SEC on School Improvement

1. SEC on School Improvement Lani Seikaly CCSSO Consultant

2. What can we learn from our SEC data that will help us improve student achievement?

3. Achievement is primarily a function of two things: (1) What we teach and (2) How we teach.”Mike Schmoker“The Real Causes of Higher Achievement”

4. A Typical School Improvement Process Includes … • An analysis of AYP and state assessment data to complete a gap analysis and a needs assessment • Identification of low performance areas and school goals to meet target • A problem clarification process to determine why the data looks like it does

5. Two critical ways we use SEC data in this process • We examine the instructional content data to determine whether students are being taught the content standards they are responsible for learning • We examine the instructional practices data to help clarify why performance is low in a specific content area.

6. The first question for schools to address is whether their students have had an opportunity to learn what their state standards say students are expected to know and be able to do.

7. “In some of our lowest-achieving schools, there is a patent mismatch between the real, taught curriculum and the actual standards that are assessed -- by state, standardized, or district assessments.”Mike Schmoker in “The Real Causes of Higher Achievement”

8. “For all our so-called common curriculum, very little has been done -- let's be honest -- to ensure that the taught and the tested curriculum are aligned.”Mike Schmoker in “The Real Causes of Higher Achievement”

9. The Instructional Content section of the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum provides data about … • what instructional content topics teachers report they taught and how much time they spent teaching them • what cognitive expectations teachers had for students for each of the topics taught and the emphasis of each cognitive demand

10. The Two Dimensions Of Content What students should know [Topics] And… Be Able to Do [Expectations for student performance]

11. The results are posted online in a tile chart or contour map format and answer the following kinds of questions:

12. What standards/topics are teachers not teaching? What cognitive demand expectations are they not teaching?What are teachers teaching that is not part of the state standards for that grade level?Where do you see any misalignment in the cognitive demand expectations?

13. English Language Arts Content

14. For each of the coarse grain topics, there is a corresponding set of fine grain topics.

15. English Language Arts Content: Comprehension

16. Teachers can also compare their individual data to see how well their classroom instruction aligned with our state standards?The aggregate results for a team may look different than a teacher’s individual data which is confidential unless the teacher chooses to share it.

17. After you have analyzed your SEC data, your team will want to discuss these questions: • What is the impact of teaching not being aligned to state standards? • Are there reasons that a teacher may spend more or less time on a topic than their standards indicate? • What is the impact of cognitive expectations not being aligned to state standards? • What do we need to change about our instruction as a result of this data?

18. The second question we need to address is, “What do we know about our instructional program in this area that would help explain why our performance is low?”

19. The Instructional Practices section of the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum provides a great deal of data about … • what instructional activities and practices teachers report they use in their classrooms • what they believe about teaching and learning • what professional development they have participated • how prepared they feel they are for teaching

20. The results are posted online in a floating bar graph and answer the following kinds of questions:

21. In what activities do our teachers engage students? How prepared do our teachers feel they are to teach what they are responsible for teaching? What and how much professional development have our teachers received? What do our teachers believe about teaching and learning?

22. In what activities do our teachers engage students in English Language Arts classes? The Instructional Activities in English, Language Arts and Reading graph shows the extent to which teachers at this school reported they engaged students in specified ELAR activities (on the left hand side) compared to the extent to which all Virginia teachers who took the survey reported they engaged their students in the same activities (on the right hand side).

23. Instructional Activities in English, Language Arts, and Reading (ELAR) How much of the English, language arts, and reading instructional time in the target class do students use to engage in the following tasks?

24. What do our teachers believe about teaching and learning English Language Arts? The Teacher Opinions and Beliefs graph shows the extent to which teachers at this school reported they agreed with a series of statements about teaching and learning (on the left hand side) compared to the extent to which all Virginia teachers who took the survey reported they agreed with the same statements (on the right hand side).

25. Teacher Opinions and Beliefs

26. Teacher Opinions and Beliefs

27. It is the game plan that schools put into place after they have analyzed their SEC and achievement data that will produce improved student achievement.Using the SEC data in the process ensures that school teams have useful data about their instructional program to help inform the game plan.

28. How can states use the SEC data to support improved achievement in low performing schools? • Incorporate the SEC as part of a needs assessment for a low performing school • Require school improvement plans to include the following information: • Identification of any standards that are not being taught in the low performing AYP areas • Development of a game plan to address the teaching of these standards • Identification of any standards being taught but not resulting in proficient performance on state assessment • Development of a monitoring system to monitor the progress of students using classroom data