Member Meetings>Spring 2009 Member Meeting
Spring Meeting
Improving the Achievement of Students with Disabilities Through
Data-Based Decision Making
May 6-9, 2009
Wyndham Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Meeting Topic:
The primary topic for our Spring Meeting was “Improving the Achievement of Students with Disabilities through Data-Based Decision Making”. Throughout the meeting, we explored how urban school districts were successfully collecting, managing, and using student data to improve both the delivery of services to students and the achievement of students with disabilities.
Keynote Speaker:
Our keynote speaker on Thursday, May 7th was Dr. Elizabeth A. City. Dr. City is Director of Instructional Strategy at the Executive Leadership Program for Educators at Harvard University. Through her work she helps educators improve learning and teaching through leadership development and the strategic use of data and resources. She is a co-author of the book Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning. Her most recent book, Resourceful Leadership: Tradeoffs and Tough Decisions on the Road to School Improvement looks at how school leaders use their resources and cultivate vision, hope, trust, ideas, and energy to transform what adults and children see as both possible and necessary. Dr. City's keynote address, "Moving from All to Each in Student Achievement: Using Data to Drive Decisions and Action" was an exciting highlight of the Spring Meeting.
Concurrent Sessions:
Click here to access selected Concurrent Session PowerPoints
Presentations
- "Enhancing Accountability: Implementation of a District-Wide Electronic Special Education Referral System" St. Paul Public Schools (MN):
- "Data Does It!" Metropolitan School District of Washington Township (IN):
The Saint Paul Public Schools designed and implemented an electronic special education referral system to increase accountability, enhance problem solving strategies and data collection routines among general education staff, reduce inappropriate referrals, and compile district-wide data. The online referral process is one part of a larger initiative to address issues that directly impact the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of data—based decision making regarding student achievement and the effectiveness of interventions. The presentation also addressed how data is used to address the issue of disproportionate representationof minority students in special education. Referral data from individual schools and teachers will beanalyzed, starting in 2009-2010, to target school-level training and teacher-level professional developmentand to inform development and implementation of a pyramid of academic and behavioral interventions. The presenters described the system, how it wass being implemented, challenges and rewards and policy implications. The presentation also showed how reports can be generated for administrators (building level and central office) and how they can be accessed for analysis of the effectiveness of the problem solving training.
- "The Full Purpose Partnership: Whole-School Reform through the Study of Data" Indianapolis Public Schools (IN):
This presentation will focus on a school-based pilot project called the Full Purpose Partnership (FPP) that was implemented in several elementary schools in Indianapolis beginning in 2003 as the result of a partnership between a system of care and a large urban school district. The Full Purpose Partnership (FPP) is grounded in the idea that behavior and academics are inextricably intertwined. The model integrates the principles of systems of care (SOCs) with the techniques of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). The application of SOCs to schools and their integration with PBIS is relatively new. FPP schools are studying data and using the
information learned from these efforts in a variety of ways: understanding patterns of office referrals; supporting a teacher in improving his or her classroom management skills; examining the effectiveness of curricular and instructional approaches; making changes to school procedures; developing a student’s individualized behavior plan; and so on. Indeed, data-based decision making is a foundational aspect of the FPP model. The question for many schools is how to create and sustain processes for meaningful data study. Using the FPP as an example, one initial goal in the model has been to align and coordinate the various committees that function within the school. The Student and Family Care Coordinator (SFCC) together with the principal build or make explicit connections among school committees, and in particular with the behavior team. These teams take a broad school-wide, data-based approach to how the school is functioning. They use a team process to explore connections between behavioral and academic challenges and then use problem-solving approaches to generate possible solutions. They can then test the effectiveness of these solutions, creating an ongoing, interactive process. This work is pushing the schools’ teams into new terrain with questions about practices and accountability. - "Problem Solving in a Response to Intervention System of Service Delivery" Washoe County School District (NV):
This session provided an overview of the experiences of a multi-track, year-round elementary school in the implementation of Washoe County School District’s Response to Intervention (RTI) guidelines. Through the experiences at this school, the presenters demonstrated how student achievement has improved through the use of a problem-solving process focused on data-based decision making. Strategies for supporting all students, including English language learners and students with behavioral difficulties, based on need rather than category were described. Data was presented that demonstrated (a) an effective core curriculum that meets the needs of more than 80 percent of the student population; (b) success of supplemental instruction at Tier 2; (c) a significant decrease in referrals for special education eligibility determination; and (d) an increase in proportion
of students eligible for special education to students referred.
This presentation focused on a data collection process that Greenbriar Elementary School uses to engage all students in monitoring their own progress. The teachers within the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township (MSDWT) in Indianapolis, Indiana have designed and used Common Formative Assessments to target priority indicators in mathematics. MSDWT is a dynamic community with broad diversity in cultures, religions, ethnic groups, races and socioeconomic levels. It has a student population of approximately 10,000 students of which 13.6% of those are identified as students who receive special education services. Greenbriar Elementary School services a group of students who are 80% minority and currently 74% free and reduced lunch. Students who receive special education services make up 14% of the population. The data system used at Greenbriar Elementary is a powerful tool that, when used with fidelity by the entire staff, fosters collaboration between grade level data teams and exceptional needs staff, provides a structure for fluid response to intervention groups, enhances parent communication through student-led conferences, and offers direct evidence of student achievement school wide.
- "Improving Student Achievement through Collaborative Leadership and Systemic Change" North East Independent School District (NY):
- "Using Instructional Technology to Increase Student Achievement" Kyrene School District (AZ):
North East ISD is a large (65,000) urban, suburban district with a varied demographic profile very similar to the rest of the state of Texas. This presentation provided a look at Data Coaching - a process that has been operational in the school district for the past five years. The process is based on a project from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Data Coaching pairs central office teams composed of specialists from general education, special education, bilingual education and educational technology with about ten campuses assigned to each team. Each team meets three times each year with the leadership of their campuses to support data analysis and planning for student interventions. The outcome of this activity has seen North East become a recognized school district in Texas in that over 70% of all students and each student group has met standard on all state assessments. The district has also met the requirements of federal AYP.
- "A Tool Kit Approach to Using Data: (Prevention + Intervention + Identification) = RtI" Brockton Public Schools (MA):
This presentation focused on the experiences of one school - John F. Kennedy Elementary School - in the implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI). We described how the Kennedy School provided quality instruction for struggling learners and how the school monitors each student’s response to the instruction given focused interventions. It is through a data meeting process that the school was able to build a cohesive team which promotes accountability for the teachers, students, leadership teams, instructional resource specialist, reading specialist, computer lab managers, parents, support staff , building and central administrators. This workshop also focused on the Brockton Public Schools’ - the fourth largest in Massachusetts - efforts to foster an integrated approach to education. “What gets monitored gets done” became our mantra as the school district worked to change our the culture in our schools. The fostering of collaboration among general, bilingual, gifted and special education to provide high-quality standards based instruction/intervention matched to students learning needs was a crucial element in making this change. As part of the presentation we also outlined a case study and illustrated how the use of data to inform interventions and instruction in academics and behavior became the driving force to student achievement and ultimately best practices.
- "Behavior Change: How to Track it and Make Decisions!" Clark County School District (NV):
- "Adapting Speech Therapy Service Delivery Models through Data-Based Decision Making and RtI" Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township (IN):
This session focused on the efforts of speech-language pathologists (SLP) in MSD Wayne Township to infuse data-based decision making into service delivery practices in an effort to increase achievement of students both in general and special education, decrease the workload of speech-language pathologists, increase collaboration, and enhance the understanding of school staff in the language-literacy connection. The session demonstrated the roles and responsibilities of the SLP in a response-to-intervention system, including different types of service delivery models that can be employed based on data and student need. The process & procedures of universal-screening, curriculum-based measurement, and progress monitoring will be discussed. During the session presenters also outlined the process used in moving from an isolated, pull-out model of service delivery with special education students only to an inclusive, collaborative model that utilizes various forms of service delivery.
There are many examples of instructional technology which assist students in learning and provide important data for decision-making. In the Kyrene Elementary School District - a suburban Phoenix, Arizona district comprised of 25 schools (19 elementary and 6 middle schools) - teachers and students are benefiting from two programs designed to improve student achievement. Read & Write Gold is a tool which assists struggling students in learning to read and write independently. It is a program that operates in conjunction with other programs (e.g., Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, and Adobe) giving students the needed support for reading and writing tasks without attracting attention to themselves. The teacher is able to track students spelling errors to assist with instructional programming. Classroom Suite is a program designed for a teacher to assess students’ skill level, provide direct instruction, and progress monitor that skill in reading, writing and math. The program tracks data of student performance which the teacher can then use to determine program changes or instructional accommodations for the student. The use of data enables the teacher to individualize instruction to accommodate learning. This presentation outlined the basic features of each program along with the type of data generated. Participants were taken through the process used by teachers to first determine which program would be beneficial to students and then how data is used to drive instructional practices.
Clark County Schools is piloting the use of a web-based program, Review 360, that is used to monitor behavior change and inform decision making regarding interventions with students with behavioral difficulties in self-contained programs. The district worked to align the computer-based data collection system with their existing positive and pro-active behavior intervention program (CHAMPS). The presentation focused on the development of the online data collection tools, teacher training, classroom implementation (including case studies), and using the data to make informed decisions, communicate with parents and advocates and improve the achievement of students in these programs.
- "Using Data-Based Decisions to Increase School Completion Rates for Students with Disabilities" National Dropout Center for Students with Disabilities (SC):
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) shared and discussed their Dropout Prevention Intervention Framework (DPIF), a four-phase, systematic process that includes knowledge transfer and utilization of dropout prevention research, proven practices that work, policies and procedures that support school completion, and the implementation of evidence-based practices within a contextual fit. The systematic planning and structure of the DPIF emphasizes problem solving and intervention selection based on areas of identified need (e.g., academics, attendance, behavior, school climate, student, engagement, and family involvement) through relevant data. The goal of this session was to outline the need for systemic change within a local context and underscore the need to employ data-based decision making to (1) improve the “holding power” of our schools; (2) decrease dropout rates for students with disabilities; and (3) increase school completion rates for students with disabilities.
- "The Use of Data Triangulation to Drive Instruction and Staff Development" Orange County Public Schools (FL):
The session focused on a progress monitoring process used in Orange County Public Schools to measure student progress and drive instruction throughout the year. The process of Data Triangulation involves the continuous analysis of multiple sources of data coupled with targeted staff development and interventions. Participants learned about specific student achievement data reports, including administrative reports, that are used to make curriculum decisions and predictions regarding student achievement and success. Presenters highlighted the processes used to analyze and summarize school data, determine needs, assess the effectiveness of intervention, make adjustments to the curriculum, and examine how data is used to help direct change and growth at schools. The session was beneficial to school leaders looking for a collection of data-driven strategies that enable school leadership teams to provide support for students and teachers.
- "Inquiry Teams Drive Student Achievement" New York City Distict 75 City Wide Programs (NY):
- "Eight Great Things..." Metropolitan School District of Warren Township (IN):
In 2007, the New York City Department of Education instituted the Children’s First Initiative (CFI). CFI centers around a professional learning community approach whereby school-based Inquiry Teams are established in every school. Each Inquiry Team is charged with becoming expert in using student data to identify student learning challenges which necessitates a change in instructional practice that will facilitate improved outcomes for a specific group of under performing students. District 75 serves 23,000 students citywide who are on the autism spectrum, have severe emotional challenges and/or have cognitive, sensory and social impairments. The District, via the Inquiry Team model, in addition to meeting the needs of students who are diploma bound and take part in standardized assessments, has also recognized the value of this process to enhance outcomes for alternate assessment students who are non-diploma bound and will be receiving an IEP diploma. This presentation offered an overview of the Inquiry Team process and focused on two schools located in Brooklyn, New York and highlighted their journey with a targeted group of under performing, standardized assessment students as well as the collaboration between the District Office and the staff in working with students on the spectrum. We further discussed how the intended results of the CFI initiative have been far reaching for District 75. Our schools have come to understand the value of action research, when predicated upon focused student data collection, as a vehicle for school improvement. School teams are analyzing formative and summative student data on a consistent basis. This analysis leads to changes in IEP goals and objectives, improved instructional planning, rigorous academic content and an emphasis on differentiated instruction. The Inquiry Team serves as the link between assessment data and classroom instruction to ensure alignment for each child in a classroom.
- "From Your Kids to Our Kids: System-Wide Changes through Data-Based Decisions" Montgomery County Public Schools (MD):
Over the past 5 years Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has focused on analyzing Annual Yearly Progress data, Measures of Academic Progress — Reading (MAP·R) data, curriculum-based assessments and intervention pre-data to determine student intervention needs, inform instruction and improve achievement for students with disabilities. However, in order to improve the achievement of students with disabilities, there was a critical need for MCPS to look closely at Least Restrictive Environment, move more students to their home schools, and remove students with disabilities from secondary learning centers where they were isolated from their peers in general education and were performing poorly academically. This presentation was about how data driven decision making helped MCPS, the 16th largest school system in the U.S., reach its objective to move large numbers of students to less restrictive settings and reach a state mandated LRE target.
- "The Right Staff for Student Achievement" Deer Valley Unified School District (AZ):
How do we know if we have the right number of staff to meet the challenges of all students to help them achieve? This question refers to not only the right number but the right teacher with the right attitude and credentials to reach our goal of closing the gap in student achievement. We believe students need to be with their typical peers and siblings at each of their neighborhood schools, so all students attend their neighborhood school. This is possible through the provision of a continuum of services on each campus. One challenge to providing this continuum is to ensure teachers and related staff are properly certified to provide services to an array of students at all levels of ability and still meet the highly-qualified criteria in both middle and high school content areas. The other challenge is to make sure the schools have the needed organizational culture to provide a rigorous educational environment to all students on their campus and to make sure the expectations for student achievement is high for every student. To accomplish this, we must be driven by data. This session explained the data-driven process - known as “mapping” - used by Deer Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, AZ to ensure each building has the staff and supports needed for students to succeed. Mapping determines staff location and duties throughout the day in order to best meet the needs of students. This presentation took the audience through the mapping process and provided information on how it has helped our district address student achievement and increase scores on state and district assessments for many students identified with disabilities. Mapping has changed how we provide services and how buildings are held accountable for meeting the needs of all students. We shared data of how our schools have improved over the last 3 years and how we are continuing to make changes for future growth.
- "Data-Driven Decision Making to Improve Achievement and Address Disproportionality" Chesterfield County Public Schools (VA):
- "District and State Collaboration: Using Data to Drive a School Intervention Model Special Education Performance Grant" School District of Philadelphia (PA):
MSD Warren Township has been using an Eight Step Process for continuous improvement for seven years. The Eight Step Process is a data-based decision making process that permeates all levels of our school program. This presentation focused on “eight great things” schools in MSD Warren Township are doing to ensure success for all students. The primary focus of this presentation was taking a look at the ways in which MSD Warren Township Schools used data to drive instruction and the remediation, enrichment, and placement of all students. The Great Eight Things presentation included discussion on:
* Changing to meet your changing population
* Eight-Step Process
* Literacy Initiatives
* Tiered Instruction
* GEI (General Education Intervention) Process
* Special Education Placement (Psychologist’s Role, Inclusion, Behavioral Needs)
* Building an infrastructure for effective communication
* Parent Programs
Chesterfield County Public Schools, in suburban Richmond, Virginia is the largest public school division in Virginia in which every school has attained AYP (adequate yearly progress) status. In this session presenters showed how school leaders, division leaders, principals, and teachers have collaborated to improve the achievement of all students with data-based decision making. The session highlighted the collaborative School Improvement Plan process which provides forums for principals to review data and establish goals for student achievement based upon school, division, and state targets. The data also guided discussion of big ideas for the improvement of the teaching and learning of 21st Century Skills in the framework of rigor, relevance and relationships. Also discussed was the school district’s committee addressing the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education and how it uses detailed data to assist schools to develop appropriate pre-referral, intervention-based child study teams; to improve eligibility procedures and eligibility decision making; to improve school-based monitoring of procedures and records; and to develop the cultural competence of school staff. Also highlighted was a protocol developed to assist schools in analyzing data and developing follow-up action plans.
The School District of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Department of Education Bureau of Special Education have, in collaboration, successfully implemented four years of a grant targeted in part toward improving the reading and mathematics outcomes for students receiving special education services. Capacity- building strategies such as large-scale professional development, the purchase of research-validated materials and the use of progress monitoring systems were implemented to ensure that the School Intervention Model (SIM) would be sustainable at the conclusion of the grant period. An intended long-range consequence of the School Intervention Model (SIM) was to bridge the gap in reading and math skills to improve proficiency as measured on the state standardized test. Regular and special education teachers, school-based teacher leaders, regional and central office staff were trained to implement and/or support the implementation of the selected interventions and to conduction-going progress monitoring of these interventions. Selected interventions included materials focused on reading decoding, fluency, and multisyllabic word strategies; fluency in math facts; differentiated and inclusive practices; and student engagement and retention. Current activities continue to enhance teacher skill-sets, increase the number of teacher- leaders who can provide professional development, and solidify the inclusive practices that boost the number of students with disabilities in regular education classrooms with appropriate supplementary aids and services. This workshop will focus on District and State collaboration around requirements and best practices in quantitative and qualitative data collection and dissemination at the school, region, and district level.
