1. UIP Round 2 Leadership Council St. Vrain Valley School District 9/1/11

2. Agenda Overview of Unified Improvement Planning What’s New Deadlines Reminders Suggested School Timeline Resources/Support Review of Data Driven Dialogue

3. The Unified Improvement Plan involves the processes of: Preparing to Plan Identifying Trends and Prioritizing Performance Challenges Identifying Root Causes Setting Performance Targets Identifying Major Improvement Strategies Monitoring Progress

4. School Level Resources UIP Process

5. What’s New? UIP Handbook - template guidance is out of the template and in the handbook UIP Template Changes – Progress on targets – Priority Need Performance Challenges – Status of Action Step (complete, in progress, not begun) – Title 1 Addendum Alpine Achievement – plan development in progress

6. SVVSD Timeline for School Accreditation and Plan Submission Turnaround, Priority Improvement, Title 1 on Corrective Action – Dec. 1 – turn into Area Assistant Superintendent for review and feedback – Jan. 7 – with revisions completed turn into Area Assistant Superintendent – March 30 th – submit revisions from State Review Panel feedback to CDE (not Title 1 schools) Other Schools – March 1 st – to Area Assistant Superintendent – April 8 th – with revisions completed turn into Area Assistant Superintendent  All Plans must be reviewed by District Accountability/Accreditation Committee before submitting to CDE

7. Target Progress – UIP p. 4 List targets from last year’s UIP Was the target met? How close was the school in meeting the target? – Examples coming – If not met, should consider in prioritizing performance challenges – If met…was the target rigorous enough UIP Handbook – p. 10

8. Priority Performance Challenges UIP p. 5 UIP Handbook p. 11-12 Summary of the Data Trends Example… – For the past three years, English Language Learners have had median growth percentiles below 30 in all content areas. Non-example… – No differentiation in math instruction when student learning needs are varied

9. Status of Action Steps UIP p. 8 Where are you at with this action step… – Completed – In Progress – Not Begun

10. Reminders Need only 1 target for all four performance indicators where a school is not meeting/exceeding – Academic Achievement – Academic Growth – Academic Growth Gaps – Post-secondary Workforce Readiness Need to set targets for every Priority Performance Challenge (therefore, need only 4 Priority Performance Challenges)

11. Reminders Need at least three years of data and data besides CSAP Try to focus on one area…at the most two – Example…math in achievement, growth, and growth gaps Major Improvement Strategies - need 1-2 (at the most 3) All language needs to be consistent throughout the plan…example - list root causes exactly as written in each part

12. Reminders Root Cause – The problem would not have occurred if the cause had not been present – The problem would not reoccur if the cause was corrected – Correction of the cause would not lead to the same or similar problems Is in the school’s power to fix…not student attributes (SES, lack of parent involvement, ELL) Example – Math vocabulary not taught consistently and/or with best- practice vocabulary instruction strategies.

13. School Suggested Timeline August/September – – Data Driven Dialogue (with staff) – Target Progress – p. 4 September/October – – Refine Root Cause (with staff) – Description of Trends – p. 5 – Priority Performance Challenges – p. 5 – Data Narrative – p. 6 October/November – – Target Setting Form p. 7 – Action Planning (with staff) – p. 8

14. Data Driven Dialogue Review

15. Gather and Organize Data Required reports: www.schoolview.orgwww.schoolview.org – School Performance Framework – Growth Summary Report – AYP Summaries – Post Secondary Readiness Data Recommended: the use of more sources of data (elementary should definitely consider primary data like PALS) Must consider at least three years of data

16. Data Sources in our District Schoolview.org – reports listed in previous slide Alpine Achievement – – Colorado Assessments - CSAP, CSAPA, CO-ACT, Colorado Growth Model, CELA, CELA Growth Model, AYP Report – Data Warehouse – Galileo, PALS, AP, DIBELS, SRI, Theme Tests and many more – Plans – Literacy, RtI, ALP, 504 Infinite Campus

17. Section III, Step 2 Analyze Trends in the Data and Identify Priority Needs Data Driven Dialogue  Step 1 – Predict (Activate & Engage)  Step 2 – Explore (Explore & Discover)  Step 3 – Explain (Organize & Integrate)  Step 4 – Take Action

18. Step One: Predict (Data Driven Dialogue) The purpose: To activate interest and bring out our prior knowledge, preconceptions, and assumptions regarding the data with which we are about to work. Prediction allows dialogue participants to share the frame of reference through which they view the world and lays the foundation for collaborative inquiry. The steps include: 1.Clarify the questions that can be answered by the data 2.Make predictions about data 3.Identify assumptions behind each prediction Prediction Sentence Starters: I predict...I expect to see...I anticipate... Assumption Questions: Why did I make that prediction? What is the thinking behind my prediction? What do I know that leads me to make that prediction? What experiences do I have that are consistent with my prediction?

19. Step One (Chart Paper) (Data Driven Dialogue) PredictionsAssumptions

20. Step One: Predict – Hints (Data Driven Dialogue) Predictions may go fairly quickly at this point because staff members have already seen some of the data Develop assumptions concurrently Groups do not need to agree upon these Give groups a mostly blank data table to help with predictions (so they have some idea of what data they are predicting)

21. 100 0 OverallGrade 4Grade 5BoysGirlsFRLNonFRLELLnonELLIEPnonIEP CSAP Growth Percentile

22. Step Two: Explore (Data Driven Dialogue) The purpose: Generate priority observations or fact statements about the data that reflect the best thinking of the group. The steps include: 1.Interact with the data (highlighting, creating graphical representations, reorganizing) 2.Look for patterns, trends, things that pop out 3.Brainstorm a list of facts (observations) 4.Prioritize observations 5.Turn observations into priority needs Avoid: Statements that use the word “because” or that attempt to identify the causes of data trends. Sentence starters: It appears... I see that... It seems...The data shows...

23. Step 2: Explore - Hints (Data Driven Dialogue) It is very important to take the time to really explore the data…remind people to not jump to “because” or “action steps” and to really look at what the data is telling them Give people one piece of data at a time Refine Observations: – In math 58% of 5 th graders were proficient or advanced compared to 52% of 4 th graders. – The ELL population increased from 10% last year to 30% this year.

24. Step Three: Explain (Data Driven Dialogue) The Purpose: Generate theories of causation, keeping multiple voices in the dialogue. Deepen thinking to get to the best explanations and identify additional data to use to validate the best theories. The steps include: 1.Generate questions about observations 2.Brainstorm explanations 3.Categorize/classify brainstormed explanations 4.Narrow (based on criteria) 5.Prioritize 6.Get to root causes 7.Validate with other data Guiding Questions: What explains our observations about out data? What might have caused the patterns we see in the data? Is this our best thinking? How can we narrow our explanations? What additional data sources will we explore to validate our explanation?

25. Step 3: Explain – Hints (Data Driven Dialogue) Help groups stay open to multiple interpretations of why…develop multiple theories of causation Separate the generation of theories of causation from theories of action (do not go to action steps in this step)

26. UIP Section III, Step 3 Root Cause Analysis A cause is a “root cause” if: 1.The problem would not have occurred if the cause had not been present 2.The problem will not reoccur if the cause is dissolved 3.Correction of the cause will not lead to the same or similar problems ***the school should have control over the root cause

27. Steps in Root Cause Analysis 1.Generating explanations (brainstorm) 2.Categorize/classify explanations 3.Narrow (eliminate explanations over which you have no control) 4.Prioritize 5.Get to root cause 6.Validate with other data

28. Non-examples of Root Cause Student attributes (poverty level) Student motivation Brainstorm a few ideas with your table team of explanations that might appear to be root causes but don’t qualify

29. Root Cause Examples The school does not provide additional support/interventions for students performing at the unsatisfactory level Lack of clear expectations for tier 1 instruction in math. Lack of intervention tools and strategies for math. Limited English language development. Inconsistency in instruction in the area of language development. Low expectations for all subgroups. Low expectations for IEP students.

30. Five Why’s (Explanation) 1.Why? Because: 2.Why? Because: 3.Why? Because: 4. Why? Because: 5.Why? Because:

31. 5 Why Example ELL students are not engaged in learning in the core content classes. Why? Because… – Core curriculum is not accessible to ELL students. Why? Because… – ELL students’ English skills are not proficient enough to participate in discussions, ask questions, and comprehend core content. Why? Because… – There is inconsistent English language support for students in core content classes. Why? Because… – Lack of implementation of INSIDE and EDGE ELL curriculum as parallel support for ELL students in core content classes.

32. Step Four: Take Action (Data Driven Dialogue) The Purpose: Prepare to take action based on the data. The critical steps include: 1.Change “observations”/problem statements into goals 2.State the goals as SMART Goals 3.Determine what will indicate that the problem has been solved or the goal(s) have been met. 4.Identify strategies and action steps that will eliminate or correct the “root cause(s)” of the problem 5.Identify what data to track over time to determine if action steps are having the desired effect Cautions Make sure that there is a direct causal link between the goal or solution and the action steps that are being taken. Clearly define what success looks like and measure it. Don’t be afraid to change course if action steps are not having the desired effect.

33. Step 4 - Hints (Data Driven Dialogue) Action plan must be able to eliminate the root cause Action steps must be within the power of the group to implement (budget, capacity, etc.) Action plan should be a commitment to action by the group

34. St. Vrain Resources UIP Handbook ACI (Assessment, Curriculum, Instruction) blog http://blogs.stvrain.k12.co.us/aciblogs.stvrain.k12.co.us/aci New Principals – scheduling sessions Tori Teague, Regina Renaldi, Amy Weed, Mark Mills, Connie Syferd