Closing the Achievement Gap NO EXCUSES Patricia W. Davenport

The Challenge For Education All school districts face similar challenges: Low student achievement results Pressures for increased accountability Customers dissatisfied with outcomes Increasing student enrollment Rising costs

The Challenge For Education The search continues… State-takeover of schools Private takeover of schools For-profit schools Vouchers Charter schools Longer school days and school years 36 different education reform programs

Beliefs Children of all races and income levels can succeed Testing is Diagnostic, not discriminatory Tests determine whether each and every child is learning

Two Reasons: Moral Legal

Legal Reason 50 of 50 states require students to take state assessments.

Moral Reason If students are not literate, that is, they can not read, write, and do basic arithmetic: 3 out of 4 will go on welfare. 68% will commit a criminal offense. Source: National Adult Literacy Survey - 1993

Building Blocks The PDCA Instructional Process is grounded in three sets of ideas: Effective Schools Total Quality Management Malcolm Baldrige Criteria For Performance Excellence

TQM Defined as “an operational theory of management and set of process tools for implementation.” Do it right the first time! Continuous Improvement Cycles - PDCA Don’t fix blame, fix the system!

Who’s To Blame? The college professor said: “Such rawness in a student is a shame, lack of preparation in high school is to blame.”

Who’s To Blame? Said the high school teacher: “Good heavens! That boy’s a fool. The fault of course is with the middle school.”

Who’s To Blame? The middle school teacher said: “From stupidity may I be spared. They sent him in so unprepared.”

Who’s To Blame? The primary teacher huffed: “Kindergarten blockheads all. They call that preparation – why, it’s worse than none at all.”

Who’s To Blame? The kindergarten teacher said: “Such lack of training never did I see. What kind of woman must that mother be.”

Who’s To Blame? The mother said: “Poor helpless child. He’s not to blame. His father’s people were all the same.”

Who’s To Blame? Said the father at the end of the line: “I doubt the rascal’s even mine.” Anonymous

“Effective Schools” Philosophy Characteristics Of Effective Schools: Strong instructional leadership High expectations of student achievement for ALL students Pervasive and broadly understood instructional focus Safe and orderly school climate conducive to teaching and learning Measures of pupil achievement as a basis of program evaluation

Brazosport ISD District Enrollment - 13,500 Student Population Economically Disadvantaged - 38.6% Elementary Schools 11 Middle Schools 2 Intermediate Schools 3 High Schools 2 Alternative Schools 1 White Hispanic African American Other Student Population 56.8% 32.7% 9.1% 1.4% District Enrollment - 13,500

TAAS Velasco Elementary DEMOGRAPHICS: Economically Disadvantaged 80.4% African American 19.6% LEP 36.5% Hispanic 59.8% Mobility 25.6% White 20.1%

TAAS Freeport Intermediate DEMOGRAPHICS: Economically Disadvantaged 62.9% African American 10.4% LEP 4.2% Hispanic 51.3% Mobility 20.2% White 37.8%

TAAS Brazosport High School DEMOGRAPHICS: Economically Disadvantaged 54.1% African American 12.1% LEP 6.6% Hispanic 50.2% Mobility 25.8% White 35.7%

PDCA INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL 8. Monitoring 7. Maintenance 2. Timeline Development 4. Assessment 3. Instructional Focus 5. Tutorials 6. Enrichment 1. Data Disaggregation

Plan/Do/Check/Act Cycle

From Theory To Practice What the PDCA Cycle offers… A proven track record for success A step-by-step methodology for improving schools A process built on the foundation of Effective School Characteristics An alignment of planning, instruction, and assessment An emphasis on the core curricula of reading, writing, and mathematics

Disaggregate Data PLAN Arrange test scores to identify instructional groups. Define weak and strong objectives.

TEST TALK

PLAN Timeline Development Develop a campus calendar for all objective areas and time allocations based on the needs of the student groups and the weight of the objective. The timeline is subject to change due to mastery of target areas.

DO Instructional Focus Using the timeline, create a schedule of focused instructions to be followed by teachers.

CHECK Assessment After the instructional focus has been taught, administer an assessment to identify mastery/non-mastery students.

ACT Tutorials Enrichment Tutorial time should be devoted to the reteaching of non-mastered target areas.

ACT Tutorials Enrichment Target related enrichment is provided for mastery students.

CHECK Maintenance Provide materials for ongoing maintenance and reteaching.

CHECK Monitoring The principal assumes the role of instructional leader and is continuously involved in the teaching and learning process.

Benefits Gives teachers flexibility in how to teach by focusing on what to teach. Emphasizes key skills for every student. Allows students to retain skills in order to build higher skills.

Benefits CONTINUED Aligns planning, instruction, assessment, and support toward student performance. Removes subjectivity and replaces it with a focus on results. Test scores validate standards instruction. It is a proven approach that achieves results.

Random Acts Of Improvement G O A L S t u d e n c h i v m y s P r f o a = Programs

Aligned Acts Of Improvement In an aligned system... … improvement efforts are integrated and results-oriented Knowing and managing the relationships helps align efforts toward desired results. This makes the best use of improvement efforts, resources, and time, ensuring that people and the system are working together to achieve desired results, such as improved student test scores, or better support services.

Short & Long Term Actions ACTION PLAN PDCA Process Implementation Short & Long Term Actions Solution Who & When $$ Done

“It is perfectly all right to teach students curricula over which they will not be tested, but in this day of accountability for results, it’s fool-hardy to test students on curricula they have not been taught and taught to mastery...

Teaching one thing and testing another tends to discriminate against the socioeconomically poor and disadvantaged students, since they are the most dependent on the school as the source for their academic learnings.” Dr. Larry Lezotte