Maximizing Student Outcomes through K-12 Alignment Rebecca Sarlo, Ph.D. Stephanie Martinez, Ed.S.

What is the Purpose of Our K-12 Systems? FDOE Mission Statement Increase the proficiency of all students within one seamless, efficient system, by providing them with the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skills through learning opportunities and research valued by students, parents, and communities, and to maintain an accountability system that measures student progress toward the following goals: Highest student achievement (Full Option Graduation) Seamless articulation and maximum access Skilled workforce and economic development Quality efficient services

“One Unified System” Successful high school completion begins with kindergarten Each grade/school level inherits an aggregate of student gaps, weaknesses, and strengths produced in the previous grade/school level Most successful “intervention” is to ensure that students enter each grade/school level with as much strength as possible With both the academic and social-emotional skills needed to be successful

“One Unified System” Vertical Programming—articulation K-12- is the most effective way of ensuring that students graduate from the system as full-option graduates An agreed upon “method” of vertical communication of student data/needs—that leads to vertical programming– is critical All grades/school levels need to know student needs prior to their entry—preferably months ahead of time The best “screening” tool is the compilation of student historical data This becomes more evident as students move beyond elementary school

Every System Is Perfectly Aligned to the Results That It Gets --George Batsche-ism

What Does this Data Seem to Tell Us? “Low” Performing School Without significant organizational changes, the school should expect approx. 68% of its students to need support in Reading. “High” Performing School Without significant organizational changes, the school should expect approx. 28% of its students to need support in Reading

What Does this Data Seem to Tell Us? “Low” Performing School Without significant organizational changes, the school should expect approx. 40% of its students to demonstrate disengagement by missing school “High” Performing School Without significant organizational changes, the school should expect approx. 21% of its students to demonstrate disengagement by missing school

Maximizing Student Outcomes To improve student outcomes and allow for full-option graduation, districts must build systems which allow schools to more effectively… Prevent disengagement and academic skill gaps from occurring in the first place Respond more readily to student engagement and academic deficits when they do occur

Critical Elements of an MTSSS Model District-Based Leadership Team (DBLT) District Policies, Procedures, and Resources which allow for the development of effective: School-Based Leadership Teams (SBLT) Data-Based Problem-Solving Multi-Tiered System of Supports which address students’ behavioral and engagement needs Data Systems which allow for prevention and timely response to student skill gaps Schedules to Support Multi-Tiered Intervention Methods of evaluating Instructional/Intervention Fidelity Student/Family/Community Involvement

Critical Elements of an MTSSS Model SAME critical components should be present K-12 Implementation of the critical components will look different at the middle-and high-school levels The differences are influenced by organizational structure, focus on content and credits, and the logistics of scheduling District support of specific critical component development/implementation will likely need to differ based on the targeted school level

Similarities and Differences between School Levels Same Different Consensus Building Monitor Skills AND Content Schedule Development Integration of the Tiers Parent/Student Involvement Standards-Based Instructional Focus Problem-Solving Process School-Based Leadership Teams Data Days to Evaluate “Health and Wellness” Data Based Decisions Multi-Tiered System which address students’ behavioral and academic needs Importance of Fidelity

Building Consensus in a K-12 System Consensus building at the elementary level typically centers around a need to improve literacy outcomes Consensus is more difficult to develop at the secondary level The “Compelling Why” of RtI Implementation is different for Secondary Schools Most personnel are content specific and generally most interested only in their own content area Even cross-content problems (e.g., student literacy) do not typically constitute a strong enough hook to build consensus For behavior, there is often an expectation that students should already know how to behave and thus behavioral problems warrant discipline not intervention Elementary consensus building typically begins with the identification of specific academic problems (e.g., Reading) All teachers typically teach reading and thus reading issues are seen as relevant to everyone Teacher autonomy and isolation reinforces the idea that even cross-content problems are someone else’s problem For behavior there is the perception that students should already know how to behavior therefore we should not have to focus on teaching or rewarding behavior, it is just expected that they know how to behave

Building Consensus across a K-12 System Districts can support consensus building around the implementation of MTSSS by at all levels by… Establishing and communicating a K-12 vision Sunshine State School District creates a sound educational environment that provides all students the academic and social emotional competencies and skills necessary to become full option graduates And, supporting all schools in redefining their own mission statements to align with the K-12 vision Redefining Elementary and Middle School’s mission to include preparing students to successfully transition to the next school level will help to strengthen vertical articulation and the effectiveness of feeder patterns

Building Consensus across a K-12 System Providing ready access to data which can be used by schools to determine their contribution to realizing the K-12 vision is critical Developing an Early Warning System will help to unite all staff members around a single goal (e.g., full option graduation) and emphasize the importance of all grades/school levels

District First Steps… Schools will be empowered to prevent engagement/skill gaps and readily respond to them when they occur when the District establishes… A K-12 vision and aligns the curriculum and instructional goals of each school level with the vision Communication plans, protocols and practices for vertical and horizontal articulation of student needs, gaps, and strengths A data system which allows for the integration and fluid analysis of engagement and academic data AND the vertical articulation of both engagement and academic data between grade/school levels

Developing a District-Wide Early Warning System The best predictor of future failure is current failure and disengagement Assessing risk across multiple variables allows teams to provide early intervention and prevent disengagement from school and course failures At-risk and off-track students are identified through analyzing a combination of engagement and academic data. Many students experience course failures as a result of disengagement (e.g., excessive absenteeism, lack of productivity, inattention) Systematically assessing student engagement allows schools to identify students in need of support before they have failed courses or acquired skill deficits related to missed instruction By the time students enter secondary schools they typically have years of data which indicates whether or not the student is at-risk for school failure and high school dropout.

Elementary and Middle School Risk Indicators Academic and Engagement Indicators Attend school less than 80% of the time Due to absenteeism or discipline issues Excused or unexcused absences Receive a low final grade for behavior Fail either math or English/Reading Retention 64% of students repeating a grade in elementary school eventually drop out 63% of students held back in middle school eventually drop out Mobility Multiple schools during educational career Kennelly & Monrad, 2007 More than half of 6th graders with the 3 criteria eventually left school 6th graders who received poor behavior marks were found to have only a one in four chance of making it to 12th grade on time and graduating 8th graders who miss 5 or more weeks of school during the year OR fail math or English more than a 75% chance of dropping out of school Gender, race, age, and test scores did not have the strong predictive power of attendance and course failures for future drop out

High School Risk Indicators Academic indicators GPA less than 2.0 Course Failures Behind in Credits Behavioral/Engagement indicators Attend school less than 80% of the time Consistently miss instruction due to behavioral issues Psychological or Social disengagement Lack of peer group Lack of involvement in school extracurricular activities Low educational expectations Lack of personal relationship with adults at school Retention Retained 1 or more years Mobility Multiple schools during educational career

Pasco County Schools Extreme Off Track 2-3 Years Behind No chance for graduation in a traditional school setting Disengagement Example: Credits Earned 1st Semester 09-10 < 3 Credits 08-09 < 9 Credits 07-08 <15 Credits 06-07 < 21 Credits High Off Track Lacking 2 or more graduation requirements Behind 4 or more Credits Currently failing 3 or more classes Excessive Referrals and/or Absences Off Track Lacking 2 graduation requirements Behind 1-3 Credits 10% Absences 3 or less Level 2 referrals or 2 Level 3 Referrals 9th graders indentified “at high risk” (3 F’s in 8th grade) First develop a generic system taking into account Florida’s graduation requirements Second, apply the generic system to the specific grade levels using grad plan year. For example, see credits earned as an example in box Third, identify off track for incoming 9th graders – use data from middle school – see bold for example Fourth, determine the percentage of students that fall under each risk factors – by Grad Plan Year Fifth, create master schedule with data in mind At Risk for Off Track Lacking 1 of 3 Graduation requirements < 5%Absences 3 or less Level 1 or 2 referrals On Track Exceeding or Meeting all graduation requirements (Credits, FCAT Score, GPA) 6 or less Absences No referrals Pasco County Schools 19

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Early Warning Systems Data Targeted School Example 52.8% (210) of last year's 9th graders are off-track for graduation 19% (75) are off-track due to failed FCAT, Credits and GPA 13% (52) of exiting 9th graders failed 3 or more courses Almost all of these students are part of the lowest 25% Many of these students will count in the total graduation and at-risk graduation rates These students have less than a 15% chance of graduating without significant intervention Course Failures Algebra 1 - 43.5% Spanish 1 - 45% World History- 29% English 1 - 28% Hope (Health and PE) - 58 students- 17%

Early Warning Systems and Vertical Articulation and Programming While in Middle School, entering 9th graders… Demonstrated disengagement through absenteeism (32%) Demonstrated disengagement through excessive behavioral referrals/suspensions (22%) Had a history of course failures in English/Reading (29%) 48% scored non-proficient on the Reading FCAT Had a history of course failures in math (37%) 41% scored non-proficient on Math FCAT Had a history of retention (24%)

The bottom line… Disengaged students are likely to be disengaged at the next grade/school level in the absence of prevention and intervention support Students with a history of academic underachievement or failure are likely to continue to fail without prevention and intervention support Addressing academic and engagement issues earlier rather than later is more successful and more cost effective Preventing disengagement and/or academic failure is more effective than reacting to them once they occur

Integrated, Multi-Tiered Prevention/Intervention Supports It is not enough to simply identify at-risk students, leadership teams must follow identification with effective and appropriate intervention Schools need to provide prevention supports which act to prevent students from becoming disengaged or developing skill deficits Schools need to develop a continuum of intervention supports which are readily accessible as soon as a student is indicated as at-risk or off-track Creating a comprehensive prevention/intervention program which addresses academic, behavioral, and social-psychological disengagement and academic skill deficits as indicated by data is critical There will be cases in which students are flagged for at risk based on one indicator (e.g., they fail one or more courses) but not the others (e.g., their overall GPA is higher than a 2.5 or their attendance patterns are not a concern). In these cases, it is likely these students are struggling with particular subjects or areas (e.g., literacy) and specific academic interventions may be the most appropriate. In cases where the early warning signs all converge and indicate a general disengagement with school, the provision of comprehensive drop-out prevention programs that aim to get the student re-engaged in school activities and academics may be needed. Are you going to identify what a “comprehensive drop-out prevention program is?”

Supports for ALL (Core) Academics Behavior All students Evidence‐based core curriculum & instruction Assessment system and data‐based decision making All students, All settings Positive behavioral expectations explicitly taught and reinforced Consistent approach to discipline Assessment system and data‐based decision making

Supports for SOME (Supplemental) Academics Supplemental targeted skill interventions Small groups Frequent progress monitoring to guide intervention design Behavior Supplemental targeted skill interventions Small groups Frequent progress monitoring to guide intervention design

Support for FEW (Intensive) Academics Behavior • More intense targeted skill interventions • Customized interventions • Frequent progress monitoring to guide intervention design • Student centered planning • Customized function based interventions • Frequent progress monitoring to guide intervention design

At all levels multi-tiered supports should focus on… Pre-teaching skills critical to successful transition to the next grade/school level Horizontal alignment of instruction and curriculum for teaching grade-level standards and behavioral expectations Teaching missing skills or providing necessary supports (e.g., mentoring, advisement) for student who arrive with or acquire skill/engagement deficits

District First Steps… Communicate the need and expectation of instructional/intervention plans to address student engagement barriers while simultaneously addressing student skill deficits and learning needs Provide professional development and coaching for SBLT to ensure their understanding of the relationship between instruction, curriculum, and environmental variables and student engagement and achievement Provide professional development and coaching for instructional personnel to support their ability to improve student engagement and academic outcomes through the manipulation of instructional, curricular, and environmental variables

Example Protocol for Vertical Articulation of Academic Standards Overview of Benchmark MA.3.A.1.1 Model multiplication and division including problems presented in context…   Required Prior Knowledge as Identified in Prior Year(s) Standards Grade-Band Content as identified in current grade level standards Expected Student Knowledge as Identified by Standards for next grade levels  

District First Steps… Designing multi-tiered supports which prevent and respond effectively to academic/engagement deficits will be greatly facilitated if the District… Sets clear expectation for vertical articulation between grade/school levels Establishes protocols, procedures, and processes for articulation Allocates resources necessary to support articulation between grades/school levels Data systems that allow for sharing of data both vertically and horizontally Time for collaboration between grade/school levels Trained facilitators/coaches Support for unpacking of standards

Scheduling of Multi-Tiered Supports Districts should support school’s efforts to… Maximize academic engaged time in critical areas Develop master schedules that reflect the needs of students Maximize use of all staff Ensure time allocated for Tiers 1, 2 and 3 Provide meeting time for tier integration work Be flexible enough to provide timely intervention and re-integration

Scheduling of Multi-Tiered Supports District’s should support school’s efforts to… Direct a significant amount of resources to critical transition years (6th and 9th) to prevent academic and behavioral problems Provide opportunities for mentoring, advisement, and academic support within the master schedule for all students Include classes which provide instruction in organization, study skills, note-taking, problem solving, and communication in the school’s master schedule Intensify instruction by providing additional time and personnel or smaller class sizes for classes which typically result in high rates of courses failures

Scheduling of Multi-Tiered Supports District’s should support school’s efforts to… Build time into the school’s master schedule to allow for weekly common planning/PLC time for content teams and for cross content teams at least monthly Intervention teachers plan with core content teachers and align intervention strategies with core instruction Develop school leadership team members who can monitor and participate in the work of all other school teams

Monitoring the Effectiveness of the K-12 System DBLTs should monitor the impact of the k-12 system by evaluating… The difference between the expected outcomes (vision) and the district-wide current levels (student full-option graduation outcomes) The percent of schools/feeder patterns accomplishing the predetermined goals

Questions?