Continuous School Improvement & ASSIST ACIP Dr. Melissa Shields, NBCT Alabama Department of Education Office of School Intervention and Turnaround mshields@alsde.edu @mjshields

OUTCOMES Participants will… gain a better understanding of the continuous improvement process. be more familiar with AdvancED ASSIST / ACIP platform and tools. (2 minutes)

So….

How will we monitor our progress? Where are we now? (Analyze Data) Where do we want to be? (Set Goals) How will we get there? (Plan) How will we monitor our progress? (Implement) How will we evaluate our effectiveness? (Evaluate)

ACIP Requirements All Schools: Executive Summary Improvement Plan Stakeholder Involvement Diagnostic Student Performance Stakeholder Feedback Plan/Goals Assurances Comprehensive Budget Additional Requirements for Title 1 Schools: Strategies to Increase Parental Involvement Diagnostic (this is the school’s Parent Involvement Plan Title I Schoolwide OR Targeted Assistance Diagnostic

Advanc-ED Resources http://www.advanc-ed.org/partnership/alsde

Multiple Measures of Data Learners & Parents Support Systems Education Professionals Schools & Systems Student Achievement Learning Gains Achievement Gaps College & Career Readiness College Remediation Rates Demographics Perception Family Engagement Graduation Rate Drop Out Rate Attendance Discipline Intervention Enrichment Guidance & Counseling Health & Well-Being Teacher Attendance Administrator & Teacher Effectiveness Recruitment & Retention Culture & Climate Community Engagement Professional Development Continuous Improvement Plan School Finance

Data should be used to… Establish goals. Guide discussions about instructional practices. Monitor the implementation of strategies. Evaluate the impact of the strategies on student learning. Provide feedback to staff on the strategies and teams and the impact they are having on students. Assess the effectiveness of the professional development supports.

ACIP Goals Should be clearly defined and based on needs identified by data. Should be prioritized based on importance and urgency. Should be few in number (no more than 3- 5) Should be ambitious but achievable. Should focus on increasing student learning AND changing adult practices.

Well-written goals will have the following characteristics: Specific. Goals should be detailed and explicit. Measurable. Goals should articulate a desired outcome and how that outcome will be measured. Attainable. Push yourself past your comfort zone, but be realistic and attainable by keeping goals to a minimum. Relevant and Data-Based. Goals should be based on evidence of need. Time Bound. Create a sense of urgency by defining when the goal will become reality. Collaboratively Developed. Goals should be developed with input from all stakeholders.

Continuous Improvement Plan – Goals Check to insure the following are embedded in your Goals : Academic (specific to subgroup & subjects) Organizational (non‐academic criteria) Growth and Achievement -Continuous Improvement Gap – Increase achievement (Be sure to include SPE!) Graduation – Increase Graduation Rate College and Career-Readiness Teacher and Principal Effectiveness Goals Based on Data

Strategies and Activities Strategies are the ADULT actions that will impact student learning. Strategies are: action oriented, measureable/accountable, specific, and research-based. Activities are those incremental tasks that help to implement strategies and move toward achieving the goal. Strategy: All teachers will teach strategically every day. Activities: All content-area teachers will open each lesson with a student-friendly objective, or essential question, which will be revisited throughout the lesson for understanding (formative assessment). Math teachers should include explicit instruction using the four steps “I do, we do, ya’ll do, you do” when introducing and re-teaching.

Strategy and Action Step/Activity Reminders Effective Strategies and Action Steps: Are specific, clear, measurable Include but are not solely centered around remediation/intervention Help accomplish the goal Address core instruction Require evidence that is observable in a classroom, not just found in a box Involve more than just math and language arts teachers Should focus on increasing student learning AND changing adult practices Are attainable-due to time constraints, available resources, and staff/student capacity

A Word about Goal Building…. Steer clear of an “everything agenda,” which can become an “energy vampire” that sucks all our energy and leaves us tired and frustrated because we can never fully accomplish what we hope to do (Smart Schools, David Perkins). Keep in mind that the team is writing a school improvement plan, not a school operation plan. In general, it is better to implement a handful of research-based strategies well than to try to implement many strategies incompletely or ineffectively. A focused school plan, including a limited number of powerful strategies, can turn an “everything agenda” into a “student achievement” agenda.

ACIP Quick Sheets

Timeline Establishes checkpoints along the way to ensure implementation and adjusting of strategies and action steps. Provides accountability measures to make us do what we say we need to do.

Progress Monitoring Monitoring the implementation of strategies. It’s helpful to use the progress notes tool in ACIP. Evaluating the impact of the strategies on student learning. Providing feedback to staff on the implemented strategies and the impact they are having on students. Assessing the effectiveness of the professional development supports. Progress notes within ASSIST.

ACIP Progress Notes

Evaluating Effectiveness What was the impact on student learning? What was the impact on adult practices? Did we achieve the desired results? What are the next steps? The improvement cycle ends with evaluating the effectiveness of the plan in moving us toward the overall goal. During this time the team will review and revise outcomes in light of recently attained progress monitoring data. This involves the team being able to answer the following questions…

Instructional Rounds or WalkThroughs Ensure that your “look-for’s” are aligned to CIP. Collect evidence throughout year to measure implementation. Provide feedback to teachers regarding those critical areas. Instead of rating systems, look for opportunities to collect evidence of student learning and instructional best practices and then share with teachers. Incorporate cognitive coaching opportunities aligned to CIP.

How will we monitor our progress? Where are we now? (Analyze Data) Where do we want to be? (Set Goals) How will we get there? (Plan) How will we monitor our progress? (Implement) How will we evaluate our effectiveness? (Evaluate)

CIP Resource Website: GETITPD – Click For School Leaders

Contact Information Dr. Melissa Shields, NBCT – ALSDE Regional Support Coordinator mshields@alsde.edu @mjshields Jean Scott, ALSDE AdvancED/ASSIST jscott@alsde.edu