Creating an ISD & District Level Infrastructure to Promote Sustainability

1. Creating an ISD & District Level Infrastructure to Promote Sustainability Mary Bechtel Kim St. Martin

2. Rationale • There is a discrepancy between schools who are implementing with fidelity and those who are not. • Schools agreed to implement but were not fully aware of what they were getting themselves into and unclear as to the roles and responsibilities of team and building staff. • Selective abandonment is happening by building level leadership. • If the district supports the initiative, why are stakeholders selectively abandoning?

3. Rationale • ISD Coaches are serving multiple roles at all levels. • “Missing link” is the lack of relationship building with central office staff who hold the vision for the district and have the power to maintain focus. • So if that is the case, how does an ISD build capacity and provide support at the district level?

4. Purpose • Develop a sustainable ISD level infrastructure. • Develop a sustainable district level structure to support sustainability • Provide support to building level coaches and district coaches to improve district capacity. • Promote sustainability of academic and behavioral data, systems and practices.

5. Building Capacity: One Layer at a Time • MiBLSi Regional Coordinator • Provides technical assistance to schools needing additional support (principal assistance, leadership team assistance, teacher/staff assistance) • The triangle can also be applied to schools (green, yellow, and red zones) • Develops the coaching capacity at the ISD level • Provides initial contact with central office staff by discussing the level of support they will receive from their local ISD

6. ISD Coaches: 2nd Layer • Goal: Great coaches find ways to work themselves of a job! • Roles and Responsibilities: • Builds relationships • Initial member of District Level Leadership PLC • Accurately identifies needs of schools and links them to the appropriate resources • Facilitator • Advocate for schools and the district as a whole • Provides training to schools/district

7. ISD Coaches: Building Capacity • ISD Coaches meet on a monthly basis with Regional Coordinator. • Meeting focus: • Skill development • Case presentation • Consistency in coaching technique • Coordination of evaluation efforts • Identification of school/district needs for professional development support as identified and discussed at District Leadership PLC

8. District Leadership Team • Mission: To develop a sustainable district-level “Response to Intervention” infrastructure that will improve student achievement and behavior by building capacity among all staff in the district.

9. Uniqueness of District Leadership Teams • Although this presentation is providing a model for a District Leadership Team, each school district is comprised of their own set of needs. This model must be adapted to fit large, medium, and small school districts. It must be adapted to fit urban, suburban, and rural school districts. One size does NOT fit all!

10. Goals • To develop common, agreed-upon district outcomes • Review school-wide formative academic/behavior related data from schools to ensure the implementation of effective academic and behavioral systems and practices • To allow district leadership the opportunity to participate in a data-driven PLC

11. Goals • To develop coaching capacity through skill development and training in order to prepare coaches to meet building and district needs. • To actively coordinate implementation efforts • To create an organizational umbrella composed of adequate funding, broad visibility, and consistent political support • To develop a foundation for sustained and broad-scale implementation with the assistance of coaching support

12. Suggested Participants • Central office staff (superintendent and/or assistant superintendent) • Building principals • District level behavior coach • District level literacy coach • ISD/RESA level coach • Transportation supervisor • Business Manager

13. Other Participants • Depending on the size and demographics of the school district, other representation may include: • Safe and Drug Free Schools • School Psychology and Counseling • Title or other related initiatives • Student Health • Parents and Family Members • Students • School-wide Discipline • Character Education • Alternate Programming • Data or Informed Management • Multiculturalism and Affirmative Action (www.pbis.org)

14. Roles and Responsibilities • Chairperson: works with team to prepare agenda and facilitates meeting • Recorder: • Records minutes and decisions that take place during meetings. • Collaborates with chairperson to integrate the information gathered into an action plan following every meeting. • Promptly disseminates minutes to all team members

15. Roles and Responsibilities • Central Office: • Identifies PBS and improving student achievement as high priority • Collaborates with members to establish an action plan • Secures funding to sustain efforts • Identifies key individuals to promote

16. Roles and Responsibilities • Principals & District Academic and Behavioral Coaches: • brings building level action plans and relevant data to meetings. • Comes prepared to present on progress in completing action plans. • Comes prepared to share strengths and needs related to systems, data, practices.

17. Roles and Responsibilities • ISD Coaches: • Models the process for facilitating District Level PLC • Models the use of data tools and supporting documents and their role in the process of decision making • Maintains a “pulse” on buildings needs and district level needs • Ensures the communication loop is flowing between building level leadership team, district level team, ISD, and state level decision makers.

18. Example Agenda • Purpose of a District Leadership Team: Academics & Behavior • To develop a sustainable district-level MiBLSi infrastructure that will improve student literacy and behavior by building capacity among all staff in the district. • -- Handout • Roles & Responsibilities of District Leadership Team Members • -- Handout • Outcomes, Data, Systems, Practices • -- Distribute District & School Organizational Binders • 4. Structure of Support through MiBLSi • 5. Behavioral Foundations • Review of Majors & Minors (definitions from each school) • Do you have written definitions of majors and minors that align with SWIS? • Have you reviewed these definitions with staff? Are staff in agreement with the definitions? • Do your referrals indicate alignment with the definitions? • Review of Classroom versus Office Managed Behaviors (definitions from each school) • Do you have written definitions of classroom versus office managed behaviors? • Have you reviewed these definitions with staff? Are staff in agreement with the definitions? • Do your referrals and practices indicate alignment with the definitions? • Do your staff feel they have the tools and support they need to effectively handle classroom managed behaviors? • Review of General Procedures for Managing Problem Behaviors • Do you have a written description/flowchart of your general procedures for managing problem behaviors? • Have you reviewed this description/flowchart with staff? Are staff in agreement with the description? • Do your referrals and practices indicate alignment with the description? • - Handout: SWIS Readiness Document • Review of SWIS data • Other • Action Planning • Next Meeting

19. Building Level Leadership Team • Mission: To develop a sustainable building-level “Response to Intervention” infrastructure that will improve student achievement and behavior by building capacity among all staff in the school.

20. Interrelationship Between Building and District Level Teams • The district level leadership team should be responding to needs from the building level leadership teams. • Principal, building level coaches, and initially ISD coach are the common threads between the two groups. • This is not a duplication of efforts. The district level team has the right people at the table with the power to allocate funds, time, energy, and most important…focus!

21. Accurately Identifying Needs at All Levels • Behavior evaluation tools used to identify school and district level needs: • Benchmarks of Quality (B.O.Q.): • The B.O.Q. is “used by teams to identify areas of success, areas for improvement” in implementing a school-wide PBS model (www.PBIS.org/tools.htm) • Schools must present documentation to support attainment of benchmarks. The documents not only serve to assist in rating a school in a particular benchmark, but they are beneficial to gather in a central location (district binder) in order to promote sustainability.

22. Accurately Identifying Needs at All Levels • Checklist for Individual Student Systems (C.I.S.S.) • “The C.I.S.S. is designed for school teams to self-assess the implementation status of secondary (targeted) and tertiary (intensive) behavior support systems within their school. (Todd, Lewis-Palmer, Horner, Sugai, & Sampson, 2007) • Schoolwide Evaluation Tool (SET) • “The SET is a research-validated instrument that is designed to assess and evaluate the critical features of school-wide effective behavior support across an academic school year.” (Todd, Lewis-Palmer, Horner, Sugai, Sampson, & Philips, 2003)

23. Accurately Identifying Needs at All Levels • Reading evaluation tools used to identify school and district level needs: • PET-R (elementary schools), SWEPT (middle schools) • MiBLSi Reading Team Implementation Checklist

24. Coordination of Evaluation Efforts • ISD Coaches work with individual schools to coordinate evaluations (BOQ, CISS, SET) • Process: • Coaches are given “Coaches Assessment Folder” & “School Assessment Folders” • Schedule an appointment to meet with schools individually to review the evaluation tools, documentation necessary, and evaluation process • Timeline: all evaluations completed by April

25. Evaluation Considerations • The documentation needed for the BOQ may be overwhelming to teams. • The positive relationships you have established with your schools will help ease their concerns. • Stress the evaluation tools provide formative assessment data. It is not about getting a “gold star.” • All of the information must focus conversations at the building level leadership PLC and the district level leadership PLC

26. Conclusion • Everything we do for schools should translate into improved outcomes for our children. • Evaluating data, systems, and practices from both behavioral and academic vantage points provides a focus to building level and district level teams. • Remember the goal: to create fully functioning districts who can continue even without our support. • This is a work in progress….stay tuned!