1. BrightBytes Early Warning System
Beth Webb, Principal
Wayne Middle School
Lori Staley, Assistant Principal

2. Who we are…
Beth Webb –
Taught English 10, 11 and AP English 10 Marsh Fork High School, Raleigh County (2 years)
Taught Title I Reading / 8th Grade Reading Wayne Middle School, Wayne County (7 years)
Taught English 9 & 10 Spring Valley High School, Wayne County (1 year)
Taught English 9, 10 and Honors English 10 Wayne High School, Wayne County (1 year)
Assistant Principal Wayne Middle School, Wayne County (3 years)
Principal Wayne Middle School, Wayne County (3 years)
Lori Staley –
Taught English 9, 10, and Honors English 9 (1 year)
Taught Language Arts 6, 7, 8 and yearbook Wayne Middle School, Wayne County (4 years)
Taught English 9, 10, 11, 12, and Honors English 9 Wayne High School, Wayne County (5 years)
Assistant Principal Wayne Middle School, Wayne County (1 year)
Just a little bit about who we are. Both of us had prior teaching experience in Wayne Middle School and we have both been building level administrators in the school improvement process. We both taught at the high school that Wayne Middle School feeds into, so we are aware of how students progress or stagnate as they transition to high school.

3. Our school… 550 students – 6th through 8th 5 feeder schools
Low SES (approximately 45% directly qualify)
No Title I funding
High teacher turnover (approximately 33% annually)
Entering 3rd year of Priority School Status

4. Putting the system’s use in perspective
I. District Level Considerations
Identifying schools with academic and / or attendance issues
Quick rewards versus game changers
II. School Level Administrative / Counselor Considerations
Identify specific students with truancy issues
Identify specific students with behavioral / social issues
Identify specific students with academic issues
III. Impact on Scheduling, Curriculum, and Teaching
Creating flexible schedules and structures for SPL
Meeting the academic needs of the bottom 25%
When we were faced with managing a fairly large middle school that was in “Priority” status, we were bombarded with many different things. We were almost overwhelmed with the attention we received from the state and county. There were many bits of good advice and lots of information from different data points; but, it became very cumbersome to manage. So, out of a need to focus our attention and channel our efforts in a unified manner, we turned to the BrightBytes system and it gave us a starting point.
We aren’t the experts on the research, analytics, algorithyms, and programming that go into creating the system, but we do have practical end-user information that can help simplify the process of analyzing the data and transforming it into something usable.
We have broken this session down into 3 major areas. REVIEW THE AREAS FROM THE POWERPOINT.

5. District considerations
District level personnel have access to every school in the district and can drill down to specific schools as needed.
Information is key to resource allocation and strategic planning.
Provides a platform that is objective for conversations with committees and schools.
Reports are customizable to allow data to reflect general overviews or specific targets.
Quick Rewards Versus Game Changers
One of the strengths of the data results is the generation of strategies for quick rewards and game changers.
Eliminates the “we’ve tried everything” mentality.
As a district or county level person, you have access to all schools in your area. As a county, when you are considering shifting resources or adding additional supports, using the BrightBytes system can give you the objective backing you need to support or dispute decisions.
This carries over into schools and committees when you have to have critical conversations. The data isn’t slanted to suit any particular purpose. It just is what it is.
The data can be drilled down to address target issues or you can get the broad perspective.
One of the strengths of the system is that it generates quick rewards that you can use immediately to see results as well as game changers which require a longer implementation and more planning, but they are the things that will help you become a sustainable school and county.
Some of these are obvious and some you may be doing, but I always found one or two things that made me stop and consider what I was truly doing and even admit that I really hadn’t tried everything to the best of my or my school’s ability.
GO TO THE DEMO SITE AND SHOW REPORTS AND THE INSIGHTS.

6. School Level Administrative Considerations
Identify specific students with truancy issues
Quick wins
Connect frequently absent students with an adult mentor
Hold back to school workshops for parents
Create school-wide incentives for attendance
Reach out in September
Game Changers
Set the standard for attendance through lessons and consistency in policies
Create a family-school communication plan
I’ve listed some of the “quick wins” and “game changers” that the system generates.
GO OVER THESE – MENTION THAT THEY LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEOS AND WEBSITES THAT HAVE MORE INFORMATION AND HELP.

7. School Level Administrator / Counselor Considerations
Identify students with behavioral / social issues
Incorporate clear transitions
Reach out to parents
Set a positive classroom tone
Help your students focus
Reconfigure your classroom
Prepare students by teaching good citizenship
Focus on interpersonal skills
Review each of these

8. School Level Academic Considerations
Closing the achievement gap by identifying students with specific academic issues
Academic data, such as test scores, one consideration in the Early Warn system.
Two supplemental sources of information used to identify the specific academic needs of students.
Benchmark scores
Report with average of all tests taken
Report with individual test records
Standards based report
Teacher recommendation
When considering how best to close the achievement gap at our school, we use the Early Warn system as a starting point for identifying our target students. Not all students considered at risk by Early Warn are flagged for academic reasons. They may be at risk because of attendance issues, excessive tardies, or discipline referrals. However, educational research tells us these behavioral issues Early Warn identifies negatively impact student learning and widen the achievement gap. With this in mind, we investigate the academic data on each student, not just those students identified as academically at risk.
When determining the specific academic concerns for the students identified as at risk by Early Warn we take into consideration the following. Early Warn bases it academic indicators only on the data it has access to. Therefore, to fully understand the academic needs of these identified students, other resources must be consulted.
There are two supplemental sources Wayne Middle School uses to determine students’ academic needs. Benchmark scores are our first source of information. Our students take benchmark tests an average of every four to six weeks. We run a report with an overall average of all tests taken and another with individual test results. The overall average score provides a general picture of the student while the individual scores show us the trend data. For example - Is the student showing progress? Are test scores consistent in that not one test was exceptionally low or high therefore making the average score an inaccurate reflection of the student?
The final report, which I will discuss in more detail in a few moments, is a standards based report that tells us which students have mastered a particular standard, which students are within mastery range, and which students need intensive intervention on the standard in order to master it.
The other source of information we look at is teacher recommendation. We ask our reading, language arts, and math teachers to identify students in the bottom 25% of all of their students. In making this determination, the teachers look at grades, classroom performance, and classroom assessments. This helps to provide a human element in the identification of at risk students. The human element is important because no matter how many programs we consult or the variety of data we study, there will always be the risk of one student slipping under the radar so to speak. They may not have the level of infractions or academic challenges necessary to draw attention to them. A good teacher knows their students, and that knowledge should not be discounted.
Between these sources and the information they give us, we are able to identify the most academically at risk students and place them in an SPL class designed to meet their needs.

9. Impact on Scheduling Resource Management and Priorities
Targeting a changing bottom 25%
Flexibility important as student needs change to minimize disruption to their schedule of core classes
Not all students will need to remain in targeted SPL
New at risk students will be identified throughout the year
Teacher communication
Active monitoring
One of the challenges of successfully leading is a school is managing its resources. The most valuable of our limited resources – teachers. At no point is the value of this resource felt more than when creating a school’s master schedule. Once the basic requirements (such as core classes, planning periods, etc…) are met, there is little left for flexible SPL classes. We studied the schedule and how we were using our resources versus what we knew needed to be done in the best interest of the students. In doing this, we came up with two priorities – non-negotiables that had to happen in order for success to occur.
The first priority was flexibility reflective of the needs of students. As students make progress, the data will change. Ideally, students will experience success and have different academic needs than those that will be addressed in the targeted SPL curriculum and be best suited in an SPL class with a different curriculum. Conversely, throughout the year, other students will experience challenges that will be best addressed by the curriculum in the targeted SPL class. This necessitates a schedule built with options for continuing to address the needs of a changing bottom 25%.
Flexibility is achieved in the master schedule through one primary consideration – timing. The SPL classes need to be placed in the schedule so that students can be moved from the targeted group to a different SPL class, and vice versa, with no disruption to their schedules.
The other priority was time for teacher communication. Structured conversations about student progress based on data, such as updated Early Warn information and assessment results, and classroom performance are necessary in keeping the targeted bottom 25% relevant to student needs.

10. Impact on Curriculum and Teaching
Meeting the academic needs of the bottom 25% to close the achievement gap
Through data analysis, needed basic skills embedded in Next Generation standards addressed in targeted SPL classes
Needs met in core and related arts classes through communication
Conversations in grade level and curricular meetings
Meetings facilitates collaborative efforts for continued progress toward closing achievement gap
Discussions lead to increased use of best practices and overall student successes
Earlier I mentioned we used a standards based benchmark report. While the report is helpful in helping to determine the academic needs of identified students, the report is most useful in curriculum design. The information contained in this report gives a more detailed picture as to what specifically needs to be done to close the achievement gap for the bottom 25%.
I work with teachers to determine what standards present the greatest challenge for students. From there, we determine what skills students are lacking to meet the standard. The result is an appropriately scaffolded instructional approach to student mastery of a standard. Even in targeted SPL classes, students will varying needs. Therefore, students are placed in collaborative learning groups based on their individual needs.
As a part of the monitoring and communication plan we have in place, the teachers in the targeted SPL classes share information with core and related arts teachers. These conversations that take place in curricular and grade level meetings facilitate collaborative efforts toward closing the achievement gap. Teachers can communicate about student needs and the practices and strategies they use to achieve them.

11. Summary Districts Schools
Use for identifying areas of concern for the district and individual schools
Objective data for justification of resource allocation
Platform for difficult conversations
Identify areas of need
Academics
Attendance
Behavior
Schools
Use for identifying students with difficulty
Use in planning
School level initiatives
Classroom interventions
Curriculum development
Identifying students in critical areas for SPL and counseling services
BrightBytes is a useful tool when blended with other school / county data.
Never rule out the input from the humans.