Data Wise Module 6 Step 6 Develop An Action Plan Created by :PGCPS ; Ebony Cross Sheilds, Felice N. DeSouza, Donna Drakeford, Rotunda Floyd-Cooper, Tasheka Green, Paula Harris, Rhonda Hawkins, Trina Hayes, David Rease, Jr., Anthony Sims, Jennifer Williams

Objectives Provide an overview of Step 6: Develop An Action Plan Provide an overview of the key ideas (tasks) needed to create an action plan that links to the problem of practice Decision about instructional strategy(ies) Agree on what plan looks like in classrooms Put the plan in writing Decide how team will know when the plan is working Step 6 & ACE Habits of Mind

Step 6 Outcome Develop an instructional action plan to improve teaching practices Rationale : By developing an action plan to improve teaching practices, teachers explicitly commit to a particular strategy(ies) for improvement and the act of writing a formal action plan increases clarity and transparency of the work for everyone The creation of the plan also serves as a source of communication about improvement between: School Teams Families District Offices Partner Organization

Successful Action Planning Includes Decision about instructional strategy(ies) Agree on what your plan will look like in classrooms. Put the plan in writing. Decide how you will know if the plan is working. Decision about instructional strategy(ies) to solve the Problem of Practice identified through analysis of student and teacher data. Agree on what your plan will look like in classrooms. Through description of what teachers and students would be doing if the plan is implemented well, agreement can be reached about expected outcomes from using the strategy(ies). Put the plan in writing. Document the concrete steps, team members’ roles and responsibilities, and the internal accountability for making the plan work. Also, determine was professional development is needed to support the instructional improvement process. Decide how you will know if the plan is working. Select the student outcome data needed to understand whether students are learning more. This task links to Step 7 (Plan to Assess Progress).

Decide on Instructional Strategy (Solutions at Last!) Selecting a Strategy: Clarify the Scope of Your Plan (graphic below) Brainstorm Solution to the Problem Select a Solution to Implement

Clarify the Scope of Your Plan Problem of Practice School wide Improvement School Wide Solution Unit of Improvement Scope of the plan depends on the unit of improvement the team seeks to address Unit = group that is the subject of your proposed improvement (Example: content area, grade level, whole building, other grouping in school) Unit depends upon the scope of the problem of practice When data shows problem is consistent across the school, a school wide solution makes sense

Clarify the Scope of Your Plan Content Area Grade Level Group students/teachers Content Solution Grade Level Solution Content Area Solution Smaller Units of Improvement MUST Fit Within the Context of Your School wide Strategy for Improvement Unit of Improvement When data indicates the problem of practice is particular to a content area, grade level, or group of students and teachers, a more directed solution will be appropriate If the unit of improvement is smaller than the whole school, the action plan must fit within the context of the school wide strategy for improvement

Brainstorm Solution to the Problem Possible Solutions to the Problem of Practice Learner Centered Problem: Students at ABC School do not make explicit references to text that support their thinking when solving problems or responding in written form. Priority Question: Why do students struggle with reading on grade level text and responding in writing Problem of Practice: As teachers we do not design tasks and model for students how to explicitly include text references that support their thinking when crafting a response that addresses the requirements of the task. Brainstorm Solution to the Problem Even the most skilled teams can get stuck at this step: How do we solve the problem of practice? Now what do we do? We know what the problem is, but if we knew what to do about, we’d have already done it.

What is Needed to Brainstorm Engage Teachers in Conversation About the Problem Make Use of In-House Expertise Seek Guidance from Outside Sources if Possible Engage teachers in conversation about the problem Make use of in-house expertise Seek guidance from outside sources Provide opportunity and time for teachers to collaboratively create a potential solution that is larger and more powerful than anything that could be done individually THE WORK DONE IN STEP 5 WILL HELP GENERATE IDEAS ABOUT APPROPRIATE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF PRACTICE Generating solutions is both an ends and a means – the solution addresses the problem but how the solution is determined is important as well (Buy-In opportunity from participants) Approaches: Brainstorm ideas and chart or project on screen Affinity Protocol Café Protocol (p. 137) Problem-Solving Approach (George Polya’s work) – graphic below A successful search for solutions involves allowing faculty to offer their own suggestions while planting good ideas from outside sources Teachers Should Collaborate to Create Potential Solutions That are Larger and More Powerful Than Anything That Could Be Done Individually

Brainstorming Approaches Brainstorm ideas and chart or project on screen Affinity Protocol Café Protocol Problem-Solving Approach A successful search for solutions involves allowing faculty to offer their own suggestions while planting good ideas from outside sources

Affinity Protocol (p. 230) A successful search for solutions involves allowing faculty to offer their own suggestions while planting good ideas from outside sources

1 2 Café Protocol World Café Video Clips A successful search for solutions involves allowing faculty to offer their own suggestions while planting good ideas from outside sources In the event the hyperlinks do not work they are below: Clip #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtSC5UsLnPk Clip #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ODLvTBvKow

Problem-Solving Approach Understand Use reading strategies to attach the text Take notes on three categories: What is given? What is being asked? What do you know already that will help with this problem? Plan Identify specific steps you will follow to solve the problem Connect the steps to the information noted in the UNDERSTAND phase of the approach   Look Back Reread your notes on “What is being asked?” in the UNDERSTAND phase of the approach Is your answer reasonable? Check computations Label units Solve Accurately execute our plan Problem-Solving Approach Sample approach to use when brainstorming solutions to the problem based on the work of George Polya

Table Talk Which approach was most interesting to you and why? What are some “red flag” issues that might come up in using this approach that you could prepare for in advance? Select a Solution to Implement Successful teams are clear about why they select particular strategies 2 Criteria for Selecting Strategies: Feasibility of implementing the strategy (availability of resources; PD, support, time, teachers’ existing skills and capacities, degree of trust among faculty) Its likely impact Ways to Assess: (see Exhibit 6.2; p. 140 Data Wise Text; graphic below) Reviewing academic research Examining student performance data (where the strategy is being implemented) Identify “high-leverage” solutions (those that make a difference due to intensity and number of students they can affect)

Selecting a Solution to Implement Successful Teams Are: Clear about why they select a strategy using 2 criteria: Feasibility of implementing the strategy Likely impact Clark K-8 School Assessment of Inference Strategies Strategy Impact Feasibility Develop students’ inference vocabulary Low-Medium High Adopt new curriculum that we read about Low Think aloud about inferring (make our thinking explicit) Medium-High Draw on ways that students already know how to make inferences to teach them what inference is Medium Use literature that is relevant and meaningful to students to model the inference process Ask open-ended questions that promote inferring Select a Solution to Implement Successful teams are clear about why they select particular strategies 2 Criteria for Selecting Strategies: Feasibility of implementing the strategy (availability of resources; PD, support, time, teachers’ existing skills and capacities, degree of trust among faculty) Its likely impact Ways to Assess: (see Exhibit 6.2; p. 140 Data Wise Text) Reviewing academic research Examining student performance data (where the strategy is being implemented) Identify “high-leverage” solutions (those that make a difference due to intensity and number of students they can affect) Assessment of Strategies Sample Table (p. 140 Data Wise Text)

Cautions When Selecting a Solution to Implement Determine how much change to tackle in the action plan Dangers of ignoring amount of change to tackle Most school attempt to much Stretching resources to thin Pushing teachers’ past their capacity to learn and apply new instructional approaches The importance of Step 1 impacts Step 6….teams not well organized for collaborative work (step 1), often identify “solutions” that do not involve a change in their instruction REMIND PARTICIPANTS: Goal of solutions is to change how students learn in their classrooms The more involved teachers are in selecting solutions the more committed to doing the hard work of implementing that strategy The importance of Step 1 impacts Step 6…. Teams not well organized for collaborative work (step 1), often identify “solutions” that do not involve a change in their instruction.

Agree on What Your Plan Will Look Like in Classrooms Team members defining an instructional strategy to address weaknesses in students’ skills is a critical part of implementing that strategy What the strategy is Why the strategy is the focus of the action plan What it looks like in practice Developing a shared understanding of what effective instruction looks like by establishing implementation indicators: Descriptors of what teachers will be doing What students will be doing What the classroom environment will look like when the instructional strategy is in place

Agree on What Your Plan Will Look Like in Classrooms Implementation Indicators Clark K-8 School Implementing Think Alouds About Inferring: What We Will See in Classrooms Teachers Model inferring by walking students through their own thought processes as they read a piece of text Project a text on a screen and mark it up while thinking about inferring Conference with students, asking them to think aloud while reading Move throughout room to monitor students’ inferring Students Know what the word “infer” means and use it accurately to describe their reading process Use think aloud strategies to infer in whole-class, small-group, and conference discussions of text Answer questions that show their ability to infer Classrooms Display evidence of students inferring from text Include class-generated poster of what good readers do when they infer (for students to reference while reading) Allow flexible arrangement of furniture to enable paired reading, group activities, and sustained independent work Student Work Demonstrates students’ ability to infer, predict, connect, and evaluate in their reading journals and other reading assessments Implementation Indicators Sample Table (p. 142 Data Wise Text)

Why a Theory Behind Your Solution Is Important Teams should push one another to put into words exactly how they believe their plan is going to achieve its desired effect in order to link beliefs about improvement to actual practice.

How to Articulate the Theory Do team members believe the selected strategy will lead students to become more independent and successful? Will the strategy increase students’ confidence and make them more willing to try the strategy and end goal? Will the strategy make students cognitively responsible in comparison to just following process steps? Can the strategy be used to support student learning from class to class and year to year, allowing the strategy to become second nature? What are the unintended negative consequences (if any)?

Theory Behind Our Solution Samples: By using the Problem-Solving Approach, students will be able to break the process into steps and it will become less overwhelming for students making it more likely to persevere through each step. Teacher may adapt the steps for students and not alter the theory behind its selection By using the Problem-Solving Approach, the consistent strategy use from class to class will help students. Teacher should not adapt the steps, but instead make a point of using the exact terminology laid out in the model. Altering the strategy would create issues with the theory used to select the strategy.

Key Task 3 Put the Plan in Writing

Put the Plan in Writing Assign Responsibilities and Time Frames (sample of weekly plan from p. 145 Data Wise Text) Draft Action Plan for Improving Learning and Teaching in Franklin High School Math Classes LEARNER-CENTERED PROBLEM: Students have trouble multistep problems independently. PROBLEM OF PRACTICE: As teachers, we do not consistently teach a process for solving multistep problems, and we don’t give students enough opportunities to work with multistep problems. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY: As teachers, we will integrate the Problem-Solving Approach (PSA) into our daily lessons, class assignments, and assessments. We will explain the rubric for evaluating problem-solving to students and will use the rubric regularly in grading assignments.   Task When Math department chair and math coach create materials for professional development (PD), including poster rubric and anchor chart listing steps of the problem-solving process to post in the classroom for student reference. January, week 1 Math coach models teaching PSA in four classes; all math teachers attend at least one modeling session. January, week 2 Math coach leads PD session with math department, debriefs model lessons, offers list of poster problems with a range of difficulty. January 18, Dept. Meeting Math teachers work in small teams to design PSA lessons for their classes and choose which problems to use for their Poster #1. January, week 3 Math teachers model PSA in classes, share poster rubric with students, and assign Poster #1. January, week 4 Math teachers integrate PSA into regular lessons; students work on posters (Due Feb. 15). February, weeks 1 & 2 Math teachers work in small teams to assess student work using rubric. February, weeks 3 & 4 Math coach observes four math teachers (volunteers) integrating PSA into teaching and provides over-the-shoulder coaching. Math coach leads PD session with math department, discussing student work and offering guidance for the next round of teaching and Poster #2. March 7, Math teachers continue to integrate PSA in classes; students work on Poster #2 (Due April 25) March & April Math teachers meet weekly in small groups to discuss student work on Poster #2 and other assignments, and administer district math final exams on June 15. May and June Sample of Weekly Plan Assign Responsibilities and Time Frames Builds in accountability to team members Supports thinking beyond the classrooms; consider the larger roles team members plan within the school (shared expectations among teachers, students, parents, or administrators) Level of detail in the plan depends upon timeframe available

Clark Third- and Fourth- Grade Team Reading Action Plan Put the Plan in Writing Assign Responsibilities and Time Frames (sample of longer time frame for implementing plan from p. 145 Data Wise Text) Clark Third- and Fourth- Grade Team Reading Action Plan LEARNER-CENTERED PROBLEM: Students have trouble drawing text-based inferences when reading. PROBLEM OF PRACTICE: As teachers, we do not teach inference explicitly, and we do not help students make connections between the inferences they make in their lives and the inferences they need to make from text. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY: Think Alouds   Task Who When Find literacy consultant with expertise in Think Aloud strategies and teaching inference. Anita August-September Participate in hald-day PD with literacy consultant focused on Think Aloud strategies for inferring. Grade 3 & 4 team members September-October Use Think Aloud strategies to demonstrate inferring Have consultant observe each teacher and provide feedback. Consultant and individual teachers October-November Visit one another’s classroom and provide feedback. November-December Participate in half-day PD with literacy consultant focused on common challenges in implementing Think Aloud strategies. January Continue using Think Aloud strategies to demonstrate inferring, refining based on first-semester feedback. January-May Sample of Longer Time Frame for Action Plan Assign Responsibilities and Time Frames Builds in accountability to team members Supports thinking beyond the classrooms; consider the larger roles team members plan within the school (shared expectations among teachers, students, parents, or administrators) Level of detail in the plan depends upon timeframe available

Plan How to Support Teachers in Their New Work Provide resources needed to implement the action Develop teacher skill and pedagogy in order to implement the action plan Leaders need to be clear on what “support” means and how to offer it effectively. Support for teachers is most effective when it is: Coherent Content focused Frequent Provide resources needed to implement the action plan (books, curriculum materials, chart paper, or instructional technologies, etc.) Help teachers develop the skills and knowledge needed to engage in the work Leaders need to be clear on what “support” means and how to offer it effectively. Support for teachers is most effective when it is: Coherent: support is aligned with the action plan. Avoid professional development that is not directly related to the schoolwide instructional strategy. Content focused: support is specifically grounded in what teachers teach and there may be a need to provide opportunities for teachers to develop their content knowledge and pedagogy. Frequent: support must be sustained and substantial. Small amounts of time and one-shot workshops will not suffice. The greatest success in supporting teachers occurs in schools that dedicate time for teacher learning experiences (at least biweekly through common planning times or at meetings before and after school).

Plan How to Support Teachers in Their New Work Table Talk: What strategies can be put in place to ensure that the professional development offered to teachers is determined from a “thoughtful system” informed by the work in Step 6? Reflection Point: Having a “thoughtful system” of support that takes into account teachers professional needs should involve the teachers (for buy-in) and result in a detailed plan of focused professional development. This plan does not replace the Data Wise action plan of step 6. The work in step 6 easily leads to informing where the school should go with future professional development. “If teachers already had the skills and knowledge they needed to teach differently, they’d probably be doing it” (p. 147-148)

A - Shared Commitment to Action, Assessment, and Adjustment Integrating the ACE Habits of Mind into Step 6: Developing an Action Plan A - Shared Commitment to Action, Assessment, and Adjustment Since the initial work began with Data Wise, a lesson learned has been greater appreciation for shorter action plans: Actions plans that span as little as two to six weeks, sharply targeted to address the problem of practice, can be effective. Shorter action plans MUST have a tight connection between the problem of practice and the plan for addressing it. Reflection Question to be Applied to Action Planning: Does the plan call for changing what you are teaching or how you are teaching it? If the answer is HOW….real and lasting improvement in teaching is more likely.

C – Intentional Collaboration Integrating the ACE Habits of Mind into Step 6: Developing an Action Plan C – Intentional Collaboration Continue to get the input of EVERYONE. Making commitments by naming people responsible and providing a time frame publicly builds internal accountability for getting the work done. When developing the action plan: Look for opportunities to break the work into small pieces that pairs or small groups can do during collaborative planning. Not everything has to be whole group. Getting a draft to then share with the larger group can be a more effective use of time and energy. When sharing small group works in-progress to get feedback, use a protocol (like the Tuning Protocol).

E – Relentless Focus on Evidence Integrating the ACE Habits of Mind into Step 6: Developing an Action Plan E – Relentless Focus on Evidence Deciding what to do to address the problem of practice is critical. What do teams use to help them decide which one to implement? EVIDENCE! When selection the strategy(ies) to include in the action plan, teachers should provide evidence in favor or against proposed ideas. Consider going around the group and having each team member offer evidence for and then in the next go round evidence against. Caution: stopping to gather more evidence is not necessary though this experience may create this feeling. KEEP MOVING FORWARD TO A PLAN.

Plus /Delta Protocol What helped me to learn/interact with today’s meeting objectives? What changes are needed to help me to better learn/interact with today’s meeting objectives? We use plus/delta as a way to gather immediate feedback and model our orientation toward action, assessment, & adjustment. Ask participants to list what went well about the meeting or session (“pluses”) and what they would have liked to change (“deltas”). Facilitator Note: We do not comment on pluses or deltas, but rather let them be a record of what happened. Effective facilitators use the last meeting’s plus/deltas to plan the next meeting, taking care to address the deltas.