Early Warning and Response System

OnTrack Overview

Our Shared Vision: Our shared vision is a collaborative approach utilizing system-wide practices to support a rapid response to student academic and behavioral needs. This includes frequent data monitoring for instructional decision making and targeted intervention supports that will empower each Greenville County student to achieve high standards and stay “On Track” to graduation. What is OnTrack Greenville? In September 2014, the Corporation for National and Community Service awarded United Way of Greenville County (UWGC) a five-year, $5 million Social Innovation Fund grant, with three years ($3 million) of funding approved. These funds, combined with private matching funds, will total $15 million to implement “OnTrack Greenville,” an initiative to keep middle school students on track to graduate from high school and build a successful, thriving future. The initiative is beginning by implementing a comprehensive, evidence-based dropout prevention strategy called an “Early Warning and Response System” (EWRS) in four high-need middle schools: Berea Middle School, Greenville Early College, Lakeview Middle School, and Tanglewood Middle School. Based on the work of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago, and piloted effectively in other communities around the country, the EWRS will utilize realtime data to identify students beginning to disengage from school as indicated by attendance, behavior, and course performance. By identifying students early, a coordinated team of educators and community experts will match students with the right response interventions and then monitor each student’s progress over time to ensure the student gets back on track. OnTrack Greenville is a collaborative initiative with five core stakeholders: Greenville County Schools, United Way of Greenville County, Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy, the Riley Institute at Furman University and Subgrantees (Implementation Partners). Collectively, these core stakeholders are designing, implementing, and sustaining the initiative. Stakeholders have a shared vision to ensure that each stakeholder group is clear on their own unique role and contribution—thereby, enabling them to interact with one another from that grounded space for mutual support. The implementation partners tasked with providing intervention support to schools include: Greenville County Schools, Building Educated Leaders for Life, Communities in Schools of Greenville, Greenville Health System, and Public Education Partners. They will provide the following support to students and schools: The funder stakeholder group includes the Social Innovation Fund, UWGC, individuals, and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy (a group of funders in

the community who came together in order to raise the significant matching funds necessary for the Social Innovation Fund). OnTrack Greenville will be measured by three success outcomes: • • •

25% increase in math and English language arts proficiency 75% reduction in chronic absenteeism 50% decrease in disciplinary referrals and out of school suspension

In addition, the long-term vision for success includes: • • • •

EWRS will become a part of the school culture EWRS will be replicated in other schools in Greenville County and will be a model for other schools and communities to replicate The collaborative approach modeled in OnTrack Greenville will become the norm of how to work together White Horse community transformation

Evaluation and learning are key values of the Social Innovation Fund and thus, OnTrack Greenville. The outcomes and impact of the EWRS and sub-grantee interventions are being measured through rigorous evaluation by the Riley Institute at Furman University.

EWRS Overview and Protocols

What is Our Early Warning System (EWRS)?

The OnTrack Greenville Early Warning Response System includes two components, the early warning and the response. The early warning is a business intelligence solution that pulls school data from existing databases (i.e.,PowerSchool and IMS) and incorporates all available data into a data dashboard that shows in real time key data about individual students(including attendance, behavior, and grades), classroom / grade level data, and school data. The tool will allow for the easy categorization of students in levels of being off-track. The off-track levels will be color coded by severity as red (most off-track), orange, yellow, and green (on-track). The response part of EWRS will be school teams who will organize and utilize the data to discuss students, beginning with those who are off-track. Teams compromised of staff from different perspectives will discuss students, gather information, and talk with students and parents to determine why a student is offtrack. The team will then devise a plan, utilizing interventions to get the student back on track. The interventions include both school-wide strategies and targeted interventions, particularly those interventions funded by OnTrack Greenville. The schools and the district will use the early warning system data to examine school-level patterns in the current school year and over time, in order to address systemic issues that may be impeding a student’s ability to graduate or the need to assess, improve, or add tiered interventions to support the needs of students. Early Warning System Essential Components Essential Component #1 - TIMELY IDENTIFICATION The timely identification (through Early Warning Data) of students who are off track in attendance, behavior, or course performance (ABC) Essential Component #2 – REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETINGS Weekly retrieval of EWRS reports by EWRS Team Coordinator or Core Team to organize, analyze and disseminate the data, and weekly grade level EWRS PLC meetings to REVIEW and DISCUSS individual student data and determine needed intervention supports. Essential Component #3 – USE OF DATA TO MATCH INTERVENTION SUPPORTS Consistent use of ABCs data to match students to timely, appropriate and effective interventions including school, OnTrack Greenville subgrantees, community agencies, and partnership interventions that are targeted to students' immediate

and longer-term need for support, and frequently monitored for success. Essential Component #4 – MULTI-TIERED INTERVENTIONS A multi-tiered system of supports which includes school-wide intervention supports and individual student and classroom supports. 2015-2016 will be a “start-up” year to develop the multi-tiered system. Essential Component #5 – PERFORMANCE BASED PARTNERSHIPS Performance based partnerships between the On Track schools, the GCS and established United Way community partners, who will assist in connecting students with supports, while monitoring, tracking and evaluating outcomes to ensure success. Important EWRS “Non-Negotiables”:

1. The infrastructure must support and allow for a flow of communication and follow-up. 2. An identified EWRS system coordinator or coordinating team at each school. 3. Commitment to regularly scheduled, student centered early warning meetings (EWRS PLC) to discuss the EWRS data and students. 4. Consistent use of the EWRS academic, attendance and behavioral data to inform instructional and student centered interventions and decisions. 5. Consistent protocols to ensure fidelity of EWRS implementation for evaluation and outcomes purposes. 6. A strong collaboration with United Way and the OTG Community Partners that is embraced, expected, and supported at all levels and with all partners.

Purpose and Roles of EWRS meeting

At the heart of the EWRS meeting is a data-inquiry process where school staff track the well-being of students using the Early Warning Indicators and determine what needs to be done to support students’ success. Within the structure of the meeting, staff will utilize best practices in meeting protocols, determine how to confer about students, how to use data to inform instruction and how to talk to each other productively, and ultimately, how to implement interventions in the most effective way. At the EWRS meeting staff think and talk about interventions. EWRS Coordinator or Core Team The EWRS Coordinator or Core Team is responsible for ensuring the EWRS is integrated into the life of the school. The Coordinator or team meets weekly to prepare the data and organize it for the EWRS PLC Grade Level meetings. This person or group ensures that all data is being collected and analyzed, and that the off-track students are identified. The Coordinator or Team organizes or provides support to the Facilitator of each PLC and ensures, along with the Principal that the intervention supports are in place and monitors and tracks intervention data to determine the effectiveness of different intervention supports. The Principal will design the membership and structure of the EWRS Coordinator or Coordinating Team. Options Include: Mental Health Specialist, School Counselor, Social Worker, Assistant Principal, Principal, Attendance Clerk, Instructional Coach, Title One Facilitator, or other key staff. EWRS PLC Teams Teams have scheduled meetings each week. Team members come to the meeting ready to discuss students who are showing early indicators. The facilitator(s) for the team leads the discussion about each student as the team discusses what the indicators are, why they may be there, and what can be done to correct them. The facilitator or recorder takes notes on each student discussed using a tracking sheet. The facilitator records any targeted or intensive interventions that the team decides are needed. At subsequent meetings the team reviews the status of these students (whether the student’s situation has improved, stayed the same, or gotten worse) and determines whether the interventions chosen seem to be working, need more time to work, or need to be supplemented or changed. The Core Components of the EWRS PLC meeting must include: 1. A meeting structure that represents the most efficient and effective use of limited staff time, yet allows for more nuanced, deeper conversation about students than normal grade group meetings.

2. A pre-determined and organized list of students to focus on during each meeting 3. The tracking of students’ status on each of the Early Warning Indicators a. Are students on track, sliding off track, off track? 4. Discussion that involves all educators or staff who work with the student and ultimately arrives at the cause(s) of the student being “off-track.” 5. Determining the need for and/or type of interventions using the Resource Guide and Mapping. 6. Assigning an “advocate” or “case manager” who is responsible for talking with the student and/or parent, and following up on the impact of the intervention. 7. Tracking and documenting the impact of interventions and approaches utilizing the EWRS data dashboard to ensure appropriate next steps are taken. Developing Meeting Protocols Before beginning a process for discussing students, teams must agree upon protocols to be used at each meeting. Establishing protocols helps keep members on task, helps focus on actions, and minimizes conflict, time off task, and ineffective planning. Teams should develop together their own protocols. Suggested protocols include:           

Start on time Be present at all meetings Notify the team in advance of any absences. Adhere to the agenda (created & distributed prior to every meeting) Have data at every meeting. Actively participate. Adhere to assigned roles. No phone calls or texting. Be concise when speaking and encourage others to participate Topics outside agenda will be documented & tabled for a later time. End on time.

Key Roles in the EWRS PLC Grade Level Team The EWRS PLC will have assigned roles for each EWRS PLC meeting. The roles could be consistent amongst individuals and meetings or may rotate. The roles include: EWRS PLC Facilitator: Works with the Coordinating Team or Coordinator to gather and distribute student data and reports prior to the meeting. The facilitator is also charged with assigning other team roles, setting the meeting agenda, making sure attendees adhere to the agenda, and making sure that the conversation starts with data and remains focused on solutions and interventions. Their role is to guide the conversation and ensure that

everyone has the opportunity to provide proper input, and keeps everyone on track. Record Keeper: Records any salient points discussed about students (i.e. problem areas, strengths, weaknesses, etc.), the accompanying proposed interventions, and who is responsible for delivering those interventions. The Record Keeper’s notes are documented on a standard form which is updated at the end of every meeting and reviewed at the beginning of each meeting, thus creating a constant feedback loop. This documentation helps school staff monitor the effectiveness of prescribed interventions as well as the fidelity of implementation. Timekeeper: Uses a timing device to monitor and enforce how much time is being spent on each student or group of students. The time keeper helps the facilitator keep the meeting on track and headed in the right direction by giving signals to the group a minute before the allotted time per student has expired. Limiting the discussion to a set number of minutes per student reduces or eliminates extraneous conversations. Because attendees know that the clock is ticking they tend to avoid generalizations and labeling and get right to the observable facts and specifics of each student at hand. Advocate/Case Manager/Responsible Interventionist: (May be specific for each student): Is responsible for ensuring that the interventions are carried out as assigned. Meets with the student to get insights into why he/she is off track and get input on the intervention plan; continues to meet with the student to ensure he/she is getting back on track; meets with intervention providers and other key staff to follow up. OTG Subgrantees/Community Partners: works with the student by providing tier 2 and 3 interventions designed to help him/her get back on track. This includes individuals focused on providing supports with ELA, math, attendance and behavior, but it also includes interventions that address key root causes (such as mental health, physical health, nutrition, language acquisition, bullying, safety, lack of confidence, connection to school, etc.). Tier 2 providers generally provide small group supports, while tier 3 providers often provide one-on-one supports. Meeting Structure and Process An EWRS PLC meeting generally follows the outline below, however; at times students with major challenges that are not on the focus list can be discussed, and often first. Otherwise, it is important to keep to a preselected number of students. 1. Assign roles or have pre-assigned roles (note taker, time keeper …). 2. Pass out Data and look over with some brief announcements (no longer than 5 minutes). 3. Look at focus list – determine if there is anyone else with major challenges (pregnancy notification, recent fight, suspension …) that need to be discussed today. Discuss these students first.

4. Discuss students, one at a time, about five minutes each (can talk about more than one student at a time, only if it is a very similar problem). 5. Wrap Up – determine if there were any students that were on the list and not discussed, and be sure to add them to the next meeting, or determine a time for the team to discuss if immediate action is needed. Discussion of Students A common practice is to divide the students into two categories, those that have been discussed previously and those who have not. Discuss those students that have not been discussed first and give progress reports on those that have been previously discussed and need follow up only after discussing the new students. Step 1: Discuss New Students Review data and begin discussion of new students with: a. Student Name b. Areas Off-Track (Attendance, Behavior, Course(s) c. What else do we know about the data? What else do we want to know about the data? Discuss Contextual Information about New Students a. What do we know about what’s going on with this student? b. Identify specific student challenges that may possibly be remedied through intervention. c. Discuss available interventions. d. Determine if there is anyone on the team that currently has a strong relationship with the student. If so, this person may be assigned as the Advocate for the student, if not, assign advocate. a. Advocate needs to talk to the student about challenges to gain insight. b. Advocate needs to talk to parents about challenges to gain insight. e. Determine next steps and set date for student review or assigning of intervention after gathering information from students, parents, and other staff not in the meeting (ie: Specific teachers, Guidance, Assistant Principal, Coach, etc...)

Step 2: Discuss Follow-Up Students for Review Review students receiving interventions, and spend only the agreed upon time on each student to discuss the following: a. Changes in data – Is the student no longer off track or now off track in more than one area? b. Discuss any new information about the student…ie, new telephone numbers or other behavior infractions c. Follow-up reports on interventions - What’s working? What’s not? d. Describe successful interventions so that others can replicate e. Identify gaps in interventions or services and be sure to report to OnTrack School and Community Facilitator or Data Manager. f.

Discuss and assign new interventions and/or advocate if needed

g. Determine next steps and set date for student review if applicable Defining the Problem The “Five Why’s” is an iterative question asking technique used to explore the cause and effect relationships underlying a particular challenge. It simply involves asking five “why questions.” The primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a problem by repeating the question why. Each question forms the basis for the next question. Using the “Five Why’s” has been shown to be an effective way of getting to the cause of student challenges. Using this method also helps teams not to get stuck on what they believe may be the problem but helps them to actually determine from where the challenge originates. Here is an example to illustrate the importance of digging down beneath the most

proximate cause of the problem. Failure to determine the root cause assures that you will be treating the symptoms of the challenge instead of its cause, in which case, it will continue to occur and the student will continue to have the same challenges

and remain off track.

Problem: Johnny is consistently late to school and this is increasing his absences. Why #1: Why is Johnny always late? Because he comes to school long after the bell rings.

Why #2: Why does he come after the bell rings? Because he walks to school every day. Why #3: Why does he walk to school every day? Because he always misses the bus and his parents don’t have a car. Why #4: Why is he missing the bus? Because he oversleeps. Why #5: Why does he oversleep? Because he doesn’t have an alarm clock. *It is important to remember that the number of whys is not important, but rather defining the problem and matching appropriate interventions to alleviate the challenges.*

Staying OnTrack/Positive It is important for the team to have a balance between discussion of the students’ challenges and decisions on implementation of interventions. Having too much discussion about a student’s behavior or class failing, and not spending time discussing positive interventions to assist is not a productive use of time. It may be helpful to list the Strengths of the student, then the student’s Weaknesses, and finally the supports that the student may need. It is also important that all team members participate in both the conversation about the problems the student is facing as well as interventions that can be used to support the student. Everyone should contribute to the conversation. Communication A fluid process for communication is very important to ensure internal communication among team members such as meeting schedules, decision making structures and team communication norms, as well as external communication of how the team works with students, parents, partners and other teams throughout the school. It is important to include time to meet with students. Include both students who are doing well so that the teacher team can express their recognition and pride to this student and students who are working with interventions so that the teacher team can express their concern and willingness to help to this student.

Intervention Resource and Referral

Solutions and Interventions Connecting students to the appropriate intervention is one of the most important components of the EWRS. Using a multi-tiered level of supports will help to ensure that students who can be assisted using resources currently in use by the school will be accessed first. By using the EWRS data, teams will have a structured way to identify students off-track to graduation and thus in need of additional intervention. For instance, each absence that a student has should have some response to it (possibly a phone call home, a conversation with the student, etc.) but in addition, staff will be working to build a culture of high attendance through public recognitions and positive events at the school. Therefore, both the immediate needs of the student (a tier II response) and the long term prevention/recognition for all students are part of the attendance plan.

Early Warning Indicators and Thresholds Attendance Level

Range

Notes

Green

0 – 4 absences

At 3 consecutive absences, schools should act by calling home. This does not always happen—schools consider students’ circumstances. (Ex. No call for illness.) Attendance flags reset annually.

Yellow

5 – 9 absences

Unexcused absences. At 5 absences, parents receive a phone call.

Orange

10 – 18 absences

Cumulative absences. At 10 absences, school arranges meeting with student and parents. Consequences of missing 10 + days include failing the course/grade.

Red

19 + absences

Chronic absenteeism. At this point, student and parents may have gone to court already or have court date set.

Behavior Level

Range

Notes

Green

≤ 4 referrals Level 1

See additional table for description of Levels and referrals. Behavior flags reset annually.

≤ 1 referrals Level 2 Yellow

= 5 – 7 referrals Level 1 = 2 – 4 referrals Level 2

Orange

= 8 – 10 referrals Level 1

Level 3 = State offenses

= 5 – 7 referrals Level 2 = 1 referral Level 3 Red

> 10 referrals Level 1 > 8 referrals Level 2 ≥ 2 referrals Level 3 ≥ 1 referral Level 4

Level 4 = Federal offenses

Course Grades Level

Range

Notes

Green

A or B

Rolling average, not daily average. The EWRS data dashboard report will flag students for grades in any course, BUT the EWRS communication flow (matching process) will start with students flagged in ELA and Math. Course grade flags reset quarterly

Yellow

C

Orange

D

Red

F

EWRS at Your School