East HS Turnaround Plan

8/7/2019 East HS Turnaround Plan

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AppendixBTurnaround ModelEast H igh School

Buffalo City School District


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New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

APPENDIX B: TURNAROUND MODELLEA Implementation Plan for the Turnaround Model

. Directions: Please complete the following form for each persistently lowest-achieving Tier I or Tier II school within the LEA thatwill implement a Turnaround Model. When completing this plan, please refer to the Model Implementation Plan Rubric to ensurequality responses.LEA:_~B~uf==[a=l~o~C~i~ty~S~ch~o~o~I~D~i~st=r~ic~t~ __School: East High SchoolGrades Served: __ -;::9:... .....;1~,2::.-----_Number of students:._ --,;:6::.,;:1:;,.::0---'-

NCES#: __3605850 __NCES#:_05601

Inthe chart below, describe the needs assessment process used, and the conclusions drawn for the school listed above. Includedata gathered during any Joint Intervention Team or School Under Registration Review visit, with any additional informationfrom local assessment tools.Joint Intervention TeamReport DocumentsMarch 2011

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The school lacks a comprehensive literacyprogram for grades 9-12. TheLanguage Exclamation Program only serves 9th graders, leaving strugglingreaders in the 10-12 grades without additional support. Additionally,freshmen do not take English 1and continue to fall further behind becausethey never receive instruction in their first year curriculum, includingwriting. . .

The use and development of lesson plansllearning goals and essentialquestions is inconsistent and are not aligned with the district's curriculumand New York State Standards. .

The Bioinformatics and Forensic need to be as

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NewYork State Education DepartmentLEA SchoolImprovement Grant Application, FY2010

Under 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965evidenced by declining student enrollments and by the elimination of corecourses in the program.

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II. Teaching and.Learning

ill. SchoolLeadership

IV. Infrastructurefor StudentSuccess

II. Teaching and Learning Twenty-three percent of the students are students with disabilities whichmakes the effective implementation of the co-teaching model essential.Unfortunately" the model as it was designed, and for which theprofessional development was, provided, is not being implementedproperly. As evidenced by numerous observations and discussions withteacher groups there is little co-planning or co-teaching being provided.

Instructional staff is not consistently using research-based instructionalpractices such as group work, scaffolding, differentiation, etc. Studentshave limited engagement in meaningful classroom activit ies that promotelearning.

The school lacks a uniform school-wide grading policy. Teachers createtheir own individual grading policy. There is little use of rubrics to improve academic performance.

ill. .choolLeadership The school leadership has not clearly articulated high expectations for

student achievement to all stakeholders. The school's master schedule does not effectively utilize staff as .evidenced by the inherent problems in scheduling the co-teaching model,

the inabili ty to provide English 1 to all students, the elimination ofchemistry and physics due to the misuse of human resources, etc.

The new assistant principal .is not doing teacher evaluations therebyputting the entire responsibility of observing and providing feedback toteachers with the goal of improving teaching and learning on the Principaland veteran Assistant Principal.

IV. Infrastructure for Student Success Ninth and tenth graders have little interaction with guidance counselors as

evidenced by discussions with counselors and students. The school acquired a part-time attendance teacher in October leaving the

school without adequate support for students.

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-. ..._/

New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Although the school recognizes the importance of involving parents in the

education of their children, parent involvement is limited. The school has been assigned a Student Support Team which includes apsychologist, a social worker and a coordinator.V. Collection, V.analysis, andUtilization ofData

Collection, analysis, and Utilization ofData illgeneral, the administration and teachers comply with district mandates

regarding formative and summative assessments, but many teachers do notuse the data to prepare their lessons, as' evidenced by the lack ofdifferentiated instruction, particularly as it applies to subgroups.Professional Development

Although there isa district-wide Professional Development Plan which issupported by the school administration and many opportunities toparticipate exist.rthe activities are voluntary; As a result, implementationat the school building level is uneven.

The school does not have' a.P rofessional Development Plan for the yearwhich supplements the district's efforts.

The district should provide professional development to support the co-teaching model.

VI.. Professional VI.Development

District Support There are not enough buses to transport students home from after-school

tutoring and other activities. The district has done a great deal to move East High School forward asevidenced by the availability of extensive curriculum materials, the design

and implementation of five distinct programs, as well as ongoingprofessional development" aligned to district programs and initiatives.However, there is more to be done in order for the school to meet AyP inidentified areas.

VII. District VII.Support

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New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010 .Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

Describe how the Turnaround Model addresses the major findings of the needs assessment.Description ofActions forModelImplementation

East High School

"Turnaround" Administrator and Teacher SelectionDistrict Capacity:Buffalo City School District (BCSD) has the capacity to implement the Turnaround. ModeL First; the District isoperating within its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF). BSCDestablished a screening process per NSYED and Federal guidance. Teachers who did not elect to participate inscreening or who did not successfully complete the screening process will be involuntarily transferred to fill vacanciesat other schools. The CBA does not preclude involuntary transfers of teachers. The contractual language reads asfollows:

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Article XIV, G, lines 26-42It is desirable that transfers and changes in assignments be on a voluntary basis whenever possible. Inmaking involuntary transfers and/or changes in assignments, the preference of the individual teachersshall be honored whenever feasible. When a transfer results from a school closing, teachers from theschool closed will have: first, preference in order O f their seniority to openings in their license area. atthe school being attended by students previously assigned to the closed school, arid second, preferencein order of their seniority for openings in their license area in other schools over teachers requestingvoluntary transfers and teachers returning from leaves. When a transfer results from a reduction inforce at a school which remains open, after canvassing for volunteers, teachers will be transferredinvoluntarily in order of least seniority and shall have preference in order of their seniority for openingsin their license area in other schools. over teachers requesting voluntary transfers and teachers returningfrom leaves.

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~.New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010

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The CBA discusses procedures for conducting involuntary transfers; implicit in this is the idea that the District has thepower to involuntarily transfer teachers. .As there is no arbitration decision interpreting the language to say that theDistrict cannot involuntarily transfer teachers, and as the CBA does not specifically address the turnaround model, andas the CBA is silent on the topic of the District's authority to involuntarily transfer teachers, the District reserves theright to do so.Secondly, the DistrictTurnaround Model Principal SelectionThe new principal was hired April 6, 2011 to implement the Turnaround model. He has served as principal of GroverCleveland High School from 2007 to.2010.Highly effective teachers chosen to work in a BCSD Turnaround school will need to achieve significant studentgrowth, use data to drive instruction, adjust to new leadership and systems, work under pressure with public scrutiny,manage parents and colleagues in a changing environment, provide more for students than regular classroominstruction, and continually convey a positive vision for the school. With these needs in mind and turnaround teacherand principal competencies research from Mass Insight and Public hnpact, a group of administrators compiled a list ofcritical teacher competencies for the Turnaround schools teacher screening process. Community Superintendents andAssociate Superintendents then met with the teacher faculties of Turnaround schools to inform them. of the screening .process for teachers to continue teaching in each school (no more than 50%). Using the locally developed.competencies, to ensure the selection of a staff who can work effectively in a Turnaround environment, a screening ofall prospective staff from East occurred from April 5 - April 15, 2011. (See attachments - Teaching Notification andScreening Process Timeline and Screening). This screening process included a variety of specifically formulatedquestions that elicit responses geared toward assessing candidates for each competency as well as having candidatesteach a lesson for the interview committee. During May, teachers from all other district schools and outside candidateswill be interviewed in the same way. This selection process ensures that teachers hired are wen matched to .the needsof f u 6 students. Final staffing decisions will be made during the last week of May with Turnaround schools being fullystaffed with no more than 50% of the current staff rehired at each school.

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New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010

Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.I. Curriculum

Recommendations: A literacy program should be ini tiated that wi ll provide all students who are not reading on Level 3 and 4with readinginstruction. The program should be provided inaddition to English 1 so that students have the opportunity to master New

York State curriculum in EIA. All lessons should include awell-defined essential question and/or objective that is reflective of the curriculum and gradelevel. The school should develop aformat to create such essential .

questions and/or objectives. The essential questions and/or objectives should be communicated to all students in each class. The Bioinformatics and Forensics Program and curriculum should be reviewed in its entirety including the status of all

partnerships. Additionally, the chemistry and physics classes should be restored if these programs are going to continue tobe an option.

I. Curriculum (Actions) ..The District's overarching Curriculum Framework is outlined in BCSD's four Cornerstone Documents, the AcademicAchievement Plan and Addendum, the Literacy across the Curriculum paper,. and the Building a 21 st Century SchoolDistrictpaper. Departmental Curriculum Plans specify what students are to know and be able to do in each subjectarea at each grade level and are delineated in the subject area curriculum documents, which are aligned with NewYork State Learning Standards. In addition, the District is currently revisiting curricula to ensure that there is acomplete alignment to the new Common Core Standards.One of the instructional tasks of the principal, walkthrough team, and instructional coaches is to bring the taughtcurriculum in line with the current written curriculum to maximize student learning. This alignment will occurthrough a collaborative inquiry process during daily common planning time meetings where teachers andadministrators work together in data teams to make sense of student learning and other data and embrace an test out

. solutions together through rigorous use of data and ongoing reflective dialogue. Development of common subjectarea assignments and assessments takes place. Teachers will utilize the five steps of the Standards InPractice (SIP)process learned in the Education Trust Professional Learning Opportunities (PLO) and Backwards Planning to bridgethe gap between standards and practice. The building administration will visit classrooms daily,attend commonplanning time meetings, and review weekly lesson plans for observation of curriculum alignment. Part of the formalobservation process will include pre and post-conference with. teachers to discuss alignment of the taught curriculum

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New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

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with the written curriculum.A full day of Backwards Planning training was held for the mathematics teachers, core area curriculum lead teachersand special education and ESL teachers during the 2010-2011, school year. The principal will be trained in thisprocess to monitor and support teachers. The purpose is to provide teachers with a template and process for planningand implementing rigorous instructional units and lessons aligned with the state standards. This process incorporatesand builds on the SIP process teachers learned in 2009-2010. In common planning time teachers work together todevelop aligned units, lessons, and assessments for the year. The monitoring of this process will take place during the

,bi-weekly district walkthroughs where the documents created will be reviewed by the walkthrough team.Curriculum lead teachers 'attend monthly meetings to compare East High School's unit lessons and assessments withother schools documents, state standards and the Common Core State Standards in ELA and mathematics.

II. Teaching and LearningRecommendations:

The school schedule needs to be designed so that there is bet ter al ignment be'tween the teaching programs of co- teachers to,enable them toplan lessons together. Additional professional development should also beprovided so that all teachers areprepared to deliver appropriate instruction. '

Instructional sta ff should consistently implement research based instructional practice indaily instruction in all contentareas. Instructional practice should include but not be limited to: problem solving, writing across the content areas,differentiated instruction, higher order thinking skills, inquiry based learning, cooperative learning, rubrics, and projectbased learning.

A school-wide grading policy s.hould be created and should include the weight of identif ied components of each markingperiod. Those components should include homework, classroom participation, formative and summative assessments, andprojects. The grading policy should be consistently implemented across all content areas and grade levels.

Students should be taught how to Userubrics and their academic work with rubrics attached should be displayed throughoutthe school. '


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New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 19Q5"To produce large effects, at scale, improvement has to be managed at three levels simultaneously:a. Individual - units of instructionb. Organizational- across classrooms within a schoolc. System - across schools within a network ofschools. "

(Richard Elmore, MSP Conference, 2006)

Teaching and Learning (Actions)Teachers at East High School will be engaged in PLO specific to the JIT findings to ensure thatstudents are exposedto a curriculum of high quality and rigor as well as PLO in Literacy Across the Curriculum, effective instructionalmethods, and utilizing data to make instructional decisions all to improve their ability to meet students' learningneeds.a. Individual Professional Development - units of instructionIndividual teacher PLO is available as delineated in the District 2011-2012 PLO plan (see attachments). Teachers arestrongly encouraged to attend and compensated for attending district offered PLOs. Industry trainings to upgradeCTE teachers skills and keep them current with industry trends are required. Teachers are strongly encouraged toattend and compensated for attending district offered PLOs.

. b. Organizational Professional Development - across classrooms within a schoolFive monthly on site Early Release Days (Oct. 5, Dec. 7, 2011 and Jan. 11, Feb. I,Mar. 14,2012) provide teacherswith ongoing PLO. These sessions will be designed and led ~y the Race To The Top Network Teams and schoolbased Inquiry Teams in strategies as identified as an area of need and aligned with RTTT goals of Common CoreStandards, instruction, and use of data (18 required hours). Teachers at East High School will also be engaged inPLO specific to explicit instruction, Common Core State Standards (to set expectations for literacy for all), literacy inthe content areas, co-integrating teaching model, and use of data to drive instruction.East High School will utilize core area instructional coaches, on site, full time to provide teachers with collaborative,job-embedded opportunities to learn and refine effective instructional strategies combined with content specificinstructional practices. A District team of subject specific Instructional Technology Coaches are utilized to support

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New York State Education Department .LEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010

Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965teachers in planning and delivery of instruction utilizing technological instruments such as Interactive White Boards(IWB) and flip charts, Nspire graphing calculators and navigator systems, scientific probeware, digital videoequipment, and visualizers into the classroom all aimed to engage teachers and students in hands-on learning andthinking to make concepts come alive with images, movement, and sounds in order to spark deep learning (hoursvary according to teacher needs). CTE District Academic support teachers provide integration of academic standardsinto all CTE academies.Common Curricular Planning Time (CCPT) participation is mandated for all teachers. DUring CCPT teachers developcommon lessons and assessments and learn how to systematically collect and review data to make instructionaldecisions (required - five class periods per week). ..'School counselors will continue to develop their leadership skills and transform their role within the school under TheEducation Trust (Ed Trust) Transforming Counseling Program, the primary goal being "to make school counselingessential to the mission of schools as the center of educational equity." Participants will develop and implement data-driven action plans focused upon 1) facilitating systemic change in policies, practices, andattitudes so the school canbetter serve students and 2) helping students gain needed knowledge and skills in order to better navigate theeducational system as successful learners. ill addition, these action plans will be designed to show how schoolcounseling contributes to student academic success. These trainings will be held on Superintendent 's Conference

. Days, Nov. 8,2011, May 8 and 15,2012 Counselors will provide individual/small group counseling as a preventionrather than a response to student crisis.c. System Professional Development - across schools within a network of schoolsSuperintendent's Conference Days

Nov. 8,2011, May 8 and 15,2012 - required District level PLOSummer Institute for Secondary Teachers, June 27 - June 30,2011

School based data team members will attend "Unleashing the Power of Collaborative Inquiry: A ProfessionalDevelopment Program for Data Coaches" (37.5 hour course conducted by Research For Better Teaching staff)

Pre-AP Strategies, AP Vertical Teams (24 hour course conducted by College Board trainers)

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New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010

Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

High School SIG Institute Three-day summer institute for six PLA secondary schools, July 2011. The institute will serve to increase theknowledge base about implementing research and evidence-based practices for turning around low-performing

high schools; build and strengthen supportive relationships among high school staff; and to gain a. betterunderstanding of challenges and solutions related to implementing, supporting,and sustaining. high schoolturnaround initiatives .

. During the summer of 2011 an Extended Learning Opportunity will be provided for both students and teachers atEast. Students will have increased learning time through the Extended Learning Opportunities morning program thatruns from July 20 to August 18 with credit recovery course offerings, preparation for Regents examinations and aFreshman Academy. During the afternoon session teachers within and across grades and subjects will remain toengage in Professional Learning Opportunities (PLO) designed to study the knowledge base on teaching and apply itto their own work the next morning. They will further their own learning in support of putting together the pieces ofsustainable school improvement through skillful teaching, skillful leadership, and skillful data use as designed byResearch For Better Teaching. PLO offerings will require active engagement rather than passive learning byparticipants and include research of best practices and practical application of explicit instruction methodology. Toensure that learnings from the afternoon PLOs become part of embedded practice, consultants will also be on hand inthe mornings at each site to observe classroom practice and provide side-by-side coaching for teachers as theypractice the skills they Iearned.during afternoon sessions. Principals are required to attendthe PLOs with their staffin order to share in the learning and be better able to hold teachers accountable for implementing what they learned.Teachers will also have time during the ELOP program to plan for the coming school year.Teachers of Algebra, Geometry, Living Environment and Earth Science participate in the Math Science Partnershipgrant activities bothduring the summer and after hours during the school year.Teacher leaders/coaches at East High School are required to attend monthly lead teacher meetings. They are alsoprovided with an opportunity to enroll in the Teacher Leader Certificate of Advanced Study program offered atNiagara University at no charge. Candidates in the program take six three-hour graduate courses for a. total of 18graduate hours. The Teacher Leader Advanced Certificate of Study Program is registered with the New York State

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NewYork State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965Education Department and candidates will receive an Advanced Certificate upon completion. The teacherleaders/coaches receive additional training in developirig coaching skills through participation in the district widecoaching academy. .

m. School LeadershipRecommendations:

The Principal should develop with staff, clear-cut instructional goals that address expectat ions for improved academicachievement . Goals should be clearly articulated and monitored to ensure accountability. . .The school leadership should receive training on building a master schedule that includes a broader spectrum of courses.

The district office should provide additional support in this area

The new assistant principal should be mentored in developing the skill set required to master the observation/evaluationprocess. The process should include but not be l imited to: learning theprotocols for walkthroughs, pre and postobservation requirements, techniques for recording what is being observed, and guidance and practice writing observationreports.

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ITI School Leadership (Actions)The new principal was hired April 6, 2011 toimplement the Turnaround model. He has served as principal of GroverCleveland High School from 2007 to 2010.Increasing the number of administrative staff allows more time for the. administrative team to visit classrooms,supervise/support the teaching-learning experience and attend common planning time sessions. The AssociateSuperintendent for Secondary is providing the new administrators with a strategic plan and setting clear expectationsfor conducting walkthroughs, teacher observations/evaluations and support to teachers through both on-site visits andmonthly cluster meetings. Administrators are required to attend common planning time meetings on a weekly basis toensure teachers are focusing on objective writing and developing comprehensive lesson plans with delivery of

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New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965explicit instruction. Each administrator will follow a schedule and maintain a spreadsheet to visually displayaccountabili ty of classroom visits. This will be reviewed and discussed at the weekly administrative team meeting.Shorter daily debriefing meetings are held at the end of the day to collaborate and discuss progress of plan and makeany necessary changes (ongoing). The principal and assistants are also keep daily instructional time logs through anew time tracker calendar as part of the SAM project.Joint walkthroughs with school administrators and Teaching and Learning administrators are scheduled (seeattachment) on a regular basis using the District Walkthrough Tool and Learnings on collecting low-inference datawhen conducting classroom observations. In addition, each school based administrator has a walkthrough schedule.Substitute administrators will be brought in occasionally to provide additional coverage for the administrative team toattend PLO. School-based teacher substitutes will be utilized to allow for pre and post conferencing with teachers.The District's new data system allows for customization of a data dashboard to monitor student progress in areasidentified as necessary for on time graduation.Professional Development For LeadersTo develop the administrative team's awareness of urban education, five teacher leaders plus the assistant principalsparticipated in four days of Culturally Responsive and Courageous Practices training with Gary Howai"d(Nov. 16..,17,2010 and Mar. 10-11, 2011).The three administrators are required to participate in the Buffalo Public Schools Leadership Development Plancreated in partnership with facilitators form the New York City Leadership Academy. This plan includes a coachingprogram for the first three years for both the principal and assistants. In addition the assistant principals are mandatedto participate in the Aspiring Principals' Leadership Academy, I, II, and III. This Academy takes place over threeyears encompassing thirty-six all day sessions. The principal will be enrolled in the Instructional LeadershipDevelopment Academy I and in the new Data Leadership Coaching Academy. The first session was scheduled onOctoberZl , 2010 followed by three onsite data coaching days. The administrative team will be provided professionallearning opportunities that focus on improving teaching and learning in every classroom during the monthly PLAhigh school articulation meetings conducted by the Associate Superintendent for SecondaryInstruction, A consultantcontract has been developed with Research for Better Teaching organizationto continue the instructional leadershiptraining with John Saphier andassociates where administrators will learn to combine pressure and support to teachers

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' - New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, to make improvements in teaching and learning outcomes as identified in theJfl' reports.The National School Administration Manager (SAM) Project will train the principal and designated assistantprincipal to set goals for increasing instructional time on task by creating protocols for first responders to situationsthat arise during a typical day. This allows the principal to focus on building instructional leadership capacity,achieving students' learning goals, and improving instruction. The addition of a SAM allows the principal and theinstructional assistant principal more time to visit classrooms, supervise/support the teaching/learning experience andattend common planning time and grade level meetings. Substitute administrators are brought in occasionally toprovide the continuance of effective school operations when the administrative team attends PLOs.Principals and assistant principals will be involved in monthly PLA articulation meetings focusing on improvinginstruction through classroom observation and the APPR walkthroughs. Skill.sets and the knowledge base required tomaster observing and analyzing teaching will be developed.

IV. Infrastructure for Student SuccessRecommendations:

Guidance counselors are uti lizing one-on-one meetings with lower classmen as their sole method ofproviding contact)ime and information to these students. Guidance counselors need to maximize their time by holding assemblies, goinginto classrooms to disseminate information, and creating small group meetings, etc..

The school needs to negotiate a way to obtain increased at tendance service. The school should develop ~ school-wide plan to involve parents indecision making roles and other school-wideactivities.' . In meeting with the Student Support Team, members voiced their concern over their limited ability to provide .

appropriate levels of intervention. due to the large number of students needing support. The district should also

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_ _ _ .New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) ofthe Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

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consider whether the population of struggling students might benefit from the introduction of The Response toInstruction and Intervention Program (R/T). .

IV. Infrastructure for Student Success (Actions)The 0.5 attendance teacher will be increased to 1.0 based on the recommendation in the monitoring report. The teamwill be directly supervised by the Supervisor of Attendance and attend weekly team meetings. Under the direction ofthe Associate for Secondary, a monthly meeting will take place with the Associate for Educational Services, schoolcounselors, SST members, and attendance teachers to review Key Performance Indicator dataThe District has a new suspension policy. Monitoring for compliance with suspension procedures will be done by theAssociate Superintendent for Educational Services. The data will be shared with the Associate. Superintendent forSecondary: .The administrative team is revising student rules and regulations procedures to create a more equitable system forholding students accountable for compliance with school policies and procedures. Practices from Safe and. Civil

. School and Culturally Responsive Teaching Practice PLO sessions and materials are being incorporated into the plan.The student support team attended four days of Culturally Responsive Teaching with Gary Howard on November 16-17,2010 and March 9-10,2011. This work will continue with additional sessions in November 2011 and March2012.The school staff will continue with implementation of the Start On Time program. The student support team willcontinue their training in Safe and Civil Schools. New practices will be brought back to the school based RedesignTeam for consideration and adoption. 'To address the graduation rate,a new College and Career Resource Center (CCRS) with a counselor was establishedin March 2011. The CCRC will provide students and parents/guardians with a wide variety of resources andactivities, including: exploring interests and careers, preparing for SAT and ACT examinations, industry assessments,filling out college and job applications, interview skills, professional resumes, applying for scholarships, andapplying for financial aid (FASFA and filing income tax forms). The counselor will update student records andmaintain accurate data regarding each student's progress toward meeting graduation requirements. The counselor will

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LEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 201QUnder 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

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assist students, along with their parents/guardians, to prepare for a successful post high school plan (3-5 years afterhigh school). This includes helping students find information on scholarships and College/Career Planning. Thecounselor will also put out a quarterly e-newsletter and maintain an active website with information for-students andparents and coordinate workshops and activities with the schools' parent facilitators. The counselor will beresponsible for providing financial aid nights and college application workshops for both students .andparents/guardians, including having interpreters for parents speaking languages other than English.Students will be provided an opportunity to enroll in online credit recovery courses after school and during thesummer months keeping them on track for graduation. Incoming freshman will attend a two-week freshman academyin August and parent orientation will be held at that time.After tracking student progress on important learning goals and intervening as necessary on results from formativeassessment, students, teachers, and the' entire faculty should be invited to celebrate success as it becomes evident andsustained. It is satisfying to see that one's hard work has paid off, and that sense of satisfaction translates intocontinued engagement and increased levels of effort for both students and teachers. Individual students should berecognized for achieving personal learning goals.Staff attendance will be addressed with the. assistance of the Human Resources Department on an individual basis

. under the guidelines of NYS law and the collective bargaining agreement.v. Collection, Analysis, and Utilization of Data

Recommendations: The ongoing use of data should become part of the school culture and used on a daily basis to drive instruction. All teachers

should become adept at using data to improve instruction. The school should consider establishing a Data Analysis Team which should meet on a regular basis. The team should: Identify areas impacting student achievement. Assist in creating aplan to address these issues. Establish benchmarks and record progress toward the 'goals.

v. Collection, Analysis, and Utilization of Data (Actions)A district data repository has been created to enable a direct link between student achievement data and other relevant

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'",- ' .~.New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

data having an impact on student success, including teacher attendance and professional development. The repositoryis continuing to grow both in sources of data and in displays of data to different stakeholders. This warehouse is partof the overall data plan in place to support the unique needs of the Persistently-Lowest Performing schools. The focusof the plan is to: ' , Ensure efficient and timely data flow from district to schools. Follow a timeline to provide specific data related to accountabili ty cohorts to principals for verification and review. Establish a communication protocol related to data and changes in accountability. Establish a training protocol that includes a coaching model; creating leaders within schools to facilitate data drivendecision-making. Develop methodologies that are inclusive of multiple measures of student performance, such as suspension,attendance, and drop-out data to make decisions.

Based on the JIT report for the school there is a needfor teachers to become adept at using data to differentiate theirclassroom instruction. A s such, teachers and administrators at East HS will be involved in a multi-year professionallearning opportunity on analyzing data at the school level for comprehensive and continuous improvement in how toreach the schools goals. This will occur during common planning time, coaching sessions, early release days, etc.Everyone will learn to adopt a systematic process for using data in order to bring evidence to support instructional andprogrammatic decisions to improve their ability to meet students' learning needs.Inthe 2011-2012 school year, and moving forward, there will significant additional support for East HS staff andadministration to improve their use of datain making instructional decisions. A consultant (Nancy Love) will beworking with the school on data use and on the development of data teams. In addition, July 2011 begins the Race tothe Top Network Teams who will work to support Inquiry Teams at the school, making use of data to support theimplementation of the new Core Curriculum standards. These teams will provide an additional specific focus onStudents with Disabilities in the school. ' ,Training will occur during common planning time, coaching sessions, early release days, etc. This will lead to thedevelopment of a culture of data use where teachers and administrators have regularly scheduled opportunities toanalyze student data together (US Department of Education, 2010; Tung &Ouimette, 2007). The focus of the datawork is to provide a framework for disseminating information related to supporting a strategy that pinpoints unique

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_ .New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010

Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965needs of East HS and leads to improved student achievement.Common Curricular Planning time, a daily meeting, is in place for all teachers .. 'These meetings will continue thedevelopment of common rubrics and assessments at the schooL Once common formative assessments and expectationsare in place, this time will be used to work together to analyze student results and adjust instruction. There will be on-site support for this data analysis in the form of both the East HS instructional coaches, the secondary data coaches, andstaff from the Office of Shared Accountability as needed. PLA research aides in the Office of Shared Accountabilitywill mine the data and presentit in a form easily accessed by the school staff. With the initial exposure of analyzingstudent data on commonly developed assessments, teachers will then receive scaffolded training to further the use ofmore data sources (NYS assessments, program assessments, etc)to better drive their instruction and be able todifferentiate based on student need. Currently these data are available to all district staff through the BOCES DataWarehouse and through NYStart. Staff and administration at East HS will be surveyed to see ifadditional access orsupport in navigation of these sites is needed.The completion of the District Data Warehouse will allow for the use of additional data elements to allow staff to betteridentify student needs and.to begin making links between other data elements and learning. The warehouse will allowfor the linking not only student information to student achievement, but information on teacher professionaldevelopment, experience, and attendance as welL The plan for East HS includes an extended day for credit recoveryand an enhanced AISprogram. Both programs depend on accurate, up to date data and its use in assignment ofstudents and evaluation of efficacy. Anearly warning dashboard will use the metrics research show to be criticaIintervention opportunities to support drop out prevention and increase graduation. Professional development on thisWarehouse has begun and will continue through 2012, with the specific dates dependant on the successfultechnological phases being completed.Teacher accountability for this use of data in their classrooms comes from the collective responsibility for contributionsduring Common Curricular Planning Time, and through the individual conversations following classroomwalkthroughs by administrators.

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V I . Professional DevelopmentRecommendations:

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' - New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010

Under 1003 (g) of the Eleinentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 The district may wish to. consider "train-the-trainer" model to improve the impact of district-wide professional development at the

building level. Goals specific to the school should drive the preparation of a year-long School Professional Development Plan to maximize the use of

time devoted toprofessional development during the teacher's regularly scheduled work day, such as team meeting time, earlyrelease day,faculty meetings, etc.

VII. PrOfessional Development Actions Refer to sections II, ill, and VI above

The district should provide support in implementing the recommendations of the Joint Intervention Team (lIT);

This report serves' as the guiding document for creating effective professional learning opportunities to improveteacher quality and student achievement. '

VII. District SupportRecommendations:

Provide additional buses later in the afternoon so more students will participate in after school tutoring and otheractivities.

VII. District Support (Actions)District central offices. personnel and resources are being fundamentally shifted as part of district-wide support forthe turnaround process for the Persistently-Lowest Achieving (PLA) schools. Under the new guidelines for PLAschools. Buffalo City School District now has six PLAhigh schools and seven elementary schools. The first step insupporting these schools through the turnaround process began with a strategic plan for Central' Office turnaround.The Cohort' I PLA high schools along with the Cohort II PLA high schools have been reassigned from the Office of

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.. . . . . . . . . . . . - :.._/New York State Education DepartmentLEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) ofthe Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

School Performance to the new Department of Turnaround illthe Office of Teaching and Learning; Secondary. Thisoffice was created in October 2010 under new leadership, an Associate Superintendent for Secondary. This officewill serve as the hub for coordination of services and supports for thePLA high schools. Under the direction of thesuperintendent and deputy superintendent, the associate will continually review multiple data sources to gauge theeffectiveness of each central office department and. their personnel in relationship to their efforts in supportingstudent achievement (refer to Section B: Descriptive Information in the overall SIG appendix B for additional detailson the turnaround strategic plan).The Office of School Performance has replaced two of the community superintendents responsible for supervision ofprincipals and overseeing school operations. The Office of Shared Accountability is creating a new Data Warehousesystem (Appendix B) and increasing research aides and coaches to support teachers and principals in learning how tomake data to inform decisions. The Offices of Human Resources and Finance will work with the AssociateSuperintendent and PLA principals to allow for an increase in flexibili ty in creating the school budget and hiring thestaff. .Under the Department of High School Turnaround, the Associate Superintendent for Secondary is responsible for: .

triangulating the services of all Central Office Divisions to support improvements in teaching and learning inthe PLA high schools;

assisting principals in focusing on crucial aspects of instruction throughout the year; coaching principals for maximizing use of instructional time; monitoring the school CEP,SIG, arid meeting targeted goals; providing professional development for district and school based coaching initiatives; supervising PLA principals and evaluating them withthe new APPR instrument aligned with 3012c; supervising and evaluating secondary subject area supervisors and directors.

All subject area directors and supervisors will participate in PLOs related to instructional leadership practices and in .the use of data to understand student progress as related to passing courses, Regents examinations, and graduationrates. Regularly scheduled learning experiences and joint school walkthroughs in line with these expectations will beheld on site, in' PLA group sessions, and team attendance at conferences. This core group will continuouslycommunicate about the strategies in use to support the schools in the turnaround process: Data will be routinely

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LEA School Improvement Grant Application, FY 2010Under 1003 (g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

examined to identify areas in need of midstream adjustments to the turnaround plan of each high school and the roleof central office.District support teache~s will work with the building level coaches through weekly meetings to review districtpriorities, common planning time agendas, common assessments and unit lessons created by teachers, and studentassessment data.The principal will be monitored for follow-through,and interventions and further support will be provided whenneeded. This entire process will assist in identifying gaps in the principal's leadership and allow a process forongoing monitoring and discussion with principals about school performance and improvement plans, and informaladvising and coaching interventions.

The Associate Superintendent for Secondary will host a joint. Buffalo Teachers FederationlDistrictiSchool teacherrepresentative meetings each year with each or all schools to assess progress, needs, and adjustments that should bemade. Likewise, the Associate will host bi-annual on-site meetings with all staff so they can bring their concerns orideas to the table. The Associate will use this data to provide the staff with updates and/or opportunities available tothem.

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East HS Turnaround Plan

Documents

Transcript of East HS Turnaround Plan