ISIS Presentation November 5, 2010 Calvin Hastings Senior Director, School Support and Development

AED Middle Start Principles Academically rigorous environments that support the diverse needs of ALL learners Personalized learning communities informed by the stages of young adolescent development Distributed leadership committed to family and community partnerships to sustain success Reflective review and self-assessment to ensure continuous improvement (smart use of data)

AED’s Current Middle-Grades Work New York City Partnership Support Organization (PSO) – provide instructional and operations support for network of 12 schools. Newark Public Schools – District partner in developing and implementing middle-grades vision and improvement plan – 10 middle-grades schools Partner in National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform’s Schools to Watch i3 Grant

ISIS Approach to High School and Post Secondary Success I ndicators for S uccess: I nterventions & S upports for Middle Grades Students

Robert Balfanz Early indicator Research R. C. Neild, R. Balfanz, and L. Herzog, “An Early-Warning System,” Educational Leadership 65, no. 2 (2007): 28–33. R. C. Neild and R. Balfanz, Unfulfilled Promise: The Dimensions and Characteristics of Philadelphia’s Dropout Crisis, 2000–2005 (Baltimore: Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University, 2006). Balfanz, R., & Legters, N. (2004). Locating the dropout crisis: Which high schools produce the nation's dropouts? In G. Orfield (pp. 57– 84). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. Ed.), Dropouts in America (pp. 57–84). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

The Drop-Out Crisis Outlined Over 1.2 million kids dropout of public high schools yearly Dropouts are more likely to: –Fall into poverty –Become unemployed –Be incarcerated –Become pregnant as teenagers If the U.S. dropout rate stays the same for the next 10 years, the result will be a loss of $3 trillion to the U.S. economy

Drop-out research shows… Approximately 50 % of US dropouts are produced by 15 % of the high schools –all of which serve high poverty populations We are the feeder schools to these high schools! –(Balfanz & Legters, 2004)

The Research: Balfanz, et. al. Students in low income districts who successfully navigate grades 6 to 9 generally graduate high school. –(75% or higher graduation rates) Students in low income districts who struggle and become disengaged in the middle grades and, in particular, have an unsuccessful 6 th and/or 9 th grade transition do not graduate. –(20% or less graduation rates)

In Low Income Districts: ~75% HS Dropouts Can Be Identified in 6 th - 9 th Grade

Off-Track 6 th Graders Account for 40% of Students who Do Not Graduate HS Off-Track 6 th graders: Have a 10% chance of graduating HS on time Have a 20% chance of graduating HS 1 year late –Score poorly on standardized tests –Become overage in the middle grades –Become 9 th grade repeaters A major risk factor for dropping out of high school

4 Indicators of Success or “Falling of Track” Attendance –Attending school 80% or less of the time Behavior –Receiving a poor final behavior mark Academic Achievement –Failing Math Academic Achievement –Failing English

6 th Graders with Poor Attendance, Behavior or Course Failure have Extremely Low Graduation Rates

Course Failure Student who fail mathematics, English or any two courses in 6 th grade are in trouble Few students failed both math and English but those that did almost never graduated 85% of 6 th graders who failed English and 75% of those who failed Math in Philadelphia also received a poor final behavior mark and/or attended less then 80% of the time Course Failure is a better predictor of graduation outcomes than test scores

They don’t “grow out of it!” “Our belief is they’ll grow out of it. But the evidence shows that in high poverty environments, they don’t grow out of it without intervention. As soon as kids are off track, we need to aggressively approach these issues.” Robert Balfanz, Center for the School Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University, Education Week, March 18, 2008

The Good News… By 6th grade, a significant percentage of students can be identified as at-risk for dropping out. Before they drop out they disengage, and have multiple years of low grades, poor behavior, and weak attendance. Students are resilient ; they can be off-track for up to years before they finally give up. Most students want to do well, and they can get back on track with interventions and supports!

What Does It all Mean? Middle grades play a crucial role in HS success Without interventions and supports, students will likely fall off track to graduation The earlier a student first sends a distress signal, the greater the risk that s/he will drop out of school Intervene early and get students back on track –Decreases HS dropout rate –Positive impacts on grades, attendance, school climate

Activity: Turn and Talk Turn and talk with your neighbor about your thoughts on the early indicator research and the possible implications for your work.

ISIS

The Continuum of Success Note: Students are tagged by their lowest indicator area Red = Off-Track Yellow = Sliding Light Green = On-Track Dark Green = Exemplary

Step 1: Data Reporting An Early Warning System Includes data illustrating how many students are on/off-track to success

Step 2: ISIS 3 Tier Interventions School-wide—impact about 80% of students e.g., track attendance daily at the classroom level, respond to 1 st absence of each student Targeted—aimed at an estimated 10-15% of students e.g., require students to sign an attendance contract Intensive—reserved for the 5-10% of students who need small group or one-on-one support e.g., assign a case team to the student

ISIS keeps middle school students on track to graduation Academic InterventionsBehavioral / Attendance Interventions Whole School Preventative Research and Standards Based Core Curriculum Extended Time Math and Literacy Blocks Benchmark Assessments Positive Behavior Supports Social and Emotional Literacy Attendance Campaigns (first absence brings a response) Hands On/Minds On Courses (Arts, Science, Debate, Sports) Targeted Reduced Class Size Elective Replacement Extra Help Courses Linked to Core Course Behavior/Attendance Team- Collaborative Problem Solving, Contracts and Daily Monitoring Mentoring Intensive TutoringSocial Service Supports

Step 3: ISIS Measures Impact ISIS data tools tracks data longitudinally Measures effectiveness in improving students’ attendance, behavior, and academic achievement in math and ELA Focus on continual improvement

Intervention Discipline

What we are learning about this work? Using an early indicator framework has proven to be effective means of supporting a school- wide mindset on taking responsibility for supporting the whole child. There has been a tendency for schools to want to focus on tier 2 and 3 but we have seen a real need to focus on tier 1 both in the classroom and school-wide.

Cont. The work has resulted in heightened attention to patterns between class grades, behavior, attendance and state test results. A higher percentage of children fall into tier 2 and 3 in our schools which poses challenges. It has forced AED and schools to look in a more data driven way at which interventions are working for which children.

Cont. Grade level teams and other professional learning communities are well suited for driving the work at the school level. Effectively managing the data is time consuming and warrants a district level solution. There is a need for middle-grade schools to get data on which of their students completed 9 th grade on time.

Cont. AED has elected to focus both on preparation for high school and post secondary success rather than simply drop out prevention. We look at children that are off-track, sliding, on track and exemplary and encourage schools to set goals for each sub group.

Questions and Conversation