National Institute for Urban School Improvement

Synergy Site MeetingMay, 2005

… inclusive ways of knowing and living offer us the only true way to emancipate ourselves from the divisions that limit our minds and imaginations. bell hooks

The National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI) connects powerful networks of urban local education agencies and schools that embrace and implement data-based, continuous improvement cycles to

achieve Education for All.

Purpose

No one should make the claim of being educated until he or she has learned to live in harmony with people who are different—A. H. Wilson

NIUSI Goals

1. Increase knowledge and understanding of inclusive, culturally and linguistically responsive practices

2. Synthesize and expand research-based practices

3. Leverage existing networks4. Engage national discourse to improve

educational outcomes for ALL urban students.

Education for ALL

The steady work of Education for All must be grounded in an understanding of how teachers learn to teach, how school organization affects practice, and how these factors affect children's opportunities to learn, participate and succeed educationally.

1. Evidence-based Products2. Tools for School Improvement3. On-line communities of practice 4. Partnerships between P-12, Colleges &

Universities5. International Network to Transform

Urban Education

NIUSI Outcomes

A common framework for understanding change work grounded in the system that we seek to change: public education

Family and community involvement are embedded activity at the district, school and professional levels

School systems are products of the communities and the families that live there

NIUSI Schools

• 33 Chicago Public Schools (Participating in Research Project)

• 38 Clark County (Las Vegas) Schools• 10 Denver Public Schools• 10 DC Public Schools• 10 Hacienda La Puente Schools• 13 Houston Public Schools• 10 Miami Public Schools• 5 New York City Public Schools• 2 Cincinnati Public Schools

Professional LearningSite Liaison CoachingQuarterly Site Liaison MeetingsWork with Sites Synergy Site meetingsLeadership AcademiesThe Liaison

Evidence Based Products

Active, redesigned website Design & development of 9 cities’ TA & PD plans 5 On Points On-line District Communities Data Maps and Data Map system 3,000 entries in our NIUSI metatag library 10 Family Linkages Products Annotated, evidence-based Guide to the Systemic

Change Framework Systemic Change Rubrics for all levels of the System

Modules

• Systemic Change • Using Data• Inclusive Schools• Universal Designs for

Learning• Co-teaching • Assessing Student

Progress

• Managing Inclusive Classrooms

• Literacy for Urban Schools

• Using technology to support Learning

• Impact of Urban Culture on Teachers and Students

• Building Capacity Through Family Voice and Participation

Professional Organization

Rubrics

The next set of rubrics help assess the work of teachers and other professionals who engage student learning. Make sure that you back up each rating with specific, concrete evidence.

Learning Assessment

Family Participation in Teaching & Learning

Group Practice & Professional Development

Teaching

Design &

Practices

Learning Standards

Professional Learning

2000 Participants involved in NIUSI training

Training Satisfaction Range: 3.17 to 4.71 on 5 point scale (mean

= 3.9)

577 Schools attending NIUSI Leadership Academy Professional Development events

13 On-Line Professional Development Modules

3 National Inclusive Schools Weeks

4 Teleconferences

2 Advisory Board Meetings

2 NIUSI Synergy Site Meetings

5 NIUSI Site Liaison Professional Development Meetings

3 NIUSI Site Liaison Retreats

30 NIUSI Meetings in Synergy Sites

6 Trainer of Trainer Meetings 1 TASH Leadership Academy2 Urban Strands at TASH3 LRE Teleconferences1 Video Teleconference1 Week-long Leadership Academy in the DCPS

Events

9 Community of Practice Sites – One for each synergy Site

18 City Profiles131 NIUSI Schools3 Large Urban districts committed to full implementation

of inclusive schools5 Districts contributing individual student record data on

their schools1,000,000 Individual student records in our GIS database>100 GIS maps portraying disproportionality and LRE

distributions at the LEA and school level 1 State requesting NIUSI data mapping of all cities 2 Linking state sites using NIUSI materials in a

contractual agreement

Continuous Improvement

Research & Development20 Family School Linkages products

5 New On Points

1 Set of rubrics for the Systemic Change Framework

1 Annotated Bibliography of research-based articles that align with the Systemic Change Framework

1 Edited special edition of TASH Connections

Networking & Dissemination

4 Coordinated activities for the OSEP Technical Assistance LRE Part B Community of Practice

>186,000 Products downloaded from website100 Invited presentations at conferences,

workshops, and professional meetings2,000 Subscribers to eNews19,000 Hits per month to the website (over

1,000,000 during NISW 3; about 12,000 unique visitors per quarter)

NIUSIOutcomes

Students: • The proportion and number of children with disabilities served

effectively in urban general education environments has increased• Students with and without disabilities are engaged in meaningful,

positive relationships within and outside of the urban school environment

Practitioners: • Increase the number of teachers who demonstrate high quality skills in

serving all students in urban general education environments• Increase the number of teachers who graduate prepared to work in

urban environments

Schools:• Increase the number of schools producing AYP for their students with

disabilities

Districts:• Three to five models of effective and inclusive urban school systems

Tools– A replicable GIS information system– Accreditation for Inclusive Schools– A set of high quality action research studies– A manual of classroom case studies

Networks– A network of 100 inclusive, urban PDS

schools – A network of at least 1000 building leadership

teams across the country

NIUSIOutcomes

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences          ... Audre Lorde

Outcomes for these Two Days

• Learn

• Share

• Network

• Plan

• Leverage

Great Urban Schools• Use the valuable knowledge and

experience that children and their families bring to school learning.

• Produce high achieving students.• Expand students’ life opportunities,

available choices and community contributions.

• Construct education for social justice, access and equity.

• Build on the extraordinary resources that urban communities provide for life-long learning.

• Need individuals, family organizations and communities to work together to create future generations of possibility.

• Practice scholarship by creating partnerships for action-based research and inquiry.

Great Urban Schools

• Shape their practice based on evidence of what results in successful learning of each student.

• Foster relationships based on care, respect and responsibility.

• Understand that people learn in different ways throughout their lives.

• Respond with learning opportunities that work.

Great Urban Schools