation.

4. 2004 and 2007: Watershed Years for Graduation in Virginia • 2004 – Graduation year of first cohort of 9th graders required to earn: • 22 standard credits • 2 English & 4 student-selected verified credits • 2007 – Graduation year of first cohort of 9th graders required to earn: • 22 standard credits • 2 English, 1 math, 1 science, 1 history, and 1 student-selected verified credits

5. Graduation Rates

6. Graduation and Dropout Rates • State averages conceal the “real” graduation rates • 64 of 132 school divisions (48.5%) have a cohort graduation rate of less than the state average of 73.8% in 2005-2006 • 5 divisions have a cohort graduation rate of less than 50% • If 95% of the senior class is graduating, but that’s only 74% of the same cohort of students four years earlier, what is happening to the rest of the students?

7. NGA’s Focus on High School Redesign • Governor Warner chaired the NGA in 2004-2005 • Initiative: High School Redesign • Honor States Grant Program • Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation • Virginia’s Grant • Focused on 9th grade retention as one solution to higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates

8. NGA Honor States Grant Program • Virginia was one of 10 states selected for the Phase 1 NGA grant program. • The grant was funded for two years. • Virginia received $1 million for each of the two years. • Partners: The Governor’s Office, SCHEV, VCCS, VDOE, and VASSP

9. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program Objectives: • Decrease ninth-grade retention (holdback) rates • Decrease overall dropout rates • Increase high school graduation rates • Increase the amount of rigorous coursework selected by students • Increase Advanced Placement test taking rates • Increase preparedness for post-secondary education • Increase college-going rates • Increase college graduation rates

10. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program Three Components • Policy Reform by Design • Colleagues for Success: Building High School Leadership Capacity • Commonwealth of Access: Transition, Readiness, and Access

11. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program Policy Reform by Design • Establish a P-16 Council • Conduct a research study on high-performing high schools • Conduct a study on the academic weaknesses of high school graduates • Convene a policy forum to present findings of the P-16 Council

12. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program Colleagues for Success: Building High School Leadership Capacity • Implement an administrative coaching program • Provide scholarships for training for Advanced Placement and dual enrollment teachers • Provide scholarships for teachers to be trained in the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM)

13. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program Colleagues for Success: Building High School Leadership Capacity(continued) • Provide funds to include targeted schools in the Mathematics-Science Partnerships (MSP) • Train selected mathematics and science teachers to assist students with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition

14. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program Commonwealth of Access: Transition, Readiness, and Access • Expand state programs supporting graduation and success in algebra • Conduct high school best practices and transition symposium • Provide high school transition grants

15. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program Commonwealth of Access: Transition, Readiness, and Access(continued) • Provide PSAT fee support and AP Potential • Implement the College Awareness Project

16. Participants in Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • 30 schools invited to participate based on a comprehensive review of data for all high schools in Virginia • A higher than average retention rate (state average was 12%) • Retention rates ranged from 61%-16% • Division and school graduation rate • Not more than two schools from a school division • Each of the superintendent’s regions was represented

17. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program

18. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program

19. Ninth Grade Retention Rates for Virginia

20. Honor Schools Data Baseline Data: -The participating division dropout rates ranged from 85.2 to 41.9. -The retention rates among the Honor Schools ranged from 16%-61%. In that same year, the state average was 12%.

21. Preliminary Results First year of the grant: • Average retention rate of the 30 high schools decreased by 8 percentage points (from 29% to 21%) • Range of Retention Rates: -23% - +29% • Mode Retention Rate: 12% • Median Retention Rate: 7% • Mean Retention Rate: 8.3%

22. Preliminary Results First year of the grant: -The retention rates among the Honor Schools ranged from 5%-62%. In that same year, the state’s average was 11%. -Eight schools reduced their retention rates, one school stayed the same, and 21 schools improved their retention rate.

23. Honor Schools’ Participation and Retention Rates

24. Data Points Considered for Statewide Tracking • 3rd and 8th grade students’ performance on various assessments • High school students rigorous course taking patterns • High school retention rates • High school graduation rates by subgroups

25. Data Points Being Tracked Statewide • 8th grade students’ performance on various assessments • High school students’ rigorous course taking patterns • Proxy indicators to determine college and workforce readiness • Graduation rates • Retention rates • State assessment results

26. Data Points Selected by the Honor Schools • Schools are also tracking their own data points congruent with the various strategies being implemented • Attendance rates (tardiness and daily attendance) • Suspension rates (long-term, short-term, and in-school suspension) • Improvement in reading program assessments • Improvements in study habits • Academic achievement in core subject areas • An increase in the number of students attending after-school tutoring, Saturday academies, and other remediation opportunities offered by the school

27. What do the transition programs look like? Tremendous variety, but there are some common elements

28. What do the transition programs look like? • Organization • Summer bridge and multi-day orientation programs • Physical separation from upper classmen (separate buildings, hallways, areas of the building, exclusively ninth grade classes, lunches, and activities, “house-style”) • School counselors assigned to only freshmen • Administrators assigned to only freshmen • Teachers planning together and collaborating on lesson plans, designing assessments, and identifying problems • Using date to drive instruction, practice, and strategic direction

29. What do the transition programs look like? • Extra help • Student advisories • Opportunities for remediation in extended day programs • Mentoring programs (with teachers and peers) • Opportunities to “catch-up” (after-school programs, Saturday academies) • Double blocking English and mathematics classes • Offering summer camps in reading and Algebra I for rising freshmen (ARI) • Not accepting failure as an option (giving students “incompletes”)

30. What do the transition programs look like? • Incentives • To increase daily attendance • To improve student behavior • For student achievement • To attend extended learning opportunities

31. What do the transition programs look like? • Special classes and instruction • Early intervention • Classes for credit for ninth grade students (organizational skills, social skills, and career exploration) • Veteran master teachers to teach ninth grade students • Smaller class sizes for courses for ninth grade students • Smaller learning communities • Intensive work in the area of literacy

32. What do the transition programs look like? • Communication • Giving teachers time to collaborate with each other • Regular contact with parents (for achievement as well as challenges) • Parent meetings

33. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program What do the principals say worked best in terms of improving student outcomes?

34. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • Teaming teachers and giving them time to collaborate • “The common planning time has helped us a great deal with student conduct and attendance. Attendance has significantly improved. Referrals for serious infractions has been reduced by half.”

35. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • Mentoring programs and investing time in building relationships with students • “Our students compete for spots in the mentoring program. Upperclassmen mentor our ninth graders and then ninth graders want to be mentors when they are juniors. There are so many kids who want to be mentors, I am on the phone explaining to parents why their kid wasn’t selected to be a mentor.”

36. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • Creating an academy separate from upper classmen • “The other students in my building want to know why they don’t have their own place for classes.” • “They have taken ownership of their space. Parents always know where to find their kids.” • “It makes them more focused.”

37. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • Focusing funding • “If you use your money wisely in your building, you will get results.” • Using data • “This is a piece we did a good job with. Our ninth grade teachers tailored a personal education plan for each student using data. We then personalized tutoring for each student.” • “Our failure rate has decreased substantially because of the way we use our data.”

38. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program What did principals and their faculties learn from their participation in the grant?

39. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • The importance of looking data and uncovering the problem • “We learned we had a problem with our ninth graders. I didn’t even know what my ninth grade retention rate was until we were invited to participate in this grant. Now I ask every high school principal I meet: do you know your ninth grade retention rate?”

40. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • The value of looking closely at the data to identify challenges and adjust instructional delivery • “It really exposed the disproportionate scores and performance of ninth graders and opened the eyes of central office staff-it got the attention of our superintendent.”

41. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • How to use the data from their feeder middle schools differently • “We looked at how they did in the 8th grade and hand scheduled students based on what the data indicated they needed. We used to let a computer do that.” • “We used 8th grade data to target remediation to the kids that needed it.” • “There is some difficulty in getting meaningful data from the middle school. There is a disconnect with the middle school data and placement. We have to work on that.”

42. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • The importance of using data to build a case for funding and additional assistance • “We looked at our data to identify what we needed to do and now we use the data we have collected to gain support for what we started here. Our superintendent believes in what we started here and he has committed to continue to fund our program after the grant ends. Not just at our school, but every high school in the division.” • “Our scores were dropping because of the numbers of kids in the classes. We used data to make a case for reducing class size-it worked. We got more FTEs.”

43. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program

44. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • What makes freshmen different and how to approach helping them • “These kids are truly making a transition and our teachers had to accept that transitions are difficult. They require extra attention and focused effort.”

45. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • How to find and leverage the community resources available to help students with the many issues they have that are not necessarily school-related, but impact their school performance • “We had to look outside our building to find every resource available to help these kids. It is easy to say, it is the parents’ fault or it’s their home life, but the truth is, if we are educators dedicated to helping students be successful, it’s our responsibility, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is.”

46. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • The value of a relationship with the feeder middle school(s) • “This forced us to do what we should have been doing all along, working with our middle school.” • “Our program would have been much more successful if we had been able to form a working relationship with our middle school.” • “We say these kids are not ready for high school, but if we don’t tell the middle school how to make them ready, how can they help us help the kids?”

47. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • Feeder middle school relationshipcontinued • “The middle school looked at our effort to form a partnership as a means to collect information to blame them for the students’ unpreparedness. It wasn’t that. We just wanted all the information so that we could help them in high school. We have to find some way to overcome their reluctance.” • “We endeavored to work with our middle school and they bought into it. We traded assistant principals for two weeks and boy was that an eye-opener for us and for them. It was great!”

48. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • The value of emphasizing literacy across the curriculum • “We have a reading problem. It’s that simple. Just admitting that in my county was huge.” • “Reading has become a strong point at our school. Our world history and earth science scores have gone up.” • “80 percent of our kids improved their reading by two grade levels last year because we poured a lot of our resources into reading.”

49. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • The value of remediation, re-teaching, and recovery • “I can’t say remediation is mandatory in my division, but for my kids, at my school, it just is. We feed them, we call their parents, we make home visits, we send home letters and they come, but I am convinced that the effort is demonstrative of the fact that we care and they see that. We want them there and they benefit from coming.” • “The thing that worked best? Unquestionably, tutoring.”

50. Virginia’s Honor States Grant Program • The value of putting the best teachers in classrooms where ninth graders are taught • “I enticed them with technology. It worked.” • “We showed them the data and built a bandwagon and people wanted to be part of it.” • “You have to get your best teachers teaching double-blocked classes.” • “Our strongest teachers are working with out most needy students.”