The Four Domains
Instructional Transformation
Improvement in student learning outcomes depends on system-wide support for change in classroom instruction. Effective instructional practice, including strong standards-based instruction, data-based planning, differentiation and individualization, research-based pedagogical approaches, and classroom management, must be identified and supported at the school, district, and broader system levels.
Schools cultivate an environment of both high expectations and support for students’ academic accomplishment. While districts and schools strive to focus their organization’s attention on the in-school factors impacting student performance, they also attempt to address factors that are traditionally non-school-based so that every student comes to the task of learning ready for the challenge.
Diagnose and Respond to Student Learning Needs
Practice Description
- Diagnose student learning needs and use identified needs to drive all instructional decisions.
- Incorporate effective student supports and instructional decisions.
- Use fluid, rapid assessment and adjustment of instructional grouping and delivery to adapt to student learning needs.
School-Based Example
Regularly examine individual student data in team meetings, PLCs, or other planning sessions as part of teachers’ regular work and expectations. Creatively use fluid instructional groupings rather than yearlong assignments that may not meet students’ (or teachers’) needs. For example, when students struggle with a certain concept, they could be assigned temporarily to a teacher whose data demonstrate that they teach it well or differently from the students’ current teacher(s), placed in a small group for reteaching, or given individualized instruction. Teachers are given time within the school day to conduct such analyses and develop plans to address identified needs. Teachers are also held accountable for doing so and for carrying out the plans they develop for students.
Desired Future State
Our school has a Response to Intervention (RtI) system and a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) program that impact instruction for students.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop an RtI system that includes tiers of academic and behavioral intervention that are fluid and accessible for all students in need. The system must have clearly articulated entry and exit criteria into and out of the different tiers of intervention and the support that each tier is expected to provide. Distribute this information to all teachers, students, and parents to empower them to take the necessary steps to move from one tier to another. All student placement decisions must be transparent, data-based, and objective to appropriately meet the learning needs of all students.
- Train educators to use disaggregated student data from screening as standards-aligned formative and diagnostic assessments to determine student learning and adult teaching priorities, monitor student progress, and help sustain continuous school improvement needs.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What do you currently know about RtI and MTSS?
- What adjustments could be made so that the RtI and MTSS processes increase the impact of classroom instruction?
- How do teachers diagnose each student’s learning needs? What tools, systems, and structures need to be established?
- How could fluid grouping of students be implemented and supported?
- How is the school proactive in preventing student failure?
- Do classroom teachers take ownership of the learning of all students?
- Do all students receive differentiated instruction in the regular classroom?
- Do classroom teachers, instructional specialists, and special needs teachers collaborate to develop instruction for all students?
- Are historically underrepresented students provided with opportunities to access academic and behavioral support as needed?
Desired Future State
In order to adapt and form strategies for instruction, teachers assess student understanding in their classrooms more than once a week as a regular feature of classroom instruction.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Build pedagogical capacity in the area of creating high-quality formative assessments and using data results to drive instruction.
- Regularly examine individual student data in team meetings or PLCs as part of teachers’ regular work and expectations.
- Give teachers time during the school day to conduct such analysis and to develop plans to address identified Also, hold teachers accountable for conducting the analysis and for carrying out the plans they develop for students.
- Creatively use fluid instructional groupings. For example, temporarily assign students who struggle with a certain concept to a teacher whose data demonstrate greater success when using alternative teaching methods; place students in a small group for reteaching; or provide individualized instruction.
- Make data highly visible and transparent to all members of the school community.
- Give teachers regular opportunities to work with their peers in reviewing student work and discussing its implications for instructional design, academic rigor, and learner outcomes.
- Facilitate discussions regarding the number of students who are improving their work.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How often do teachers assess student understanding?
- What is the current requirement for the frequency of formative assessments? Is it being monitored?
- How is student learning measured in the school?
- How do teachers collect and share information on student learning?
- Does the school have a system to assess, collect, and use formative data to guide student learning?
- Are school formative assessments aligned to state standards in content, complexity, and rigor?
- Is the format of the formative assessment familiar to students?
- Are the questions, tasks, and prompts free from cultural bias?
- Does the assessment include appropriate scaffolds for multilingual and special needs students?
- Is the assessment used to inform instruction? How?
- How are students who are unable to meet mastery supported?
Desired Future State
Student support services, including support for special education and English language learners, improve learning outcomes for all students.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Create a system to monitor and identify improved learning outcomes through effective support services.
- Use student learning data and instructional strategy data within the school leadership team to design fluid instructional groupings that respond to student needs.
- Provide staff with training in identifying the need for and how to engage in effective differentiated instruction that addresses student needs.
- Use data reviews to identify whether particular subgroups of students are under- or over-identified. Create a plan with steps for concerns around misidentification.
- Create systems in which special education, student support, and regular education teachers collaborate around the instructional needs of students.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- Who is included in the special education designation? Should additional groups be represented?
- How do you measure who has improved learning outcomes due to the impact of student support services?
- What types of early warning systems identify students who may be falling behind?
- Who is accountable for establishing those early warning systems?
- Are there particular subgroups of students that staff feel are under- or over-identified?
- Does the concern around misidentification arise out of a need for better staff training in differentiated instruction?
- Is stronger collaboration needed between special education and regular education teachers to support student learning?
- Is there an effective program (such as RtI or MTSS) in place for early assessment and intervention of student learning needs?
- What steps are in place to address the misidentification concerns?
Desired Future State
The special education teacher, the classroom teacher, and the support team work together to develop learning plans for students who have been identified as having a specific learning disability.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide teachers with professional development focused on using data to plan differentiated instruction and providing interventions to make the curriculum more accessible to all students at risk of not meeting benchmark assessment targets.
- Re-envision the co-teaching professional development plan and structure it for students needing intensive pull-out services and those benefiting from push-in services. Ensure that a clear schedule for co-planning is in place for special education teachers and core teachers and clarify expectations for co-teaching.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How do teachers know who is primarily responsible for teaching students who have been specifically identified as learning disabled?
- What adjustments could be made to encourage special education teachers, classroom teachers, and support teams to work together to develop learning plans?
- Is sufficient planning time given for special education and general education teachers to work together?
- What guidance is given to staff regarding goals and structures for planning time?
- What professional development opportunities exist for all teachers around support for special needs students and learning strategies?
- How are these opportunities expanding?
Desired Future State
The English language learner (ELL) teacher, the classroom teacher, and the support team work together to develop learning plans for ELL students.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Build a professional development plan to address English language instructional strategies to support ELL students.
- Provide teachers with professional development focused on using data to plan differentiated instruction and providing interventions to make the curriculum more accessible to all students at risk of not meeting benchmark assessment targets.
- All teachers use multiple strategies to gain every student’s attention and ensure that every student understands directions and content. Teachers create an environment where all students feel intellectually and socially safe for learning.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How do teachers know who is primarily responsible for teaching students who have been identified as ELL students?
- What adjustments could be made to encourage ELL teachers, classroom teachers, and support teams to work together to develop learning plans?
- Is sufficient planning time given for ELL teachers and general education teachers to work together?
- What guidance is given to staff regarding goals and structures for planning time?
Desired Future State
School leaders provide a great deal of guidance to PLCs about the PLCs’ purpose and structure.
Note: For relevant strategies and suggestions and reflection questions, see 3.1.63 below.
Desired Future State
School leaders provide a great deal of support to PLCs to help teachers identify root causes for poor student performance.
Note: For relevant strategies and suggestions and reflection questions, see 3.1.63 below.
Desired Future State
School leaders provide a great deal of support to PLCs to help teachers develop effective instruction to address root causes.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Strengthen PLCs by adding structures, protocols, data, and expectations to maximize the use of collaborative time. Collaborative feedback practices enable teachers to reflect on teaching practices, and these feedback practices create school cultures that value improvements in teaching practices.
- Collaborative teams review formative assessment data to make instructional adjustments and address student skill gaps in a timely manner.
- Give teachers regular opportunities to work with peers in reviewing student work and discussing its implications for instructional design, academic rigor, and learner outcomes.
- Facilitate discussions regarding the number of students whose performance levels are improving and those whose levels are not Interventions are short-term rather than long-term strategies.
- Facilitate discussions regarding the number of students mastering the essential skills.
- Discuss individual students who are not improving and are therefore recommended for further intervention.
- Provide professional development to teachers on what transforms a school into a PLC (and the difference between a PLC and “having PLC meetings”).
- Include equitable practices around the use, nature, and language of formative assessments.
- Ensure that PLCs identify and address data that uncover or reinforce the existence of inequities.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How active are PLCs?
- What is the structure of the PLCs? Who attends PLC meetings?
- What adjustments could be made to PLCs to help teachers develop effective instruction?
- Why do you suppose some survey respondents participate in PLCs and others do not?
- To what extent do school leaders support the need for PLCs?
- Are all PLC members capable of explaining its purpose and established goals? If not, what steps are staff taking to make this possible?
- What are the protocols in place to help teachers identify root causes for poor student performance?
- Do the protocols enable staff to identify and plan for the use of instructional strategies necessary for improvement?
Desired Future State
School leaders provide a great deal of formative feedback to support the collaborative analysis of student work.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Adopt common schoolwide rubrics for constructed Work to ensure staff has strong inter-rater reliability when scoring.
- Develop a schoolwide system for regularly collecting and analyzing common formative data (including student work samples).
- The leadership team and instructional coaches support teacher teams in developing and designing common formative and summative assessments.
- Common assessment results drive collaborative teacher team meetings to identify students who need extra support.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- To what extent are teachers getting together to apply their combined knowledge and experience to the challenges of teaching and learning by reviewing student work?
- What system or cycle is in place to ensure collaborative analysis of this work? How are the results of the analysis monitored for student success?
Provide Rigorous Evidence-Based Instruction
Practice Description
- Set high academic standards and ensure access to rigorous standards-based curricula.
- Provide support to ensure that evidence is used in instructional planning and facilitation of student learning.
- As gaps are identified in the curriculum or the delivery of instruction, develop plans to strengthen these key components.
School-Based Example
Conduct a curriculum analysis and map lesson plans against standards to ensure that the plans adequately represent the standards. Determine whether adjustments and support are needed to ensure that all students have access to the curricula. In each instructional mode utilized—whether whole-class work, small-group work, independent work, technology-based work, or homework—teachers routinely utilize the best instructional practices for that mode, and school leaders support their development of those practices.
Desired Future State
Collaborative activities around mapping the curriculum to state or other content standards improve teaching and student learning in the school.
Note: For relevant strategies and suggestions and reflection questions, see 3.2.60 below.
Desired Future State
A formal plan for a common standards-based approach to student grading is developed, actively used, and shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop a formal, standards-based report card for grades K–6.
- Have teachers intentionally track students’ progress and achievements using common standards. This system includes a way to report students showing progress toward mastery of a standard.
- Use levels of performance such as Basic, Proficient, and Advanced to empower students to know how they are doing and in which areas they need work for continuous Allow time for teachers, students, and parents to celebrate student growth relative to schoolwide goals, grade-level goals, subject-specific goals, and the students’ personal goals.
- Develop a schoolwide system for regularly collecting and analyzing common formative data around grading.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What is the current approach to student grading? Are there formal guidelines?
- What systems are in place that enable students to move toward mastery of skills or standards and, ultimately, toward ownership of their learning?
- Are teachers and leaders aware of and do they clearly understand what mastery of a standard looks like and what students’ proficiency levels are? How is this information communicated to students, parents, and, during collaboration times, other educators?
Desired Future State
Maximizing access to advanced courses and/or coursework for all students is considered a great deal when assigning courses for students.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Leadership communicates and purposefully messages high expectations for every student.
- Create multiple entry points of access to gifted and talented programs and advanced courses.
- Use data to identify inequities in the assignment of classes. Review the history and criteria of who participates in these classes.
- Examine fiscal resources, time allocation, and schedules to ascertain if the school provides all students with the opportunity to access higher-level courses.
- Work with the guidance department to create multiple paths allowing underserved students access to advanced coursework.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How are students made aware of advanced coursework?
- How do students elect to participate in advanced coursework?
- Under what conditions are students enrolled in advanced coursework?
- To what degree is data reviewed to identify the students who are accessing advanced courses? Is course data reflective of all students?
- What are the prerequisite skills for success in advanced courses? How can those skills be included in classes so that more students can be prepared for access to and success in advanced courses?
- Is there evidence of disproportionality of assignments to gifted and talented programs and advanced courses?
- Are historically underrepresented students provided with opportunities to access academic and behavioral support as needed?
- Does the school offer summer or after-school opportunities to meet prerequisite coursework to access advanced courses?
- Do school leaders insist that all classes prepare students for a challenging curriculum?
Desired Future State
Aligning the school’s curricula to the state standards is extremely important to school leaders.
Note: For relevant strategies and suggestions and reflection questions, see 3.2.60 below.
Desired Future State
There is cognitive and content alignment among all three key areas for instruction: standards, curriculum, and assessment. (Cognitive alignment is defined as having consistent levels of intellectual rigor across areas. Content alignment is defined as having consistent subject matter across areas on which to assess student learning.)
Note: For relevant strategies and suggestions and reflection questions, see 3.2.60 below.
Desired Future State
School leaders create effective job-embedded opportunities to identify and address gaps in alignment between standards, curriculum, and assessment.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop a common expectation for unit and lesson planning to address grade-level standards.
- Administer common formative assessments on a schedule agreed upon by all grade- level members.
- Adjustments to instruction and reteaching are determined regularly by the data collected from common formative assessments.
- Develop and implement a calendar of instruction that includes core content instruction, reteaching, and enrichment lessons to deepen the student’s understanding and application of the essential standards.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- Is the curriculum mapped to state or other content standards?
- How do you determine if there is cognitive and/or content alignment among standards, curriculum, and assessments?
- When gaps in cognitive and/or content alignment are identified, what steps are taken to close those gaps?
- Who creates the aligned curriculum? District teams? School teams? Individual teachers?
- Where does the aligned curriculum reside? In district curriculum guides? School curriculum guides? Other? Online or hard copy or both?
- When and how often is the aligned curriculum re-examined and revised? By whom?
- How is the aligned curriculum organized? Into subjects? Grade levels? Courses?
- How is student learning data consulted in the alignment process?
Desired Future State
School leaders support teachers a great deal in the development of routine use of instructional practices.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Build ongoing and intensive job-embedded professional learning that provides effective and relevant tools and knowledge and continuously pushes teachers to reflect on their instructional practices.
- Help teachers vary their repertoires for explaining content, new concepts, and new information. To ensure that students understand concepts, teachers should use multiple methods such as models, representation, flash tools, diagrams, videos, text, mental imagery, exploration, research, art, music, and tactile experiences.
- Develop and expect teachers to regularly engage in the use of effective instructional practices, such as explicit instruction, cooperative learning, hands-on learning activities, scaffolding, varied group instruction, checking for understanding, and providing students with criteria for success.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How are school leaders supporting teachers in the development of instructional modes and practices?
- What professional learning opportunities have been identified and used to support varied instructional practices?
- How do school leaders monitor and support classroom instruction to ensure varied modes of instruction?
Desired Future State
School leaders routinely support teachers in the development of enhanced student learning by assisting teachers with engagement strategies that promote student-generated questions and student-to-student interactions.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide professional development for teachers on questioning and discussion techniques that produce thoughtful dialogue and on methods for increasing the use of academic language.
- Use strategies such as cooperative learning groups to have teachers support students in teaching one another, learning from one another, and assuming responsibility for one another’s learning.
- During classroom observations, ensure that teachers ask open-ended questions so that all students can respond and discuss answers.
- Use supports, such as student discussion prompts, to have teachers engage in teaching students questioning techniques.
- Develop strategies, as well as clear rules and norms, to help students engage in collaborative learning, offer and receive feedback from peers and teachers, engage in questioning and examining claims, and provide encouragement and recognition of effort and progress.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- Do students have time to discuss new and developing learning? How does this compare to teacher talk time?
- To what extent are strategies developed to support student discussion in the classroom?
- What tools and strategies are provided to teachers to support student use of academic language?
- What student engagement strategies have proven successful in the context of your school?
Desired Future State
School leaders support teachers a great deal in the development of posing high-level questions that elicit creative responses and problem solving.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide training for teachers, coaches, and administrators on questioning strategies to address critical thinking skills and depth of knowledge.
- Provide training for teachers on how students can ask and respond to questions that help them demonstrate learning (e.g., integrate knowledge, analyze, evaluate, and draw conclusions) for the purpose of monitoring student progress and adjusting instruction.
- Support teachers in designing questions and responses to students in a manner that results in thought-provoking dialogue.
- Support teachers in creating lessons that enable students to express their thinking and that make it visible.
- When appropriate, encourage teachers to ask students probing questions, which promote critical thinking and sustained dialogue, thereby deepening students’ understanding of the content area and stretching the students’ linguistic abilities. Questions to be posed to students can include the following:
- Why did you say that?
- What evidence do you have?
- How do you know that?
- What might someone else say?
- How did you solve that?
- What would have happened if we changed X?
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- Are there opportunities for teachers to complete a self-assessment survey to help determine whether questions posed to students are high-level, rigorous questions?
- Are high-level questions planned prior to lesson delivery? What systems are in place to support this?
Desired Future State
School leaders provide guidelines and resources for differentiated instruction and coordinate professional learning and accountability with staff to ensure that all teachers implement it across classrooms.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide ongoing professional learning on the RtI framework, on effective practices for all certificated staff, including administrators, and on differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students.
- Provide teachers with professional development focused on using data to plan differentiated instruction and providing interventions to make the curriculum more accessible to all students at risk of not meeting benchmark assessment targets.
- Determine whether professional development has been effective or whether teachers need additional training by monitoring how teachers use student achievement data, especially in the area of using data to plan differentiated instruction for English learners, students with disabilities, and students at risk.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- To what extent have school leaders provided guidelines and resources for differentiated instruction?
- To what extent is professional learning coordinated?
- How are expectations for differentiated instruction monitored to ensure implementation across all classrooms?
Remove Barriers and Provide Opportunities
Practice Description
- Systematically identify barriers to student learning and ways to enhance learning opportunities for students who demonstrate early mastery.
- Partner with community-based organizations, such as health and wellness organizations, youth organizations, and other service providers, to support students in overcoming obstacles and developing personal competencies that propel success in school and life.
School-Based Example
Track student progress and help students regain lost ground through academic supports (e.g., tutoring, co-curricular activities, tiered interventions), extended learning opportunities (e.g., summer bridge programs, after-school and supplemental educational services, Saturday academies, enrichment programs), credit-recovery programs, and virtual courses.
Give students demonstrating sufficient prior mastery access to higher level assignments and courses. Network with nearby community organizations to identify available supports—or to generate new supports—for students. Consider having medical and dental services available on-site on a regular basis. Provide on-site laundry service for families in need. Provide food for students during extended learning sessions and other periods when students are at school outside regular school hours.
Desired Future State
A plan for reducing the occurrence of student attendance problems is extremely effective.
Strategies and Suggestions
Draw from evidence-based strategies to address chronic absence, as nearly 8 million students are chronically absent nationwide. In the era of COVID-19, when students and families face even greater challenges, there is a need for higher levels of support from schools. Over the past decade, a growing body of knowledge has emerged about what works to improve attendance for groups of students with disproportionately high rates of chronic absence:
- Start with a team. At the school level, use an attendance team, an MTSS team, or a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support team. Be sure to get the right people with the right skills, resources, and authority to implement the strategies. Teams can meet in person or virtually.
- Analyze the data before selecting strategies. What is the prior year’s rate of chronic absence? The higher the rate of chronic absence, the more investment there should be in Tier I strategies, as this lessens the need for the more costly and intensive Tier II and Tier III strategies.
- Consider the reasons for absences. What are the reasons for individual students and for groups of students? Check with families and students to understand from their perspective what makes daily school attendance challenging. Assess the supports that are already in place, how well they are working, and where the gaps are.
- Explore possible interventions with the team. Consider alternatives that are aligned with the reasons.
- Select evidence-based interventions based on capacity. There may be more strategies than staff can implement Determine what to do first by sorting strategies into four quadrants: high impact (affecting many students), low impact (affecting a few students), high effort (requiring a lot of coordination, people power, resources, time), or low effort (requiring less coordination, people power, resources, time).
- Determine the steps needed to implement each strategy. Once strategies are chosen, create a plan to implement the interventions throughout the year. Incorporate the strategies into the school improvement plan.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What was the chronic absenteeism rate in the previous school year? How many students missed more than 18 days? How many missed between 25 and 36 days of school? How many missed more than 36 days of school?
- How does the average daily attendance rate compare with the chronic absenteeism rate?
- How are positive messaging and accessible social and emotional checkpoints encouraging student engagement while in school and out of school?
- How have you assessed families’ and students’ perspectives to understand their attendance challenges?
Desired Future State
A plan for reducing student suspension problems is extremely effective.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Adopt and implement clear and consistent expectations for students. Ensure all school community groups are adequately supported to understand Implement measures to ensure that students, staff, and teachers comply with the expectations.
- Adopt a set of cultural norms and practices that enable teachers to interact with students positively.
- Analyze the impact the schoolwide behavior plan is having on lowering office referrals and improving student productivity.
- As part of the RtI process, establish a positive behavior support system and implement it consistently schoolwide.
- Assist staff in identifying and reducing teacher actions that decrease student motivation.
- Communicate regularly with the student body to reinforce the desired school culture and publicly celebrate individual and collective student growth.
- Work with students, parents, and staff to keep all communication channels open to provide information and to build an ongoing awareness of any school climate or safety issues affecting the campus.
- Develop a code of conduct with community input and ensure that it is communicated widely.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- Are expectations for student behavior communicated? How do you know students are aware of the expectations?
- Are historical data on demographics, location, time, and reporting adults collected? To what extent are historical data analyzed to gain insight into root causes for suspensions?
- Which updates to the school’s student suspension plan address emerging disciplinary issues? Does the plan outline ways to positively reinforce expectations?
- Do all staff members have a clear understanding of not only the consequences of misbehavior, but also the restorative next steps to uphold when the student returns to school or class? How is this information disseminated and reinforced?
Desired Future State
A plan for reducing the occurrence of bullying is extremely effective.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Define what bullying is and how bullying is handled in all of its forms.
- Be specific about the tools and strategies teachers use to address bullying.
- Establish a “bully committee” to examine various anti-bullying curricula. Choose a program to implement schoolwide to systematically teach kids how to prevent and deal with bullying.
- Establish a conflict resolution program for all school leaders, support staff, and students.
- As part of the RtI process, establish a system of positive behavior supports and be consistent in schoolwide implementation.
- The committee members drive the process of taking inventory of current staff and student responses to bullying by identifying and addressing key focus areas.
- Develop action plans that include ongoing systematic monitoring of program implementation.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What is the current plan to address bullying? What adjustments can be made to improve the current plan?
- Is the current plan connected to other successful strategies that encourage student success?
- How is the school collecting information on students’ and staff’s feelings about their sense of safety in the school? Do these data show areas of strength as well as areas for improvement?
- To what degree do school leaders and teachers accurately define and identify bullying in class or on campus? How is support provided to sharpen the identification of bullying and create safety for all students?
Desired Future State
A plan for reducing the occurrence of each of the dropout rates is extremely effective.
A process for reviewing the school’s approach for maximizing access and inclusiveness of underrepresented groups is developed, actively used, and shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide parents and students with critical information about graduation requirements and college options as students enter 9th grade and throughout high school.
- Provide professional learning opportunities to ensure all teachers have the technical knowledge to provide basic information about college admittance and career and technical pathways.
- Identify early barriers to graduation. Create a system to collect and track course completion from each cohort of students starting their freshman year. Develop this system to outline the number of courses needed each year to be on track for graduation and identify barriers to course completion.
- Create early intervention plans for students identified as not on course for Those interventions include mentor support, social–emotional support, and alternate academic pathways for course completion.
- Provide career and technical education for students. Provide students with information and community opportunities to explore possible career paths.
- Collect and analyze historical student data to identify reasons for dropout rates.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How is the dropout rate calculated? Does the calculation surface an area that is determined to be most detrimental to the overall rate?
- What is the current plan to decrease the dropout rate? Is it effective?
- To what extent is the school surveying students about their career interests after high school graduation?
- To what extent is the school identifying barriers to graduation? Which data are collected to identify students’ reasons for not completing high school coursework? Are these reasons connected to the economic or social–emotional needs of the students’ families? What actions are taken in response to the data?
- What community partnerships are established to re-engage students?
Desired Future State
Programs that offer additional instruction to struggling students, such as extended school days or summer school, are developed, actively used, and shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Ensure proper implementation of enrichment opportunities that connect with the school’s mission, vision, values, and goals.
- Work to educate partners about the school’s focus before engagement in order to ensure alignment of messaging and content.
- Ensure that the extended learning curriculum supports and complements current school-day instruction.
- Monitor student improvement using achievement data disaggregated by attendance or other measures.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How is the school leveraging funds to provide additional academic support, extended learning opportunities, credit-recovery programs, and virtual courses? Are there interested parties to financially support these programs?
- Which programs are provided to add instructional time for students?
- Are access and opportunity provided equitably?
- How is student participation tracked?
- Which data are collected to determine whether the additional time is improving student learning?
- How are the data analyzed? How often? By whom? Are adjustments considered based on the data?
Desired Future State
Programs that offer targeted intervention periods during the school day for struggling students are developed, actively used, and shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- The leadership team develops a formal RtI system for students’ entry into and exit from intervention classes.
- Tiers of intervention within the system are fluid and accessible for all students in need.
- Conduct an inventory of existing core academic and behavior interventions to determine areas of strength and Use inventory results to drive decisions to either acquire or abandon existing interventions and behavior supports.
- Develop decision-making protocols and rules that include entry and exit criteria to support collaborative teacher teams when making student placement decisions.
- Incorporate timelines for frequent progress monitoring to measure intervention effectiveness and student response to intervention. Measure the fidelity of intervention implementation to address any instructional issues that may interfere with student progress and growth.
- Review the most current and appropriate assessment data and associated cut scores for the students to identify those who are two or more levels below their grade and in need of intensive intervention.
- Consider targeted interventions that enable all students to access advanced coursework.
- Provide teachers with professional development focused on using data to plan differentiated instruction and providing interventions to make the curriculum more accessible to all students at risk of not meeting benchmark assessment targets.
- Assess the technology needs of proposed intervention or academic support programs for use during or after school to provide to targeted groups of students and to recommend technology reallocation or purchases, if needed, to fully implement the programs.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What possible barriers exist to student learning, and how is each level of the system working to remove those academic and nonacademic barriers in turnaround schools?
- What interventions are used to help students who are falling behind?
- How might those interventions be adjusted or changed?
- Who is included in the team to adjust or change those interventions?
- Are access and opportunity provided equitably?
- Which data are collected to determine if the targeted interventions are improving student learning?
- How are the data analyzed? How often? By whom? Are adjustments considered based on the data?
Desired Future State
A process for reviewing our school’s approach for maximizing access and inclusiveness of underrepresented groups is developed, actively used, and shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
Develop, implement, and monitor plans, policies, structures, and systems that support equity and address lagging or problematic issues. For example:
-
- Maintain and use a data collection system focused on the program’s progress in prioritizing equity.
- Include representatives from all community groups in the interpretation and analysis of data used to inform decision-making processes.
- Support teachers and leaders in addressing implicit biases that may influence how they interpret and use data for action planning.
- Work with program leadership to design resource allocations that prioritize equity in programs.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- Has a plan been developed to review students’ access and inclusiveness? Is it actively used?
- Is there a process for reviewing student access?
- What are the goals of maximizing student access? Who is underrepresented? What systems have been put in place to address this underrepresentation?
- Has the process for evaluating access been shown to improve student learning?
- How are expectations for a culture of inclusivity monitored?
Desired Future State
A process to coordinate with community organizations to provide learning opportunities outside the school is developed, actively used, and shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Invest in and mobilize local organizations to support academic achievement and the development of social skills.
- Train community liaison(s) on interpreting achievement data, analyzing student needs, and communicating with community organizations to secure partnerships responsive to student needs.
- Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the community liaison or equivalent designee.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- Which community organizations are currently supporting the school?
- Which community organizations would you like to connect with?
- How do you communicate the needs of the school to community organizations?
- How are the schools involving community members in offering internships, career exploration, and service-learning opportunities?
- Who is accountable for helping make these connections for the students?
- How do teachers give students authentic experiences to connect their interests with real-world applications?
Desired Future State
Ensuring student access to high-level courses or enrichment is important to school leaders.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Complete a data analysis on who is accessing high-level courses.
- Define which prerequisite skills and courses are necessary to access the advanced courses. Backward-map alternative access points that would enable additional students to participate in advanced courses. For example, find opportunities for students to complete algebra and other freshman-level courses before entering high school or offer summer courses and after-school courses not only for remediation, but also for acceleration.
- Ensure that your vision aligns with delivering rigorous coursework and high expectations for all students. Define how that vision is evidenced in classroom instruction and coursework considerations.
- Reconsider school schedules and reallocate funding to provide additional courses and multiple opportunities for students to take advanced coursework.
- Incorporate best practices that meet the needs of diverse learners and promote challenging learning.
- Confront systematic biases found through data analysis that limit access of students from marginalized communities to high-level courses.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What types of high-level assessments and courses has the school offered in the past? Are they working well to challenge gifted or advanced students? What are schools doing differently to challenge gifted or advanced students?
- How do teachers challenge students to exceed their current level of schooling? What types of programs does the school offer?
- Do parents have critical information about graduation requirements and college options?
- Are data collected and analyzed to determine if there are issues of equity and access?
- Are supports available to provide students with a pathway to take high-level courses or enrichment if they choose to participate and demonstrate readiness?
Diagnose and Respond to Student Learning Needs
Practice Description
- Diagnose student learning needs and use identified needs to drive all instructional decisions.
- Incorporate effective student supports and instructional decisions.
- Use flexible and rapid ways to check learning and adjust groupings or teaching methods to meet students’ needs.
LEA Example
The LEA supports teachers’ efforts to identify students’ individual needs and helps them consider how instructional plans can be aligned with the identified needs. LEA leaders explore flexible scheduling opportunities, which may include creative ways to increase instructional time—for example, high-dosage tutoring, pullout skill drills and practice, before- or after-school learning sessions, asynchronous learning opportunities, flexible groupings and scheduling, extended learning such as longer school days or weeks or summer sessions to support each student’s needs. Any additional instructional time is structured and staffed to ensure high-quality learning will occur. The LEA ensures that teachers have access to multiple data sources to conduct frequent progress-monitoring of student outcomes.
Desired Future State
The LEA requires teachers to use specific types of formative assessments and provides them with guidance on how to use the data from them.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Equip teachers with formative assessments and high-quality resources aligned with curriculum standards, ensuring they address the diverse needs of all learners.
- Empower principals and school leaders to lead formative assessment initiatives by offering training on data use and fostering a data-driven culture.
- Provide targeted professional learning to build teacher capacity in interpreting and applying data from formative assessments.
- Introduce clear protocols for collecting, analyzing, and using formative assessment data.
- Support principals in organizing professional learning communities (PLCs) or other teams to foster collaboration, share best practices, and reflect on formative assessment data.
- Provide consistent, constructive feedback to teachers and principals on formative assessment practices, recognizing strengths and identifying areas for growth.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How can the district further support teachers in effectively using formative assessments to improve instruction? What professional learning opportunities are needed?
- In what ways can principals be further empowered to lead and support teachers in effectively using formative assessment data?
- What protocols are being implemented or can be improved to ensure formative assessment data are collected, analyzed, and used consistently across schools?
- How are collaborative learning communities supporting teachers in reflecting on and improving their use of formative assessment data?
- How is the feedback process structured to ensure that both teachers and principals continuously grow in their use of formative assessments?
Desired Future State
The LEA uses both summative and formative assessment data to identify areas where students need improvement.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop a comprehensive assessment system that integrates both formative and summative assessments aligned with curriculum standards.
- Provide timely assessment data after each assessment is administered.
- Provide professional learning opportunities for school leaders and teachers on analyzing assessment data.
- Design interventions and adjust instruction based on analysis of assessment data.
- Implement steps and protocols for the routine review of assessment data at both the district and school levels to ensure that student learning needs are being addressed promptly.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the LEA monitor the use of formative and summative assessment data? What adjustments can be made to enhance this process?
- What professional learning opportunities are provided to support teachers and school leaders in analyzing and responding to assessment data, and how can those opportunities be further strengthened or expanded?
- What strategies and protocols are in place for regularly reviewing student assessment data, and how can these be improved to ensure timely instructional adjustments?
- How effectively are school leaders and teachers collaborating in data-driven analysis processes, and are there additional supports needed to enhance this collaboration?
Desired Future State
District leaders provide guidelines and resources for differentiated instruction, and they coordinate with school leaders on professional learning and accountability to ensure that all teachers implement it across classrooms.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide clear, districtwide guidelines and resources for differentiated instruction that align with curriculum standards and are adaptable to the diverse needs of students.
- Support principals in leading differentiated instruction by providing training on coaching teachers and setting clear expectations for consistent classroom implementation.
- Coordinate targeted professional learning for teachers in implementing differentiated instruction.
- Establish a process for monitoring and accountability in which principals and district leaders regularly review classroom practices and provide feedback.
- Foster a culture of collaboration through professional learning communities (PLCs), allowing teachers to share strategies and reflect on their differentiated instruction practices for continuous improvement.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What guidance and resources are in place to support teachers in implementing differentiated instruction?
- In what ways are principals communicating expectations for effective differentiated instruction?
- How can the district further enhance the coordination of professional learning on differentiated instruction to ensure all staff are equipped with effective practices?
- In what ways can the district support principals in monitoring expectations for differentiated instruction to ensure consistent implementation across classrooms?
- How effectively are teachers using data to plan and implement differentiated instruction, and what additional support or training might they need?
- How can collaboration through team structures facilitate the sharing of effective strategies for differentiated instruction among teachers?
Desired Future State
The district has developed and actively uses programs to extend instructional time for students in need of further support, such as extended school days or summer school, and these programs have been shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop and implement extended learning programs such as summer school or after-school tutoring.
- Provide ongoing training and resources to teachers on effectively delivering instruction in extended learning programs, ensuring that they are equipped to meet diverse student needs.
- Establish clear criteria for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of extended learning programs, using student achievement data and feedback from teachers, students, and families.
- Facilitate regular observations of extended learning sessions to assess instructional practices and provide constructive feedback to teachers.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What extended learning programs are currently in place to support students who need additional instructional time? How does the district ensure that these programs are actively implemented to support student learning?
- How are teachers and principals supported in effectively implementing extended learning programs to maximize their impact on student achievement?
- How are the results from extended learning programs reviewed and used to adjust or refine the programs to better meet student needs? How does the district use observations of program implementation to inform adjustments?
- How does the district incorporate feedback from teachers, students, and families to improve the effectiveness of extended learning programs?
Desired Future State
District leaders work with school leaders to implement schoolwide methods of instruction and interventions such as response to intervention (RtI) or MTSS, providing ongoing oversight and assistance in assessing the effectiveness of these approaches in improving student learning outcomes.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop and communicate a districtwide framework for implementing RtI/MTSS.
- Provide professional learning opportunities for school leaders and staff on the effective use of instructional interventions, focusing on differentiating instruction and meeting diverse student needs.
- Establish clear data collection protocols to regularly assess the progress of students receiving RtI/MTSS interventions and guide instructional adjustments.
- Foster collaboration among school leaders and instructional staff by establishing PLCs or other collaborative structures to review RtI/MTSS data and discuss strategies for improvement.
- Monitor and evaluate the impact of RtI/MTSS interventions with ongoing district support to refine strategies as needed.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district communicate the framework for implementing RtI/MTSS?
- How do school leaders ensure consistent implementation of the district RtI/MTSS framework?
- What professional learning is provided to help school leaders and teachers effectively implement RtI/MTSS, and how can the district further support their learning?
- How does the district support schools in collecting and using data to monitor the progress of students receiving RtI/MTSS interventions?
- In what ways do school leaders and teachers collaborate to assess the effectiveness of RtI/MTSS interventions, and how can the district enhance these collaborative efforts?
- What systems are in place for providing feedback and coaching to school leaders on the fidelity of RtI/MTSS implementation, and how can the district expand support in this area?
- How does the district monitor the overall effectiveness of RtI/MTSS interventions, and what additional resources or supports could improve student outcomes?
Desired Future State
The district provides principals with comprehensive training and support in developing and managing professional learning communities (PLCs) and reviews the work and effectiveness of PLCs across the district.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide principals with ongoing professional development to effectively lead PLCs, focusing on collaboration, data analysis, and instructional planning.
- Develop a districtwide PLC framework that outlines clear goals, protocols, and expectations, ensuring consistency and alignment with district priorities.
- Offer targeted coaching and mentorship for principals, pairing them with experienced leaders or instructional coaches to strengthen their ability to manage and sustain PLCs effectively.
- Establish regular check-ins and progress reviews in which district leaders meet with principals to assess PLC progress, provide feedback, and address challenges related to PLC development and management.
- Promote cross-school collaboration among PLCs, encouraging principals to share best practices and lessons learned across schools to foster a community of continuous learning.
- Review and evaluate the overall effectiveness of PLCs by analyzing student outcomes, instructional improvements, and teacher collaboration, using these data to refine support for principals and adjust PLC structures as needed.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What professional learning and development opportunities are currently provided to principals on establishing and leading PLCs?
- How is the effectiveness of principals’ PLC-focused training assessed?
- How does the district ensure that principals understand and implement the districtwide PLC framework consistently across schools?
- In what ways does the district offer coaching or mentorship to principals to support the ongoing development and management of PLCs?
- How do PLCs collaborate across schools in the district, and what strategies are in place to encourage sharing of best practices?
- How does the district assess the overall effectiveness of PLCs in improving student learning outcomes, and what data are used to inform ongoing support for principals and adjustments to PLC practices?
Desired Future State
District leaders provide regular, ongoing feedback to principals on improving the quality and use of formative assessments across classrooms, ensuring assessments are aligned with learning goals and drive instructional improvement.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Establish a consistent feedback loop between district leaders and principals, whereby formative assessment practices are discussed regularly.
- Implement regular walk-throughs or observation cycles that explore how formative assessments are being used to guide instruction and student progress.
- Create data-driven discussions during meetings between district leaders and principals to review the effectiveness of formative assessments and their impact on student learning.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How often do district leaders review formative assessment practices with principals?
- What processes are in place to ensure that principals implement feedback on formative assessments?
- How are the results of formative assessments used to guide instructional practices at the classroom and school levels?
Desired Future State
Principal evaluations usually include assessing how well principals are focused on improving the quality of formative assessments of student learning in every classroom.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide principals with training on best practices for formative assessments, including strategies to support teachers in developing and implementing them effectively.
- Establish clear expectations for principals to ensure that formative assessments are aligned with instructional goals and used consistently in all classrooms.
- Incorporate formative assessment quality as a key performance indicator in principal evaluations, emphasizing its role in driving student learning outcomes.
- Facilitate ongoing professional development for principals and teachers to collaborate on refining and improving formative assessment techniques.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district currently evaluate principals’ efforts in improving the use of formative assessments in classrooms?
- What professional development opportunities are provided to help principals enhance the quality of formative assessments?
- How do principals collaborate with teachers to ensure that formative assessments are aligned with curricular and instructional goals?
Provide Rigorous Evidence-Based Instruction
Practice Description
- Set high academic standards and ensure access to rigorous standards-based curricula.
- Provide support to ensure that evidence is used in instructional planning and facilitation of student learning.
- As gaps are identified in the curriculum or the delivery of instruction, develop plans to strengthen these key components.
LEA Example
LEA leaders work with schools’ instructional leadership teams to refresh, update, and bolster teachers’ content knowledge through ongoing professional learning opportunities on rigorous evidence-based instruction. The LEA coordinates vertical alignment such that teachers have an understanding of what their students should have learned the prior year, before entering their classroom, and what their students will be expected to learn the following year. LEA leaders examine curricular and instructional supports to ensure the supports are grounded in evidence, rigor, and the state standards.
Desired Future State
District leaders provide resources and collaborate with school leaders to develop curricula that are relevant to students’ needs.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Form teams that include district leaders, school leaders, teachers, and community members to cocreate curriculum frameworks that ensure relevance to students’ needs.
- Provide regular opportunities to solicit input from families, local cultural leaders, and students to ensure representation and authenticity in curriculum content.
- Offer training for school leaders and teachers on teaching practices that are tuned to students’ needs and on integration of local histories, traditions, and languages into lesson plans.
- Review and adjust resource allocations to support diverse learning materials.
- Develop centralized libraries for sharing culturally rich instructional materials and lesson plans.
- Establish a process for reviewing the impact of curricula on student engagement and learning outcomes.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How are district and school leaders identifying and incorporating relevant perspectives into curriculum development?
- What steps are taken to ensure community voices are authentically represented in the curricula?
- How is professional development supporting educators in adopting teaching practices that are responsive to students’ needs?
- How do district and school leaders collaborate to ensure continuous improvement and innovation in curriculum development?
Desired Future State
Provide principals with comprehensive training and support for aligning curricular materials with state standards, assessments, and benchmarks, with routine opportunities to review alignment.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide comprehensive training for principals on best practices for aligning curricular materials with state standards, ensuring they have a deep understanding of the standards and their effective implementation.
- Develop a systematic process for reviewing curricular alignment, enabling principals to assess the effectiveness of materials in meeting state standards; identify areas for improvement.
- Create a resource bank of aligned curricular materials that principals can use to support teachers in implementing standards-based instruction effectively.
- Encourage a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration among principals to share successful strategies and experiences related to aligning curricula.
- Incorporate ongoing support for principals through coaching or mentorship programs.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What training and support does your district currently provide to principals for aligning curricular materials with state standards?
- How effective is the current training in preparing principals to support teachers with curricular alignment?
- What resources are available to principals to assist them in aligning curricular materials effectively?
- How do principals collaborate with each other to share best practices for aligning curricula to state standards?
- In what ways does your district monitor the alignment of curricular materials to ensure they meet state standards?
- How do principals assess the impact of aligned curricular materials on student learning outcomes?
Desired Future State
District leaders recognize the critical importance of selecting curricular materials that are aligned with state standards and prioritize this alignment to ensure all schools have access to high-quality resources that support student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Prioritize curriculum selection by creating a districtwide committee that ensures materials align with state standards and meet the needs of all learners.
- Establish a clear process for reviewing and adopting curricular materials that includes input from school leaders, teachers, and community partners.
- Monitor and assess the impact of selected materials through student learning outcomes to ensure they are improving instructional effectiveness.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district currently ensure that curricular materials are aligned with state standards?
- What is the process for involving key partners in the selection and review of curricular materials?
- How do district leaders evaluate the effectiveness of selected curricular materials in supporting student learning outcomes?
Desired Future State
District leaders ensure that schools are effectively coordinating vertical alignment of the curriculum from grade to grade, providing students with a cohesive and seamless learning experience as they progress through school.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Support school leaders and teachers in collaborating across grade levels to review and adjust the curriculum for vertical alignment.
- Provide professional learning opportunities for educators on vertical alignment and continuity in learning objectives across grades.
- Develop a districtwide system for regularly reviewing and improving vertical alignment to ensure progression from one grade to the next.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How are district leaders supporting schools in facilitating collaboration across grade levels for vertical alignment?
- What district-level systems are in place to review and adjust vertical alignment of the curriculum regularly?
- How is professional development provided by the district to help educators understand and implement vertical alignment?
Desired Future State
District leaders ensure that teachers receive ongoing support and professional development to keep their content knowledge current, improving instructional effectiveness and student learning outcomes.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide continuous professional development opportunities for teachers to update their content knowledge and stay informed about advancements in their subject areas.
- Partner with school leaders to identify gaps in teachers’ content knowledge and address them through targeted learning sessions and resources.
- Implement a monitoring system that tracks the professional growth of teachers in content areas and provides necessary support for improvement.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district ensure that teachers’ content knowledge remains current and aligned with evolving educational standards?
- What processes are in place to identify and address gaps in teachers’ content knowledge?
- How does the district evaluate the effectiveness of professional development in enhancing teachers’ content knowledge?
Desired Future State
District leaders actively promote a culture of high expectations for student learning throughout the district, ensuring that schools are supported in setting and maintaining these expectations across all classrooms, with ongoing district-level monitoring and feedback.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Communicate high expectations for student learning to school leaders, teachers, and students to ensure districtwide alignment.
- Provide guidance and resources for school leaders to develop initiatives that promote high expectations for all student groups.
- Conduct regular classroom walk-throughs as part of district-level monitoring efforts to assess how well schools are promoting high expectations. Use the data collected to provide constructive feedback to school leaders to support improvements in instructional practices.
- Monitor and review student performance data to ensure schools are maintaining high expectations and addressing gaps in achievement.
- Create feedback loops by holding regular meetings with school leaders to discuss findings from walk-throughs and performance data, and collaboratively develop action plans for improvement.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district communicate and reinforce the importance of promoting high expectations for student learning to all schools?
- What strategies are in place at the district level to support schools, including those serving diverse student populations, in meeting high expectations?
- How do district leaders use classroom walk-throughs to monitor how well schools maintain high expectations, and how are data from these walk-throughs used to provide targeted feedback to school leaders?
- What measures does the district use to evaluate the schools’ success in promoting high expectations, and how is information from these measures communicated back to the schools?
Desired Future State
Curricular materials are provided to schools that are up to date, are aligned with state standards, and meet grade-level rigor.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop a schedule for regular reviews and updates of curricular materials to ensure they remain current and relevant.
- Provide professional development for educators on selecting and using rigorous curricular materials effectively.
- Collaborate with school leaders to ensure all curricular materials align with state standards and promote critical thinking skills.
- Establish a review process to evaluate the rigor of curricular materials, including input from teachers, parents, and community members.
- Create a feedback loop for teachers and parents to share their experiences with curricular materials and suggest improvements.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What processes are in place to ensure that curricular materials are regularly updated?
- How does the district ensure that curricular materials align with state standards?
- What criteria are used to evaluate the rigor of curricular materials?
- How are teachers, parents, and community members involved in the selection and evaluation of curricular materials?
- What professional learning opportunities are provided to help educators effectively use curricular materials?
- Is there a timeline established for updating curricular materials, and how is it communicated to all partners?
Remove Barriers and Provide Opportunities
Practice Description
- Systematically identify barriers to student learning and ways to enhance learning opportunities for students who demonstrate early mastery.
- Partner with community-based organizations, such as health and wellness organizations, youth organizations, and other service providers, to support students in overcoming obstacles and developing personal competencies that propel success in school and life.
LEA Example
LEA leaders identify and remove any barriers, such as policies or practices, that stand in the way of every student having an opportunity to learn at higher levels. Leaders identify the district’s most prevalent nonacademic barriers to student learning and disseminate this information to principals. Meetings with principal supervisors include continually revisiting how community resources can be leveraged creatively to meet students’ basic needs.
Desired Future State
District leaders have a clear, communicated vision for improving instruction for students with special learning needs, provide significant resources to support that vision, and actively collaborate with school leaders to ensure the vision is implemented effectively.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop and disseminate a districtwide vision for supporting students with special learning needs, ensuring all school leaders and staff are aligned with this vision.
- Provide professional learning for school leaders and teachers that is focused on evidence-based instructional strategies tailored to special learning needs.
- Allocate targeted resources to support the implementation of instructional practices that are tailored for students with special learning needs.
- Establish regular collaboration between district leaders and school leaders to monitor progress and share best practices for supporting students with special learning needs.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How is the district’s vision for supporting students with special learning needs communicated to school leaders and teachers?
- What resources are allocated to ensure that students with special learning needs receive high-quality instruction?
- How does the district measure the effectiveness of the resources and strategies provided for improving instruction for students with special learning needs?
- In what ways do district leaders collaborate with school leaders to continually improve instructional practices for students with special learning needs?
Desired Future State
Programs provided by community-based organizations (CBOs) are actively used and shown to improve student learning.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Conduct asset mapping to identify CBOs in the district’s geographic area that offer educational programs, partnerships, and resources relevant to the district’s student learning goals.
- Establish partnerships with CBOs that offer educational programs aligned with district goals to support diverse student learning needs.
- Develop clear guidelines for how schools can work with CBOs to integrate these programs into the school day or through extracurricular activities.
- Provide professional development for principals and teachers on effectively collaborating with community partners to enhance student learning experiences.
- Monitor the effectiveness of CBO programs by gathering feedback from students, staff, and community partners and by using data on student outcomes to assess the impact.
- Review and refine partnership programs regularly to ensure alignment with student learning goals and to address any challenges or gaps in implementation.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What CBOs are currently in place in your district to support student learning?
- How does your district identify and map community resources and organizations that could support student learning?
- How does your district ensure that these programs align with the district’s educational goals and student learning needs?
- In what ways does the district provide training and support to school leaders and teachers for working with CBOs?
- How does the district monitor the impact of CBO programs on student learning, and how are these data used to improve implementation?
- What processes are in place for reviewing and refining community-based partnership programs to ensure they meet evolving student needs and educational priorities?
Desired Future State
District leaders prioritize collecting data on student learning outcomes to identify varying access to school resources or learning outcomes, ensuring all students receive the same educational opportunities. This data collection includes specific focus areas such as bullying, dropout rates, attendance, and suspension rates to effectively address and eliminate gaps across schools.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Establish clear protocols for collecting data on bullying, attendance, suspension rates, and dropout rates to ensure consistency across schools.
- Provide training for school leaders on using data to identify and address gaps across different student groups, ensuring that all students have the access they need to resources and opportunities.
- Analyze data regularly to identify patterns and trends that may indicate differences in student learning outcomes across different groups, with specific attention to the aforementioned areas.
- Engage community and school partners in reviewing and addressing the results of data analyses to collaboratively develop solutions to eliminate gaps across different groups.
- Use the data to inform schoolwide or districtwide action plans to reduce bullying, improve attendance, and decrease suspension and dropout rates.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How well does the district prioritize data collection for reviews of bullying frequency, attendance rates, suspension rates, and dropout rates?
- What training and resources are available to support school leaders in collecting and analyzing data related to these areas?
- In what ways do school and district leaders use data to identify and address gaps in access to resources or learning outcomes for students?
- How do district partners support efforts to address issues related to bullying, attendance, suspension, and dropout rates?
- What changes, if any, have been implemented as a result of the district’s data collection and analysis efforts, particularly for reducing dropout rates, improving attendance, and decreasing suspensions?
Desired Future State
District leaders maintain a great deal of emphasis on ensuring that food the district provides for students is healthful.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop districtwide nutritional guidelines aligned with health.
- Conduct regular assessments of cafeteria menus and vending machine products to evaluate their nutritional value and compliance with health policies.
- Collaborate with nutritionists and health experts to design meal plans.
- Establish clear policies restricting the availability of foods that are outside of district guidelines.
- Facilitate feedback opportunities for students, parents, and school staff to continuously provide feedback about food options.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district ensure compliance with nutritional guidelines for school food services?
- What partnerships has the district developed to source healthy ingredients for student meals?
- How are students and parents engaged in discussions about improving food quality and variety?
- What strategies does the district use to monitor and evaluate the nutritional content of cafeteria and vending machine offerings?
Desired Future State
District leaders prioritize students’ mental wellness by implementing comprehensive programs and practices that promote mental health awareness, support systems, and resilience, fostering a safe and supportive learning environment.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Implement mental health awareness programs that educate students, staff, and families about mental health issues and promote positive mental health practices.
- Provide access to school-based mental health resources, such as counselors and psychologists, to support students’ emotional and psychological needs.
- Establish partnerships with local mental health organizations to offer training for staff and services for students and families.
- Create safe spaces within schools where students can express their feelings, seek help, and engage in mindfulness or stress-relief activities.
- Integrate social and emotional learning (SEL) into the curriculum, focusing on skills such as self-awareness, empathy, and emotional regulation.
- Develop protocols for identifying and supporting students at risk for mental health issues, ensuring timely intervention and support.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district ensure that all schools have effective mental health programs and resources in place to support students?
- What training is provided for staff to recognize and address mental health issues among students?
- How is a culture of openness and support around mental health fostered within the district’s schools?
- What systems are in place to assess and monitor the mental wellness of students, and how does the district use these data to improve programs and services?
- How are families involved in promoting mental wellness and supporting students’ mental health needs?
Desired Future State
The district policy is very effective at addressing issues of bullying.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop and enforce comprehensive anti-bullying policies that clearly define bullying behaviors and outline consequences.
- Implement districtwide training for staff and students on recognizing and addressing bullying behaviors.
- Create safe reporting systems for students and families to report bullying incidents.
- Establish peer mediation and conflict resolution programs.
- Foster a positive school climate through social and emotional learning (SEL).
- Regularly review bullying data to identify trends, and adjust strategies accordingly.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district ensure anti-bullying policies are enforced consistently across schools?
- What programs are in place to promote a positive and inclusive school climate?
- How are bullying incidents tracked and addressed at the district level?
- How does the district evaluate the effectiveness of anti-bullying programs?
Desired Future State
The district policy is very effective at addressing issues of low attendance.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop districtwide early warning systems to identify and monitor students with chronic absenteeism.
- Implement targeted intervention programs, including mentorship and home visits, to address barriers to attendance.
- Partner with transportation services to ensure reliable and safe transit options for students.
- Provide attendance incentives and recognition programs to encourage consistent student attendance.
- Collaborate with social services to address external factors impacting attendance.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district identify and intervene early for students with chronic absenteeism?
- What partnerships are in place to address external factors affecting student attendance?
- How are families involved in strategies to improve attendance?
- How does the district track and evaluate attendance improvement initiatives?
Desired Future State
The district policy is very effective at addressing issues relevant to the suspension rate.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Establish restorative practices as alternatives to traditional suspensions.
- Develop clear district guidelines for consistent application of disciplinary measures.
- Provide professional development for staff on de-escalation techniques and positive behavior management.
- Implement behavior intervention plans tailored to individual student needs.
- Create data-driven systems to track suspensions and identify trends.
- Engage families in behavior improvement strategies to foster collaboration between school and home.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district promote restorative practices to reduce suspension rates?
- How are staff trained to implement positive behavior management strategies?
- What data systems are in place to track and analyze suspension rates?
- How are families involved in supporting positive student behavior and reducing suspensions?
Desired Future State
The district policy is very effective at addressing issues relevant to dropout rates.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Develop mentorship and counseling programs to identify and support students.
- Implement personalized learning pathways to keep students engaged.
- Partner with community organizations to provide academic and social support services for students.
- Offer credit recovery and alternative education programs.
- Conduct regular student engagement surveys to identify factors contributing to disengagement and dropout.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How are students who are at risk of dropping out identified and supported to prevent them from dropping out?
- What partnerships support academic and social needs for students at risk of dropping out?
- How effective are current credit recovery and alternative education programs?
- How does the district monitor and address factors contributing to dropout rates?
Desired Future State
The district provides principals with comprehensive training and support related to student scheduling and reviews the fidelity and consistency of student scheduling across the district.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide principals with the tools and resources needed to manage student scheduling, including scheduling software and administrative support.
- Implement targeted support programs for schools with higher needs to improve scheduling and ensure access to learning opportunities for all students.
- Conduct comprehensive training programs for principals on effective scheduling practices and resource management, equipping them to meet the diverse needs of their students.
- Facilitate regular meetings with principals to discuss scheduling strategies, share best practices, and address any challenges faced in scheduling.
- Develop a data-driven approach to monitor student access to courses and programs, ensuring that scheduling practices promote high-quality learning environments for all students.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- What systems are in place to ensure that all students have access to course offerings through scheduling?
- How does the district evaluate the effectiveness of student scheduling practices?
- What additional resources or support do principals need to improve scheduling practices?
Desired Future State
District leaders are proactive and resourceful in providing schools with the necessary resources—tools, materials, and financial support—to effectively implement school initiatives and improve student outcomes.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Identify resource needs by regularly meeting with school leaders to discuss specific initiatives and ensure that district-provided resources align with their strategic goals.
- Leverage funding sources by using grants, partnerships, and other available financial resources to support school-based programs and initiatives.
- Blend funds from multiple sources, including federal, state, and local funding streams, to maximize available resources and ensure schools can sustain their initiatives over time.
- Streamline resource allocation processes to ensure schools receive necessary tools and materials promptly and without bureaucratic delays.
- Prioritize high-needs schools by providing them with additional support to reduce gaps in resources and learning opportunities.
- Regularly evaluate resource impact to ensure that resources provided by the district are being used effectively and leading to improved student outcomes.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district currently assess and respond to the resource needs of schools to support their initiatives?
- How do district leaders ensure distribution of resources to schools with varying needs?
- How could district leaders improve communication and transparency around the resource allocation process?
- What mechanisms are in place for evaluating the effectiveness of resources provided to schools?
Desired Future State
Principals effectively allocate resources to improve student learning, ensuring that resources are used strategically to support instructional goals and promote positive outcomes for all students.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide training to principals on resource allocation strategies that prioritize areas with the greatest impact on student learning.
- Ensure that resource allocation decisions are aligned with student learning needs and the school’s strategic goals, focusing on maximizing the effectiveness of materials, personnel, and time.
- Monitor and review resource allocation in schools, emphasizing how resources directly contribute to improving student learning outcomes.
- Establish regular feedback loops whereby principals can share how they are using resources to meet specific learning goals and address student needs.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How do principals prioritize resource allocation to improve student learning outcomes in their schools?
- What support is provided to principals to ensure they make data-informed resource allocation decisions?
- How does the district evaluate the impact of resource allocation on student learning, and what indicators are used to assess effectiveness?
Desired Future State
District leaders provide consistent, ongoing feedback to principals to ensure equal access to quality learning environments for all students.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Establish a formal structure for providing regular, data-driven feedback to principals, and implement follow-up processes to ensure principals are improving access to quality learning environments.
- Use student performance data, attendance, and other relevant indicators to provide specific, evidence-based feedback on how well principals are addressing access issues in their schools.
- Allocate time for district leaders and principals to jointly review strategies for improving learning environments, ensuring that principals receive constructive feedback in real time.
- Offer training for district leaders on best practices for giving effective feedback to principals, focusing on access to quality learning environments.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How does the district ensure that feedback to principals is specific, actionable, and measurable in terms of contributing to quality learning environments?
- How does the district facilitate ongoing dialogue with principals about addressing barriers to student access?
- What tools or data sources do district leaders use to provide feedback on principals’ efforts to improve access to quality learning for all students?
- How does the district ensure that principals are accountable for improving access to quality learning for all students, and what systems are in place to monitor progress?
Desired Future State
The district evaluates principals on their ability to effectively allocate resources to improve student learning, ensuring that resources are used strategically to support instructional goals and student outcomes.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide training to principals on resource allocation strategies that prioritize areas with the greatest impact on student learning.
- Ensure that resource allocation decisions are aligned with student learning needs and the school’s strategic goals, focusing on maximizing the effectiveness of materials, personnel, and time.
- Monitor and review resource allocation in schools, emphasizing how resources directly contribute to improving student learning outcomes.
- Establish regular feedback loops whereby principals can share how they are using resources to meet specific learning goals and address student needs.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How do principals prioritize resource allocation to improve student learning outcomes in their schools?
- What support is provided to principals to ensure they make data-informed resource allocation decisions?
- How does the district evaluate the impact of resource allocation on student learning, and what indicators are used to assess effectiveness?
Desired Future State
The district evaluates principals on their ability to ensure that all students have access to quality learning environments, focusing on availability of high-quality resources and instruction across all classrooms.
Strategies and Suggestions
- Provide principals with guidelines on how to create and maintain learning environments across all classrooms, ensuring access to necessary resources, technology, and instructional materials.
- Conduct regular audits of learning environments to assess whether they meet district standards for quality and inclusivity and identify any gaps in access for students from different backgrounds.
- Support professional development for principals on fostering high-quality learning spaces, with a focus on recognizing and addressing disparities in access to resources or learning conditions.
- Establish districtwide benchmarks for what constitutes a high-quality learning environment and ensure that all schools meet these benchmarks consistently.
Reflection Questions for Consideration
- How do principals ensure that all students have equal access to quality learning environments regardless of their backgrounds or needs?
- What processes are in place to regularly assess and improve the quality of learning environments across the district?
- How does the district support principals in identifying and addressing any disparities in access to learning resources or classroom conditions?
A Note on Numbering:
The numbering system corresponds to the Four Domains framework and the numbering of items in the CALL surveys. in the example 1.2.30, the first number represents the domain (ex. Domain 1), the second number represents the practice (ex. Practice 2), and the third number represents the item number from the CALL survey that is most relevant to this practice item (ex. item 30).
View Diagram
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The bottom label reads ‘District Vision for Student Learning (1.1.10).’ Arrows point upward to four boxes: a large top box ‘Descriptor of a practice item’; a right-side stack with ‘Domain’ above ‘Practice’; and a lower right box ‘CALL survey item that addresses this practice item.’ The arrows indicate that each element—descriptor, domain, practice, and CALL survey item—connects to the example practice item.
The bottom label reads ‘District Vision for Student Learning (1.1.10).’ Arrows point upward to four boxes: a large top box ‘Descriptor of a practice item’; a right-side stack with ‘Domain’ above ‘Practice’; and a lower right box ‘CALL survey item that addresses this practice item.’ The arrows indicate that each element—descriptor, domain, practice, and CALL survey item—connects to the example practice item.