Professional Learning Support Plan (PLSP) The ARI Professional Learning Support Plan (PLSP) For Districts 2017-2020 Hello to all of our Alabama Reading Initiative central office contacts, My name is Reeda Betts, and I am administrator for the Alabama Reading Initiative. The purpose of this correspondence to provide updated information regarding the completion and submission of a literacy implementation plan that will ensure the attainment of your district’s reading and literacy goals for the next 3 years.

Plans due in the ARI office by Friday, September 29, 2017 Due Date Extension Plans due in the ARI office by Friday, September 29, 2017 We appreciate your sharing your thoughts and questions with us about the timing and length of the plan template. Therefore, the due date has been extended until Friday, Sept. 29, and the remainder of this PowerPoint presentation will identify how the plan has been streamlined. We hope you find this helpful, as we know you wear many hats and you want to take your time to write a thoughtful, actionable plan. We also realize that you have different plans you are working on, and we understand the need for differentiation among districts, so we’ll begin our streamline discussion by talking about different options for plan submission.

Plan Options If your district requires a literacy plan, you may submit it, along with portions of the ARI Professional Learning Support Plan (PLSP). If you have a district ACIP, you may put “See District ACIP” in the applicable sections of the PLSP and direct us to the sections and page numbers where information is found. If your district does NOT require a literacy plan, and a district ACIP is NOT required, complete the PLSP template. If you have already submitted an ARI PLSP, no further action is required at this time. In a effort to differentiate based on your needs and the different plans for which you are responsible, for purposes of accountability of ARI funds, each district must submit a plan. However, you may already have a plan detailing your goals and actions based on your data, so let’s talk about some options. Read slide. As we move forward, we will now look at the plan section by section and identify the key points. A streamlined template was e-mailed to ARI contacts. It will be helpful to you to refer to the revised template during this presentation.

Section 1: Connection   How are the District ARI Professional Learning Support Plan and Other District Improvement Plans Cohesive? {IF your district requires a literacy plan, submit it along with sections 6, 7, 8, and 9 of this PLSP template.} {IF you have a district ACIP, you may put “See District ACIP Reading Section” in this space. Please add the page number(s) where the information can be found, or copy and paste the applicable information.} {IF you do not have a district ACIP, please include a brief statement confirming connections among your district plans.} Your literacy goals should undergird all instructional goals. So, Section one emphasized the importance of connections among your plans. You may confirm those connections in a variety of formats. Read slide.

Section 2: Rationale   Why is Implementing an ARI Professional Learning Support Plan Important for the Students in Our District? {IF your district requires a literacy plan, submit it along with sections 6, 7, 8, and 9 of this PLSP template.} {If you have a district ACIP, you may put “See District ACIP Reading Section” in this space. Please add the page number(s) where the information can be found, or copy and paste the applicable information.} {If you do not have a district ACIP, include a brief statement describing why a reading and literacy focus is necessary for students in your district based on the interpretation of your district data. Consider “big picture” trends you see in your district.} Section 2 asks that you think about “big picture” data trends across your district to identify the reasons a focus on reading and literacy is needed. The ARI’s focus is on Grades K-3, however, there may be trends you see in your upper grades that inform the focus of your literacy work in lower grades. So, your rationale is based on the overall view of your district. Plan submission options remain the same for this section.

What Do We Want for Our Students in <insert district name here>? Section 3: Reading/Literacy Vision Statement and Literacy Improvement Goals   What Do We Want for Our Students in <insert district name here>? {Reading/Literacy VISION Statement-Include a brief statement describing the vision for literacy in your district. You may also include any key messages or slogans that you use to communicate your vision to stakeholders and the public.} {Literacy Improvement GOALS-Include the desired outcomes for literacy in your district. You may copy and paste or state the ACIP/district literacy plan section and page number(s) where your literacy goals are written.} Read slide. Plan submission option remain the same.

Section 4: Design for Implementing and Supporting Our Schools   What is Our ARI Professional Learning Support Plan for <insert district name here> District and School(s)? {Describe how teachers will be supported, coached, and mentored. Identify the personnel who will support teachers and how evidence of the impact of support will be reported.} {Reference ACIP/district literacy plan.} Section 4 asks that you describe how you implement your plan and provide support at the school level. So, how will teachers be supported, coached, and mentored?

Section 5: District Expectations- Assessing and Evaluating Progress for Schools   How Will We Assess, Evaluate, and Be Accountable for Our Plan? {Considering your data analysis, including examples such as below to guide your discussions, outline the steps that your schools will take to evaluate progress in implementing your literacy plan.} {If you have a district ACIP, you may put “See District ACIP Reading Section” in this space. Please add the page number where the information can be found, or copy and paste the applicable data.} {Reference ACIP/district literacy plan.}  Consider the following procedures and questions to inform your responses. Analyze Data to identify the greatest areas of need. Include district, school, and grade level data in your response. 2016-17 Aspire Reading Data broken down into subcategories and percentages of Ready, Close, and Need of Support Your chosen Key Performance Indicator End-of-Year Reading Data (for example: STAR, Scantron, DIBELS) broken down to reveal skills and/or standard deficits and foundational skills that could be lacking (Examples: Phonemic Awareness/Phonics, Fluency, Accuracy, Automaticity) Dyslexia Specific Screening Data (see the Alabama Administrative Code (AAC) and utilize the Dyslexia Resource Guide for assessments) … Section 5 asks how you will assess and evaluate your progress. You will notice, this is the most lengthy section of the streamlined template. The processes and questions listed in Section 5 are meant to guide your discussions around the analysis of your data. These processes and questions DO NOT require individual responses. Rather, they are to inform your responses regarding how you choose to assess and evaluate your progress. So, please approach this section knowing these are points for thinking and discussion.

District Reading and Literacy Team Membership School or District Base Section 6: District Literacy Team Membership and Plan for Communicating and Monitoring Implementation How Does Our Leadership Own the Plan?   {Include a brief statement about the selection of your leadership committee and how you will communicate your literacy plan.} District Reading and Literacy Team Membership The next 4 sections -6, 7, 8, and 9 are REQUIRED for everyone who is accepting and using ARI fund allocations for reading specialists. You will submit these 4 sections in addition to information from your ACIP or district literacy plan. Section 6 asks for the names of your district literacy team members along with a brief statement of how they are selected and how you will communicate your plan. Name Title/Role School or District Base Email

Designate ARI Contact and LEA Lead Reading Specialist Section 7: Selection and Verification of Reading Specialist(s): Who is Best Qualified to Implement High-Quality Beginning Reading Professional Learning and Instruction?   [Include in the table below the Name, School Assignment, and Certification/Qualifications of the ARI funded Reading Specialist as outlined in the 2017-2018 ARI-FUNDED SCHOOL READING SPECIALIST JOB DESCRIPTION. Include in this table (as described in the District MOA) the name of the District Key Contact who will oversee reading through your literacy plan, and the name of the Lead District Reading Specialist with responsibility for ARI professional learning turn-around.] Designate ARI Contact and LEA Lead Reading Specialist Section 7 askes for the names of your reading specialists. This page part of the assurance that your reading specialists are the best qualified people to serve in those positions. As you look at the template, we ask that you designate your ARI key contact and your lead reading specialist on the first two lines. Then list all others below. Name District or School Assignment Title Certification/Qualifications  

Section 8: Making Decisions Regarding Use of State Funds How Will We Utilize Allocated Funds to Assure High-Quality Beginning Reading Instruction and Professional Learning?   Because these are public funds, a detailed accounting of the use of the allocation based on the 2017-2018 ARI-FUNDED SCHOOL READING SPECIALIST JOB DESCRIPTION is mandatory. Detail how the ARI funds will be used (budgeted) to carry out the implementation of your literacy plan to impact student reading achievement and progress toward reaching, at a minimum, grade level reading. A detailed budget may be included as an Appendix. {Describe how you will use your ARI allocation of state funds to support your ARI PLSP as outlined in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).} Please include: allocation of funds by school and purpose, allocation of time spent coaching per teacher and/or grade level, allocation of reading specialists’ time spent providing intervention for struggling students, and allocation of reading specialists’ time spent providing job-embedded professional learning and content training for educators. Section 8 is extremely important. This section asks that you describe your district’s use of the ARI funding allocation you received. The bullets ask you to account for the money and time of the specific reading specialists’ duties outlined in the job description and that were agreed upon in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

This is an end of the year report to be completed in summer 2018. Section 9: Yearly Reporting to the ALSDE   How Our Students Fared and Our Plans for Improvement – 2017 to 2020 This is an end of the year report to be completed in summer 2018. As you know , this is a 3 year plan. So, Section 9 is not to be completed until you have your data from 2017-2018 and are able to use it to make adjustments and set goals for the next year.

Reeda Betts rbetts@alsde.edu (334) 353-1389 Contact Information Reeda Betts rbetts@alsde.edu (334) 353-1389