Transcript Review of 2001-2002 Progress of Four

Benchmarking to the Best
A Comparative Study of School
District Improvement of Student
Achievement
Edina Public Schools
Minnesota
Presentation for the American Supervision
and Curriculum Development Annual
Conference, 2004
1
Background and Problems
• The 2002 statewide assessments in
Grades 3 & 5 (Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessments, MCA) results show Edina
students didn’t make as much
improvement as we expected.
• As a high-achieving school district with
so many dedicated and highly qualified
staff, how can we continue making
improvement in achievement?
2
Across Minnesota and this
country, there are excellent schools
and districts with terrific
achievement and great academic
growth,
However, we just rarely share
our visions, policies, and
strategies about what a great
school looks like.
3
Edina Educators’ Question
• How can we focus on school environment and
the interactive effects of academic demand and
social support at both the classroom and school
levels?
• How does a high-achieving suburban school
district continuously make improvement?
• Why did some districts show impressive
improvement but some didn’t?
4
Comparative Study Task Force
• Conduct a comprehensive comparison and
review elementary school academic programs
and services among districts.
• Determine schools and districts to be reviewed
and compared.
• Identify common effective practices among
schools and districts.
• Generate strategies and recommendations
• Communicate findings with administrators.
5
Issues to Investigate
• What were administrative and programmatic
factors impacting student achievement?
• How can we characterize the nature of the
changes in student achievement?
• What district level strategies were used to
improve student achievement?
• What was the connection between policies,
practices and strategies at the district level and
actual changes in teaching and learning in the
classroom?
6
Districts and School Selection
for Comparison
• Minneapolis west metro school districts with
demographics similar to Edina.
• Fast growing schools/districts in achievement
in other areas of Minnesota
– These schools/districts were in the top 30 on the
Minnesota state testing.
– They demonstrated a trend of improved overall
student achievement over the past five years.
7
Methods of Investigations
• Five years’ MCA testing results and
improvement rates were collected and
analyzed.
• District demographics and teachers’
characteristics were collected.
• Survey and Interview: two staff from a district,
one at district level and one at school level,
were interviewed.
• Analyze data and make comparison.
• Identify best or effective practices.
8
Selected Schools and District
Achievement Trend, Grade 3 Reading
1650
1600
Dist. 1
Dist. 2
Dist. 3
EDINA
Dist. 5
Dist. 6
Dist. 7
Dist. 8
Dist. 9
Dist. 10
Dist. 11
Sch. 12
1550
1500
1450
1400
1350
1300
98
99
0
1
2
9
Selected Schools and District
Achievement Trend, Grade 5 Math
1700
1650
Dist. 1
Dist. 2
Dist. 3
EDINA
Dist. 5
Dist. 6
Dist. 7
Dist. 8
Dist. 9
Dist. 10
Dist. 11
Sch. 12
1600
1550
1500
1450
1400
1350
1300
1250
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
10
Key Areas of Inquiry in Survey
•
•
•
•
Curriculum, instruction and assessment
Student intervention programs
Gifted Education programs
Teacher characteristics and teacher support
programs
• Staff Development
• Minnesota state testing preparation
11
Data Analysis and Findings
12
Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessments
• Require explicit classroom reading instruction, 90-120
minutes and 45-90 minutes daily.
• Require primary level (K-2) intervention.
• Most intervention time and financial support is
dedicated to reading.
• Analyze district wide assessments to improve
achievement.
• Implement an intensive summer reading intervention
program.
• Use math programs endorsed by the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics.
13
Intervention Programs
• Provide district-coordinated student
intervention programs.
• Provide summer intervention services.
• Provide an extended day/extended year
program for intervention.
• Use district established criteria and
assessments to identify students in need of
intervention.
14
Staff Development
• Provide mentoring for new staff.
• Demonstrate coordination in planning between
district and sites.
• Foster and implement a study-group model of
embedded staff development.
• Focus on literacy, differentiation and
technology for staff development in the last
three years.
• Provide incentives for staff to participate.
15
Gifted Education Programs
• Support gifted education at both site and
district levels.
• Sponsor summer programs by intermediate
school districts and/or local district community
education programs.
• Use a standardized system for identification or
selection of student participants.
• Develop a district gifted education program
based on the district curriculum.
16
Teacher Characteristics and
Support
• Tend to have an average teaching experience of
10-15 years for most districts.
• Recruit well-educated staff. Most districts have
over 50% of staff with advanced degrees.
• Provide a variety of teacher support on site.
• Provide staff for teacher curriculum support.
• Keep class sizes smaller at kindergarten and
increase from kindergarten to Grade 5.
• Maintain half-day kindergarten services with a
trend toward a fee-based full day option.
17
% of average improvement in the
Five Years
Correlation Between the Percentage of
New Teachers and Percent of
Improvement in the State Test Results
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
% of New teachers in the Five Years
18
Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessment Preparation
• Provide some classroom preparation using the
state provided practice tests.
• Send information letters to parents and provide
access to the state practice tests and other
practice packages.
• Test preparation time and materials vary by
district and site.
19
Common Challenges Facing
Schools and Districts
• High percentage of inexperienced
teachers.
• Decreased funding
• Lack of data on whether teachers
completed the math curriculum
• Limited follow up to staff
development training.
20
What Affects School and
Classroom Achievement?
• Early childhood development (birth weight,
lead poisoning, and nutrition);
• School environment factors (curriculum,
teacher preparation & experience, attendance,
class size, classroom technology, and safety);
• Home environment (reading to young children,
TV, parent support, student mobility, and
parent participation in family and school
activities).
Study from ETS
21
Key Strategies and
Recommendations
22
Intensive and Explicit Elementary
Instruction in Reading and Math Daily
• A systematic, uniform, and relatively
prescriptive approach to endure intensive and
explicit instruction daily.
• Communicate, support and monitor these
expectations at the classroom level.
• Use additional research to determine the extent
of the instruction cohesion necessary to
produce achievement gains.
23
Align Achievement Goals and
Curriculum with State Standards
• Develop clear achievement goals based on state
standards
• Align curriculum with state standards
• Help translate these standards into instructional
practice.
(Example: MCA strand--Chance and Data with
Edina Math Curriculum)
24
Grade 3 Math Strand Analysis over
Years, 2000-2003
2000
2001
2002
2003
Shape, Space &
Measurement
Number Sense
79%
84%
83%
87%
79%
87%
86%
81%
Data Categorization
68%
63%
62%
83%
Problem Solving
73%
84%
81%
87%
Procedures &
Concepts
85%
81%
82%
72%
25
Progressively Intensive Programs
for Low-Achieving Students
• Coordinate and align student support to assure
acceleration of academic progress for lowachieving students.
• Provide before- and/or after-school programs
for low-achieving students.
• Provide highly skilled classroom teachers to
help low-achieving students succeed.
26
Data-Driving Decision-Making
Instruction
• Provide quick turnaround assessment data in
spring, data in the start of the academic year,
and assessment preparation data before
assessments along with training on data use.
• Expand training and support to teachers in the
use of assessment data to identify weaknesses
in instruction and make improvement.
27
Concrete Accountability System
and Teacher Ownership
• Develop concrete accountability systems that
hold all staff responsible for producing results
• Increase teacher ownership and inter-grade
cooperation for student achievement.
28
Assessment Preparation
• Provide an appropriate amount of preparation
for the state tests.
• Improve student confidence and attitudes about
testing and increase their motivation for doing
well on tests.
• Ensure that teachers are aware of state practice
tests.
• Communicate with parent about the state tests.
29
Final Recommendation
All of these things, done together
as recommended, will have a much
larger impact on student
achievement than doing any one of
them alone.
30
Next Step: Elementary Program
Evaluation in 2004
• Continuous Evaluation
• Analysis of Data
• Improvement Strategies
Please go to the district website for
the report: www.edina.k12.mn.us
31
Thank you so much for attending our
session! We appreciate your input!
Presenters
Ken Dragseth, Ph.D., Superintendent (National
Superintendent of the Year, 2003)
Katie Williams, Principal of Concord Elementary
School
Julie Hatzung, Principal of Countryside Elementary
School
Yi Du, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation
Consultant: David Vick, Former Assistant
Superintendent
32