1. 6th Grade Self-Contained 101
Presentation to the Board of Education
Kristi Kahl
Director
Middle School PLC/Research
Tom Malkus
Program Administrator
Middle School PLC/Leadership Development
November 8, 2010
Slide 1: Kristi
Introduce self (6th grade teacher at Hamilton, current parent of a 6th grader)
Asks Tom to introduce self (6th grade self-contained teacher, etc.)

2. “We must be willing to change what we do in our classrooms so students can grow – not hope that students grow so we don’t have to change what we do in our classrooms.”
- Todd Whitaker
Slide 2: Tom
Purpose of today’s presentation is to update you on how we are working to change our schools and our classrooms in the Middle School PLC, with emphasis on the 6th grade self-contained initiative.

3. Middle School PLC: Overview
PI Year 5 Schools
Technical assistance
Plan of alternate governance
Oversight of Superintendent (2009)
Director (50%) and 3 (50%) School Coaches
Increased Support
Focus on Site Leadership
Staffed with Data AP position
Focus on Instruction
OCIPD placed content coaching resources
Slide 3: Kristi
PLC Schools: Butler, Hamilton, Franklin, Jefferson, Lindbergh, Marshall, Monroe, Stephens, and Washington. (Monroe just joined PLC so they do not have 6th grade SC this year).
Leadership—finding most talented leaders and bringing them to the PLC—and with our Federally funded grant, continuing to develop them.

4. Middle School PLC: Initiatives
GOAL AREAS:
Math
Algebra, MAP2D
ELA
Write for the Future
6th Self-Contained
Safe and Civil
Culture/Morale
APPROACH:
Use of Data
Placement
Assessment
Adult Behavior Indicators
Prof. Development
Teachers
Principals
Data AP/AP
Slide 4: Kristi
Goal areas, linked to Common Core
Huge increases in Algebra enrollment
Writing is 7th grade focus for common core, show you an example next.
Adult behavior indicators—Innovation Configuration

5. PDSA: Writing Act Plan Study Do Define the System Study the Results
Redeploy for ’11-’12 and
make plans for PD
Lack of attention
to writing in texts
Continue focus areas
Or make adjustments
Plan for
Continuous
Improvement
Define the
System
Standardize
Improvements
Act
Quarterly, walkthrough,
perceptions, writing,
CST data
Surveyed teachers re:
Student writing needs
Study the
Results
Assess
Current
System
Study
Plan
Slide 5: Kristi
Cycles of improvement around each of our goal areas in the PLC.
All apply to 6th grade too. Do
Try Out
Improvement
Theory
Analyze Causes,
Identify
Solutions
Train teachers
Use program to teach
Collaboratively score
Identified Expository Focus
Elaboration/Evidence (76%)
Organization (49%)

6. 5th and 6th Grade CST, 2010: LBUSD Compared to Garden Grove
Slide 6: Tom
CST DATA from Spring
Benchmark with Garden Grove (use CDE data to compare, which has CST only)
Math: This year 70% proficient in 5th grade, but only 48% in 6th grade. (last year same kids were at 60% proficient in math) 12% drop
Garden Grove 74% in 5th grade, with 66% proficient in 6th grade. (last year same students were at 62%) so they actually had a 4% gain.
ELA: This year 60% proficient in 5th grade, but only 48% in 6th grade. (last year same kids were at 51% proficient) 3% drop
Garden Grove 57% in 5th grade, with 58% proficient in 6th grade. (last year same students were at 51%) so they actually had a 7% gain.
Using MAP2D, and similar ELA programs. 6th graders remain at elementary schools. See similar patterns when we compare to Fresno, who also has students in self-contained.

7. 6th Grade Achievement 5th (2009) and 6th (2010) CST/CMA Scores
Slide 7: Tom
When we take a look at this drop from 5th to 6th comparing actual students assigned to the PLC to the district, we see that it is even more pronounced.
(note scores include CMA, which were not included on previous slide as CDE doesn’t report that way)
Math (PLC: 51% in 5th and 32% in 6th, with District at 64% and 45%--both showing a drop of 19%.)
ELA (PLC: 34% in 5th and 27% in 6th, with District at 52% in 5th and 47% in 6th).
This data not only shows the “drop” but also shows that the incoming students into the PLC schools begin farther behind their peers at the other middle schools (math: 51% vs. 64% and ELA 34% vs. 52%).
Shows a real need to do something differently at these schools, and Tom is going to now begin to tell you the story of the 6th grade self-contained initiative.

8. 6th Grade 2010-2011 Self-Contained End of year Data “Drop”
Close monitoring of ELA/Math Data
Self-Contained
Teacher: Student
1:185/22
Teacher: Student
1:25/35
Disconnected Classes
Integration of Instruction
Slide 8: Tom
Items on the left are the reasons why we moved to self-contained.
Items on the right are the intended outcomes.
Need to find ways to keep parents more involved in their child’s education, etc….
Loss of Parent Involvement & Communication
Maintain/Build Parent Involvement

9. SUPERINTENDENT & PRINCIPALS
PLANNING PROCESS
SUPERINTENDENT & PRINCIPALS
PLC Meetings
1:1 with Coaches
TEACHERS
Faculty Meetings
Surveys
Q&A
PARENTS
Parent Forum
Letter
Orientation
Slide 9: Kristi
The planning process took place in Spring of last year.
Chris met with the principals to talk through the vision of the self-contained transition, during their monthly meetings.
The School Coaches (Kristi, Pete, and Frank) then worked one on one with their sites to begin the planning process at the site level.
Teachers were involved in the process through Quality Improvement meetings that were held at each site, and facilitated by the coaches.
Staff surveys were conducted, and Q & A’s were published to get the information out to the whole staff.
As issues came up, the administrators worked through them in their monthly principals meetings.
Chris was able to get input and feedback from parents in his Parent Forum sessions. Parents were very supportive of the nurturing environment of the self-contained.
Letters went out to parents informing them of the change, and each site hosted a special 6th grade orientation to bring students and parents up to speed on the change.
Reference handout that was used to explain changes to teachers in Spring

10. 6th Self-Contained Program
Classes of 35 students
Special “EL” and “Literacy” classes of 25
Increased time:
Math/ELA
Interventions for struggling students
PE/Enrichment classes
GATE students cored
English/History
Math/Science
Slide 10: Kristi
(Slide is self-explanatory)

11. Benefits
Slide 11: Tom
We wanted to make sure we captured the teachers’ voices for our presentation, so we have a few clips to share with you.
These first two clips are Nicole Jernigan at Marshall, a former 3rd/4th grade teacher and EL Coach, and Daniel McGlynn from Hamilton, who spent 4 years as a 7th/8th grade ELA/History teacher talking about the benefits of the self-contained classroom.

12. Previous Teaching Experience
Multiple Subjects Credentialed Teacher
Slide 12: Tom
So who are these teachers?
68% have some background in self-contained, but it might have been a long time ago
32% have only secondary
Looking at last year’s assignment 61% were already in middle school, most at same school
36% came from elementary
3% (2 teachers)
For some, they are teaching subjects (math, ELA) that they haven’t taught since student teaching over a decade ago.

13. At first I felt...

14. Professional Development
Workshops & Support Meetings
Admin Training
Coaching
Innovation
Configuration
SELF-CONTAINED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CONTENT
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Slide 14: Kristi
Lots of “retooling” is needed for the teachers, so a comprehensive PD plan was put into place.
Content (mention teachers who are teaching math or ELA for the first time)
6th self-contained (mention Classroom management, small group instruction, and curriculum integration)

15. Stages of Change & SupportI M P A C T 6
Refocusing 5
Collaboration 4
Consequence S K 3
Management E L F 2
Personal 1
Informational
Awareness I M P A C T 6
Teaming 5 4
Coaching S K 3 E L F 2
Training/Coaching 1
Training
Publications
Slide 56: Kristi
CBAM—Shirley Hall and Gene Hord, predicted stages of change that teachers go through
On the left—stages we go through when we assimilate to a change
On the right—what we are doing to support teachers through this change
Support should change over time, as teachers become more adept.
(the kids aren’t experiencing nearly as much change as the adults!)
Reference the Innovation Configuration (self-assessment, means to gather data on program fidelity)

16. Teacher Training 6th Self-Contained 101 Write for the Future
Mind Institute
MAP2D
Selected:
GATE
Imagine It!
Slide 16: Kristi
These are the workshops that have been offered this past summer, and this school year.
The coaches and curriculum leaders have also been providing after-school (voluntary) support sessions.
Reference handout with list of trainings to date

17. Teacher Survey: Training
The amount of training…
The value of the training…
Slide 17: Kristi
AMOUNT:
50% say too much training
43% say right amount
7% say not enough
So there is a 50/50 split!
VALUE:
61% and 32% for a total of 93% (Valuable or Very Valuable)
Too much training, but valuable!

18. Coaching Support COACHES 6th Grade Self-Contained MAP2D
Write for the Future
Imagine It! (EL/Lit)
GATE
Slide 18: Kristi
While they are being asked to make major changes, they are receiving support
Support comes from Patsy Lambert (35 kids classes) and Ryan Ung (25 kid EL/Literacy classes) and the OCIPD coaches who are supporting all 3 grade levels.
Includes support from the GATE office, even though they aren’t technically part of the self-contained initiative.

19. Teacher Survey: Coaching
Slide 19: Kristi
Amount of coaching:
Right amount 57%
Too much 27%
Not enough 16%
Shift support from those who are feeling like they have too much to those who feel like they need more support.
Since coaches have been doing the training, some of this may be due to just too much time together with lots to do.

20. Challenges Helping teachers manage change all at once
Finding balance of “push” vs. “support”
3 new subjects for some
Some logistics, like furniture
Secondary teacher contract limitations
Slide 20: Tom
Secondary Contract Limits:
Department chair structure doesn’t work with this model
Required daily conference period makes scheduling challenging
PE minutes are ½ as 7th and 8th, but alternating days between elective classes and PE would change teacher/student contact ratio and number of classes require a waiver.

21. Skill Improvement National Training Lab Implementation Dip
Beginning Awareness
Awkward
Consciously
Skilled
Integrated
Implementation Dip
Growth
Skill Improvement
Slide 21: Tom
We would expect to be coming out of the October “Dip” and progressing to the “awkward” stage about now.
There are many who are much farther along.
There are some who are a bit behind.
Practice over time
National Training Lab

22. Now I feel...