The First 60 Days: Supporting Freshmen Transition Kefi Andersen Graduation Equity Program Supervisor

Who’s Here? Introduce yourself Stand up Name Role/School District Favorite thing about the kids you work with Role as a facilitator and as a teacher

Expectations: 3 Challenges Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) The Changing Landscape Before School Starts Who Are We Talking About? Building a System What You Can Do Freshmen Success Teams

Turn and Talk Helping Freshmen Succeed is like this picture because… (be ready to share out) 2 Minutes

OSPI’s SQSS 9th Grade On-Track Definition All first time 9th graders Earns all credits attempted During their 9th grade year Does not include withdrawals Slightly different from Washington’s current definition – 9th graders on track in WA means you haven’t failed a course in your 9th grade year.

Summary of Washington’s Status Year % On-Track for All Students 2017 72.6% 2016 72.2% 2015 70.4% More than 1 in 4 students failed a course!

Data

Research: Why 9th Graders On-Track? A 9th grader who is on-track is three and one half times more likely to graduate from high school than an off-track student. Stronger predictor than test scores, demographics, including poverty and race/ethnicity. 80% predictive. Bs or Better predict college graduation Having a sustained clear focus on a real problem is essential to establishing buy-in for a Professional Learning Network (PLN).

Attendance is Everything Unexcused absences quadruple in ninth grade compared to eighth grade *Network for College Success

What Changes Between 8th and 9th Grade for Students? Attendance Monitoring and Support Student-Teacher Relationships Safety Study Habits and Academic Effort No evidence that academic demand changes!

Adolescent Brain Development Adulthood Childhood All of the gas None of the breaks Open Mindset Where do I belong? (peers) What do I stand for? (values) Who Am I? (identity) Self centered

Challenge 1: The Myth of Failure as Motivation What we mean to teach Freshmen by giving Fs What Freshmen actually learn when they fail I don’t belong in this community of learners No one here wants to help me I’m not smart enough to do the work – why try? High school is impossible You better step up your game You need to show your independence You need to work harder High school is serious business

Turn and Talk What do you think of this statement? What would your school’s staff think? Transition to high school is more of a developmental transition than an academic transition.

Challenge 2: Map Supports Before School Starts

What We Know About Preventing 9th Grade Course Failure 9th Grade Success Build a positive school culture Use data to monitor progress Prepare 8th graders transitioning to high school Build in multi-tier supports Create a view of the future Build a positive school culture with connections between staff, students, families – BUILD RELATIONSHIPS Use data to monitor attendance, behavior, and coursework Prepare 8th graders coming in with an orientation, Link Crew, Summer School, early registration for appropriate classes, and open communication between middle and high schools about learning expectations (try to stay consistent) Build in supports and get students positively involved in school with mentors, social activities, social support (counseling, homeroom staff member) Schedules help support students. Some success has been found through freshmen academy scheduling (keeping all the freshmen separate from the rest), adding advisory periods, using a small school model, staff teaming, and block schedules. Look to the future. Schedule college visits, keep support for students past 9th grade. 11/9/2018

What Supports Do You Offer? Make a group of 4 Choose: Academic, Attendance, Behavioral Collaborate on a poster: List out supports for all students, some, and few 5 Minutes

Gallery Walk Look at each poster Add Your Ideas Capture new strategies

Definitions A 9th grader is on-track if he/she has: At least 5 credits by the end of the year No more than one semester failure in a core class

Challenge 3: Defining Risk and Opportunity 8th Grade GPA 0-1.0 1.0-2.0 2.0-3.0 3.0-4.0 8th Grade Attendance ≥98% ≥95% ≥90% ≥80% <80% Pull GPA and Attendance for incoming freshmen 50% chance of being off track 25-49% chance of being off track 10-24% chance of being off track 10% chance of being off track

Map On Track and Off Track Where do you think you should focus your effort?

Create a Freshmen Success Team Who? Freshmen Teachers Counselor Admin Freshmen Success/ Grad Specialist Preparation Principal/ Counselor: Pull the relevant data and send team synopsis Team: Reviews data Meeting Team: Discusses key high tier 1-tier 2 students that represent data patterns Track interventions Follow-up Grad Specialist: follow up with the student and staff involved in the intervention. When? Once a week or once every 2 weeks.

Team Types Team Type Duties Senior Leadership Team Align and monitor work at a high level school-wide Instructional Leadership Team To guide and support comprehensive improvement in teaching and learning Post-secondary Leadership Team To build a school-wide college-going culture and drive student college application and enrollment Grade Level Teams To support student success at each year of high school Freshmen Success Team Monitor student progress, examine school systems, structures, and policies for their effect on student success Department Team To monitor student progress and plan by subject

Freshmen On-Track Toolkit University of Chicago’s Network for College Success The University of Chicago Network for College Success has created a really wonderful comprehensive toolkit that will support building that early warning system and continuous improvement. It has resources like this Freshmen success framework that can help school leaders see ways of being (such as the guiding beliefs for student success and school culture) and ways of doing (looking at the roles of principals, team leads, and success teams). The full toolkit covers topics on understanding research and analyzing data, preparing to lead, setting conditions for success, implementing those school-based teams and has an A-Z for On-track tools. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 11/9/2018

What Could a Team Meeting Look Like? Success Team in Action: Hancock High School

+ Takeaways Ideas Next Steps What is one idea that stuck with you from today? What is one action you’ll take as a result? + Review where we have been. Now set intentions for learners next steps. Provide a few moments to have participants jot down next steps and dates to complete on a post-it. Ideas: Share with a colleague, revisit and discuss with a colleague, review materials to see what is aligned, download foundational skills resources, access academic toolkit on OSPI website. Share out intentions and ask participants to identify and accountability buddy.  Ideas Next Steps

9th Graders On Track http://www.k12.wa.us/9thGrade 11/9/2018

Questions? We are here to help you! For 9th Grade: Kefi Andersen Graduation Equity Program Supervisor 360-725-0429 | Kefi.Andersen@k12.wa.us For Attendance: Krissy Johnson Attendance Program Supervisor 360-725-6045 | Krissy.Johnson@k12.wa.us OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 11/9/2018