We just missed the school bus. \ Don’t worry. I heard the principal say

1. Leadership InstituteAddressing Barriers to Learning & Teaching and Re-engaging Disconnected Students UCLA

2. We just missed the school bus. \ Don’t worry. I heard the principal say \ no child will be left behind. / UCLA

3. In the accompanying handouts we have included more than we cover in the power point slides. Our hope is that you will look the handouts over when you have time. Feel free to use any handout as is or by adapting them. UCLA

4. Topics to be Covered I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement? II. What is a System of Learning Supports? Rethinking Intervention III. What is a System of Learning Supports? (cont.) Reworking Infrastructure UCLA

5. Topics IV. Intrinsic Motivation: Engaging and Re-engaging Students, Families, & Staff V. What’s involved in Getting From Here to There VI. Planning Next Steps UCLA

6. I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperativefor School Improvement? UCLA

7. <><><><><><><><><> The current focus of school improvement policy and practice is too limited to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed at school. <><><><><><><><><> UCLA

8. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates UCLA

9. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates UCLA

10. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap UCLA

11. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap • So Many Schools Designated as Low Performing UCLA

12. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap • So Many Schools Designated as Low Performing • High Stakes Testing Taking its Toll on Students UCLA

13. The limited focus contributes to: • High Student Dropout Rates • High Teacher Dropout Rates • Continuing Achievement Gap • So Many Schools Designated as Low Performing • High Stakes Testing Taking its Toll on Students • Plateau Effect UCLA

14. Some of the data: The dropout rate for our nation remains unacceptably high. In 2006, the Education Trust reported that nearly 25 percent of the ninth grade population will not end up graduating from high school. UCLA

15. Some of the data: Take reading levels as an example. Despite reports of small recent gains, most American students, across grade levels, are reading at the most basic levels and “only about 30 percent of high school students read proficiently and more than a quarter read below grade level.” UCLA

16. Data from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) clearly shows the plateau effect related to academic achievement. UCLA

18. Three Lenses for Viewing School Improvement Efforts UCLA

19. Lens #1 = All Students Not some -- ALL youngsters are to have an equal opportunity to succeed at school UCLA

20. Lens #1 = ALL Students Range of Learners Motivationally ready and able Not very motivated/ lacking prerequisite skills/ different rates & styles/ minor vulnerabilities Avoidant/ very deficient in capabilities

21. Lens #2 = Barriers to Learning and School Improvement Range of Learners Instructional Component Classroom Teaching + Enrichment Activity I = Motivationally ready and able Not very motivated/ lacking prerequisite II = skills/ different rates & styles/ minor vulnerabilities III = Avoidant/ very deficient in capabilities No barriers Desired Outcomes (High Expectations & Accountability) Barriers To Learning, Development, Teaching (High Standards) UCLA

22. Appreciating the Full Range of Barriers to Learning and School Improvement – For most students, it’s more about • Environmental Conditions • Neighborhood • Family • School and Peers than about • Individual deficits And, of course, a holistic approach emphasizes >Protective Buffers (strengths, resiliency) >Promoting Full Development

23. Examples of EnvironmentalConditions • extreme economic deprivation • community disorganization, including high levels of mobility • violence, drugs, etc. • minority and/or immigrant status UCLA

24. Examples of Family Conditions • chronic poverty • conflict/disruptions/violence • substance abuse • models problem behavior • abusive caretaking • inadequate provision for quality child care UCLA

25. Examples of School & Peer Conditions • poor quality school • negative encounters with teachers • negative encounters with peers • inappropriate peer models UCLA

26. Examples of Individual Conditions • medical problems • low birth weight/neurodevelopmental delay • psychophysiological problems • difficult temperament & adjustment problems • inadequate nutrition UCLA

27. Caution: Don’t let anyone misinterpret the term >Barriers to learning It encompasses much more than a deficit model of students. UCLA

28. And, it is part of a holistic approach that emphasizes the importance of >Protective Buffers (e.g., strengths, assets, resiliency, accommodations) & >Promoting Full Development UCLA

29. Lens # 3 = Engagement & Disengagement Source of Motivation Extrinsics Intrinsics Intrinsics/ Extrinsics Engagement Intervention Concerns Disengagement (psychological reactance) Avoiding Over-reliance on Extrinsics, Maximizing Intrinsic Motivation, Minimizing Behavioral Control Strategies UCLA

30. Engaging & Re-engaging Students in Classroom Learning It’s time to pay greater attention to how schools >maximize Intrinsic Motivation >minimize Behavior Control Strategies >re-engage Disconnected Students >sustain Teacher Motivation UCLA

31. Motivation, and especially Intrinsic Motivation are fundamental intervention concerns related to student (and staff) problems UCLA

32. First Concern – Enhancing understanding of intrinsic motivation as related to academic achievement and the achievement gap • Second Concern – Reducing overemphasis on behavior/social control & enhancing appreciation of the impact of psychological reactance • Third Concern – Re-engaging students who have become actively disengaged from classroom instruction • Fourth Concern – Teacher motivation UCLA

33. <><><><><><><><><><><> From the perspective provided by these three lenses, schools need to revisit their school improvement plans with an eye to what’s missing. <><><><><><><><><><><> UCLA

34. Brief Activity • Think about how your school improvement plan addresses students who do not come to school motivated and ready to learn. • Using the three lenses, jot down what’s being done to: (1) Address barriers to learning (2) Re-engage disconnected students

35. I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement? (cont.) School Improvement Planning: What’s Being Done & What’s Missing? UCLA

36. What we see around the country Psychological Testing Clinic After-School Programs HIV/Aids Prevention Pupil Services Health Services Violence & Crime Prevention Talk about fragmented!!! Physical Education Special Education Health Education Nutrition Education Juvenile Court Services District School Lunch Program Community-Based Organizations Drug Prevention Counseling Mental Health Services Drug Services Social Services Pregnancy Prevention Codes of Discipline Smoking Cessation For Staff HIV/AIDS Services Child Protective Services UCLA

37. Why the fragmentation? Current situation at all levels in the educational system with respect to student/learning supports is that the efforts are Marginalized in school improvement policy and practice • Fragmentation is one result and isn’t solved by focusing solely on improving coordination • Poor cost-effectiveness is another result (up to 25% of a school budget used in too limited and often redundant ways) • So is counterproductive competition for sparse resources (among school support staff and with community-based professionals who link with schools)

38. Whythe Marginalization? How school improvement planning addresses barriers to learning and teaching Direct Facilitation of Learning & Development Safe schools & Some Student & FamilyAssistance Besides offering a small amount of school-owned student "support” services, schools outreach to the community to add a few school-based / linked services. Instructional / Developmental Component Management Component Governance and Resource Management

39. Clearly, there are some supports; what’s missing is a dedicated, unified, and comprehensive component focused on: (1) addressing barriers to learning and teaching AND (2) re-engaging students who have become disconnected from classroom instruction

40. The missing component becomes evident when school improvement plans are analyzed with respect to what is planned for those students who do not come to school every day motivated and ready to learn.

41. The need is to move from the prevailing two-component framework to a three-component framework in order to develop a Comprehensive System of Learning Supports Direct Facilitation of Learning & Development Addressing Barriers to Learning Instructional/ Developmental Component Learning Supports Component Management Component Governance and Resource Management

42. Unifying Policy & Practice for Addressing Barriers to Learning Addressing Barriers to Learning/Teaching (Enabling or Learning Supports Component) Direct Facilitation of Learning (Instructional Component) Examples of Initiatives, programs and services that belong under the umbrella >positive behavioral supports >programs for safe and drug free schools >bi-lingual, cultural, and other diversity programs >compensatory education programs >family engagement programs >special education programs >mandates stemming from the No Child Left Behind Act & other federal programs Governance and Resource Management (Management Component) UCLA

43. Activity: Discuss what you think teachers at your school would answer if asked what proportion of their students show up each day motivationally ready and able to do what the teacher has planned to teach that day. Why are so many students not motivationally ready and able? After your discussion, enjoy a break.

44. With all the budget problems, We have to do everything on a shoestring. \ Are you saying you \ still have a shoestring? / UCLA

45. What’s the community doing? UCLA

46. AGENCY REFORM Restructuring and Reforming Community Health and Human Services UCLA

47. The intent of current agency reform policy – >end fragmentation >enhance access to clientele The focus – >interagency collaboration >school-linked services, sometimes based (co-located) at a school UCLA

48. Problems – >doesn’t integrate with school’s efforts to address barriers to learning >limits the focus to current agency work As a result, current agency policy produces – >an additional form of fragmentation >counterproductive competition >greater marginalization UCLA

49. It is important to remember that Community Agency Reform is not the same thing as Strengthening Communities UCLA

50. • The major intent of agency reform is to restructure services to reduce fragmentation. UCLA