Building for Sustainability

1. Building for Sustainability A Collaborative Coaching Model for Dropout Prevention Georgia Department of Education's State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) helping Georgia’s students with disabilities stay in school and graduate

2. Georgia Department of Education's State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) helping Georgia’s students with disabilities stay in school and graduate

3. Georgia has… • increased the Graduation Rate • Graduation Coaches at HS & MS • a GLRS network • a cadre of Parent Mentors for Special Ed • a SPDG…. GraduateFirst! Georgia’s Graduation Rate

4. GraduateFirst Goals

5. GraduateFirstPartners National Dropout Prevention Center for SWD GA Department of Education GA Learning Resource Systems 5

6. NDPC-SD Dropout Prevention Intervention Framework 6 • Data analysis • Matching of needs to evidence-based strategies • Development of plans and support for strategy implementation • Monitoring of adult practices and student progress

7. GraduateFirst Belonging Relationships Self-Determination Family and Community Engagement Georgia Department of Education's State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG)

8. 2009 • GA DOE recommendations to specific districts based on data for ARRA • Application Process • School’s Commitment includes a designated Team Leader • GraduateFirst Institute • Targeting Attendance, Behavior, Academics, Building Relationships • Vocabulary & Comprehension Strategies

9. School Responsibilities • Select a GraduateFIRST Team Leader (TL) who participates in monthly coach training • Designate a team • Team participates in all required trainings 5 days of training and 2 meetings per month • Develop & implement plan based on data probe analysis • TL collects & submits data • Redeliver voc/comp strategies to appropriate staff members

10. Guiding Questions • Data Sets? • Target Populations? • Local Policies? • Evidence-Based Practices? • Critical Checkpoints?

11. School Teams Understand the Research & Contextualize Analyze School Data Step 1 Step 2 Step 4 Step 3 Select Evidence-Based Strategies & Embed Family Engagement Implement Plan & Collect Data 11

12. Fall 2009 • Day 1 Research about Dropout Prevention • Day 2 Overview of Student Engagement Strategies • Day 3 Data Probe & Analysis • Day 4 Training based on target area selected • Day 5 Implementation Support Targeted Areas Academic, Behavior, Attendance, Building Relationships, Family Engagement

13. Collaboration Coaches Support Students to Prevent Dropout

14. Roles of Collaboration Coaches

15. The message is clear in Coffee County!

16. Destination Graduation • One of Georgia’s Graduation / Dropout Prevention Projects supported by the State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) • Coffee School System • Douglas, Georgia • 61.4% Graduation Rate for All Students in 2008 • 16.4% Graduation Rate for SWD in 2008

17. Dropout Rate Grades 9-12From Annual Report Card 2008-2009-First Year of Project 11.6 9.2 7.5 7.2 6.9 5.3 5.4 5.1

18. Destination Graduation • Areas Identified from Data Review and Addressed in Action Plans • Attendance • Achievement • Dropout

19. Attendance • District Pulse-Formative Assessment • Strategies/Activities • Incentives for attendance • Mentoring • Middle School-Fab 5 • Freshman Campus-SAIL Teacher • High School-Check and Connect • Groups at all schools-Family Connection Workers, Social Workers, Graduation Coaches • Public posting of attendance data • Pyramids of Intervention for Attendance at each school • Target Groups identified at each school

20. Formative Data AttendanceNumber of Students Out > 10 Days

21. Achievement • Formative Assessment • AIMSWeb • Benchmarks from Online Assessment System (for instructional purposes, not collected for project) • Grades

22. AIMSweb Winter and Spring Benchmark Score Comparison • 6 teachers • 24 sections of sixth grade math • Students tested December 18th and April 18th • Results based on 3 months of instruction (January, February, March) • 18 of the 24 sections-more than 50% of students with matched scores showed improvement

24. Achievement Math-SWD • Strategies/Activities • Strategies for Making AYP in Math-Paul Riccomini • Summer Team Training • Shared Training Highlights • Two-day in system training from Riccomini • Progress Monitoring-Middle School • Strategy Implementation-All Schools • South Georgia College Tutors • Saturday School-Coffee Middle School • Pyramid of Interventions-Academic

25. Dropout • Formative Assessment • Number of Student dropping out at Coffee High School and Coffee Freshman Campus • Strategies/Activities • Mentoring • Groups at all schools-Family Connection Workers, Social Workers, Graduation Coaches • Pyramid of Intervention for Dropout • Training on Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities

26. Formative Data Dropout

27. 2008-2009 Formative Dropout Data • First Semester Dropout Numbers • Freshman Campus 9 • Coffee High School 62

28. Intervention FrameworkWas it successful? • YES-With the following • Awareness Training Sessions on Dropout • Team Building • Coaching • System and School support of project • Celebration of Success

29. Role of the Collaboration Coach • Support the process-It Works!! • Keep teams focused on goals • Support formative and summative data collection • Provide fidelity checks • Build relationships with school teams and staff • Recognize success It Works!!!

30. N.Gwinnet High & Lanier Middle Schools Share Success

31. Your Favorite Teacher • Get an image in your mind of your favorite teacher • Choose an adjective which best describes the one characteristic which makes him or her your favorite • Share this adjective with the person seated beside you

32. Psychological Engagement Associated with a wide-range of variables: • Problem behaviors and delinquency • Academic performance • Educational adjustment • Attendance • Accrual of credits • Level of educational attainment • Social competency • Persistence with school • Student perceptions of future opportunities open to them (Christenson et al., in press)

33. So…what difference did an on-site collaboration coach make?

34. Data Collection • Student Interviews • SWD dropouts • At-risk high school SWD • At-risk middle school SWD • Parent/Family Interviews of SWD dropouts • Consultations with local school faculty • Special education administrators • General education administrators • Special education teachers • General education teachers • Local school student information system data • Georgia Department of Education website data

37. Data Utilization • Compiled the data • Analyzed and triangulated the data • Demographics • Assessment • Processes • Determined push/pull factors • Finalized targeted list of at-risk SWD • Identified research-based interventions for action plan

38. Action Plan Components • Academic Engagement • Behavioral Engagement • Cognitive Engagement • Psychological Engagement

39. Academic

40. Behavioral

41. Cognitive

42. Psychological

43. Mentoring, Monitoring, and Advocating • Teachers as Advisors • Incentive program • Expectations 101 • Periodic team meetings • Professional learning • Weekly visits • Classroom visits • Consultations • Special education and general education administrators • Special education and general education teachers • Parents and other family members • Students • Ongoing data collection