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The Standards-Based Change Process: Where We’ve Come From, What We’ve Learned, and Prospects for the Future. Kathy Au SNOH Meeting August 15, 2006. Overview. Where we’ve come from Roots in KEEP What we’ve learned From Hawai‘i to Chicago SBC Process Developmental Model of School Change
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The Standards-Based Change Process: Where We’ve Come From, What We’ve Learned, and Prospects for the Future Kathy Au SNOH Meeting August 15, 2006
Overview • Where we’ve come from • Roots in KEEP • What we’ve learned • From Hawai‘i to Chicago • SBC Process Developmental Model of School Change • Prospects for the future • Sustaining progress at Level 7
Chronology • Kamehameha Elementary Education Program (KEEP) • 1971-1989 • Culturally responsive instruction • Comprehension discussions • 1989-1995 • Standards • Student ownership of literacy • Readers’ workshop, writers’ workshop • Portfolio assessment
What Worked • Emphasis on higher level thinking • Reading comprehension • Writing process • Clear targets for student learning • Grade level benchmarks • Formative assessment leading to evidence-based teaching • Student ownership
What Didn’t Work • K-3 intervention with volunteer teachers • Need for schoolwide approach • Curriculum, assessment, and instruction developed by outsiders • Need for development by insiders • Over-reliance on external partner • Need for gradual release of responsibility • Control by outsiders • Control/ownership by insiders
Conceptual Framework • Social constructivism as applied to school change and teachers’ professional development • Community of practice, discourse community • Classroom as a community of learners -> • School as a professional learning community • Change in the culture of the school • Understanding as constructed, not transmitted; higher level thinking • Students able to self-assess ->Teachers as reflective practitioners • Teacher-developed curriculum and assessment • Ownership
Spread of the SBC Process • 1997 – Kipapa Elementary School • To 6 schools then the whole district of 42 schools • 1999 – Holomua Elementary School • To 10 schools then a neighboring complex of 6 schools • 2002 – Island of Hawaii • 40 schools • 2002 – Partnership READ, Chicago
Approach to Change:The Standards-Based Change Process • Provides steps a school can follow to implement a system for improving student achievement through standards • Focus on higher level thinking • Establishes an ongoing conversation about what everyone is doing to improve student achievement • Professional learning community • Develops a staircase curriculum • Curriculum coherence
Staircase Curriculum vs.Fragmented Curriculum DesiredOutcome Desired Outcome
Hawai‘i Schools Progressed Through Four Levels in the SBC Process. • Initial implementation of the To Do List • Three times per year reporting of results • Curriculum guides • Student portfolios
Philosophy Vision statement Grade level benchmarks I Can statements Evidence Procedures for collecting evidence Rubrics Bar graphs Instructional improvements To Do List
Student Portfolios with Self-Assessment, Three-Way Conferences
SBC Process Results • Results of HLM analysis for Cohort I • Students who had state reading test results for grade 3 (2002) and grade 5 (2004) • Significant finding for grade 5 reading test results in high-poverty schools • Mean score 2.7 points higher • Results occur when schools • Reach 3 x per year reporting of results • Have moved forward through the process for several years
Kipapa’s State Assessment Results, Students Meeting/Exceeding Proficiency
The Difference of OpinionBetween Kathy and Taffy • Kathy • “The SBC Process is not for every school.” • Taffy • “It is for every school. Some just aren’t ready for it yet.” • It turns out that Taffy is right.
Levels in the SBC Process Developmental Model of School Change • Recognizing a need • Organizing for change • Working on the building blocks • Moving as a whole school* • Establishing the system* • Implementing the staircase curriculum* • Fully engaging students and families* Citation: Raphael, T., Goldman, S., Au, K., & Hirata, S. (2006, April). A developmental model of the Standards-Based Change Process: A case study of school literacy reform. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco CA.
Application of the Model • Helps to explain why three-quarters of Hawai‘i schools introduced to the SBC Process did not succeed • The original approach worked for schools at Levels 3 and above. • It could not help schools with infrastructure needs.
Infrastructure Issues • Adequate time for teachers to work together • The equivalent of 8 full days • Vertical (cross-grade) as well as horizontal (grade level) meetings • Focused professional development • Mapping out work with the SBC Process through yearlong and multi-year plans • A strong and knowledgeable curriculum leader • Who is your Kitty Aihara?
Classroom Practice Issues • Staircase curriculum • Developed by the teachers • Evidence-based teaching • Assessment leads to targeted, differentiated instruction • Focus on higher level thinking • Reading comprehension, mathematical thinking, scientific reasoning
Student Outcome Issues • Student ownership • Commitment to their own learning • Cognitive engagement (Taylor et al.) • Higher level thinking • Generalization • Far (as opposed to near) transfer • Metacognition • Self-assessment and goal setting
Constructivism in Action • Teachers must construct their own curriculum, assessment, and instruction. • When the curriculum becomes transparent to teachers • Teachers can make the curriculum transparent to students (and parents).
SBC Process Used Across Reading Programs • Schools at Level 6 (implementing the staircase curriculum; teacher-developed curriculum guides) • Home-grown literature = 2 • Basal reading = 8 • Direct Instruction = 1 • Success for All = 1 • Latest school - Helemano • Culture of the school
Balanced Literacy Instruction • It doesn’t matter what reading program or philosophy a school starts with. • What makes a difference is that the school ends up with balanced instruction, including • Students’ ownership of literacy • Higher level thinking with text
Prospects for the Future Helping more schools to succeed
Benefits of the Developmental Model • Description • Identifies the school’s level on each of the 9 dimensions • Needs assessment • Overall level • Areas of relative weakness • Areas of relative strength • Long-term planning
We know now that we need to slow the process down and start with a needs assessment. Take care of infrastructure issues, if any, before moving on.
Recommendations • Gain a historical perspective. • Trace your school’s progress beginning with the first year. • Start doing a needs assessment, based on the Developmental Model, at the beginning of every school year. • Create or adjust your school’s multi-year plan.
Customized Services • Services tailored to the goals, strengths, and needs of each individual school • A trainer-of-trainers model doesn’t work! • We need to work with you at your school.
Leadership “On the Ground” • Fullan’s view of change in schools • Technically simple • Socially complex • Value of a combined perspective • Outsider • Insider
A Better Understanding of Staying the Course Over the Long Term • Level 7 schools are those that are able to sustain the SBC Process in the face of significant changes. • New principal • New curriculum coordinator • Teacher turnover • All of the above!
Keeping the Culture Alive • What sustains innovation is not the “school” but the professional learning community. • Why key individuals are so important in sustaining the SBC Process • Renewing and rebuilding the professional learning community • Successful schools have a deep bench.
Conclusions • School improvement as the process of building a professional learning community • The increasingly challenging work at each level in the Developmental Model serves to increase the knowledge and strength of the PLC. • Improving student learning depends on sustaining innovation over the years. • Rebuilding the professional learning community