Focus and Priority Schools 101 Lisa Harlan, Director of School Improvement Oregon Department of Education lisa.harlan@state.or.us Focus and Priority Schools 101

New to Focus and Priority What does it mean to be Focus and Priority How do I tackle this beast? New to Focus and Priority

Focus and Priority Schools identification & the first two years Stats on current Focus and Priority Schools Expectations of Focus and Priority Schools Turnaround Leadership and what is required to turnaround a school’s performance Before you leave you’ll have an understanding of: Today’s Objectives

How were schools Identified? Using state school report card in 2012 OAKS growth and achievement data Norm referenced system Level 1 – bottom 5% Level 2 – Bottom -5-15% Norm referenced Growth counts for the majority of the weight at elementary school Growth is measured student to student compared with other students who score similarly. It is important that you see the last two state report cards and you know what the data says. How were schools Identified?

Ratings Level 1 Rating – Bottom 5% - Priority Schools Level 2 Rating – Bottom 6%-15% - Focus Schools Ratings based on achievement, growth, sub-group growth, graduation rate, and sub-group graduation rate (HS) Ratings

First Two Years School appraisals and reports Self-assessments Indistar and initial CAP Year One – planning Year Two – implementation Year Three – here we are… Year 3 & 4 are implementation and maintenance years. Research suggests that if schools haven’t yet made progress it will be harder for them now to make progress. Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four First Two Years

Stats on Focus and Priority Schools Over half have improved to a Level 3 rating or better (60% of rated schools) 68 Elementary, 1 Middle School, 1 High School, 1 Charter School, 2 Alt. Ed Schools and 18 SIG Schools Stats on Focus and Priority Schools

After Year Two 52 schools are at a Level 3 or better (includes the not rated schools) 53 have upward trends in growth and/or achievement from last year 78 have increases in achievement and/or growth since identification Stats

Expectations of F/P Schools Level 3 rating or better by 2016 to exit improvement status We have to get a waiver renewal next year and this may change. But one thing we know, if you remain in the bottom you will be re-identified and requirements will be more restrictive. Expectations of F/P Schools

Expectations of F/P Schools Submit and update a CAP and budget 3 times a year Work with a coach 8-10 hours a week Submit formative data for reading and math Authentically engage in school turnaround Expectations of F/P Schools

Expectations of F/P Schools CAP – living document, place where you can update progress and alter course, next steps and plan, road map – few, clear priorities Budget – plan for expenses and fund your plan Turnaround – turnaround vs. improvement Work with Leadership Coach and ODE point person Cap is reviewed quarterly. Should include tasks that enable you to know if you are making progressing and allow you to adjust. Few, focused priorities. Turnaround is quick 12-18 months..focus on quick wins in the beginning and changing systems. The system that exists has produced the results that exist. Expectations of F/P Schools

Does this data drive the plan? Look at your school data and ask yourself – Does this data drive the plan? Will this plan get us there?

School Turnaround

How do we define turnaround? Documented Quick Dramatic Sustained Change in the Performance of an Organization Let’s define a turnaround for the purposes of our discussion today and put it in context of the larger school improvement discussion. This is the criteria we used in our research on turnaround leaders. First of all, turnarounds don’t apply to schools that are narrowly missing the mark. Very little of what we’ll be discussing today is relevant to schools that are performing pretty well, just lagged behind last year or missed targets with a small number of students. Turnarounds are needed in schools that have a long history of very low-performance. These are schools that fall among the lowest of the low in a given district or state. Also emphasize that it is quick … (not a 10 year continuous improvement)

Turnaround Leader Actions Specific Leader Actions Lead To Dramatic Change We hear anecdotally about chronically low-performing schools that drastically improve student learning in a matter of a year or a few. But what kind of steps are they taking to make that possible? There is a growing body of research on successful turnarounds in education. And in other sectors, there is actually a lot. We’ve conducted research and documented experience with turnarounds from - The public sector, city governments, police departments, the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Army; - The nonprofit sector, especially within health care organizations; and - A great deal of research from the for-profit sector on turnarounds in every type of organization, from IBM to Continental Airlines. What we found is that across all these sectors, effective turnaround leaders follow a formula of common actions that spur dramatic improvement. The actions interact to move the organization rapidly toward impressive, mission-determined results that influence stakeholders to support additional change.

Turnaround Leader Actions Focus on a few early wins Get the right staff, right the remainder Break organization norms Lead a turnaround campaign Push rapid-fire experimentation Drive decisions with open-air data Early Wins Choose a few high-priority goals with visible payoffs Early improvements can rally staff around the effort and overcome resistance Use early success to gain momentum Get the Right Staff Release, replace, or redeploy staff who are not fully committed to turning around student performance Bring in new staff who can help organize and drive change For remaining staff, change is mandatory, not optional Break Organization Norms Depart from organization norms or rules to deploy new tactics needed for early wins Discard failed rules and routines when they inhibit success Lead a Turnaround Campaign Communicate a clear picture of success and its benefits Signal the magnitude and urgency of dramatic change from the status quo Help staff personally feel the problems “customers” feel Work through key influencers Silence critics with speedy success Push Rapid Fire experimentation Press a fast cycle of trying new tactics, discarding failed tactics, and investing more in what works Continually reassess student learning and instructional practices to refocus goals Resist touting mere progress as ultimate success Drive decisions with open air data Choose initial goals based on rigorous analysis Use data to set goals for instructional improvement Report key staff results visibly and often Require staff to share results in open-air sessions

Turnaround Leader Actions Does Everyone know what students need to know and be able to do? Does Everyone know how you will know when they have learned it? Does Everyone know what will happen when they do and don’t learn it? Turnaround Leader Actions

Places to Start Systems? Assessment, behavior, intervention.. Master schedule – SPED, ELL, intervention drives the schedule Does everyone know the lens through which you make decisions? Do you make adult problems kid problems? Places to Start

Focus and Priority Schools identification & the First Two Years Stats on current Focus and Priority Schools Expectations of Focus and Priority Schools Turnaround Leadership and what is required to turnaround a school’s performance Today’s Objectives

Lisa Harlan, Director of School Improvement lisa. harlan@state. or Lisa Harlan, Director of School Improvement lisa.harlan@state.or.us 503-947-5685 Questions ?