The School Portfolio Toolkit A Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation Guide for Continuous School Improvement

By Victoria L. Bernhardt, Ph.D. Presented by Jana A. Antelo

Table of Content 1 2 3 4 5 6

Introduction................................................................1 Continuous School Improvement.............................11 The School Portafolio................................................21 Information and Analysis.........................................45 Student Achievement................................................97 Quality Planning......................................................115

Table of Content...Continues 7 8 9 10 11 12

Professional Development.....................................139 Leadership...............................................................173 Partnership Development.......................................195 Continuous Improvement and Evaluation..............207 Updating the School Portfolio................................219 Implementing the School Portfolio........................239

Why a Tookit? The School Porfolio Toolkit was written to support school personnel with the mechanics of putting together a school portfolio as well as offer processes and strategies to move whole school staffs into and through continuous school improvement.

Understanding the Big Picture Elements for continuous school improvements Improve Implement Evaluate Plan

Philosophical Underpinnings of the organization

Define the need

Plan Obtain new skills for change Establish Structure for change

Establish Plan for change

Implement Instruction Strategies

Partnerships

Evaluate Ongoing Evaluation

Improve Continuous Improvement

REASONS FOR A SCHOOL PORTFOLIO Improve your learning organization on a continuous basis to ensure student learning Understand the impact of current processes on student achievement and the organization Understand how to improve current processes

Potfolio Organization ) Student achievent ) Quality planning ) Professional development ) Leadership ) Partnership development ) Continuous improvement ) Evaluation

Data Data is like a jar full of buttons, until you sort them and look for specifics, you can’t appreciate their value or purpose.

Data ) Demographic ) Perceptual ) Student learning ) School Process

Demographic Data

Demographic Data Needed to describe the school context

These data provide the over-arching context for everything that the school does with respect to school improvement. These contextual data show who the students, staff and community are, and how they have changed over time.

Questions to Guide the Analysis of Demographic Data for Continuous School wide Improvement Planning ♦

Looking at the student enrollm ent graphs in front of you, how has your enrollm ent changed over tim e?

♦

H ow have the follow ing changed, especially noting occurrences by gender and ethnicity? W hat are the im plications for the school im provem ent plan? 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

6 6 6

A ttendance E thnicity G rad e level D ropout rates G rad uation rates R etention rates D iscipline/suspensions T ardies S pecial ed u catio n , b y d isab ilities N um ber of years students typically stay in the school S tudents qualifying for free/reduced lunches or other indicators of educationally disadvantaged P arent incom e levels P arent education backgrounds O ther

♦

Howcan you anticipate enrollment to change in the next five years?

♦

Are teachers spread across grade levels by number of years teaching?

♦

Looking at teacher demographics, howmany retirements do you expect in the next five years? Do teacher demographics mirror student demographics?

♦

Will the teachers you have be able to fulfill the needs of your changing population? (e.g., if you have an influx of students with language needs, will the current staff be able to meet their needs?)

♦

Howdo you anticipate your teaching population to change in the next five years?

T e a c h e r P ro file D a te : N am e: C u rre n t J o b T itle

S c h o o l: E th n ic ity /R a c e

G ender

Languages Spoken

M a r k A L L th a t a p p ly :

A A A C H O

fric a n -A m e ric a n m e ric a n In d ia n s ia n a u c a s ia n is p a n ic th e r

W h e re d id y o u g e t y o u r d e g re e s a n d c re d e n tia ls ? B .A . B .S . M .S . P h .D . T e a c h in g c re d e n tia l: S p e c ia lis t c re d e n tia l: A d m in is tra tiv e c re d e n tia l: G N N T O

ra d e /s u b je c t c u rre n tly te a c h in g : u m b e r o f y e a rs a t th is g ra d e le v e l: u m b e r o f y e a rs a t th is s c h o o l: o ta l n u m b e r o f y e a rs te a c h in g : th e r g ra d e s ta u g h t a n d n u m b e r o f y e a rs :

O th e r c a re e rs p rio r to te a c h in g :

W h y d id y o u b e c o m e a te a c h e r?

W h y a re y o u te a c h in g n o w ?

F e m a le M a le

1 st 2 nd O th e r

Perceptual Data

Can tell schools about students, parent, and staff satisfaction with the work of the school. Perceptual data can also help the school understand what is possible in the big picture of school improvement and what it has been done internally to meet school improvement goals.

Student Learning data

Help the school see the results they are getting now.

The data tells shools which students are succeeding and which are not.

They also guide planning, leadership, partnership, and professional development efforts.

Guiding questions to help the analysis of student achivement data

) Where are our special education students across our distribution? ) Are our special education students improving at the same rate as our other students? ) Where are our English Language Learner students across our distribution? ) Are English Language Learners improving as rapidly as our English Language Speakers?

Important Question

?

What are we doing to teach these special population?

Multiple Measures Proficiency Levels Many schools that qualify for specific federal and/or state funding are required to report student achivement levels, over time, and disaggregated by demographics such as gender, ethnicity, and free and reduced lunches.

Examples of multiple measures include: &

Student grades

&

Running records

&

Norm-referenced test results

&

Criterion-referenced test results

&

Writing samples

&

Oral language samples

&

Classroom assessments

Analysis Related to Standards )

)

)

)

)

What processes are leading students toward meeting the standard by the end of grade three? Who and why are some students not meeting by the end of grade three? How students demographics impact these results? How does the way students are taught impact the results? What do we need to do differently to make sure all students meet the standard by the end of grade three?

Standard Implementation Curriculum alignment to national and state standards is critical for success in achieving on state tests

Deciding and setting a local performance standard. At what level do we want students to perform?

Teacher Analysis of Test Scores Activity

Help Teacher know who scored at the bottom and why

Who Is Scoring on the Bottom? Reading Comprehension Content Cluster

Recreational

Textual

Funtional

Initial Understanding

Interpretation

40-49

Carlos, Jon, Maria, Gina

Maria

Karen, Gina

Karen Gina

30-39

Peter, Karen, Billy

Susie, Billy, Peter, Karen, Gina

Carlos, Jon, Billy

Jon

Karen, Gina, Carlos, Jon, Billy

20-29

Susie

Carlos, Jon

Peter, Susie

Carlos, Bill, Maria

Peter

10-19

Maria

Peter, Susie

Susie, Maria

0-9

Carlos

2 Identify students falling at the bottom 50th percentile deciles. 2 Reflect on topics (objectives) or content clusters that are lowest. 2 Identify who, or where, the concepts are taught and how. 2 Discuss how the concepts are being taught, how they should be taught, and changes that can be made within and across grade levels (or subject areas).

School process data

Provide staff with information about their current approaches to teaching and planning, programs, and the learning organization.

It is these processes that will need to change to achive different results

Typical Process Flowchart Teachers identify students who are not reading

Student in bottom 20% of class No Regular instruction with classroom teacher

Yes

Individual Instrucion

Student Achievement Creating a Vision

Creating a vision is like... Rowing a boat-- you get to the destination a lot faster if the whole team rows in unison. Playing in a band. Each person plays her or his instrument to the best of her or his ability- together the result is beautiful and rich. A family deciding where to go for vacation

CREATING A SHARED VISION A system of fundamental motivating assumptions, principles, values, and tenets that leads to a tangible vision.

VALUES AND BELIEFS Values and beliefs are the shaping force behind the shared vision. Please brainstorm the first ideas that come to you. What are the curriculum, instruction, assessment, and environmental factors that support effective learning for our students?

PURPOSE

* * * *

Comes out of core values and beliefs Needs to be compelling Needs to be flexible Not a description of what the organization does now

* *

Broad, fundamental, inspirational, and enduring Must grab the "soul" of each organizational member To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind. Steve Jobs, Apple Computer

Mission Mission — a brief, clear, and compelling goal that serves to unify an organization’s efforts. A n effective mission must stretch and challenge the organization, yet be achievable. It is tangible, value-driven, energizing, highly focused and moves the organization forward. It is crisp, clear, engaging — it reaches out and grabs people in the gut. People “ get it” right away; it requires little or no explanation. A mission has a finish line for its achievement and is proactive. A mission should walk the boundary between the possible and impossible.

Shared Vision Shared visions emerge from personal visions. This is how they derive their energy and how they foster commitment . . . If people don’t have their own vision, all they can do is “sign up” for someone else’s. The result is compliance, never commitment. Senge, The Fifth Discipline

Shared Vision )

Statement needs to be vibrant, engaging

)

Specific description of what it will be like when the mission is achieved

)

Provokes emotion and generates excitement

)

Transforms the mission from words into pictures

)

Brings the mission to life

Shared Vision

Action Plan &

&

&

&

&

&

&

The action plan to achieve the goals and objectives includes: Strategies/actions Person responsible Measurement Resources Due Date Timeline

Professional Development Professional development is the engine of school improvement and the key to implementing the vision.

Professional development must be planned in advance, be ongoing, job-embedded, systemic, and focus on implementing the vision. Professional development must be evaluated to understand its impact on classroom practices and, ultimately, student achievement.

Creating the time for professional Development 6

Team teaching, releasing one or more teachers to attend professional development training or to observe another teacher teaching

6

Banking time by adding ten minutes of instruction to four days a week and having an early release time one day a week that is dedicated to staff planning and vision implementation.

6

Structuring the day so that teachers get an hour to plan each day, preferably with a targeted team member (i.e., coach, mentor, partner)

6

Working with church or community partner groups to plan educational activities for students for a day or half-day so teachers can learn and plan together

6

Implementing block scheduling.

6

Videotaping excellent lessons for teachers to review on their own time.

Leadership

Leadership is an important component of the action plan for implementing the vision. Strong leaders must challenge the process, inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, model the way, and include the greater community.

Stablishing meetings that make a difference

Ground Rules This is a safe room There is no rank in this room All ideas are valid Each person gets a chance to speak Each person gets a chance to listen We are here to focus on the future Our purpose is improvement, not blame

Meeting Etiquete Raise your hand and be recogniced before speaking Be brief and to the poing Make your point calmly Keep an open mind Listen without bias Understand what is said Avoid side conversations Respect other’s opinions Avoid personal agendas Come prepared to do what is good for the organization Have fun

Ground Rules for Brainstorming Every idea is a good one No idea is ever criticized No person is ever criticized Ideas are witten so everyone can see Ideas are not discussed until brainstorming is complete

Partnership Development Involving Partners to Implement the Vision

Quality Partnership development is like.........

Winning the super bowl. It requires hard work, practice, providing leadership, enthusiastic support to create a team of players, coaches, and fans to bring home a victory.

Involving Parents as Partners Questionaire

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT RESULTS This year, our staff has seen the benefit of analyzing student achievement data and have worked closely with the district data staff to get individual student achievement records into a historical database that the administration and teachers could access.

The Tests OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT has required the use of _____, a normreferenced test, at grades _____. In addition, we have used ___ in grades _____ for __ years. A summary of our results follows, starting with the overall, followed by disaggregated results.

O v e r a ll T e s t R e s u lts (C o p y a n d p a s te , r e p e a tin g th is s e c tio n fo r th e d iffe r e n t te s ts y o u u s e .)

O v e r a ll, O U R S C H O O L h a s im p r o v e d its s c o r e s in a ll s u b je c t a r e a s a s m e a s u r e d b y th e _ _ _ _ _ o v e r th e p a s t th r e e y e a r s , a s s h o w n b y a v e r a g e s in th e b a r g r a p h s b e lo w . (A D D

A N A R R A T I V E D E S C R I P T I O N O F W H A T Y O U S E E H E R E .)

(In s e r t o v e r a ll s c h o o l le v e l r e s u lts , u s in g g r a p h in g te m p la te s o n th e C D .)

M a th (A d d g r a p h a n d w h a t y o u s e e h e r e .)

L an gu age (A d d g r a p h a n d w h a t y o u s e e h e r e .)

R e a d in g (A d d g r a p h a n d w h a t y o u s e e h e r e .)

Distributions Looking at the decile distributions of student results over tim e, one can see how the overall results have im proved in all subject areas. (A DD A NARRATIVE DESCRIPTIO N O F W HAT YO U SEE HERE .)

(Insert overall school level results, using graphing templates on the CD.)

M ath (Add graph and what you see here.)

Language (Add graph and what you see here.)

Reading (Addgraph and what you see here.)

O v e ra ll R e s u lts b y G ra d e L e v e l

B ELO W ARE G RAPH S TH AT SH O W TH E O VERALL BREAKD O W N B Y G R A D E L E V E L , B Y M A T H , L A N G U A G E A N D R E A D IN G , U S IN G N C E S C O R E S . ( A d d a n a r r a t i v e d e s c r i p t i o n o f w h a t y o u s e e h e r e .)

In s e r t o v e r a ll s c h o o l le v e l r e s u lts , b y g r a d e le v e l, u s in g g r a p h in g te m p la te s o n th e C D .

M a th ( A d d g r a p h a n d w h a t y o u s e e h e r e .)

L an gu age ( A d d g r a p h a n d w h a t y o u s e e h e r e .)

R e a d in g ( A d d g r a p h a n d w h a t y o u s e e h e r e .)

D istributions Looking at the decile d istributions of student results by grad e lev el over tim e, one can see how the ov erall results have im proved in all subject areas. (A D D

A N A R R A TIV E D ESC R IP TIO N O F W H A T YO U SEE H ER E .)

(Insert overall school level results, by grade level, using distribution graphing tem plates on the C D .)

M ath (A dd graph and w hat you see here.)

Language (A dd graph and w hat you see here.)

R eading (A dd graph and w hat you see here.)

This Concludes My Presentation.... Do you have any questions?