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Florida Leadership Academy for Innovation and Improvement

US DOE Communication Hub Meeting

Albuquerque, NMSeptember 26-27, 2013

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Florida Leadership Academy Components and Objectives

Professional Development (2008-2011)—Develop the capacities of current principals, assistant principals and teacher leaders to improve low-performing schools

New Leaders Preparation (2008-2011)—Recruit, prepare and certify new leaders to serve low-performing schools in high-needs districts

Placement and Job Support (2011-2013)—Provide supports and incentives to attract, place and keep well-prepared new leaders in hard to change schools

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Florida Leadership Academy Progress on Three Objectives

Develop and test a replicable academy model for preparing and developing aspiring and current school leaders—Substantial Progress

Recruit, train, certify and hire up to 40 new leaders to serve low-performing schools—Substantial Progress

Provide current principals/assistant principals professional development and coaching to improve achievement—Substantial Progress

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Year 5: Increasing the Capacity of Principals (2012-2013

Twelve current FL principals in Escambia, Madison and Orange school districts who completed the three-year FLASII professional development program were chosen to participate in an instructional school-wide initiative with a CCSS focus.

They were asked to lead school-wide initiatives to make literacy and math instruction and assessment more powerful and improve student achievement.

Twelve middle school and high school leadership teams participated in Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) or Math Design Collaborative (MDC) on-going CCSS professional development throughout the 2012-2013 school year.

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Evaluation Questions

What was the quality of support provided to participating administrators and school leaders?

What were the changes in teacher practice? What was the quality of the LDC and MDC training? What was the impact on students? What were the LDC and MDC rollout plans at the

schools?

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Evaluation Techniques and Limitations

Teacher surveys, teacher focus groups, professional development attendance records, evaluations of professional development sessions, principal and coach interviews, trainers’ records

Limitations include a district vs. a school analysis, competing school improvement programs in schools, a late start in starting professional development, quick turnaround in collecting evaluation data..

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LDC Teacher Survey Results

At least 88% of all teachers agree or strongly agree that they have made changes in their instructional practice as a result of LDC professional development.

One hundred percent of Madison teachers and 97% of Orange teachers agree or strongly agree that LDC training complements the educational needs of students. In Escambia the percentage is 82%.

One hundred percent of Madison teachers agree or strongly agree that use of LDC techniques have increased student engagement. Escambia teachers agree at 80% and Orange teachers are at 79%.

The teachers in these districts agreeing that they could assist peers in rolling out LDC ranged from 86% to100%.

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MDC Teacher Survey Results

Orange teachers (100%), Escambia teachers (93%) and Madison teachers (88%) agree and strongly agree that their instructional practices have changed as a result of MDC.

Both Escambia (100%) and Orange (100%) agree and strongly agree that MDC training complements the educational needs of students. Madison teachers agree to strongly agree at 78%.

Both Escambia and Orange teachers agree to strongly agree at 100% that there has been an increase student achievement with MDC strategies. Madison is at 43%.

Escambia (93%), Madison (100%) and Orange (96%) teachers agree to strongly agree that they can assist their peers with a fall rollout.

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Overall Recommendations

School administrators should continue to participate in LDC and MDC training on a regular basis. This includes district curriculum specialists and school math and reading coaches.

If feasible, a LDC and MDC resource room should be created at each participating school.

The most effective teacher leaders should be chosen to participate in the initial LDC or MDC training.

Teachers need time to plan and write LDC modules and prepare for Formative Assessment Lessons.

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Evaluation Insights

Role and influence of the principal Role and influence of coach and trainer

associated with long-term LDC and MDC professional development

Achievement level of participating schools

Background information about the school districts (impoverished, working class, middle class/affluent)

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Evaluation Results

Coaching support to school teams varied from adequate to outstanding.

Some trainings had to be rescheduled which caused disruption.

Some participating teachers now have student-centered classrooms, use project-based instruction and employ higher-level questioning techniques.

The quality of LDC and MDC training varied depending on the trainer.

Students initially struggled with LDC and MDC teaching techniques. As the year progressed, student struggle declined.

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Evaluation—Continued

A higher level of student engagement, students taking charge of their own learning and a better understanding of content knowledge was observed in some classrooms.

The number of LDC modules and MDC Formative Assessment Lessons teachers were expected to complete fell short in some schools.

Escambia and Orange teachers felt comfortable about a MDC rollout in the fall; Madison teachers were unsure about a MDC school adoption (too much teacher preparation needed).

Madison and Orange teachers believed a LDC adoption could take place in their schools in the fall; Escambia was uncertain (question program benefits, not all teachers trained).

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For More Information

Dr. Paula Egelson, SREB FLASII Evaluator, paula.egelson@sreb.org