Transcript Slide 1

The Leadership
Challenge in Graduating
Students with
Disabilities
It’s Everybody’s Business!
Joy Eichelberger, Ed.D.
Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance
Network
Goals of the Session
 Examine leadership qualities and behaviors required to
meet the challenge of dropout prevention
 Connect effective leadership principles and effective
teaching principles to the tasks and challenges of
graduating students with disabilities
 Analyze existing program and service delivery models
and develop strategic interventions to improve graduation
rates for students with disabilities
 Initiate a thoughtful examination of our will (commitment)
to graduate students with disabilities.
2
What We Know!
 Complex Constructs

Dropout Prevention





What: Definitions
Why: Reasons
Who: Program Focus
How to Respond: Effective Strategies
Leadership

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Leader/follower studies
Trait models
Situational leadership
Effective Leaders
Contingency Models
Non-leader Leadership
3
What We Know
 Drop out Prevention



Complex
Involves multiple agencies
Defined in various ways
 Event
 Status
 Cohort
 High
school completion rate
4
Who Leaves School
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Overall
Latino
Green and Forster, 2003
5
How Big Is the Problem?
 In the 1999-2000, 29.4% of all
students with disabilities in
grades 9-12 dropped out of
school.
 Over 85,000 students with
disabilities dropped out of
school, enough to fill over
1,770 school buses
National Center for Education Statistics, 2002. Dropout Rates in the United
States: 2000.
6
Why is Dropout a Serious National
Concern?
Students with Disabilities
 Nationwide, dropout rates among
students with disabilities for all
categories of disability combined is
approximately double that of general
education peers.
7
Why is Dropout a Serious National
Concern?
 Dropout rates vary substantially among
the various categories of disability.

Students with emotional and behavior
disorders [EBD (51.4%)]

Students with learning disabilities [LD
(27.6%)]
8
Why Students Leave School
 Student related
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Absenteeism
Tardiness
Disciplinary
infractions
Poor academic
achievement
Substance abuse
Pregnancy
Legal issues
Truancy
Lack of motivation
 School related



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Lack of academic
counseling
Mismatch of
instructional
methodology
Cultural insensitivity
Suspension and
expulsion policies
9
Why Students Leave School
 Community related
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Low value on education
Lack of social services and community support
Lack of business partnership
Lack of coordination with community-based
organizations
 Family related
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Low economic status
Lack of parental support
High family mobility
Non-English speaking family
10
Effective Strategies
1. Systemic Renewal
5. Early Childhood
Education
2. School-Community
Collaboration
6. Early Literacy
3. Safe Learning
Development
Environment
4. Family Engagement
7. Mentoring/Tutoring
8. Service-Learning
11
Effective Strategies
9. Alternative Schooling
13. Educational
Technology
10.After-School
Opportunities
14. Individualized
Instruction
11.Professional
Development
15. Career and
Technical Education
12.Active Learning
(Dr. Larry Kortering)
12
Lessons Learned
 Dropping out is a process of disengagement that
begins early and requires early intervention.
 Dropout Prevention should focus on a “good
outcome” and not simply preventing a bad
outcome.
 A focus on enhancing students’ connection with
school and facilitating successful school
performance is a promising approach for
improving school completion
13
Lessons Learned
 Factors associated with dropping out of
school are numerous and some cannot
be easily altered to change the trajectory
of dropout and school completion rates
 Factors Can be categorized into two
major types:


Status
Alterable
14
Lessons Learned
 There is not one best program or
intervention.
 Dropout issues must be considered in
the context of other educational
reforms (e.g., accountability, high
academic standard, school
restructuring) and not as an isolated
appended program.*
15
Lessons Learned
Students dropout for a variety of reasons
Attending to student perspectives about
dropping out provides additional information
to strengthen programs designed to help
students with disabilities stay in school and
graduate.
16
What We Know
Effective Instruction!
 School-wide behavior supports
(Dr. Gloria
Campbell Whatley and Dr. Cathy Kea)
 Focus on adjusting school climate rather
than changing students
 Reading Instruction
 Progress Monitoring
17
Instructional
Design
Instructional
Delivery
Effective
Teaching
18
Instructional Design
1. Identify the Learning
Using Knowledge Meaningfully
Extend Knowledge Refine Knowledge
Integrate Knowledge Acquire Knowledge
“Know and Be Able To Do”
Check for
Understanding
Teacher Questions
Student Questions
Partial Information
Paraphrase
2. Cue Set
3. Best Shot
Mini
Lesson
4. Guided
Practice
Activity
Period
Active
Participation
See-Listen
Talk-Write
Hearing Words
Looking At Pictures
Looking At An Exhibit
Watching A Demonstration
Participating In A Discussion
5. Independent
Practice
6. Formative
Assessment
7. Closure
8. Summative
Assessment
Projected Enthusiasm for Learning
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Ten Effective Teaching Principles
1. Engaged Time
2. Success Rate
3. Content Coverage/
Opportunity to Learn
4. Grouping for Instruction
5. Scaffolded Instruction
Ellis, Worthington, et. al., 2001
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Ten Effective Teaching Principles
6. Addressing Forms of Knowledge
7. Activating & Organizing
Knowledge
8. Teaching Strategically
9. Making Instruction Explicit
10. Teaching Sameness in the
Curriculum
21
Engagement Time
Principle 1: Students learn more when they are
engaged actively during an instructional task.
Engaged
Time
Achievement
Engaged
Time
Achievement
…time is an important instructional variable!!
22
Engagement Time
Three aspects of time that directly impact
student learning:
1. time allocated for the activity
2. degree to which students are engaged during the
allocated time
3. the rates of success the students experience while
engaged in the activity
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Engagement Time
Academic Engaged Time
The amount of allocated time a student spends actively
engaged in appropriate tasks that s/he can perform with a
high rate of success.
This is learning!!!
BTES
24
Effective Leaders: What We Know

Challenge the process
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Inspire a shared vision
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Enable others to act
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Model the way
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Encourage the heart
25
Effective Leaders
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Believe that Schools are for Student Learning
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Listen and Communicate
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Are Proactive
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Take Risks
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Act on what they know (data-driven decision
makers)
26
Effective Leadership requires ….
1.
Clear vision
4.
Goals (focus)
2.
Beliefs and mission
(purpose)
5.
3.
Purpose &Priority Commitment to the
“Main Thing”
Connected Workscope
Tasks / Strategic
Alignment of goals,
tasks, resources
6.
Inter and intra
community links
27
1. Establishing Clear Vision
 The role of Beliefs and Core Values

The effectiveness of school improvement
strategies is tied to how well the strategies
developed are tied to the values, beliefs and
technical skills of educators…..
Newmann and Wehlage (1995)
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Vision: Compelling Features
 Expresses belief in a future that is better than the present
 Has a clear timeframe
 Helps the community rise above daily worries
 Elevates the community
 Springs from core values and beliefs
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Vision: Compelling Features
 Springs from core values and beliefs
 Is clear and articulate
 Is clear enough that all members can “find”
themselves in it
 Has the power to move people emotionally
30
2. Beliefs
 Fundamental Values
 Character
 Ethical Code
 Heart and Soul
 Convictions*
 Moral Commitments
William J. Cook, 1995.
31
Liberating and Limiting
Beliefs
 Life-liberating Beliefs
 Life-limiting Beliefs
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All children are capable of
high achievement
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Only a few and the bright can
achieve at high levels

You are not suppose to
understand everything the
first time around
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Speed is what counts, faster
is smarter
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Inborn intelligence is the
main determinant of success

Consistent effort is the main
determinant of success
Jon Saphier and D’Auria, 1993
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MISSION
 Expression of Purpose and Function
 Acknowledges Reality
 Aspires to the Ideal
 Reflects the Vision of the Leader
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3. Purpose and Priority
 Defines The Main Thing
 What we know about the main thing
 People have different perceptions about what the main
thing is
 People quit when the main thing gets fuzzy
 Gets everyone on the same page
Monday Morning Leadership
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4. Goals

Specific targets that fulfill your purpose and set
your direction

Lofty, challenging and reasonable
35
5. Aligned/Connected Workscope
 District’s Vision and Goals
 School Reform Efforts
 Professional Development
 Community
36
6. Community Links
 Business
 Social Services
 Community Centers
 Higher Education
 Mental Health
 Worship Centers
37
Aligned/Connected Workscope
 Responsibilities and Tasks
 Inter and Intra Office Connections
 Goal Setting
 Long Term
 Short Term
 Establishing Priorities
38
Leaders…..
 Create opportunities for connections
 Foster collaborative environments
 Facilitate shared decision making
 STAND FOR SOMETHING
39
Leaders….
Identify stakeholders and provide
opportunities for stakeholders to
establish common goals and
interventions and evaluations systems
• Work on processes for members of the
system to share information and create
new information
Margaret Wheatley, Leadership for Change, 2001
40
LEADERS….
 ACT AS THE CONSCIENCE OF THE
SYSTEM KEEPING ALL
STAKEHOLDERS FOCUSED ON IT’S
INTENDED PURPOSE.
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Summary: What leaders do!
 Establish vision and





set direction
Affirm and articulate
values
Motivate
Achieve unity
Model
Build Trust
 Listen and explain
 Represent the
organization
 Come early, stay late
 Involve others in
decision making
 Communicate,
communicate and
communicate
42
What We Do
 Implement splinter or isolated programs


Tutoring
Pregnancy
 Ignore the impact of general education
curriculum
 Minimize the power of relationship and
connectedness


People
Organizational structures
 Inter and intra
43
The Challenge
 Focus on Student Achievement
 Meeting the Mandates
 Changing Mindsets
 Multiplicity of Tasks
 Broad Constituencies
44
The Challenge
 Transforming what we know into what
we do (research to practice)
 Bridging the gap between what we know
and what we do
 Getting in touch with what we believe
and trust
45
The Challenge
 Applying principles of effective
leadership to the drop out prevention
issue
 Developing a comprehensive plan to
address drop out prevention with a focus
on effective instruction
Committing Our Will!
46
THE OPPORTUNITIES
 Improving Student Achievement
 Meeting Educational Requirements
 Sharing Responsibility Across
Constituencies
 Visioning for All Students
 Reculturing Vs Restructuring
 Expanding Student Opportunities
 Safer Communities
47
Why We Do What We Do
 Comfort
 Lack of Resources
 Lack of Will
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Off the Dime!
Strategic
Planning
Alignment of Goals
Instructional Implementation
Integrity
Accountability
Collective Will
Moving from where we are to where we need to be!
49
THE FRAMEWORK…
y
da
rd
s
St
an
Curriculum
Curriculum
PPr ro
of
LLe eafesessi
ar rnsioon
ni in naal
ng g l
Dropout
DropoutPrevention
Prevention
Assessment
Assessment
In
str
uc
tio
n
Governance and Structure
goyg
lool
hnno
cehc
TTe
Supporting Structures
Beliefs and Mission
Policies and Procedures
10/22/2004
50
23
Beliefs and Mission
1.
Reflects commitment to graduating students with
disabilities
2.
Commitment to graduating students with
disabilities is written and articulated throughout
the district
51
Governance and Structure
 Organizational Infrastructure
 Authority for Schools
 Authority for Special Education
Supports, Services and Programs
 Administrative Responsibility for
Personnel
 Fiscal Responsibility
 Special Education Provider(s)
52
Policy and Procedures:
 Connecting Pieces of Puzzle
IDEA and
NCLB
Carl Perkins
Title I
and
II
Drop out
Prevention
State and
Local
Policy
53
SUPPORT STRUCTURES
•Family Partnerships
•Community Linkages
Mental Health
Higher Education
Corporate and Business
•Professional Learning
•Other Community Agencies
54
THE FRAMEWORK…
y
da
rd
s
St
an
Curriculum
Curriculum
PPr ro
of
LLe eafesessi
ar rnsioon
ni in naal
ng g l
Dropout
DropoutPrevention
Prevention
Assessment
Assessment
In
str
uc
tio
n
Governance and Structure
goyg
lool
hnno
cehc
TTe
Supporting Structures
Beliefs and Mission
Policies and Procedures
10/22/2004
55
23
A Question of Will!!
 Can we pull this off?
 Do we have the will to change the destiny of students
with disabilities?
 Do we trust that we really know what we’re doing?
 Do we feel empowered to turn the course around?
 Do we feel accountable for the outcomes of student at
risk for leaving school prior to graduation?
56
Can we pull this off?
To what extent do you yourself:
1.
TRUST that at least 9 out of every 10 students
will be achieving at or above academic
proficiency levels?
2.
Accept RESPONSIBILITY for ensuring that at
least 9 out of every 10 students are achieving
at/above state proficiency standards?
57
Can we pull this off?
To what extent do you yourself:
3. Accept accountability for ensuring that 9 out
of 10 students achieving at/above state
proficiency standards by the end of 2014?
4.
Feel empowered to act in a way to influence
the success of the students and the system
you work for?
58
Are We Willing?
59