Educational Audit

Greece PTA Council and Greece Education Coalition presents
a Public Forum Getting from good to great with Drs. Fitzpatrick and Dadey
7 pm Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at the
Apollo Auditorium
13WHAM News at 11 video of T-shirt [wmv:1.6 MB]
GreeeceEducationCoalition.org

8 PM Tuesday, January 10th.
Cable Channel 12 will re-broadcast the
Dr. Fitzpatrick Executive Summary of the Education Audit
presentation from October 17, 2005

The following are brief video and audio segments
from Dr. Fitzpatick's Executive Summary
presented October 17, 2005.
Videos require Windows Media Player 9 or later.

Key  Components

Skills and knowledge for the 21st century classroom

• Ability
• Bell-shaped curve
• Memorization
• One-Size-Fits-All
• Anecdotal
• Teacher centered

• Effort
• Standards
• Problem Solving
• Differentiated Instruction
• Research-based & Data-Driven Decisions
• Student-centered

New Mission for Public Schools

The challenge currently facing the public education system is that the goal has changed, but the system has not. Systems are perfectly designed to yield the results they were designed to yield. The current system was designed and engineered for access. These working in the system were trained to provide that result. the system is funded for that result...

... But, if we truly expect public education to yield a different result (i.e., universal proficiency), the system itself must change, and we need to change our most basic assumptions and practices.

Good to Great

Leadership does not begin with vision. It begins with getting people to confront the brutal facts and to act on the implications. -- Jim Collins

Survey Topic Categories

• Efficacy (belief in their ability to achieve the desired results for student learning)
• Professional Development
• Accountability Systems
• Quality of Work Environment
• Professional Relationships

Top Five Rated Items

• Staff are held accountable for providing their students with learning opportunities (4.34)
• Staff in our schools believe that all students can be taught (4.32)
• Our school has high expectations for student learning (4.23)
• Staff in our school really believe that every child can learn (4.22)
• Staff in our school are continually learning and seeking new ideas. (4.22)

Bottom Five Rated Items

• Through the Strategic Framework process, stakeholders in the community collaborate with school staff in making decisions regarding student learning (2.35)
• At our school staff have an opportunity to participate in most of the significant school level policy decisions. (2.47)
• Staff in our school come together to participate in a decision making process (2.66)
• Professional development experiences this year include adequate time to evaluate new ideas (2.82)
• Staff observation and evaluation is used to improve staff performance (2.83)

Crosstabs Analysis:
Experience and Topic Summaries

Overall, the percentage of teachers who worked in the district for less than ten years who responded :"agree" or "strongly agree" on survey items was greater than teachers with more experience. The greatest differences between those respondents with less than 10 years of experience compared to those who had more then 10 years was in response to the items related to : Accountability." Teachers with the greatest number of years of experience rated this issue significantly lower compared to teachers with less than 10 years experience.

Crosstabs:
Teaching Level and Topic Summaries

Overall, the percentage of Pre K-2 and PreK-5 teachers who responded "agree" or "strongly agree" pm survey items was greater than other teaching levels. In each of the six survey topic categories there were significant difference among each set of grade levels, ranging from a 21.2% difference (30.5 - 9.5%) in the category o f "Shared Decision Making" to a 35.5% difference (45.5 -105%) in the category of "Quality of the Work Environment."

Summary of Strengths

"Professional Development" and "Professional Relationship" items were rated "most favorably" by staff. In particular, staff felt that:

• Professional development opportunities were provided that promoted the use of best practices.

• They continued to learn and seek new ideas.

• They shared and discussed student work among themselves

Summary of Limitations

"Shared Decision Making" and "Quality of the Work Environment" items were rated least favorably* by staff. In particular, staff felt that:

• Through the Strategic Framework Process, there was little collaboration of community members with school staff in making decisions regarding student learning.

• There was little opportunity to participate in most of the significant school level policy decisions.

• Materials and supplies needed for learning were not readily available at their school.

* (It should be noted, however, that while these survey items were rated the lowest by the participants, the topic averages were 2.17 and 3.36, respectively, which are in the neutral range.)

Student Demographics

The analysis of the total enrollment of students over the past five years, indicates that there has been a 6.5% decrease in enrollment, from 15,863 in 2000-01 to 14,833 in 2004-05.

...The current overall percentage of minority and Limited English Proficiency, LEP, students are 13.3% and 1.9% respectively.

Range of percentage of minority students within schools across the district from 6.1% to 23.8%

Range of LEP students within schools across the district from 0.1% to 8.6%.

Student Demographics

The analysis of the percentage of students qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunch has significantly changed over the past several years from 15.5% in 1998-99 to 24.4% in 2004-05, representing a 57.4% increase.

Range of percentage of students qualifying for the Free and Reduced Lunch program within schools across the district from 8.4% to 41.1%

Over the past 7 years, three of the high schools has experienced a 73%-120% increase in the number of students qualifying for financial assistance.

Student Achievement Measures

ELA 4:

• 17.6% increase in achievement

• Range across schools: 75-86% of students meeting or exceeding standards

ELA 8:

• 26.2% increase in achievement

• Range across schools: 48-73% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Student Achievement Measures

Math 4:

• 9.8% increase in achievement

•  Range across schools: 75-93% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Math 8:

• 4.6% decrease in achievement

•  Range across schools: 55-83% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Student Achievement Measures

ELA 4:

• 17.6% increase in achievement

• Range across schools: 75-86% of students meeting or exceeding standards

ELA 8:

• 26.2% increase in achievement

• Range across schools: 48-73% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Student Achievement Measures

Math 4:

• 9.8% increase in achievement

•  Range across schools: 75-93% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Math 8:

• 4.6% decrease in achievement

•  Range across schools: 55-83% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Range of achievement gains/losses from 2004 to 2005
4th Grade Math Results

in Suburban Districts in Monroe County
-2.2 to +9.8%

Greece Central Schools:
+9.8 (from 82% to 90% meeting or exceeding standards)

Range of achievement gains/losses from 2004 to 2005
8th Grade Math Results

in Suburban Districts in Monroe County
-18.5 to +14%
(Note: in 10 of the 17 school districts a decline in student achievement was reported.)

Greece Central Schools:
-4.6 (from 65% to 62% meeting or exceeding standards)

Regents ELA 11

4.3 decrease in achievement
Overall average: 87% meeting or exceeding standards
Range across Schools: 89-92% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Regents Math A

Maintained 86% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Range across Schools: 81-91% of students meeting or exceeding standards

Regents Diploma Rate

• 18.9% increase over past year

• 83.3% increase over the past 10 years

Regents Diploma Rate for Students with Disabilities

• 61.7% increase over the past year

Advanced Placement Program
over Past 5 years

• 190% increase in enrollment in AP Courses
   - almost doubled

• 340% increase in AP exams taken
  more than tripled

Student Achievement
Summary of Findings

The record of gains in student achievement over the past five years in the Greece schools is one of significant accomplishment. Teachers and administrators in the Greece central schools deserve to take great pride in their track record of success in improving the learning of their students

Student Focus

• Graduation Rate = 83% in 2003-4

• Percentage of students earning a local diploma has remained relatively steady over the past four years

• Drop-out & GED program enrollment overall 3.4% in 2003-4

• 17% did not graduate
  (about 178 students in the class of 2004)

• Under NCLB, all students ae expected to master a proficient level of standards by 2014 - which is the current 4th grade class (2005-6)

Student Achievement Measures
Suggestions for further study

• Examine the profiles of those students who did not graduate. What are their stories?

• What were some of the key factors that may have prevented them from graduating?

• What might be some proactive steps that could increase the likelihood of their chances in graduating?

Student Engagement
Attendance

• 94.9% in 2004-5

• Attendance rate has remained steady over the past seven years.

Student Engagement
Attendance

• 5.1% Absence is equivalent to 9.18 days of school on average

Innocence in Education
(Benjamin Bloom, 1972)

"...We have been innocents in education because we have not put our house in order. We need to be much clearer about what we do know and do not know so that we don't continually confuse the two. ...The amount of educational scholarship and research has increased greatly, but these advances in our understanding of education have not always been reflected in our educational practices...."

Teaching Career Trends
National Data

• 33% of teachers drop out in first three years

• 46% drop out in first five years

• 65% drop out rate in urban districts

• 2 million of the 3.4 million teachers will need to be replaced over the next decade - three time as through attrition as retirement.

Greece Human Resource Retention

Over the past five years, the percentage of teachers in Greece who left the district...

• after their first year of teaching ranged from
  7.76% in 2004-5 to 16.7% in 2001-2

• after the first three years was 23.6%, and

• after the first five years was 32%

The comparison of the retention rate of teachers in the Greece Central schools is 30% higher than the national average.

Tennessee Value Added Assessment System

Average student gains are calculated, based on a value-added analysis, at the teacher level to determine if expected student learning was achieved. This information is then used to assist in the development of professional growth plans by all teachers.

Wegmans

Every employee completes a " Performance Evaluation and Goals" (PEG) plan on an annual basis. The plan includes the identification of specific goals that each employee will pursue in the coming year, along with a plan of action for improving their performance.

Montgomery County, Md

• Requires individual improvement plans for all employees that lay out their goals and how they will reach them
• Peer-review process analyzes any problems new or struggling teachers may be experiencing
• Over the past three years, 177 of the 11,000 teachers in the district were dismissed or chose to leave (1.6%)

• Education Week August 10, 2005

Montgomery County, Md

• "The teachers' union spearhjeaded the peer-review process as partof itslarger bid to raise teacher quality. ...The president of the teachers' association (an affiliate of NEA), said it can support the process because it provides ample support for improvement before concluding that some teachers are not well-suited to their jobs."

• Education Week August 10, 2005

Review of Evaluation Reports

• Review of randomized set of evaluations conducted prior to the PPR process required by the NYS found that in general the reports provided observations about performance, but lacked specific information about key aspects of instructional effectiveness
• There was little evidence of a coherent and consistent vision of quality teaching grounded in research-based best practices

• Improvement plans: 2.1%
• Recommendations for Dismissal: 0.45%

Findings

There is a significant disconnect between the extend and intensity of concerns expressed in the teacher focus groups about the PPR process, compared to the analysis of the process and the data related to the percentage of teachers required to follow a plan for improvement and the percentage of teachers recommended for dismissal.

Recommendation #1

Framework for Observations and Evaluation
It is recommended that observations of teachers' performance should be conducted as formative assessments of performance and that reflective feedback be provided by supervisors, without ratings of performance except in the case of those not meeting standards. The rating of the level of performance should be reserved for the summative evaluation of performance on an annual basis. Based on the review of the New York State Board of Education regulations pertaining to the PPR process, it appears that the regulations would permit this modification of the process currently employed in the Greece schools

Recommendation #2

PPR Criteria:
The development of rubrics with clearly defined performance indicators of the ten sets of performance criteria of the PPR process for each of the performance level categories is recommended. In addition, it is recommended that a clearinghouse of strong examples of teaching scenarios that illustrate "meeting standards" as well as examples that illustrate "exceeding standards"  be developed. It is suggested that the development of such a "clearinghouse" would provide in time a searchable data base for teachers and supervisors to use that would allow them to easily drill down to specific criteria, by grade level, and by content area.

Recommendation #3

Focus on Professional Development for Teachers:
It is recommended that the primary focus of professional development should continue to be placed on the performance criteria required in the PPR process. Differentiated levels of instruction should be provided to support the professional growth needs of novice teachers to master teachers.

Recommendation #4

Ongoing Professionalism Development and Technical Support for Supervisors: :
Recommend continuing professional development and technical support for supervisors to strengthen and expand observational skills of the key criteria, skills in providing reflective feedback and customizing applications of research-based instructional strategies to help strengthen the teachers' effectiveness, as well as collaboration skills to further the effectiveness of teamwork between and among supervisors at the building and district levels. As noted above, differentiated levels of support should be offered in order to provide customized levels of support that are responsive to the specific professional growth needs of individual supervisors.

Key Findings of the Audit

"Brutal Facts"

The significant gains in student achievement in the Greece Central Schools, despite the negativity of the organizational culture, is a testimony of the extraordinary strength and resilience of the positive core of the district.

While the Greece Central School System is a very good  school system, there are significant missed opportunities for greatness due to energies that are drained and siphoned off within a culture of negativity.

Opportunity to move from Good to Great
Implications for the future

By "confronting the brutal facts" through the audit process you have taken the first step in grasping the opportunity to become a great school system.

You can choose
to take a positive step towards greatness
by honoring the voices of hope
within the system.