Report on the Virginia Early Warning System (VEWS) Education Commission of the States

1. Report on the Virginia Early Warning System (VEWS) Education Commission of the States June 27, 2013 Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

2. Early Warning Systems Early warning systems (EWS) rely on readily available data housed at the school to: • Predict which students are at-risk for dropping out or failing • Target resources to support off-track students while they are still in school, before they drop out • Examine patterns and identify school climate issues Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

3. Ninth Grade is a Critical Year • Ninth grade is a “make-or-break year” • More students drop out in ninth grade than any other high school grade • A disproportionate number of students who are held back in ninth grade subsequently drop out • Monitoring students’ progress throughout ninth grade—and even during the first semester—provides powerful indicators that can predict whether students will complete high school Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

4. Key Indicators Engagement • Attendance/absenteeism Course Performance • Course grades • Number of credits earned End-of-Year Indicator • Core course performance and accumulated credits Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

5. “High-Yield” Academic Indicators: Attendance • Additional schoolwide interventions per 500 students in a Title I school: $179,000 • Includes the purchase of supplemental reading and mathematics programs, programs for English Language Learners (ELLs), and professional development • (Title I Priority schools could receive up to $750,000) Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

6. “High-Yield” Academic Indicators: Course Failures Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

7. “High-Yield” Academic Indicators: GPA • In the second year of warning, a contractor is assigned to the school and VDOE Office of School Improvement staff members assist and monitor the school. The contractor and OSI staff members review the school improvement plan and data provided by the school to determine what is working and what needs to be changed. Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

8. “High Yield” Ninth Grade Indicators Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

9. Virginia Data – Class of 2012 http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/graduation_completion/cohort_reports/index.shtml Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

10. Standards of Accreditation • Modifications to Virginia accreditation calculations that included the Graduation and Completion Index (GCI) were approved by the Virginia Board of Education in February of 2009 • New accreditation requirements were implemented with the graduating cohort of 2011 • Graduation and Completion Index scores were factored into accreditation ratings for every school with a graduating class beginning with the 2011-2012 school year http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/accreditation/index.shtml Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

11. Graduation and Completion Index (GCI) Point Values Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

12. VEWS Tool Features Select schools, the National High School Center, the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center, and Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) conceptualized the current VEWS Tool. This version allows users to: • Import data from the state and school divisions’ database • Accommodate local contextual factors for high schools (e.g., semesters vs. trimesters vs. quarters) • Align with the Virginia pre-high school index • Modify the benchmarks/thresholds based on analysis of longitudinal data (i.e., indicator validation) Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

13. VEWS Tool Features Features (Continued): • Integrate behavioral indicators (referrals and suspensions) • House an inventory of dropout prevention interventions • Assign students to intervention programs and monitor student response and progress in the interventions over the course of the school year • Create pre-set school-level summary reports, detailed student-level reports, and individual student reports • Create customized student-level reports Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

14. Risk Indicators in the VEWS Tool Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

15. 7-Step EWS Implementation Process • Step One: Establish the school EWS team, assign roles, and communicate responsibilities of the team in improving the graduation rate at the school • Step Two: Import data into the EWS tool (at a minimum, prior to the beginning of the ninth-grade year and at the end of each marking period) • Step Three: Frequently review and monitor data to identify students at risk for failing or dropping out and to understand patterns in student engagement and academic performance Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

16. 7-Step EWS Implementation Process(Continued) • Step Four: Look beyond the indicators to identify root causes for student disengagement with school and academic failure • Step Five: Assign and provide interventions to address students’ identified needs • Step Six: Use data to monitor the progress of students who are participating in interventions to make midcourse corrections, add new interventions, or discontinue interventions as needed • Step Seven: Develop, implement, and monitor the school improvement plan Virginia Department of Education June 27, 2013

17. School Improvement Planning Requirements for Warned Schools • The school uses the Eight Elements of High School Improvement: A Mapping Framework available at the National High School Center’s Web site to develop the school improvement plan. http://www.betterhighschools.org/pubs/documents/EightElementsMappingFramework.pdf Virginia Department of Education

18. School Improvement Planning Requirements for Warned Schools(Continued) The improvement plan includes the following: • Specific measures for achieving and documenting student academic improvement • Instructional practices designed to remediate students who have not been successful on Standards of Learning tests • Intervention strategies designed to prevent further declines in student performance and graduation rates Virginia Department of Education

19. School Improvement PlanningRequirements for Warned Schools (Continued) • Specific intervention strategies, as follows: • TA01: The school uses an identification process for all students at risk of failing or in need of targeted interventions. • TA02: The school uses a tiered, differentiated intervention process to assign research-based interventions aligned with the individual needs of identified students. • TA03: The school uses a monitoring process for targeted intervention students to ensure fidelity and effectiveness. Virginia Department of Education

20. VEWS – Risk Status Screenshot Virginia Department of Education

21. DataCation – Performance Report Screenshot Virginia Department of Education

22. Contact Information • Dr. Kathleen Smith • Director, Office of School Improvement • Virginia Department of Education • (804) 786-5819 • Kathleen.Smith@doe.virginia.gov Virginia Department of Education