School improvement and intervention strategy

Understanding school improvement and intervention strategy

ÝA comprehensive school improvement program either to turning around an at-risk school or to implement any type of school improvement plan should integrate all nine of the following components.Ý Schools should work to ensure that all nine components are integrated into a cohesive, well-designed schoolwide program.Ý

1.Ý Effective, research-based methods and strategies: A comprehensive school reform program employs innovative strategies and proven methods for student learning, teaching, and school management that are based on reliable research and effective practices, and have been replicated successfully in schools with diverse characteristics.ÝÝÝ See Effective, Research Based Methods and Strategies

2.Comprehensive design with aligned components: The program has a comprehensive design for effective school functioning, including instruction, assessment, classroom management, professional development, parental involvement, and school management, that aligns the school's curriculum, technology, and professional development into a schoolwide reform plan designed to enable all students -- including children from low-income families, children with limited English proficiency, and children with disabilities -- to meet challenging State content and performance standards and addresses needs identified through a school needs assessment.Ý See Comprehensive Design with Aligned ComponentsÝ

3.Ý Professional development: The program provides high-quality and continuous teacher

ÝÝÝÝÝ and staff professional development and training.ÝÝ See Professional Development

4. Measurable goals and benchmarks: A comprehensive school reform program has measurable goals for student performance tied to the state's challenging standards as well as benchmarks for meeting those performance goals.ÝÝ See Measurable Goals and Benchmarks

5. Support within the school: The program is supported by school faculty, administrators, and staff.

ÝÝÝ See Support within the School

6. Parental and community involvement: The program provides for the meaningful involvement of parents and the local community in planning and implementing school improvement activities.Ý See Parental and Community Involvement

Ý7.Ý External technical support and assistance: A comprehensive reform program utilizes high-quality external support and assistance from a comprehensive school reform entity (which may be a university) with experience or expertise in schoolwide reform and improvement.ÝÝ See External Technical Support and Assistance

8. Evaluation strategies: The program includes a plan for the evaluation of the implementation of school reforms and the student results achieved.Ý See Evaluation Strategies

9.Ý Coordination of resources: The program identifies how other resources (Federal,Ý State, local, and private) available to the school will be utilized to coordinate services toÝ support and sustain the school reform.ÝÝ See Coordination of Resources

Adapted from : http://www.ncrel.org/csri/ninecomp.htmÝ

School improvement and intervention in Michigan

The Michigan State Board of Education on March 15, 2001 committed its efforts to helping chronically troubled schools, adopting a strategic goal for the 2001-02 biennium that will focus on improving academic achievement in troubled districts.Ý

MDE is asking each school to complete School Improvement Plan Ýat the building level.Ý This includes how the school will handle annual testing in grades 1-5.

The Office of Field Services includes a district On Site Review Study Guide, a self-studyÝÝ designed to encourage communication and collaborative planning within a district to help the district utilize all its resources to support a comprehensive plan to ensure that all students achieve high standards.Ý

The Michigan Curriculum Framework Ýincludes standards focused on content, teaching and learning, assessment, and professional development.Ý Standards under development will address teacher preparation programs.Ý

Grants offered to Michigan schools for improvement

Leadership:Ý Curriculum Development promotes the use of the standards tied to specific curriculum and encourages professional development of teachers and administrators.Ý ÝÝ

School improvement and intervention nationally

The Comprenensive School Reform Demonstration Program:Ý Selected Profiles of State Implementation Efforts illustrates how selected states are approaching the implementation of CSRD.

The Dept. of Education has extensive resources to support school improvement and intervention

President Bush has proposedÝ No Child Left Behind, a plan to strengthen elementaryÝ and secondary schools and close the achievement gap.

View this side-by-side comparison of three major legislative proposals to fund K-12 education in the United States.

The Senate has approved a K-12 bill that embraces President Bush's calls for more testing and consolidating federal programs, but leaves out key changes sought by Republicans and Democrats.Ý

The National Assessment of Educational Progress has provided information on what American students know and can do in the core academic subjects. A proposal by President Bush could permanently change the nature of the testing program, by using NAEP results to confirm a state's own testing data before determining federal rewards or penalties for states based on student achievement.

Resources on school improvement and intervention strategy

The National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform. collects, analyzes and disseminates information on comprehensive school reform. The Step-by-Step tool can be used by a principal or teachers.

Comprehensive School Reform: Research-Based Strategies to Achieve High Standards provides a coherent framework for planning schoolwide improvements. It is intended to help educators begin to redesign schools.

An Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform examines the claims for 24 schoolwide approaches. The American Institutes for Research (AIR), an independent, internationally recognized researchÝ organization was asked to rate their effectiveness in raising student achievement and to describe the approaches along a number of dimensions.

The Catalog of School Reform Models contains descriptions of 68 models, including 34 entire-school reform models and 34 skill- and content-based models (reading, math, science, and other areas). Criteria for selecting models included evidence of effectiveness in improving student academic achievement, extent of replication, implementation assistance provided to schools, and comprehensiveness.Ý The Catalog was updated in 2000.Ý

Launching the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program in Six Midwest States: Implications for Schools, Districts, and Model Providers Implementing the Program ÝNCREL Evaluation and Policy Information Center April 1999,Ý Lawrence B. Friedman

The New York Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program (CSRD)

Successful school reform models:Ý Clover Park, Washington Ý

District Leaders Guide to Reallocating Resources for district- and building-level support of comprehensive school reform pays particular attention to making resource reallocation decisions based on site-based planning and strict district-wide attention to maintaining a focus on higher achievement for all students.Ý

School Reforms that Work: Successful Strategies for Educating At-Risk Youth Ýcomes out of a discussion sponsored by the California Education Policy Seminar and The California State University Institute for Education Reform.

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Evaluation of new programs, led by Paul Peterson, in New York, Chicago, Dayton, Washington, DCÝ

Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program: Enhancing the Role of State Leadership in Implementation

The Project to Improve Achievement in High Poverty Schools brought together teams of state and local district educators to address the implementation of the CSRD Program.Ý It is intended to assist state education officials and others committed to reform in implementing comprehensive school reform programs.

Guide to Working With Model Providers offers advice to schools and districts working with an external model provider. Each section addresses a number of vital issues schools and districts must think through as they forge and manage relationships with model providers. The guide also presents tools designed to help schools and districts think through relationship issues and communicate with model providers on particular topics.

Comprehensive School Reform: A Guide for School Leaders, New Leaders For Tomorrow's Schools, Spring 1998, NCREL explores three well-known comprehensive school reforms to show how the reforms have beenÝ implemented in urban, rural, and suburban districts. Concludes with a planning tool to help leaders interested in applying for CSRD program funds.

School Wide Reform Models: What Works,Ý by Olatokunbo S. Fashola and Robert E. Slavin,Ý Phi Delta Kappa Articles On-Line

States and Districts and Comprehensive School Reform, CPRE Policy Briefs No. RB-24 May 1998,Ý

If the Shoe Fits: A Guide for Charter Schools Considering Adoption of a Comprehensive School Design, Charter Friends National Network, by Bryan and Emily Hassel

Making Matches that Make Sense (Opportunities and Strategies for Linking Charter Schools and Comprehensive School Design Organizations), Charter Friends National Network May 1998, by Bryan and Emily Hassel

The National Commission on Teaching and Americaís Future Ýseeks create a comprehensive system of teacher development and quality assurance. Its recommendations were to:

… get serious about standards, for both students and teachers;

… Ýreinvent teacher preparation and professional developmentÝÝÝÝÝÝ

… Ýfix teachers recruitment and put qualified teachers in every classroomÝÝÝ

… encourage and reward teacher knowledge and skill

… create schools that are organized for student and teacher success.

The District Role in Building Capacity: Four Strategies ÝDiane Massell (No. RB-32-September 2000) This brief explores the challenges and promises of four major capacity-building strategies -- interpreting and using data,Ý building teacher knowledge and skills, aligning curriculum and instruction, and targeting interventions on low-performing students and/or schools.

Raising the Standard describes a process in which citizens and educators at the grassroots level

assume responsibility for themselves.

Making Good Choices: A Guide for Schools and Districts published by helps schools devise approaches for comprehensive school reform and select the right partners.

A brief overview of whole school reform including several programs and a closer look at the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program. Ý

Guide to Working with Model Providers.Ý This guide, commissioned by the US Department of Education, provides assistance for schools, districts, and the providers of comprehensive school reform models on forging productive partnerships.Ý

Strategies for Scale: Lessons from Two Educational Innovations. Ýexamines the spread of two educational innovations ó Success for All and Accelerated SchoolsÝ Since replicating educationalÝ innovations has historically proven so difficult, the report probes for explanations of these programsí rapid spread.

ìTools for Schools:Ý School Reform Models Supported by the National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Studentsî includes information on 27 models.ÝÝÝÝÝ

Hope for Urban Education:Ý A Study of Nine High-Performing, High-Poverty, Urban Elementary SchoolsÝ .Ý The Urban Education website at Columbia University, in their special topics unit, has a section on School Reform

Other Title 1 resources can be found at www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA/index.html and www.ed.gov/pubs/studies3.html (Title I and the Idea Book Series, beginning on page 8 ff).Ý

The Rand Corporation has evaluated several school reform programs, specifically of the New American Schools (NAS).Ý

ìStates Supporting Schools: A Status Report on Implementation of Statewide Systems of School Support Under the Improving America's Schoolsî describes state efforts to implement section 117 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, State Assistance for School Support and Improvement.Ý The report contains a chapter illustrating how a state system of school support can contribute to the development of a successful elementary school in a high poverty area.Ý Council of Chief State Officers.Ý ÝÝ

Stakeholder Involvement and Engagement

Understanding Stakeholder involvement and Engagement

Developing Family / School Partnerships: Guidelines for Schools and School Districts

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ What a Policy Should Include

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Keys to Success

Stakeholder involvement and Engagement in Michigan

Resources on Community Involvement

Family-School-Community

Parentsí Organizations

Rural Schools

Urban Schools

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Spanish-speaking

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Preschool

From The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in EducationÝ (NCPIE) Ý

Introduction

Policy makers at all levels are increasingly aware of the pivotal role that families and the community play in the education of our children. This is apparent in the Title I, Special Education, Head Start, and other federal programs that mandate consultation and collaboration with families. Many state and district policies also stipulate programs and practices to involve all families, not only those with children who receive special services.

As the momentum for ongoing, organized family participation at the school and district level increases, so does the demand for family involvement program information.Ý What follows are some general policy suggestions, keys to successful programs, and specific program ideas.

What a Policy Should Include

The process of developing policies should include community-based organizations (CBO's), teachers, administrators, business, families, students, and other key stakeholders.Ý The policies should contain the following:

Opportunities for all parents/families to become involved indecision-making about how the family involvement programs will be designed, implemented, assessed and strengthened;

Outreach to encourage participation of families who might have low-level literacy skills and/or for whom English is not their primary language;

Regular information for families about the objectives of educational programs, and on their child's participation andÝÝ progress in those programs;

Professional development for teachers and staff to enhance their effectiveness with families;

Linkages with special service agencies and community groups to address key family and community issues;

Involvement of families of children at all ages and grade levels;

Opportunities for families to share in decision-making regarding school policies and procedures affecting their children;

Recognition of diverse family structures, circumstances and responsibilities, including differences that might impede parent participation. The person(s) responsible for a child many not be the child's biological parent(s) and policies and programs should include participation by all persons interested in the child's educational progress.

Keys to Success

Based on information from actual programs, there are several keys to successfully involving parents in education:

Assess family's needs and interests about ways of working with the schools;

Set clear and measurable objectives based on parent and community input, to help foster a sense of cooperation and communication between families, communities, and schools;

Hire and train a parent/family liaison to directly contact parents and coordinate family activities. The Liaison should be bilingual as needed and sensitive to the needs of family and the community, including the non-English speaking community;

Develop multiple outreach mechanisms to inform families, businesses, and the community about family involvement policies and programs through newsletter, slide shows, videotapes, and local newspapers;

Recognize the importance of a community's historic, ethnic, linguistic, or cultural resources in generating interest inÝÝ family involvement;

Use creative forms of communication between educators and families that are personal, goal oriented, and make optimal use of new communication technologies;

Mobilize parents/families as volunteers in the school assisting with instructional tasks, meal service, and administrative office functions. Family members might alsoÝÝ act as invited classroom speakers and volunteer tutors;

Provide staff development for teachers and administrators to enable them to work effectively with families and withÝÝ each other as partners in the educational process;

Ensure access to information about nutrition, healthcare, services for individuals with disabilities, and support provided by schools or community agencies;

Schedule programs and activities flexibly to reach diverse family groups;

Evaluate the effectiveness of family involvement programs and activities on a regular basis.

From : http://www.ncpie.org/Ý

Stakeholder involvement and Engagement in Michigan

Michigan Literacy Progress Profile (MLPP) A dynamic literacy Instructional system to determine and document pre-kindergarten to third- grade student literacy development and provide instruction strategies for teachers to increase student learning and achievement. A new addition to the MLPP, FAMILY FUNdamentals in Reading, providing activities parents can use to reinforce student learning at home will be available in the spring of 2001.Ý RPM Web Site - The Department is in the process of designing an RPM/ R.E.A.D.Y. web site which will be operational in late 2001 and will serve as a one-stop-shop for information on child and brain development, additional activities and learning tools, health and nutrition issues, day cares and preschools, related state and federal programs, etc.

MDE Resources for Parents and Educators includes information on scholarships, Internet use, guides and organizations, information on educational materials, including the Michigan Education Trust.

Resources on Community Involvement

Family-School-Community

Parentsí Organizations

Rural Schools

Urban Schools

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Spanish-speaking

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Preschool

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Family-School-Community

Moving Toward a System of Community Schools discusses the importance of transforming schools into "family strengthening" institutions that draw upon community resources to support and extend the work of the school.

A Compact for Learning: An Action Handbook for Family-School-Community Partnerships This Partners' Activity Guide can help stimulate thinking and discussion about how the community and school can work together to improve schools. It was designed for schools, communities, and partners who are participating in the "America Goes Back to School" effort.

Achieving the Goals, Goal 8: Parental Involvement and Participation provide ideas for education reformers looking for additional partnership opportunities by serving as a reference tool for education-related activities in their states, counties, and communities.

Studies in Education Reform: Parent and Community Involvement in Education documents and analyzes useful practices for educational reform by looking at more than 25 years of research in parent and community involvement, and the outcomes of state and local initiatives and mandates.

America Goes Back to School Program: Sample Media Materials and Tips can help communities and schools spread the word about partnerships. The idea is to get everyone involved in education. A sample press kit and ideas for press conferences are included in the resources, which provide easy-to-use solutions for informing citizens about the need for them to partner with their local schools.

America Goes Back to School: Steps to Building Local Partnerships includes suggestions for how community members can work together, access needs, survey resources, share information, seek out experienced collaborators, set goals, and decide upon measures of success.Ý Other resources in this series: America Goes Back to School: Worksheet for Planning Local Partnerships offers a sample worksheet to get planning started. Links are provided to additional school/community partnership information.

Community Engagement and Volunteerism at TENET links to outside resources for school administrators, teachers, PTO/PTA members and parent volunteers, and others who coordinate volunteer and community partnerships.

Community Toolbox provides resources to help communities work together effectively. Included are models for change, tools to use, and assessment and evaluative techniques. The information is available in both English and Spanish.

Critical Issue: Creating the School Climate and Structures to Support Parent and Family Involvement

This site offers insight into the processes that facilitate family involvement in education.

Raising the Standard describes a process in which citizens and educators at the grassroots level assume responsibility for themselves.

Families and Teachers as Partners includes ideas for getting parents involved in students' education.Ý Provided by the National Institute on Early Childhood, Development and Education.Ý Written for both teachers and parents.

Family Involvement includes ideas for a variety of activities and efforts, such as before- and after-school programs, tutoring and mentoring initiatives, and donations of facilities and technologies.

Family Involvement and Beyond: School-Based Child and Family Support Programs provides real-life examples and ideas from successful school-based programs.

Family Involvement in Children's Education: Successful Local Approaches identifies and describes successful strategies used by 20 local Title I programs that have overcome barriers to parent involvement. These district and school programs enhance parent-school communications and help parents support their children's academic work at school and at home. Some of the programs involve parents in school planning and governance activities, and as volunteers. Some also provide coordinated essential non-educational services for families to support their children's academic development.

Reaching All Families, Creating Family-Friendly Schools Ýpresents ideas on school outreach strategies. Some of the strategies are widely used, such as the fall open house and parent-teacher conferences. Others, like parent resource centers and positive phone calls, are much less common. Within each strategy, suggestions for action are made.

School-Family Partner Activities ÝUsing the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education (PFIE) database resource, information on partnerships can be located.ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ

Strong Families, Strong Schools focuses on involvement of parents in high school programs.Ý

Urban Schools

ÝHand in Hand: How Nine Urban Schools Work with Families and Community Schools

Ý Nine schools describe how they are developing pro-family systems of integrated social services.Ý In other words, how, in their efforts to support students' academic progress, they are finding ways to help stabilize students' families and attend to students' progress.

Rural Schools

Parent and Community Involvement in Rural Schools offers insight and guidelines in terms of both the opportunities and challenges posed by the conditions of rural life. It aims to help educators ensure the success of students in rural communities by encouraging parent involvement.

Spanish Speaking

Video for Spanish-Speaking Families Spanish-speaking families, as well as the schools and organizations serving them, may obtain a videotape featuring tips on parent involvement in education, ready-to-learn issues, reading and math, and preparing young people for college. Maria Elena Salinas, news anchor for the Univision Spanish-language television network, provides the narration. The tape is packaged in a kit with print materials in Spanish.

Fostering Home-School Cooperation: Involving Language Minority Families as Partners in Education Ýprovides practical strategies for developing partnerships with language minority parents in particular.Ý The authors share the experiences and approaches of the Arlington (Virginia) Public Schools, at both the district and school levels, and describe the ongoing efforts to develop and nurture cooperative links between schools and the families they serve.

ÝModel Strategies in Bilingual Education: Family Literacy and Parent Involvement offers administrators and teachers examples of many strategies used to work with parents of students with limited English proficiency (LEP). The report profiles nine exemplary sites, selected with the assistance of a panel ofÝ experts, which exhibit a wide range of parent involvement and family literacy programs.

For Parentsí OrganizationsÝÝ

The Holding Schools Accountable Toolkit is a collection of ideas and tools from pioneering community-based efforts to hold schools accountable for student achievement.Ý Its chapters cover getting organized and setting a vision, identifying standards and setting goals, gathering information, taking action, and evaluating your work.Ý

School-Family Partner Activities ÝUsing the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education (PFIE) database resource, information on partnerships can be located.ÝÝÝÝÝ

The Community that Did! When different community groups work together toward an educational goal, the results often extend beyond the original intent. This essay from Computer Learning details the history of community involvement as individuals and organizations worked toward the establishment of a Technology Center to serve the needs of teachers. The goal was achieved, but better yet, as the different groups interacted, they saw how they could help each other in other ways. The Technology Center has recently evolved into aÝ program at a local university.

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A "Checklist for Effective Parent-School Partnership" is provided by the Center on Families Five Types of Parental Involvement, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning of Johns Hopkins University.Ý includes ideas on parenting; communicating, volunteering, learning at home, and representing other parents are part of the checklist. By going through the checklist, parents can determine if their children's schools are making efforts to team with parents to improve students' education.

Parent Involvement: Literature Review and Database of Promising Practices includes a literature review of research in parent involvement strategies; and identifies promising programs that utilize those strategies.

Critical Issue: Creating the School Climate and Structures to Support Parent and Family Involvement

. This site offers insight into the processes that facilitate family involvement in education.

Elementary School Curriculum Survey for Parents provides an online curriculum survey to help parents evaluate school curricula.

Raising the Standard describes a process in which citizens and educators at the grassroots level assume responsibility for themselves.

Continuous Improvement of an Accountability System

Understanding Continuous Improvement

Begin with StandardsÝ
Promote a Climate for Data-driven Accountability

o Monitor Implementation

o Plan Changes

o Evaluate Outcomes

o Inform Stakeholders

o Create a User-friendly Data Storage System

Epilogue

ìUse Evaluation for Continuous School ImprovementîÝ

Taken from: Comprehensive School Reform:Ý A Guidebook on School-Wide ImprovementView Reform As Constantly Evolving (and the School as Continuously Improving) by Sylvie van Heusden Hale.Ý

Setbacks, large or small, can seem like giant obstacles. Whatever setbacks your school experiences, it's important always to keep moving. If, in evaluating implementation, you discover things that are subverting your efforts, take time to review the points highlighted in this section and determine if the absence ofÝ important factors in successful school reform may be hindering implementation. Then, engage your staff to resolve the issues.

Begin with StandardsÝ

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ ÝÝStimulated largely by Goals 2000 and the Improving America's Schools Act, a national movement has been under way, and every state in the nation is engaged in work to define clearly what students should know and be able to do in all subject areas and at all grade levels. Subsequent work has focused on the develop mentor selection of an assessment to be aligned with the content standards and accompanied by performance standards. States are in various stages of development on this work. In this environment of increased accountability, each district is expected to develop an accountability system that measures how wellÝÝ students are performing and uses multiple measures to determine academic achievement. Schools engaged in school reform must address this component and maintain participation in professional development activities designed to support the development and implementation of a standards-based accountabilityÝÝÝ system.

Promote a Climate for Data-driven Accountability

For a school engaged in comprehensive reform, reviewing evaluation results can be a source of joy, dismay, or confusion. Consider the following discussion:

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ "Are we sure?" asked several teachers. "We need to show parents how we're doing, and we don't want our report to be based on a misinterpretation or faulty logic like the one two years ago." The principal added, "I'm pleased that all students, including our migrant students, are doing well on the district writing proficiency test. I hope that our progress is a result of our new student groupings, getting the new English-language development materials, and the professional development we got from the trainer in the county office of education. But I'm stillÝÝ concerned about the norm-referenced test data not showing significant changes in reading.Ý How can we explain this if the writing assessment seems even more difficult? Do we revise our plan to work on this?"

The leadership team began discussing what additional data they might need in order to respond to these questions.

Discussions like this are increasingly common as schools move forward with comprehensive reforms and face growing pressures for accountability. Both trends place an increasing emphasis on well-planned and useful evaluation methods. Rather than being a form of judgment, however, evaluation is increasingly being viewed as a way of understanding how the school functions and what is effective. A continuously improving learning organization uses evaluation: (1) to understand the impact and effectiveness of its actions; (2) to ensure the congruence and synergy of the elements of its vision; and (3) to determine how well new strategies have been implemented. Evaluation is necessary for making judgments about the quality of theÝÝ school and its programs. Information from evaluations provides direction for ongoing program modification and future program planning toward improvement goals.

… Monitor Implementation

Components of your comprehensive school reform plan may focus on program design, curriculum and instruction, coordination, parent involvement, staff development, or assessment. Each component may have one or more activities designed to promote improvement. Make decisions about which aspects to review, and when, by determining which are most important for your school's reform. For example, if one of your goals is to improve instruction in reading, one strategy may be to provide teachers professional development in reciprocal teaching, independent reading strategies, and basic literacy skills for pre-literate adolescents.

Evaluation should occur at different times and ask questions that are appropriate for each evaluation phase.

Before the professional development workshops or institutes begin ask:

Is the assistance offered to teachers a critical component for the overall school improvement plan?
Are teachers aware of the rationale behind the professional development selection and how do theyÝÝ feel about it?
Does the faculty generally support the idea? If so, should efforts be made to work on staff motivation first?
Will the professional development provider offer follow-up support?

While professional development sessions are being delivered:

… Did teachers get adequate preparation and information?

… Can they translate this information into classroom practice, or is peer coaching or mentoring necessary?

… What materials might be lacking or useful for implementing the instructional strategy?

After the professional development has concluded:

What evidence indicated the smooth incorporation of new instructional strategies into classroom daily or weekly schedules?
What do the students report about what or how they are learning?
What more do teachers suggest would help them fortify what they have added to their instructional repertoire?

Evaluation questions should be clearly stated, specific, and relevant. If they are too vague or general, they will be difficult to answer, and the results may be of little value. Anticipate possible outcomes for clarifying questions or selecting the most useful. Ask other team members to paraphrase the questions before beginning data collection to ensure everyone understands what is being monitored.

… Plan Changes

Based on the results of your monitoring or evaluation efforts, your leadership team can plan refinements to your reform approach. As with other decisions in the reform process, these should be based on data and well-grounded research. A strong continuous improvement effort should identify not only whether or not a strategy had the desired impact, but why or why not. Consequently, you will be able to base decisions about mid-course changes on data and factual information.

… Evaluate Outcomes

Different methods for gathering evaluation data may have been used in some form or another during the needs assessment phase of the improvement planning process. However, this time, the data will determine the effectiveness of the improvement plan, answering the questions, "How did we do?" or "Did we do what we set out to do?"

As is often noted, norm-referenced tests provide only one type of information about student achievement; generally, such information reflects a narrow sampling. To really get a picture of student achievement, it is widely recommended that other assessment procedures both formal and informal be used. These may be included in a system of assessment developed by the district with specific options and strategies. They may also be part of a school-developed assessment system that focuses on classroom assessments used as an ongoing part of instruction.

Summative data should not be limited to achievement or assessment data alone. Other methods can be used to gather data to evaluate progress and examine if and how much change has occurred, and the quality of that change. Surveys and interviews can gather opinions on all aspects of school operations from administrators, special program staff, regular program teachers, parents, and students. Observations of classroom activities and teacher strategies can gather first-hand evaluations. Self-assessment worksheets can provide valuable information as well, particularly if the data are compared to the earlier needs assessment.

Data gathered during evaluation move you toward a profile of the program. Again, this can be used to compare to the earlier profiles. Have the data changed? If so, how? If not, why not? Are the changes next year?

… Use Multiple Measures

As emphasized in the comprehensive needs assessment section of this guide, conclusions about data should be supported by several sources. If a monitoring process suggests a general lack of enthusiasm among families and faculty about a new school day schedule, several data collection methods or sources should corroborate the interpretation. If an evaluation indicates that most students are improving math skills, then several kinds of data (grades, SAT scores, norm-referenced test, the district math proficiency test) should support this finding.

Consider whether your data will be adequate to ensure satisfactory judgments or decisions. For example, if you want to know if the 12 instructional assistants (para-educators) in your school are applying information they gained from a training program about developing students' English vocabulary, feedback from only three would be insufficient. In other words, be sure that your judgments are based on strong, corroborated data that justify actions taken.

Review informational sources and ask technical assistance providers for help. They can help you find, review, and select appropriate methods and instruments for collecting data to answer the questions of your monitoring and evaluation plan. Some simple suggestions include: ask staff and faculty, examine materials, observe teachers/students, ask students, review various types of data about children's learning, and use multiple techniques.

… Inform Stakeholders

All stakeholders are critical players in the reform process. Therefore, as you gather information about the success and failures of your strategies, you must inform school staff, parents, community members, board members, and so on. Highlighting successes will allow you to maintain or garner additional support.

On the other hand, reporting failures to the larger school community may seem like a sure way to elicit negative reactions. However, lack of information may be more damaging. Keeping bad news from others can foster rumors, feelings of mistrust, and general unease. It is better to share the facts and solicit input.

… Create a User-friendly Data Storage System

Keeping good records can help to guide the improvement of what is most important to the overall school organization and will reflect the multidimensionality of each unique school organization. It will simplify the evaluation of schools. This type of record keeping must facilitate the continuous collection and assessment of evidence; it is always evolving and enables schools to make better decisions. It is not intended to be a filing system, but an interactive repository of data.

Some districts have a sophisticated database system and are client-driven (working to support schools and principals) with requests for data summaries. Others have volunteer or internal support and must purchase orÝÝ develop their own database system for tracking academic outcomes. Database vendors are now pursuing individual schools as clients with systems compatible to their district's data source. Seek out these resources as you set out to develop databases of your information. Minimally, you should maintain a data storage box with hanging file folders. The box should have only essential files and be light enough to cart to meetings of the monitoring and evaluation team. In short, good documentation of your reform efforts-be it electronic or paper-serves as a public record to communicate important information about your school: its purpose, mission and vision, and the values and beliefs held by staff.

… Epilogue

School reform is not a process that happens in a linear fashion, nor can it be accomplished by following a recipe book. If it were, the task of improving America's schools would be much easier. Instead, meaningful school improvement is a long-term change process that requires a clear conceptual framework, specific components that address the entire school structure, and ways of evaluating progress and changing course when necessary.

From:Ý http://web.WestEd.org/csrd/guidebook/Ý

… Continuous Improvement in Michigan

From:Ý http://cdp.mde.state.mi.us/mcf/planning/default.htmlÝ

ìThe improvement process is ongoing and unique for each school district in Michigan. It is essential that districts design their continuous school improvement planning process and curriculum around their own particular size, needs, organizational structure, and resources.

Continuous School ImprovementÝÝ Achieving high student performance through excellence in educational programs requires the informed decision-making upon which continuous school improvement is based. Quality school improvement is driven by vision and requires the integration of several ongoing processes: curriculum development, professional development, and accreditation.

Monitoring Core Curriculum Content ProgramsÝ ÝDistrict core content area committees should design plans for monitoring the effectiveness of the district's English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies programs. The plans should formulate an assessment system that includes evidence of performance at the district, building, and individual student level. In addition to using data from state assessments, the core content area committees select or design performance tasks (assessment activities), which measure demonstration of standards and benchmarks not easily measured on large-scale assessments. These tasks can be analyzed at grade-cluster levels to assess student growth and curriculum coverage. By sampling evidence obtained in performance tasks, districts can evaluate building progress in school improvement efforts related to the English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies curricula.î

… Resources for Continuous Improvement in Accountability

Evaluating for Comprehensive School Reform: An Evaluation Guide for Districts and Schools by Louis F. Cicchinelli, Ph. D. and Zoe Barley, D Evaluation should not just assess the outcomes and impact of new strategies; it also should guide the process of implementing and refining reform programs.Ý This program is intended to serve as a ìreform umbrellaî for the evaluation and data reporting requirements of CSRD requirements. These materials help informed the continuous process of decision making at the local level. After reading this guide, you should be better able to ï plan a focused, practical school reform evaluation; ï develop a detailed evaluation plan; ï conduct an evaluation of school reform implementation and impact; ï report key findings in formats useful to major audiences; and ï encourage use of evaluation findings for program improvement.

Evaluating for Success (1999) MCREL guidebook outlines the design and process of evaluating a CSRD initiative. Topics addressed include implementation, evaluation logistics, barriers to gathering and using data and the type of data schools and districts should consider when they assess their reform efforts.

Evaluating Whole-School Reform Efforts: A Guide for District and School Staff NWREL outlines key issues, logistics, and type of data that schools and districts should consider when they assess their reform efforts.

Comprehensive School Reform:Ý A Guidebook on School-Wide ImprovementView Reform As Constantly Evolving (and the School as Continuously Improving) by Sylvie van Heusden Hale.Ý