Leadership That Counts: School Leadership for Excellence and Equity

Jesus F. Jara

Robert Sheffield

Yasmeen Leon

Mark Matthews

The College Board

Mission-Driven

• The College Board’s mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. We are a not-for-profit membership organization committed to excellence and equity in education.

National Model

The Florida Partnership

Florida Statute 1007.35 Minority and Underrepresented Students

Building a College Readiness System for all students

Out of 100 9th Graders…

70 will graduate from high school on time…39 will enter college immediately after high school…27 will remain in college through a second year…18 will graduate from college within 5 years.

Did You Know?• 28% of all college

freshmen are enrolled in one or more remedial courses.

• 42% of freshmen enrolled in two-year institutions are enrolled in remedial courses.

• 20% of freshmen enrolled in four-year institutions are enrolled in remedial courses.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fall 2000–2001

The Florida Partnership

• Pre-AP Workshops

• Counselor Leadership Conference

• SAT Readiness Program

• CollegeEd

• PSAT/NMSQT for ALL 10th Graders

• Scholarships to AP Summer Institutes

• Academic Summer Camps

Today’s Educational Leaders must be able to lead others towards a shared vision of excellence in our schools

First Order Change vs.

Second Order Change

First Order Change

Most of the reform that we experience in schools is considered to be First Order Change.

First Order Change can be described as:

•Incremental

•Product Driven

•Reversible

•Contextual

First Order Changesare valuable,

but do not challenge the fundamental assumptions upon which the school is

organized.

Second Order Change

Second Order Change is needed to establish schools that are both excellent and equitable.

Second Order Change can be described as:

• Revolutionary

• Values Driven

• Irreversible

• Transformational

Deficit Model - Traditional

The learner lacks the background to be successful in school.

Asset Model – Equity and Excellence

The learner possess meaningful experiences that can be used as the foundation for future academic learning.

• Culture represents the history, attitudes, behavior, language, values, beliefs and uniqueness which distinguish each racial, ethnic or sub-group in a society.

• Each of us has a historical heritage and a contemporary heritage that comprise our culture.

The Role of Culture

The Role of Culture

• Culture is the primary developer of schema.

• Culture gives meaning to our place in life.

• Cultural viewpoints often create the divisions seen among different racial or ethnic groups.

• Leaders must be knowledgeable of other viewpoints within their school environment.

• Leaders must work towards building a shared culture that recognizes and then integrates components from their entire school community.

Excellence and Equity

Rigor in Rural Schools

A high school program infused with academic intensity and quality is the single best predictor of college success.

~U.S. Department of Education

Adelman,Clifford.2003. Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity; Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education

Raising Academic Aspirations, Expectations, and StandardsThe Challenges:

• Limited academic preparation and expectations

• Lack of college-going culture among the community

Building Instructional SupportThe Challenges:

• Untrained teachers

• Isolation

• Limited Staff

Bringing Students on Board

The Challenges:

• Difficulty finding enough students for AP courses

• Uncertainty about AP Exams

AP Potential

• Identifies “diamond-in-the-rough” students

• Promotes equity• Helps find candidates who might have been

overlooked for AP courses

• Provides useful tools for principals, teachers, and counselors to:• Expand AP programs

• Increase enrollment in current AP courses

Strategies to Addressing Barriers

Barriers—Three Major Categories

Getting Ready:

Preparation and Planning

Getting In:

Admission and Financial Aid

Getting Through:

Achievement and Success

Getting Ready

All students are capable of being prepared for postsecondary education; and

Educators, families, communities, and policymakers are responsible to ensure that all students, including those from low-income backgrounds, graduate from high school ready for college success.

Getting In

All qualified students from low-income backgrounds should receive particular consideration in recruitment, admission, and financial aid; and

Colleges and universities should make every effort to meet the financial need of this population in ways which make enrollment and full participation in campus life possible.

Getting Through

Colleges and universities have a responsibility to provide essential academic support, financial aid, and targeted social and emotional support to ensure that all enrolled students will have every chance to succeed in their chosen academic programs.

Access

• Equitable enrollment

Attainment

• Attendance rates

• Drop out rates

• Promotion/Retention rates

• Special Education rates

• Gifted and Talented

• Graduation rates

• College-going rates

• AP, and other rigorous course enrollment rates

• PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP test taking rates

• Discipline - suspension and/or expulsion rates

• Culture and climate ratings

Achievement

• PSAT, SAT or ACT scores

• AP test scores

• State test scores – FCAT proficient or better

• GPA’s

Evaluating Equity

Closing the Gaps in Success for ALL Students

• Reduce inequity in the classroom:

• Access – opening the door

• Attainment - reaching the benchmark

• Achievement – mastering rigor

The Need for College Readiness

• All students can meet high expectations for academic performance when they are taught to high standards by qualified teachers.

• The rigor of a high school curriculum is the greatest predictor of degree completion.

• Finishing a mathematics course beyond Algebra 2 more than doubles the odds a student will complete a bachelor's degree.

The Need for College Readiness

• African American and Latino students’ college degree completion rates are more positively affected than any other group by rigor of high school curriculum.

• The knowledge and skills required for college success are comparable to the knowledge and skills required by well-paying, entry level jobs with opportunity for advancement in today’s knowledge-based global economy.

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The reality . . .

• Nearly 75% of high school graduates enter colleges, but only 12% of these students have completed a significant college-prep curriculum.*

• Consequences: • high percentages of students requiring

remediation

• low bachelor’s degree completion rates

• * Kati Haycock, “Closing the Achievement Gap,” Educational Leadership.

The College Board College Readiness System

A flexible set of programs and services that helps schools

• Infuse rigor, set high expectations, and align the school culture to college readiness

• Expand access and opportunity

• Inspire students’ hearts and minds to achieve

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Professional Developme

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Monitoring School Improvement

Master Schedule

Curriculum Instruction

Data Analysis &

Interpretation

College Readiness SystemCollege Readiness System

www.collegeboard.com/floridapartnership

(CollegeEd, MyRoad)

Student Group AP Exam Grade of 3, 4, 5

African-American 28% higher

Hispanic 28% higher

White 33% higher

Low-Income 26% higher

Not Low-Income 34% higher

AP and 5-Year College Graduation Rates

“Without preparation, opportunity is an empty promise.”—Alan Page, Minnesota State Supreme Court JusticeQuoted in the Austin American-Statesman, October 25, 2002