Rural Education Research Alliance Closing the Achievement Gap

Rural Education Research Alliance Closing the Achievement Gap

Closing the Achievement Gap
Between FRL and non-FRL Students
in Rural Districts: Evidence from
Research and Practice
CDE:
REL Central:
Cheraw School District:
Stratton Schools:
Wiggins School District:
Tina Goar
Stephany Brown
Tonya Rodwell, Superintendent
Jeff Durbin, Superintendent
Trent Kerr, High School Principal
Agenda
• Fast Facts – A Quiz
• What Works for Rural Districts
•
•
– Background: Partnership between REL Central and the
Rural Education Council
– Identifying Successful Districts
– The Success Story of Cheraw
– The Success Story of Stratton
– The Success Story of Wiggins
ACTIVITY
Closing
2
Fast Facts
True or False?
Rural districts
comprise more than
half of all of the
districts in the
United States.
Look at the distribution of rural districts! –– School Year
2010-11 (NCES, 2013)
Fast Facts
True or false? Rural schools have higher
percentages of students who score proficient
and advanced than urban schools.
2011 NAEP reading achievement
4th grade (NCES, 2013)
2011 NAEP reading achievement
8th grade (NCES, 2013)
2011 NAEP Math Achievement 4th
grade (NCES, 2013)
2011 NAEP Math Achievement 8th
grade (NCES, 2013)
Fast Facts
• True or false?
Rural students are less
likely to graduate than
their urban peers.
Freshman Graduation Rate, Entering
2008-09 (NCES, 2013)
The good news….
• Rural districts are doing rather well. Students
are generally doing better than their urban
counterparts and slightly less well than their
suburban counterparts.
The not-so-good news
• Most rural districts still have a relatively large
achievement gap between FRL and non FRL
students.
• Achievement gaps for rural districts are nearly
the same as for urban districts and in some
regions, surpass urban districts (Rural Trust,
2013).
So what works?
• Not much research specifically addressing
rural achievement; even less that focuses on
the rural achievement gap
• Need: summarize the research
• Identify practices of successful districts
Identifying Districts That Have
Closed the Gap:
Worked with The Colorado Rural Education
Council to identify measures.
Colorado Rural District Achievement Gap Closure
Indicators for This Year (determined by Alliance members)
•
•
•
•
•
Gap: FRL
Indicator: ACT composite (college readiness)
Time: 2010-11 through 2014-15 (5 years)
Analysis: Trend over time
Criteria:
• Achievement could not decrease (gaps not closed
because the majority group performed poorly)
• Districts had to have at least 10 juniors (in 2014/15)
• At least 25% FRL (all grades)
• Graduation rate greater than the state average of
77%.
• At least 2.5 ACT points of gap closure
over the 5-year period (2.5 ACT points is
about half of a standard deviation in the
national distribution of ACT scores.)
Using these indicators,
8 rural Colorado districts
were found to have closed the ACT gap:
Bayfield School District
Cheraw School District
Limon Public Schools
Ouray School District
Prairie Public Schools
Sargent School District
Stratton Schools
Wiggins School District
Cheraw School District ACT Results
25
0 10
ACT Score
CHERAW 31
Composite
2011
2013
Year
Black line = non FRL
Red line = FRL
17 juniors 2014/15
2015
Presentation: Cheraw School
District Practices
Superintendent Tonya Rodwell
Cheraw School District Characteristics
Geography: Located in
Southern Colorado,
60 miles east of Pueblo
Enrollment is 205 students
including full day preschool
for 4-year olds and full
day kindergarten.
63% of students are
free/reduced lunch
Cheraw School District Demographics
Student population is 74% Caucasian, 25%
Hispanic and 1% Native American
Total staff of 37 with 20 full-time teachers
Budget of $3 million
After graduation, students attend college,
career and technical education or military
service
Cheraw School District Challenges
Enrollment: has been relatively the same
over past 4 years (205-212 students)
Budget- lack of resources
Recruitment-few applicants for positions
(many not certified/highly qualified),
funding for salaries and benefits
Retaining Staff- low salary base for certified
and classified staff, competition with larger
districts in the immediate area, multiple
preps in a day
Technology- first year of 1:1 devices, but
no onsite tech director
Cheraw Professional Development
Professional Development
Partner with Battelle for Kids “Teacher Quality
Grant Project”
Kim Bevel “Gender and the Brain”
Colorado Education Initiative “Literacy
Design Collaborative”
Educator Effectiveness “Principal PLC
and Mentoring”
Step Up to Writing
6Trait+1
Every Child a Writer
Google Training (Chromebooks)
Orton Gillingham Training
Cheraw Teaching and Learning Practices
RTI Process
- Assess 3 times a year
- Weekly grade level meetings
for progress monitoring
District wide writing assessment
Adopted common vocabulary and
rubrics
Push in model for academic
support especially for middle and
high school
Added Technology
- Elementary computer lab
- 1:1 Chromebooks (next year)
Use data to drive instructional
needs
- ACT Prep Course
Cheraw Curriculum Practices
 Common Core Aligned with Colorado Standards
 Technology based programs
Lexia Core 5
Accelerated Reading and Math
Edmentum
Khan Academy
Prodigy
 New math adoption
Envision 2.0
 Concurrent Enrollment
 OJC Classes
 Colorado On-line classes
 CTE programs incorporated into core curriculum
FCCLA-national qualifiers
FBLA- state qualifiers
 Strong partnership with area businesses for
internships and job shadowing
Cheraw School District Governance:
Instructional Leadership
 Pk-12 Superintendent has 3 years in
administration and instructional leadership
 Superintendent has a dual role as Elementary
Principal
 6-12 Principal has 11 years in administration
and instructional leadership
 The 6-12 principal has a dual role as the
District Assessment Coordinator
 We both share the role of Athletic Director
 As a district we have worked on peer coaching
to help with instructional strategies
 Decisions are collaboratively by staff and
administration after consulting several stake
holders such as the accountability committee
Q and A: Superintendent
Rodwell
Stratton Schools ACT Results
25
0 10
ACT Score
STRATTON R-4
Composite
2011
2013
Year
Black line = non FRL
Red line = FRL
10 juniors 2014/15
2015
Presentation: Stratton Schools
District Practices
Superintendent Jeff Durbin
Stratton School District Characteristics
Geography: Located in
Eastern Colorado, about 150
miles east of Denver, right
off the I-70 corridor.
District is 660 square miles.
Enrollment is 210 students
including preschool for all 3and 4-year olds. There is
full-day kindergarten.
Stratton School District Demographics
• Student population is 94% Caucasian with
the rest being Hispanic. Some occasional
different ethnicities with foreign exchange
students.
• Total staff of 38 with 20 full-time teachers
• Budget of $3.1 million
• After graduation, 100% of students attend
post-secondary schooling and/or military
service.
Stratton Schools Challenges
 Enrollment: has stabilized over the past 5 years.
 Budget – lack of resources, especially to carry out state
mandates
 Recruitment – few applicants for positions, funding for
salaries and benefits
 Retaining Staff—budget issues related to the state
funding for salaries, limited housing, multiple preps in
a day, rural life style
 Technology for assessments – funding to keep up state
mandates
Teaching and Learning Practices:
•
Unique RTI Process
• Assess 3 times a year with MAPS
• Individual Plan for each student
developed in August, reassessed
in December, finalized and
updated for next year in late May
• ILP’s and IMP’s are developed as a
result data meetings
• RTI Process is the first step to
identify at risk students
Teaching and Learning Practices:
•
Use personalized approaches to
instruction:
• Data points are shared from MAPS
testing and Alpine constantly with
teachers and administration
• Classroom teachers collect 6 data
points on each student before taking
their concerns to the RTI team
• ALL Teachers have “buy-in” to the
process.
• Daily Communication between SPED
and classroom teachers to help
support students
Classroom Assessment Practices
• Student who are proficient or above on state testing
earn early release days during finals week at the end
of the year
• Individual teachers offer extra credit for improvement
on MAPS scores
• Individual teachers customize finals for students
showing growth according to the district data
• Individual classroom parties at the elementary for
student performance
• Sky Socks reward for upper elementary student
achievement
• School Board has rewarded teachers showing overall
student growth on testing data with an extra personal
day
Curriculum Practices
• Common Core Aligned with Colorado State Standards
• Adopted current curriculum for 21st Century Learning:
• SuperKids Reading Program (PK-2)
• Treasures Reading Program (3-6)
• Every Child a Writer (PK-9)
• Concurrent Enrollment College Classes
• VNET Classes Available
• MCC Online Classes Available
• Transition Meetings/Teacher Dialog from one grade to
the next
• Seek out 21st Century Technology curriculum
components
• Strong CTE programs incorporated into core
curriculum
Teaching and Learning:
Professional Development
• All Elementary/Middle School Teachers are required to
attend CCIRA each year (close the elementary for a day)
• All Staff are encouraged to participate in our ECBOCES
trainings and individual conferences for professional
growth
• Administration at all levels are encouraged to attend
trainings
• It is our core belief “teachers only getting better by
growing individually through professional development of
their choosing.”
• Teachers helped developed a new salary schedule to
reward longevity in the district and continuing education
District Governance: Instructional
Leadership
• K-12 Superintendent has 20
years in administration and 8
years as instructional leader.
• K-12 Principal has been
trained on effective
observation and evaluation
strategies.
• All decisions involved with
student learning are made
collaboratively amongst all
staff and administration.
Q and A: Superintendent Durbin
Wiggins School District ACT Results
25
0 10
ACT Score
WIGGINS RE-50(J)
Composite
2011
2013
Year
Black line = non FRL
Red line = FRL
40 juniors 2014/15
2015
Presentation: Wiggins School
District Practices
Trent Kerr, High School
Principal
Raising The Bar
Location/Demographics
Northeast Colorado 60 miles east
of Denver on I 76
> 165 High School Students
> 65% FRL
> 37% Hispanic
> Student Teacher Ratio- 18/1
> 97% Graduation Rate
Culture Shift
Expectations
- Teacher Involvement
- Teacher Voice
- Teacher/Parent Communication
- Constant Feedback
- Parental Involvement
- Invite them into school
- Community Input
- Community Forum
Teacher/Student/Parent Triangle
Raising the Top
Melanie Taylor- Ignacio High School
(2011)
> 20% at the top
> 60% in the middle
> 20% at the bottom
- Stop focusing on the bottom 20%
- Drag down another 10-20%
- Focus on the top 20% - Bring up
another 10-20%
What about the Low Kids?
Seminar Hour- One on One
Instruction
- RtI Students
- Struggling readers
- Struggling math students
- GT kids (ALP)
After School Tutoring
RTI-Partnership with Parents
ACT Prep
ACT coursework 2011
- Mon, Wed, Fri- 30 min a day
- Don’t allow interruptions-
(No meetings, no pull out)
INSTRUCTORS
Upper Level Math/Science Teacher
Upper Level English Teacher
- Switch teacher each week
Changing to SAT
What about the future?
- Partnering with Edginuity
- Kahn Academy
- SAT Course built into
curriculum
- Students go at own pace
- Students work from home?
Reading Hour
Reading Hour
- 30 min a day before lunch
- Tuesday, Thursday
- Meetings, Homework
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday
- Report book verbally to teacher
- Students choose whatever book
they want to read (No Magazine)
KIS
Keep It Simple
- Don’t be afraid to change
- Cultivate Risk Takers
- Have High Expectations
- Raise the Bar- Change the Culture
- Lean on Staff/Students/Parents
- Give Everyone a Voice
- Build Relationships
-
Melanie Taylor
-
Treat Everyone with Respect
-
Truly Care
Q and A: Mr. Kerr
ACTIVITY
PAIR and SHARE
1. What did the districts have in common in areas
such as curriculum, instruction, assessment, and
culture?
2. What stood out as being one interesting and
unique practice that a district had to close the
ACT gap between FRL and non FRL students?
3. What are some common barriers that inhibit
being able to close the postsecondary readiness
gap – what makes it difficult to do this?
COLORADO TOOLS
• The Colorado Framework for Rural District
Excellence is based on the urban research
literature, refined by rural practitioners.
• Note that these are district practices.
Categories/Group Assignments
• Teaching and Learning
– Curriculum; instruction; assessment; professional
development
• Leadership and Governance
– Instructional leadership; district governance; strategic
planning; and performance/accountability
• Organizational Structure and Climate
– Human resources; financial resources; organizational
structure; organizational culture
How to Read the Framework
• The indicator is the umbrella statement.
The elements add up to the indicator.
EG - INDICATOR C-1. The district has a rigorous, effectively articulated
standards-based curriculum and sufficient materials and curricular
supports to implement the curriculum effectively.
• The district has a core academic curriculum that has rigorous student
performance expectations defined for each content area.
• The district ensures that all teachers and students have standards-aligned
instructional materials, including technology, needed to implement the
curriculum in all content areas and all grade levels.
• The district provides effective curricular supports, such as scope and
sequence or pacing guides, and ensures that teachers can effectively teach
the curriculum at the appropriate level of depth in the time available.
With your table partners, address the
following:
• Please review and discuss with your table
colleagues:
– Which of these do you think is the most critical for
gap-closure?
– What’s missing (if anything?)
Please appoint a note-keeper. We will debrief!
Rural Education Research Alliance
Facilitation
Shelley H. Billig, PhD
Principal Investigator
Associate Director of REL Central
[email protected]
(800) 922-3636
Stephany Brown, MPA
Facilitator
[email protected]
(800) 922-3636
Presenter Contact Info
Ms. Tina Goar
Colorado Department of Education
Denver, CO
Email: [email protected]
Tonya Rodwell, Superintendent
Cheraw School District
Email: [email protected]
Jeff Durbin, Superintendent
Stratton Schools
Email: [email protected]
Trent Kerr, High School Principal
Wiggins School District
Email: [email protected]
Thank you so much!
Please don’t forget to complete your
survey.