National Title I Conference Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, Utah February 2015 Leading with Wonder Celebrating 50 Years of Title I
What Contributed to Successful (or Not As Successful) SIG Turnaround Efforts? Dr. Carlas McCauley Dr. Lenay Dunn Center on School Turnaround at WestEd February 2015
California Comprehensive Center at WestEd
Center on School Turnaround at WestEd
Authors AIR WestEd • Lenay Dunn • Mette Huberman • Heather Mattson • Melissa Arellanes • Scott Vince • Jarah Blum • Lindsay Poland
SIG Background Lowest performing schools eligible Four models Key strategies State run competition Cohort I: 829 schools, $3.5B
SIG Models • Replace the principal and no less than 50 percent of the staff, introduce Turnaround significant instructional reforms, increase learning time, provide professional development, use data to inform instruction, and provide the school additional operational flexibility and support. • Replace the principal, implement a staff evaluation system, introduce significant Transformation instructional reforms, increase learning time and provide the school additional operational flexibility and support. • Reopen the school under a charter school operator, a charter or education Restart management organization. This model requires that all former students be entitled to enroll. Closure • Close the school and enroll former students in higher achieving schools.
California Context 92 Cohort I grantees (11% of national total) 44 Elementary schools (21% of national total) Other studies of CA SIG suggest effectiveness (http://cepa.stanford.edu/thomas-dee/)
Identifying Higher and Lower Performers Considerations for selection included • Growth over SIG period • Demographic stability • Enrollment stability • Geographic location • Contextual information
Selected Schools Higher-Performing Lower-Performing Urbanicity 3 City, 1 Town, 1 Rural 1 City, 3 Suburb, 1 Rural, Enrollment 524 547 % African American 4% 12% % Hispanic 82% 79% % Low-income (FRPL) 81% 87% % English Learner 42% 59%
Performance Trends
Performance Trends Continued
Data Collection • California SIG Cohort I K-8 school Surveys principals • Teachers in identified schools • District SIG coordinators or leaders Interviews • School principals • Service providers
Teacher Survey: Key Factors (N=193) Teacher collaboration Use of student data Professional development Consistent school instructional staff for 3+ years Providing additional student support services 0 20 40 60 80 Average Percentage of Teachers Who Selected the Factor Higher Performing School Average Lower Peforming School Average *No statistically significant differences (p<.05)
Teacher Survey: Key Challenges (N=191) *Student behavior/discipline Staff burnout Lack of parent involvement/support High student to teacher ratio Lack of time for teacher collaboration 0 10 20 30 40 50 Average Percentage of Teachers Who Selected the Challenge Higher Performing School Average Lower Peforming School Average *Statistically significant difference (p<.05)
School Capacity Framing • The knowledge, skills, commitment, disposition, and intellectual Human Capital ability of the members of a school’s staff • The intangible network of relationships that fosters unity and Social Capital trust within a school’s staff Program • The degree to which instruction, resources, and staff in the school are coordinated and integrated into a common Coherence framework • The physical or organizational tools that a school has at its Resources disposal to make its improvement goals a reality
Human Capital The knowledge, skills, commitment, disposition, and intellectual ability of the members of a school’s staff
Human Capital • All schools provided trainings and Professional professional development to increase teacher knowledge and skills around Development data use. • Respondents from about half of the Teacher schools reported strong teacher buy-in and commitment to school Commitment improvement reforms.
Survey Responses: Impact of SIG “Most importantly, staff received valuable training needed to improve their craft. We had the funding to think outside of the box. With funding ending we will still be able to move our school forward due to the trainings we were a part of.” “We have received some outstanding professional development opportunities that guided us through long and rich processes of examining our practices as individuals and as a school community.” “The additional funding has enabled us to have excellent training for the teachers. I've really learned more new strategies in the past few years than in my entire career.”
Human Capital Discussion What are your school’s greatest Human Capital strengths? What are your school’s greatest Human Capital weaknesses or challenges? What are effective strategies your school has used to address gaps?
Social Capital The intangible network of relationships that fosters unity and trust within a school’s staff
Social Capital • Most respondents described problems with culture and climate before SIG implementation. Culture/Climate • Culture and climate issues were more frequently described as barriers to academic achievement in lower-performing schools • SIG was described as a catalyst to address culture and climate SIG as Catalyst issues, specifically student behavior and teacher collaboration, contributing to improved social capital. Unintended Side • SIG requirements may have contributed challenges related to social capital because of staff turnover and burnout as staff Effects worked hard to ensure accelerated school improvement.
Social Capital Discussion What are your school’s greatest Social Capital strengths? What are your school’s greatest Social Capital weaknesses or challenges? What are effective strategies your school has used to address gaps?
Program Coherence The degree to which instruction, resources, and staff in the school are coordinated and integrated into a common framework
Program Coherence Common • Teachers developed a shared Instructional understanding of a common instructional framework. Approach • Teachers collaborated around Teacher student data and discussed Collaboration implications for their teaching.
Program Coherence Discussion What are your school’s greatest Social Capital strengths? What are your school’s greatest Social Capital weaknesses or challenges? What are effective strategies your school has used to address gaps?
Resources The physical or organizational tools that a school has at its disposal to make its improvement goals a reality
Resources • SIG funds used to hire additional personnel. Staff • Higher-performing school respondents also reported focusing on building the capacity of current staff. Learning • Extended learning time used to provide interventions and enrichment opportunities for students. • Most respondents mentioned academic interventions, but Time respondents at lower-performing schools also described behavioral interventions. • Technology infrastructure and training. Technology • Concern at some lower-performing schools that influx of technology could distract teachers from instruction and student learning.
External Supports
External Supports and Partners Community District Providers Unions State
External Supports and Partners Discussion Have you worked with any external partners? If so, which were most helpful, and how did they help?
Perceived SIG Impacts Increased teacher collaboration Culture shift Transition to Common Core State Standards
Set the Foundation for Improvement “[Though] you'd like to see it turn around immediately, I believe [SIG] laid the groundwork for where we need to be in the future [and] provided the basis and structure for where we [want to] be.”
Recommendations for SEAs, LEAs, Schools Focus on a few initiatives Consider sustainability from the start Involve critical stakeholders Tailor support to schools Provide opportunities for sharing best practices
Questions & Discussion
Thank You Carlas McCauley cmcauley@wested.org Lenay Dunn ldunn@wested.org
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