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Brent 2015-2020 Strategic PlanWorking Group 2:

Advancing the Potential of Every Student

Recommendations to the Steering CommitteeJanuary 26, 2014

Team Members: Parents—Corinne Colgan, Maia Fisher, Bridgette Garchek, Jill Reedy; Brent Staff—Amy Harding-Wright, Sara Ewbank; Steering Committee Liaison—Nazanin Ash

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WG#2 Objective and ScopeObjective: To be a highly effective, inclusive school • Maximize the potential of every student through differentiated

instruction delivered largely in the classroom– Differentiation is for students at, below and above grade level– Pull-outs/specialists predominant use is to support students with the greatest

challenges

Scope: The working group was asked to1. Understand Brent’s current approaches to differentiated

instruction 2. Evaluate Brent’s current performance/results3. Identify strengths, gaps, and areas for improvement4. Examine best practices, including those at comparable schools5. Develop options/recommendations, short- medium- and long-term

actions, and resource needs

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Guiding Principles• Brent’s approach to differentiation is inclusive, and strategies to

advance all students are understood and accessible by the entire community

• All students have the opportunity to grow and advance through productive struggle in an nurturing environment

• Excellence means that the Brent community is advancing the whole child: academic, social, and emotional development that produces confident, self-reliant and self-motivated students

• Approaches are nimble and evidence-based• Resources are reliable and optimized to ensure availability of the

support ecosystem every year for children, teachers, and parents—no one should have a "lost year“

• Mandates and strategies must be funded and supported

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Differentiated Instruction: Current Approaches

• Students rigorously assessed through a number of DCPS mandated and Brent-selected assessment tools

• Use Response to Intervention (RTI) to identify and support students with learning and behavior needs with specific interventions

• Brent’s curricula allow for classroom-based differentiated instruction through small groups/guided reading

• Starting at grade 3, students can test for placement in above-grade-level math

• Special education is distinct category with specific and dedicated support (out of scope)

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Current approaches:Response to Intervention (RTI)

Response to Intervention (RTI) is Brent’s approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs.

– Rigorous assessment to determine specific needs– Multi-tiered support—specific academic and/or behavioral

interventions, delivered in-class, through teacher; and/or pull-outs with specialists

– Other support with student and family as needed– Intervention intensity determined by needs– Reassess every 6 weeks to see if interventions effective, adjust as

necessary– Goal is to address needs quickly and re-integrate with grade-level

core curricular/developmental approaches

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Current approaches:Brent has no formal enrichment program

• No formal process to identify advanced students, with exception of grade 3-5 math

• No formal enrichment program– However, above grade-level math is offered to Grades 3-5

• No dedicated personnel for enrichment

• Curricular approaches allow for differentiation in the classroom, but scope limited

– No use of specific enrichment curricula such as Junior Great Books, project-based learning

– Staff time is stretched with providing intervention with highly limited current resources

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Current Approaches: Resources for Differentiated InstructionDifferentiated Learning Continuum

Enrichment for Above Grade StudentsIntervention for Struggling StudentsDifferentiated Instruction for all Students

Teacher-initiated in classroom techniques; Technology: Xtra Math (Grade 2-5), IXL (math) (Grade 1-5)

Above Grade MathRTI in classroom, RTI pull-out (Science teacher dedicates 33% of time to Math)

Responsive ClassroomNot ApplicableSocial Worker (.5 FTE), Psychologist (.5 FTE)

Notes: Special education needs staffed separately; Partnerships such as Everybody Wins, Proving What’s Possible/Summer Math Academy, and War College all contribute to differentiation but are not formal differentiated learning programs

Math

Behavior

Reading/WritingTeacher-initiated in classroom techniques; Technology: Edmodo (written expression) (Grade 4-5)

No explicit enrichmentRTI in classroom, RTI pull-out with specialists ; Burst program (reading); Technology: Ticket-to-Read (Grade 2-5); Reading Specialist 1 FTE & 1 FTE BURST

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Performance: Brent student performance significantly below comparison schools

-35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0

13%

6%

14%

24%

14%

10%

15%

23%

19%

18%

5%

33%

0 20 40 60 80 100

87%

94%

86%

76%

86%

90%

85%

77%

81%

82%

95%

67%

Brent

Stoddert

Mann

Eaton

MathReading

Writing

Below grade level At or above grade level

SY13-14 Grades 3-5

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Brent has more below grade level and fewer advanced students

Below grade level Advanced

Brent Stoddert Eaton Mann0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%24%

14% 13%

6%

Brent Mann Eaton Stoddert0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

36% 40% 47% 52%Math

Reading

Brent Stoddert Eaton Mann0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%23%

15% 14%10%

Brent Eaton Mann Stoddert0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%

9%

21%

27% 27%

SY13-14 Grades 3-5

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1 2 3 4 5

Brent Generalized Math Performance, Beginning of Year 2015*, K-5

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s

> 1 year below

grade level

Within 1 year

below

On grade level

Within 1 year above

> 1 year above grade

level

Beyond CAS data, internal assessment tools indicate that a significant number of Brent students K-5 would

benefit from additional support

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Our students are not growing (advancing) as quickly as similarly achieving counterparts

Brent Eaton Maury

5461

67

42

72

49

Student Growth Percentiles(The median student at this school grew more than X % of students

starting at the same achievement level across the entire DCPS popu-lation.)

Reading Math

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Students and teachers struggle with behavior issues in the classroom

• Behavior is the #1 challenge identified by teachers and tied for #1 by parents

• No dedicated crisis-management staff—daily needs for behavior intervention fall to limited front-office personnel, with limited opportunity to deliver long-term behavior support and interventions

• Half-time social worker and half-time psychologist means insufficient development of behavior management plans and inconsistent delivery of support services—simply no constant presence for behavior support

• Hardest first on students with behavior challenges—behavior issues mean time out of class, not receiving sufficient academic support or behavior support

• Hard on teachers balancing wide variety of mandates in the classroom with limited time, affects classroom dynamics

• Evaluation of behavior challenges through gender lens may identify additional needs/findings

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MannBrent

Eaton Stoddert

Why?: Brent’s demographics do not suggest unique challenges

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But (1) Brent’s prioritization of resources (time, money) differs

• Brent prioritizes “whole child” with full-time music, arts, science, language, and physical education– Comparable schools choose .5 language, and/or .5 arts, and/ or .5 music, and/or no explicit

science program– Dedicate resources and academic time instead to core curriculum and academic support– Pull out struggling students for intense intervention before returning students to regular routines--

at Brent, we prioritize inclusion• For example, at Mann, students not yet at grade level by 2nd grade or new to the school and below grade

level are pulled out for up to six weeks of intense intervention before returning to regular classroom routines/programs

• Comp schools have explicit strategies for prioritizing specialists’ time: e.g. getting students to grade level by 2nd grade as gap accelerates after 2nd grade

• PTA funds at other schools highly prioritized for academic support and enrichment: Mann puts a high-quality teaching aide in every class and uses gold-standard (and more expensive) intervention curriculum; Eaton, Stoddert, Maury fund enrichment personnel

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And (2), most significantly, Brent does not have enough resources

• Brent is significantly under resourced (people, funding) versus comparison schools

– With 23% below grade level in reading and 24% below grade level in math, Brent has just 1 full time reading specialist, 1 full time literacy support person, and 30% of the science teacher’s time for math support

– Behavior is the #1 challenge identified by teachers and tied for #1 by parents, but Brent has only a half-time social worker and half-time psychologist--no consistent presence to implement behavior plans and support daily behavior management needs in the classroom

– In contrast, Stoddert has 14% below grade level in reading and 15% in math, but 7.5 specialists for academic support; plus a full time social worker, full time counselor, and half-time psychologist for behavior needs

– Mann has 10% below grade level in reading and 6% in math and about 80 fewer students, but has 3.5 full time academic support staff and a high-quality instructional aide (PTA funded) in every class to ensure teacher support

At Brent: Bulk of academic interventions and behavior management is the responsibility of teachers in the classroom with extremely limited support

Best practices at comparable schools: What made them successful?

• Varying philosophies and practices for differentiation– Inclusion-emphasis

• High quality teacher’s aides/“partner teachers” for every teacher to support and more fully implement differentiation with a team in the classroom

• Specialists available as needed for acute/distinct needs (academic or behavior; enrichment)

– Pull-out emphasis• Large number of specialists to tailor “pull-out” programs for special needs such as reading

support, enrichment/advanced studies, English Language Learners

• But all strategies fully resourced, with significantly more support staff dedicated to intervention and enrichment– Goal for any model: system of support to meet student needs, fund mandates– Commitment to academic performance and school’s philosophy for differentiation

drives decision-making for staffing, resources, structure, and other priorities– All models had a shared emphasis on differentiated professional development– Schools aggressively pursue additional resources for differentiated learning

through grants/PTA/DCPS 16

Strengths, Challenges & Gaps: FindingsStrengths

– Well-defined school-wide system to assess and identify needs for intervention (RTI)– Rigorous assessment: Brent knows its students really well, can plan very specific intervention needs and assess progress– “Whole child” philosophy—Brent’s range of full-time specials and field experiences are distinguishing characteristics– Developed and leverages partnerships for struggling students– Small class sizes and curricular choices allow for easier differentiation

Challenges– Brent has struggled to make school-wide progress

• There is a higher load of struggling students than comparison schools, acute challenges in grades 2-4 – Though volume of behavior issues remains relatively low, challenge with systematic behavior management exist for issues– Has not clearly prioritized academic performance/reconciled whole-child, inclusion philosophy with need to close academic gaps

• Students have an absorptive capacity; Brent committed to specials and full Brent experience for all students– Teachers responsible for delivering majority of academic and behavioral interventions with limited time and support staff

Gaps– Inclusive School: Community commitment to and understanding of the mission and vision of Brent as an inclusive school is

sporadic– Behavior: No consistent staffing resources are dedicated to responding to acute behavioral challenges/crises– Intervention: Constrained resources limit the ability to fully implement intervention; current classroom approaches, delivery and

support is inconsistent and best practices are not developed and implemented widely/consistently– Enrichment: No formal program to identify and serve advanced students; no staffing resources are dedicated to enrichment– Resources: Brent cannot meet differentiation goals within the current resource levels, even if re-prioritized to address gaps;

significant additional resources are required to close gaps and support student needs

Brent has made strong foundational investments in best education practices and is early on its path to greatness—can learn lessons from more mature schools and be the best

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Recommendation Overview: Build Brent’s Support TeamTO BECOME A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE INCLUSIVE SCHOOL, IMMEDIATELY:1) Reprioritize existing resources—time, specialists, professional development, funding (including PTA)

− Address the most acute intervention gap to hire a full-time behavior technician as the first response to building a full support system for behavior;

2) Ensure best practices applied consistently; target professional development to gaps

AGGRESSIVELY PURSUE ADDITIONAL STABLE RESOURCES TO:3) Strengthen the intervention/enrichment support system while maintaining current class sizes;

− Put high-quality teaching partners in every classroom, beginning with 1 rotating aide per grade for grades 1-4 to support individualized attention, intervention/enrichment

4) Pursue participation in DCPS’ School-Wide Enrichment Model (SEM) program to benefit all students, led by a dedicated staff member;

5) Seek full-time social worker and psychologist for long-term behavior intervention (potentially DCPS funded and cost free to Brent if enrollment exceeds 400)

RECOMMENDED RESOURCING METHODS (most stable to least stable):A. Strongly consider pursuing DCPS funding and staffing support through a deliberate growth strategy that

maximizes DCPS resources and limits stress on grades 1-4*. Estimates indicate that for SY15-16 Brent is 20-30 students below DCPS’s threshold for attaining significant additional resources.

B. Strengthen private fundraising strategies (e.g. PTA funding, grants): Mann, Eaton, Stoddert all use private funding to support services and enrichment

*To meet these criteria, the most strategic approach is to add an early childhood education (ECE) class

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Short-Term Recommendations: SY 14-15Behavior• Reprioritize PTA funds to hire a behavior tech as soon as possible to address SY 2014-2015 challenges.

Intervention• Audit teacher’s commitments; eliminate unnecessary assessments, duties, and other requirements that would allow additional time for

interventions.

Enrichment• Begin systematically identifying above grade level students.• Find out cost and other requirements to becoming a SEM school; pursue.• Reprioritize PTA funds to support Brent teachers to use the summer to develop a pilot program for integrating a school-wide enrichment

approach such as Jr. Great Books into the core curriculum and/or to develop enrichment extensions for the current curriculum and/or to leverage field experiences and project-based learning to provide enrichment opportunities for all students

Cross-cutting• Begin cultivating a relationship with American University or other graduate program in education to create a feeder system for hiring high

quality instructional aides (this has been successfully done by Mann ES). • Orient professional development toward inclusion, behavior management and differentiated learning.• Be sure that the language of inclusion is prominent in the school’s mission, vision, and belief statement; Capitalize on available parental

audiences (website, BTSN, Open House Visitation Days) to speak to the value of inclusion. • Identify staff expertise in behavior management and differentiation, and implement peer mentoring. • In an effort to prevent summer slide, engage a parent group to find available summer intervention and enrichment options.• Improve communication with parents and engage parents in extending academic support for their children/for the school.

Resources• About $32,000 required immediately for behavior tech• Strongly consider increasing Brent’s enrollment by 20-25 students through ECE to exceed 400-student threshold and maximize additional

DCPS resources and support staff• Develop a fundraising plan and strategy to increase PTA/grant funds by 50-100%• Cost summer pilot program.

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Mid-Term Recommendations: SY15-16Cross-cutting• Redirect school budget and PTA funds to hire as many high quality instructional aides as possible for SY

2015-2016, ideally 4, one shared instructional aid per grade for 1st through 4th

– Most flexible staffing resource to address wide range of needs—behavior, academic intervention and enrichment; frees up teacher time with more staff available for lunch/recess duty

• Identify and connect with administration and teachers at other schools that similarly value inclusive practice. Share resources and support.

Enrichment• Run the pilot program designed over the summer in certain grades to determine whether a school-wide

enrichment approach such as Jr. Great Books and/or enrichment extensions and/or more project-based learning can be easily integrated into the Brent curriculum.

• Support teachers to do additional curriculum development during Summer 2016 for full roll-out in FY 16-17

• If secure additional resources, hire an enrichment coordinator• Leverage parent expertise to deepen enrichment opportunities

Funding• $125,000 required to support 4 high quality instructional aides• $50,000 to $80,000 required to support enrichment coordinator• Engage a parent group to identify and apply for grant funding for differentiated learning and enrichment

programming.

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Long-Term Recommendations: SY16-20

Cross-cutting• Actively pursue funding for and hire additional high-quality instructional aides with a goal of having

one in every classroom from 1st through 4th grades. • Instructional aides will serve both to support differentiated learning in the classroom and share the

burden of teachers’ other duties (lunch & recess) to further ease time constraints of classroom teachers. (Mann has successfully funded an instructional aide in every classroom, most of whom are pursuing a master’s in education at American University.)

• With DCPS support, hire a Dean of Students charged with both managing differentiation (intervention and enrichment) and behavior plans.

Enrichment• Expand the school-wide enrichment approach and/or enrichment extension and/or project based

learning pilots to the rest of the school. • Hire a SEM coordinator and become a SEM school.

Funding• $300,000-$400,000 required annually to support steady state, including $50,000 to $80,000

required to support enrichment coordinator

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Recommendations: How identified?

• Identify critical gaps• Deep dive on each gap

– Teacher survey– Parent survey– Interviews with comparison schools– Team research

• Deep understanding of issue• Identify set of possible solutions• Assess through lens of what’s probable and favorable at

Brent (e.g., we love our specials, so we’re not likely to be a “pull-out” school with intervention/enrichment blocks)

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Critical Gaps and Potential Solutions: #1 – Inclusive School

Critical Issue: Lack of consensus around the value of being an inclusive school in which the maximum number of interventions possible are provided in the general educational environment. • Overly fragile belief among stakeholders that academic diversity and differentiated learning

are good for students and the school. Considered solutions:• Be sure that the language of inclusion is prominent in the school’s mission, vision, and

belief statements.• Capitalize on professional development opportunities (through Responsive Classroom and

otherwise) that promote inclusive practices. • Capitalize on available parental audiences (website, BTSN, Open House Visitation Days) to

speak to the value of inclusion. • Without exception, combat any suggestion that homogenization is preferable to inclusion.• Identify and connect with administration and teachers at other schools that similarly value

inclusive practice. Share resources and support. • Stock the professional library with resources related to inclusive practices for teachers. • Increase communication with parents and Springboard on the differentiation system and

how parents can build on it.

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Critical Gaps and Potential Solutions: Issue #2 – Behavior

Critical Issue: Lack of resources for behavior intervention stands in the way of all differentiated learning.• Teachers and other staff regularly defer core responsibilities to respond to behavior crises; one surveyed

teacher noted that Brent needs “more serious behavioral support” because responding to major behavior problems takes “a significant amount of time teachers could be using to work with struggling students or those needing enrichment.”

• 58% of surveyed teachers identified behavior as the most difficult area to address through intervention and 63% identified hiring a behavior tech as one of the top two resources in which they would like to see Brent invest.

• 32% of surveyed parents identified behavioral issues in the classroom as a reason their children are not meeting their full educational potential at Brent and 56% would like to see Brent invest in behavioral interventions or a behavioral specialist.

Considered solutions:• Identify best practice differentiation/intervention and standardize amongst classrooms. • Hire a full-time behavior tech to assist teachers throughout the school during times of student crisis;

prevent behavior crises when predictable; and serve as a consistent presence for children requiring behavioral interventions.

• Secure a full-time psychologist and/or social worker to conduct behavior assessment/implement plans.• Hire a full-time dean of students who could manage behavior crises and implement behavior plans.• Prioritize professional development for behavior management.• Identify staff expertise in behavior management and implement peer mentoring.

Critical Gaps and Potential Solutions: Issue #3 – Academic Intervention

Critical issue: There is insufficient teacher time and instructional time to fully implement academic interventions.• 90% of surveyed teachers identified time as the number 1 or 2 greatest challenge to meeting the

needs of struggling students.

Considered solutions:• Hire additional high quality instructional aids to support in classroom differentiated learning.• Sustain current number and type of software applications used for interventions, but obtain more

hardware for classrooms.• Identify best practice differentiation/intervention and standardize amongst classrooms. • Identify staff expertise in differentiation and implement peer mentoring. • Audit teacher’s commitments; eliminate unnecessary assessments, duties, and other requirements

that would allow additional time for interventions.• Prioritize professional development on differentiation.• Hire additional specialists to support push-in or pull-out intervention sessions.• Hire staff to do lunch and recess duty creating more instructional and planning time for teachers. • Allow teachers to vote on adding 15 minutes of instructional time to the school day.*• Add an intervention/enrichment block for all children.*

25*Not included in final recommendations

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Critical Gaps and Potential Solutions: Issue #4 – Enrichment

Critical issue: There is no school-wide system to assess, identify, and fulfill needs for enrichment; limited resources, including teacher and instructional time, have precluded its development.• 84% of surveyed teachers ranked time or lack of access to specialists as their number 1 challenge in meeting

the needs of advanced students.• 83% of surveyed parents would like to see Brent explore engaging consistent methods for identifying

advanced students and 84% would like to see Brent explore adding advanced/enrichment programs to the curriculum.

Considered solutions:• Systematically identify above grade level students.• Hire additional instructional aids to support in classroom differentiated learning.• Hire additional specialists to support push-in or pull-out enrichment sessions.• Hire a School Wide Enrichment Model (SEM) coordinator and become a SEM school.• Incorporate a specific enrichment approach such as Odyssey of the Mind or Jr. Great Books into the core

curriculum that would be available to all students. • Develop enrichment extensions for the current curriculum.• Leverage museum magnet school and project-based learning to provide enrichment opportunities for all

students.• Prioritize professional development on differentiation.• Identify staff expertise in differentiation and implement peer mentoring. • Allow teachers to vote on adding 15 minutes of instructional time to the school day.*• Add an intervention/enrichment block for all children.*

*Not included in final recommendations

Critical Gaps and Potential Solutions: Issue #5 – Resources

Critical issue: Brent’s financial resources are highly constrained and insufficiently prioritized• Brent needs an additional $340,00-580,000 to implement any of the best practice models identified at

comparison schools• Brent administration with PTA support has only about $300,000 in discretionary resources to hire staff,

currently used to fund 1 reading specialist, 1 BURST staff, 1 specials teacher, and media tech/librarian• After budget support for staffing and supplies, Brent PTA has an additional $100,000 in discretionary resources,

currently allocated to a wide variety of community needs, including professional development for teachers and high quality aides, before-care through Springboard, field trip subsidies, school events, and grounds maintenance

Considered solutions:• Aggressively prioritize current $100,000 in PTA discretionary resources for support staff—behavior tech/aides

require about $30,000 each; specialists about $95,000 each. Could fund behavior tech and 2 aides with current budget; or 1 additional specialist

• Gain an additional $100,000 in discretionary resources, plus potentially a full-time social worker and/or psychologist from DCPS if push enrollment over 400 by adding 20-25 students to Brent’s current enrollment*

• Gain an additional $100,000 in discretionary resources, plus a teacher and an aide, plus potentially a full-time social worker and/or psychologist from DCPS if push enrollment over 400 by adding 20-25 students to Brent’s current enrollment through the addition of an early childhood class (ECE)

• Re-prioritize existing funds to enhance differentiation instruction by reducing specials and/or other current priorities*

• Aggressively pursue fundraising and grants to secure an additional $100,000-$200,000• Leverage parent expertise in building Brent’s support team

27*Not included in final recommendations

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Issue #5 – Resources (cont’d)

• Enrollment over 400 students through ECE nets Brent:– +~$100K in discretionary resources (a 30% increase in current

discretionary resources) – Potentially +~$90K increasing both social worker and psychologist to full

time (currently 0.5 FTE each)1

– Brent also receives one full time teacher and one full time aide2

NOTES:1.Other growth schools have experienced this addition;2.No DCPS-funded classroom staff is provided if additional students are spread throughout K-4.

How Brent grows matters. If going over 400, we should do so only by adding an ECE class; this is the only way to secure from DCPS (cost free to Brent) a dedicated teacher and an instructional aide for additional

students and limit further stress in our areas of challenge. 2