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WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO ACCELERATE KIDS' LEARNING?
Last year, 14 grade levels across our 8 intensive
school sites in San Jose Unified achieved dramatic results:
double-digit gains in the percentage of students scoring proficient
or above on the California Standards Test in English Language
Arts. We set out to discover the common practices and mindsets
that led to these results. Through a series of interviews with
teachers and PartnersSI staff who worked within these grade levels,
we found that making time for lesson planning based on standards
and student data was the key contributor to student gains.
As one teacher noted, "You can assess religiously and get the
same results week after week. Thoughtful lesson-planning actually
changes instruction and results."
Successful teachers prioritized and protected time
for detailed planning on what and how to teach each day of every
week. The effectiveness of planning was directly related to how
well teachers understood the purpose of planning, the language
arts standards, the gaps in the curriculum and their own students
as learners. These are precisely the areas where PartnersSI supported
teachers to build their knowledge and skills.
We also found areas where our most successful
schools shared distinctive mindsets and used common practices
and structures. With PartnersSI's support, all of these school-wide
factors were cultivated over time and contributed to more effective
lesson planning at the grade level and better teaching in the
classroom.
1. Continuous Learning and Drive to Improve
Shared passion and goals for students' success
Successful teachers and leaders maintained high expectations for
students and committed to knowing students deeply as individuals.
They followed through on their agreements and took collective
responsibility for student learning.
Continuous improvement through peer feedback
Teachers observed each other teaching, continuously shared feedback
and ideas and were willing to ask themselves and each other tough
questions in order to improve the quality of their instruction.
Problem-solving orientation
Teachers applied strategic and creative approaches to challenging
situations and focused on possibilities and solutions rather than
barriers to getting results.
"We were open to hearing each
other, not insisting this is how I do it. We were open to changing
things. I think I changed more last year and the year before with
PartnersSI than ever in all the 13 years I've been teaching."
– Teacher
2. Focused Coaching and Facilitation
Strong mid-level leaders (i.e., coaches, resource and classroom
teachers) kept grade level teams on track, organized and focused
on student learning. The most effective leaders facilitated each
meeting with a clear agenda, expectations and goals. They supported
teachers to plan high quality lessons and ensured these were implemented
well by providing follow up support and frequently observing classrooms
and asking about student progress. Coaches developed teachers
by building their trust, maximizing their strengths and differentiating
support for each grade level team.
"It seems that the more grade
level teams decide what they're going to focus and agree on, we
see consistent results. The constant looking at data makes you
realize if you're doing well or not compared to other colleagues,
so you can ask for help." – School-based coach
3. Clear Systems for Instructional Improvement
School-wide planning time
All 14 successful grade levels were in schools that institutionalized
grade level team meeting time at least 3 times per month with
a common agenda of looking back at student data and lesson planning
based on standards. Leaders released teachers for additional planning
and reflection time every 6 weeks.
Distributed leadership
All schools had mid-level leaders meet as a team to prepare for
and debrief grade level meetings. This structure provided time
for their own planning, problem solving and decision-making around
the allocation of support and resources to teachers. Schools also
worked on identifying emerging teacher leaders to facilitate their
own grade level teams and creating a leadership structure that
included teacher representatives to broaden and build capacity.
Strong expectations and support
Effective leaders expected teachers to accelerate student achievement
(that is, enable students to make more than 1.5 years growth within
the school year). They reinforced this expectation through frequent
classroom observations, one-to-one meetings with teachers after
benchmark assessments, and strategic allocation of resources to
support student acceleration (for example, providing interventions,
additional assessments, research-based language and literacy programs
and relevant teacher professional development).
"[The principal] set a high
bar for instruction and high expectations. Her commitment to spending
time in classroom and pushing powerful instructional practices
was a huge factor in the school's success." – PartnersSI staff
Conclusion
These findings are consistent with educational research about
what it takes to improve the quality of teaching in ways that
dramatically influence student learning. While not surprising,
they are evidence of what happens when theory is put into practice
and when focused attention is paid to implementation and follow-through.
At PartnersSI we help teachers and principals carry out research-based
practices in focused ways that make a difference for students.
This year we created an Organizational Learning
and Effectiveness team to ramp up our ability to learn from what's
working and feed it back into our organization so that we can
engage in rapid improvement. Throughout the year, we will continue
to capture examples of what works and what doesn't in order to
continuously improve our own approach to transforming schools
and accelerating students. For more on this work, please contact
Rachel Scott, Director of Organizational Learning and Effectiveness
at rscott@partnersinschools.org.
Articles in this issue (Winter 2008):
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