Short cycles of inquiry for long-term success

1. Short cycles of inquiry for long-term success

2. Background • Who are we? • Lihi Rosenthal is the Director of School Development for Seneca Center’s Educational Programs • Kari O’Connor is the Principal of Seneca’s John C. Fremont Pathfinder Academy • Seneca Center is an agency that has been serving some of the bay area’s most emotionally troubled youth and their families for the last 25 years

3. Background • Residential services • Foster care programs • 24-hour crisis stabilization services • Community-based therapy and behavioral coaching • Alternatives to the juvenile justice system • Wraparound care • Training institute • School programs

4. Background • 100% of students have IEPs recommending placement in a nonpublic school; • Most students have been placed in upwards of 10 school placements prior to coming to us; • Students commute to school from various districts by school bus; • At least 80% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch; • Disproportionate numbers of boys and of students of color; • At least 30% of students qualify as foster youth; • Over 50% of students turn over during the course of any one year!

5. Background Fall 2009 MAP Testing Data More than 90% of students are in the lowest 25th percentile Math Reading

6. Uh oh. • If we say we want to provide unconditional care, how can we run schools whose graduates are unprepared for the workforce or successful further education? • Are we caring our students to… • School failure? • Joblessness? • Prison? • Recidivism?

7. Mobilizing the troops • Research tells us that successful school change efforts rest on several key factors. Chief among these is a shared vision.

8. Our vision • To allow all students to experience school success after years of failure; • To provide students with agency and choice later in life; • To develop lifelong advocates, community builders, problem solvers and communicators; • To be a place where VISION meets ACTION. WASC Focus on Learning Manual, 2007

9. Fixing the hole where the rain comes in • There are two ways to fill a leaking bucket. Keep adding water or plug the darn hole.

10. Plugging the hole: short cycles of inquiry • Research shows that, oftentimes, big sweeping reforms don’t lead to long-lasting changes in student outcomes. Why? • Schools are complex, ever-changing, micro-political climates (aka – hot messes); • Teacher retention in low-performing schools is often low; • New reforms undo much of the work that has been done and don’t recognize existing assets; • Reforms often rest on the personalities and developed trust of certain individuals.

11. Plugging the hole: short cycles of inquiry • The COI approach is different because it relies on: • Building capacity of every individual in the building; • Reflecting on what is working and what is not; • Learning and practicing new habits of mind; • Going slow to go fast – “The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself.” Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance

12. Supporting research • Fullan and Osterman & Kottkamp – Change theory in schools • “Problems are our friends.” • Cuban – Incremental change • “Why is it we never have time to do things right but time to do them over?” • Schmoker and Copland – Short cycles of inquiry and change theory in schools • “Instead of trying to ‘reform’ a school or system, we [are] creating the conditions for teams…to continuously achieve short-term wins.” • DuFour and Kruse, Seashore Louis & Byrk – Professional Learning Communities • Bloom, Vygotsky and Glickman – Coaching and differentiation

13. A play in three acts Title: Culture Change – If We Can Do It, So Can You! Setting the Scene: • Reliable forms of assessment • Leadership priorities • Sustained focus on specific student data Acts: • Reliable forms of assessment  Implementing the MAP test • Leadership priorities  Professional Learning Community • Sustained focus on specific student data  1:1 coaching

14. Act I: MAP implementation • Discussed the moral purpose of testing with all stakeholders • Held two agency-wide training days through NWEA • Attempted to administer the Reading and Math test to all students • Worked with teachers to incentivize the process and create optimal testing conditions for students

15. Act II: PLC implementation • Changed the format of our pre-existing meeting • Incorporated a sustained focus on student data • Introduced new agendas, norms, tools and templates

16. During PLCs, leaders: • created data talk guidelines • learned protocols such as the 5 whys • committed to looking honestly at school and personal challenges • collected and examined multiple forms of data • talked through problems and sought insights from each other as critical friends

18. Act III: Coaching implementation • Met monthly at each leader’s school to implement a cycle of inquiry, offer individualized support and help contextualize data • Spent time answering specific questions, observing in classrooms together, debriefing actions, interpreting results and guiding thinking

19. Short cycles of inquiry

20. Houston, we have a problem Initial Problem: Elementary students’ math skills and concepts are low. Elementary Students’ Fall 2009 Math RIT Scores

21. Houston, it’s a really big problem Math skills and concepts are low… …due to insufficient planning… …due to demanding priorities and lack of time to fulfill duties… …due to lack of accountability by supervisors regarding development and implementation of curriculum… …due to various competing priorities regarding safety, emotional needs of the staff and students, and urgent situations. Final Problem: Competing priorities compromise teachers’ time to effectively plan, organize and implement relevant and meaningful lessons and assessments to improve elementary students’ math skills and concepts.

22. I have a theory… If teachers are held accountable for creating and implementing organized and meaningful lessons and assessments, then math skills and concepts will improve.

23. Prove it • Students’ scores will improve • Biweekly teacher observations in elementary classrooms will reveal best practices • Lesson debriefs after each observation will demonstrate increased awareness of student needs • Assessment samples collected and discussed weekly during teachers’ coaching sessions will be meaningful and show growth Identify evidence of progress

24. Blast off! Take action

25. What we saw… Understand what happened • The teachers had structured lesson plans • They were using manipulatives and engagement strategies • Technology was integrated • Assessments were happening

26. But we also found… • The lesson plans weren’t as well developed as they could be • Assessments were primarily in the form of observation • Not all students were assessed each period • Lesson plans weren’t always being revised in response to assessments • Students were performing poorly on formal assessments

27. And we discovered… • Students were learning material in one way, and being assessed in another. • Students weren’t able to transfer learning • Teaching styles and student practice needed to be more varied

28. We couldn’t help but notice… Number SenseAlgebra and FunctionsMeasurement and Geometry Statistics and ProbabilityMathematical Reasoning

29. AHA!

30. And now… • We’re starting another cycle • We’ve generated teacher buy-in • We’ve created a pacing guide to ensure all math skills are represented in the curriculum • We’re able to transfer the skills we learned to other content areas, to working with different teachers and to improving practices in general

31. Findings and implications • Increased visibility agency-wide, resulting in support for hiring more teachers and purchasing new programs! • At Kari’s school, teachers who were not involved in the initial COI are begging to be included! • At another school, students who participated in intensive reading intervention increased an average of 1.4 school years in just eight weeks!! • At our largest campus, student engagement was targeted. 80-100 additional minutes of learning time were added per day, resulting in 81 additional instructional days each year!!!

32. Findings and implications

33. Findings and implications

34. Findings and implications

35. Findings and implications

36. Findings and implications • In 9 out of 10 dimensions, our students demonstrated a growth in concepts and skills • In 5 out of 10 dimensions, our students demonstrated accelerated learning

37. Second verse, same as the first Up next: • Fall MAP testing with increased targets • Introducing cycles of inquiry to our teachers • Continuing school leader PLC and 1:1 coaching • Six PD days focused on teacher observation

38. These resources are available at our website! www.senecacenter.org/school Or contact Lihi at lihi_rosenthal@senecacenter.org,