©IRRE First Things First : A Framework and Supports For District and School Reform Steve Gering Kansas City Kansas Public Schools Institute for Research and Reform in Education St. Louis, MO April 23-24, 2004 Archived Information

©IRRE Who Are We? Institute for Research and Reform in Education  IRRE is a not-for-profit organization  We created and developed the district and school reform framework First Things First  We provide direct technical assistance to schools and school districts  We advise state departments of education

©IRRE A comprehensive reform framework... developed to raise students’ academic performance... to levels required for post-secondary education and high quality employment. What Is First Things First?

©IRRE Who Does IRRE Work With?  Urban Districts –Kansas City, KS –Kansas City, MO –Riverview Gardens, MO –Houston, TX –New Orleans, LA  Rural Districts –High schools in Greenville and Shaw, MS  State Departments of Education –Missouri –Colorado –New Jersey

©IRRE Who Are IRRE’s “Sponsors”?  Private Foundations  State Departments of Education  US Department of Education

©IRRE FTF Strategies  Small Learning Communities  Family Advocate System  Instructional Improvement

©IRRE Evidence Of Effectiveness  Preliminary data from external evaluation of FTF in Kansas City, Kansas –Approximately 20,000 students –Majority of children minority –74% free and reduced lunch –Four comprehensive and one selective high schools –Completed third year of district-wide implementation of FTF in 2003

©IRRE Five Year Trend In KCK - High School Attendance Rate ALL COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOLS (N=4) Source data: Kansas State Department of Education All high schools implementing FTF

©IRRE KCK Dropout Rate – Six Year Trend ALL COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOLS (N=4) Source data: Kansas State Department of Education All high schools implementing reform

©IRRE KCK Graduation Rate – Six Year Trend ALL COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOLS (N=4) Source data: Kansas State Department of Education All high schools implementing reform

©IRRE Trends In 11 th Grade Reading Assessment Scores: Kansas City, Kansas High Schools Source data: Kansas State Department of Education – all students tested

©IRRE Closing The Racial Achievement Gap In KCK (Grade 5, 8 and 11) Source data: Kansas State Department of Education – all students tested N=905N=3140N=896N=3313

©IRRE Closing The Economic Achievement Gap (Grades 5, 8 and 11) Source data: Kansas State Department of Education – all students tested N=1338N=2721N=1291N=2918

©IRRE Other Evidence  Implementation and sustainability –Six generations (1998 – 2003) of FTF high schools (24 high schools) now implementing the framework –No school beginning implementation has stopped implementation over this period

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IRRE Technical Assistance To Districts And States  Clarifying expectations and rationale for high school reform –Outcomes –Conditions –Implementation strategies and standards –Needed supports  School  District  Community  State

©IRRE IRRE Technical Assistance To Districts And States  Planning process toward implementation –Structured –Participatory –Efficient

©IRRE IRRE Technical Assistance To Districts And States  Capacity building –System leadership development to initiate and sustain reform  Mapping responsibilities and building capacity –Existing leaders –Emerging leaders –Data based continuous improvement  Measuring what matters  Using data to guide innovation

©IRRE IRRE Technical Assistance To High Schools  Small Learning Communities –Staffing and scheduling –Facilities use –Teacher leadership –Effective team work and use of common planning time –Ensuring equity and purity –Using data to improve student commitment and performance

©IRRE IRRE Technical Assistance To High Schools  Family Advocate System –Set up –Advocate training –Curriculum  Instructional Improvement –Effective instructional coaching and supervision –Curriculum enrichment  Struggling readers and math learners  Thematic infusion –Design and effective use of professional development time  Engagement  Alignment  Rigor

©IRRE Why District-wide Reform Of High Schools?  Morally defensible –Why don’t all our students deserve these opportunities? –Prevent draining of innovative teachers into “reforming” schools and out of equally needy schools  Efficient –Not enough money to run one kind of high school much less two or three –Compels realignment of core resources to support highest priorities

©IRRE Why District-wide Reform Of High Schools?  Coherent focus for district supports and policies –Professional development of teachers and administrators –Personnel recruitment, evaluation and retention  Sustainability –Individual schools easily marginalized and tokenized when surrounded by business as usual –Reform less vulnerable to departure of individual leaders –Reform becomes the work of the district rather than a program in one school  Easier to align state supports and policies with the work of districts

IRRE 1420 Locust Street, 7Q Philadelphia, PA Laurie Levin 625 Minnesota Ave. Kansas City, KS Steve Gering