Dropout Early Warning Prevention System for all Students Using Data Tools and Other Strategies

1. Dropout Early Warning Prevention System for all Students Using Data Tools and Other Strategies Gregg Curtis, PhD Education Consultant; School Counseling WI Department of Public Instruction

2. Topics • What data system did we have and what are we currently using? • Dropout Early Warning System (DEWS) and Students • Questions?

3. For the Public FROM WINNS TO WISEdash Public Portal Welcome to WINSS!

4. WISEdash for Districts • Goal: Increase Access to Data • Outcome: Data-Based Decision-Making

5. WISEdash portals WISEdash for Districts http://wise.dpi.wi.gov/wise_dashhome WISEdash Public Portal http://wisedash.dpi.wi.govDashboard/portalHome.jsp

6. Data in WISEdash • Enrollment and Attendance • Assessments (WSAS, ACT, AP, ACCESS) • Student Growth Percentiles • High School Completion • Postsecondary Enrollment • Student Profile • Student Search

7. WISEdash for Districts Introductory Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCwJX6N7zCk&feature=youtube

8. All information on how to get access is documented here: http://wise.dpi.wi.gov/wise_securehomeinfo

9. What is an Early Warning System? • Early Warning Systems (EWS) use readily available school data to identify students who are at risk of dropping out , allowing educators to intervene early. • Schools can use information from an early warning system to support students who are at risk of dropping out with both school-wide strategies and targeted interventions. • DEWS • National High School Center EWS High School Tool • National High School Center EWS Middle Grades Tool

10. Dropout Early Warning System DEWS: • Is dependent on the data available, the factors included in the model can change, as will their weight in predicting the outcomes • Is flexible, so it can expand as more longitudinal data is available on cohorts • Currently uses these factors: • Assessments —Attendance— Mobility • Discipline (school of attendance)

11. DEWS Video Link and Resources • DEWS Website: http://wise.dpi.wi.gov/wise_dashdews • DEWS Fact Sheet: wise.dpi.wi.gov/files/wise/pdf/dews-fact-sheet.pdf • DEWS Checklist: http://wise.dpi.wi.gov/files/wise/pdf/dews-checklist.pdf

12. DEWS Video Link and Resources (cont.) • Action Guide Resource http://wise.dpi.wi.gov/files/wise/pdf/wi-dews-actionguide.pdf • Video Tutorial: http://youtube/4C2F8zhHV8w

13. What Does the DEWS Middle School Report Look Like?

14. What do the Student Profile DEWS Outcomes and Scores Look Like? KEY: Supplement this information with more recent local data

15. DEWS Risk Levels for Domains *Combined reading and math score thresholds for DEWS on p.13 of guide

16. DEWS Risk Levels for Assessments (Combined Math and Reading)

17. Why don’t some students have scores? • Students must have been enrolled in a Wisconsin public school in the previous school year • Students must have taken the WKCE and received a score • Students must currently be enrolled in a Wisconsin public school for the data to be displayed • ANY STUDENT WITHOUT A SCORE should be reviewed and a support system developed.

18. Students in Alternate Curriculum • Students are considered at-risk if unable to calculate a DEWS score • Assessment will indicate “Unknown” • All students who take the WAA-SwD will automatically have an “Unknown” DEWS score because the system currently is unable to incorporate scores from the WAA-SwD; looks like they didn’t take the WKCE.

19. How Could You Use DEWS With All Students? • Print out the Student Profile • Examine the DEWS Outcome Score; check to see if any of the sub scores are in the Moderate to High level • Supplement with more recent, local data • Be sure that the DEWS Outcome Date is current • With a team develop a plan of support • If a SWD, record information in the Present Levels section of the IEP.

20. DEWS in a Multi-Level System of Support (MLSS or RtI)

21. DEWS Process LOCAL KNOWLEDGE STATE DATA Teacher / program context Parent input Special circumstances CONTEXT Assessments Demographics Intervention Strategies Attendance Disciplinary Events Mobility Location Student Risk Identification

22. Local Data for Updating DEWS Scores

23. Combining DEWS and Local Data

24. REMEMBER • It is very important to use up-to-date data and compare the DEWS results to local data.

25. The Review Process Open Student Roster Compare to Local Risk Assessment

26. Middle School EWS Tool Indicators & Thresholds

27. High School EWS Tool Indicators & Thresholds

28. The Fork in the Road • We now can go one of two ways in how we examine the results of the DEWS for a middle school or freshman student: • Examine the “System” data; big picture, what is happening at the school, grade level, within or across student groups • Examine the “Student” data; look at the individual student, grades, truancy, class- work, and behavior

29. Who Should Be Involved? • Administrators • General education teachers • Special education teachers • Related service providers • Students and other stakeholders (If confidentiality can be maintained)

30. System Analysis • Who is this student? • Why do we think (based on data) that he/she is at risk for not graduating on time? • Is the area indicating they are at risk a long-standing or recent issue? • Was this student on our radar? • Has anyone spoken to the student or parents to get more info about risk area?

31. System Analysis - continued • Commonalities: • Geographical (home and building) • Environment (general vs special education services) • Who are their teachers? • Are there any commonalities between groups in where they are at risk (EBD students x discipline) • Are we catching these students outside of DEWS?

32. Interventions Consider Both At Systemic and Individual Level for: • Attendance • Behavior • Academics • Mobility • Early Warning System Keys

33. Using Interventions • Attendance • Measure attendance in informative and actionable manners. • Take measures to increase the number of students with very good attendance and decrease the number who are chronically absent. • Recognize good attendance regularly through public acknowledgement and social rewards (i.e., earning privileges). • Separate attendance from course performance. • Be and be perceived as safe and engaging places.

34. Early Grade Attendance and Chronic Absence • “An Attendance Works” study found that students who have good attendance across kindergarten and first grade have the highest third grade scores statistically significantly higher than any of the other groups. • Chronic absence at kindergarten and first grade may erase many of the benefits of entering kindergarten with strong readiness skills. • Students who had no attendance risks scored an average of 50 points higher on an English/Language Arts tests than students who were chronically absent in their first two years of school. http://www.attendanceworks.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ ASR-Mini-Report-Attendance-Readiness-and-Third-Grade-Outcomes-7-8-11.pdf

35. Interventions • Behavior • High engagement electives that provide avenues for short-term success. • Positively recognize skill levels. • Activities that honor students’ desire for adventure and camaraderie. • Recognition at both the individual and group level for positive behavior. • Teaching organizational and self-management skills.

36. Interventions • Academics • Accept and acknowledge the implications of course grades being more predictive of eventual success than test scores. • Create developmentally appropriate high school/college readiness indicators that are meaningful and engaging to middle students and understood by parents. • Encourage quality coursework; may require new forms of assessment. • Offer extra help right away.

37. Credit Flexibility – to increase academic engagement and success • An attempt to personalize learning and extend the classroom beyond the four walls of high school. • DPI has developed and released a guidance document for districts on credit flexibility models. http://cal.dpi.wi.gov/files/cal/pdf/fostering-innovation-credit-flexibility.pdf

38. Examples of Flexibility • Personalized learning where instructional practices are adapted to fit each student’s needs. • Competency based education through which students earn credit by demonstrating proficiency. • Learning beyond the classroom with credits earned and/or mastery demonstrated through employment, service projects, independent and team projects, online instruction, and other activities that modify traditional instructional methods. • Dual credit courses through which students access college level coursework with the possibility of earning both high school and college credits concurrently.

39. Interventions • Mobility • Establish a transition protocol for families moving into your district: • Explore with families the causes and potential effects of relocation. • Brainstorm ways families can minimize negative effects of relocation; or allow students to remain in current school through the transition period. • Take steps to effectively work with families experiencing trauma. • Ensure educational records for all students leaving district are accurate and forwarded in a timely manner.

40. Interventions • Early Warning System Keys: • Focus on effective intervention. • Not identification. • Recognize and build on student strengths. • Match resources to student needs. • Evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. • Teachers and administrators can get started with the local data available in their schools.

41. Why Use an Early Warning System? 3 Reasons an Early Warning System Assists Student Achievement: • Focuses conversations and efforts on actionable problems; • Identifies students for intervention; and • Uses indicator patterns to address low performance in a strategic way.

42. For further information or assistance: