1. Division Liaison Update
Division Liaison Meeting
The College of William and Mary
January 7, 2013

2. U.S. Department of Education’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver Monitoring
Key Questions Regarding Focus Schools
Where are the state educational agency’s focus schools in their preparations to implement interventions in the first semester?
What processes, such as needs analyses, are local educational agencies and schools using to determine what interventions will be implemented?
How is the state educational agency ensuring that its local educational agencies implement interventions aligned with the reason for the school’s identification as a focus school?
What resources and supports are the state educational agency providing to those local educational agencies as they develop their plans for interventions?
What process does the state educational agency have in place to ensure that all focus schools will begin implementing interventions in the first semester? For example, do local educational agencies have a plan or report that they must submit?
How is the state educational agency planning to hold local educational agencies accountable for improving school and student performance?
How and when does the state educational agency plan to monitor local educational agency implementation of interventions in priority and focus schools?

3. The division- and school-level plans will be the key to monitoring each local educational agency’s compliance with the ESEA flexibility waiver provisions. Both plans will be submitted via the Indistar® dashboard on:
January 18, 2013
April 30, 2013
June 28, 2013

4. Quarterly Audit Reports -
Findings
Division leadership teams did not update their indicators to address the needs of the
identified focus/Tier III schools. Many used the same indicators and tasks from previous
years.
Meeting minutes and agendas were not entered on a monthly basis.
Some quarterly reports did not include action steps for the division leadership team to
monitor:
Tier 2 and 3 interventions with an emphasis on the proficiency gap groups
Use of the VDOE resources (i.e. SOL Practice Test Items)
Instruction via classroom observations involving the principal and members of the
division leadership team
Disaggregation and analysis of formative data

5. Sample Action Steps from Current Division Liaisons
The Division Leadership Support Team will require Building Principals of identified school improvement schools to review the new 2012 DOE resources relating to SOL practice items with all teachers (prior to January 15, 2013) at grade level meetings. These resources are as follows: (1) New technology-enhanced item types for mathematics, reading, writing, and science SOL tests; (2) copies/explanation of the new DOE Teacher Direct web site; (3) A review and understanding of attachment A to Superintendent’s Memo no entitled “Strategies for minimizing testing times and improving performance on mathematics SOL tests”.
The Division Leadership Support Team will provide and monitor implementation at Focus and Tier III schools researched based Tier II and Tier III interventions prior to January 15, This action step will be accomplished by assignment of appropriate Central Office Subject Area Supervisors to each school for assistance in the identification of tiered, differentiated intervention programs in reading and mathematics to be used with Tier II and Tier III students.
Require the division Math and English Specialists, not only the Title I specialist, to provide assistance to the school by making frequent visits and classroom observations as well as attend some of the School Leadership Team meetings.

6. The ESEA Flexibility Waiver/FY2009 Tier III School Requirements
What is the key to developing robust action steps for division leadership teams?
The ESEA Flexibility Waiver/FY2009 Tier III School Requirements

7. Division Requirements
School Requirements
Collaborate with an external VDOE contractor and participate in a needs sensing interview
Convene a division leadership team including representatives of:
Title I
Instruction
Special education
English language learners
Principals of each school
Meet as a division leadership team on a monthly basis
Develop, implement, and monitor a division improvement plan that is aligned with the needs of each focus school
Participate in quarterly meetings with schools to review data and make decisions about needed technical assistance
Modify division improvement plan on a quarterly basis based on data analysis
Convene a school leadership team including a member of the division leadership team
Utilize a VDOE-approved adaptive reading assessment program to determine student growth at least quarterly
Utilize the Algebra Readiness Diagnostic Test (ARDT) provided by the VDOE (required only for focus schools with grade 5 or higher)
Develop, implement, and monitor a school improvement plan
Develop an intervention strategy for all students who have failed an SOL assessment or failed to meet the fall PALS benchmark
Regularly analyze a variety of data points to make strategic, data-driven decisions, and implement the needed interventions for identified students
Modify school improvement plan on a quarterly basis based on data analysis

8. Division Liaison Monthly Visits Division Leadership Teams
with
Division Leadership Teams

9. ESEA Flexibility Waiver - Division Liaison Responsibilities
Engages and funds a VDOE-assigned and state-approved contractor (one per division per 1-3 focus schools) via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the SEA to meet the identified needs of the school(s) and division to build their capacity to support leadership practices and support improved teacher effectiveness by coordinating services as follows:
Facilitate the needs sensing interview;
Provide leadership and teacher professional development focused on what evidence to look for
when observing classrooms; coaching for literacy and mathematics; effective modeling practices;
planning based on classroom observations; research-based intervention practices; and, response to
intervention;
Provide implementation support and coaching throughout the year for principals and teachers.
Model effective practices and provide guided practice until practices are in-place independently of
the contractor;
Provide modeling to principals in providing feedback to teachers, and provide guided practice to
principals until the principal is able to exhibit practices independently;
Implement, monitor, and support an intervention model at the school-level with a focus on students
with disabilities and English language learners; and
Build the division’s capacity to support low-performing schools and increase student achievement.
Site visits, modeling teacher practices, modeling data analysis, assistance with developing and monitoring division and school improvement plans, and recommending outside differentiated technical assistance provided by OSI.

10. The following activities must be completed during the monthly visits with division leadership teams:
Reviewing division- and school-level improvement plans
Observing in classrooms with the building principal and members of the division
leadership team
Monitoring the implementation of Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions with an emphasis on
the proficiency gap groups
Reviewing all current, relevant data related to the progress and success of the Tier 2
and Tier 3 interventions cited in the improvement plan
Reviewing specific actions/activities/examples indicating that each focus/Tier III school
has implemented and is providing ongoing monitoring using VDOE resources (i.e.
curriculum frameworks, blueprints, SOL practice test items)
Preparing for the next visit
A meeting agenda will assist the division leadership team and the division liaison organize the required activities.

11. Protocol for Visits to Local Educational Agencies
with Focus Schools – Division Leadership Support Team
Sample Protocol for Monthly Visits by Division Liaison
Prior to the visit:
Review:
minutes from previous meeting
next steps from each division and/or school previous meeting
division and school Indistar plan (progress monitoring of tasks,
updated minutes from previous meeting, agenda for next meeting, etc.)
VDOE OSI timeline calendar for upcoming due dates for reports, rubric,
etc. to include on upcoming agenda
review the monthly OSI Update document
Send to division contact:
agenda items (with person responsible and suggested time frames)
“next steps” due by next meeting

12. Request division contact to:
develop agenda (including person responsible and suggested time frames)
send agenda to all team members at least 3 days prior to the meeting
inform division liaison prior to the meeting of members not able to attend
During the visit:
Division contact leads meeting
Project the division and school Indistar plans for all team members to view
Division contact reviews meeting agenda
Team reviews meeting minutes from previous meeting for accuracy, editing, etc.
For meetings held in schools, an agenda item should include:
a walkthrough of classrooms (assign teams and time frames)
specific “look for’s”
opportunity and time to debrief following the walkthrough
Each agenda item is presented by the person responsible
When appropriate, an agenda item should include the status of requested technical
assistance – where technical assistance has already been provided, include status of
implementation and monitoring progress

13. recognition of “kudos” from the meeting/visit.
Following the visit:
Provide follow-up communication(i.e. ) from each meeting /visit to division contact.
recognition of “kudos” from the meeting/visit.
provide an opportunity to reinforce a strategy or concept that was discussed during
the recent visit
Keep in touch by , phone call, etc with division contact
information requiring feedback and/or clarification
important thing is availability and accessibility for open communication
“Keep it simple. When you get too complex you forget the
obvious.”
Al Maguire
“A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.”
Ara Parseghian,