JeanClaude Brizard

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A Conversation About Teaching and Learning

• Jean-Claude Brizard
• January 2008

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The Achievement Gap

• Half of all African-American and Hispanic
  students will drop out, and only 18 will
  graduate from high school ready for college
• Children from affluent families are 11 times more
  likely to earn a bachelor's degree than are
  children from low-income families

• The racial and economic disparity in graduation
  rates is as wide as ever.

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Beyond NCLB

• despite scattered gains, school achievement
  continues to be closely tied to family
  background.
• There is no more important variable in
  childrens schooling than the quality of their
  teachers.

Thomas Sobol
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Use Data to Paint a Picture of Your Current
Reality
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Summary of Findings RCSD Strategic Deck
February 2007

• Achievement gaps and disengagement indicators are
  concentrated among similar populations of
  students male, Hispanic, Black, special
  education students and those receiving
  free/reduced lunch
• 7th and 9th grade are trouble spots for
  disengagement (attendance, suspensions,
  retentions, dropping out)
• Student performance declines between fourth and
  eighth grade among those who were meeting
  standards in 4th grade

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Percent of Students Meeting the Standards in All
Tested Grade (Math)(Performance Levels 3 and 4)
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Where do we go from here?
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• Quality teaching requires strong professional
  learning communities. Collegial interchange, not
  isolation, must become the norm for teachers.
  Communities of learning can no longer be
  considered utopian they must become the building
  blocks that establish a new foundation for
  Americas schools.
• Dufour, Whatever it Takes

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• To create a professional learning community,
  focus on learning rather than teaching, work
  collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable
  for results.
• What do we want each student to learn?
• How will we know when each student has learned
  it?
• How will we respond when a student experiences
  difficulty in learning?
• How will we respond when a student is learning?

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The Instructional Cycle
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Using Data for All Decisions
Processes Programs Policies Structure Curricul
a Instruction Resources (HR Stakeholder)
Positive Change In Outcomes
Data/Goals
Planned Change
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Source Presentation by National Center for
Educational Accountability
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Core Values

• Achievement Improving student achievement
  through a laser-like focus on teaching and
  learning.
• Equity - Equitable distribution of resources.
  This does not mean that we divide resources
  equally. Rather, it means that we first get
  fiscal, human and facilities resources to where
  they count the most.
• Accountability Use of data to ensure that we
  hold adults accountable to the success of all
  students.

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• The time has come to take the bull by the tail
  and face the situation.
• W.C. Fields