School Leadership Team Conference: HQS 3

Nancy Cline and Leatha Williams

October 1, 2013

Why the West Virginia Standards for High Quality Schools?

These standards describe the seven common standards expected of schools to ensure a high quality education, in an engaging learning environment.

The policy represents a coherent and aligned set of expectations necessary to transform schools into outcome focused, innovative, accountable learning organizations that can prepare all students to be contributing citizens for the global, digital age of the 21st century.

Standard 3: Provides a Standards-Focused Curriculum with Engaging Instruction and a Balanced System

of AssessmentEach school team will develop a non-content specific

school improvement goal and plan specifically for instruction based on the 3rd WV Standard for High Quality Schools, diagnostic observations and recommendations that they will take back to their school to implement as

measured by their school wide plan.

Objectives

1. All SLTs will reflect and rate their school on highly effective practices in HQS 3.

2. All SLTs will compare and contrast their school’s diagnostic with the high quality practices in HQS 3.

3. All SLTs will prioritize the needs as identified from the SLT discussions on HQS 3 and the school diagnostic.

4. All SLTs will write goals for their Strategic Plan.5. All SLTs will specify what evidence will be used to

measure successful completion of their school improvement goals.

Discussions and Protocols

Visible Thinking Strategies

Think-Pair-Square-ShareThis is an active reasoningroutine that promotes understanding of multiple perspectives and evidence. Strategy Highlights:1. Posing a question, idea or topic 2. Asking student to come to an

individual understanding3. Allow thinking time to form an

opinion/answer 4. Discussion and consensus at all

levels 5. Congress or reporting out

Connect Extend ChallengeThis is a visible thinkingroutine, which allowsstudents to connect newideas to prior knowledge. Strategy Highlights:• Encourages high order thinking for

students• It acts as a formative assessment

(informative assessment) for the teacher

• It encourages the students to have ownership of their learning because the take stock in ongoing questions, concepts that are puzzling or difficult as they reflect on their own thinking.

Activity 1

Utilizing the HQS and the

Diagnostic

Activity 1: Connect Extend Challenge School Diagnostic Report

15-minutes Think Pair Share

Activity 2: Vision

It is one year from right now and you are lookingback at the school year,HQS 3, the Diagnostic andthe challenges. Describe what ways your

school is different and what is the evidence based on the HQS 3 and the Diagnostic recommendations?

Question: Where do we want to be?

School Wide Improvement: Goal

As a school leadership teamgo back throughthe HQS Rubric andDiagnostic and identify2 to 3 items that will addressthe barriers as well as help theschool accomplish the visionfor a year from now. Each team should come toconsensus on the items.

Question: How will we get there?

Diagnostic Observation

• There was no process school wide for opening and closing class procedures.

• There is no protocol school wide for student conversations such as think-pair-square-share. The majority of the classrooms were traditional in nature and mostly teacher centered.

• Teachers were observed utilizing a variety of teaching strategies in limited capacity. However most of the strategies were reported as lower level thinking strategies and not learner-centered.

Example 1: Putting It Together

HQS3• 3.B. 1: All teachers align

curriculum, instruction, and assessment to Next Generation Standards.

• 3.C.3: All teachers plan lessons that actively engage students, involve varied grouping patterns and promote student interaction.

Observations• Teachers reported that several

had been trained on the Instructional Practices Inventory; however the process has yet to be utilized at the school.

• Both administrator when asked about the greatest challenge facing their school responded instructional leadership and changing instructional practices.

School Goal Example 1

• During the 2013-2014 school year, Team USA School will increase the time students are engaged in “active” learning by 10%.

Example 2: Putting It Together

HQS3 Observations

School Goal Example 2

Goal Writing Framing Statement

During the 2013-2014 school year, __________ School will increase

____________ by ______%