The  OMPG/reDESIGN  Collabora5on  Learning  Across  the  Curriculum  Training  educators  to  prepare  NYC  Overage,  Under-­‐credited  Youth  for  College  

The LAC Project 2007-2010

Every  9  seconds  a  student  becomes  a  drop-­‐out  The  College  Readiness  Gap  

•  32%  of  all  students  leave  high  school  qualified  to  aBend  four-­‐year  colleges.    

•  51%  of  all  black  students  and  52%  of  all  Hispanic  students  graduate  from  high  school.  

•  20%  of  all  black  students  and  16%  of  all  Hispanic  students  leave  high  school  college-­‐ready.  

•  9%  of  all  college-­‐ready  graduates  are  black,  another  9%  are  Hispanic,  compared  to  a  total  populaKon  of  18-­‐year-­‐olds  that  is  14%  black  and  17%  Hispanic.  

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NYC’s  College  Readiness  Gap  49.5%  of  NYC  high  school  students  drop-­‐out  of  high  school  

Many  NYC  High  School  Graduates  who  do  graduate  and  aRend  college  will  enroll  at  CUNY  or  SUNY….    

…How  are  they  doing?  

• Only  3.4  %  of  CUNY  freshman  will  receive  an  Associates  Degree  by  the  end  of  6  years.  

• 74%  of  CUNY  freshmen  will  need  to  take  remedial  courses  (the  equivalent  of  paying  for  HS)  

• Only  55.8%  of  NYC  students  pass  the  Math  A  Regents  

• Only  59%  of  NYC  students  pass  the  English  Regents  

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How  the  LAC  Project  addresses  this  crisis  Schools  that  parKcipate  in  the  LAC  Project  learn  to  support  students  in…  

•  Building  Key  Cogni5ve  Skills  through  the  design  of  content-­‐area  invesKgaKons  that  emphasize  higher-­‐order  thinking.  

•  Expanding  Content-­‐specific  knowledge  and  skills  with  explicit  building-­‐background  techniques,  reinforced  by  collaboraKve  invesKgaKons,  and  opportuniKes  to  synthesize  new  learning.  

•  Developing  Academic  Behaviors  by  teaching  the  metacogniKve  skills  of  planning,  monitoring  and  evaluaKng  one’s  understanding,  techniques  and  performance.  

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Achievement Results: Academic Success for

Over-Age, Under-Credited Youth

3  Clients  who  met  AYP  while  serving  poten5al  drop-­‐outs:  

%  Graduated  

%  of  grads.  enrolled    in  college  

ELA  Regents  Passage  

Math  Regents  Passage  

Olympus  Academy   80%   40%   65%   75%  

Phoenix  Charter  Academy   47%   90%   95%   90%  

W.  Brooklyn  Community  HS   40%   29%   92%   89%  

THE  LAC  PROJECT  A  Framework  for  EffecKve  InstrucKon  

“Great  Teaching”  is  the  capacity  to  teach  students  to  become  great  (independent)  learners…  

the  capacity  to  become,  in  effect,  obsolete.  

This  can  be  taught  if  teachers  have:  

•  A  deep  understanding  of,    and  a  passion  for  teaching…  

•  High-­‐impact  learning  strategies  

•  Their  Content  • With  a  student-­‐centered  pedagogy  

•  CreaKvity  •  The  interest  in  and  capacity  to  reflect  •  A  trust  and  belief  in  students’  capacity  to  be  curious,  powerful  learners    

•  “Withitness”  (Kounin,  J.S,  1970)  

The  difference  between  effecKve  and  ineffecKve  teachers…  

The  top  5  %  of  teachers  are  able  to  impart  a  year  and  a  half’s  worth  of  learning  to  students  in  one  school  year,  as  judged  by  standardized  tests.  The  weakest  5%  advanced  their  students  only  half  a  year  of  material  each  year.    

           -­‐-­‐Eric  Hanushek  

A  student  with  a  weak  teacher  for  3  straight  years  will  score,  on  average,  50  percenKle  points  behind  a  similar  student  with  a  strong  teacher  for  those  same  years.    

 -­‐-­‐William  Sanders  

Excerpted from Green, E. “Building a Better Teacher.” NYTimes: 3/7/10.

The  LAC  Project:      The  Framework  for  Effec5ve  Instruc5on  

Learning  Strategies:  

Higher  Order  Thinking  (Cogni5ve  Strategies)  

Metacogni5on  (Academic  Behaviors)  

Literacy  Strategies  (The  gateway  to  developing  content-­‐area  skills  and  knowledge)  

The  LAC  Project:      The  Framework  for  Effec5ve  Instruc5on  Teaching  PracKces  

Building-­‐Background  Knowledge  

Modeling  Learning  Strategies  

Coaching  Academic  Behavior  

Scaffolding  Collabora5ve  Inves5ga5ons  of  rich  content  

Designing  opportuni5es  to  synthesize  new  learning  

Teaching  metacogni5on  

ImplemenKng  the  FEI  

•  The  LAC  Project  is  deeply  collaboraKve,  with  students  at  the  center.    

•  The  role  of  the  Principal  as  the  Leader  is  criKcal.  

•  The  relaKonship  between  Principals  and  Teachers  is  primary.    

•  FEI  Coaching  is  designed  to  support  the  joint-­‐work  of  the  Principal  and  Teachers.    

Principals The Instructional

Leaders of the Initiative

Teachers Co-creators & collaborators

The FEI & the LAC Project

Students Explorers & Experimentors

The  LAC  Project  Model:  ImplemenKng  the  Framework  for  EffecKve  

InstrucKon  Each  parKcipaKng  site  has  access  to:  •  A  Series  of  MulK-­‐Site  Trainings  on  the  FEI  

•  20-­‐30  Individualized  InstrucKonal  Site-­‐Visits    •  Coaching  for  Principals  on  InstrucKonal  Leadership:  

ImplementaKon  of  the  FEI  

•  Coaching  on  the  Design  of  Periodic  Assessments  for  college-­‐readiness  

•  Coaching  on  data  collecKon  and  analysis  of  college-­‐ready  habits.  

•  A  rich  set  of  resources  and  materials.  

How  effec5ve  is  the  LAC  Project?  What  teachers  and  principals  are  saying…  

I’ve  done  more  in  this  last  year  than  I’ve  done  in  many  years,  and  it  feels  like  this  is  what  I’m  supposed  to  do.  

“This  is  like  the  best  graduate  level  course  I’ve  ever  taken…to  have  this  kind  of  aBenKon  and  feedback  on  my  work  was  amazing.”  

“I’ve  always  been  creaKve  and  had  good  ideas  about  projects.  But  I  feel  like  it’s  really  been  important  to  learn  how  to  scaffold  the  curriculum  with  literacy  skills  and  meta-­‐cogniKon  so  that  students  get  what  they  need  to  actually  enjoy  learning.”  

In a 2009 OMPG survey of LAC Project Participants:

• 100% of respondents indicated that they had learned to integrate learning strategies into their teaching;

• 100% indicated CUE had enhanced their work with students;

• 100% indicated they had learned valuable new skills;

The Multi-Site Trainings

“When  I  started  to  work  with  my  coach  my  classroom  became  so  much  more…engaging:  with  less  Kme  for  lecturing,  and  much  more  Kme  for  invesKgaKon.  My  coach  was  so  honest  with  me,  she  gave  me  straighmorward  feedback  on  how  to  rebalance  my  lessons.  Her  candor  and  direcKon  has  been  so  useful.  I’ve  been  teaching  for  many  years,  but  now  I  feel  that  I  am  really  teaching…”  

I  find  myself  conferencing  with  the  students  and  asking  quesKons…now  the  students  say  “Man,  you  never  give  us  the  answers  any  more.”  

Individualized Instructional Site Visits

In a 2009 OMPG survey of LAC Project Participants:

• 79% of respondents incorporated more than 10 suggestions from their coaches into their teaching and planning.

• 86% indicated they had learned to integrate learning strategies into their teaching.

• 84% noticed their lesson planning became more strategic.

Teachers  Report:    The  FEI  Improves  Teaching  &  Learning  

Teacher’s  Work  with  Coach   Disagree   Unsure   Agree   S.  Agree  

 Regular  (n=28)   0%   13%   45%   42%    Occasional  (n=11)   0%   17%   58%   25%    Rare  –  Only  PD  (n=17)   18%   41%   32%   9%    All  Surveyed  (n=56)   6%   23%   43%   28%  

•  87% of teachers who work regularly with a coach report that teaching and learning in their classrooms is improving.

•  41% of teachers with rare access to a coach, also report that their teaching is improving.

“Not  only  are  the  students  learning  the  concepts  beBer,  but  they  are  learning  why  we  are  learning  to  use  learning  strategies.    Some  students  now  explain  the  strategies  to  other  students.”  

“My  students  “think”  more.”    

LAC  Project  par5cipants  deepen  their  understanding  of  Higher-­‐Order  Thinking  in  instruc5on  

Teacher’s  Work  with  Coach  Not  

Evident  Low   Moderate   Strong  

Regular  (n=30)   6.5%   13%   50%   30%  Occasional  (n=12)   0   25%   58%   16.5%  Rare  (n=21)   14%   14%   57%   14%  All  Surveyed  (n=63)   8%   16%   54%   22%  

When  Teachers  Discuss  their  Work  Is  Understanding  of  H.O.T.  Evident?  

Of  the  teachers  working  regularly  or  occasionally  with  a  coach…  

78.5%  report  deepening  their  understanding  of    H.O.T.  

62%        highlight  teaching  literacy  strategies  in  their  class  

55%        highlight  using  higher-­‐order  quesKoning  as  a  teaching  strategy  

52%        discuss  ways  they  ask  higher-­‐order  quesKons  in  assessments  

Teachers  and  Principals  Highlight    Key  Strengths  in  their  Coaches…  

• Cri5cal  Thinker.  Uses  quesKoning  to  help  me  think  more  deeply.  

• Resourceful.  Brings  materials,  models  acKviKes,  shares  Kps.  

• Concrete.  Provides  real-­‐Kme  nuts  and  bolts  steps  for  improving  teaching  and  learning.  

• Crea5ve.  Collaborates  with  us  to  create  new  approaches,  structures  and  materials  to  meet  our  students’  needs.    

• Responsive.  Helps  us  address  our  specific  needs  within  our  school  model.  

•   Open.  Professional  yet  comfortable,  meets  me  where  I’m  at.  

•   Respecmul.  Leverages  my  strengths  and  uses  these  to  support  me.  

•   Student  Focused.  Helps  me  see  pimalls  that  I  hadn’t  anKcipated.  

•   Student  Centered.  Helps  make  students  more  interacKve  in  my  classes.  

Support of Principals

“I  wanted  H.O.T.  to  be  the  one  central  concept  guiding  the  school,  but  I  didn’t  know  how  to  do  that  by  myself.  I  decided  to  learn  how  by  trying  everything  alongside  our  coach.  At  the  end  of  two  years  our  school  had  integrated  the  Framework  for  EffecKve  InstrucKon,  and  have  since  been  able  to  facilitate  and  modify  it  ourselves.  It  is  part  of  our  DNA:  even  with  staff  turn-­‐over,  H.O.T.  remains  at  the  center  of  our  work.”    

“My  past  experience  with  professional  development  has  been  that  it  was  so  theoreKcal  it  was  impossible  to  implement  effecKvely.  My  reDESIGN  coach  tailors  her  support  so  that  it  balances  the  theory  and  pracKce  so  well.  I  have  improved  immensely  this  year,  and  reDESIGN  has  played  the  biggest  part  in  that  growth.”  

“We  couldn’t  have  built  our  school  without  the  LAC  project,  both  in  the  design  phase  of  our  work,  and  over  the  past  three  years  of  operaKon.  Despite  the  fact  that  our  students  have  faced  repeated  failure  in  other  schools,  the  model  we  have  created  with  reDESIGN  has  allowed  them  to  succeed  at  levels  that  even  we  didn’t  believe  was  possible.”    

Support of Principals The  LAC  Project  is  most  effecKve  in  schools  where  Principals  use  their  coach  to  support  their  own  development  as  a  leader.    

In  these  programs,  principals  and  coaches:  

• Co-­‐develop  and  manage  a  school-­‐wide  FEI  implementaKon  plan;  • Meet  weekly  to  explore  and  reflect  on  instrucKonal  improvement  issues;  • Co-­‐plan  and  facilitate  professional  development  sessions;  • Co-­‐observe  classrooms,  debriefing  with  each  other  and  the  teacher;  • Observe  each  other  modeling  new  strategies  and  pracKces  in  classrooms,  providing  each  other  with  feedback.  • Create  and  modify  tools  and  materials  for  the  staff.  

High  School  for  Excellence  &  Innova5on  A  snap-­‐shot  of  the  first  6  months  in  the  LAC  project  

Aner  6  months  in  the  LAC  Project,  par5cipa5ng  teachers  beRer  understand    H.O.T.  

Low  Level    of  Understanding  

Middle  Level  of  Understanding  

High  Level    of  Understanding  

Focus  primarily  on  content,  recall,  and  low-­‐level  skills.  

Some  focus  on  literacy  strategies  and  higher-­‐order  

thinking.  

Focus  on  scaffolding  higher-­‐order  thinking  and  

metacogniKon.  

High  Level  of  LAC  Par5cipa5on   0   1   2  Low  Level  of  LAC  Par5cipa5on   2   2   0  

•  All  describe  the  coaches  as  “very  approachable”  and  enjoyable  to  work  with.  

•  All  4  teachers  felt  their  lesson  planning  had  improved  through  parKcipaKon  in  the  project.  

•  Teachers  highlighted  coaches’  ability  to  help  them  understand  and  implement  complex  concepts.  

•  Teachers  highlighted  how  coaches  help  them  to  think  more  deeply  about  their  own  pracKce.  

Posi5ve  Feedback  from  the  HSEI  Principal  and  Teachers  involved  with  the  LAC  Project