1. Using the Indistar® Web-based Planning Tool to Support School Improvement Presenters: Yvonne A. Holloman, Ph.D. and Michael Hill Office of School Improvement September 30, 2011

2. Review the NCLB school improvement plan requirements for schools in Title I Improvement; Introduce the rapid improvement school indicators and Wise Ways® research briefs; and Review the Virginia Indistar® Dashboard Purpose

3. NCLB Section 1116(b)(3)......... each school identified... not later than 3 months after being so identified, develop or revise a school plan, in consultation with parents, school staff, the local educational agency serving the school, and outside experts, for approval by such local educational agency. The school plan shall cover a 2-year period and — 1.Incorporate strategies based on scientifically based research that will strengthen the core academic subjects in the school and address the specific academic issues that caused the school to be identified for school improvement; 2.Adopt policies and practices concerning the school’s core academic subjects that have the greatest likelihood of ensuring that all groups of students specified in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) and enrolled in the school will meet the State’s proficiency level of achievement; 3.Allow for the required expenditure of not less than 10 percent of the funds available... for the purpose of providing to the school teachers and principal high-quality professional development that (I) directly addresses the academic achievement problem.. (II) meets the requirements for professional development activities under 1119; and (III) is provided in a manner that affords increased opportunity for participating in that professional development; School Improvement Planning Requirements

4. NCLB Section 1116(b)(3) 4. Specify how the funds... will be used to remove the school from school improvement status; 5. Establish specific annual, measurable objectives for continuous and substantial progress by each group of students; 6. Describe how the school will provide written notice about the identification to parents; 7. Specify the responsibilities of the school, the local educational agency, and the State educational agency... including specifying the technical assistance to be provided by the local educational agency; 8. Include strategies to promote effective parental involvement in the school; 9. Incorporate, as appropriate, activities before school, after school, during the summer, and during an extension of the school year; and 10. Incorporate a teacher mentoring program. School Improvement Planning Requirements

5. School improvement can be a complicated journey. Lots of people have ideas on where to go and what to do. They just don’t always have the same idea on how to get there. School improvement can be a complicated journey. Lots of people have ideas on where to go and what to do. They just don’t always have the same idea on how to get there.

6. Indistar ® gets a school moving on the right path, and keeps it moving— continuous improvement.

7. A New Way The Old Way  Accountable for Rules and Regulations  Data = Student Outcomes Only  Culture of Compliance  Annual Paper Plan  Mail, Fax Paper Reports  Focus on Programs  Top-Down Initiative, with Oversight Indistar  Accountable for Effective Practice  Data = Practice + Student  Culture of Candor and Support  Continuous Improvement Process  System-Generated, Electronic Reports  Focus on Effective Practice  School Initiative, with Support

8. Indistar® is a web-based tool that guides a district or school team in charting its improvement and managing the continuous improvement process. Indistar® is premised on the firm belief that district and school improvement is best accomplished when directed by the people closest to the students. While the state provides a framework for the process, each district team and school team applies its own ingenuity to achieve the results it desires for its students—students it knows and cares about.

9. Leadership Team The team that manages the Indistar® process and is ultimately responsible for making decisions for the school and for school improvement. Instructional Teams Teams that include teachers in grade level groupings, grade-level clusters, or subject areas. Responsible for planning instruction for students. Division Leadership Team A team that includes representatives from Title I, instruction, special education, and ELL will support the school through implementation of a division improvement plan. Time Teams need time to do their work and structure to do effective work. Indistar® provides benchmarks of work to be completed at specific points in time during the year. Teams Teams: The cornerstone of Indistar®

10. Indicators of Effective Practice in·di·ca·tor [in-di-key-ter] ( noun) A pointer or a gauge for assessing progress toward the destination. Indicators provide the structure for building a continuous school improvement plan, while still allowing each school flexibility and creativity on how it implements the plan. Indicators point the way toward effective practices. Indicators are: Guideposts for effective practice Plain language, behavioral (Who does what?) Aligned with research base (Wise Ways) Drivers of planning and improvement

11. Indicators of Effective Practice-Samples Teams All teams operate with work plans for the year and specific work products to produce. Instructional Teams meet for blocks of time (4 to 6 hour blocks, once a month; whole days before and after the school year) sufficient to develop and refine units of instruction and review student learning data. Teachers All teachers maintain a record of each student’s mastery of specific learning objectives. All teachers differentiate assignments (individualize instruction) in response to individual student performance on pre-tests and other methods of assessment. Principals The principal spends at least 50% of his/her time working directly with teachers to improve instruction, including classroom observations. The principal challenges, supports and monitors the correction of unsound teaching practices.

12. Instructional Planning Differentiation of Instruction Teacher-Directed Whole-Class or Small Group Instruction Computer-Based Instruction Classroom Management Team Structures School Leadership and Decision Making Formative Assessment Rapid Improvement School Indicators Categories

13. The school improvement team reviews a variety of data points to determine areas of need related to the performance of the sub-group(s) which caused the school to miss the AYP target(s). The school improvement team selects rapid improvement school indicators aligned with the areas of need. Selecting Rapid Improvement School Indicators for Inclusion in an Improvement Plan

14. Happy Hills Elementary School is in Year 1 of Improvement. The economically disadvantaged sub-group did not meet the annual measureable objective (AMO) in reading. The school leadership team reviewed the following data: Student attendance Teacher attendance SOL assessment results Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) results Student discipline reports As a result of reviewing the data, the following rapid improvement school indicator was selected: IF03 - Professional development for teachers includes observations by the principal related to indicators of effective teaching and classroom management.

15. Wise Ways® Research Briefs Each rapid improvement school indicator has a corresponding Wise Ways® research brief containing a succinct synthesis of the related research, examples, and resources. Wise Ways® Research Briefs Each rapid improvement school indicator has a corresponding Wise Ways® research brief containing a succinct synthesis of the related research, examples, and resources. Rapid improvement school indicator Wise Ways® Research Brief

16. Analyzing Wise Ways® Research Briefs Read the indicator description and highlight the most important elements Read the Wise Ways® research brief and look for examples of the indicator’s most important elements Determine the literal meaning of the Wise Ways® research brief The school improvement team analyzes the Wise Ways research briefs associated with the selected rapid improvement school indicators.

17. Indicator IF03: Professional development for teachers includes observations by the principal related to indicators of effective teaching and classroom management. Indicator IF03: Professional development for teachers includes observations by the principal related to indicators of effective teaching and classroom management. Evidence Review: Professional development should parallel the school improvement plan and evidence of research-based practices in the classroom as determined by systematic classroom observations by the principal and by peers. When the school improvement plan calls for new expertise to enable the school to move in a new direction or to address a particular problem, professional development is a means for elevating the skill and knowledge of administrators, teachers, and staff. When classroom observations by the principal or other teachers (as in peer observation and collegial learning) indicate a general need for improvement across the faculty, well-planned professional development is a way to improve. When classroom observations by the principal or another teacher show an individual teacher’s areas that need improvement, that teacher’s personal development plan can include training or coaching to assist the teacher in the area of need. The principal or another teacher would meet with the observed teacher before the observation to review the indicators of effective teaching and again after the observation to discuss the observer’s impressions. The teacher and the observer then create or update a professional development plan for the teacher, listing: (a) observed strengths and ways the teacher might share his/her expertise with other teachers, and (b) areas that need improvement and steps toward improvement. The observer assists the teacher in carrying out these next steps.

18. Continuous improvement of each teacher’s skills is achieved through a variety of means including whole-faculty workshops, consultations with Instructional Teams, the principal’s work with individual teachers and with teams, and through collegial learning – teacher to teacher (including peer observations, study groups, coaching, and mentoring). While teacher evaluation is something apart from professional development, evaluation should include examination of the teacher’s proficiency with the same indicators used to plan professional development for each individual teacher and for the faculty as whole. Source: Sam Redding, Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement. Indicator IF03: Professional development for teachers includes observations by the principal related to indicators of effective teaching and classroom management. What is the literal meaning of this Wise Ways® research brief?

20. Every school is assigned a unique login and password that gives it access to its own school’s dashboard. The login is given to the principal and a staff member that the principal names as the process manager. The principal and process manager are the only two people in the school who work in the actual web system. When the principal or process manager logs in, they start at the dashboard. Welcome to the Dashboard: Control Central

21. Dashboard: Features School Name Indicator-Based Planning Tools Other Planning Tools Forms to Complete Report Name: Reports to Submit Other Documents/Web Pages

22. NCLB/Indistar® Crosswalk

23. Virginia’s Indistar® Dashboard (www.centerii.org )www.centerii.org Responses for the four components that are not aligned with indicators may be accessed using this link.

24. Enter/update responses and click the “save” button

25. Main Menu When the Indistar-SIP-School Indicators link is selected from the dashboard, the Main Menu screen appears. The School Improvement Process includes 6 Steps: 1) Register School, 2) Provide School Information, 3) Form Team, 4) Assess School Indicators, 5) Create School Plan, and 6) Monitor School Plan. Also provided are tutorial videos to walk you through each Step, and, in the right hand corner, resources, reports, ways to set up agendas and keep minutes, and access to coaching comments. “Where are we now?” provides a quick glimpse of the work of the school team in graphs and reports.

26. Step 1: Register School During the initial set up of Indistar®, the state or district provided the information for the school. When the principal and process manager receive their login and password, they should check the information for accuracy and to make sure a current email address is provided for both. Step 2: Provide School Information Indistar® provides a place for the school to enter demographic information as well as assessment information. Step 3: Form School Team As mentioned earlier, the Leadership Team or School Improvement Team—whatever it is called in your school—is the cornerstone of the work with Indistar® and continuous school improvement. Team members should be selected for their willingness to serve and their enthusiasm for moving the school forward. Information on team members is entered in Step 3. Completing Steps 1, 2, and 3 of Indistar®

27. Next Steps School divisions currently registered to use Indistar ® The division contact person will register any new school by completing the information included on the division’s main menu. School divisions new to using Indistar® The following school divisions are new to Indistar® and need to be registered: Caroline County, Charlotte County, Chesterfield County, Cumberland County, Giles County, King William County, Loudoun County, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, Poquoson City, Rappahannock County, and Rockingham County The division contact person needs to e-mail the following information to Stephanie Benedict (sbenedict@adi.org) no later than October 7, 2011:sbenedict@adi.org – Division name, address, telephone number, and fax number – Superintendent’s name and e-mail address – Division contact person’s name and e-mail address – Name of school(s) that need to be registered, principal’s name, telephone number, and e-mail address

28. Next Steps Complete Steps 2 and 3 of the Indistar® Web-based Planning Tool. Review the list of rapid improvement school indicators with school staff members. Develop a list of 10 rapid improvement school indicators that may assist your staff with addressing the issues which caused your school to enter Title I improvement. Use 2011 SOL/AYP data to determine the most appropriate indicators. Review the Wise Ways® research briefs associated with the 10 selected rapid improvement school indicators. Note: The practice log-in and password (vaschool) may be used by school teams until they receive their school log-in and password from the Center on Innovation and Improvement (CII). This information will be used during our second webinar session scheduled for October 20, 2011.

29. Thank you. You’ve been a great audience. For technical assistance please contact: Dr. Yvonne A. Holloman at 804-225-2064 or yvonne.holloman@doe.virginia.gov