School Improvement Technical Assistance Meeting September 17, 2009 Jane Massi, Title I Consultant 1

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BELL CURVEJ - CURVE 5

Teacher Quality Staff Expectations Student Apathy Inadequate Parental Support 6

Norms Values & Beliefs Rituals & Ceremonies Symbols & Stories Kent D. Peterson 7

Positive Negative 8

Positive Supports professional development for teachers Sense of responsibility for student learning Positive caring atmosphere 9

Positive All children can learn. All children will learn because of what we do. Professional Learning Communities at Work by Rebecca and Richard DuFours 10

Toxic Teacher relationships conflictual Staff does not believe in the ability of ALL students Helps to maintain the gap 11

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Expectations Belief Systems 13

Technical Cultural 14

Students and their families were responsible for effectiveness of education. Educators were the experts. Schools provided students the opportunity to learn. Students were expected to comply with educator demands to acquire knowledge. Parents that supported the expert guidance would have achieving students. Subjective grading systems were the norm. Procedures were controlled by educators. 15

The school is accountable for student success. 16

It is not the students fault. It is not the parents fault. It is not the educators fault. 17

Four Variables: Percentage of students living with one parent Percentage of 8 th graders absent from school at least 3 times/month Percentage of children 5 or younger whose parents read to them daily Percentage of 8 th graders who watch TV 5+ hours/day (Educational Testing Service Survey) 18

Perceptual Intrinsic Institutional 19

Teacher expectations clearly play a role in how much students learn. 20

Student expectations clearly play a role in how much students learn. 21

Society/schools play a role in how much students learn. 22

Believers Tweeners Survivors Fundamentalists 23

Goal: Academic success for each student 24

Goal: Organizational stability 25

Goal: Emotional and mental survival 26

Goal: Maintaining the status quo 27

Match the statements to their correct group. 28

Answers and discussion. 29

Believers If schools are to transform their cultures into positives, them must increase this population of Believers. Believers must become more vocal members of the school community. 30

Tweeners School leaders cannot leave new teacher development to choice. Leaders must be proactive and put time and resources behind the support and development of tweeners in order to create the positive school culture a school needs. They must protect and groom Tweeners. 31

Survivors School leaders must reduce the effects Survivors have on students. Remove them from the situation. Provide psychological treatment, paid leave or new career opportunities. 32

Fundamentalists School leaders and Believers must meet Fundamentalists head on. They must curtail or eliminate fundamentalism in schools. 33