Closing the Gap

1. Closing the Gap No Small Role for Big Change Aldine Independent School District The Fifteenth Education Trust National Conference Washington, D.C.November 12, 2004 Jean Rutherford, Ed.D. Director of Educational Initiatives

2. Aldine Independent School District AISD Located In Region 4 12th largest TX district Serving 56,491 students

3. Aldine Independent School District Student Demographics 56,491 Students 60.15% Hispanic 31.85% African American 2.20% Asian 5.71% White 0.08% Native American

4. Aldine Independent School District Student Demographics 76.6% Economically Disadvantaged 24.8% LEP 09.8% Special Education 23.5% Mobility Rate 96.0% Attendance Rate

5. Aldine Independent School District

6. Aldine Independent School District

7. Aldine Independent School District

8. Aldine Independent School District

9. “What is Taught and Learned” Vision Produce the Nation’s Best! Mission We exist to prepare each student academically and socially to be a: *responsible and productive citizen *critical thinker *problem solver

10. “What is Taught and Learned” Beliefs • We believe each student can learn and will have equal opportunity to do so. • We believe in clearly defined goals that set high expectations for student excellence. • We believe in the value of parents as children’s first and best teachers. • We believe in the value of each employee. • We believe in empowering individuals to make decisions aligned with the vision of the school district.

11. “What is Taught and Learned” Beliefs • We believe in accountability at all levels. • We believe the community must actively participate in the development of our children. • We believe, as a district, we can achieve higher levels of performance. • We believe in the personal and professional growth of all people within our school district. • We believe all environments should be supportive, safe, and secure.

12. “What is Taught and Learned” Objectives The Aldine Independent School District will: • demonstrate sustained growth in student achievement; • recruit, employ and retain a quality teaching, administrative and support staff to attain excellence in student performance; • allocate resources to maximize excellence; and • increase and improve stakeholder partnerships and satisfaction.

13. “What is Taught and Learned” The vertical level is aligned with district objectives.

14. “What is Taught and Learned” The vertical level is aligned with district objectives.

15. “What is Taught and Learned” Establish the Belief System Set High Expectations Identify Skills Identify Strategies Monitor and Assess Adjust and Intervene Academic Organizational Plan

16. “What is Taught and Learned” “A pupil from whom nothing is ever demanded which he cannot do, never does all he can.” John Stuart Mill “No one ever rises to low expectations.” Carl Boyd

17. “What is Taught and Learned” We believed and expected that learning would occur. We believed that all children could learn and that we could teach our children. We had a vision and the leadership focused on that vision. Belief System

18. “What is Taught and Learned” State Standards TAKS Objectives TEKS District Standards Benchmark Targets Campus Standards Focus on The Needs of All Kids Gifted Child Ec. Dis. Child At-Risk Child Special Needs Regular Child LEP Child

19. “What is Taught and Learned” What skills do my students need to have when they enter my room? What do my students need to master this year to be successful next year? At secondary – What do my students need to master in this course or semester to be successful? Questions That Had to be Answered

20. “What is Taught and Learned” Aldine Benchmark Targets The set of academic skills every student must master to successfully complete each grade level Developed by vertical teams composed of teachers at every grade level Revised each summer for alignment and sequence Developed from TEKS-Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

21. “What is Taught and Learned” Academic Goals…. • Every teacher at every grade level knows the benchmark targets students must master by the end of the school year to be ready for on-grade level performance at the next grade level. • Parents must know what is expected. • Students must know what the learning goals are.

22. “What is Taught and Learned” Academic Goals…. • Learning will be authentic and student engagement will be high. • All classrooms are print-rich environments – subject and grade level appropriate. • Plans and timelines are in place and implemented for each six or nine week period to ensure pacing of the mastery benchmark targets by the end of the school year.

23. “What is Taught and Learned” We began with…. Acquisition of Academic Skill Mastery of Academic Skill Application of Academic Skill Now, we have added…. Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Academic Skill Academic Goals….

24. “What is Taught and Learned” At the School Level District curriculum drives all instruction. Teachers develop academic timelines/syllabi by grade level, department, subject which accelerates instruction. From academic timelines/syllabi each school customizes daily warm-ups, lesson plans, and homework. Each school’s data and academic timelines/syllabi drives specificity in regularly scheduled checkpoint testing.

25. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Teacher Recruitment • Recruit through student teaching partnerships with universities across the nation • Schedule week-end interviews targeting teachers from other school districts • Attend over two hundred job fairs where recruiters are authorized to offer jobs to outstanding candidates Staff Selection, Leadership and Capacity Building

26. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Teacher Selection • Teachers involved in selection process through interview panels to ensure similar levels of knowledge and commitment • Selection of staff is based on a specific purpose • Data Driven – determines need and placement > student needs > campus needs

27. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Teacher Retention • Maintain above average teacher salaries, attractive compensation packages, numerous professional development opportunities and timely instructional support • Schedule regular collaboration among teachers on the same grade level as well as among teachers across grade levels • Like with whom they work and where they work

28. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Principal Recruitment • Recruited usually from internal candidates • Served as assistant principals • Attended leadership academy for principals • Attended new assistant principal academy for three years • Attended new principal academy for three years

29. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Principal Selection At the vertical level, • Once the Human Resources Department advertises and receives letters of interest, the area superintendent reviews the list of interested applicants. • The area superintendent conducts a comprehensive review of the applicants and interviews all eligible applicants. • A committee of principals from the vertical feeder schools, PK-12, and the area superintendent interview the highest ranked applicants. • The area superintendent makes a recommendation for the principal vacancy to the superintendent of schools.

30. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Levels of Leadership • Superintendent/Cabinet • Vertical Areas-Feeder Schools • Curriculum Specialists • Principals • Assistant Principals • Skills Specialists • Department/Grade Level Chairs

31. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” • Build a Team • Finding Team Time • Starting the Year • Leading Data vs Trailing Data • Collecting Data – Surveys • Teacher Efficacy • Student Engagement Leadership Training for Principals and School Teams

32. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Support for Schools • New Teacher Induction Academy • Afternoon, Saturday, and Summer Staff Development • Mentor Program • Aldine Teacher Permit Program • Schools in Assistance

33. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” • Teaching Objective • Target • Taxonomy • Text Alignment • Instructional Strategies • Student Learning Environment • Student Engagement Walkthrough Training

34. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” At the District Level • Enhanced the delivery and application of the benchmark targets • Research-based and identified as best practices • Designed to meet the needs of all learners • Appropriate for all grade levels, subject areas, and levels of children • Required little time for preparation • Included vocabulary instruction that expands skills, concepts, terms, and key objectives in all lessons in every subject area

35. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” At the District Level • District-wide focus • All grade levels and subjects focused on same topics • Addressed the acquisition, mastery, and application of academic skills • Scripted sessions provided the same message to all participants • Train the Trainers to deliver sessions on campuses or in subject groups

36. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” Model Classroom Project Summary At the vertical level, staff development aligns with District objectives. • The purpose of the Model Classroom Project is to build knowledge and skills around best practices and differentiate instructional designs in an effort to improve student achievement. • The project is built around ongoing professional development focused on curriculum and instruction. • Participants include staff members from the 11 schools in the vertical team and facilitators selected by the school principals. • The facilitators participate in the professional development sessions and review instructional goals with teachers, focusing on the content, thinking, product development, assessment, facilitation, and feedback. • Teachers review targeted goals and instructional plans to provide the “best” instruction for students.

37. “Selecting and Developing Teachers and Leaders” At the School Level • All teachers receive continuous, on-going staff development that clearly and specifically relates to academic campus goals. • Empowerment develops teacher leadership by • Mentoring • Training • Modeling • Key to a successful instructional program • Key to academic success for students

38. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” “Results, not programs are mandated.” Programs are selected based on students needs, benchmark results, and teacher input. Program implementation at schools is monitored for results. Instructional Programs

39. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” The Instructional Cycle

40. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” The Written Curriculum • Benchmark Targets (which are derived from the TEKS) are the written curriculum and express what the student should master. • Benchmark Targets indicate the cognitive level of the performance expected (e.g. knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation).

41. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” The Taught Curriculum • Delivers the written curriculum through lesson design • Consists of the best instructional practices to achieve student mastery of the Benchmark Targets • Best instructional practices may include: • print rich environmentmanipulativesautomaticity • 5E Modelwriting in complete sentencesKWL • effective questioningflexible groupingmaking big wordsdecodingsentence expansionproblem solving

42. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” The Tested Curriculum • Consists of a variety of assessments for a variety of purposes • May occur at any point in the learning • and instructional cycle (ie. formative/summative) • Formal and Informal assessments may include: • common assessmentsdemonstrationsself-evaluation • journalsportfoliosrubrics • oral comprehension checkholistic and analyticessays • scoring observation

43. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” • Determine the level of difficulty of Benchmark Targets • to ensure that the instructional level • and the assessment level are aligned Written Taught Tested

44. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” The Learning Pyramid Lecture Reading Multi-media Demonstration Discussion Group Practice by Doing Teach Others/Immediate Application 5% 10% 20% 30% 50% 70% 90% Jerome Brunner – The Process of Learning

45. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” District Level Plan Vertical Plan Campus or Department Plan Grade Level or Content Area Plan • Teacher Planning • Teacher Collaboration • Teacher Mentoring

46. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” At the District Level • Restructured Meetings for Administrators • Horizontal Meetings-Staff Development for all Principals and Curriculum Staff • Vertical Meetings-Staff Development for Principals with Area Superintendents

47. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” At the School Level Various forms of grouping • Total • Flex • Ability • Cooperative • Individual Scheduled checkpoint testing

48. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” At the School Level • Expectations clearly set • Training is continuous and on-going • Monitoring through • Lesson plans • Multiple forms of data • Daily walk-throughs • Formal evaluation

49. “The Right Stuff—Time and Tools” At the School Level • Programs scientifically based to extend and enrich instruction • Teachers collaborating daily/weekly • Ensuring alignment in all areas • Strategies

50. “Knowing the Learners and the Numbers” • Data “Let the data drive the decisions.” “Give voice to the data.” • Trailing Data • Leading Data Monitoring, Compilation, Analysis, and Use of Data