Putting it All Together

Putting it All Together Best Practices for an Effective High School

Mrs. Beth Robbins, Secondary Supervisor, Collierville Schools Mr. Matt Nelson, Director of Advanced Academics, Metro Nashville Public Schools Dr. Russell Dyer, Chief of Staff, Collierville Schools

Today’s Goals Participants will be able to identify effective practices that, when combined and implemented, increase student achievement at the secondary level. Participants will be able to identify strategies they currently have in place and those needed to implement in order to increase student achievement.

CHS Achievement 13-14

Collierville High Demographics 1973 Students 257 Economically Disadvantaged Students (13 %) 227 Students with Disabilities (11.5%) White – 78.7% Black or African American – 12.1% Asian – 5.2% Hispanic or Latino – 3.5 % 97.1% Attendance Rate 94.4% Graduation Rate

PLC – Why Does it Matter? PLC process is not a program, and it’s more than a book club – Learning by Doing, Richard DuFour PLC must have a focus on learning rather than teaching, collaborative culture, collective inquiry into best practices. Must be action oriented, results oriented, and must have a commitment to continuous improvement.

Collierville High PLC Development PLC movement began in 2010 under prior administration. Great deal of time was spent on the front end educating the teachers and telling the “Why” of PLC. Teacher Leaders were sought out to form a consensus for the new model. Note that teacher leaders were not always the established peer leaders.

Collierville High PLC Development Keys to our implementation: 1. Doing – once the “why” was established, the school moved into the “doing” phase. Administration reminded staff that perfection is not the objective, but action was expected. 2. Teachers began to use SMART goals and realistic, but high, expectations when setting objectives. All pointed back to established mission, vision, beliefs, and goals.

Collierville High PLC Development 3. Teachers were encouraged to have an “internal focus.” Instead of blaming outside influences for poor performance, find what they can do internally to drive a change. 4. To help with buy-in, teachers were reminded that just because a group is called a PLC, that doesn’t really mean anything. A name is pointless, it’s the action that reflects true change.

Collierville High PLC Development Perfecting this process has taken years – patience is a virtue! Not all groups are 100% as of today. Those that have fully committed are showing positive results. Watch this video from the Algebra 1 PLC group to see a functioning PLC in action.

PLC Quick Reminders – From Learning by Doing This is an “evolution rather than revolution”. First focus on “Why” and then move to “How.” Align words with actions – from Covey: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Be flexible on implementation, but firm on the initiative. Disperse leadership. Embrace “Ready, Fire, Aim” mentality. Expect to make mistakes, learn by doing, and keep hope alive!

Key PLC Principles Common Planning/Revised Schedule Common Assessments Data Driven Goals Academic Board

Bridge to TEAM Admin Rubric A1 – Capacity Building With a partner, assess your own school/districts capacity to provide all students a rigorous curriculum, aligned with Tennessee standards. How would you assess your level of performance? Why? Are you a 5, 3, etc.? How could you use shared leadership practices to develop effective PLC teams to build capacity of nearly all educators?

Literature Review • Historical Perspective of HS Department Chairs • Prior to department chairs, school utilized an industrial management model (principal as foreman; teachers as line workers) (Childs-Bowen, et al., 2000) • Department chairs emerge as a way for principals to meet growing demands of instructional issues balanced with administrative tasks (Zepeda & Kruskamp, 2007) • Department chairs advocate for teachers’ sense of identity, purpose, and community (Siskin, 1997)

Literature Review • Factors Influencing the Work of Department Chairs • Difficulty in balancing work as teacher and work as leader (Loeb, Elfers, & Plecki, 2010) • Ambiguously defined role / lack of a clear job description (Weller, 2001) • Instructional leadership should be a primary responsibility of department chairs (York-Barr & Duke, 2004) because they are in close proximity to teachers in the department and able to give more timely and appropriate feedback (Zepeda & Kruskamp, 2007) • Various frameworks for teacher leaders (York-Barr & Duke, 2004; Harrison & Killion, 2007; Margolis & Huggins, 2012) • Department chairs as teacher leaders (Danielson, 2007)

Department Chairs at CHS Department chair meetings, pre-2011 Department chair tasks A new task…? Identification of an authentic problem This set the stage for personal study

Shared Leadership Department Chair selected by principal based on evaluation score. Must have a level 4/5 to be selected. No longer just a vote of the faculty. Job description written for the department chair showing responsibilities. Chair is no longer just someone who gathers an agenda or orders supplies. They now are seen as an expert in the curriculum area. They closely observe PLC data and make adjustments based on information. Chair works closely with administrators to set professional development aligned with the needs of that particular PLC group.

Shared Leadership Chairs have two planning periods – one for classes and one to work on departmental objectives/needs. Once per week all department chairs met with principal and vice-principal to discuss issues and address concerns. Academic Board was the name coined for the group to remind all this was about the teaching and learning process. How could we help each other better address PLC needs?

Bridge to TEAM Admin Rubric B1 – Leveraging Educator Strengths Sharing “power” and engaging your best teachers will make a positive impact on learning and help with buy-in of new ideas. With a new partner, discuss what an effective school leadership team looks like. Did you describe your own situation or do you have changes to make in order to be a level 5? How do you leverage the collective strength of your best educators to ensure they have a voice in shared decision making? B5 – Recognition and Celebration: How do you recognize these teacher leaders and celebrate their strengths?

Implications • Implications to the educational community • This study is intended to better understand the role of department chair as a teacher leader in the high school setting • There is an extensive collection of research literature on teacher leadership and leadership reform • There is relatively little research specifically on high school department chairs • There is no research on how high school department chairs fulfill roles that have been identified in the national Teacher Leader Model Standards

Characteristics of Effective Teacher Leaders • Content experts(Killion & Harrison, 2006; Danielson, 2007) • Good communicators (Danielson, 2007; Weller, 2001) • Team builders (Bassett, 2011; Killion & Harrison, 2006) • Instructional leaders (Childs-Bowen, et al., 2000; Jackson, et al., 2010) • Coaches(Bowman, 2002; Rothman & Darling-Hammond, 2011) • Change agents (Ferguson, et al., 2010; Bassett, 2011; Bowman, 2002) • Lifelong learners (Harrison & Killion, 2007, Lambert, 2005)

Teacher Leader Model Standards • Roles of Teacher Leaders • Fostering a collaborative culture • Accessing and using research to improve practice • Promoting professional learning • Facilitating improvements in instruction and learning • Promoting the use of assessments and data • Improving outreach and collaboration among families and community • Advocating for students and the profession (Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, 2012)

Bridge to TEAM Admin Rubric C4 – Teacher Leaders. In small groups, discuss: How do you identify your teacher-leaders (grade or department chair, PLC lead, etc.)? How’s that working for you and the school? How do you communicate and teach these leaders the skills they need to move their PLC groups forward? How do you know the plan you created with them is working?

Significance • Importance of topic • Adoption of Teacher Leader Model Standards by the TN Department of Education • Evolving role of the school leader / increased demand requires utilization of leadership capacity in the school • The high school department chair is a valuable resource in most every high school that is not being utilized to its full potential (Weller, 2001) • It is impossible to address the changing role of the school leader without addressing the role of teacher leaders as key players (NASSP, 2007)

Initial results - Characteristics 5 = All of the time 4 = Most of the time 3 = Some of the time 2 = Rarely 1 = Not at all N/A N=32 10 administrators 22 department chairs Content experts 5.00 Good communicators 4.31 Team builders 4.41 Instructional leaders 4.19 Coaches 3.53 Change agents 3.29 Lifelong learners 4.09

Initial results - Roles 5 = All of the time 2 = Rarely 4 = Most of the time 1 = Not at all 3 = Some of the time N = 32, 10 administrators, 22 DCs Fostering a collaborative culture 4.16 Accessing and using research to improve practice 3.02 Promoting professional learning 3.34 Facilitating improvements in instruction and learning 3.64 Promoting the use of assessments and data 3.53 Improving outreach/collaboration among families/communities 3.87 Advocating for students and the profession 3.61

RTI2 – High School Universal Screener Options Tier I/II/III Intervention options Putting it all together Priorities

Universal Screener Options In grades 9-12, there are multiple sources of data, such as EXPLORE, PLAN, ACT, End of Course (EOC), Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), TVAAS, and Universal Screeners School-level RTI2 team determination based on needs of the school.

TIER I All students receive research-based, high quality general education instruction that incorporates ongoing universal screening and ongoing assessment to inform instruction All students receive Tier I instruction. For 80-85% of students, that is all they need in order to make progress. CHS - Students scoring P/A on EOC/TCAP

Tier I Includes Teacher-made Common Formative Assessments PLC Item Analysis Instruction changes based on analysis Rigor

TIER II In addition to Tier I, interventions are provided to students that fall below the 25th percentile on universal screening and struggle academically. Research-based interventions will be provided to students within their specific areas of deficit(s). Tier II students are progress-monitored every two weeks. CHS - Students scoring in the basic range for Math and/or English

TIER II Intervention Intervention should include explicit instruction within the area of need for all struggling students. For example: If a student in ninth grade has vocabulary deficits, then this student requires intervention in the area of vocabulary. If computer programs are used, students should still have daily interaction with a teacher who can hold them accountable for what they have read and to ensure that they practice new skills.

Tier II/III Includes Deficits determined by Universal Screener and CFA analysis Re-teaching of skill deficits Extra practice of skills Various approaches of instruction Computer-based programs for practice

TIER III and Special Education In addition to Tier I and Tier II, increasingly intensive interventions are provided to students who have not made significant progress in Tier I/II, are 1.5-2.0 grade levels below or are below the 10th percentile. Research-based interventions will be provided to students within their specific areas of deficit(s). Progress monitoring occurs every two weeks. CHS – Students scoring in the below basic range for Math and/or English

TIER III Intervention Students at this level should receive daily, intensive, small group intervention targeting specific areas of deficit in addition to interventions received in Tier II.

Intervention Options for TIERS II/III • School RTI2 team determines/designs options • Math - Tier III Mathematics Interventions Course Math Lab Study Skills • English – Tier III ELA Interventions Course • Writing Lab Study Skills

Intervention Courses The Department of Education will offer high school course codes for Tier III intervention. There are two courses offered: Tier III ELA Intervention and Tier III Mathematics Intervention. Students will receive 1/2 credit per course. Using progress monitoring data to make data-based decisions, students may repeat the intervention courses as needed. and move in and out of the intervention courses as needed.

Special Education Learning Lab/Study Skills Special Education Intervention Courses Algebra A and B Geometry A and B

What is an Effective Intervention? Implemented by trained personnel Implemented with fidelity Progress monitored to ensure outcomes are being met

Putting it all together RTI2 School Team Data for determining placements – counselors Progress monitoring – Intervention teachers and counselors Tier I Progress- Grade analysis

Priorities Tier I Effectiveness AMO’s and TVAAS School determination of goals for achievement Designing Tier II/III interventions Scheduling and Staffing

CHS Achievement 13-14

TEAM Admin Rubric Throughout the discussion today we’ve made sure to show you how the new admin evaluation rubric fits with what we’ve shared. It’s all about creating and crafting your vision as a leader by collaborating with key partners, linking goals with evidence of growth, communication, modeling person commitment to continuous improvement, and modeling of school-wide beliefs in professional learning and growth. By tying together PLC’s, Shared Leadership, and RTI2 you will have the tools required to score well on the new rubric. However, it’s not just talking about these things. As Richard DuFour states, it’s about “learning by doing.”

Next Steps Thanks for participating in today’s discussion. Do you see how the TEAM Admin rubric threads through what has been discussed? What steps do you need to take as a school or district leader to raise up teacher leaders, PLC groups, and student interventions? What are your take-aways from today’s presentation?

Putting it All Together