Transcript Failure Is NOT An Option - Confederation of Oregon School

Failure Is NOT An Option
What successful schools are doing to
ensure they leave no children behind
Dropout Nation
• 30-50% Dropout Rate – That’s 1 in 3
freshmen that will drop out (using the
lower number).
• 67% of prison inmates are H.S.
Dropouts
• ½ of all dropouts are unemployed
• Kids from the lowest income quarter
are six times as likely to drop out as
kids from the highest.
Dropout facts:
• Dropouts are much more likely than
their peers who graduate to be
unemployed, living in poverty,
receiving public assistance, in prison,
on death row, unhealthy, divorced,
and become single parents with
children who drop out from high
school themselves.
Why they dropout…
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Nearly 7 in 10 respondents (69 percent) said
they were not motivated or inspired to work
hard.
80 percent did one hour or less of homework
each day in high school,
two-thirds would have worked harder if more
was demanded of them (higher academic
standards and more studying and homework),
and 70 percent were confident they could have
graduated if they had tried.
Even a majority of those with low GPAs thought they
could have graduated.
Oregon’s Graduation Rates
• All Students = 69%
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= 31% Failure Rate
• African American Youth = 25%
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= 75% Failure Rate
• Worst in the nation
• National graduation average = 51.6%
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= 48.4% Failure
• Native American Students = 37%
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= 63% Failure Rate
• Hispanic Students = 55%
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= 45% Failure Rate
Education and Boys…
• 40% being raised without their
biological fathers
• Between the ages of 5 and 14 boys
are 200% more likely to commit
suicide than girls.
• 36% more likely to die than their female
counterparts.
• 60% more likely than girls to have
repeated at least one grade (ages 5-12).
Education and Boys continued…
• “Often boys are treated like defective
girls.”
• Elementary school boys are two times
more likely than girls to be diagnosed
with learning disabilities and twice as
likely to be placed in special-ed
classes.
Boys…
• The number of boys who said they
didn’t like school rose 71 percent
since 1980.
• In 1975 58% of college students were
male –today 44%.
Traditional Solutions for failing
students:
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“Credit recovery”…
“Packet Classes”…
“Night School”…
“GED Diploma”
GED Reality
• A rash of studies over the last decade have
found that life outcomes for GED holders
are similar to that of dropouts.
• Most employers would pass up a GED
holder for a high school graduate any day.
• The Department of Defense has come to
the same conclusion. The military keeps a
tight ceiling on the number of GED-holders
allowed to serve, from 1% in the Air Force
to 10% in the Army.
“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners,
contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their
elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no
longer rise when elders enter the room; they
contradict their parents, chatter before company;
gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”
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Socrates, Fifth Century B.C.
The Ambulance or The Fence
Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
But over its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke, and full many a peasant.
The people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally.
Some said, "Put a fence 'round the edge of the cliff,"
Some, "An ambulance down in the valley."
The lament of the crowd was profound and was loud,
As their hearts overflowed with their pity;
But the cry for the ambulance carried the day
As it spread through the neighboring city.
A collection was made, to accumulate aid,
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave dollars or cents - not to furnish a fence But an ambulance down in the valley.
"For the cliff is all right if you're careful," they said;
"And if folks ever slip and are dropping,
It isn't the slipping that hurts them so much
As the shock down below - when they're stopping."
So for years (we have heard), as these mishaps occurred,
Quick forth would the rescuers sally,
To pick up the victims who fell from the cliff,
With the ambulance down in the valley.
Said one, to his peers, "It's a marvel to me
That you'd give so much greater attention
To repairing results than to curing the cause;
You had much better aim at prevention.
For the mischief, of course, should be stopped at its source,
Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally.
It is far better sense to rely on a fence
Than an ambulance down in the valley."
"He is wrong in his head," the majority said;
"He would end all our earnest endeavor.
He's a man who would shirk his responsible work,
But we will support it forever.
Aren't we picking up all, just as fast as they fall,
And giving them care liberally?
A superfluous fence is of no consequence,
If the ambulance works in the valley.
The story looks queer as we've written it here,
But things oft occur that are stranger;
More humane, we assert, than to succor the hurt
Is the plan of removing the danger,
The best possible course is to safeguard the source;
Attend to things rationally.
Yes, build up the fence and let us dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.
Education’s
“Ambulance Down in the Valley”
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“Credit recovery”…
“Packet Classes”…
“Night School”…
“GED Diploma”
Education’s Fences
 Strict student accountability
 School-wide system of graduated
interventions.
 Privilege tied directly to academic
performance
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Full lunch time
Off-campus privileges
‘Free periods’
IPODS etc…
 Response to Intervention for all students
who struggle.
When Students Struggle Successful
Schools Respond:
• Base their response on INTERVENTION rather
than remediation.
• Response is SYSTEMATIC – School-wide
rather than according to the discretion of
individual teachers.
• Response is TIMELY – Before it is too late.
Quickly identifies students who need additional
time and support.
• Response is DIRECTIVE – Students are not
invited to seek additional help the plan
REQUIRES students to receive additional
assistance.
INTERVENTION rather than
remediation.
 Take action BEFORE they fail.
SYSTEMATIC Response
 Not left up to individual dedicated
teachers.
 School-wide system that supports
struggling students.
 Based on frequent, timely monitoring
of student learning.
Response is TIMELY
• Common = 9 weeks (progress reports)
• Better = 6 weeks
• Better Yet = 3 weeks
• Best = 24/7
70% of high school students lie to
their parents about schoolwork!
• Need better school to home
communication.
Academic monitoring 24/7
• Two answers:
• www.schoolloop.com
• www.parentbroadcast.com
Response is DIRECTIVE not
voluntary:
• School culture DEMANDS effort and
performance.
• 2 Million public school students eligible for
free tutoring in 2004
• Only 225,000 (12%) took advantage of the
help.
• Optional tutorial programs are accessed
mostly by motivated high-achieving
students.
• PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO
LEARN IS NOT ENOUGH!
It takes Courageous leadership
• “Without courage, all other virtues
lose their meaning. Courage is,
rightly esteemed, the first of human
qualities, because…it is the quality
that guarantees all others.”
• Sir Winston Churchill
High Performing Schools Answer
Three Critical Questions
1. If we expect all students to learn, what is it
we expect them to learn?
1. By grade level/by subject.
2. How will we know if and when they have
learned it?
1. Formative and Summative Assessment.
3. What will we do when they don’t learn?
1. Time and Support.
What is it we expect them to
learn?
 In effective schools each of the
teachers has a clear understanding of
what the essential learner objectives
are, grade by grade and course by
course.
How will we know if and when they
have learned it?
 Emphasis on formative assessment
 Assessment ‘for’ learning.
 Rather than summative assessment.
 Assessment ‘of’ learning.
Difference between Formative and
Summative
 Summative Assessment
 Like an autopsy – informs family what killed
the patient.
 Sorry you failed…
 Formative Assessment
 Like a physical exam – doctor explains what
needs to improve and how to improve to avoid
the need for an autopsy!
 Now we know what you need to work on …
Formative Assessment exercise:
One million?
A. 3 days
B. 2 weeks
C. 11 days
One billion?
A.
B.
C.
D.
3 months
1 year
32 years
3 years
Authentic Grading Policies
 Academic grade separate from
behavioral – non-academic factors..
 Full credit for late work – non-academic
punishment for turning work in late
(detention, etc.)
Authentic Grading:
 It is essential to report academic and
nonacademic factors separately. We
can assess a student's ability to turn
things in on time and report it as part
of a nonacademic grade component.
This assessment, however, should not
distort feedback regarding that
student's ability to understand a
concept or write an essay.
ABCI
 students are required to achieve a C
or higher on every assignment. If a
student's work is judged to be less
than C quality, that student receives
an I for Incomplete—and teachers
give the student as much time and
support as needed to complete the
work and get a higher grade.
Collaborative Teaming Focused on
Teaching and Learning.
1. Committed staff – Shared mission, vision,
values and goals.
2. Staff is strongly supported.
3. School culture of trust and respect.
4. Staff authority to make decisions about
teaching and learning.
5. Time is created for teams to meet.
6. Clear purpose and goals.
Key Elements to High
Performing Elementary
Schools
Report from EDSOURCE.ORG
Prioritizing Student
Achievement –
• The highest performing schools have
teachers who take responsibility for student
achievement and believe the school has
well defined plans for instructional
improvement.
• Principals at high-performing schools also
say they understand their district’s
expectations for meeting the school’s API
and AYP targets and make those student
performance expectations clear to their
teachers.
Implementing a Coherent,
Standards-based Curriculum –
• School-wide alignment and consistency in
curriculum, and instruction that is closely
based upon state academic standards.
• Schools report that their districts have a
coherent grade-by-grade curriculum and
that the district evaluates principals based
on the extent to which instruction in the
school aligns with the curriculum.
Analyzing Student Assessment
Data from Multiple Sources –
• Principals use data extensively—from a
variety of student tests, including the
Standards Tests. Principals personally use
assessment data to identify struggling
students and address their academic needs
as well as to evaluate teacher practices and
identify teachers who need instructional
improvement.
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They also report that the district uses
assessment data to evaluate the principal based
upon student achievement.
Ensuring Instructional
Resources
• The district ensures an adequate
supply of text books and support for
facilities management. Classrooms
have adequate instructional materials
and teacher and principal years of
experience were also positively
correlated with overall school
performance.
Four Key Elements…
1. Prioritizing Student Achievement.
2. Implementing a Coherent,
Standards-based Curriculum.
3. Analyzing Student Assessment
Data from Multiple Sources.
4. Ensuring Instructional Resources