Post on 08-Jun-2020
Supporting High Poverty Schools: A Critical Task for ESA Board Leadership in
the 21st Century
10 Strategies/Policies That Make THE Difference
AESA 2012 Annual Conference
Tampa, Florida
November 29, 2012
William H. Parrett
Director Center for School Improvement & Policy Studies
Boise State University E-mail: wparret@boisestate.edu
Kathleen Budge
Coordinator Leadership Development Program
Boise State University E-mail: kathleenbudge@boisestate.edu
11/27/2012
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Supporting High Poverty Schools: A Critical Task for ESA Board Leadership in the 21st Century
Learner OutcomesLearner Outcomes
Emerge with a substantially enhanced knowledge of what works for underachieving students living in poverty.
U d d h hi h h l b Understand how high-poverty schools become high-performing.
Be compelled to take informed action to better meet the needs of underachieving students living in poverty.
Now Available Now Available From ASCD From ASCD
(ASCD, January 2012)
January January 20122012
Who Are YWho Are Yoou?u?Who Are YWho Are Yoou?u?
ESA Board Members
ESA Superintendents
Western Region(AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, KS,MT, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY)
Collaborate / Network!Collaborate / Network!
What Region?What Region?What Region?What Region?
ESA Staff
School District Personnel
School District Board Members
Parents/Grandparents
Central Region(IA, IL, MI, MN, ND, NE,SD, WI)
Eastern Region(CT, IN, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT)
Southern Region(AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MOMS, NC, SC, TX, VA, WV)
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As an ESA…
How are you doing in
supporting
Validate
supporting high poverty schools and
districts?
Challenge to Improve
Source: Education Trust analysis of data from National School-Level State Assessment Score Databasewww.schooldata.orgData are from 2002.
Poverty vs. Achievement in Illinois Elementary Schools
50
60
70
80
90
100
ing
Sta
nd
ard
in
Ma
th
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percent Low-Income Students
Pe
rce
nt
5th
Gra
de
rs M
ee
t
Part I Part I
Learning TogetherLearning Together
Part IIPart II
Leading TogetherLeading Together
•Learning From Others: Stories of Inspiration and Hope
•Assessing What
•Build Leadership Capacity—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
•Focus on Learning—You Know About Poverty: The Importance of Accurate Information
•Constructing a Framework for Action
What do we do? What do we stop doing?
•Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning Environment—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
HighHigh--Poverty / HighPoverty / High--Performing SchoolsPerforming Schools
JAPANJAPAN
UNITED UNITED KINGDOMKINGDOM
Dayton’s Bluff Elementary, St. Paul, MN
Lapwai Elementary, Lapwai, ID
Molalla High School, Molalla, OR
Osmond A. Church PS/MS. 124 K-8 School, Queens, NY
Port Chester Middle School, Port Chester, NY
Taft Elementary, Boise, ID
Tekoa High School, Tekoa, WA
Nationally Recognized High-Poverty / High Performing Schools
Part I: Learning TogetherPart I: Learning Together
Learning From Others: Stories of Inspiration and Hope
Assessing What You Know About Poverty: The Importance of Accurate Information
Constructing a Framework for Action
Taft Elementary SchoolBoise, ID
2003 Blue Ribbon Award Recipient
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William H. Taft Elementary
• 330 Students Grades k-6
• 72% Low Income
• 18% ELL/Refugee
• 9% Hispanic
Idaho State Department of Education, 2010
William H. Taft Elementary
Reading Scores, 3rd Grade
70
80
90
100
Idaho State Department of Education, 2011
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Taft
Distrcit
State
Making Refugee Students Welcome
Kathleen Budge and William ParrettWhen 58 refugee students speaking little English were little English were transferred to this urban elementary school, the principal set up a team-building summer camp.
April 2009
Osmond A. Church SchoolPS/MS 124
Queens, New York
2004 Dispelling the Myth Award Winner
Osmond A. Church SchoolPS / MS 124
• 1,201 students in grades PK-8
• 97% Low-Income
45% Asian• 45% Asian
• 31% African American
• 21% Latino
Source: New York Department of Education, 2010
Osmond A. Church SchoolPS / MS 124
English Language Arts Scores, 2010
60
70
80
90
100
Source: New York Department of Education, 2010
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8
Osmond Church
District
State
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Port Chester Middle SchoolPort Chester, NY
2006 Dispelling the Myth Award Winner
Port Chester Middle School
• 864 students in grades 6-8
• 73% Latino
• 7% African-American7% African American
• 64% Low-Income
New York Department of Education, 2010
Port Chester Middle School
Overall Test Scores Grades 6-8
66%
83% 85%80%
70
80
90
100
New York Department of Education, 2010
39%43%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2006 2007 2009
Port Chester
State
Tekoa High School Tekoa, WA
Tekoa High School
110 Students
51% Low-income
83% White
12% American Indian
5% Other 5% Other
Source: Washington State Department of Education, 2010
Tekoa High School
Reading and WritingGrade 10
86 86
80
90
100
Source: Washinton State Department of Education, 2010
67
55
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Reading Writing
Tekoa State
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And…At The And…At The District Level?District Level?District Level?District Level?
Caldwell School DistrictCaldwell School DistrictCaldwell, ID
• 6,500 Students Grades K-12
• 78% Low Income78% Low Income
• 56% Hispanic
• 43% White
• 1% African American / Asian
From Sanctions to SuccessCaldwell School DistrictCaldwell School District
6
8
10
12
Making AYP
Moving from the most severe level of state and federal sanctions to making AYP in 8 of its 10 schools in four years.
0
2
4
2007 2008 2009 2010
Not Making AYP
Idaho State Department of Education, 2010
Caldwell School DistrictCaldwell School District
Closing The Achievement GapBetween White & Hispanic Students
Reading93%
90%100%
Source: Caldwell School District, 2010
73%
55%
85%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
2007 2010
White Hispanic
Caldwell School DistrictCaldwell School District
Closing The Achievement GapBetween White & Hispanic Students
Math
88%90%
100%
Source: Caldwell School District, 2010
65%
47%
79%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
2007 2010
White Hispanic
ESD 113 Olympia, WA
Leaders with courage to address the “moral imperative”—Raising the bar and closing the gap by 2020
Holding themselves accountable for district performance in the region
Focusing wrap-around services (Fiscal, Teaching and Learning, Student Success) on the persistently lowest performing districts
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ESD 113 Olympia, WA
Using the HP/HP Framework for Action:
Three days of professional development for internal staff
Three days of Professional development for district teams
On site support as requested
…to be persuaded of the educability of poorchildren? If your answer is more than one, then Isubmit that you have reasons of your own forpreferring to believe that basic pupil performanced i f f il b k d i d f h l
“How many effective schools would you have to see…
derives from family background instead of schoolresponse to family background…
We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us.”
Ron Edmonds... 1979
WE KNOW WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION. THE RESEARCH IS
PROLIFIC
“Amazingly, then, the question
Today…in 2012…
today is not about what works, but about why we do not implement what we know works in all schools for all kids?”
Karin Chenoweth. It’s Being Done: Academic Success in Unexpected Schools. 2007. Pg. 227.
Part I: Learning TogetherPart I: Learning Together
Learning From Others: Stories of Inspiration and Hope
Assessing What You Know About Poverty: The Importance of Accurate Information
Constructing a Framework for Action
What Do You Know and Believe About Poverty?What Do You Know and Believe About Poverty?
(Parrett & Budge, January 2012)
What Do People (Staff & Board) in your ESA Know/Believe about Poverty?
Turn
And Poverty?
How about people in the districts you serve?
And
Talk
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Dramatic Increase in Childhood PovertyDramatic Increase in Childhood Poverty
Change in percent from 2007 - 2011
Eligible for free or
Rates of Increase in 4th Grade Subsidized LunchesSince 2007, the proportion of fourth graders eligible for free orreduced-price lunches through the federal government’s school meals program has increased nationwide to 52%, from 46%.
(Source: U.S Department of Education, 2011)
0% (1)
1-6% (14)
7-10% (31)
≥11% (4)
Eligible for free orreduced-price lunch
Building Leadership Capacity
Are we managing material and human resources effectively?
Are we optimizing time-extending it for understanding students and reorganizing it to better g g gsupport professional learning?
Do we have a data system that works for classroom and school leaders?
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
How Is Poverty Defined?How Is Poverty Defined?
Generational
SituationalSituational
Immigrant
What are the trends in your ESA since the recession began and
Turn
And began and how has your ESA responded?
And
Talk
Part I: Learning TogetherPart I: Learning Together
Learning From Others: Stories of Inspiration and Hope
Assessing What You Know About Poverty: The Importance of Accurate Information
Constructing a Framework for Action
11/27/2012
8
Now Available Now Available From ASCD From ASCD
(ASCD, January 2012)
January January 20122012
A FRAMEWORK A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION: FOR ACTION:
Actions
Leading Leading High High Poverty Poverty Schools to Schools to High High PerformancePerformance
A FRAMEWORK A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION: FOR ACTION:
Actions
Leading Leading High High Poverty Poverty Schools to Schools to High High PerformancePerformance
SchoolCulture
Spheres ofInfluence
Actions
A FRAMEWORK A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION: FOR ACTION:
SchoolCulture
Leading Leading High High Poverty Poverty Schools to Schools to High High PerformancePerformance
Turning High-Poverty Schools Into
High-Performing Schools
10 Strategies/Policies That Make THE Difference
A FRAMEWORK A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION: FOR ACTION:
Actions
Leading Leading High High Poverty Poverty Schools to Schools to High High PerformancePerformance
11/27/2012
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Part II: Leading Together
Build Leadership Capacity—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Focus on Learning What do we do? What do we Focus on Learning—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning Environment—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
It Takes It Takes Skill Skill and and WWillill
Swift, dramatic improvement requires an encounter with the “brutal facts”– those awkward,
unpleasant truths that unpleasant truths that organizations prefer not to
address—or even talk about.
J. Collins, Good to Great, 2001.
-M. Schmoker,A Chance for Change, American School Board Journal, April 2007
Build Build Leadership CapacityLeadership Capacity
Low Expectations
Inequitable Funding
Build Leadership CapacityBuild Leadership Capacity
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Are we managing material and human g gresources effectively?
Are we optimizing time…EXTENDING it for underachieving students and REORGANIZING it to better support professional learning?
Do we have a data system that works for classroom and school leaders?
Build Leadership Capacity Build Leadership Capacity
Strategy #1Strategy #1
Consider your Budget as aM l Moral Document
What’s Best For Kids?
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Start With An Honest Review of Data /Start With An Honest Review of Data /Set Improvement GoalsSet Improvement Goals Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting Districts Districts to…to…
Study Data &Study Data &Focus Budgets on theFocus Budgets on the
Needs of Students?Needs of Students?
Build Leadership CapacityBuild Leadership Capacity
Strategy #2Strategy #2
Look for Bright Spots!Spots!
Communicate… and Celebrate Good News
Bright Spots
Successful Efforts Worth Emulating That Illuminate The Road Map For Action and Spark
The Hope That Change Is Possible.
Heath & Heat, Switch, 2010
Bright Spot Philosophy
What’s working right now and how can we do more of it?
Communicating In The 21st Century:What Is Your District Doing?
Basic Website NewslettersWebsite
FacebookEmail
Intra-District Mail / E-mail Reader Boards
What we used to do.
21st Century Communications
Electronic Newsletters
Text Alerts
LMS: Blackboard BrainHoney
Angel MyBigCampus
RelevantApps
Edmodo
11/27/2012
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Communicate Internally Through Leadership Academies
The Caldwell Academy of Leadership builds relationships and trust, as well as a deep‐rooted technical understanding of teaching and learning, to increase student achievement, and improve teacher and administrator retention.
Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting Districts to…Districts to…
Develop a Develop a pproactive roactive (external and internal) (external and internal) communication plan?communication plan?
Build Leadership CapacityBuild Leadership Capacity
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Are we managing material and human resources g geffectively?
Are we optimizing time-extending it for underachieving students and reorganizing it to better support professional learning?
Do we have a data system that works for classroom and school leaders?
We will never catch upWe will never catch upunderunder--achieving students who achieving students who live in poverty...live in poverty...
without additional quality without additional quality instructional time for those instructional time for those students… students…
and joband job--embedded time for the embedded time for the professional learning needs of professional learning needs of their teachers.their teachers.
Where’s the time Where’s the time for all of this?for all of this?for all of this?for all of this?
The Full Year Calendar
Ed Trust, 2003
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Less Summer Vacation
Ed Trust, 2003
Less Weekends, Holidays, & Summer Vacation
Ed Trust, 2003
Less Professional Development Days & Early Dismissal/Parent Conferences
Ed Trust, 2003
Less Class Picnic, Class Trip, Thanksgiving Feast, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukkah, Awards, Assembles, Athletics & Concerts
Ed Trust, 2003
Less State and District Testing
Ed Trust, 2003
Bottom Line:
Roughly 13-15 8-hr Days of InstructionDays of InstructionPer SubjectPer Year
Ed Trust, 2003
11/27/2012
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Build Leadership CapacityBuild Leadership Capacity
Strategy #3Strategy #3 Go Back…Find The Time
Get creative…support professional learning that does not distract from instructional time
Reduce scheduled / unscheduled interruptionsReduce scheduled / unscheduled interruptions Schedule testing wisely Extend learning…day / week / summer Minimize Pullouts Stop releasing students early Conduct parent / student led conferences outside school day
Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting districts to…districts to…
develop develop ccreative reative aapproaches topproaches to
maximize time?maximize time?
As an ESA…
How are you doing in helping
Turn
And districts build leadership capacity?
And
Talk
A FRAMEWORK A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION: FOR ACTION:
Actions
Leading Leading High High Poverty Poverty Schools to Schools to High High PerformancePerformance
Part II: Leading Together
Build Leadership Capacity—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Focus on Learning—What do we do? What do Focus on Learning—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning Environment—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
Tracking / Retention Pullouts
Misassignment to Special EducationSpecial Education
Misassigned Teachers Teacher Isolation Ineffective Instruction
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Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Do we have a common instructional framework to guide curriculum, teaching, assessment, and the learning climate?
Do we provide job-embedded opportunity for professional learning?
Do we have common assessments and embrace assessment literacy?
Have we ensured that all students are proficient in reading?
Do we provide targeted interventions?
Focus on Student, Professional, andFocus on Student, Professional, andSystem LearningSystem Learning
Strategy #4Strategy #4
Provide meaningful g(based on data), job-embedded professional learning
Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting districts todistricts todistricts to…districts to…
provide needsprovide needs--based based professional learning?professional learning?
Excitement Prior to Excitement Prior to Implementation is FragileImplementation is Fragile
Guess who has been at h
Joanne Quinn 2012
the recent workshop…
Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Do we have a common instructional framework to guide curriculum, teaching, assessment, and the learning climate?
Do we provide job-embedded opportunity for professional learning?
Do we have common assessments and embrace assessment literacy?
Have we ensured that all students are proficient in reading?
Do we provide targeted interventions?
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Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
Getting clear on the philosophy and purpose
Defining teacher, student, parent, d i i t t d t
Strategy #5Strategy #5 Implement Student LedConferences
administrator and support Selecting the most appropriate format Preparing students to lead Preparing parents and colleagues to
participate Organizing the details Anticipating and handling unique
situations Evaluating the conferences
(Bailey and Guskey, 2001)
Traditional Parent/Teacher Traditional Parent/Teacher Conferences Conferences
Do These Work?Do These Work?
Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting districts to…districts to…
implement student led implement student led conferences?conferences?
Focus on LearningFocus on Learning Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and
practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Do we have a common instructional framework to guide curriculum, teaching, assessment, and the learning climate?
Do we provide job-embedded opportunity for professional l i ?learning?
Do we have common assessments and embrace assessment literacy?
Have we ensured that all students are proficient in reading?
Do we provide targeted interventions?
Reading One Year Below Grade Level
Chance of graduating f hi h
Low Socio-Economic Background
Elementary Students At RiskElementary Students At Risk
Have Been Retained from high school near zero
Attends School With Many Other Poor Students
Increasing Achievement of At-Risk Students at Each Grade Level
US Dept. of Ed., 1989
Uncommon SenseUncommon Sense
“We teach students to read.”
Strategy #6Strategy #6 Teach Reading BeyondElementary School
Enlisted the help of a willing teacher
Developed her expertise in a particular program and in reading in general
Reconfigured the schedule to provide reading
Did not consider learning to read an option
Granger High School
11/27/2012
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Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting districts todistricts todistricts to…districts to…
tteach READING beyond each READING beyond elementary school?elementary school?
All kids…
…want to learn how to read!
Reading is when you know what sounds the letters make and then you say them fast They come out them fast. They come out words, and then you are reading.R. J., age 5
You can read when you look at car and then you look at can and know you drive one and open the
h d h iother one and there is only one eensy line different.Shelby, age 6
It’s when you read and nobody tells you the words. But you shouldn’t do it in the bathroom. My daddy does and my mom yells at him.Paulette, age 5
Words go in your eyes and come out your mouth…but it’s not like
ki thi Y puking or anything. You say the words and that means you’re reading.Loren, age 4
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We We MUSTMUST…… Focus On Reading…Focus On Reading…For For EveryEvery StudentStudent
We will never teach all our students to read if we do not teach our students
who have the greatest difficulties to d h h
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read. Another way to say this is: Getting to 100% requires going through
the bottom 20%.”
Torgesen, Joseph K. A Principal’s Guide to Intensive Reading Interventions for Struggling Readers in Reading First Schools. A Reading First Quality Brief (2005)
Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Do we have a common instructional framework to guide curriculum, teaching, assessment, and the learning climate?
Do we provide job-embedded opportunity for professional learning?
Do we have common assessments and embrace assessment literacy?
Have we ensured that all students are proficient in reading?
Do we provide targeted interventions?
Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
•Pre K / Full Day Kindergarten
Strategy #7Strategy #7
Target Interventions
•Tutoring
•Extended Day / Summer Programs
•Homework Clubs
•Home Visits
•Alternative Schools & Programs
•College / Career ReadinessBoise State University
Provide High Quality Summer School
• Every summer for underachievers • Regular communication between parent / school• Targeted needs based instruction
Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
• Targeted needs based instruction• Curriculum / aligned to school year needs• Provide for daily nutritional needs• Weekly field trips / recreational activities• Minimum of 3 weeks– more is better• Plan for transition / remaining weeks of summer
Source: Borman 2007; Barr & Parrett, 2007
Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting districts districts to…to…districts districts to…to…
pprovide high quality, rovide high quality, targeted interventions?targeted interventions?
Focus on LearningFocus on Learning
Strategy #8Strategy #8
Connect Connect Technology Technology
i iTo InstructionTo Instruction
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It’s a Digital World!It’s a Digital World!
•72 hours per minute uploaded
•Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
•5 billion photos online
•800 billion active profiles
One Caution: The Digital Divide
Access to devices
A t hi h d i t tAccess to high speed internet
Familiarity with tech skills
Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting districts to…districts to…
cconnect onnect ttechnology echnology to learning (student and to learning (student and
professional)?professional)?
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A FRAMEWORK A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION: FOR ACTION:
Actions
Leading Leading High High Poverty Poverty Schools to Schools to High High PerformancePerformance
As an ESA…
How are you doing in helping
Turn
And districts focus on learning?
And
Talk
Part II: Leading Together
Build Leadership Capacity—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Focus on Learning What do we do? What do we Focus on Learning—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning Environment—What do we do? What do we stop doing?
Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning EnvironmentSupportive Learning Environment
School Is Unsafe
Blaming Students / FamiliesFamilies
Mis-use of Suspension & Expulsion
Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning EnvironmentLearning Environment
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Have we ensured safety?
H d l d t d t di f Have we developed an accurate understanding of the influence of poverty on student learning?
Have we fostered caring relationships and strengthened the bond between students and schools?
Have we made an authentic effort to engage parents, families, and our community?
Foster a Healthy, Safe, & Supportive Foster a Healthy, Safe, & Supportive Learning EnvironmentLearning Environment
Strategy #Strategy #99
S S Support Support Programs Programs and Policies and Policies that Level the that Level the Playing FieldPlaying Field
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Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting di i di i districts to…districts to…
llevel the playing field?evel the playing field?
Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning EnvironmentLearning Environment
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Have we ensured safety?
Have we developed an accurate understanding of the influence of poverty on student learning?
Have we fostered caring relationships and strengthened the bond between students and schools?
Have we made an authentic effort to engage parents, families, and our community?
What atWhat at--risk children want at risk children want at school more than anything else…school more than anything else…
…a caring relationship …a caring relationship with an adult.with an adult.
Foster a Healthy, Safe and Foster a Healthy, Safe and Supportive Learning EnvironmentSupportive Learning Environment
Canyon Springs High is not a dumping ground for discipline problems, but instead an alternative learning environment from a traditionalenvironment from a traditional school. Class sizes are limited to 15, students wear uniforms and there is no homework. This is the only alternative high school in Idaho that offers sports.
Foster a Healthy, Safe and Foster a Healthy, Safe and Supportive Learning EnvironmentSupportive Learning Environment
Don’t Be Afraid ofInnovation
Idaho’s Only School For Freshmen
t d t 90 students
Focused Attention On Students Who Are On A Path Toward Failure.
Class Sizes Limited to 15 Students Per Teacher.
Caldwell Freshman Academy
Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Learning EnvironmentLearning Environment
Are we working to eliminate mindsets, policies, structures, and practices that perpetuate underachievement?
Have we ensured safety?
Have we developed an accurate understanding of the influence of poverty on student learning?
Have we fostered caring relationships and strengthened the bond between students and schools?
Have we made an authentic effort to engage parents, families, and our community?
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Foster a Foster a Healthy, Safe, and Healthy, Safe, and Supportive Supportive Learning Learning EnvironmentEnvironment
Strategy #10Strategy #10 Build Relationshipswith Families
Engage Parents as Authentic Partners
Hold Frequent Meetings with Food/Childcare
ff d i Offer Parent Education
Support Learning at Home
Conduct Home Visits / Caring Outreach
Initiate Student Led Conferences
Initiate Student Advisories
Join the National Network of Partnership Schools www.csos.jhu.edu
Connect with Children, Connect with Children, Families Families and Communityand Community
Implications for ESAs
How are you supporting How are you supporting districts to…districts to…
Authentically include Authentically include parents/families in the parents/families in the
learning process?learning process?
As an ESA…
How are you doing in helping
schools and districts foster a
Turn
And districts foster a safe, healthy,
and supportive learning
environment?
And
Talk
Compelling Conclusions
CollaborateCollaborate
Schools and Districts Schools and Districts can’t do it alonecan’t do it alone……
ESA ESA ESAs ESAs make a make a difference!difference!
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Any school can Any school can overcome the overcome the debilitating effects of debilitating effects of povertypovertypoverty…poverty…
…demographics do …demographics do not equal destiny!not equal destiny!
We must combat We must combat hopelessness…hopelessness…
and instill in every child and instill in every child and instill in every child and instill in every child the selfthe self--confidence that confidence that
they can achieve and they can achieve and succeed in school.succeed in school.
How is your ESA instilling in every How is your ESA instilling in every student…student…
…the hope and confidence to succeed?
For the PDF version of “Supporting High Poverty Schools:
A Critical Task for ESA Board Leadership in the 21st Century”
handout, please visithttp://csi.boisestate.edu/
and click on the “Resources” link.
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Making Refugee Students Welcome
Kathleen Budge and William Parrett
When 58 refugee students speaking little English were transferred to this urban elementary school, the principal set up a team-building summer camp.
"Within five minutes of the bell ringing, classrooms were running smoothly. The kids
knew exactly what the expectations were. They came into the classrooms ready to
learn."
Loren Cross, a 3rd grade teacher at William Howard Taft Elementary School in
Boise, Idaho, marveled at how well the 58 students who'd recently immigrated from
many different countries and who spoke 14 different languages successfully
transitioned into the "Taft family" last fall. Taft made that transition possible through
initiatives tailored to address the challenges refugee students and their families
faced as they entered an unfamiliar school. Taft also mastered its own challenges;
between spring and fall of 2008, the school, which serves 355 students, went from
serving only one English language learner to serving more than 60.
The summer before school opened, these 58 new students had attended Tiger Pride
Summer Camp, a two-week nonacademic team-building experience designed to
develop a sense of belonging and introduce students to the traditions of their new
school. The camp made a tremendous difference in easing students into their new
environment. But its success depended on the relationships of mutual trust that
teachers had built through summer home visits with families.
A Sudden Transformation Newly arrived immigrant students have brought dramatic changes to schools like
Taft in many urban areas, but Taft's transformation was sudden. When the city of
Boise was designated by the federal government as a site for refugee resettlement,
Boise School District experienced unprecedented growth in its English language
April 2009
29
learner (ELL) population, which grew by 123 percent in the past six years. Families
arrived from Sudan, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Liberia, and many other nations. The district
now serves 3,352 ELLs who speak 88 languages.
Taft principal Susan Williamson learned in April 2008 that the school district had
designated her school as an ELL site. Forty refugee students were slated to be
administratively transferred to Taft from other schools in the district by June (and an
additional 18 enrolled in September).
These students came from 16 different countries and spoke 14 languages. Their
family backgrounds and experiences varied. Some were well-educated in their
countries of origin and literate in their languages; others, as the second generation
born and raised in a refugee camp, had never consistently attended school.
The teachers, staff, and neighborhood community of Taft are no strangers to
challenges. Taft's student body is 73 percent low-income, and when Williamson
arrived at the school 10 years ago test scores were low, morale was dismal, and
student behavior was out of control. Under her leadership, student achievement
increased significantly and Taft became recognized as a National Blue Ribbon
School.
Nonetheless, ensuring that a group of newcomers, half of whom had minimal
English language proficiency, would achieve at high levels posed a formidable
expectation. Some teachers felt apprehensive about sliding back from the school's
hard-earned gains and were anxious about their ability to work with English
language learners. The district assigned Taft a certified ELL teacher and a
paraprofessional and offered the services of an ELL consultant and the director of
the district's ELL program. These services helped, but the school knew it would have
to put forth effort to forge trusting relationships.
An Antidote to Displacement With fewer than 45 days remaining in the 2007–08 school year, a small team began
taking action to welcome the refugee students. The team learned as much as
possible about these youth and their families. It gathered information from the
students' former schools and the many agencies that serve the refugee population in
Boise.
30
Using hours typically set aside for faculty meetings and two half-day professional
development opportunities, teachers and staff devoured information about the needs
of English language learners—and refugees in particular. Teachers continued
previously initiated training in sheltered instruction using a model called the
Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol.1 The district's ELL program coordinator
stepped in to provide additional targeted support, including professional
development related to legal issues and terminology, curriculum guidance and
supplemental ELL materials, and leads for finding interpreters. Second grade
teacher Tracy Zarate was reassigned as Taft's ELL teacher, teaching small groups
formed around students' needs and often preteaching vocabulary and important
concepts.
To help Taft's current students learn about their new classmates, Fidel Nshombo, a
Congolese refugee and a resident of Boise, spoke at a schoolwide assembly in the
spring about his experiences. Fidel explained that refugees are different from
immigrants in key ways. An immigrant voluntarily leaves his or her country of origin,
whereas a refugee is compelled to leave, often fleeing a desperate situation.
Refugees are by definition displaced. For these students and their families, the
move to Taft represented another displacement—an uprooting from the school they
had initially come to know in Boise, even for a short time. The Taft team understood
the importance of fostering a new sense of place and belonging in students.
Taft's 5th graders conducted research on the various countries that the soon-to-
arrive students had left. They produced a newsletter called Cultural Connection that
they distributed to Taft students and their families. Bulletin boards depicting the
countries and cultures of the incoming students lined the hallways, and teachers
made frequent links between classroom instruction and these cultures.
Establishing Trust The team worked diligently to foster communication and relationships with refugee
students' families. After only a handful of parents—many of whom were resistant,
fearful, or angry about the transfer to Taft—attended an initial meeting, the team
knew it had to actively reach out to build trust. So team members set—and met—a
goal to visit each student's home before the refugees were invited to summer camp.
31
To facilitate these home visits, Robert and Debbie Weisel, founders of CATCH, a
local organization that seeks to bridge the gap between schools and refugees, were
enlisted. Many refugee families already knew and trusted Robert and Debbie; their
involvement paved the way for families to accept overtures from Taft staff. Robert,
himself the son of a refugee, is well connected with Boise agencies and networks
serving this population. He provided Principal Williamson with what she called
"Refugee 101" informal training that greatly advanced her understanding of complex
issues related to educating refugees.
During a second round of home visits, Taft staff members gave families a packet of
information translated into their native languages and containing a letter of welcome,
photographs and names of every Taft staff member, and a collage depicting
activities, traditions, and services available at Taft. "The big turnaround in trust came
after the home visits," Loren Cross explained.
Many in the Taft family made extraordinary efforts to cement that trust. For example,
one refugee parent didn't want his children to walk to school because he feared they
would be kidnapped. So Cross and other faculty members walked his children to
school and back every day the first week of school; Cross continues to walk with
them at least once a week.
Happy Campers! To help students feel part of a community from day one, the team created an
intensive introductory summer experience. A summer camp would help students
meet new friends, put families at ease, and give Taft's teachers an opportunity to
become acquainted with the new students and teach them about schoolwide
practices and expectations that were the foundation of Taft's continued success.
Williamson recruited Cross to coordinate the half-day camp, and several other
teachers and staff members joined the effort.
Planning a two-week summer camp on such a short time line required fiscal
ingenuity and partnerships with the local YMCA and parks and recreation programs.
Because the school's remaining Title I funds were not enough to operate the camp,
The school successfully turned to community partners for funding and volunteers.
The refugee students came to Taft for lunch and a tour of the school in preparation
for the camp. Camp staff paired each new student with a chosen student from Taft.
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Many of these "buddy" students were selected because they had leadership ability
and would be good role models; others were included because they too could
benefit from new friendships. Photos of each "buddy pair" were made into buttons
and delivered to each new student's home with a reminder about the upcoming
camp.
The Tiger Pride camp concentrated on team-building activities, including creative
arts, hip-hop dance, African drumming and other music making, physical education,
and many team sports. As students rotated through activities, staying in their buddy
pairs, the kids bonded.
Speaking different languages presented few barriers to students' burgeoning
friendships. They used both hand signals and spoken words to communicate. By the
second week, students were joking and laughing with one another.
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Is it possible for high-poverty schools to be
high-performing? Of course it is! Real schools with
students living in poverty do post high levels of student
achievement. Lessons learned and practical advice from
seven of these high-performing / high-poverty, along
with hundreds of others that have been the subject of
intensive research, are the focus of this book. The
authors zero in on what HP/HP schools stopped doing
or eliminated and what they started doing or improved
on in three key areas of performance:
• Building leadership capacity
• Fostering a safe, healthy, and supportive learning
environment
• Focusing on student, professional, and system
learning
Rather than suggesting a one-size fits all approach, the
authors acknowledge the unique context of individual
schools and urge readers to engage in self-assessment,
reflection, and coordinated action to learn together and
lead together , with rubrics and planning tools to help
guide the process.
To order call: 1-800- 933-2723 or visit
ASCD online at
www.ascd.org/publications/books/109003.aspx
Improve achievement for all students with winning
strategies that respond to NCLB requirements!
Demonstrating that both struggling students and low-
performing schools can show dramatic improvement,
the authors provide lessons learned from experienced
teachers to help educators effectively instruct students
who are disadvantaged, culturally diverse, or who may
be at risk. This field-tested guide reviews NCLB
mandates and encourages educators to:
• Establish priorities that focus on student learning
• Create a school and classroom climate of respect
• Maintain high expectations for academic
performance
• Rely on results-driven instructional and assessment
practices
• Collaborate with parents and families
This book is a valuable resource for educators who
want to ensure positive school change and support
academic success for their students.
To order call: 1-800-805-233-9936 or visit
Corwin Press online at www.corwin.com/booksProDesc.nav?prodld=Book230851
Successfully reach and teach the underachieving
children of poverty with the help of this comprehensive
resource. The authors have compiled 18 timely research
studies to reveal an abundance of practical, usable
best-practice strategies you can implement at district,
school, and classroom levels along with rubrics at the
end of each chapter that readers can use to evaluate the
progress of their school or district.
Keep this collection of relevant research topics close at
hand to access:
• Essential leadership characteristics to improve student
achievement
• Strategies for engaging parents, the community, and
schools to work together
• How to maintain high expectations for the
underachieving children of poverty
• Methods for creating a culture of aasssseessssmmeenntt aanndd ddaattaa
lliitteerraaccyy
To order call: 1-800-733-6786 or visit Solution Tree online at www.solution-tree.com/the-kids-left-behind.html
ISBN:
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Price:
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Pages:
220
Edition:
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ISBN:
9781412957939
Price:
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Pages:
432
Edition:
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ISBN:
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Price:
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Edition:
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BEST-SELLER! BEST-SELLER! BEST-SELLER!
Turning High-Poverty Schools Into High-Performing SchoolsWilliam Parrett & Kathleen Budge, 2012
Saving Our Students, Saving Our Schools: 50 Proven Strategies for Helping Underachieving Students and Improving SchoolsRobert Barr & William Parrett, 2008
The Kids Left Behind:Catching Up the Underachieving Children of PovertyRobert Barr & William Parrett, 2007
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William H. Parrett
William H. Parrett is the Director of the Center for School Improvement & Policy Studies and Professor of Education at Boise State University. He has received international recognition for his work in school improvement, high-poverty schools, alternative education, and for his efforts to help under-achieving students. His professional experiences include public school and university teaching, curriculum design, principalships, college leadership, media production, research and publication. Parrett holds a Ph.D. in Secondary Education from Indiana University and has served on the faculties of Indiana University, the University of Alaska and Boise State University. As Director of the Boise State University Center for School Improvement & Policy Studies
(1996 to present), Parrett coordinates funded projects and school improvement initiatives which currently exceed $10 million dollars annually. His research on reducing achievement gaps, effective schooling practices for under-achieving students, and turning high-poverty schools into high-performing schools has gained widespread national recognition. Parrett is the co-author of the recently released best-seller, Turning High-Poverty Schools Into High-Performing Schools, (ASCD, 2012). He is also the co-author of the best-selling Saving Our Students, Saving Our Schools, 2nd edition, (Corwin Press, 2008, Honorable Mention, National Education Book of the Year 2009) and The Kids Left Behind: Catching Up the Underachieving Children of Poverty (Solution Tree, 2007, Best Seller). Other books include: Saving Our Students, Saving Our Schools (2003), Hope Fulfilled for At-Risk & Violent Youth (2001), How to Create Alternative, Magnet, and Charter Schools that Work (1997), Hope at Last for At-Risk Youth (1995), Inventive Teaching: Heart of the Small School (1993) and The Inventive Mind: Portraits of Effective Teaching (1991). He has also authored numerous contributions to national journals and international and national conferences over the past three decades. Parrett’s media production, Heart of the Country (1998), is a documentary of an extraordinary principal of a village elementary school in Hokkaido, Japan, and the collective passion of the community to educate the heart as well as the mind. Since its release, the production was nominated for the Pare Lorentz Award at the 1999 International Documentary Awards (Los Angeles, CA); has won the Award of Commendation from the American Anthropological Association, a Gold Apple Award for best of category at the National Education Media Network Festival (Oakland, CA), a National CINE Golden Eagle Award (Washington, D.C.), and a Judges’ Award at the 24th Northwest Film Festival (Portland, OR). In addition, Heart of the Country was an invited feature and screened at the Cinema du Reel festival in Paris (1998) and the Margaret Mead Film Festival (1998) in New York City. This work has received critical acclaim for its cinematography and insight into the universal correlates of effective teaching and learning and the power of community participation in public schools. Parrett has also served as visiting faculty at Indiana University, the University of Manitoba, Oregon State University, Hokkaido University of Education (Japan), Nagoya Gakiun (Japan), Gifu University (Japan) and Heilongjiang University (People’s Republic of China). His consultancies include state departments, boards of education, state and regional service providers and school districts in 43 states and 10 nations. Throughout his career, Parrett has worked to improve the educational achievement of ALL children and youth, particularly those less advantaged. Toward this goal, as director of the CSI&PS, he has overseen the acquisition of over thirty million dollars in external funding to create programs and interventions designed to help educators, schools, communities, and universities benefit from research and best practice. These efforts have positively impacted the lives of thousands of young people.
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Kathleen Budge Kathleen Budge is the coordinator of the Leadership Development Program at Boise State University. She has led the development of this innovative, non-traditional preparation program, the purpose of which is to develop leaders who have the commitment and capabilities to lead schools where all students succeed. She also serves as co-director of the Idaho Leads Project, the goal of which is to prepare all Idaho students for success in the 21st Century by strengthen leadership capacity in Idaho K-12 schools and districts and enhancing the advancement of educational improvement in Idaho’s communities. Kathleen also serves as an associate professor in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Department where her research and scholarly activity focuses on educational leadership, leadership development, rural education, school improvement, and poverty. She has conducted numerous presentations at national and state conferences as well as published articles on these
topics in such well-respected journals as The Journal of Research in Rural Education, Education Policy Analysis Archive, American Journal of Education, and Educational Leadership. She is co-author of Turning High Poverty Schools Into High Performing Schools (ASCD, 2012). Kathleen earned her doctorate from the University of Washington in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in 2005. She was selected to participate in Leadership for Learning, an innovative, cohort-based program that emphasized the link between leadership and learning, as well as the development of leaders willing and able to address and redress issues of equity and social justice. Her consultancies include state departments, boards of education, state and regional service providers, as well as school districts throughout the US; and she has served as visiting faculty for the Principal Academy facilitated by Advance Innovative Education in partnership with Louisiana State University. Dedicated to improving educational outcomes for all children, particularly those less advantaged, she has been instrumental in the acquisition of nearly five million dollars in grants and contracts to advance this aim. Prior to joining the faculty at Boise State, Kathleen served as the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning at Educational Service District 113 in Olympia, Washington. She provided leadership to forty-five, predominately rural, school districts serving approximately 77, 000 students. She led the development of a highly successful regional job-embedded professional development model and facilitated data-based improvement planning with more than 150 schools. Her leadership was recognized through being awarded the Washington Association of School Administrator’s (WASA) Regional President’s Award, the WASA Award of Merit, and the Washington Association of Educational Service Districts President’s Award for significant contribution to the state’s educational service agencies. Additionally, she served as a Washington State Distinguished Educator/School Improvement Specialist providing training and consultation to superintendents, central office administrators, building principals and teacher-leaders in schools spanning grades preschool-12, and varying in size, demographics, and geographical location. She was a member of the Statewide School Improvement Technical Assistance Council and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Curriculum Advisory and Review Committee, as well as a contributing author to the School System Improvement Guide and the Washington State School Improvement Planning Guide both published by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Olympia, Washington.
During her twenty-six years in P-12 education, she also served as a district curriculum director, an elementary principal, and an elementary and special education teacher. She continues to maintain that her most important and significant work has been teaching first graders to read.
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