DEVELOPING YOUR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

1. DEVELOPING  YOUR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

3. 2 Sources of Information Illinois NCA CASI State Office nca.uillinois.edu Susie Morrison, State Dir. NCA CASI � Tempe, Az ncacasi.org Ken Gose, Executive Dir.

4. Housekeeping Matters Creature comforts Adult Learning Experience Audience participation required Relax, learn, and enjoy

5. Today�s Conversation What is NCA? How are NCA members different? What makes school improvement planning effective? How can an effective school improvement plan be developed?

6. AGENDA 9:00-10:15 NCA, SIP, & Profile 10:15-10:30 Break 10:30-11:45 Profile, Environ. Scan and Goals 11:45-1:00 Lunch (working) SIP Elements 1:00-1:10 Break 1:10-2:00 Logistics and Process Recommended Next Steps Evaluation

7. COMMISSION ON ACCREDITATION AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

8. North Central Association Commission on Higher Education Chicago, Illinois One Centralized Office Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement(K-12) Tempe, Arizona Offices in 19 states, the Navajo Nation and DoDDS.

9. North Central Association Many new people do not know the wide arena in which NCA works. They only know their school is a member. NCA CASI is a voluntary accrediting organization with over 9,800 schools in 19 states, Department of Defense Dependent Schools, and the Navajo Nation. Tell participant that NCA CASI members are aspiring to a higher standard; they are supported by an organization with many services (which you will cover during the meeting.) Actually CASI is one of the few organization that provides support for schools trying to complete school improvement plans. Many organizations think it is a good idea but don�t have the software, training, and hard print material to support the school. NCA CASI schools are also CITA (Commission in Intraregional and Transregional Schools). This international association accredits school around the globe, bringing the accrediting alliance to approximately 32000 internationally. Many new people do not know the wide arena in which NCA works. They only know their school is a member. NCA CASI is a voluntary accrediting organization with over 9,800 schools in 19 states, Department of Defense Dependent Schools, and the Navajo Nation. Tell participant that NCA CASI members are aspiring to a higher standard; they are supported by an organization with many services (which you will cover during the meeting.) Actually CASI is one of the few organization that provides support for schools trying to complete school improvement plans. Many organizations think it is a good idea but don�t have the software, training, and hard print material to support the school. NCA CASI schools are also CITA (Commission in Intraregional and Transregional Schools). This international association accredits school around the globe, bringing the accrediting alliance to approximately 32000 internationally.

10. NCA CASI member schools: Commit to �Higher Standards� and complete a yearly review of membership and improvement criteria (On-line Report) Engage in a documented cycle of school improvement (SIP) External Peer Review (Documentation/Accreditation Visit)

11. 7 Standards � 56 Indicators Vision and Purpose Governance and Leadership Teaching and Learning Documenting and Using Results Resources and Support Systems Stakeholder Communications & Relationships Commitment to Continuous Improvement

12. The Process ofSchool Improvement 

13. ImprovementSTUDY PLANACT DO

14. �Performance Accreditation�(PA) The NCA CSI School Improvement framework. A school may select to use a different protocol such as ISBE, High Schools That Work, Steps to Success, etc. Bottom Line: Schools must improve the performance of their students. Results are determined by performance and improvement. School Improvement Framework = Performance Accreditation Four distinct stages of performance Emerging Developing Increasing Exceeding School Improvement Framework = Performance Accreditation Four distinct stages of performance Emerging Developing Increasing Exceeding

15. Performance Accreditation  Protocol

18. NCA Protocol: PA

19. PROTOCOL COMPARISON PA Commit Get Started Collect/Analyze Data Mission/Goals Develop SIP Implement/Monitor Document Results Act on Findings ISBE Performance Targets School Information Data Collection and Information Data Analysis Family & Community Inv. Action Plan Professional Development Ill Learning Standards Implementation Support Systems Review, Monitor, Revise

20. Elements of Effective School Improvement Data Collection (Profiling and Scanning) Mission Goal Setting (Performance Targets) Interventions (Strategies) Assessments Professional Development Monitoring Documentation of Results

21. Developing the Profile

22. School Improvement Concept Profile

24. Findings A simple presentation of the data without making judgments.

25. Analysis Collect Data Sort Data Present Data (Findings) Analyze Data* *Trying to determine and describe �why.�

26. Implications Student Performance Goals Did our analysis indicate a need for a goal that will increase student performance? Non-Student Performance Goals Did our analysis indicate that areas other than student performance may need to be addressed? Other Data To Be Collected Did our analysis indicate that we did not have enough data to make a decision? If so, what other data must we collect? Clarification of Goals Did our analysis provide us with specific areas of concern or was it too general? Identification of Intervention Groups Did our analysis indicate that certain groups of students might benefit from one intervention, while other students might need different interventions? Other Actions Needed Did our analysis indicate other actions than those above are necessary?

27. Disaggregation Categories After data has been collected, determine categories for disaggregation. (NCLB plus?)

29. �To be blind is bad, but worse it is to have eyes and not to see�Hellen Keller

30. Profile What is the MUST HAVE data that a school should collect for EACH category? Plan a visual display for one of these.

31. Environmental Scan

32. Environmental Scanning Environmental scan data is information about society and the world that a faculty may use to determine what skills and knowledge students will need to be successful after leaving their school.

33. The scan helps us understand the world in which our school may exist at various times in the future, and how we may have to adapt to be successful in such a new world.

34. The Scan Pulls together key trends and predictions from good sources to give us a sense of the range of possible futures we may see.

36. �Some� Areas to Scan Demographic trends in population Employment Technology Human Resources Workforce Work Environment Health Care Legislation Socioeconomics Income Projections Public Attitudes

37. �Some� Sources of Scan Information Review current literature Search the internet Hold discussions with experts Interview major decision makers regarding their view of the most critical trends and developments that could affect the institution.

38. Future Work www.dol.gov/dol/asp/public/futurework/ report Provides a school with environmental scan data in the following categories: Workforce Employment Wages and benefits Work and family Workplace Workplace conditions Technology Implications of workplace change

39. Newspapers such as: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribute, The Los Angeles Times, The Times of London, and USA Today. Magazines include: Vital Speeches of the Day, Time, Newsweek, U. S. News and World Report, The Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, Atlantic, The Nation and The Futurist. Also, the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Labor. No shortage of resources

42. Mission

45. Mission What is YOUR school mission? Good, bad and ugly? Use the rubric to evaluate mission statements.

46. From Eric Hoffer: �In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.�

47. Once the profile is completed and the mission is written, it is time to write your student performance goals.

48. Student Performance Goals

49. Writing appropriate student performance goals is one of the most important steps in the development of the school improvement plan. School Improvement Concept Writing Goals

52. Goal Types Type I � Knowledge Type II -- Ability to Apply Knowledge Type III --Habits/Patterns of Behavior Type IV -- Attitudes, Perceptions, Beliefs, Opinions, Feelings The Type of Goal Determines the Type of Assessment

53. Essence Before an intervention can be established the essence of the goal must be determined. Essence involves determining the dimensions of a concept on which the school wishes to focus. Example: What does citizenship mean to your faculty?

54. Essence of Citizenship 1. Compliance with the rules 2. Understanding participative governance 3. Service to humanity The focus a school takes can drastically affect the interventions and assessments the school in the School Improvement Plan.

56. Questions RE: Student Performance Goals How many total goals? How many cognitive and affective goals? How are state and district goals addressed? How long does a school keep a goal? Does a school have non-student performance goals?

57. School Improvement Plan(SIP)

59. Note: The School Improvement Plan is comprised of the *SIP Abstract (the basic design) and the Logistical/*Action plan (which contains the details for implementation.) *Available at Illinois website: nca.uillinois.edu .

60. Assessments

61. Selecting Assessments Identify Assessments That Will Be Used To Show Improvement on Each Goal Match Assessment Type with Goal Type How many assessments? Align assessments with goals and interventions.

62. School Improvement Assessments Standardized Assessments Widely administered Recognized and understood by the public Locally Developed Assessments Developed and used in specific schools or districts Usually classroom-based

63. Selecting/Creating Assessments Standardized Advantages: Greater possibility of validity and reliability Politically more acceptable to community Procedures are standardized Disadvantages: Cost Less likely to match your educational program or curriculum Appropriate common metric to measure your goal may not exist

65. Key Questions: Assessments How many assessments are needed for each goal? Are we assessing the goal or the intervention? Must every intervention have an assessment? Must every assessment be given to every student every year?

66. Interventions

67. Definition: An intervention is something that is done to or with students that develops something desired within the student. For schools involved in the NCA school improvement process the �something desired� should be the goal areas.

68. Interventions address the reasons why students are not being successful. Cause & Effect Symptom versus Cause Thorough Analysis of Data

69. How to Use Data to Create Powerful Interventions Start with Findings (facts). Analyze to explain why the facts are what they are: intuitive analysis analysis using data research based For each explanation or reason, identify/determine the Implications for interventions/strategies.

70. Keys for Interventions Use the experience of staff for intuitive analysis For every reason - identify an intervention Need to put data in the hands of the teachers Regularly assess and revisit

71. Good Interventions develop the goal area within the student. They should do one of the following: Develop Knowledge Apply Knowledge Develop Patterns of Behavior Develop Attitudes

72. Research Based Interventions Discuss the ways schools could locate research-based or best practice interventions.

73. ASCD Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development 1703 North Beauregard Street Alexandria, Virginia 22311 1-800-933-2723 www.ascd.org Magazine: Educational Leadership

74. Education Research Service Will provide research to member schools on any topic requested. 2000 Clarendon Road Arlington, VA 22201 703-243-2100 ers@access.digex.net

75. Northwest Regional Lab www.nwrel.org All regional labs available from this website

76.  Educational Best Practices www.ed.gov/inits/statelocal/sl-best.html

77. Key Questions: Interventions How many interventions needed for each goal? Can some interventions only address subgroups and not all students? How do we incorporate �teacher stuff� if we are to write interventions in student terms? Do all teachers have to do all interventions? Can some interventions cross over into other goals?

78. Intervention Questions Cont�d Where do we put parent-related pieces in our plan? Must all interventions be research-based? How do we get the faculty to select interventions?

79. Professional Development

80. Helps faculty learn about the new interventions and how to implement them. Needs to be directly linked to the school improvement plan.

81. Questions . . . What is required to move faculty from awareness to actual transfer into the classroom? How will you know the plan is being implemented in the classroom?

83. School Improvement Plan Evaluate the sample SIP in terms of: *Goals *Alignment *Potential for success Make suggestions to improve

84. Action Plan

85. Action Plans For every intervention in a school improvement plan there is created at least one action plan page. This page contains all the details that go into the plan. The important word here is details. Always provide more information than you think necessary.

86. LOGISTICAL ACTION PLAN Logistical: Details what has to be done to implement the interventions Action: Who will do what and when Plan: �. . . of mice and men . . .�

88. 2 ADDITIONAL ITEMS �TO DO� Complete the Capacity Assessment Instrument Collect Baseline Data

89. Capacity Assessment Instrument (CAI) Complete at time of SIP and end of cycle 80 questions elongated rubric of 20 items Reach consensus among the faculty Complete for first team visit Complete for Documentation Visit NCA CASI Website

91. Baseline Data!!!!!!! �Pre-test� or PRE INTERVENTION �Post-test� or END OF CYCLE Same assessments Collect for each subgroup

93. NCA CASIandIllinois NCA CASIThank You for Participating We are here to help you with your school improvement process.

94. APPENDIX

95. Preparing Students for Contemporary Work and Society

96. Conventional AcademicSuccess has Involved Mastery of basic skills Largely solitary study Generally uninterrupted work Concentration on a single subject Much written work High analytical ability

97. Workplace Success Involves Mastery of basic skills Working with others Constant distractions Working at different levels across different disciplines Mainly verbal skills Problem-solving and decision-making

98. Does it have to be either or? No, it must be both. However workplace skills do not always come from academic skills. Academics are neither good at finding novel solutions, nor at synthesizing , nor at living with ambiguity, nor making difficult decisions.

99. Real Life Skills In a world of continuous change where creativity, personal responsibility and innovation are in ever greater demand, the ability of individuals to plan and implement their own ongoing learning without external direction has to be the key to success.

100. Here is the problem: Society is recognizing the restrictive and unimaginative. Now television, video, linked with active technologies such as the computer, CD ROM systems and the Internet, provide an astonishing array of tools for constructive learning.