Districts that Work:

Lessons from the Field and Core Practices

February 1, 2010

Ledyard McFadden

President

SchoolWorks

Dr. Wanda Bamberg

Superintendent

Aldine Independent School District

Who we are

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national venture

philanthropy established by Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship

for the public good in education, science and the arts. The Broad

Foundation’s education work is focused on dramatically improving

urban K-12 public education through better governance, management,

labor relations and competition. (www.broadfoundation.org)

SchoolWorks is an educational consulting company based in Beverly,

Massachusetts. Using a research-based rubric for school district

quality, SchoolWorks leads site visit researchers and practitioners to

analyze qualitative Broad Prize finalist district practices.

(www.schoolworks.org)

Who we are

The Aldine Independent School District, serving 62,000 students, was a Broad Prize finalist in 2004, 2005 and 2008 and the Winner in 2009, among other honors such as the Texas Awards Performance Excellence, 2006.

Why Aldine today? Two very good reasons:

1. From 1981 to 2008, went from approximately 16% Hispanic to 64% Hispanic

2. Demonstrates higher average proficiency rates by racial, ethnic and income subgroups than state counterparts in reading and mathematics

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Session Objectives

1. Share a hypothesis to explain why Broad Finalists Districts, like Aldine, have made progress in closing achievement gaps

2. Share key themes of practice across the Broad Finalist Districts

Session Agenda

1. Quick overview of the Broad Prize Process

2. Presentation of key themes of practice

3. Let Dr. Bamberg tell you the real deal

4. Questions

What is The Broad Prize?

The Broad Prize for Urban Education is an annual $2 million award

that honors large urban school districts demonstrating

the greatest overall student performance and improvement and

reduction in income and ethnic achievement gaps.

sculpture © Tom Otterness, 2002

How it works

Every year:

1. 100 largest urban American school districts are eligible

(list on www.broadprize.org)

2. Student achievement data analyzed

3. Five finalists selected by Broad Prize Review Board (nationally

acclaimed statisticians, researchers and education leaders)

4. Qualitative site visits

5. Winner selected by Broad Prize Selection Jury

(three former U.S. Sec’s. of Ed., former Govs., university presidents,

union leaders, CEOs)

2009 Broad Prize finalist school districts

Quantitative data reviewed by Review Boardand Selection Jury Graduation rates (NCES’ Common Core of Data):

– Average Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR)– Urban Institute Graduation Rate (Cumulative Promotion Index)– Manhattan Institute Graduation Rate (Greene’s Graduation Indicator)

College Readiness data (AP, SAT and ACT) Adequate Yearly Progress results District demographic data (enrollment, income, language, special education,

ethnicity) School-level variance analyses Analyses across proficiency levels (i.e., advanced, proficient, below basic) District performance and improvement rates on state reading and math tests,

compared with:– Prior performance – Expected performance for similar districts (based on poverty levels) in the state,

using a regression analysis Degree of achievement gap reduction between ethnic groups and between low-

income and non-low-income students, compared to the state No formula is used.

Process for conducting qualitative reviewof district-wide policies and processes

Uniform 3-day site visit in each finalist district

Evidence collected according to SchoolWorks Quality Criteria

as developed for The Broad Prize, i.e., site visit framework

– District documents reviewed

– Focus group interviews conducted with district stakeholders

– Limited classroom observations conducted

Developmental Rubric provides a multi-dimensional perspective

on the degree to which district systems and practices are effective

and sustainable

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Site Visit Framework: SchoolWorks Quality CriteriaDomain 1: Teaching

and LearningDomain 2: District

Leadership Domain 3: Operations and Support Systems

Dimension 1.1 Curriculum

Dimension 1.2 Instruction

Dimension 1.3 Assessment

Dimension 1.4 Instructional Leadership

Dimension 2.2 District Governance

Dimension 2.4 Performance and Accountability

Dimension 2.3 Strategic Planning Dimension 3.3

Organizational Structures and Management

Dimension 2.1 Mission, Vision and Values

Dimension 3.1 Allocation of

Financial Resources

Dimension 3.2 Human Resource Systems

Dimension 3.4 Support for Teaching

and Learning

2009 Broad Prize winnerAldine Independent School District in Houston, 80% FRSL

Outperformed other similar Texas districts in reading and mathematics

at all grade levels

Demonstrated higher average proficiency rates by racial, ethnic and

income subgroups than state counterparts in reading and mathematics

Narrowed income and ethnic achievement gaps (e.g., 14 percentage point

reduction in gap between African-American students and state average for

White students in middle school mathematics between 2005 and 2008).

How do these districts close the achievement gap?

The achievement gap is closed one student at a time. Focus on the individual child. Broad Finalists Districts thrive on beliefs, policies and practices that individualize education and emphasize success for all students.

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To be clear…

Yes. Board Finalists examine how well groups of students do (English Language Learners, ethnic groups, socioeconomic groups, etc.)

Yes. Broad Finalists districts consider culture and language and economic status as important information that informs programming

No. Broad Finalists Districts do not apply blanket approaches aimed to cover a whole group based on its identity.

Yes. Broad Finalists build systems of curriculum, instruction and assessment that can meet the needs of each individual child.

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What are the core practices found across Broad Prize Districts?

1. Curriculum and assessment

2. Instruction

3. Instructional leadership

4. Performance and accountability

5. Support for teaching and learning (professional development)

Curriculum and assessment

Broad Prize finalist districts typically have core structure in place– Alignment to state standards– Available materials– Systems to ensure fidelity of curriculum implementation

What’s exceptional– Continual review and refinement of curriculum through

knowledge capture

Examples of best curriculum and assessment practices from Broad Prize Districts

Assessments and analysis– Diagnostic assessments at school level– Interim assessments/benchmark assessments district-wide– Data systems make analysis accessible and useful –

teachers and administrators can understand student performanceon specific knowledge and skills

Vertical teams– Long Beach: “Bottom up, Top Down Review”– Northside, Texas: Specialists Teams

Living curriculum– Brownsville, Texas: “Written, Taught and Assessed Curriculum” (Fenwick

English) – Northside, Texas: Curriculum Management System

Instruction

Broad Prize finalist districts typically have core structure in place

– Planning linked to standards

– Time and resources– Processes for differentiation

and intervention

What’s exceptional

– Models– Link to assessment– Innovation

Clear models of instruction

Tight link to formative

assessmentsInnovation

Examples of best instruction practices from Broad Prize Districts

Instructional models– Broward, Fla.: “7,8,9 Plan”

Effective schools, Marzano, Eight-step instructional process– Long Beach: Essential Elements of Effective Instruction– Brownsville: 5 E Inquiry model

Links to assessment– Clear instruction cycles of approximately 6 weeks

Innovation – How did you do that?– Long Beach: Example of MAP2D

Teaching and Learning

MAP2D: Math Achievement Program Professional Development

What is the story behind this particular strategy and its contribution to the success of the district?

MAP2D Group

“Control” Group

High Performers

District Total

# of Schools 15 25 19 59

% ELL 29.8% 28.5% 14.9% 25.2%

% Low SES 84.6% 80.6% 51.5% 73.8%

% Proficient 58.5% 49.4% 61.6% 55.3%

Math CST Results for 2005-2006

MAP2D schools have higher percentages of ELL and free/reduced lunch students. After one year in the program, MAP2D schools surpassed the control group and the district

average and approached the proficiency level of high performers.

Increasing Student Achievement in Mathematics MAP2D Early Results

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2004 2005 2006 2007

Pro

ficie

ncy

Rat

e

Y ear 1 S c hools (5) Y ear 2 S c hools (10) Y ear 3 S c hools (25)

Non-MAP ²D S c hools White S tudents

Narrowing the Achievement Gap in Mathematics Grade 5 Hispanic Students vs. White Students

Implementation FrameworkMAP2D

Aspect of Implementation “The Long Beach Way”

Data Driven Need and Research Based Approach

Math Facts; Application of skills

Identification of the “Problem”Limited algebra readiness; correlation between Math Facts proficiency and CAHSEE passing rate

Establishing a Pre-K through 12th Grade Context

Students lacked foundational skills to pass the CAHSEE; critical grade-level transitions

Stakeholder Engagement Pilot, expansion, scale up

Shared Decision-Making Teacher input, teacher delivery, coaching

Resource Alignment / Reallocation Coaching, training

Professional Development and Communication

Teacher, principal, parent training

Execution Coaching, supervision, fidelity

Analysis of Results Internal program evaluation

Instructional leadership

Broad Prize Finalist Districts typically have core structure in place– Leadership accessible

to teachers– Leadership modeling

instructional practice– Providing regular, specific

feedback

What’s exceptional– Distributed leadership

Performance and accountability

Broad Prize Finalist Districts typically have a core structure– Goals for staff, schools and district– Regular cycle of measurement and reporting– Evaluation

What’s exceptional– Very deep alignment of goals vertically through the system,

heavily influenced by Baldrige – Use of technology to track and communicate progress

Examples of best performance and accountability practices from Broad Prize districts

Alignment– Aldine, Texas: Aligned teams, roll-up scorecard– Gwinnett, Georgia: RBES

“Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) has developed an accountability system for improving schools called the Results-Based Evaluation System (RBES). RBES fairly and systematically measures a school’s progress, providing a process that clearly communicates expectations; reviews, monitors, and supports school performance; and, evaluates that performance.”

GCPS RBES template

Building Human Capacity

All previous examples are supported by strong professional development

Examples from Brownsville

– All elementary-level teachers in the district are dual-certified in bilingual education to support immersion program

– Feedback on Bloom’s taxonomy, questioning skills and learner-centered instruction, using rubrics called “innovation configurations” that serve as tools for observers to evaluate the quality of instruction

– Strong partnerships with the University of Texas, Brownsville (UTB), which provides many new teachers to the district. As a result of this partnership, the Same Page Initiative was created. This initiative aligns university curriculum with the practices of the district, providing yet-to-be hired staff insight into district practices.

What’s next?

Curriculum and assessment– Global benchmarking– 21st century learning – Assessments to match new competitive standards

Instruction and instructional leadership– Better measurements of the impact of professional development

on instruction– More reliance on professional learning communities

to drive instruction– Greater knowledge capture

Performance and accountability– Driving down linked goals to teachers and students in

more explicit ways