School Improvement: Focusing on Student Performance

National Study of School Evaluation

Focus Questions

Overall Questions

• Part I – How can we best describe the students and community we serve in our schools?
• Part II – What do we believe about teaching and learning? What is the primary purpose of our schools?
• Part III – What is our vision of a well-educated student from our school? What do we expect students to know and be able to do as a result of their learning? To what extent are students achieving the expectations for their learning?
• Part IV – To what extent does the instructional practices and organizational conditions in our school help or hinder the achievement of our mission and desired results for student learning?
• Part V – What action steps can be taken to help us more fully achieve our mission and the desired results for student learning?
• Part VI – How can we most effectively implement our plan for improvement? What measures should we use to assess the effectiveness of the plan in terms of growth in student learning and improvement in instructional and organizational effectiveness?

Part I: Developing the Profile

• Steps
• 1 – Collecting & Managing the Data
• 2 – Analyzing & Synthesizing the Data
• 3 – Communicating the Data
• 4 – Using the Data for School Improvement Planning

• School Performance Data
• Key ?’s:
• What are students learning?
• How well are they learning?
• What are the types of assessments of student learning that are currently employed by your school?
• What do the results of these assessments indicate about the current levels of student performance of the expectations for their learning?
• What do the assessments of student learning indicate are the areas of strength in students’ achievement?
• What do the results indicate are limitations in student learning?
• Are students prepared for further education at each level of school?
• Do students complete their schooling?
• Examples
• Standardized, norm-referenced measures
• Criterion-referenced measures
• Performance-based measures
• Student work examples
• Observations of student performance

• Student & Community Characteristics
• Key ?’s:
• What are the general characteristics of the students served by your school?
• What are the general characteristics of the community?
• Are children ready to learn when they enter school?
• Do students meet the behavioral expectations of your school?
• What kind of support for learning do students receive, beyond the assistance provided at the classroom and school level?
• What kinds of resources are available to support your school?
• Examples
• Description of student population (disaggregated by subgroups)
• Percentage of students by health needs, disability type, living in single-parent households, participation in free/reduced lunch program, mobility rate, living below the poverty level, parental educational level, and attendance
• Student behavioral expectations (attendance rate, tardiness rate, discipline)
• Community demographic data (age, level of education, race, marital status, income, education etc…; socioeconomic status; community involvement in school; percentage of residents with school-age children; financial resources; non-school programs/facilities; and parent/community organizations).

• School Characteristics
• Key ?’s”
• What are the major defining features and characteristics of your school?
• What are the strongest characteristics of your school?
• What characteristics or features of your school set it apart from other schools?
• Have there been any significant changes in the major characteristics of your school over the past several days?
• Examples
• Type & level of school
• Regional accreditation status
• Recognition/honors awarded to the school
• Background historical data
• Enrollment data
• Length of school year/day
• Number of FT/PT teachers & instructional support staff & administrators
• Demographic profile of teachers, instructional support staff & administrators
• Ratios (student: teacher; administrator: teacher; counseling)
• Curriculum offerings
• Percentage of students who participate in compensatory programs
• Co-curricular program description
• Dress code
• Facilities
• Instructional resources
• Learning environment & safety conditions
• Transportation
• Sources of school revenue
• Average/pupil expenditures
• Percentage of school budget allocated to administration, instruction, care of building
• Parental participation
• Community support
• School-business partnerships

• Stakeholder Perspectives on the Quality of the Education
• Keys ?s:
• What are the opinions of the students, teachers, parents and community members about the quality of your school?
• What does each group of stakeholders believe are the strengths of your school?
• What does each group of stakeholders believe are the limitations of your school?
• Have opinions about the quality of the school changed over the years? If so, what are the trends or shifts in opinion that have been identified?
• How do the results of the survey responses from our school compare with the national sample?
• What are the implications of the results of the surveys of the school’s stakeholders for the design and development of the school improvement plan?
• Examples:
• NSSE opinion surveys

Part II: School’s Beliefs and Mission

• Steps
• 1 –Facilitating a Collaborative Process to Build a Shared Vision
• 2 – Defining the Belief Statements
• 3 – Developing the Mission Statement

• Keys ?’s:
• Did the process of developing the school’s beliefs and mission offer meaningful involvement of all those who have a stake in the success of the school?
• Did the process engage the school’s stakeholders in working together as a community of learners?
• Did the process help to sharpen the organizational vision of the school?
• Were the beliefs and mission statement developed though a consensus-building process?
• Does the statement of the school’s beliefs, mission, and vision-reflect a focus on student learning as the chief priority for the school?
• Did the process of developing the school’s beliefs and mission take into account the latest research and best practices concerning teaching and learning, as well as the research on effective schools?
• Do the school’s beliefs and mission reflect a future focus and a commitment to preparing students to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century?
• Does the statement of the school’s mission serve as a “call-to-action” for each of the school’s stakeholders? Does it describe a compelling purpose for the school?

Part III: Defining Desired Results for Student Learning

• Steps:
• 1 – Establishing a Process for Developing a Shared Vision for Student Learning
• 2 – Reviewing Your School’s Beliefs and Mission Statement
• 3 – Reviewing Findings of Educational Research and Literature on Future Trends that have Implications for Student Learning
• 4 – Reviewing Current School, District, State, and National Goals for Student Learning
• 5 – Developing an Initial Draft of the Statement of Desired Results for Student Learning
• 6 – Analyzing Student Learning Needs
• 7 – Defining the Desired Results for Student Learning

• Key ?’s:
• Did the process of defining the desired results for student learning take into account the perceptions of all those who have a stake in the achievement of students?
• Are the desired results for student learning aligned with the beliefs and mission of the school?
• Did the process of defining the desired results for student learning take into account current educational research and studies of future trends that have implications for student learning?
• Are the desired results for student learning consistent with district, state, and national expectations or goals for student learning?
• Are the desired results for student learning responsive to student learning needs?
• Do the statements of the desired results for student learning clearly describe what a well-educated student should know and be able to do?
• Are the stated expectations for student learning measurable?
• Has the school clearly described the type of evidence of students’ achievement of the expectations for their learning?
• Could students gauge their own progress in achieving the expectations for their learning based on these indicators?
• Have a priorities for improving student learning been identified by the school improvement team? Were those priorities based on a comprehensive analysis of student performance?

Part IV: Analyzing Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness

· Steps:

o 1 – Identifying the Strengths and Limitations of the School’s Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness

o 2 – Collecting Data and Evidence of Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness

o 3 – Defining Goals for Building and Strengthening the Capacity of the School’s Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness

· Key ?’s:

o Based on the findings of the “Survey of Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness” for your school, what appears to be the strengths of your school? What data/evidence validates the areas identified as strengths? In other words, can the areas of perceived strengths actually be verified?

o Based on the same survey, what are the limitations of your school’s instructional practices and/or organizational conditions? What data/evidence is available to verify the current levels of these aspects of your school’s instructional and/or organizational system so that baseline data can be established and any improvements the school makes in these dimensions of effectiveness can be monitored over time?

o Are there any additional attributes or major aspects of your school’s instructional practices and/or organizational conditions that were not addressed in the seven categories included in the above survey? If so, describe these aspects related to the work of your school in behalf of student learning and cite the data/evidence that indicates the current level of effectiveness of the school’s work.

o To what extent are the curriculum, instructional strategies, learning activities, and the system for assessing student learning congruent with each other and aligned with the desired results for student learning? In other words, to what extent are students provided with a coherent instructional system to support their achievement?

o To what extent are the dimensions of the school’s organizational system congruent with each other? For instance, are adequate resources provided for the professional development programs required to support the meaningful implementation of the curriculum? Are the school’s policies consistent with the school’s vision and goals?

o To what extent are the dimensions of the school’s organizational system congruent with the school’s instructional system? For instance, are the school’s assessment and evaluation procedures consistent with the school’s policies? Is the school’s curriculum aligned with the school’s vision for student learning?

o Based on your review and analysis of your school’s instructional and organizational effectiveness, what would be the most appropriate target goals for building and strengthening the capacity of the school’s instructional practices and organizational conditions to support students’ achievement of the desired results for their learning?

o How can the school most effectively build on its strengths to further maximize their benefits in supporting student achievement?

o How can the school most effectively address its limitations and areas in need of improvement in order to strengthen the capacity of the school to support student achievement?

o What level of priority should be assigned to each of these goals? What is the rationale for the priorities you have selected?

Part V: Developing the Action Plan

• Steps:
• 1 – Determining the Objectives for the School Improvement Plan
• 2 – Identifying Action Steps for Achieving the Goals
• 3 – Determining the Timeline, Resources, and Assignment of Responsibilities to Implement the Action Steps
• 4 – Developing the Means for Evaluating the Effectiveness of the School Improvement Plan
• 5 – Aligning the Plan with the Profile, Beliefs, Mission, Desired Results for Student Learning, and Analysis of Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness

• Key ?’s:
• Do the objectives for improving student performance contained in the school’s plan take into account the current performance record of the school compared with the school’s vision and the desired results for student learning?
• Is the plan consistent with the school’s beliefs and mission?
• Are the objectives for student performance responsive to the learning needs of students? Are the target goals sufficiently challenging?
• Do the action steps contained in the school’s plan reflect the alignment of current instructional practices and organizational conditions with the desired results for student learning?
• Do the action steps outlined in the plan hold the greatest promise of achieving the objectives for improving student performance? Do the action steps reflect research-based findings related to effective instructional practices and optimal organizational conditions to support student learning?
• Has a reasonable timeline for implementing each of the actions steps been identified? Does the timeline provide support for sustained effort?
• Have sufficient resources been allocated to support the implementation of the plan? Have specific individuals or committees/task forces been designated as responsible for monitoring the implementation of the plan and for disseminating periodic progress reports to the staff and community?
• Have the means for documenting student growth been established by the school improvement team?
• Have specific types of data or evidence been identified by the school improvement team to document the extent of implementation and degree of effectiveness?

Part VI: Implementing the School Improvement Plan and Documenting Results

• Steps:
• 1 – Monitoring, Reviewing and Updating the School Improvement Plan
• 2 – Collecting Evidence of the Achievement of the Target Goals for School Improvement
• 3 – Sustaining the Commitment to Continuous Improvement

• Key ?’s (Survey)