1. Infusing Literacy Across the Curriculum: A Key to Raising Student Achievement Sue Szachowicz Senior Fellow, ICLE Principal Brockton High

2. Agenda for the session WHO we are and what we faced HOW we did this: 1. Empowering a Team 2. Focusing on Literacy 3. Implementing with Fidelity 4. Monitoring Like Crazy Results: Changing the Culture For What It’s Worth: Leadership advice 2

3. Transforming a Culture through Literacy A.K.A. - It’s COOL to be smart at Brockton High!!! As we say in Boxer Country, we are WICKED AWESOME!!! Our Turn Around Story… We did it our way!

4. Our “School of Champions” Brockton High School Brockton, Massachusetts (For the entire PBS piece: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to- know/uncategorized/brockton-high- proves-that-big-schools-can-be- good-schools/6959/

6. Comprehensive 9 – 12 Enrollment: 4,181 Poverty Level: 75% Minority population: 73% 50 different languages 50% speak another language in the home Approximately 12% in Transitional Bilingual Ed. Approximately 11% receive Special Education Services Who are We??? Our Demographics

7. 57% Black - includes African American, Cape Verdean, Haitian, Jamaican, and others 26% White 14% Hispanic 2.5% Asian.5% Native American Meet our Students

8. Mass. implemented a high stakes test (MCAS) Three-quarters of our students would not be earning a diploma Culture of low expectations – “Students have a right to fail” Negative image in our city, in the state Yet we were living in DENIAL!!!! Who is responsible???? We had silos (My kids, your kids, not OUR kids) Success by chance – depended on who your teacher was – are you lucky??? \The Problem: (actually we had many…)

9. State Mandates…We faced: MCAS 1998 Failure ELA – 44 % (Sped – 78%) MATH – 75% (Sped – 98%) MCAS 1998 Advanced+Proficient ELA – 22% MATH – 7%

10. MCAS??? So you think it’s easy??? Remember, they MUST pass to graduate – NO exceptions!

11. Burial at Thebes from Sophocles’ Antigone Shakespearean Sonnet # 73 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (3 page excerpt) Making Humus by Composting by Liz Ball Proof (four page play excerpt by David Auburn) ELA MCAS SELECTIONS: (and remember, they are sophomores!)

12. 12 In the formula, h and t are defined as follows: t = the time, in seconds, that has elapsed since the rocket was launched h = the height, in feet, of the rocket above the ground at time t Use the formula to answer the following questions. a.What was the height, in feet, of the rocket 1 second after it was launched? Show your work. b. What was the height, in feet, of the rocket 6 seconds after it was launched? Show your work. c. The value of h was 0 when the rocket hit the ground. How many seconds after the rocket was launched did it hit the ground? Show your work. d. How many seconds after the rocket was launched was the height of the rocket 160 feet? Show your work. SAMPLE MCAS MATH QUESTION: Jason launched a model rocket from the ground. The formula below can be used to determine the height of the rocket above the ground at any time during the rocket’s flight. h = 16t(7 – t)

13. For the red gene, the allele for the presence of red pigment (R) is dominant and the allele for the absence of red pigment (r) is recessive. Likewise, for the black gene, the allele for the presence of black pigment (B) is dominant and the allele for the absence of black pigment (b) is recessive. a. Draw the Punnett square for the cross of a snake that is homozygous dominant for the red color with a snake that is heterozygous for the red color. What percentage of the offspring is expected to have red pigment in their skin? b. Draw the Punnett square for the cross of two snakes that are heterozygous for the black color. What percentage of the offspring are expected to have black pigment in their skin? c. The parent snakes in part (b) that are heterozygous for black color are both homozygous recessive for the red gene. Each parent has genotype rr for the red gene. Based on this information, what percentage of their offspring are expected to lack both the red and black pigments in their skin? Explain your reasoning. SAMPLE MCAS BIOLOGY QUESTION: Corn snakes show variety in their skin color pattern. While the complete genetics of corn snake color are complex, the most common colors on normal corn snakes—red and black—are each coded by one gene.

15. Can you believe this??? But even worse… We faced a flawed belief system: “Students have a right to fail.” Former BHS Principal

16. Success at Brockton High then ???

17. That’s where we were… Here’s a preview of where we are now… Then, at the end some WICKED AWESOME stuff!…

18. MCAS 1998 Advanced+Proficient ELA – 22 % MATH – 7 % MCAS 2012 Advanced+Proficient ELA – 83.3% MATH – 70.3 % MCAS 2012 Advanced+Proficient ELA – 83.3% MATH – 70.3 % THEN NOW

19. MCAS 1998 Failure ELA – 44% MATH – 75% MCAS 2012 Failure ELA – 1.9% MATH – 8.7% MCAS 2012 Failure ELA – 1.9% MATH – 8.7%

20. It’s cool and fun to be smart Honor Roll Statistics 1998 859 STUDENTS (4400 students) 19% 2012 1561 STUDENTS ( (4100 students) 38%

22. Turnaround at Brockton High BROCKTON - Brockton High School has every excuse for failure, serving a city plagued by crime, poverty, housing foreclosures, and homelessness. Almost two-thirds of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and 14 percent are learning to speak English. More than two-thirds are African-American or Latino - groups that have lagged behind their peers across the state on standardized tests. But Brockton High, by far the state’s largest public high school with 4,200 students, has found a success in recent years that has eluded many of the state’s urban schools: MCAS scores are soaring, earning the school state recognition as a symbol of urban hope. Principal Susan Szachowicz, shown chatting at lunch with Yiriam Lopez, is in many ways the school’s biggest cheerleader. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff) By James Vaznis Globe Staff / October 12, 2009James Vaznis Emphasis on literacy brings big MCAS improvement

23. Brockton and ICLE philosophy Rigor Relevance Relationships ALL students-and ALL means ALL!!! So, that’s who we are… What did we do?

24. Literacy for ALL – NO exceptions!!! Schoolwide Literacy Skills (we all do it THIS way!) Schoolwide rubrics for assessment Review of student work RIGOR and RELEVANCE Our Literacy Initiative reflects BOTH The content provides the CONTEXT for teaching the Literacy Skills The electives engage the students and provide the real life application

25. So, what did we do??? Our turnaround: 4 Steps 1. Empowered a Team 2. Focused on Literacy – Literacy for ALL, no exceptions- all means all 3. Implemented with fidelity and according to a plan 4. Monitored like crazy!

26. Restructuring Committee – our “think tank” Every department represented with a mix of teachers and administrators Balance of new teachers and veterans, new voices and voices of experience Challenge for Change funding Step ONE: Empowering a Leadership Team

27. We looked at the data And, our first plan: Let’s figure out the test The result of that: The Great Shakespearean Fiasco The Great Shakespearean Fiasco

28. Questions about our instructional practices WHAT are we teaching? HOW are we teaching it? HOW do we know our students are learning it?

29. WHAT can we control, what can’t we control? WHAT resources do we have that we can use more effectively? And our most important question: Is this the BEST we can be? Is this the BEST we can be? Questions about making change

30. I We asked what should we be teaching??? After our Shakespearean disaster, a better approach: Our solution:LITERACY!!! And it helped us become one of the 100 Best!

31. INSERT VIDEO from America’s Promise 100 Best

32. 1. Empowered a team 2. Focused on Literacy for ALL, NO exceptions 3. Implemented with fidelity and according to a plan 4. Monitored like crazy! Brockton High’s turnaround FOUR STEPS:

33. The “WHAT”: LITERACY for ALL: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Reasoning Step TWO: Focused on Literacy for ALL

34. 34 How did we determine our focus? Literacy Skills Drafted:

36. I The PROCESS of involving everyone was critical to our success. We did not have buy-in, but we did have our faculty engaged in the process. ALWAYS REMEMBER

37. ENGAGING THE FACULTY: Interdisciplinary discussion groups on the drafts using 3 guiding questions: 1. In each of the four areas of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Reasoning, have we included what is required for students to be successful in your class/your content area? (What did we miss???) 2. Is the skill stated clearly so that all teachers and students can understand it? 3. Is the skill applicable to ALL content areas?

38. “Lessons Learned the Hard Way” Tip: Put all your negative folks together in a group so they don’t spread their toxic fumes. “Lessons Learned the Hard Way” Tip: Put all your negative folks together in a group so they don’t spread their toxic fumes.

40. We had cool looking charts on the walls… SO WHAT… The KEY to our implementation is HOW we trained teachers to teach these Literacy skills to our students. So now what…

41. 41 “The single most influential component of an effective school is the individual teachers within the school.” Robert Marzano “…the single greatest determinant of learning is not socioeconomic factors or funding levels. It is instruction.” Results Now by Mike Schmoker It’s All About Instruction

42. 42 It’s about teaching, stupid… Says Mike Schmoker in Results Now

43. Faculty Meetings became Literacy Workshops KEY = Adult Learning Teachers teaching teachers – GOOD stuff! Step THREE: Implemented with fidelity and a plan

44. We started with writing! Writing is thinking thinking FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

46. Don’t think for a moment that everyone was happy… BUT, if we waited for buy-in, we’d still be waiting. SO, what did we do?? Meet Sharon and Penny BUT….

47. INSERT PBS NEED TO KNOW VIDEO ON PENNY AND SHARON http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to- know/uncategorized/brockton- high-proves-that-big-schools-can- be-good-schools/6959/

48. 1. Empowered a team 2. Focused on Literacy – Literacy for ALL, NO exceptions 3. Implemented with fidelity and according to a plan 4. Monitored like crazy! Brockton High’s turnaround FOUR STEPS:

49. 1. Targets the Literacy Skill 2. Smaller subgroup drafts training script, brings draft to the full committee, revisions made 3. Roll out to faculty – step one: Interdisciplinary group training 4. Follow up in depts – how to implement in content area Restructuring Committee process:

50. Our First Training: Open Response OPEN RESPONSE STEPS TO FOLLOW 1. READ QUESTION CAREFULLY. 2. CIRCLE OR UNDERLINE KEY WORDS. 3. RESTATE QUESTION AS THESIS (LEAVE BLANKS) 4. READ PASSAGE CAREFULLY. 5. TAKE NOTES THAT RESPOND TO THE QUESTION. BRAINSTORM & MAP OUT YOUR ANSWER. 6. COMPLETE YOUR THESIS. 7. WRITE YOUR RESPONSE CAREFULLY, USING YOUR MAP AS A GUIDE. 8. STATEGICALLY REPEAT KEY WORDS FROM THESIS IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR END SENTENCE. 9. PARAGRAPH YOUR RESPONSE. 10. REREAD AND EDIT YOUR RESPONSE.

51. Changes in ELA Results Year One of School Wide Open Response

52. Changes in Math Results Year One of School Wide Open Response

53. Follow up the Interdisciplinary Training. Next step – HOW to bring this into the classroom Lessons developed Implemented according to a calendar So then what…

54. We didn’t leave it to chance. (Success by design, not by chance!) The implementation was according to a specific timeline… Step THREE: Implemented with fidelity and a plan

55. 55 As a follow up to this activity, I am requiring Department Heads to collect from each teacher at least one student sample from each of the teachers’ classes. The student samples should include: Student Name Teacher Name Date Course Name and Level Period A copy of the reading selection and question Evidence of the student’s active reading All pre-writing work that the student has done, e.g. webs A copy of the written open response The new scoring rubric and completed assessment After you have collected the samples from each teacher and have had the opportunity to review them for quality and completeness, please send them to me in a department folder with a checklist of your teachers. Again, please be sure that your teachers clearly label their student samples. The Open Response calendar of implementation is as follows: Nov 2-6: Social Science, Social Sci Biling. Nov 30-Dec 4: Wellness, JROTC Dec 14-18: Science, Science Bilingual Jan 11-15: Business, Tech, & Career Ed. Jan 25-29: Math, Math Bilingual Feb 22-26: Foreign Lang, Special Ed Mar. 7-11: English, ESL, Guidance Mar 20-24 Family &Cons. Sci, ProjGrads Apr 5-9: Music, Art

56. From Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin The factor that seems to explain the most about great performance is something the researchers call deliberate practice… Deliberate practice is hard. It hurts. But it works. More of it equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.

57. How did we incorporate these Literacy Skills in every discipline? Emily Dickinson is a poet who often wrote about her own emotional struggles. In two poems “Heart, We Will Forget Him” and “Knows How to Forget” she writes about how difficult it is to forget. Please read the two poems and the brief biography and answer the following three questions: 1.What were some of experiences in her life that influenced her writing? 2.What do the two poems have in common? 3.How are the two poems different? Please use one quote from the poems or biography in each paragraph.

60. How did we incorporate these Literacy Skills in every discipline? Even in our discipline policies and procedures we incorporate our Literacy Initiative… remember, WRITING IS THINKING!

61. Please inform the parents and students that I am a retired police officer and African American, and I am raising young teenage boys. Two of my boys are African American and the other is Black and Latino. As a parent and a former law enforcement officer and Gubernatorial appointed official in the criminal justice arena, I get it and I sympathize and empathize with what is happening to our young boys. For all of you that think it is nice to walk with your pants below your butt, read the following explanation: This trend was born in the United States’ jails where prisoners who were willing to have sex with other prisoners needed to invent a signal that would go unnoticed by the prison guards so they wouldn't suffer consequences. So by partially showing their butt, they showed that they were available to be penetrated by other inmates. So, since the "pants exposing a man's backside" practice originated in prison, I wonder, do the young men who emulate the inmates know that along with signaling to other men that their hindquarters is "open for entertaining", also know that they are displaying that they desire the life of a subjugation? Sagging Pants Issue Excerpt from reading/ writing assignment

62. Our Classroom Incident form requires students to write when they come into the office

63. 1. Empowered a team 2. Focused on Literacy – Literacy for ALL, NO exceptions 3. Implemented with fidelity and according to a plan 4. Monitored like crazy! (what gets monitored is what gets done!) Brockton High’s turnaround FOUR STEPS:

64. What gets monitored is what gets done! Monitoring the work of the students AND Monitoring the implementation by the faculty Monitoring both the student work and the implementation

65. How do we know the students are learning it?

66. What gets monitored is what gets done! Implementation set by calendar Admin team present in classrooms observing the literacy lesson Follow up walkthroughs Frequent feedback provided Monitoring the implementation

67. Implemented a review protocol: What was the grading criteria? Were the standards high enough (what is good enough?) In what ways does this work meet or fail to meet the set standard? What do the student responses indicate about the effectiveness of the assignment? How might the assignment be improved? Did you find evidence of growth over time? What did you notice about consistency across classes, departments? Other “what do you notice” observations? Focused collegial conversations around examining student work

68. What Gets Monitored Is What Gets Done! Faculty Faculty: Assessment based on rubrics Department Heads Department Heads: Collect, assess, dialogue, and assist teacher Associate Principal Associate Principal: Collect, assess, dialogue, make necessary adjustments Listen to Prof. Ron Ferguson, Director, Achievement Gap Institute, Harvard Step FOUR: Monitored like crazy!!!

69. INSERT PBS NEED TO KNOW VIDEO on Ferguson http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to- know/uncategorized/brockton-high- proves-that-big-schools-can-be- good-schools/6959/

70. 70

71. Reading Workshop on TOVANI’S I Read It But I Don’t Get It and Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? The key: Teaching everyone HOW

73. INSERT SAMPLE STUDENT PAPER

74. MATH

75. Oral Presentation Rubric

77. Key = Adult Learning – Teachers teaching teachers = SUCCESS! Literacy Training for the faculty

78. BHS Literacy Workshop April 28 th 2011 Reading Visuals 78

79. Agenda Opener – Think and Pair. Reading Visuals presentation Practice using Reading Visuals 5 step process Discussion and feedback Closer – Think, Plan, Share 79

80. What We Know There are several types of visuals used in all classes and on both the science and math MCAS exams. Students often attempt to answer the questions without fully understanding the content of the visual. 80

81. Reading Visuals The process of reading a visual begins with understanding and analyzing the given information BEFORE attempting to answer the questions or solve a problem. 81

82. Reading Visuals Introductory Information Title Key or Legend Labels and parenthetical information Correlations 82

83. 5 Steps for Reading Visuals 1.Identify the type of visual 2.Determine the topic of the visual 3.Examine the given information from the visual (including all introductory text) 4.Develop predictions, deductions, inferences or conclusions about the visual 5.Analyze the questions and determine the information needed from the visual 83

84. 5 Steps for Reading Visuals Practice Steps 1-4 using the math data below. 84

85. Your Turn 5 Steps for Reading Visuals 1.Identify the type of visual 2.Determine the topic of the visual 3.Examine the given information from the visual (including all introductory text) 4.Develop predictions, deductions, inferences or conclusions about the visual 5.Analyze the questions and determine the information needed from the visual 85

86. 86

87. Looking Ahead The May 5 th faculty meeting will be in department and will focus on using the Reading Visuals Steps with content specific graphs, tables and diagrams Over the next few weeks we will all use visuals in classes to help students develop stronger reading and reasoning skills Our goal is to improve student achievement across the board and see gains in the science and math MCAS exam scores 87

88. Closer Think – Plan – Share Identify a visual or type of visual you will use to teach students the Reading Visuals Steps. Describe how the steps for reading visuals will help your students improve their reading and reasoning skills. Think – Plan – Share Identify a visual or type of visual you will use to teach students the Reading Visuals Steps. Describe how the steps for reading visuals will help your students improve their reading and reasoning skills. 88

89. We have the power to improve student achievement! Thank you 89

90. How do we ensure our message is consistent? The Script Slide #Power Point SlideScript Time 1 As faculty enters the room, instruct them to sit in their color group and begin the Everybody Writes (EW). This is an individual opening activity that will not be discussed. Find place 1 min EW – 2 minutes 90

91. 2 Today we are focusing on Reading Visuals and Active Reading strategies. Our objective is to combine the strategies to create a process that will help students: Reason to make predictions Explain and interpret relationships Apply pre-reading strategies Generate a written a response and Convey thinking through speaking 1 min Slide #Power Point SlideScript Time 91

92. How did we incorporate these Literacy Skills in every discipline? The Reasoning Skills Chart develops the higher level math skills. Two examples of a Reading Visuals lesson from a Wellness class Topic: Bullying

95. Key points in ELA and Content Area Literacy: Look at the Strands: How does this fit with the Common Core? Reading Writing Speaking/Listening Language Look at the Anchor Standards under each Strand: -Key Ideas and Details -Craft and Structure -Integration of knowledge, and Ideas -Range of Reading, Level of Text Complexity -Text Types -Production and Distribution of Writing -Research to Build and Present Knowledge -Range of Writing - Comprehension and Collaboration - Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas - Conventions of Standard English - Knowledge of Language - Vocabulary Acquisition and Use What do our students need to be able to do based on these?

96. RE: The Common Core: Get to know the Anchor Standards. What skills/tasks do the students need to demonstrate? Our questions: 1. What are we doing well? 2. What are we doing somewhat? 3. Where are our gaps? What should you do? Here’s what we’re doing:

97. RE: Next Generation Assessments Look at the samples that our out there. What are the students being asked to do. Share them with the faculty. Our questions: 1. How do these reflect our Literacy Initiative? 2. Are we prepared to teach these? 3. How do we build our instructional expertise on these types of assessments? What should you do? Here’s what we’re doing:

98. Look at PARCC sample questions in ELA: VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT!

99. Look at PARCC sample questions in math: READING AND ANALYZING VISUALS!

100. As success grew, so did relationships We can’t forget The Third “R”

101. “ People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou Relationships

102. Honor Roll Assemblies – Celebrate and Laugh!

103. 103

104. 104 Class of 2012 – 90% heading to college! College for ALL: Changing students’ beliefs:

105. A lasting friendship Boxer Buddies A lasting friendship

106. We have built a lasting relationship which we will forever treasure in our hearts

107. And the MOST unbelievable moment for four of our Brockton Boxer Buddies

108. But not just ANY Pledge of Allegiance… These are our hands

109. RECAP: Our 4 Steps 1. Empowering a team 2. Focusing on literacy: Literacy for ALL – NO exceptions 3. Implementing with fidelity and according to a plan 4. Monitoring, monitoring, monitoring The Result = Changing the Culture When all 3 R’s come together

110. DOES IT WORK??? Listen to what the students think of our Literacy Initiative… meet Fabieny DePina on PBS Need to Know It’s ALL about literacy

111. INSERT VIDEO WITH FABIENY INSERT PBS NEED TOKNOW VIDEOhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/ne ed-to- know/uncategorized/brockton- high-proves-that-big-schools-can- be-good-schools/6959/

112. TEACHER LEADERSHIP Some Schools Stand Out Comparisons of Complacent HS and Brockton HS Ronald F. Ferguson, PhD Tripod Project for School Improvement (www.tripodproject.org) andwww.tripodproject.org Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University (www.agi.harvard.edu)www.agi.harvard.edu

113. “The main lesson was that student achievement rose when leadership teams focused thoughtfully and relentlessly on improving the quality of instruction.” - Prof. Ron Ferguson, AGI Conference Report The Achievement Gap Initiative At Harvard University Toward Excellence with Equity Conference Report by Ronald F. Ferguson, Faculty Director

114. Proportions of students scoring in each decile of the MCAS 8 th grade ELA distribution

115. MCAS ELA gains 8 th to 10 th grade, compared to others from the same 8 th grade decile (School rank percentile/100)

116. 116 Our improvement over the past five years is perhaps even more impressive than the big jumps we had early on. Wicked Awesome!

117. 49% 14% 1.9 % 3% 27% 19% 9% 3% 2007

118. MCAS % Comparison 2007-2012 English Language Arts 78 83.3 5

119. MCAS % Comparison 2007-2012 Math 51

120. It’s not just about the numbers!!!

121. JOHN & ABIGAIL ADAMS BHS SCHOLARS 2013 260 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS 31% of the class!

122. ICLE Model School 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 NASSP/CSSR Secondary School Showcase 2011, 2010 AIM Gould Award 2012 (Mass. businesses) U.S. Department of Education National High School Summit Harvard Achievement Gap Initiative 2011, 2009 National School Change Award – 2006 Massachusetts Compass School AWARDS, AWARDS, AWARDS, AWARDS!!!

123. Brockton High School Brockton School District Plymouth County 470 Forest Avenue Brockton, Massachusetts (508)580-7633 2008, 2010, 2012 AWARDS, AWARDS, AWARDS, AWARDS!!!

124. GO Boxers!!! September 28, 2010 Boxers in the NEW YORK TIMES High Expectations NO Excuses!!!

125. LEVEL ONE!!!

126. Does all this Literacy stuff work? Just listen to the students On CBS Evening News Tonight with Russ Mitchell (pretty cool, huh???) Meet Nephi and Tatiana, and listen to their comments about our Literacy focus

127. INSERT CBS video Russ Mitchell – Reading, ‘Riting, Reform

128. Here’s what we know Making change takes tenacity, not brilliance! (If we can do it, ANYONE can!)

129. 21 st Annual Model Schools Conference Effective and efficient approaches to improving student achievement in times of declining resources and increasing expectations Focusing on instructional excellence as the key to the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Assessments, and Teacher Evaluations Instructional approaches for special populations Identifying and overcoming common barriers to dramatic school improvement June 30 – July 3 | Washington, D.C. www.modelschoolsconference.com

130. Contact Information Michael Thomas Interim Principal Sharon Wolder Associate Principal for Curriculum and Instruction Brockton High School 470 Forest Ave Brockton, MA 02301