Tennessee Successful Schools

Tennessee Successful Schools

A Project of the State Improvement Grant

Susan M. Benner, Ed. D.

Anne McGill-Franzen, Ph. D.

Kandy Smith, Doctoral Candidate

University of Tennessee

LEAD Conference

October 5, 2009

Tennessee Successful Schools Project

• Context of State Improvement Grant and Higher Education Task Force

• High Need Elementary Schools

• Literacy Focus

State Improvement Grant

Serving identified schools preschool through high school, SIG helps sustain important services to schools, administrators, teachers, and students and their families so that children and youth will achieve strong literacy and pre-literacy skills

• Literacy and SPED• Transition of SIG to system-level RtI consulting

and professional development

Selection of Successful SchoolsChild Performance Teacher

PerformanceCommunity

Context

TCAP scores Value Added performance data

Community Involvement

SPED referrals in 3rd-5th grades

Teacher turn-over rates

Community satisfaction with the school

Closing the Gap Teacher development and autonomy

Partnership with IHEs in teacher training

Reading First schools with solid gains

Parent satisfaction and participation

Title 1 Schools with documented success

Enjoyment of reading

Characteristics Participating Schools21 identified 14 participated

• 12 schools in towns

• 2 schools in cities

• Enrollment of schools between 300 and 750

• Grades Served

– 5 K-4 schools

– 3 K-5 schools

– 3 K-6 schools

– 3 K-8 schools

• Economically Disadvantaged (State Average: 54.7)

– Below the state average: 3 schools

– Above the state average: 11 schools

– Lowest percentage in these schools: 42%

– Highest percentage in these schools: 94%

School Characteristics

• Percent MinorityState Average: 32% minority


– At or above the state average: 2 schools



• Percent Special EducationState Average: 15.4%

– These schools: (for 2007 only)


– At or above the state average: 4 schools



Perspectives from the FieldRegional Focus Groups

•Administrators

•Classroom Teachers

•Special Education Teachers

•Parents

Anecdotal or real-life experience of teachers is

always going to trump research.

Nelson, Leffler,& Hensen (2009)

General Question

To what do you attribute your school’s success in literacy ?

Probes

• How does your school overcome the challenges presented by the at-risk student population?

• Reflect on the use of student assessment data in the school’s instructional planning?

• How do teachers collaborate in supporting students with special needs or struggling readers in your school?

Probes Cont’d

• How does the leadership in your school support its success?

• Reflect on parent involvement in your school.

• Reflect on the importance of professional development in your school’s success.

• What instructional practices in your school do you think contribute to your success?

What do these successful schools look like?

• Unique paths to success—there is no universal key to success– Each school has its own DNA—Education

Trust, 2009

• Common patterns of effort that reflect the research base focused on schools that “beat the odds”– Shared characteristics across schools

throughout this and other research

The Schools

• Elvis Presley• James K. Polk• Richard Boyd• James Napier• Cordell Hull• Dolly Parton• Wilma Rudolph

• Perry Wallace• Casey Jones• Nancy Ward• Alvin C. York• Pat Summit• Roy Acuff• Henry Foote

Elvis Presley Elementary School2003 - 2007

• K-5 and K-4 • Average enrollment 727 • Rural• 55% Economically

Disadvantaged• Racial Composition

– 70% White– 21% African American– 8% Hispanic– Less than 2% Asian

2003

Targeted assistance

(AA and ED performance)

2004 - 2005

School improvement

(AA and ED performance)

2006 - 2007

Good standing

James K. Polk2003 - 2007

• PreK - 5• Average enrollment 262 • Average 55%

economically disadvantaged

• Predominately white• Increase in Hispanic from

0 to 4.6% • African American

approximately 4%

2003--20% Below Proficient

2004 --13% Below Proficient




Value-Added improved from C in 2003 to A from 2005 to 2007

Cordell Hull

• K - 8• 328 average enrollment,

gradually declining • 98% economically

disadvantaged• High referral rates to DCS• Children read better than

parents• Over 91% white, declining • increase in Hispanic

population from 3.3% to 10.5% • African American relatively

steady with average of 10.7%

2003

Targeted Assistance

2004 - 2007

Good Standing

Below Proficient ratings did not drop

Value-Added went from F (2003) to A (2006-2007)

Perry Wallace Elementary

• K-6

• Demographics– 233– Rural– Economically Disadvantaged: As high as

97.2%, as low as 73.9%– 35% African American, 65% Caucasian– .4% Hispanic

Perry Wallace AYP Data

• 2003– F in Academic Achievement; F in Value-Added

• 2004– F in Academic Achievement; B in Value-Added

• 2005– F in Academic Achievement; B in Value-Added

• 2006– D in Academic Achievement; B in Value-Added

• 2007– C in Academic Achievement; A in Value-Added


• In 2003, did not meet Federal Benchmark (X)– With the only two subgroups in which there

were more than 45 students:• All students• Economically disadvantaged

– In two main categories:• Reading, Language Arts, Writing • Math


• 1 of 74 Reading First schools in Tennessee

• Became a Reading First school in spring of 2004

James Napier

• 2003: low achieving school, “targeted assistance”

• 2004-2007: “good standing”

• Percentage of students below proficient on TCAP assessments in reading and language arts reduced by around 50% in all subgroups,

• Largest gains achieved with special education students

– 2003: 70% of the students with disabilities were below proficient on the state assessment

– 2007, 25% below proficient

James Napier

• Academic achievement grades have risen from C in 2003 to B in 2007.

• Value-added scores have risen from C in 2003 to A in 2007.

Richard Boyd

Dolly Parton Elementary

• Grades PreK-6

• Demographics (2007)– 480 Students– Rural– 78 % Economically Disadvantaged– 95% White; 3.8% African-American; 1%

Hispanic

Dolly Parton Reading Grades

• 2003, 2004– B in Academic Achievement; F in Value-

Added

• 2005– B in Academic Achievement, A in Value-

Added

• 2006, 2007– A in Academic Achievement, A in Value-

Added

Percent of Students Proficient or Advanced in ReadingDolly Parton

• All Students

2003: %

2007: 95%• Students with Disabilities

2003:

2007: 86%

State

• All Students

2003: 80%

2007: 90%• Students with Disabilities

2003:

2007: 70%

Wilma Rudolph

Casey Jones

Overriding Forces• External support and effective ongoing prof

essional development

• Administrative leadership and standards

• Collaboration between teachers– Grade-to-grade, SPED-to-regular, cross-grade

• Dedicated time for engaged instruction

• Connections between assessment and instruction, understanding use of data

External Support and Effective Ongoing Professional

Development

• Perry Wallace

• Cordell Hull

• Overriding Forces

Prevailing Theme: Rigor/Fidelity

“What gets checked on gets done.”• Required Reading First Fidelity Checks

– Administrator, Literacy Leader, Cadre Trainer– Tiers 1, 2, (Voyager) and 3

• Rigor logs– MORT: Missed Opportunities for Rigorous

Teaching

• Student data/assessments for interventions

Prevailing Theme: Collaboration

• Leadership Team Collaboration– Principal, Literacy Leaders, Interventionists

• Grade Level and Cross-Grade Level Collaboration

• Professional Development• Shared Vision• Full inclusion school• School-wide behavior management (COMP)

Cordell Hull

• Resources and professional development in literacy education provided through Reading First

• Special and general education teachers participate in the same professional development

Learning to Change

“ And I, I think, just explicit and systematic instruction has helped us so much…I’ve been there for 26 years, and I really thought I was a pretty good teacher. …some of the things, I mean not everything, but, I mean, some of the things that I’ve learned, and I’m thinking, what was I thinking?”

“The dinosaurs, honey, let me tell you …’ it was hard… you know these new ones that came in they could do it snap, snap, snap…It takes a long time to re-train yourself to do this. But…I’ve embraced it and really… done well with it. And we teach the five components of reading…”

Administrative Leadership and Standards

• James K. Polk

• James Napier


James K. Polk

• Strong principal focused on Student Performance Indicators

• Requires weekly lesson plan reviews

• Connections back to district office with assistance provided in data interpretation

James Napier: Administrative Leadership and Standards

Special Education Teacher describes principal as “very supportive in anything you want to try”

Gen Ed Teacher: “very much focused on SPIs…more focused on SPIs than on basals”

Collaboration between Teachers

• Dolly Parton

• Elvis Presley

• Perry Wallace

• James Napier


Dolly Parton: Theme 1

• Access to grade level curriculum with support enabled lowest achieving students to improve

The school moved to total inclusion for grades 3-6The school became school-wide Title 1 thereby

gaining two teachers, assistants, and instructional coach

Title 1 teachers, assistants, and special education teachers push into classroom to support instruction during reading block


• Collaborative planning enabled adjustments to curriculum

The school initiated daily common planning and weekly grade level meetings

The instructional coach identified students for intervention based on mastery of SPIs

The special education and Title 1 teachers and assistants consulted classroom teachers’ posted plans

The special education teacher and classroom teachers monitored students’ progress on reading curriculum assessments


• Technology programs increased the time students spent reading

Two computer labs and classroom mini-labs with Study Island and River Deep software supported 40 minutes extra reading daily

AR libraries are located in every classroom

Most Important Element of School Success

“We’re looking all the way down and we are beginning to see what we can do for all levels of students. And I think that comes through the collaboration that we now have with our teachers….They want to do the best job they can do and so they are looking for that communication….I think that’s what’s important.”

Inclusion Issues

• “I’m planning probably an hour and a half or two hours a day after school and at home just making sure I am prepared for the next day…. And I am a veteran teacher….I love my intervention teachers, but I just don’t understand why they don’t have their own curriculum and why once kids are targeted they don’t pull them out and do a program.” Regular Education Teacher

Elvis Presley Elementary

Collaborating on Lesson Plans on grade level and across grade levels

Sharing responsibility for raising student achievement

“…pulled together as a school, collaborated, approached the problem as a school problem, lots of crossover meetings to get communication flowing, a lot of hard work, a lot of meetings after school, a lot of dedication on the part of teachers to understand and accept we were going to have to work early and stay late to accomplish our goals…”

Perry Wallace: Collaboration

• Leadership Team Collaboration– Principal, Literacy Leaders, Interventionists

• Grade Level and Cross-Grade Level Collaboration

• Professional Development• Shared Vision• Full inclusion school• School-wide behavior management (COMP)

James Napier: Collaboration Between Teachers

“One of the best things that’s happened in the last couple of years just like some of you have already said, we have grade-level time now where we all have the same planning time, and so we have the freedom to collaborate and talk to each other and help each other because we’ve found that that’s probably the most successful thing that’s happened in the last few years is getting to talk to other people. And, you know, we constantly have new teachers coming in, and it really helps them out a lot, too.”

Dedicated Time for Instruction• Elvis Presley

• Cordell Hull

• James K. Polk

• Perry Wallace


Elvis Presley

• Protecting Instructional Time

“…we look at our minutes of instruction and see how few we really have when you break it down, and we just can’t waste it, so we start looking at what we can eliminate and then we take it back…”

Cordell Hull

• Differentiating instruction

“…I have probably like 30 minutes of whole group a day, and that’s it. Everything else is small group, individual differentiated instruction.”

James K. Polk

• Full day Kindergarten • Reading Coach• 90-minute reading block• Small group instruction in classrooms• 30-minute pull outs for Tier 2, with Title One

teacher, reading coach, or paraprofessional• 60-minute pull outs for Tier 3• Computer lab time with Successmaker in

reading

Perry Wallace: Rigor/Fidelity

“What gets checked on gets done.”• Required Reading First Fidelity Checks

– Administrator, Literacy Leader, Cadre Trainer– Tiers 1, 2, (Voyager) and 3

• Rigor logs– MORT: Missed Opportunities for Rigorous

Teaching

• Student data/assessments for interventions

Connections between Assessment and Instruction

• Elvis Presley

• James K. Polk

• James Napier


Elvis Presley

• Monitoring student achievement closely in disaggregated data sets with fluid small groups receiving intervention as needed

“making sure every child has a significant relationship in the building”– Setting academic goals with students and

communicating them to parents– Sharing responsibility for student achievement

throughout the building

James K. Polk“We use data in basically three different ways. One we

identify the students and the needs, where they need their improvement and we zero in on that student at the classroom level. We also use it with our teachers to identify those students plus to also look at their teaching. You can look at those test scores and say, “Okay, I did a good job in this section. I need to work in this section” and I always encouraged my teachers to share with each other, …and then we also use it as a way to focus our entire school on our weaknesses and our strengths so that we could build from the data. You know the data was our guiding force.”

James Napier: Collaboration Between Teachers

“One of the best things that’s happened in the last couple of years just like some of you have already said, we have grade-level time now where we all have the same planning time, and so we have the freedom to collaborate and talk to each other and help each other because we’ve found that that’s probably the most successful thing that’s happened in the last few years is getting to talk to other people. And, you know, we constantly have new teachers coming in, and it really helps them out a lot, too.”

Themes Related to Research

• Students are spending more time engaged in reading and related literacy experiences. – Increased engagement time leads to higher student

achievement (Carroll, 1965; Fisher & Berliner, 1985).

• Collaboration (within and across grade levels; between classroom teachers, specialists, and special education teachers) has increased. – Effective collaboration improves achievement

outcomes for at-risk students (Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998).

Themes Related to Research

• There is an increased emphasis on using assessment data to plan instruction. – Effective instruction requires matching curriculum to

learner’s level of readiness (Vygotsky, 1978; Walpole & McKenna, 2006).

• In some schools, inclusion of most special education students is on the increase. – Some studies indicate that inclusion results in higher

student achievement, more positive student outcomes and higher teacher expectations (Idol, 2006; Ritter, Michel & Irby, 1999)

Implications for Practice• Inclusion Practices

• Coordination of curricular materials across regular and special education

• Professionals share responsibility for planning and instruction

• ….

• ….

Lingering Questions

• Whose thinking is privileged?– How are planning and teaching responsibilities distributed

across classroom teachers, special education and Title 1 teachers, instructional coaches, and assistants?

– How is classroom instruction differentiated?

• How is complex “push-in” scheduling managed?• Is there an “opportunity cost” with increased use of

technology software?• How do we interpret TCAP reading scores when

reading portions of the test are read to many TN students?

References

• Booker, K. C., Invernizzi, M. A., & McCormick, M. (2007). Kiss your brain: A closer look at flourishing literacy gains in impoverished elementary school. Reading Research and Instruction, 46(4), 315-339.

• Caroll, J. B. (1963). A model for school learning. Teachers College Record, 64, 723-733.

• Crawford, E., & Torgesen, J. (2007, November). Teaching all students to read: practices from schools with strong reading intervention outcomes. Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.fcrr.org

• Fisher, C. W., & Berliner, D. C. (1985). Perspectives on instructional time. New York: Longman.

http://www.fcrr.org/

References

• Idol, L. (2006). Toward inclusion of special education students in general education: A program evaluation of eight schools. Remedial and Special Education, 27, 77-94.

• Nelson, S., Leffler, J., & Hensen, B. (2009). Toward a research agenda for understanding and improving the use of research evidence. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Education Laboratory.

• Ritter, C.L., Michel, C.S., & Irby, B. (1999).

Concerning inclusion: Perceptions of middle school students, their parents, and teachers. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 18(2), 10-16.

References

• Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

• Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher order mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

• Walpole, S., & McKenna, M. C. (2006). The role of informal reading inventories in assessing word recognition. The Reading Teacher, 592-594.

Seven Common Traits Observed in Successful Schools

• Strong Leadership

• Positive Belief and Teacher Dedication

• Data Utilization and Analysis

• Effective Scheduling

• Professional Development

• Scientifically Based Intervention Programs

• Parent Involvement(Crawford & Torgesen, 2007)

…Flourishing literacy gains in impoverished elementary school

• Detailed case studies of four exceptional schools

• Themes common to all four school:– Administration and teacher knowledge and

training– Strong internal and external community– Commanding leadership and thorough proper

monitoring • “What gets checked on gets done”

(Booker, Invernizzi, & McCormick, 2007)

Tennessee Successful Schools

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