Transcript Addressing Barriers to Learning and Teaching
A Graphic Overview
Enhancing School Improvement: Addressing Barriers to Learning and Re-engaging Students
UCLA
We just missed the school bus.
\ Don’t worry. I heard the principal say \ no child will be left behind.
/
UCLA
About this Resource
This is part of a set of 7 power point sessions. For each session, there are also a package of handouts (online in PDF) that cover the material. Many of these handouts provide additional details on a given topic.
UCLA
Feel free to use the power point slides and the handouts as is or by adapting them to advance efforts to develop a comprehensive system of learning supports.
UCLA
Session Topics
I.
Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement? II. What is a System of Learning Supports?
An intervention perspective
III. What is a System of Learning Supports?
An infrastructure perspective
UCLA
Session Topics
IV. What is a System of Learning Supports?
A policy perspective
V.
What’s Involved in Getting from Here to There?
VI. Engaging and Re-engaging Students with an Emphasis on Intrinsic Motivation VII. Concluding Comments
UCLA
Session I
Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement?
UCLA
Topics Covered
>Some Major Concerns >Lenses for viewing school improvement efforts >School improvement planning: What’s being done & what’s missing?
UCLA
I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement?
Some Major Concerns
UCLA
<><><><><><><><><> The current focus of school improvement policy and practice is too limited to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed at school.
<><><><><><><><><>
UCLA
The limited focus contributes to:
–
High Student Dropout Rates
UCLA
The limited focus contributes to:
–
High Student Dropout Rates
–
High Teacher Dropout Rates
UCLA
The limited focus contributes to:
–
High Student Dropout Rates
–
High Teacher Dropout Rates
–
Continuing Achievement Gap
UCLA
The limited focus contributes to:
–
High Student Dropout Rates
–
High Teacher Dropout Rates
–
Continuing Achievement Gap
–
So Many Schools Designated as
UCLA
The limited focus contributes to:
–
High Student Dropout Rates
–
High Teacher Dropout Rates
–
Continuing Achievement Gap
–
So Many Schools Designated as Low Performing
UCLA
The limited focus contributes to:
–
High Student Dropout Rates
–
High Teacher Dropout Rates
–
Continuing Achievement Gap
–
So Many Schools Designated asLow Performing
–
High Stakes Testing Taking its Toll on Students
UCLA
The limited focus contributes to:
–
High Student Dropout Rates
–
High Teacher Dropout Rates
–
Continuing Achievement Gap
–
So Many Schools Designated as
–
Low Performing
–
High Stakes Testing Taking its Toll on Students
–
Plateau Effect
UCLA
Some of the data:
The dropout rate for our nation remains unacceptably high. In 2006, the Education Trust reported that nearly 25 percent of the ninth grade population will not end up graduating from high school.
UCLA
Some of the data:
Students are not the only ones dropping out of school. We are losing teachers at a rate of almost 1,000 a day. As the Alliance for Excellence in Education noted in 2005, many are not retiring; they are just leaving the profession.
UCLA
Some of the data:
Student achievement in core academic subjects, as reported in 2007 by the National Center for Education Statistics, shows far too many students are performing poorly.
UCLA
Some of the data:
Take reading levels as an example.
Despite reports of small recent gains, most American students, across grade levels, are reading at the most basic levels and “only about 30 percent of high school students read proficiently and more than a quarter read below grade level.”
UCLA
Some of the data:
Other relevant data form the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicate that >the primary home language of almost 11 million children is not English >10 percent of public school students in kindergarten through grade 12 had been retained (i.e., repeated a grade since starting school), >11 percent had been suspended and 2 percent had been expelled (i.e., permanently removed from school with no services)
UCLA
Some of the data:
The NCES joins others is stressing that research suggests that growing up in poverty can negatively impact children’s mental and behavioral development as well as their overall health, making it more difficult for them to learn.
UCLA
Some of the data:
While it is a widely held belief that education should be a great equalizer, the U.S. Department of Education recognizes that, in large portion, children living in poverty attend schools that, at best, have marginal performance records.
UCLA
Data from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) clearly shows the plateau effect related to academic achievement.
UCLA
The Nation’s Report Card – National Center for Education Statistics Trend in NAEP reading average scores for 9-year-old students Trend in NAEP reading average scores for 13-year-old students See key on next slide
The Nation’s Report Card – National Center for Education Statistics Trend in NAEP reading average scores for 17-year-old students * Significantly different (
p
< .05) from 2008.
Key Original Assessment Format Revised Assessment Format
See note below Note:
The long-term trend assessment was updated in several ways in 2004. Outdated material was replaced, accommodations for students with disabilities (SD) and for English language learners (ELL) were allowed, and administration procedures were modified. A special bridge study was conducted in 2004 to evaluate the effects of these changes on the trend lines. The study involved administering both the original and revised formats of the assessments to determine how the revisions may have affected the results.
I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement?
Three Lenses for Viewing School Improvement Efforts
UCLA
Lens #1 = All Students
Range of Learners
I = Motivationally ready and able II = Not very motivated/lacking prerequisite skills/ different rates & styles/minor vulnerabilities III = Avoidant/very deficient in current capabilities has a disability and/or major health problems
UCLA
Not some --
ALL
youngsters are to have an equal opportunity to succeed at school
UCLA
Lens # 2 = Barriers to Learning
Categories of Risk-Producing Conditions that Can be Barriers to Learning >Environmental Conditions >Family >School and Peers >Individual
UCLA
Examples of Environmental Conditions
•
extreme economic deprivation
•
community disorganization, including high levels of mobility
•
violence, drugs, etc.
•
minority and/or immigrant status
UCLA
Examples of Family Conditions
•
chronic poverty
•
conflict/disruptions/violence
•
substance abuse
•
models problem behavior
•
abusive caretaking
•
inadequate provision for quality child care
UCLA
Examples of School & Peer Conditions
•
poor quality school
•
negative encounters with teachers
•
negative encounters with peers
•
inappropriate peer models
UCLA
Examples of Individual Conditions
•
medical problems
•
low birth weight/neurodevelopmental delay
•
psychophysiological problems
•
difficult temperament & adjustment problems
•
inadequate nutrition
UCLA
Barriers to Learning and School Improvement
Range of Learners
I = Motivationally ready and able Not very motivated/ lacking prerequisite II = skills/ different rates & styles/ minor vulnerabilities III = Avoidant/ very deficient in capabilities UCLA
Barriers to Learning and School Improvement
Range of Learners
I = Motivationally ready and able Not very motivated/ lacking prerequisite II = skills/ different rates & styles/ minor vulnerabilities No barriers
Instructional Component
Classroom Teaching + Enrichment Activity ( H igh Standards) Desired Outcomes (High Expectations & Accountability) III = Avoidant/ very deficient in capabilities UCLA
Barriers to Learning and School Improvement
Range of Learners
I = Motivationally ready and able Not very motivated/ lacking prerequisite II = skills/ different rates & styles/ minor vulnerabilities No barriers
Barriers*
To Learning, Development, Teaching
Instructional Component
Classroom Teaching + Enrichment Activity ( H igh Standards) Desired Outcomes (High Expectations & Accountability) III = Avoidant/ very deficient in capabilities UCLA
Caution: Don’t misinterpret the term
>Barriers to learning
It encompasses much more than a deficit model of students.
UCLA
And, it is part of a holistic approach that emphasizes the importance of
>Protective Buffers
(e.g., strengths, assets, resiliency, accommodations)
& >Promoting Full Development
UCLA
Lens # 3 = Engagement & Disengagement
Source of Motivation
Extrinsics Intrinsics Intrinsics/ Extrinsics
Intervention Concerns
Engagement Disengagement (psychological reactance) UCLA
Engaging & Re-engaging Students in Classroom Learning
How are schools >maximizing Intrinsic Motivation?
>minimizing Behavior Control Strategies?
UCLA
Motivation, and especially Intrinsic Motivation
are fundamental intervention considerations related to student (and staff) problems
UCLA
I. Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative for School Improvement?
School Improvement Planning: What’s Being Done & What’s Missing?
UCLA
With all the budget problems, We have to do everything on a shoestring. \ \ Are you saying you \ still have a shoestring?
/
UCLA
School Improvement Planning: What’s Missing?
UCLA
School Improvement Planning
Missing: A Comprehensive Focus on:
–
Addressing Barriers to Learning & Teaching
–
Re-engaging Disengaged Students in Classroom Learning
UCLA
This becomes evident when we ask: What do schools currently do to
(1) address barriers to learning and teaching and
UCLA
This becomes evident when we ask: What do schools currently do to
(1) address barriers to learning and teaching and (2) re-engage students in classroom instruction?
UCLA
How is the district/school addressing barriers to learning?
Psychological Testing Violence & Crime Prevention Juvenile Court Services Pupil Services Special Education After-School Programs Physical Education
District
HIV/Aids Prevention Clinic Health Services Health Education Nutrition Education School Lunch Program Drug Prevention Community-Based Organizations Mental Health Services HIV/AIDS Services Social Services Child Protective Services Counseling Drug Services Pregnancy Prevention Codes of Discipline Smoking Cessation For Staff
Talk about fragmented!!!
UCLA
What does this mean for the district and its schools?
UCLA
What does this mean for the district and its schools?
Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports
–
Marginalization
UCLA
What does this mean for the district and its schools?
Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports
–
Marginalization
–
Fragmentation
UCLA
What does this mean for the district and its schools?
Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports
–
Marginalization
–
Fragmentation
–
Poor Cost-Effectiveness (up to 25% of a school budget used in too limited and often redundant ways)
UCLA
What does this mean for the district and its schools?
Current Situation at All Levels in the Educational System with Respect to Student/Learning Supports
–
Marginalization
–
Fragmentation
–
Poor Cost-Effectiveness (up to 25% of a school budget used in too limited and often redundant ways)
–
Counterproductive Competition for Sparse Resources (among school support staff and with community based professionals who link with schools)
UCLA
What’s the community doing?
UCLA
AGENCY REFORM
Restructuring and Reforming
Community
Health and Human Services
UCLA
The intent of current agency reform policy – >end fragmentation >enhance access to clientele The focus – >interagency collaboration >school-linked services, sometimes based (co-located) at a school
UCLA
Problems – >doesn’t integrate with school’s efforts to address barriers to learning >limits the focus to current agency work
As a result, current agency policy produces –
>an additional form of fragmentation >counterproductive competition >greater marginalization
UCLA
It is important to remember that
Community Agency Reform is not the same thing as Strengthening Communities
UCLA
• The major intent of agency reform is to restructure services to reduce fragmentation.
UCLA
• The major intent of agency reform is to restructure services to reduce fragmentation. • The emphasis is mainly on interagency collaboration.
UCLA
• The major intent of agency reform is to restructure services to reduce fragmentation. • The emphasis is mainly on interagency collaboration. • Schools have been included since they offer better access to agency clients. Thus, the concept of school linked services, and the idea of community agencies co-locating services on a school site.
UCLA
Because the focus is on services, little attention is paid to »integrating community resources with existing school programs and services designed to address barriers to learning; »including a full range of community resources; »strengthening families and neighborhoods by improving economic status and enhancing other fundamental supports.
UCLA
From Kretzmann & McKnight Police
Day care Center Banks Faith-based Institutions Senior Citizens Higher Education Institutions
School
Local Residents Library Businesses Artist & Cultural Institutions Media Restaurants Community Based Orgs.; Civic Assn.
Health & Social Services Agencies UCLA
To Recap:
School improvement policy and planning have not addressed barriers to development, learning, and teaching as a primary and essential component of what must be done if schools are to minimize behavior problems, close the achievement gap, and reduce the rate of dropouts
UCLA
To Recap:
As a result, current efforts are marginalized, fragmented, often redundant and off track, and they have resulted in counterproductive competition for sparse resources
UCLA
To Recap:
The need is for a comprehensive system of learning supports that & (1) addresses barriers to development, learning, and teaching (2) (re-)engages students in classroom learning
UCLA
Study Question
What are the many external and internal barriers that interfere with students learning and teachers teaching and how does all this affect the school?
UCLA
Study Question
What is currently being done to address barriers to learning and teaching and what is keeping the work from being as effective as needed?
UCLA
Study Question
How would you change school improvement planning to ensure a comprehensive system of learning supports is developed to more effectively address barriers to development, learning, and teaching and also (re-)engage students in classroom learning?
UCLA
Some Relevant References & Resources
>School Improvement Planning: What's Missing? http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/whatsmissing.htm
>Addressing What's Missing in School Improvement
Planning
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/enabling/standards.pdf
>The School Leader's Guide to Student Learning
Supports: New Directions for Addressing Barriers to Learning
– http://www.corwinpress.com/book.aspx?pid=11343
UCLA
Next:
We turn to four fundamental, interrelated concerns involved in moving forward to develop
A Comprehensive System of Learning Supports
UCLA
Four Fundamental and Interrelated Concerns Policy
Revision
Framing Interventions to Address Barriers to Learning and Teaching into a
Comprehensive System of Interventions
Developing Systemic
Change Mechanisms
for Effective Implementation, Sustainability, and Replication to Scale Rethinking Organizational and Operational
Infrastructure
UCLA
In Session II, we begin with the concern for framing interventions to address barriers to learning and teaching as a comprehensive
system of interventions
UCLA