Office of School Turnaround Center for Accountability and Improvement, Ohio Department of Education 25 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio Jeanne Paliotto, Executive Director School Improvement Grant at a Glance In 2010, Ohio received nearly $132 million through the federal SIG program to raise student achievement in the state’s persistently lowest achieving schools. The funds are part of the $3.5 billion in school improvement funding for states in the 2009 federal budget and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Office of School Turnaround provides support and monitoring oversight for identified persistently low achieving schools known as priority schools to build the capacity of the schools’ leaders and teacher teams to engage in inclusive, continuous, and targeted improvement in order to raise student achievement that is sustainable. Thirteen identified Transformation Specialists work in the field to provide monitoring oversight, policy guidance, support and resources, to 85 identified SIG or priority buildings in Tier I, II, and III. Each specialist is responsible for supporting and monitoring the implementation of one of four intervention models and other identified school improvement strategies. Transformation Specialists are assigned up to 7 schools and conduct weekly site visits to document the progress of the school toward increasing student achievement and document fidelity of implementation of each of the components of the selected intervention model. The State utilizes four different monitoring protocols in order to focus upon different aspects during each monitoring visit. In addition, the monitoring visits are used to identify Best Practices as well as document challenges encountered in each building. This information is used to plan and conduct technical assistance focused upon the individual needs of each PLA. In collaboration with The Fisher College of Business at The Ohio School University, the Office of School Turnaround has designed a school turnaround leadership program for priority and focused schools aimed at increasing leadership skills in order to guide the school to dramatic improvement in a short period of time and build capacity to sustain the turnaround efforts in the lowest performing schools. All leaders in priority schools as well as focused schools are attending this program. At the completion of the project, over 300 leaders will have been trained. Five SEA providers provide intensive support to identified schools as well as provide technical assistance for all priority schools in the areas of Data Use and management, turnaround strategies, using technology to support instruction, leadership coaching, working with external providers, restructuring the school day to provide increased learning time for students and closing the achievement gap. The goals for the Office of School Turnaround are:  Target majority of funds to each state’s chronically low-performing schools, including high schools and their feeder schools  Implement robust and comprehensive reforms to dramatically transform school culture and increase student outcomes  Increase graduation rates  Ensure every student is taught by an effective teacher  Provide specific data to classroom teachers to better measure student performance  Build and strengthen the capacity of school leaders  Eliminate the achievement gap  Turnaround underperforming schools School Improvement Grant Overview School Improvement funds are provided to school district buildings through a competitive process in amounts ranging from $50,000 to $2,000,000 per year for three years for implementing a school improvement plan that is focused on the specific reasons that caused the building to be identified for school improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act. Districts and buildings must use the Ohio Improvement Process as approved in the Differentiated Accountability proposal approved by the U.S. Department of Education. School Improvement Grants, to local educational agencies (LEAs) for use in Title I schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment resources in order to raise substantially the achievement of their students so as to enable the schools to make adequate yearly progress and exit improvement status. School improvement funds are to be focused on Ohio’s persistently lowest-achieving Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring (“Tier I schools”) and, at an LEA’s option, persistently-lowest achieving secondary schools that are eligible for, but do not receive, Title I, Part A funds (“Tier II schools”). An LEA may also use school improvement funds in Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring that are not identified as persistently lowest-achieving schools (“Tier III schools”). Intervention Models Districts in Ohio must implement one of the following four federally defined improvement models in their persistently lowest achieving schools:  Transformation Model 62 Schools  Turnaround Model 16 Schools  Restart 1 School  Tier III Strategies 6 Schools Intensified SIG Support 1. Office of Transforming Schools 5. SEA and LEA External Providers 2. Diagnostic Reviews 6. Weekly Site Visit & Report 3. Technical Assistance Meetings 7. Quarterly Site Visit and Report 4. Ohio Improvement Process (OIP) 8. School Turnaround Leadership Program

Turnaround Specialists Who We Are…… There are currently thirteen transformation specialists assigned to support 85 priority schools. The highest priority for the team is to support and monitor the identified schools to improve student achievement in all buildings. Jeanne Paliotto, Executive Director What We Do…. Assist the BLT in establishing benchmark testing to inform teachers on where to target their instruction. Work with the BLT to focus instruction and targeted to meet student needs. Help BLT to understand all the components of the Intervention Model identified during the competitive application process Help Principal and Building Leadership Team understand how to create flexibility to implement reform. Monitor and support the implementation of 300 hours of quality extended learning time for all students and staff. Help BLT establish benchmark testing to focus instruction by analyzing data and developing a work plan and process for continual review. Develop a common understanding of the role of the District Leadership Team, the Building Leadership, and the Teacher Based Teams. Help the Building Leadership Team align all resources and build leadership capacity for job embedded professional development. Connect Schools to resources such as the SST’s and ESC’s. Provide on going technical assistance to administrators and staff in accordance with the Ohio Leadership Framework and School Turnaround Model. Monitor the implementation and evaluate the effectiveness of the Building’s SIG plans. In conjunction with the building staff, develop an evaluation system that uses student growth as a significant factor. Evaluate the, “Improvement Process,” and make necessary changes to improve instructional practices and student performance. Review documentation provided during the monitoring process and provide feedback for growth. Implement and monitor focused plans and turnaround goals instituted by the school district and individual buildings along with federal requirements. Bring new strategies and knowledge to schools. Transformation Specialist Assignments Sue MurphyRegion 6,7,10,11Stephanie PattonRegion 11 Pam SzegedyRegion 3Diane LongstrethRegion 2,3,5 Jennifer VargoRegion 10,13,15,16Lee WillisRegion 10,13 Kelly WashingtonRegion 1,3Eileen DiamondRegion 13 Jeanette OsbornRegion 10,13Jon ReinhardRegion 1,11 Sharon Reedus-SandersRegion 1,8,9TBDRegion 1,7,11 TBDRegion 1,3