Incentives / Capacity / Opportunity

1. Statewide Systems of Support And School Turnarounds Incentives / Capacity / Opportunity

2. Definition of Statewide System of Support An effective statewide system of support offers incentives, builds capacity, and provides opportunity for the people in districts and schools so that they might continuously improve the performance of their coordinated roles toward the end of all students meeting or exceeding learning standards.

3. The Big Picture • ESEA defines statewide systems of support, but we propose that definition should be the floor not the ceiling of state’s role in improving schools. • State boards, legislatures, and governors can create incentives and opportunities. • State departments of education are primarily charged with building systemic and local capacity, but they can also create incentives and opportunities. • Besides technical capacity, a key role for SEA should be to establish “reform press;” a strong sense of urgency that change must occur.

4. The Big Picture • Strategic approach may require state-level policy changes and advocacy and a reconsideration of the “givens” (e.g., state laws and policies, and distribution of human capital). • Efforts to improve schools should be driven by school and district needs (diagnosis of operations and performance) rather than expediency given existing structures/systems. • Critical goal is to implement systems that move beyond existing SEA/LEA improvement efforts and serve as a catalyst for meaningful change that alters the educational opportunities for children in low-performing schools. • Strengthening the SSOS requires full description and assessment of current system and careful planning for change.

5. ESEA and Statewide Systems of Support

6. ESEA and Statewide Systems of Support ESEA requires that SEAs provide technical assistance to schools identified as in need of improvement • Reserve and allocate Title 1, Part A funds (4% in 2007) for school improvement activities • Create and sustain a statewide system of support that provides technical assistance to schools (LEA and School Improvement: Non-Regulatory Guidance, Revised 7/21/06)

7. ESEA and Support Priorities Technical Assistance Priorities (i.e., triage approach) • LEAs in corrective action and schools for which LEA has not fulfilled responsibilities related to corrective action • LEAs identified as in need of improvement • Title I LEAs and schools that need support and assistance

8. ESEA-Prescribed Components of SSOS • Create school support teams: Teams work in schools throughout the state and SEA must provide adequate support for teams to be effective • Designate and engage distinguished teachers and principals:Select successful professionals from existing Title I schools that have a track record of success • Develop additional TA approaches:Draw on external resources (e.g., colleges/universities, education service agencies, private providers of proven TA, and USDOE funded comprehensive centers and regional education laboratories) to assist districts

9. The System of Support and the State Education Agency

10. The Statewide System of Support • Operates within the functions of the SEA • Includes partners outside the SEA • Supports the improvement of the functions of the district and school

11. A Big Change for the State “This transition in the state role from oversight to capacity building requires states to redesign existing support systems or create new ways to ensure that districts and schools have the resources needed to bring all students to proficiency” (CCSSO Policy Brief 9-06).

12. Compliance Model Funding Streams Rules and Regulations Compliance Monitoring State District School Teacher Student

13. Support Model Student Parents Community Teacher School District State

14. Functions of the SEA • provide information • set standards • distribute resources • monitor compliance • assist with improvement • intervene to correct deficiencies

15. SEA Functions, Processes, and Supports Shaded Areas Represent Statewide System of Support Degree of Shading Symbolizes Intensity and Duration of Support

16. The Framework

17. The SSOS Framework • Incentives • Capacity • Opportunity • And Evaluate the Process and Results

18. Providing Incentives for Change • Public disclosure: standards, accountability and information about results • Negative incentives: consequences of low school performance • Positive incentives: contingent funding, reward, autonomy, and recognition • Market-oriented incentives: changing the “market” structure of public schooling

19. Building Capacity for Change Building Capacity at Two Levels • Systemic Capacity (the State system of education) • Create and disseminate knowledge • Enhance supply of personnel equipped for improvement • Provide strong data system to support improvement • Local Capacity (the district and school) • Coordinate SSOS services, components, personnel • Differentiate support to districts and schools • Deliver services to districts and schools (provide and allocate resources for support)

20. Providing Opportunity for Change The State provides opportunity for improvement by – • Removing barriers to innovation and improvement • Waivers • Exemptions • Alternate routes to certification • Creating new space for schools to innovate • Charter schools • Pilot schools, lighthouse schools, demonstrations • Schools within a School

21. Evaluation • Goals, objectives, benchmarks • Monitor and report progress • Evaluate and improve the system

22. Theory of Action

23. Interplay of the Framework Components

24. How? People • Provide Incentives • Build Capacity • Provide Opportunity Differentiate Coordinated Services to Meet Assessed Needs Assess – Plan – Implement – Monitor • Leadership and Decision Making • Curriculum and Instruction • Human Capital (Personnel) • Student Support Functions

25. District and School Functions

26. Assignment Millard Fillmore School Scores on State Assessment Year 1 Year 4 Year 7 Year 9 Year 12 What happened about Year 7? List 3 actions that most contributed to Millard Fillmore’s improvement. Change of principals doesn’t count.

27. Actions That Changed In functions of district or school Leadership and Decision Making • Allocation of resources to address learning goals • Decision-making structures and processes • Information and data systems Curriculum and Instruction • Alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to standards • Curriculum - content • Formative and periodic assessment of student learning • Instructional delivery (teaching and classroom management) • Instructional planning by teachers • Instructional time and scheduling Human Capital (Personnel) • Personnel Policies and Procedures (hiring, placing, evaluating, promoting, retaining, re-assigning, replacing) • Professional development processes and procedures • Performance Incentives for Personnel Student Support • Programs and services for English Language Learners • Extended learning time (supplemental educational services, after-school programs, summer school, for example) • Parental involvement, communication, and options • Special education programs and procedures • Student support services (tutoring, counseling, placement, for example)

28. Building Local CapacityAssess (Diagnose)-Plan-Implement-Monitor Point of Impact = Functional Components (Systems) of School Leadership and Decision Making • Allocation of resources to address learning goals • Decision-making structures and processes • Information and data systems Curriculum and Instruction • Alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to standards • Curriculum - content • Formative and periodic assessment of student learning • Instructional delivery (teaching and classroom management) • Instructional planning by teachers • Instructional time and scheduling Human Capital (Personnel) • Personnel Policies and Procedures (hiring, placing, evaluating, promoting, retaining, re-assigning, replacing) • Professional development processes and procedures • Performance Incentives for Personnel Student Support • Programs and services for English Language Learners • Extended learning time (supplemental educational services, after-school programs, summer school, for example) • Parental involvement, communication, and options • Special education programs and procedures • Student support services (tutoring, counseling, placement, for example)

29. Guideposts for effective practice Plain language, behavioral indicators Aligned with research base Drivers of planning and improvement Necessary in a Culture of Candor Indicators of Effective Practice

30. Strengthening the Statewide System of SupportTechnical Assistance from CII and RCCs • Improving a system must include an analysis of the system as a whole, its subsystems, their parts, and the way in which all function in an efficient and coordinated fashion to achieve the system’s goals. • Analyzing and improving a system begins with an appraisal of the system as it currently exists, but must also include a consideration of what it could be.

31. Strengthening the Statewide System of Support • State Case Studies by CII • Alabama • Kentucky • Ohio • Pennsylvania • Tennessee • Washington • Self-Assessment Facilitated by Regional Comprehensive Center • Alaska (Alaska CC) • Arkansas (MC3) • Delaware (MACC) • Idaho (Northwest CC) • Illinois (Great Lakes West) • Mississippi (Southeast CC) • New Hampshire (New England CC) • North Dakota (North Central CC) • South Dakota (North Central CC) • Beginning in Fall of 2009 • Arizona (Southwest CC) • Nebraska (North Central CC) • CII-RCC Intensive Consultation • Michigan (Great Lakes East) • Missouri (MC3) • Puerto Rico (FLICC) • New York (New York CC) • PREL CC in Pacific Region

32. School Turnarounds

33. Business Concept – in business turnarounds and bankruptcy NCLB Restructuring (change in governance) 1. State Take-Over 2. Turnaround – usually change in leadership and other change Fresh Starts 3. Reopen as Charter School 4. Contract to an Education Management Organization (EMO) 5. Other (96%) Restructuring

34. President Obama – Turnaround 5,000 schools 1,000 a year for 5 years 5% of all schools Secretary Duncan – 4 Ways to Turn Schools Around Kids Stay, Adults Go Replace staff and leadership and reopen as Charter School or contract to EMO Keep most staff, dramatically change culture Close the school—send students to better schools Turnaround – Evolving Definition

35. “America needs to find 5000 high-energy, hero principals to take over these struggling schools – and they will need a quarter of a million great teachers who are willing to do the toughest work in public education. We will find them in the union ranks and the charter community, the business world and the non-profit sectors. We won't find them overnight. I don't expect a thousand to show up next fall. We can start with one or two hundred in the fall of 2010 and steadily build until we are doing 1000 per year.” Secretary Duncan on Principals

36. Replace some staff and dramatically change culture Especially for rural schools What changes? Establish a rigorous performance evaluation system along with more support, training and mentoring. Change and strengthen the curriculum and instructional program. Increase learning time for kids during afternoons, weekends, and in the summer -- and provide more time for teachers to collaborate, plan and strategize. Principals and leadership teams must be given more flexibility around budgeting, staffing and calendar. Secretary Duncan on Option 3

38. Questions • Have some low-performing schools turned around? • Do we understand why they turned around? • Can the turnaround variables be reduced to a set of practical steps? • Can we apply this set of practical steps to intentionally turn a school around? • Which schools, under what conditions?

39. Terminology • Effective School • Beat-the-Odds School • Reconstitution • Restructuring • Turnaround • Fresh Start • Continuous Improvement Trajectory • Rapid Improvement Trajectory

40. The IES Turnaround Report • Institute of Education Sciences • Released in May 2008 • Panel and staff worked for almost a year prior • Goal: formulate specific and coherent evidence-based recommendations for use by educators aiming to quickly and dramatically improve student achievement in low-performing schools.

41. IES Definition of Turnaround • School began as chronically poor performers—with a high proportion of their students failing to meet state standards of proficiency in mathematics or reading over two or more consecutive years. • School showed substantial gains in student achievement in a short time (no more than three years). Examples: • reducing by at least 10 percentage points the proportion of students failing to meet state standards for proficiency in mathematics or reading • showing similarly large improvements in other measures of academic performance (such as lowering the dropout rate by 10 percentage points or more), or improving overall performance on standardized mathematics or reading tests by an average of 10 percentage points (or about 0.25 standard deviations).

42. 4 Recommendations • Signal the need for dramatic change with strong leadership. • Maintain a consistent focus on improving instruction. • Make visible improvements early in the school turnaround process (quick wins). • Build a committed staff.

43. Turnaround: Evidence and Actionsfrom CII Evidence Review Cross-Sector Evidence • Environmental Context • Timetable—Planning, Implementing, Sustaining • Freedom to Act • Support and Aligned Systems • Performance Monitoring • Community Engagement • Turnaround Leadership • Leader Actions • Leader Capabilities

44. Leader Actions: Initial Analysis and Problem Solving • Collect & Analyze Data • Make Action Plan Based on Data

45. Leader Actions:Driving for Results • Concentrate on Big, Fast Payoffs in Year One • Implement Practices Even if Require Deviation • Require All Staff to Change • Make Necessary Staff Replacements • Focus on Successful Tactics; Halt Others • Do Not Tout Progress as Ultimate Success

46. Leader Actions:Influencing Inside and Outside the Organization • Communicate a Positive Vision • Help Staff Personally Feel Problems • Gain Support of Key Influencers • Silence Critics with Speedy Success

47. Leader Actions:Measuring, Reporting (and Improving) • Measure and Report Progress Frequently • Require all Decision Makers to Share Data and Problem Solve

49. Turnaround, Terminate, or Reinvent? • Turnaround vs. Fresh Start • Closing schools – to reopen, or forever? • Toxic communities • Reinvent schooling? • What would it look like?

50. Questions • Do you know of schools that have turned around? • Do you know why they turned around? • Could you apply these same practices to turn around another school? • When is a school a candidate for turnaround? • If you doubt a turnaround will succeed, then what? • What harm results from failed turnaround attempts?