1. Developing a School-wide Literacy Plan January 19, 2010
Diana: Hello everyone and thank you for joining us today for Developing a School wide Literacy Plan. This is the fifth of eight School Improvement Webinars sponsored by HSTW Ohio Regions in partnership with the Association of Career Technical Education (ACTE).
* HSTW Ohio Regions is a grant funded program of the Ohio Department of Education and one of 32 national member states of the Southern Regional Education Board’s HSTW/MMGW initiatives.
* ACTE is dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for careers.
School Improvement Webinar Series 1 1

2. Your Moderator, Host and Presenter
Diana
Rogers
Regional Coordinator
HSTW NE Ohio Region
Catherine
Imperatore
Electronic Media Manager
ACTE
Paulette
Dewey
HSTW Technical Coach
HSTW NW Ohio Region
Diana: I am Diana Rogers, Regional Coordinator for HSTW NE Ohio Region and will be the moderator for today’s session. I am one of four regional coordinators who serve HSTW and MMGW sites in Ohio, and have worked with schools in Ohio and nationally as an educational consultant for the past 30 years.
* Now, I would like to introduce Catherine Imperatore, Electronic Media Manager for ACTE, our host and contact for any technical questions participants may have during the webinar.
It is my pleasure to introduce the presenter for today’s webinar, Paulette Dewey. Paulette is a dedicated HSTW Technical Coach who has worked for the past 3 years with schools in Ohio. Before that she was an educator for over 35 years as a high school ELA teacher and an adjunct professor at the University of Toledo.
She is a school improvement coach who uses the best practice strategies teachers introduced during the webinar with her schools.
* During this webinar and the next three in the School Improvement series, we will be presenting from the viewpoint of our HSTW/MMGW coaches who will share their expertise and successful practices of high performing HSTW/MMGW sites. Thank you for joining us Paulette.
Paulette: Diana, thank you for inviting me to present, and thanks to all the participants that have joined us today. I am really excited about this opportunity to share best practices for developing a school- wide literacy plan. As we all know, this is not always an easy process. I hope the information today will benefit administrators, teachers and schools who are working toward improving literacy across the curriculum in their school. 2 2

3. Sound Check Can everyone hear me? Having problems?
Adjust the volume on your speakers or headphones.
If that doesn’t work …
Close the Audio Broadcast window, then rejoin the Audio Broadcast by choosing “Communicate” from the top menu and selecting “Join Audio Broadcast.”
Request to join the teleconference by clicking “Request” in the Participants panel on the right side of the Webinar screen.
Diana:
Can everyone hear me? If not, please check the volume on your computer.
Having problems?
Adjust the volume on your speakers or headphones.
Close the Audio Broadcast window, which usually appears at the upper left of your Webinar screen. Then rejoin the Audio Broadcast by choosing “Communicate” from the top menu and selecting “Join Audio Broadcast.”
If that doesn’t work, request to join the teleconference by clicking “Request” in the Participants panel on the right side of the Webinar screen.

4. Questions
To ask about the content type a question in the Q&A panel and send to All Panelists.
Questions will be addressed at the end
of the presentation
For technical problems or any other questions, type in the Chat panel and send to the Host.
Diana: Before we begin, I’d like to discuss some housekeeping issues.
* If you have questions about content during the webinar, type a question in the Q & A panel and send to All Panelist. These questions will be addresses at the end of the presentation.
* If you have a technical problem or any other questions, type in the Chat panel and send to the host. 4

5. Replay or Register for Webinars
Archived
Assessing Academic Rigor
Developing Effective School Improvement Teams
Motivating Students to Participate in Assessments
Using Multiple Sources of Data to Monitor Success
Feb 16, 2010
Establishing an Effective Advisor/Advisee Program
Mar 16, 2010
Developing a School-wide Numeracy Plan
Apr 13, 2010
Using the Technical Assistance Visit Report
Complete webinar survey at the end of today’s webinar.
Graduate credit may be available for participating.
Diana: A replay of today’s webinar will be ed to you by tomorrow. To register for upcoming or view previously presented webinars go to Please invite your colleagues to attend as well.
At the end of today’s webinar, we will ask you to complete a short survey.
Graduate credit may be available for this webinar and the other webinars in this series. Contact your professional development provider. 5

6. Webinar Outcomes Describe literacy across the curriculum.
Recognize the importance of a school-wide literacy plan and focus.
Understand the steps in developing a literacy plan.
Identify diverse literacy team membership, process and work.
Understand how to effectively plan and implement a school-wide literacy plan.
Webinar Outcomes
Recognize the importance of a school-wide literacy focus.
Understand the steps in developing a literacy team.
Identify diverse literacy team membership.
Recognize the process of literacy team work.
Understand how to effectively plan and implement a school-wide literacy plan.

7. Poll Activity Is literacy an emphasis in your school?
a) It’s currently not a priority.
b) We see the specific need, but haven’t
developed a plan.
c) We have a literacy team, but need direction.
d) Our team has started to address literacy
strategies.
e) None of the above describes our situation.
Diana: Now, we would like to know from our participants what stages of planning or implementation of literacy planning do they feel best describes their current situation.
a) It’s currently not a priority.
b) We see the specific need, but haven’t developed a plan.
c) We have a literacy team, but need direction.
d) Our team has started to address literacy strategies.
e) None of the above describes our situation.
You should now see this poll on the right column of your screen. We will pause for a moment to allow people time to provide an answer.
Paulette, based upon your experience what do you believe is the greatest challenge in developing a school-wide literacy plan?
Paulette: The results of this poll will let us know … (A few more comments as time allows. We do not want dead space.) and adjust our talking points based upon the responses of our audience. So, let’s take a look at what the results are. Again, the poll results should appear on the right column of your screen. (Listen for Catherine - maybe)
It looks like ??% have used …...

8. “Literacy” Across the Curriculum
If we look at “literacy” as the ability to read and write, we’ll miss its fuller meaning– being usefully educated in a body of knowledge so that successful problem solving occurs. As the flow chart demonstrates, literacy involves understanding and solving mathematical needs, understanding and using oral and written communication to meet needs, and embedding technology to solve both mathematical and communication problems. All three are aspects of a literate individual. But, our focus today is verbal and written literacy. My use of “literacy” today refers to the communication strand though all three strands are important aspects of curriculum.

9. Why Literacy Across Curriculum?
21st century employment challenges
Post-secondary education success
Direct correlation: educational level and economic security
Educational equity
Life-long positive experience
We are in the age of information; the demand today is higher than ever for strong literacy skills; most employers are no longer providing literacy skill training for its workforce. The expectation is that you come to the job prepared with skills.
Remediation rates in first-year college math and composition courses rank high as reasons for college drop out rates. And, remediation rates across the country in colleges are significant.
An ETS study, “What jobs Require: Literacy, Education, Training— ” cited earnings of adults increase with literacy proficiency levels”
Clearly all students performing at higher education levels is equity in education. We can not afford to leave any student behind.
Reading and clear communication, of course, enhance all lives. One goal, for example, of the Ohio Academic Standards is to nurture life-long reading habits.

10. And…Gateway Tests Standardized tests: higher order
reading and writing skills
OAT and OGT tests
ACT and SAT tests
In Ohio as in most of the 50 states, gateway or exit tests involve proficient demonstration of reading and writing abilities.
The ACT and SAT test scores open or close doors to universities and to specialize programs of study.

11. School-wide Literacy Plan
Getting Started: Appoint the right people to serve on the literacy focus team
Stage 1: Identify critical needs based upon the data
Stage 2: Developing the plan
State 3: Implementing the plan
Stage 4: Monitoring the plan
Four major stages:
As with the development of any plan, a developmental movement is imperative.
I’ll clarify each of these three developmental stages.

12. Getting Started: Literacy Team
Teacher-based: core curriculum, arts, intervention specialist, career technical
School administrator
Parent and/or community representative
Student
Look at the diverse make up suggested here for literacy team membership. This is the school community working together toward a common goal.

13. What about….
Literacy coach, curriculum director, reading specialist representatives?
I add these professionals almost as an after thought. They are not after thoughts in any literacy across the curriculum plan. Their role(s) on the team are integral. But, I know that many schools do not have a literacy coach or reading specialist on the faculty. Some districts do not have curriculum directors with the job description that permits them to participate in one school’s specific literacy team. Involving the district’s literacy coach or curriculum director or the school’s reading specialist will be an added strength to the team.

14. Stage 1: Identify Critical Need
Test scores
Literacy climate: student reading, writing surveys
Teacher surveys
Finally, make a decision to move forward
If your school is a High Schools That Work site, you already have a school-wide Leadership Team. You probably also have focus teams, whose purpose is to examine in a narrower scope an issue pertinent to the entire school. This is the role of a Literacy Team: it studies the literacy needs of the school, determines a pathway, and works to achieve higher student success. And, you can have a working Literacy Focus Team (with its centered purpose) without the guidance of a school-wide Leadership Team.
The materials the Literacy Team needs are…. (I’ll explain each of these listed needs)

15. Stage 2: Developing the Plan
Align and focus the plan:
HSTW/MMGW Site Action Plan, district’s school improvement plans
Review test scores – state report cards
Trend data
College readiness data
First, look at the school’s already established goals. These goals are found in plans such as the HSTW Site Action Plan or your state’s district goals. These abbreviations refer to Ohio’s various district and state plans.
Ohio’s website has a plethora of information on each school within each district. The school’s yearly report card breaks down the yearly test results so the data can be meaningfully used by the school personnel
Trend data is also provide by the state. How the school has performed over two, three years points the way toward setting meaningful goals for student achievement.
And, College Readiness data helps bridge the gap between what high schools are doing and what colleges need their incoming freshmen prepared to do.

16. Gather Teacher Input Perceptions Needs Skills and assets
School-wide goals
Perhaps one of the most important tools for bringing a faculty together to work toward a common goal is the teacher survey. Involving all members of the teaching community in decision-making paves the way for fuller participation in working toward meeting a specific set of goals.
What do your colleagues see as the relevant issues? Similar to the literacy team’s? Different? You need to know.
What do your colleagues need to help them become actively engaged in literacy work? For example, some of your colleagues may have the perception that reading and writing tasks are solely English Language Arts issues; to overcome those perceptions, the teachers’ needs have to be identified and their skills and assets brought into the process.
Above all, a literacy team’s objective is to establish school-wide goals that everyone buys into—sees the significance of—as the school works to develop higher student achievement.

17. Set Goals Set … Attainable… Appropriate… Targeted… Goals!!!
Don’t just identify the topic of literacy across the curriculum—reading and writing for everyone. Target your goals. Don’t diffuse them, focus them. Establish school-wide literacy goals that are attainable, appropriate for your setting and students.
Too many goals to begin your literacy across the curriculum will defuse the momentum—for both teachers and students.

18. Five Goal Literacy Plan
Goal 1: Students will read the equivalent of 25 books
per year across the curriculum
Goal 2: Students will write weekly in all classes for a
grade.
Goal 3: Students will use reading and writing
strategies to help them understand and use
the content of all classes.
Goal 4: Students will write research papers in all
classes.
Goal 5: Students will be taught as if they were in an
honor language arts classes.
Here is an example of a five goal literacy plan used by HSTW/MMGW sites:
If you are moving into an across the curriculum literacy plan these are incremental goals that you can work toward achieving. For example, you can begin a plan with all students will read the equivalent of 8 or 10 books per year, etc.
And, there are developmental writing programs that move teachers of all disciplines more systematically into engaging students in writing activities.
I’ll talk a bit more about specific strategies as we go through the webinar.

19. Research-based Strategies
Goal 1: Students will read the equivalent of 25 books
per year across the curriculum.
Strategy: Silent Sustained Reading and Reflection
Goal 2: Students will write weekly in all classes for a
grade.
Strategy: School-wide Writing Rubric
Goal 3: Students will use reading and writing
strategies to help them understand and use
the content of all classes.
Strategy: Pre and Post Reading Strategies
Here is an example of a five goal literacy plan used by HSTW/MMGW sites:
The strategy of sustained silent reading can be a whole school 10, 15, or 20 min. reading activity. The entire school would simply stop all other work and students, teachers, administrators, etc. read for the allotted time period. Perhaps one day a week—on the designated day and at designated time. Everyone reads what they enjoy reading—magazine articles, fiction, non-fiction, newspaper articles. No judgment about the school-appropriate material is made.
School-wide writing plans and accompanying rubrics can be introduced to the faculty through professional development workshops.
Reading is never just picking up a book or opening to a chapter and beginning to absorb information. Teachers of all disciplines encourage student success when they guide the student into the texts through pre/active engagement/post reading strategies like journal writing, using framing questions or KWL or Anticipation Reading Guides.

20. Poll Activity Have you initiated any of these strategies?
a) Silent Sustained Reading and Reflection
b) Writing Across the Curriculum
c) Pre and Post Reading Strategies
d) Research Writing Strategies
e) Vocabulary Across the Curriculum
Diana: Now, we would like for know if the participants have initiated some of these steps in developing a school- wide literacy plan.
a) Silent Sustained Reading & reflection, such as Drop Everything And Read
b) Writing Across the Curriculum, like Collins Writing --an incremental 5-staged writing program that is user friendly for both students and teachers
c) Pre and Post Reading Strategies, such as Mark Forget’s Max Teaching and Anticipation Guides; the anticipation guides incorporated best practices strategies including personal reflection, small group discussion and note-taking while reading
d) Research Writing Strategies like Ken Macrorie’s I-Search Paper or Tom Romano’s Multi-Genre Research Paper
e) Vocabulary across the Curriculum graphic organizers
If you’d like any further information on any of these literacy strategies, I’ll be happy to respond to your . My contact information is posted at the conclusion of the webinar.
You should now see this poll on the right column of your screen. We will pause for a moment to allow people time to provide an answer.
Paulette, why people are responding “Why are these strategies important in developing a school- wide literacy plan?”
Paulette: The results of this poll will let us know … (A few more comments as time allows. We do not want dead space.) and adjust our talking points based upon the responses of our audience. So, let’s take a look at what the results are. Again, the poll results should appear on the right column of your screen. (Listen for Catherine - maybe)
It looks like ??% have used …...

21. Adopt a Three-Year Literacy Plan
Examine SREB’s five literacy goals and select initial goals appropriate to your data
Select and pilot research-based strategies
Plan to phase in whole-school implementation over three years
Don’t take on too much too soon!
So, look at the process you can use to begin your literacy team’s work.
When you are communicating with the entire faculty, stress the idea that the school is working on a literacy plan that will span more than one teaching year.

22. Stage 3: Implementing the Plan
Focus on targeted goals and strategies—not just “literacy across the curriculum.”
Recognize the literacy strands in all courses.
Technological literacy embedded
Again, plan in a focused way—using your school’s data, identify one or two literacy goals to begin with. Remember your colleagues’ comfort level with teaching reading and incorporating writing into their classrooms: provide meaningful professional development that will assist them. Also very importantly, provide follow through, follow up workshops so that the encouragement and momentum continue and do not fizzle out after a few attempts.
Recognize that literacy occurs in all course content whether it be the arts, physical education, the core curriculum, or technical courses.
Remember the broader understanding of “literacy”? Technology is a strong partner of reading and writing. Setting up classroom wikis, for example, is using a technology tool to further literacy goals.

23. Provide Focused PD
Prepare a schedule of professional development for the entire school year.
At least 40 hours of job embedded professional development with follow through on selected literacy strategies (i.e. demonstration classrooms)
Elicit and encourage a variety of attendees to professional development
Teacher transparency: successes and struggles.
Offer retraining on all strategies each year.
Enthusiastic teachers are always a pleasure to send to professional development workshops and seminars. Confident teachers are also great responders to the call for attendees at workshops. But, encouraging the reluctant and the less confident teacher is an important aspect of developing a school culture of higher expectations for student achievement.
Remember to encourage everyone to share their classroom experiences with reading or writing or whatever your literacy goals are. The sharing should include, of course, successful strategies that colleagues can adapt, but don’t shut out those voices experiencing struggles with the work. Collaboration is truly meaningful and productive when the sharing is an honest reaching out and sharing.

24. Recommended PD and Resources
HSTW Annual Conference
SREB Bureau of Presenters
Collins Writing Across the Curriculum
Max Teaching Strategies with Mark
Forget
Regional HSTW workshops
Local, state education consortiums
Providing meaningful professional development is integral to any literacy plan.
I’ve listed a few resources that you can investigate.
If you are a HSTW school, one of the best resources for any member of your staff is the Annual conference, held every July. Literacy workshops abound and they are presented by SREB consultants or by teams from schools that have successfully implemented literacy strategies. Go on the SREB website for more specifics about the conference.
I can provide you with contact information for a one day or two day workshop on Collins Writing. This strategy is concrete, developed in stages so that the classroom teacher becomes confident and comfortable with the instruction as well as the student written work.
Mark Forget’s Max Teaching addresses key areas of literacy engagement including both reading and writing strategies and focused small group collaboration.
Contact your regional HSTW office—professional development is an important aspect of the our work.

25. Most Importantly Keep Communication Alive! In all aspects of the
Implementation Stage
Never lose sight of the importance of keeping everyone on the same page.
A faculty wiki might be a cool way to develop a inclusive conversation about their successes with or confusions about their classroom literacy work.

26. Model Literacy Strategies
During faculty meetings:
Use adopted literacy strategies to gather teacher feedback
Share peer observations of demonstration classrooms
Ask departments to showcase a literacy strategy
Providing a schedule of profession development activities can be as simple as formal or informal sharing of classroom literacy experiences and experiments. You can use part of a faculty meeting or set aside professional development time either before school or after school to collaborate.

27. Stage 4: Monitoring the Plan
Be attuned to incoming data
Be thoughtful of attitudes and concerns
Involve data focus team throughout
Continue teacher input, surveys, questionnaire box…
Revise the plan at least annually
Just as you monitor student learning, you will need to monitor progress with the literacy across the curriculum plan that you adopt.

28. Emphasis on Literacy Across the Curriculum Students report:
They often used word-processing software to complete an assignment or project.
They often revised their essays or other written work several times to improve their quality.
They sometimes or often were asked to write in-depth explanations about a class project or activity.
They discussed or debated topics with other students about what they read in English or language arts classes at least monthly.
Just as you monitor student learning, you will need to monitor progress with the literacy across the curriculum plan that you adopt.
Look at this sample of survey questions from the HSTW Assessment’s Student Survey. These questions address high achievement expectations in classrooms.

29. Emphasis on Literacy Across the Curriculum Students report:
They read and interpreted technical books and manuals to complete assignments in their career/technical classes at least monthly (CT students only).
They read an assigned book and demonstrated understanding of the significance of the main ideas at least monthly.
In a typical week, they read non-school-related materials outside of class for two or more hours.
They completed short writing assignments of one to three pages for which they received a grade in their English classes; in their science classes; in their social studies classes at least monthly.
Just as you monitor student learning, you will need to monitor progress with the literacy across the curriculum plan that you adopt.
Look for example, at the second bullet: this reading and demonstrating understanding of main ideas applies to every content area—text book chapters, non-fictional texts of all types as well as fictional pieces.

30. Emphasis on Literacy Across the Curriculum
Intensive: 7 to 10 indicators
Moderate: 4 to 6 indicators
Low: 0 to 3 indicators
Percentage of students who met the readiness goals in reading, mathematics and science each category
Intensive
Moderate
Low
Just as you monitor student learning, you will need to monitor progress with the literacy across the curriculum plan that you adopt.
These three areas are tested in the HSTW assessment; they are also the focus of ACT and SAT assessments. Examining questions from both science and mathematics points to the need for strong reading skills.
Reading Mathematics Science
Reading Mathematics Science
Reading Mathematics Science

31. Reflection on the Literacy Plan
Are our goals targeted and realistic?
Are our decisions being data-driven?
Are our stakeholders involved in decision-making?
Are we communicating clearly & often with our colleagues?
Are we ready to re-assess goals with additional data?
Are our students achieving at higher levels?
Just as you provide a checklist or rubric for student work, here is a literacy plan checklist that can guide you. If, as you progress through the process, you can check off each of these steps, you will know that you are putting your literacy plan on a course for success. And, what is success: higher literacy expectations for all students, higher achievement from all students.

32. School-wide Literacy Plan Checklist
Create a literacy focus team
Gather school data
Set attainable, focused goals
Provide targeted professional development
Communicate with all staff members regularly
Review incoming data regularly
Celebrate successes
To sum up:
This is the big, full picture of work in developing a school-wide literacy plan:

33. Recommended Resources
Publications:
Literacy Across the Curriculum: Setting and Implementing Goals for Grades Six Through 12
Macrorie, Ken. I Search Paper. Heinemann, 2000,
Romano, Tom. Blending Genre, Altering Style. Heinemann,
Websites:
Paulette– Here are a few recommended resource for our participants:
Publication:
Literacy Across the Curriculum: Setting and Implementing Goals for Grades Six Through 12,
Macrorie, Ken. I Search Paper. Heinemann, 2000,
Romano, Tom. Blending Genre, Altering Style. Heinemann,
Websites: 33

34. Questions
To ask about the content type a question in the Q&A panel and send to
All Panelists.
Questions will be addressed at this time
Or an response will be sent to you after the webinar.
Diana: Thanks Paulette, I would like to again invite participants to submit a question. Just type in the Q & A panel and send to All Panelist. These questions along with questions sent during the presentation will be answered at this time or an response will be sent to you after the webinar. 34

35. Question
Do you have a literacy plan template or list of strategies that most schools use in developing a literacy plan?
Diana: Do you have a literacy plan template or list of strategies that most schools use in developing a literacy plan?
Paulette : Yes, SREB provides HSTW/MMGW site with a Five Goal Literacy Plan, and I will be glad to share it with the participants. I will ask Catherine to send it to everyone following today’s webinar. 35 35

36. Question
What professional development is available to assist school teams in learning more about developing a school-wide literacy plan?
Diana: What professional development is available to assist school teams in learning more about developing a school-wide literacy plan?
Paulette : Yes, SREB provides a Leadership Module on Literacy Across the curriculum. Participants can find more information on this training at 36 36

37. More Q & A Questions and responses
Diana, We will try and respond to as many questions as our time allows. Paulettte, a participant is asking:
(state questions) Do you want to respond to this question.
Paulette: Yes (take the question and respond, or say) Thanks for asking. I prefer to respond to that question by . I would like to provide the most accurate response to that question and would like to confer with my colleagues. 37 37

38. Contact Information
If you have questions or would like to learn more
about developing a school-wide literacy plan, please
contact:
Paulette Dewey, HSTW Technical Coach
Diana: If you have questions or would like to learn more about developing a school-wide literacy plan, please contact:
Paulette Dewey, HSTW Technical Coach 38 38

39. Next Webinar in the Series
Establishing an Effective
Advisor/Advisee Program
Vicki Hunt, HSTW Site Coordinator/Practitioner
February 16, 2010
from 11:30 – 12:30 ET
Diana: Please join us for the next webinar in the series: Establishing an Effective Advisor/Advisee Program to to be presented by Vicki Hunt, a HSTW Site Coordinator/Practitioner from a high performing HSTW site in NW Ohio Region. This will be presented February 16, 2010 from 11:30 – 12:30 ET. 39

40. Thank you for participating!
Reminders…
Register for future webinars or to view archived webinars at or
After leaving today’s webinar…
Please complete the webinar survey.
If you are interested in graduate credit, remember to print a copy of the survey.
Please click the X to exit the webinar.
Have a great day!
Diana: Thank you Paulette for sharing your expertise with us today and thank you to all who participated in today’s webinar.
Paulette: Thank you for inviting me to present. It was great for me to have the opportunity to share my experiences coaching HSTW and MMGW sites. I am very fortunate to be working with some wonderfully dedicated educators.
Diana: As a reminder, please remember to register for future webinars or to view archived webinars at or The archive of this webinar should be posted by tomorrow.
After leaving today’s webinar…
Please complete the webinar survey. It will pop up on your computer as soon as you leave the webinar.
If you are interested in graduate credit for participating in today’s webinar, please remember to print a copy of the survey before you close down the screen. Contact information for a graduate credit provider is provided at the end of the survey.
Again, thanks again for taking the time to complete this survey. Your feedback will help us improve your next webinar experience.
*We look forward to having you with us at our next School Improvement webinar. Please click the X at the upper right corner of the screen to exit the webinar. Thanks again and have a great day. 40 40