district program monitoring report-update...focus on student-centered, data-driven instruction...

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Date: January 8, 2019

Background.

APS has a vision to be a school district where “Every student shapes a successful future.” To this

end, over the past five years APS has launched a set of reform initiatives that seek to engage

families, students, staff and other community stakeholders in driving reform efforts in APS

forward. These efforts, collectively known as the Communities Organized to Reach Excellence

or CORE framework, are an outgrowth of the strategic planning process initiated in 2013. The

CORE framework lays out multiple strategies to drive reform, including a key strategy—the APS

International Leadership Aurora Community-Based Transformation, Innovation and Opportunity

Network (ACTION) Zone.

In 2016, Aurora Public Schools utilized the Colorado Innovation Schools Act to apply for

Innovation Status for five schools and in turn form an Innovation Zone. Having State innovation

status allows a school to remain in the district while giving the school community added

flexibilities to redesign itself. Innovation status allows a school to develop a customized and

unique plan of structures, programs and governance models that will best serve the students at

the school. It requires the entire school community to work together to implement innovative

approaches to promote student achievement that could affect people, time, programs or money.

In return, the school may be exempt from certain state laws or school district policies to

implement the innovation plan. State-approved innovation schools are made possible by the 2008

Innovation Schools Act.

The Colorado State Board of Education approved APS’ request for Innovation Status, which

formed the ACTION Zone. The ACTION Zone is a network of five schools that includes

Boston (P-8), Aurora Central High School (9-12), Crawford Elementary (P-5), Paris Elementary

(K-5), and Aurora West College Preparatory Academy (6-12). These schools were chosen

because of their similarities in the student population they were serving---a high concentration of

immigrants and refugees, serving as feeders for Aurora Central High School, and individual

performance metrics. Each school has an individual Innovation Plan that was approved by the

Colorado State Board of Education that outlines their unique structures and programs, as well as

the policies around which they have specific flexibility.

The ACTION Zone shares the common theme of International Leadership—a theme selected to

resonate with the diverse community served across these schools and to best capitalize on the

assets of the students and families in the Zone. The ACTION Zone has been partnering with the

International Schools Studies Network to design and implement a culture of international

leadership.

Collectively and individually, all ACTION Zone schools are working toward the common goal

of becoming a Performance school within five years, as only two of the five schools were

District Program Monitoring Report-Update

Aurora International Leadership ACTION Zone

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identified as Performance when the Zone started. To achieve this goal, the Zone is focusing on

the following four common pillars:

● Create a climate and culture of international leadership for every student ● Focus on student-centered, data-driven instruction ● Develop a comprehensive talent strategy so that all faculty and staff can succeed ● Develop strong family and community partnerships to support students and schools

In 2016, APS also established the Office of Autonomous Schools (OAS) to supervise and

support ACTION Zone schools collectively and individually in carrying out these pillars and

achieving its overall goal of improved performance. The Office of Autonomous Schools

oversees both charter schools and the ACTION Zone. OAS has created new processes for

supporting these schools and monitoring school performance to focus on outcomes and results.

OAS is leveraging best practices from the autonomies that charters have to optimize the

flexibilities schools in the ACTION Zone have through their state-granted innovation status.

Section 1: Program Status.

Launched with the 2016-17 school year, the ACTION Zone is in the middle of its third year of

implementation. The ACTION Zone will continue its work to support these five schools so that

they may continue to work toward the goal of becoming Performance schools and sustain

existing improvements for the two schools that have achieved Performance status. Continuity to

make and sustain progress is critical.

The ACTION Zone is also continuing its partnership work with Communities in Schools (CIS)

and the International Schools Studies Network for the 18-19 school year. The ACTION Zone

also continues to receive support from Mass Insight Education both in capacity building

professional development with OAS staff and in supporting Aurora Central in implementation of

its turnaround plan, through coaching and capacity building for leaders. Each year, OAS reviews

the quality and effectiveness of each partnership and uses this analysis to determine continuation

and scope of the partnership in succeeding years.

Section 2: Budget.

The following tables reflect the budgets for the Office of Autonomous Schools, which includes

both the ACTION Zone and APS’ Charter Office; individual schools; and also the Zone’s

partnership with the ISSN.

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Office of Autonomous Schools

*Important Note: Because APS’ accounting system works by department, the budgeted and

actual amounts for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years include funding for the entire Office of

Autonomous Schools, which includes support and oversight for both the ACTION Zone, as well

as carrying out the district’s role as charter authorizer. Therefore, not all funds listed are district

costs attributable to supporting the ACTION Zone.

2017-18 2018-19

Budgeted* Actual* Budgeted*

Personnel: Salaries &

Benefits

● Executive Director ● Director of Innovation ● Direction of Instruction

and Leadership

Development ● Director, Family

Advocacy & Community

Engagement ● School Performance

Manager ● Office Support

*Also includes Director of

Charter Schools and Charter

School Manager

$961,123 $915,871 $889,808

Supplies $46,996 $43,712 $3,300

Equipment & Maintenance $3,600 $2,594 $6,560

Instructional Supports &

Professional Development

Includes items such as

● I-ready Interim

Assessment ● Conference

attendance ● Consultant services

$290,614 $251,178 $200,819

Total $1,302,333* $1,213,355* $1,100,487*

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International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) Partnership

2017-18 2018-19

Budgeted

Actual Budgeted

International Studies Schools

Network (ISSN) Partnership

Components of ACTION Zone’s

work with ISSN include

● Membership to Network and

Network curricular and

community supports ● On-site coaching ● Summer Institute Participation ● Learning series for leaders ● Study Tour ● Site Visit Review

$207,500 $207,500 $200,000

Aurora Central

2017-18 2018-19

Budgeted Actual Budgeted

Instructional Expenditures ● Instructional Salaries/Benefits ● Instructional Services/Supplies

$6,529,494 $6,385,131 $6,287,288

Administrative and

Supporting Services ● Administrative and Supporting

Services Salaries/Benefits ● Administrative and Support

Service Expenses $3,096,239 $3,084,858 $2,278,071

Total Expenses $9,625,733 $9,469,989 $8,565,359

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Aurora West

2017-18 2018-19



$4,369,362 $4,159,648 $4,200,512

Administrative and



Service Expenses $1,552,998 $1,397,466 $1,699,181

Total Expenses $5,922,360 $5,557,114 $5,899,693

Boston

2017-18 2018-19



$1,841,017 $1,852,984 $2,221,829

Administrative and


Services Salaries/Benefits

● Administrative and Support

Service Expenses $625,492 $623,322 $516,520

Total Expenses $2,466,509 $2,476,306 $2,738,349

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Crawford

2017-18 2018-19



$2,523,590 $2,503,093 $2,501,442

Administrative and



Service Expenses $659,311 $645,570 $561424

Total Expenses $3,182,901 $3,148,663 $3,062,866

Paris

2017-18 2018-19



$1,442,249 $1,349,559 $1,498,215

Administrative and



Service Expenses $603,830 $544,629 $579,266

Total Expenses $2,046,079 $1,894,188 $2,077,481

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Section 3: Implementation Progress.

Innovation Zone Strategic Priorities

The ACTION Zone has continued its system level work on the four key pillars indicated above

to help drive toward improved school performance. Outlined below is the work and results that

were achieved in the ACTION Zone during the 17-18 school year and the work that the Zone is

undertaking to advance that work in the 18-19 school year.

Pillar 1: Create a Climate and Culture for International Leadership.

● In 2017-18, the Zone accomplished the following to drive this pillar: o Continued implementation of the Financial Flexibility Framework to

continue to identify opportunities to best leverage funding to align with

the needs of the school and community o Designed international leadership focused opportunities for K-8 and

capstone projects for high school in partnership with the ISSN o Focused implementation of School Improvement Plans (SIP), resulting in

improved SPF o Implemented project-based learning activities that are connected to our

students’ real world context o Consulted with ISSN to support school leaders

● In the 2018-19 school year, the Zone is focusing on the following actions:

o Continuing implementation of the Financial Flexibility Framework to

continue to identify opportunities to best leverage funding to align with

the needs of the school and community o Implementing international leadership K-8 opportunities and piloting

capstone project

o Strengthening SIP creation and implementation process to create more

focus and a structured framework for continuous improvement cycles

o Implementing project-based learning activities that are connected to our

students’ real world context

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Pillar 2: Focus on Student-Centered Data Driven Instruction

● In 2017-18, the Zone accomplished the following to drive this pillar: o Implemented three interim assessment cycles, coupled with student-

focused data analysis and action planning by each teacher o Coached each school leader around their school improvement plans o Developed school-based coaches to build capacity to coach around student

data o Customized training and coaching of each school leader by OAS staff o Piloted Mastery Connect assessment platform at AWCPA

● In 2018-19, the Zone is focusing on the following actions to support this pillar:

o Implementing strong interim data cycles and building capacity to lead

regular data meetings with teacher teams

o Developing coaches to lead strong data analysis and action planning o Scaling use of Mastery Connect to deliver assessments and generate

actionable data for teachers o Sending 5 Leaders to RELAY training o Zone provided individualized coaching of school instructional leaders to

implement strong data cycles

Pillar 3: Develop a Comprehensive Talent Strategy

● In the 2017-18, the Zone accomplished the following to drive this pillar: o Established a partnership between University of Colorado-Denver and

Aurora Central to support pipeline development o Provided zone-wide professional learning for teachers and leaders through

development of SIPs o Delivered Monthly Instructional Leadership Development sessions on

Fridays with a focus on Instructional rigor, data-driven instruction,

professional development, and instructional observation and feedback o Conducted Monthly learning walks with all principals to learn from and

advise resident principal o Designed new differentiated leadership development program for

ACTION Zone leaders

● In 2018-19, the Zone is focusing on the following actions to support this pillar:

o Continuing its partnership with University of Colorado-Denver o Leadership capacity building through Zone retreat and SIP design o Launching and leading ACTION Leadership, new robust leadership

development program within the Zone o Redesigning school visits to be a more comprehensive learning experience

for OAS and school leaders o Continued bi-weekly coaching of principals

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o One-on-one OAS coaching support as needed for other instructional

leaders

Pillar 4: Develop Strong Family and Community Partnerships

● In the 2017-18, accomplished the following to drive this pillar: o Tailored support to individual schools to re-engage students o Agreed on and designed Zone-wide scaling of successful student and

family engagement at Crawford (Parents in Action) o Leveraged CIS personnel to fill gaps at schools and support families

● In the 2018-19, the Zone is focusing on the following actions:

o Building capacity of school leadership team to engage with, advocate for,

and capture parent voice by scaling the Parents in Action program

developed and piloted at Crawford Elementary.

o Continuation of triangulation of community support organizations to

broaden education and social supports for students and their families, in

partnership with Communities in Schools

Individual School Progress

The following highlight some of the individual school progress to date

● Aurora Central: o Between 15-16 and 16-17, Aurora Central saw 4 year graduation rates improve by

over 3 percentage points from 48.1 to 51.3%, with 17-18 graduation rates

available mid-January 2019.

o Aurora Central also is in its first year of the CCA Academy.

o Aurora Central launched four Parents in Action groups (Spanish, Nepali,

Communities of Burma (Burmese and Karen), and English).

● Aurora West: o In both Math and ELA, AWCPA exceeded the district average Median Growth

Percentile (MGP) for PSAT/SAT, with 57 MGP for math and 46 for ELA,

compared to district average MGPs of 47 and 43, respectively.

o Aurora West sustained its Performance SPF rating.

o Aurora West launched 6 Parents in Action Groups (Spanish, Nepali, Communities

of Burma (Burmese and Karen), Somali, Karenni, and English). This includes the

first mobilized Karenni parents group in APS.

● Boston: o In math, Boston improved its MGP by 4 points between 2016-17 and 2017-18,

from 48 to 52.

o Boston implemented innovative ELD practices by integrating with its science

curriculum.

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o Boston has a food bank for families that is utilized every Friday.

o Boston launched four Parents in Action Groups (English, Spanish, Communities

of Burma, and Nepali).

● Crawford: o In math, Crawford improved its MGP by 15 points between 2016-17 and 2017-18,

from 36.5 to 51.5.

o Crawford continues its work on providing frequent observation and feedback to

teachers and is encouraging innovative risk taking in the classroom to improve

teaching and learning.

o Crawford continued its Parents in Action Work with four groups (Spanish,

Communities of Burma, Somali, Nepali).

● Paris: o In math, Paris showed its MGP by 8.5 points between 2016-17 and 2017-18, from

38 to 46.5.

o Paris is focused on building a new school culture, as well as onboarding and

capacity building of new teaching staff.

o Paris has been building community partnerships, including partnering with

Children’s Hospital to provide health and wellness programming.

See data under Section 6 on current progress on SPF to date.

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Section 4. Students Served and Demographic.

Student Enrollment and Demographics.

● The following tables show enrollment of students for the 18-19 school year compared to

the 17-18 school year. ● The ACTION Zone saw an overall decline in enrollment of approximately 5.8% between

the 17-18 school and 18-19 school year. School Year Total Hispanic

/Latino

American

Indian or

Alaska

Native

Asian Black or

African

American

Native

Hawaiian

or Other

Pacific

Islander

White More

than 1

race

indicated

Aurora

Central

17-18 1,906

65.8% 0.7% 7.7% 18% 0.9% 4.9% 2.0%

18-19 1,834 67.6% 0.5% 7.1% 16.2% 1.3% 4.6% 2.8%

Aurora

West

17-18 1,175

68.9% 0.6% 12.8% 11.5% 0.1% 4.7% 1.6%

18-19 1,126 71.3% 0.4% 10.1% 10.4% 0.2% 5.3% 2.2%

Boston 17-18 528

69.3% 0.6% 9.8% 15.0% 0 2.8% 2.5%

18-19 498 76.9% 0.2% 6.3% 10.7% 0 3.6% 2.2%

Crawford 17-18 534

50.8% 1.4% 26% 17.3% 0 4% 0.6%

18-19 458 49.1% 1.0% 27.5% 15.9% 0 4.8% 1.7%

Paris 17-18 344

66.2% 1.3% 6.9% 17.8% 1.3% 3.9% 2.6%

18-19 310

68.4% 0.6% 5.7% 17.3% 1.8% 3.0% 3.3%

Total 17-18 4,487 66.6% 0.6% 11.7% 14.5% 0.5% 4% 2.1%

18-19 4,226

67.5% 0.5% 10% 14% 0.8% 4.6% 2.5%

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Additional Demographic Data: Free- and Reduced Lunch, Immigrant, Refugee, English

Language Learners, Students with Disabilities, and Gifted/Talented

● The percentage of FRL students calculated as a result of October count is currently

embargoed until mid-January. ● The overall percentage of students identified as non-English Proficient and Limited

English Proficient, students with disabilities and gifted/talented students stayed relatively

stable.

School Year Total FRL

(%)

ELL: NEP &

LEP

(%)

Students

w/Disabilities

(%)

Gifted/Talented

(%)

Aurora

Central

17-18 72.9 45 13.3 2.9

18-19 ** 44 14 3.4

Aurora

West

17-18 88.4 41 11.1 4.1

18-19 ** 39 10.9 4.6

Boston 17-18 88.9 57 11.6 2.1

18-19 ** 63 12.7 1.9

Crawford 17-18 84.6 71 14.2 0.3

18-19 ** 62 13.5 0.4

Paris 17-18 88.3 67 9.8 0.4

18-19 ** 66 11.9 0

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Race/Ethnicity

● Between 16-17 and 17-18, schools experienced slight fluctuations, within a few

percentage points, of the racial and ethnic composition of each school

School Year Hispanic/Latino American

Indian or

Alaska

Native

Asian Black or

African

American

Native

Hawaiian

or Other

Pacific

Islander

White More than

1 race

indicated

Aurora

Central

17-18 65.8% 0.7% 7.7% 18% 0.9% 4.9% 2.0%

18-19 67.6% 0.5% 7.1% 16.2% 1.3% 4.6% 2.8%

Aurora

West

17-18 68.9% 0.6% 12.8% 11.5% 0.1% 4.7% 1.6%

18-19 71.3% 0.4% 10.1% 10.4% 0.2% 5.3% 2.2%

Boston 17-18 69.3% 0.6% 9.8% 15.0% 0 2.8% 2.5%

18-19 76.9% 0.2% 6.3% 10.7% 0 3.6% 2.2%

Crawford 17-18 50.8% 1.4% 26% 17.3% 0 4% 0.6%

18-19 49.1% 1.0% 27.5% 15.9% 0 4.8% 1.7%

Paris 17-18 66.2% 1.3% 6.9% 17.8% 1.3% 3.9% 2.6%

18-19 68.4% 0.6% 5.7% 17.3% 1.8% 3.0% 3.3%

Section 5: Timeline.

● The ACTION Zone is in year three of a five-year plan of implementation and goals, with

review of school Innovation Plans occurring every three years. The Zone is currently

planning for that upcoming review. ● As described above, the ACTION Zone is continuing to build on the four pillars in year 3

and will later in the spring/summer determine the necessary work to further strengthen

those pillars in Year 4. ● Schools in the ACTION Zone are in the second full year of partnering with Communities

in Schools. A District Monitoring Report specifically on Communities in Schools was

presented in November 2018. ● The ACTION Zone is in its third year of an anticipated three-year partnership with the

ISSN. This ongoing work will continue to be reviewed and assessed.

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Section 6. Goals.

● Each school in the ACTION Zone outlined a set of school performance targets in their

State approved Innovation Plan. ● Of the ACTION Zone schools, here are their progress toward their goals based on Year 2

of implementation: o Two schools, Boston and AWCPA, sustained their Performance ratings. o Two schools, Crawford and Paris, improved their overall SPF rating from Priority

Improvement to Improvement and therefore are no longer on the State’s

Accountability Clock (Performance Watch). o Aurora Central continued to show improvement in the overall percentage of

points earned on the SPF.

School Performance Targets

Aurora Central Boston

Year Target: Status

and % of SPF

Points

Actual Year Target: Status

and % of SPF

Points

Actual

Baseline: 15-16 - Turnaround

31.8%

Baseline: 15-16 - Performance

57.1%

Year 1: 16-17 Improvement

49.4%

Priority

Improvement

34.8%


50.5%

Performance

53.1%


55.9%

Priority

Improvement

37.4%


54.5%

Performance

52.6%

Year 3: 18-19 Performance

60%


59%


64%


63.5%


68%

Year 5: 20-21

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Crawford Paris

Year Target: Status

and % of SPF

Points


and % of SPF

Points

Actual

Baseline: 15-16 - Improvement

45.9%

Baseline: 15-16 - Priority

Improvement

37.7%


63%

Priority

Improvement

39.4%

Year 1: 16-17 Priority

Improvement

43.8%

Priority

Improvement

40%


66.5%

Improvement

48.6% Year 2: 17-18 Improvement

48%

Improvement

42.9%


70.5%


53%


73.5%


58%


77%


63%

Aurora West

● AWCPA (6-12) earned an overall SPF rating of Performance.

Aurora West High School Aurora West Middle School

Year Target: Status

and % of SPF

Points


and % of SPF

Points

Actual

Baseline: 15-16 - Performance

72.6%

Baseline: 15-16 - Priority

Improvement

38.9%


79%

Performance

60.5%

Year 1: 16-17 Priority

Improvement

47%

Priority

Improvement

40.0%


81%

Performance

60.5 Year 2: 17-18 Improvement

52%

Priority

Improvement

41.1%


83%


57%


85%


62%


87%


67%

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Section 7. Next update?

● The next update on the ACTION Zone will be scheduled for the 2019-20 school year when

the board calendar is developed, with an anticipated update in in January 2020.

district program monitoring report-update...focus on student-centered, data-driven instruction...

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