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This site is intended as a source for school improvement professionals to deepen the underlying connections and relationships that need to drive school improvement efforts. There are designs, plans, web based tools, manuals, and staff from teachers to superintendents involved in school improvement. In the end, more than the design and the plan, it is the the fidelity of implementation that matter. To guarantee success, select the simplest plan that all stakeholders understand and IMPLEMENT, MONITOR, and ENSURE RESPONSIBILITY. It is that simple.
This site is intended as a source for school improvement professionals to deepen the underlying connections and relationships that need to drive school improvement efforts. There are designs, plans, web based tools, manuals, and staff from teachers to superintendents involved in school improvement. In the end, more than the design and the plan, it is the the fidelity of implementation that matter. To guarantee success, select the simplest plan that all stakeholders understand and IMPLEMENT, MONITOR, and ENSURE RESPONSIBILITY. It is that simple.
Performance Standards on STAAR End-of-Course Algebra I and Relationship to College Readiness Levels on PSAT Grade 10
The educational testing tests are constructed on blueprints to meet different content and statistical uses. State criterion based assessments are primarily designed to measure specific performance standards whereas national assessments from College Board and ACT are designed to measure broad understanding of the subject area in a continuum.
This study examined the relationship between STAAR EOC Algebra I from 9th grade and PSAT 10 from 10th grade through a concordance study. Results indicate that there significant correlation between these two assessments at the item-correct and scale score levels. The concordance relationship was obtained using equipercentile method using LEGS software package. The concordance table demonstrate a strong relationship when more than 15 items are correct. The concordance relationship for STAAR Algebra I Satisfactory, College Readiness, and Advanced Standard to PSAT 10 and PSAT 10 College Readiness standard to STAAR Algebra I are obtained.
Link: STAAR Algebra I to PSAT Grade 10 Concordance Tables (PDF)
Translating Accountability Systems to School Improvement - Essential Data Analytics for Campus Improvement Planning
Why do we develop systems and processes to analyze data. See presentation below.
Link: Essential STAAR Data Analytics for Campus Improvement Planning (PDF)
Who does not learn in an “F” school! Tale of Three Elementary Schools
We have seen the headlines, “Even high-performing schools get D's and F's in Texas’ new grading system” - Dallas Morning News, “Covey: 'A-F' labels will hurt schools, kids” - Houston Chronicle, and “Texas gets a sneak peek at new A-F campus accountability grades” - ATPE, teachthevote.org. What most of these articles and blogs did not do is analyse the school performance data that determined these D’s and F’s. This is important for Domain III as it focuses on the STAAR performance exclusively of Economically Disadvantaged students. In particular, this domain analyses the passing rates and the disparities in performance between students in poverty compared to other similar schools in the state. A major reason to restrict to only Economically Disadvantaged students is to ensure that high performance of one group is not masking the low performance of another group.
Detailed below is a case study comparing a Domain III “F” school with two schools that have demographically similar student populations. The “F” school of study is SH Elementary. SH Elementary is a campus in a large suburban school district with almost half the student population identified as Economically Disadvantaged. Two comparison schools were selected with similar students based on the following factors: school size and percent of students who are Economically Disadvantaged, English Language Learners, and Mobile at the schools. RM Elementary has a significantly lower proportion of white students compared to SH and NG Elementary. RM elementary has 2.4% fewer Economically Disadvantaged students and a larger percentage of English Language Learners and Special Education students. NG has 0.8% more Economically Disadvantaged students and 4.6% more English Language Learners.
Link: Who Does Not Learn in an F School! Tale of Three Elementary Schools - 2017.01.18.pdf
States are in an unenviable position of designing tests and accountability systems that work for all districts, all schools, and all grades. When such systems are put in place, the quality of the assessments are lowered, rule books become voluminous, security issues takes a high priority, and systems become complex and difficult to manage.
What should the next generation of assessment and accountability look like?
NOT next generation rules and regulations.
NOT state mandated next generation tests.
NOT state mandated “one-test-fits-all-students” statewide interim assessments.
I equate next generation assessment to next generation flexibility for districts to choose a variety of quality and reliable assessments to measure grade level performance and growth of students. This paper outlines what future assessment and accountability could look like in Texas.
Link: Next Generation Assessment and Accountability 2016.05 (PDF)
Does your district have a simple, straightforward, formative assessment process?
This flowchart displays the Comprehensive Assessment Process for our district. This graphic shows you that each assessment has a purpose and gives a different piece of information about our students.
I have seen districts that train teachers to deconstruct data in 50 different ways. The end product of such systems are classroom teachers drowning in data and lack of of precise information. Data analysis at the classroom level should be simple and straightforward. This presentation gives a description of the process that is implemented in Plano ISD.
Pathways to College Readiness: Understanding the Relationships between Early Grades Achievement and On-Track to College Readiness with EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT
When we say student is on track to be College and Career Ready, what does it mean. Using NWEA MAP scores from KN to Grade 9 and continuing with ACT/SAT track in grades 9-11, we can accurately measure what we mean by "on track". This presentation was delivered at the Texas Assessment Conference in December 2011 to explain how such a process can be defined in any K-12 institution.
In addition, this presentation addresses RTI processes necessary for student who are "not on track" for graduation. The accelerated instruction outcome goals for each student are described in detail.
What are the fundamental steps in school improvement planning?
This is a school improvement process that has proven to be very successful in Plano. The process took two years to implement and yield successful outcomes. The essential part was buy-in from the major stakeholder, campus leaders. A well designed plan based on proven, research based, best practices is the starting plan. Professional development on school improvement is next. Then comes project management support. The final step is monitoring progress, providing continuous support, revising, and keep repeating these steps until success is achieved.
Link: Best Practices in School Improvement Planning 2016.03 (PDF)
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