Meeting the Educational Needs of our Students

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Meeting the Educational Needs of our Students

• Cloverland Elementary School

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• The only thing harder than starting something
  new
• is stopping something old.
• --Russell Ackoff, Redesigning Society

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IT ALL BEGINS WITH ATTITUDE!

• The key here is not the kind of instruction but
  the attitude underlying it. When teachers (and
  administrators) do not understand the potential
  of the students they teach, they will under-teach
  them no matter what the methodology.
• --Lisa Delpit Other Peoples Children Cultural
  Conflict in the
• Classroom

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WHO ARE WE? We are

• out of Year 2 Program Improvement Status because
  were in the business of change
• closing the achievement gap because of
  quality-first teaching based on the students we
  serve
• a research-oriented and risk-taking community of
  learners
• a 10 compared to similar schools because we
  are a Professional Learning Community, as are ALL
  SCHOOLS LABELED A 10 IN OUR SIMILAR SCHOOLS
  COMPARISON
• a family first
• bound by a sense of urgency we only have 180
  days
• committed to the concept of whatever it takes
• committed to differentiating content, process,
  and product according to students readiness,
  interests, and learning profile

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Continuous change at Cloverland

• can only happen if empowered leaders, cognizant
  of systems issues teachers most among them
  form a united group. This group must spend time
  together during the school day to confront
  realities, plan and implement relevant actions to
  improve student learning for all students, and
  hold each other accountable for continuously
  improving results.
• Diana Walsh-Reuss and Jane Moore, Leadership
  Jan/Feb 2007

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• CONFRONTING REALITIES

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2008 Cloverland Demographics ()
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2008 Cloverland Demographics ()
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2008 EL Districtwide
22.5
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2008 Hispanic Districtwide
36
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2008 Free/Reduced Lunch Districtwide
55
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2008 Students With Disabilities Districtwide
18.5
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• BECOMING A UNITED GROUP

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WHAT WEVE DONE FOR STUDENTS

• Implementation of Professional Learning Community
  model of teacher collaboration
• GLAD training and strategies
• ASES After School Intervention Program
• Focus on Students With Disabilities
• Educational technology purchases

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2005-2007 PLC STAFF DEVELOPMENT

• What is a Professional Learning Community?
• What is collaboration?
• Staff meeting training session
• Big Idea 1 Ensuring that students
• learn
• Big Idea 2 A spirit of collaboration
• Big Idea 3 A focus on results

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What is a PLC?

• Educators committed to working collaboratively
  in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and
  action research to achieve better results for the
  students they serve. Professional learning
  communities operate under the assumption that the
  key to improved learning for students is
  continuous job-embedded learning for educators.

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What collaboration is NOT

• Congeniality and focus on building group
  camaraderie
• Developing consensus on operational procedures
• Committees to oversee facets of the schools
  operation

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What collaboration IS

• Systematic embedded, teachers given guidelines,
  focus on student achievement
• Designed to impact professional practice a
  catalyst to change practices
• Assessed in terms of effectiveness based on
  RESULTS rather than perceptions, projects, or
  positive intentions.

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Professional Learning Communities2007-2008

• Non-negotiable full implementation of PLC
  collaboration
• Continued training at staff meetings
• Developing team norms
• Data analysis training
• Creating SMART goals
• Creating common assessments
• District-calendared teacher collaboration days
  implemented
• Results Now book study and discussion at each
  staff meeting

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2008-2009 PLC Staff Development and Practice

• Development of new norms
• Data analysis
• Site plan creation and monitoring
• Intervention plan development
• SMART goals

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• RELEVANT
• ACTIONS

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2008-2009 SITE PLAN

• Goal 1 At least 46 of our English Learners and
  Students With Disabilities will be
  Proficient/Advanced in ELA on 2009 CSTs.
• Goal 2 At least 47.5 of our English Learners
  and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students will
  be Proficient/Advanced in Math on 2009 CSTs.

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Continuing ELA Interventions

• Universal Access
• Professional Learning Community Model of Teacher
  Collaboration
• Parent Involvement
• ASES After School Intervention Program
• Read Naturally Program
• SRA Reading Program
• GLAD Training
• Mountain Language
• Bilingual Instructional Aide
• Accelerated Reader
• Lexia Software Use
• Technology to Support Current Programs

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Continuing Math Interventions

• Professional Learning Community Model of Teacher
  Collaboration
• Parent Involvement
• ASES After School Intervention Program
• GLAD Training
• Mountain Math
• Bilingual Instructional Aide
• Math Facts in a Flash Software
• Technology to Support Current Programs

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New 08-09 ELA Interventions

• Reading Comprehension Practice
• Vocabulary Practice Cards
• Book Talks
• Rosetta Stone Software Use
• Examine EL STAR Testing Practices

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New 08-09 Math Interventions

• Examine EL STAR Testing Practices
• Test Taking Skill Program Development and
  Training
• Parent/Child Math Academy
• Math Curriculum Technology
• Homogeneous Grouping
• Math Academic Vocabulary Practice

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Some challenges

• Changing Demographics
• - 33 of our K students are EL
• - 3 Special Day Classes - 7 of school
  population
• - 18.5 of students have disabilities
• - 55 Free/Reduced Lunch
• Small school limitations
• - limited Universal Access across grade
  levels/limited
• homogeneous grouping
• - limited collaboration
• - limited funding
• School manager vs. instructional leader

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RESULTS

• How do we know our students are learning?
• HOLDING EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE

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We need you to expect more from us than we do
from ourselves. We need you to demand the very
best from us. --Your students
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Schoolwide API
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Challenge us with material that is relevant and
interesting. Keep believing, urging, and
reminding us that we can reach higher. --Your
students
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English Learner API
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When you get to know us, you learn that our
differences make us who we are. Different isnt
better or worse, its just different. --Your
students
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Socioeconomically Disadvantaged API
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Say what you mean, mean what you say, and do what
you say you will do. --Your students
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Hispanic API
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You are our role model and what you do in your
classroom reaches far beyond the classroom.
--Your students
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White API
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If we dont get it the first time you teach it,
we probably wont the second time around unless
you teach it differently. --Your students
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Schoolwide Proficient ELA
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Kind words can refocus and renew us. We need
encouragement and we need to know that you
believe in us even when we may not believe in
ourselves. --Your students
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English Learner Proficient ELA
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Enjoy us. Laugh with us. Lets take every
opportunity to find fun together. --Your students
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Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Proficient ELA
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When you show us that you care about us as
individuals, we try harder to please you, work
harder, and cooperate more. --Your students
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Students With Disabilities Proficient ELA
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Good teachers control their classrooms and their
students understand the boundaries. --Your
students
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Schoolwide Proficient Math
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Remember what it felt like to be a student.
Remember the challenges you faced when you were
young. Keep up with the things that are
important to us. --Your students
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English Learner Proficient Math
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You always lead and everything you do counts. We
watch what you do. We see how you behave at your
kids soccer games. We are watching. --Your
students
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Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Proficient Math
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If we cant trust you, we wont learn from you.
Keep your promises. Speak out for what you think
is important. Error on the side of
fairness. --Your students
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Students With Disabilities Proficient Math
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• It can be argued that organizations do not
  change, only individuals change. It is only when
  enough of the people within an organization
  change that the organization can be transformed.
• The fundamental role of the principal is to help
  create the conditions which enable a staff to
  develop so that the school can achieve its goals
  more effectively. In short, the key to school
  improvement is the willingness and ability of a
  principal to assume the role of staff developer
  and make it their mission to alter the
  professional practices, beliefs, and
  understandings of school personnel toward an
  articulated end.

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If you treat an individual as he is, he will
remain as he is. But if you treat him as if he
were what he ought to be and could be, he will
become what he ought to be and could be. --
Goethe