Division Liaison Update

Division Liaison MeetingThe College of William and Mary

January 7, 2013

1. Where are the state educational agency’s focus schools in their preparations to implement interventions in the first semester?

2. What processes, such as needs analyses, are local educational agencies and schools using to determine what interventions will be implemented?

3. How is the state educational agency ensuring that its local educational agencies implement interventions aligned with the reason for the school’s identification as a focus school?

4. What resources and supports are the state educational agency providing to those local educational agencies as they develop their plans for interventions?

5. What process does the state educational agency have in place to ensure that all focus schools will begin implementing interventions in the first semester? For example, do local educational agencies have a plan or report that they must submit?

6. How is the state educational agency planning to hold local educational agencies accountable for improving school and student performance?

7. How and when does the state educational agency plan to monitor local educational agency implementation of interventions in priority and focus schools?

U.S. Department of Education’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver Monitoring Key Questions Regarding Focus Schools

The division- and school-level plans will be the key to monitoring each local educational agency’s compliance with the ESEA flexibility waiver provisions. Both plans will be submitted via the Indistar® dashboard on:• January 18, 2013• April 30, 2013• June 28, 2013

Quarterly Audit Reports -Findings

• Division leadership teams did not update their indicators to address the needs of the identified focus/Tier III schools. Many used the same indicators and tasks from previous years.• Meeting minutes and agendas were not entered on a monthly basis.• Some quarterly reports did not include action steps for the division leadership team to monitor:

• Tier 2 and 3 interventions with an emphasis on the proficiency gap groups• Use of the VDOE resources (i.e. SOL Practice Test Items)• Instruction via classroom observations involving the principal and members of the division leadership team• Disaggregation and analysis of formative data

• The Division Leadership Support Team will require Building Principals of identified school improvement schools to review the new 2012 DOE resources relating to SOL practice items with all teachers (prior to January 15, 2013) at grade level meetings. These resources are as follows: (1) New technology-enhanced item types for mathematics, reading, writing, and science SOL tests; (2) copies/explanation of the new DOE Teacher Direct web site; (3) A review and understanding of attachment A to Superintendent’s Memo no. 319-12 entitled “Strategies for minimizing testing times and improving performance on mathematics SOL tests”.

• The Division Leadership Support Team will provide and monitor implementation at Focus and Tier III schools researched based Tier II and Tier III interventions prior to January 15, 2013. This action step will be accomplished by assignment of appropriate Central Office Subject Area Supervisors to each school for assistance in the identification of tiered, differentiated intervention programs in reading and mathematics to be used with Tier II and Tier III students.

• Require the division Math and English Specialists, not only the Title I specialist, to provide assistance to the school by making frequent visits and classroom observations as well as attend some of the School Leadership Team meetings.

Sample Action Steps from Current Division Liaisons

What is the key to developing robust action

steps for division leadership teams?

The ESEA Flexibility Waiver/FY2009 Tier III School Requirements

Division Requirements• Collaborate with an external VDOE contractor

and participate in a needs sensing interview • Convene a division leadership team including

representatives of:– Title I– Instruction– Special education– English language learners– Principals of each school

• Meet as a division leadership team on a monthly basis

• Develop, implement, and monitor a division improvement plan that is aligned with the needs of each focus school

• Participate in quarterly meetings with schools to review data and make decisions about needed technical assistance

• Modify division improvement plan on a quarterly basis based on data analysis

School Requirements• Convene a school leadership team including a

member of the division leadership team• Utilize a VDOE-approved adaptive reading

assessment program to determine student growth at least quarterly

• Utilize the Algebra Readiness Diagnostic Test (ARDT) provided by the VDOE (required only for focus schools with grade 5 or higher)

• Develop, implement, and monitor a school improvement plan

• Develop an intervention strategy for all students who have failed an SOL assessment or failed to meet the fall PALS benchmark

• Regularly analyze a variety of data points to make strategic, data-driven decisions, and implement the needed interventions for identified students

• Modify school improvement plan on a quarterly basis based on data analysis

7

Division Liaison Monthly Visits with

Division Leadership Teams

Engages and funds a VDOE-assigned and state-approved contractor (one per division per 1-3 focus schools) via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the SEA to meet the identified needs of the school(s) and division to build their capacity to support leadership practices and support improved teacher effectiveness by coordinating services as follows:• Facilitate the needs sensing interview;• Provide leadership and teacher professional development focused on what evidence to look for when observing classrooms; coaching for literacy and mathematics; effective modeling practices; planning based on classroom observations; research-based intervention practices; and, response to intervention;• Provide implementation support and coaching throughout the year for principals and teachers. Model effective practices and provide guided practice until practices are in-place independently of the contractor;• Provide modeling to principals in providing feedback to teachers, and provide guided practice to principals until the principal is able to exhibit practices independently;• Implement, monitor, and support an intervention model at the school-level with a focus on students with disabilities and English language learners; and• Build the division’s capacity to support low-performing schools and increase student achievement.

•Site visits, modeling teacher practices, modeling data analysis, assistance with developing and monitoring division and school improvement plans, and recommending outside differentiated technical assistance provided by OSI.

ESEA Flexibility Waiver - Division Liaison Responsibilities

The following activities must be completed during the monthly visits with division leadership teams:

• Reviewing division- and school-level improvement plans • Observing in classrooms with the building principal and members of the division leadership team• Monitoring the implementation of Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions with an emphasis on the proficiency gap groups• Reviewing all current, relevant data related to the progress and success of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions cited in the improvement plan• Reviewing specific actions/activities/examples indicating that each focus/Tier III school has implemented and is providing ongoing monitoring using VDOE resources (i.e. curriculum frameworks, blueprints, SOL practice test items)• Preparing for the next visit

A meeting agenda will assist the division leadership team and the division liaison

organize the required activities.

Protocol for Visits to Local Educational Agencies with Focus Schools – Division Leadership Support Team

Sample Protocol for Monthly Visits by Division Liaison

Prior to the visit: • Review:

o minutes from previous meeting o next steps from each division and/or school previous meetingo division and school Indistar plan (progress monitoring of tasks, updated minutes from previous meeting, agenda for next meeting, etc.)o VDOE OSI timeline calendar for upcoming due dates for reports, rubric, etc. to include on upcoming agendao review the monthly OSI Update document

• Send to division contact: o agenda items (with person responsible and suggested time frames)o “next steps” due by next meeting

• Request division contact to:o develop agenda (including person responsible and suggested time frames)o send agenda to all team members at least 3 days prior to the meetingo inform division liaison prior to the meeting of members not able to attend

During the visit:• Division contact leads meeting• Project the division and school Indistar plans for all team members to view• Division contact reviews meeting agenda • Team reviews meeting minutes from previous meeting for accuracy, editing, etc. • For meetings held in schools, an agenda item should include:

o a walkthrough of classrooms (assign teams and time frames)o specific “look for’s”o opportunity and time to debrief following the walkthrough

• Each agenda item is presented by the person responsible• When appropriate, an agenda item should include the status of requested technical assistance – where technical assistance has already been provided, include status of implementation and monitoring progress

Following the visit:• Provide follow-up communication(i.e. email) from each meeting /visit to division contact.

o recognition of “kudos” from the meeting/visit. o provide an opportunity to reinforce a strategy or concept that was discussed during the recent visit

• Keep in touch by email, phone call, etc with division contacto information requiring feedback and/or clarificationo important thing is availability and accessibility for open communication

“Keep it simple. When you get too complex you forget the obvious.” Al Maguire

“A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.”

Ara Parseghian,