DLP Interim Assignment #4

Jenny OMeara
NELA Cohort 4
Assignment 4.2
Part 3:
1. What data do you use at your school to monitor student learning?
Overall, teachers are trusted as professionals to continuously monitor
student learning using both informal and formal formative assessment. Many
teachers use exit tickets, quizzes, performance tasks or projects with rubrics,
unit tests, or small strategies like thumbs up/down or cold calling to track
student learning. As a school, we collect very little data to monitor student
learning overall. We use district benchmarks to monitor student learning in
EOC courses (Math I, English II, and Biology). This is essentially the only data
that the school collects.
2. What processes and procedures do you have in place at your school to
analyze the student learning data?
As stated above, our school is very focused on EOC courses right
now. As such, the principal looks at the district benchmark data to determine
if students are prepared for the EOC Assessment. Each of the EOC PLTs uses
the data to drive their instruction. For example, the Math I PLT used the data
to reteach two topics and assign problems similar to those most missed on
the benchmark as homework.
3. Formative assessment is an ongoing with informal and formal approaches
such as using observation, survey, interviews, learning journals,
conferencing, student learning logs, etc. What do your teachers do with
their formative assessment information and how do they use it to improve
student learning?
This question is very challenging to answer in a school with a staff of
65 teachers, 24 of whom are in their first year of teaching at the school. Our
school is in turnaround mode, and as of right now, most of our teachers are
not on the same page yet. As a result, the use formative assessment data
varies from department to department and classroom to classroom. One
department that is incredibly strong as using formative assessment to
improve student learning is our CTE department. All of the teachers use
rubrics for any performance based assignment. All but one or two
consistently have an exit ticket or some form of assessment at the end of
each class period. Teachers use this to determine if they must do some reteaching or provide more practice time the next day. Many of them do oneon-one conferencing or use student surveys. They also all use a program
called Quia to continuously formally assess student learning. Other
departments have some work to do when it comes to using formative
assessment information. For example, I can think of one department in

particular where they use tests to determine student learning, but take it no
further than that. Essentially, they use the tests for a grade, which is not
standards driven. We are currently working with them to improve.
4. How do your teachers measure student accomplishments and how are
these accomplishments recorded? Do teachers use rubrics?
Again, like number 3, this truly varies throughout the entire school.
Some teachers use rubrics, but not all. Some teachers use test grades, but
not all. This is definitely an area of growth for our school.
5. Do you expect teachers to collaboratively plan and if not, why not?
Teachers are expected to work collaboratively, but Im unsure about
collaboratively planning lessons right now for where our school is. When we
began school in August, collaboration was not a part of our culture. It is
coming along, however. I expect that teachers teaching the same course
plan units and Common Formative Assessments together at the very least.
However, I dont expect that they spend their time planning lessons together
yet. I would much rather they focus on what they want students to learn and
how they will know if students learned it. For example, I would rather my
three Biology teachers create a unit, identify exit ticket questions for each
objective and all use those questions to collect data at the end of each class.
If they choose to plan lessons together as well, thats fantastic.
6. As the instructional leader, what 2-3 goals would you have for your school
regarding student learning? Which would be your top priority? How will
you communicate these expectations especially for the high priority goal?
i. Standards based learning Teachers use assessment to track
student mastery of standards and use the data to provide
additional support or enrichment for each student.
ii.
Focus on growth and mastery through multiple assessments
Students are allowed to attempt the mastery of an objective
more than once.
iii.
Student self-reflection and tracking Students track their own
learning according to mastery of standards and can explain their
strengths and their areas of growth. They understand what they
must do in order to improve.
These are listed in terms of priority, although I think all three are critical. I
would communicate these expectations, especially the first, by not only
sharing it with teachers, but modeling it for them and providing the tools and
time they need to prepare for it. These are goals that dont just happen
during the school year. I would want to find time before the school year
begins to train teachers and provide them what they need to prepare to
achieve these goals.

7. How will you ensure this information to make the kinds of instructional
decisions that would result in achieving your priority goal?
Im wondering now if my goals are goals or the ways to achieve a goal
(like increased student proficiency). Still, I believe that if we are doing
these things, then teachers can make more informed instructional
decisions, which leads to student learning.
*One thing I want to learn more about is how to set goals in an era of
high-stakes testing. I dont want to set goals like, Math I EOC proficiency
will be at least 40% by the end of the 2015-2016 school year. I want to
set goals that apply to ALL courses and students, but Ive never seen it
done.
Assignment 4.3
The Irerdell-Statesville school district uses a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA)
School Improvement Plan (SIP) template. There are many benefits to using
this template, but its effectiveness appears to only be as good as what each
individual school puts into it. Nonetheless, this is precisely the type of
focused template I would like to use as a new principal.
The PDSA SIP has several strengths. Many schools have the Plan and
Do sections in their own school plans, but fail to include other important
pieces. For example, Ive worked in schools where we have laid out specific
action steps in a section of our SIP similar to the Do second, but failed to
identify who would be responsible for the completion of the action. By
including this, Irerdell-Statesville schools can hold themselves accountable to
the follow-through of the SIP. Each section of the PDSA SIP also includes
multiple critical questions that schools should think through if the goal is
truly continuous improvement. For example, under the Plan part of the
plans, there is a question on how the school will message the goal and
actions to teachers and stakeholders. There is also a space for deep data
analysis that is critical to making the best possible decisions to move
forward. Finally, the Study and Act parts are incredibly critical
components that Ive rarely seen done in a school. Many times, I think,
schools create a plan and action steps, but fail to revisit and reflect later on.
These two sections require a School Improvement Team to gather data based
on the changes theyve implemented, determine if what they are doing is
nearing their goal or not, and make adjustments. A school leadership team
that continuously reflects on its decisions and actions is one that will
ultimately improve their school for their students.
Although the PDSA SIP has excellent components to it, like any
template, it is only as good as the work an individual school team puts into it.
I looked at the SIPs of three high schools in the Irerdell-Statesville School

District. One of the schools was incredibly detailed, providing all of the data
it had already collected, answering questions thoughtfully, and naming
precise action steps and the person(s) responsible for them throughout the
document. Other schools were not as detailed. For example, one school
simply put Data from last year instead of including the data itself in its
plan. This same school also had very general action steps. Under the
Person(s) responsible section, the school cited Leadership or
Counselors. Without naming a specific person, it makes me wonder how
likely they are to follow through on their action steps. As a result, I wonder
how well this school will do in improving the school for kids versus the
schools that were more detailed in their plans.
I do see the value in a hyper focused SIP. Through my NELA
experiences, Ive learned that the clearer the expectations, the more likely
we are to achieve our goals. Nonetheless, a SIP must be flexible. This is why I
like the Study and Act components so much. Although the PSDA SIP is
incredibly focused, it allows for adjustment as necessary.
I think the district chose this design, because the PDSA is focused and
action-oriented. SIPs all too often become a document that is done because a
school must legally have it. The PDSA SIP encourages looking at data,
creating clear action steps, then reflecting on the results and moving
forward. This is how school improvement should work. As a result, this tells
me that the district is incredibly intentional about and focused on continuous
improvement, especially in regards to instruction. I imagine the school
leaders are strong strategic and instructional leaders.
The PDSA SIP is precisely the type of system I would want to use at a
new school, especially if it is a turnaround school that has traditionally not
had strong School Improvement Plans in the past. It requires a great deal of
collaboration and has built-in accountability. Its very easy for a school
leadership team to get so into the daily grind that they forget where they are
going and how they need to get there. This document not only provides the
vision of continuous improvement; it forces a school to have a road map to
achieve it. Its simple, straight-forward, and flexible. As stated previously,
still, it is only as good as what is put into it. Therefore, I would want to work
with my School Improvement Team collaboratively so we have goals that we
believe are the best ones for our school and a road map to achieve them.