Blueprint DSSN Fellows Program Coordinator Overview July 22, – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved

Welcome and Introductions Your Impact Background and Context A National Movement Conclusion Agenda 2

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Why are you here?

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Welcome and Introductions Welcome to the DSSN The Blueprint DSSN Fellows program is an integral part of one of the first and most comprehensive efforts any district in the United States has made to turn around a feeder pattern of persistently low performing schools. Based on research on effective practices of high-performing high- poverty schools, The Fellows Program and the DSSN turnaround aim to serve as a model for Denver Public Schools and the nation on how to dramatically improve education for all students.

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Welcome and Introductions Your Impact Background and Context A National Movement Conclusion Agenda 5

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved The Fellows Program is a full-year tutoring program designed to provide individualized instruction to students. Tutorials consist of four parts: 1) A “Do- Now” Exercise to review material from the previous session (5 minutes) ; 2) Foundational Skills practice as delivered by a vetted curriculum (20 minutes) ; 3) Grade-level content instruction and reinforcement (20 minutes); and 4) an “Exit Ticket” to check for student mastery of delivered content (5 minutes). Fellows are trained, developed, and evaluated by a dedicated Fellow Coordinator who is an experienced manager and instructor. The Blueprint Fellows provides students with remediation and standards-based support by skilled and dedicated instructors every day during school hours. Photo Credit: Blueprint Schools Network Your Impact The Program at a Glance

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Your Impact The Power the Fellows Program Individualized instruction: Fellows provide intensive academic support targeted to each students’ individual learning needs. Mastery-Based Lessons: Tutorial lessons build students’ foundational skills and accelerate their progress towards mastery of classroom learning objectives. Relationship-Building: Through daily meetings, small-group interactions, and ongoing communication, Fellows develop strong, positive relationships with students and families. Fellows help support student achievement by providing individualized instruction, developing mastery-based lessons, and by building invaluable relationships with students.

CONFIDENTIAL – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved 8 The Fellow Coordinator is, at the core, what determines the effectiveness and cohesiveness of a Fellow core. Observation: Fellow Coordinators conduct formal observations of tutorials every 6 weeks. The Coordinator observes for the implementation of instructional techniques and facilitation of student- centered tutorial practices. Feedback: After each observation, Fellow Coordinators provide written and oral feedback to each fellow and identify target areas of improvement. Most coordinators provide ongoing (even daily) feedback to fellows on their progress towards improving those focus areas. Evaluation: Fellows are evaluated by the Fellow Coordinator twice per year according to a Rubric of Effective Tutorial Practices, which is based heavily on LEAP. Photo Credit: Blueprint Schools Network Your Impact The Power of the Coordinator

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Welcome and Introductions Your Impact Background and Context A National Movement Conclusion Agenda 9

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved The DSSN lies in the Far Northeast region of Denver, which has the highest concentration of low performing schools in Denver Public Schools. Far Northeast Background and Context The Far Northeast Region

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Far Northeast Turnaround School Demographics, Student Population FRL % Minority % ELL % Ford Elementary66496%97%46% Green Valley Elementary60773%77%36% McGlone Elementary52797%86%67% Noel Middle School74195%93%30% Montbello High School1,68685%92%23% Background and Context FNE Demographics FNE Region12,55586%92%35%

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved State test score proficiency at DSSN schools are extremely low, with the vast majority of elementary and secondary students scoring below proficient on the CSAP in Background and Context FNE Legacy Achievement

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Welcome and Introductions Your Impact Background and Context A National Movement Conclusion Agenda 13

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved 14 “In terms of strategies designed to help poor children at risk in public schools, nothing like this is going on anywhere in America.” - Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Former Blueprint Board Member A National Movement

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Consider the following figures surrounding the more than 13 million children growing up in poverty:  The average fourth grader from a low income background is three grade levels behind his/her peers in high-income communities (NAEP, 2005).  Children growing up in poverty are seven times less likely to have completed high school than their more affluent peers.  Of the students growing up in poverty who graduate from high school (less than 50%) only half will graduate from college within six years. Student Performance on NAEP Math, 4 th Grade A National Movement The Achievement Gap

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Schools like Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Academy, KIPP, IDEA, Achievement First, and Uncommon Schools have shown that it is possible to provide low-income students the opportunity to achieve at the same levels as their more affluent peers. However, these schools provide opportunities to a small percentage of students who apply and an even smaller percentage of students who truly need the support. 1 In recent years, gap-closing charter and public schools have shown us that schools can close the achievement gap and change the lives of poor students. A National Movement A Proof Point Emerges 1 In New York City, 20.8% of students who applied to a charter in 2010 were admitted. However, less than 1 percent of the 1.1 million public school students in New York City attend a charter school.

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved 17 A National Movement Learning from Research Over the last several years, research organizations from conducted an analysis of what makes these gap-closing schools unique. Using this research and its findings from its ongoing implementation, Blueprint brings the strategies that drive achievement in these schools to districts so that they too can provide students the opportunities they deserve to be successful in college and beyond. Together, these strategies constitute a blueprint of school reform that represent the first time that the successful practices of high performing charter schools have been transplanted into traditional public schools.

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved A National Movement A Research-based Strategy – The Blueprint Excellence in Leadership and Instruction Increased Instructional Time A No-Excuses School Culture of High Expectations Daily Tutoring in Critical Growth Years Using Data to Improve Instruction

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Welcome and Introductions Your Impact Background and Context A National Movement Conclusion Agenda 19

2012 – Blueprint Schools Network. All Rights Reserved Your work has the potential to drive lasting change in our historically most underperforming schools and to provide chances for success for thousands of students who would otherwise not have them. Our opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of students in public schools across America is now. Together, we can. Conclusion