ISLLC Standard I: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. The adminstrator facilitates processes and engages in activities ensuring that assessment data related to student learning are used to develop the school vision and goals.
Name/Situation: �Planning is Everything�
Problem: Utilization of Demographic and Assessment Data to Plan for Individual Student Needs.
Key Issues/Questions:
1. How do you encourage collaboration amongst all stakeholders?
2. How do you document individual student needs and achievement?
3. How will you assess if improvements have occurred?
Introduction:
The faculty and staff of a Title I Elementary School have found themselves frustrated by their inability to assist students in meeting or exceeding expectations on state mandated criterion referenced tests. After carefully reviewing the situation, it has been decided that more attention should be given to relevant demographic and assessment data in order to identify individual student needs. The general consensus is that by analyzing data to determine individual needs, teachers will be able to more appropriately develop and implement instructional plans which will assist students in meeting or exceeding grade level expectations.
Analysis & Solution:
The faculty and staff met as a group to determine the best course of action in utilizing demographic and assessment data. Several teachers expressed concerns about their ability to appropriately interpret data and determine its implications for learning. Because of these concerns, the county testing coordinator, school instructional coach and the school counselor were asked to provide training during post-planning which would provide general information about data interpretation and research related to the demographic population served by the school. The training was held during post-planning in the hopes that teachers would be able to use the information immediately upon returning to school in the fall. It was agreed that new teachers to the school would receive the same training during their pre-service orientation.
After training was completed, a priority list was established for program components. The faculty and staff agreed that they needed to complete the following steps: 1) Establish guidelines regarding which data would be utilized, set benchmarks for data collection, and agree upon how to assess student improvement; 2) Receive additional training related to how individualized instruction is linked to data; and 3) Work in collaborative teams to analyze student work and develop instructional units for implementation.
It was decided that the Principal�s Instructional Committee, composed of staff members from each grade level and area of instruction, would establish the data guidelines and benchmarks for data collection. This committee would also establish dates for both pre and post reviews of data. These reviews would be used to determine the effectiveness of the individual instructional plans on student learning.
Information regarding guidelines and benchmark dates would be disseminated to the staff through professional learning community meetings (grade level and/or area of instruction collaborative teams). In addition, the school instructional coach would attend professional learning community meetings during the first month of school in order to provide training on the development of individual learning units as they relate to data collection. Further, each professional learning community would work collaboratively to develop sample learning units and to implement the units within the classroom.
The faculty and staff agreed that the first year of implementation would include a trial period and that they would meet as a whole group at the mid-year point to discuss the process and to determine its effectiveness. At this mid-year review, pre and post data would be discussed.
Response to Questions:
In the scenario described above, the administrator encouraged collaboration by working through the pre-established Principal's Instructional Committee in order to solicit input and disseminte information. Documentation of student portfolios and learning units serve as a means of tracking how individual student data is used to drive instruction. Finally, improvements will have occured if student achievement increases.
Discussion:
A review of the scenario described above revealed that the response is most likely a proficient response. Several key points which were evident in the response indicated that the response was organized and included specific steps for positive outcomes. First, the response ensured that teachers not only worked collaboratively to establish program goals, but also to implement program components so that there was overall understanding and consistency. Second, the response provided for an evaluation of program implementation. Finally, the response established clear guidelines and processes which resulted in the creation of individual instructional units which benefited all learners.
Guidelines:
1. Emphasize the importance of using data to document individual student needs.
2. Provide opportunities for collaboration and implementation of program components.
3. Provide training linked to program goals.
4. Continuously assess the effectiveness of program implementation.
5. Goals and objectives should be established collaboratively.