Transcript Vision of the Standards

The Standards-Based Change
Process: Where We’ve Come
From, What We’ve Learned, and
Prospects for the Future
Kathy Au
SNOH Meeting
August 15, 2006
Overview

Where we’ve come from

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What we’ve learned
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Roots in KEEP
From Hawai‘i to Chicago
SBC Process Developmental Model of
School Change
Prospects for the future

Sustaining progress at Level 7
Where We’ve Come From:
Lessons from KEEP
Chronology

Kamehameha Elementary Education
Program (KEEP)

1971-1989
Culturally responsive instruction
 Comprehension discussions


1989-1995
Standards
 Student ownership of literacy
 Readers’ workshop, writers’ workshop
 Portfolio assessment

What Worked

Emphasis on higher level thinking

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Clear targets for student learning


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Reading comprehension
Writing process
Grade level benchmarks
Formative assessment leading to
evidence-based teaching
Student ownership
What Didn’t Work

K-3 intervention with volunteer teachers


Curriculum, assessment, and instruction
developed by outsiders


Need for development by insiders
Over-reliance on external partner


Need for schoolwide approach
Need for gradual release of responsibility
Control by outsiders

Control/ownership by insiders
Conceptual Framework

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Social constructivism as applied to school change
and teachers’ professional development
Community of practice, discourse community

Classroom as a community of learners ->

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Change in the culture of the school
Understanding as constructed, not transmitted;
higher level thinking



School as a professional learning community
Students able to self-assess ->Teachers as
reflective practitioners
Teacher-developed curriculum and assessment
Ownership
Spread of the SBC Process

1997 – Kipapa Elementary School
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1999 – Holomua Elementary School

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To 10 schools then a neighboring complex
of 6 schools
2002 – Island of Hawaii

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To 6 schools then the whole district of 42
schools
40 schools
2002 – Partnership READ, Chicago
Contrasting Approaches to School
Change
Conventional
Wisdom
SBC Process
Training in implementing the
program with fidelity
Professional development that
allows educators to devise
solutions that fit their school
Set program developed by
outsiders
Change process adapted to the
school by insiders
Start from scratch
Build upon existing strengths,
correct weaknesses
Dependent on outsiders
Gradual release of
responsibility to insiders, plus
networking
Approach to Change:
The Standards-Based Change Process

Provides steps a school can follow to
implement a system for improving
student achievement through standards


Establishes an ongoing conversation
about what everyone is doing to improve
student achievement

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Focus on higher level thinking
Professional learning community
Develops a staircase curriculum

Curriculum coherence
Staircase Curriculum vs.
Fragmented Curriculum
Desired
Outcome
Desired
Outcome
Hawai‘i Schools Progressed Through
Four Levels in the SBC Process.

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Initial implementation of the To Do
List
Three times per year reporting of
results
Curriculum guides
Student portfolios
To Do List

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Philosophy
Vision
statement
Grade level
benchmarks
I Can
statements

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Evidence
Procedures for
collecting evidence
Rubrics
Bar graphs
Instructional
improvements
Three Times a Year Reporting of
Results
Teacher-Developed Curriculum Guides
Student Portfolios with SelfAssessment, Three-Way Conferences
SBC Process Results

Results of HLM analysis for Cohort I

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Students who had state reading test
results for grade 3 (2002) and grade 5
(2004)
Significant finding for grade 5 reading
test results in high-poverty schools

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Mean score 2.7 points higher
Results occur when schools

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Reach 3 x per year reporting of results
Have moved forward through the
process for several years
Kipapa’s State Assessment Results,
Students Meeting/Exceeding Proficiency
Percentage of Students
60
50
40
2003
30
2005
20
10
0
Gr. 3
Gr. 5
School
What We’ve Learned: From
Hawai‘i to Chicago
Sharing Curriculum Guides through a
Videoconference
Taffy Raphael with Holomua Staff
Chicago Colleagues
Partnership READ Staff in Hawai‘i
Contrasts Between Sites
Hawaii
Chicago
School poverty level of 50%
School poverty level of 85%
Schools initiated contact;
committed to the SBC Process
University initiated contact; no
advance commitment
Many with professional learning
community established
Few with professional learning
community established
Up to 9 years of experience with
SBC Process
Up to 3 1/2 years of experience
with SBC Process
Advanced levels in SBC Process
Beginning levels in SBC Process
The Difference of Opinion
Between Kathy and Taffy
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Kathy

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Taffy

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“The SBC Process is not for every
school.”
“It is for every school. Some just
aren’t ready for it yet.”
It turns out that Taffy is right.
Levels in the SBC Process Developmental
Model of School Change
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Recognizing a need
Organizing for change
Working on the building blocks
Moving as a whole school*
Establishing the system*
Implementing the staircase curriculum*
Fully engaging students and families*
Citation: Raphael, T., Goldman, S., Au, K., & Hirata, S. (2006, April). A developmental model of
the Standards-Based Change Process: A case study of school literacy reform. Paper
presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San
Francisco CA.
Clusters in the Developmental Model of
School Change
Student Outcomes
Classroom Practices
Infrastructure
Application of the Model


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Helps to explain why three-quarters
of Hawai‘i schools introduced to the
SBC Process did not succeed
The original approach worked for
schools at Levels 3 and above.
It could not help schools with
infrastructure needs.
Infrastructure Issues

Adequate time for teachers to work
together

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Vertical (cross-grade) as well as
horizontal (grade level) meetings
Focused professional development

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The equivalent of 8 full days
Mapping out work with the SBC Process
through yearlong and multi-year plans
A strong and knowledgeable curriculum
leader

Who is your Kitty Aihara?
Classroom Practice Issues
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Staircase curriculum

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Evidence-based teaching

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Developed by the teachers
Assessment leads to targeted,
differentiated instruction
Focus on higher level thinking

Reading comprehension, mathematical
thinking, scientific reasoning
Student Outcome Issues
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Student ownership

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Higher level thinking
Generalization

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Commitment to their own learning
Cognitive engagement (Taylor et al.)
Far (as opposed to near) transfer
Metacognition

Self-assessment and goal setting
Constructivism in Action

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Teachers must construct their own
curriculum, assessment, and
instruction.
When the curriculum becomes
transparent to teachers

Teachers can make the curriculum
transparent to students (and parents).
SBC Process Used Across Reading
Programs

Schools at Level 6 (implementing
the staircase curriculum; teacherdeveloped curriculum guides)
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Home-grown literature = 2
Basal reading = 8
Direct Instruction = 1
Success for All = 1
Latest school - Helemano
Culture of the school
Balanced Literacy Instruction
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It doesn’t matter what reading
program or philosophy a school
starts with.
What makes a difference is that the
school ends up with balanced
instruction, including

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Students’ ownership of literacy
Higher level thinking with text
Prospects for the Future
Helping more schools to succeed
Benefits of the Developmental Model
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Description
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Needs assessment
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Identifies the school’s level on each of
the 9 dimensions
Overall level
Areas of relative weakness
Areas of relative strength
Long-term planning
We know now that we need to
slow the process down and start
with a needs assessment.
Take care of infrastructure issues, if
any, before moving on.
Kapolei Elementary School
SBC Process Long-Range Plan
School Year
Writing
Reading
Math
2005-06
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 4
Level 5
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
2006-07
Continue
above
Level 7
Continue
above
Level 7
Continue
above
Study group
2007-08
Continue
above
Level 7
Level 4
Level 5
2008-09
Science
Level 6
Social
Studies
Level 4
Recommendations
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Gain a historical perspective.

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Trace your school’s progress beginning
with the first year.
Start doing a needs assessment,
based on the Developmental Model,
at the beginning of every school
year.
Create or adjust your school’s multiyear plan.
Customized Services

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Services tailored to the goals,
strengths, and needs of each
individual school
A trainer-of-trainers model doesn’t
work!
We need to work with you at your
school.
Leadership “On the Ground”
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Fullan’s view of change in schools
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Technically simple
Socially complex
Value of a combined perspective
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Outsider
Insider
A Better Understanding of Staying the
Course Over the Long Term

Level 7 schools are those that are
able to sustain the SBC Process in
the face of significant changes.
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New principal
New curriculum coordinator
Teacher turnover
All of the above!
Keeping the Culture Alive
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What sustains innovation is not the
“school” but the professional
learning community.

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Why key individuals are so important in
sustaining the SBC Process
Renewing and rebuilding the
professional learning community
Successful schools have a deep
bench.
Conclusions

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School improvement as the process of
building a professional learning
community
The increasingly challenging work at each
level in the Developmental Model serves
to increase the knowledge and strength of
the PLC.
Improving student learning depends on
sustaining innovation over the years.

Rebuilding the professional learning community