SPP Strategic Initiatives and Key Actions in English/Language Arts and Mathematics Office of English Language Arts Office of Mathematics Office of Performance Management June 2016 BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DIVISION OF RESEARCH, ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT

Outcomes I can… Develop and implement effective strategic initiatives and key actions that will accomplish the goals of the school progress plan (SPP) for improving student performance in English/language arts and mathematics.

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Policy 0100: Equity Disparities on the basis of race, special education status, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, English language learner (ELL) status, or socioeconomic status are unacceptable and are directly at odds with the belief that all students can achieve. While complex societal and historical factors contribute to the inequities our students face, rather than perpetuating disparities, the school system must address and overcome institutional inequity by providing all students with the opportunity to succeed. 3

Guiding Principles • EQUITY – Move all students to higher levels of academic achievement. Provide all students with what they need by addressing gaps in performance. Address and overcome institutional inequities.

• COMMITMENT – Plan a theory of action, using equity tools and protocols to address gaps in performance. Implement your plan. Make adjustments as necessary.

• FOCUS – Do fewer things. Do them well. Align resources and activities to a focused theory of action. 4

Continuous Improvement Framework (CIF)

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Activities in the PLAN Phase

Conduct a review to assess past performance. Use data to uncover performance gaps. 2 • Prioritize the needs or opportunities for improvement. • Ensure alignment of vision, mission, and goals with 3 Blueprint 2.0. 4 • Identify strategic initiatives, key actions, and professional learning to implement in the current year that are aligned to the vision and goals of the school. 1 •

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Strategic Initiative- Definition Strategic initiatives broadly describe what the school intends to do instructionally to improve student achievement or to improve the climate such that it is conducive to learning. Initiatives should: • Fall into general categories • Be scientifically/research-based • Address the priority needs and root cause

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Key Action- Definition Key actions are specific activities or tasks that describe how the strategic initiatives will be implemented in the classroom to affect student achievement. Key actions should: • Be observable behaviors and actions of teachers and students in the classroom • Be documented for completion • Provide detail about what specifically will be done and by whom

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Use Data to Uncover Performance Gaps

• Conduct data analysis • Use different types of data, i.e. achievement, demographic, school process, and perception data • Include at least the most recent three years

• Disaggregate data by student groups

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Types of Achievement Data Assessment Annual large-scale

Data Types PARCC HSA PSAT SAT

Frequency

Feedback Intent

Purpose

Infrequent

General, broad

Used by state/district leaders and administrators to examine broad domains of student knowledge and measure of a school’s effectiveness.

MAP

System wide by grade level and/or subject area

ELA/Math End of Unit Summative Assessments

Used by administrators, teachers to measure growth or progress

ELA/Math Performance-based Assessments

Ongoing classroom

ELA/Math curriculum-based data using the formative assessment process

Used by teachers, students to drive daily instruction Frequent

Specific, narrow

The heart of monitoring the SPP lies in the ongoing classroom level data because of its 10 frequency and proximity to daily instruction and actual student learning.

Examining Patterns and Trends

What achievement gaps exist, by grade-level, race/ ethnicity, gender, and special services? 11

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Prioritize Needs

• Identify priority need based on data patterns: – Raise the bar for all students (Data Pattern #2)

OR

– Close the gap for subgroups of students (Data Pattern #3) OR – Raise the bar and close the gap (Data Pattern #1)

• Determine the root cause of issues or gaps in performance.

• Use the root cause analysis protocol. 12

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Vision, Mission

Shared values and purpose

Ensure Alignment

Priority Needs

Gaps in performance

Performance Goals

Strategic Initiatives

What needs to change or improve

What will be done instructionally

Key Actions

Observable behaviors in the classroom

Professional Learning

All students graduate college and career ready

What teachers and staff need to know

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Identify Effective Strategic Initiatives for ELA

1. Develop strong foundational skills in literacy through systematic, explicit instruction in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary and fluency. 2. Deepen comprehension of complex text through collaborative conversation and higher levels of questioning. 3. Effectively communicate content knowledge and ideas through evidence based writing for a range of tasks, purposes and audiences.

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SPP Example- Elementary ELA Priority Need

Root Cause

Goals

[Why?]

[What needs to improve?]

[What’s the gap or issue?] Overall, only 43.1% of the students met their reading growth target on the 2016 Winter MAP.

Lack of opportunities for vocabulary development in instruction as observed through classroom walkthroughs. Students across grades performed Low/LoAvg on MAP in Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Improve MAP Growth in Reading from 43.1 to 50%.

Strategic Initiative [What will we do instructionally?] Develop strong foundational skills in literacy through systematic, explicit instruction in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary and fluency.

SPP Key Action [What behaviors will be observable in the classroom?] RAISE THE BAR: Teachers across content areas will develop academic vocabulary knowledge by selecting and explicitly teaching 3-5 appropriate Tier II content specific vocabulary words per week using The Frayer Model.

Indicators Of Progress [How will we know if it’s working?] Observable Evidence of Learning (student behavior) • Use of The Frayer Model • Applied use of vocabulary in student writing and discussion Observable Evidence of Teaching (teacher behavior) • Use of The Frayer Model infused into instruction • Vary levels of questioning connected to vocabulary standards Documentation/Data • Student work product • Teacher lesson plans reflecting the selection of vocabulary using The Frayer Model • Informal observation data • MAP scores (Vocabulary Acquisition and Use) • Curriculum-based vocabulary assessment results • Student feedback in a vocabulary notebook and/or journal

Identify Effective Strategic Initiatives for Mathematics 4

1. Develop strong foundational skills in mathematics through systematic, explicit instruction that addresses the level of rigor (conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, application) of the mathematics standards. [PARCC Sub-claim A & B: Major & Supporting Content] 2. Develop students’ ability to express their reasoning about mathematics through written and spoken communication. [PARCC Sub-claim C: Reasoning] 3. Develop students’ ability to apply their understanding of mathematical concepts and skills to solve real-world problems. [PARCC Sub-claim D: Modeling] 16

SPP Example- Elementary Mathematics Priority Need

Root Cause

Goals

[Why?]

[What needs to improve?]

[What’s wrong?] Overall, 58% of the students met the growth target for mathematics as evidenced by MAP Growth. Only 40% of African-American students met growth in MAP.

African-American students across grades performed Low/LoAvg on MAP in Number and Operations (k-5). Teacher observation data indicate low level questioning strategies and time off task to address behavior issues during instruction.

Improve MAP growth schoolwide from 58% to 70%. Improve MAP growth for AfricanAmerican students from 40% to 50%.

Strategic Initiative [What will we do instructionally?] Develop strong foundational skills in mathematics through systematic, explicit instruction that addresses the level of rigor (conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, application) of the mathematics standards. [PARCC Sub-claim A & B: Major & Supporting Content]

SPP Key Action [What will be observable changes in the classroom?] CLOSE THE GAP 1. Teachers use data to identify targeted small group instructional opportunities to deliver lessons that intentionally develop students’ conceptual understanding. 2. Teachers deliver lessons that explicitly connect conceptual understandings and procedural skills.

Indicators Of Progress [How will we know if it’s working?] Observable Evidence of Learning (student behavior) 1a. Students solve problems using manipulatives or pictorial representation. 1b. Students are able to explain how they solved the problem using the manipulative or pictorial representations. 2a. Students use manipulative/pictorial representations and procedures to solve problems. 2b. Students are able to explain how the steps they use with the manipulatives or in the pictorial representation connect to the procedure. Observable Evidence of Teaching (teacher behavior) • Lessons include concepts from concrete to representational/pictorial.

• Use of manipulatives and pictorial models to represent numbers Documentation/Data • Teacher lesson plans • Student work samples • Informal observation data • Curriculum-based assessment results

Available SPP Training & Resources Plan • Module 1: Overview of Performance Management • Module 2: Assessing Performance • Module 3: Establishing a Plan • SPP Online Tool Training Webinar • Performance Management Implementation Guide Do/Check/Act • SPP & You Training Webinar • Module 2: Assessing Performance • Module 4: Implementing and Monitoring the Plan • SPP Q1 Monitoring Workshop • SPP Q3 Monitoring Workshop

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Boot Camp Expectations • Principals should view Modules 1 and 2 in preparation for Boot Camp.

• Principals can begin to work with school teams to engage in school progress planning using the modules and resources available on the OPM intranet site as guides.

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