PART 3: FINDINGS - SUMMARY EXPLANATION OF RUBRIC RATINGS Focus Standard 1.1
Focus Standard
Rubric Rating
Summary Explanation of Ratings
Meaningful and Challenging Curriculum
Sustaining
Essentially every Acorn Woodland classroom had clear evidence of challenging curriculum. Many had evidence of curriculum that was explicitly meaningful, in that it applied learning to questions or problems connected to students’ interests, goals, experiences, and communities. Students consistently reported that they were challenged and that they were positively engaged in their classes. Parents seconded this. AWE teachers spoke with notable consistency about their curriculum approaches. They described having a fair amount of flexibility in their curriculum but also holding themselves strongly responsible and accountable for student performance.
Refining
Essentially every Acorn Woodland classroom had clear evidence of a safe and nurturing learning environment. Students and parents confirmed that students were safe and had good relationships with staff. AWE teachers “sweated the small things,” establishing tight routines and systems across all classrooms which created the conditions of safety and nurture. The School Culture Team examined student behavior data to understand what was happening in classrooms and to decide how systems could be improved or teachers supported to strengthen safety and nurture in classrooms.
Sustaining
Students were actively engaged and supported in their learning. There were several ways for students to learn in class. However, often instruction was primarily teacher-centered and learning teacher-driven. Teachers shared a common view of good teaching and were working to improve and align their instructional approaches to become “one band with one great sound”.
1.2
Safe and Nurturing Learning Experiences
1.4
Active & Different Types of Learning
Acorn Woodland Elementary School School Quality Review 2012-2013—Final Report
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Sustaining
Most students interviewed knew the learning objectives for the lesson, and some recognized the connection between the day’s learning and longer-term outcomes. Teachers’ practice of establishing learning targets varied. Virtually every classroom had clear evidence of students having their learning checked with immediate feedback regarding their progress.
1.7
Students Know What They are Learning, Why, and How it can be Applied
1.8
Academic Intervention & Enrichment Support
1.10
Equitable Access to Curriculum
Sustaining
AWE had a variety of strategies, notably grouping students across classes, to ensure differentiated access. AWE also had a variety of systems for monitoring student progress, variously placing and exiting students from intervention supports, based on a variety of assessment data, and adjusting those supports to ensure students received the best, targeted supports possible. AWE staff showed consistent awareness of the needs of different groups of students.
1.11
College-going Culture & Resources
Developing
AWE had college-themed classrooms, in which each classroom was actually called the university which the teacher had attended and had displays, college chants, logos, and flags of that college. Campus-wide there was college information posted prominently. Classroom observations did not confirm that there was a college-going culture in the learning process. In only one observation, the teacher was explicit that certain skills and dispositions (e.g., peer collaboration, study/organizational habits) particularly prepared students to be successful in college and careers.
Refining
Acorn Woodland Elementary School School Quality Review 2012-2013—Final Report
AWE had a teacher on special assignment (TSA) who coordinated the Response-ToIntervention (RTI) process and specifically the pull-out intervention classes. The coordinator tracked the assessment data on each student identified. AWE had effective classroom and school-wide strategies—during and after school—that provided a variety of academic intervention supports, consistent with the RTI framework. Several leadership teams (Instructional, Intervention, and COS) monitored the effectiveness of these strategies and adjusted strategies based on students’ needs.
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2.1
Safe & Healthy Center of Community
Sustaining
Acorn Woodland as a facility was a beautiful, inviting place to learn. AWE has become the “sanctuary”, originally envisioned, in a neighborhood that suffers from violence and economic hardship. Students and parents consistently reported feeling safe and valued the steps taken to ensure security. The campus was observed to be a community center.
2.2
Coordinated & Integrated System of Academic Learning Support Services
Developing
AWE had on-site strategies, services and partnerships that responded to student/family social-emotional needs. AWE had systems to coordinate efficiently and effectively their services. AWE students were provided healthy food and health-focused physical activity.
2.5
Identifies At-Risk Students & Intervenes
Developing
AWE teachers had effective classroom practices for identifying at-risk students and providing interventions, within the scope of their resources. Teachers took responsibility for their students and their community. One challenge in AWE’s systems was the transition occurring for the newly formed COST and from the loss of one counselor. Social-emotional support services were not yet coordinated consistently, according to the RTI model. The SCT held the link between the social-emotional experiences of students and that of the adults. They monitored the adult professional culture and adult social-emotional needs for how it impacted students and families.
2.6
Inclusive, Welcoming & Caring Community
Sustaining
AWE students felt safe and free from threat, bullying, and/or discrimination. They described trusting relationships with staff and that they felt “known” by them. Parents confirmed this. AWE had specific events, activities, and strategies to build caring and supportive relationships across different individual and cultural lines. AWE had the community relations assistant who was charged with reaching out and organizing engagement between staff and families. AWE had effective behavior management school-wide that created a positive school climate (rewards, progressive discipline plan, celebrations to recognize improvement/ achievement, daily routines that reinforce culture of the school, etc.).
Acorn Woodland Elementary School School Quality Review 2012-2013—Final Report
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3.1
Collaboration
Sustaining
AWE teachers met every other week in professional learning communities (PLCs) to “collaboratively plan units, analyze data, and engage in protocols for the purpose of adjusting instructional practice. PLCs were well focused on alignment and that they discussed student performance and effective strategies, rather than focused on issues of logistics or procedures.
3.2
Data Development & Analysis
Sustaining
Acorn Woodland staff regularly analyzed multiple kinds of data about student performance and their experience of learning. AWE staff used this data either to identify specific needs for re-teaching and intervention or to identify trends and patterns to inform strategic school-wide decisions.
3.4
Professional Learning Activities
Refining
Most teacher learning at AWE was teacher-led, facilitated and monitored by the Leadership Team. This created the conditions where professional learning was constantly reviewed, adjusted, and thereby improved to ensure that it was effective and impacting student learning. Teachers reported that they greatly valued the school’s on-going coaching and peer observation/feedback for various school priorities. In their PLCs, AWE teachers worked through the implementation challenges of applying their professional learning and received differentiated support. AWE teachers reported that the BAL cohort was broadening their understanding of instructional strategies to differentiate for different readers.
4.2
Working Together in Partnership
Sustaining
AWE had a community relations assistant assigned to community outreach and to organizing partnerships between the school and families/communities. This assistant conducted monthly trainings for parent leaders, to give them the tools to support students and their families and to work with the teachers. The work of the community relations assistant and the parent leaders was driven by the AWE Family Vision and specific goals written by parents. Parents consistently reported strong satisfaction in their opportunities to work in partnership with their child’s teacher on classroom matters and with the school leadership on classroom and school-wide issues.
Acorn Woodland Elementary School School Quality Review 2012-2013—Final Report
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4.5
Student/Family Engagement on Student Progress
Sustaining
Parents reported that the primary way they know what their children were learning was through the homework packet. They also received literacy “forms that show how he is doing, if he is proficient or advanced” five to six times a year. Parents said that teachers were always available and willing to take time to talk to them about their child’s progress. AWE staff added that there was a variety of ways that they connected and communicated with parents about student progress. They were most proud of the three-times-a-year report card conferences, which reportedly every parent attended.
4.6
Family Engagement on Academic Expectations and Opportunities
Developing
Parents reported that report card conferences were the primary way that they understood this information. The community relations assistant explained that the parent orientations, coffee chats, and the parent lead trainings also provide opportunities to understand this information. Staff and parents referred to the Friday Assemblies as another way they hear more about the broad, affective learning goals at Acorn Woodland.
4.7
Standards of Meaningful Engagement
Sustaining
Acorn Woodland had a Family Vision that drives their work. Parents had defined their own goals for working in partnership with the school. While the above are not explicitly “standards” of meaningful engagement, they function much the same and guide effective engagement between AWE staff and their community.
5.2
Partners with Students and Families in Decision Making
Developing
AWE’s parents participated in the School Site Council and the English Language Advisory Council, through which they approved key school plans and got input into the kinds of supports they would like to see on campus. Through other structures, like the classroom parent leaders and the monthly coffee chats, parents had direct opportunities to share improvement ideas, shape decision-making, and give quality feedback. The SQR Team did not gather evidence that parents were involved in any hiring or “formal feedback” processes.
Acorn Woodland Elementary School School Quality Review 2012-2013—Final Report
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5.4
Vision Driven
Sustaining
AWE had a vision, plus a mission and a set of core values that were distinctly focused on student learning, grounded in high expectations, widely understood and actively present in the workings of the school.
5.5
Focused on Equity
Sustaining
AWE has mature systems for collecting and analyzing data, and these include attention to subgroups in order to monitor and adjust practices designed to interrupt patterns of inequity. School leadership persistently advocated for and supervised/supported with a focus on the strategies they thought would interrupt patterns of academic inequity.
5.6
Supports the Development of Quality Instruction
Sustaining
AWE had a structure of individual “coordinators” and teams that together guided, monitored, and supported quality instruction. The systems and processes these coordinators and teams used for their work—their meeting schedules, facilitation, communication tools, work plans, follow-up habits—were very effective. Teachers reported that the principal’s expectations were clear and aligned with the priorities they focused on in their PLCs. It was evident that teachers perceived his feedback and evaluation as effective and supportive.
5.9
Culture of Mutual Accountability
Sustaining
AWE school staff had developed specific student goals for learning for this year. AWE staff followed clear processes and procedures to hold themselves accountable to one another and the goals and expectations and that there was a culture of mutual accountability within the staff. AWE staff was willing to push each other on the effectiveness of their instruction and interventions and were constantly monitoring and revising to improve that effectiveness.
5.10
Organizational Management
Sustaining
Investments in coaching and teacher collaboration time, combined with specific teacherhiring practices, helped strengthen AWE’s professional capacity. Facing decline resources, AWE decided to increase school enrollment and class size to maintain the financial and human resources they needed to realize their school vision and implement their instructional priorities.
Acorn Woodland Elementary School School Quality Review 2012-2013—Final Report
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PART 4: FOCUS STANDARDS RATINGS CHART Quality Indicator 1 1 1 1
Std. # 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.7
Focus Standard
Rubric Rating Sustaining Refining Sustaining Sustaining
5.9
Meaningful and Challenging Curriculum Safe and Nurturing Learning Experiences Active & Different Types of Learning Students Know What They are Learning, Why, and How it can be Applied Academic Intervention/ Enrichment Equitable Access to Curriculum College-going Culture & Resources Safe & Healthy Center of Community Coordinated & Integrated System of Academic Learning Support Services Identifies At-Risk Students & Intervenes Inclusive, Welcoming & Caring Community Collaboration Data Development & Analysis Professional Learning Activities Working Together in Partnership Family Engagement on Student Progress Family Engagement on Academic Expectations and Opportunities Standards of Meaningful Engagement Partners with Students and Families in Decision Making Vision Driven Focused on Equity Supports the Development of Quality Instruction Culture of Mutual Accountability
1 1 1 2 2
1.8 1.10 1.11 2.1 2.2
2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4
2.5 2.6 3.1 3.2 3.4 4.2 4.5 4.6
4 5
4.7 5.2
5 5 5
5.4 5.5 5.6
5 5
5.10
Organizational Management
Acorn Woodland Elementary School School Quality Review 2012-2013—Final Report
Refining Sustaining Developing Sustaining Developing Developing Sustaining Sustaining Sustaining Refining Sustaining Sustaining Developing Sustaining Developing
Undeveloped
Beginning
Developing
Sustaining
Refining
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Sustaining Sustaining Sustaining
X X X
Sustaining
X
Sustaining
X
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