Turnaround Practices Field Guide 2016

2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide

A Research-Based Guide Designed to Support District and School Leaders Engaged in School Turnaround Efforts

November 2016

Authors

Brett Lane, President and CEO, INSTLL

Chris Unger, Senior Associate, INSTLL

Laura Stein, Senior Researcher, AIR

Please cite this report as follows:

Lane, B., Unger, C., & Stein, L. (2016). 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide: A Research-Based Guide Designed to Support District and School Leaders Engaged in School Turnaround Efforts. Prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the staff from Connery Elementary School in Lynn, Massachusetts; Union Hill Elementary School in Worcester, Massachusetts; Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Boston, Massachusetts; and UP Academy Leonard in Lawrence, Massachusetts for welcoming us into your schools and sharing stories about your schools turnaround experience thus far. We also extend thanks to Phil Esra from AIR for his invaluable editorial services, and to key contributors from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, including Erica Champagne, Amanda Trainor, and Kendra Winner, who served as active partners in the conceptualization and development of this report.

This document was developed by American Institutes for Research and the Institute for Strategic Leadership and Learning for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education under contract number RFQOPRKW5AIR01.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide1

Organization of the 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide1

Site Selection and Methodology2

Part 1: Turnaround Practices at-a-glance3

Turnaround Practice 1: Leadership, Shared Responsibility, and Professional Collaboration3

Turnaround Practice 2: Intentional Practices for Improving Instruction3

Turnaround Practice 3: Student-Specific Supports and Instruction to All Students3

Turnaround Practice 4: School Climate and Culture3

Part 2. Cross-Practice Themes5

Theme 1: Turnaround Leaders who have a sense of urgency, expertise, and relational leadership skills5

Theme 2: Improvement mind-set that permeates all behaviors, decisions, discourse, and actions6

Theme 3. Highly consistent, aligned, and rigorous instructional practices7

Part 3. Strategic Turnaround Actions: The First 100 Days8

Get the right leaders and teachers in the buildingand keep them10

Establish teacher agency, ownership, and urgency: Start building the community immediately11

Establish collaborative teaming structures to improve instruction12

Ensure a safe and secure learning environment for students13

Provide leadership and collegial support14

Sustain and maintain turnaround efforts long-term15

Part 4. Examples of the Turnaround Practices in Action16

Profile 1: Connery Elementary School (Grades PreK5, 635 students), Lynn Public Schools17

Using teaming structures to vertically and horizontally align instructional strategies18

Employing customized solutions so that all students receive the supports and instruction needed to succeed19

Profile 2: Union Hill Elementary School (Grades K5, 492 students), Worcester Public Schools22

Establishing an improvement mind-set23

Establishing clear behavioral expectations and encouraging positive behaviors23

Using common planning time to drive turnaround efforts24

Conducting classroom walk-throughs and instructional rounds25

Calibrating and improving instructional practice25

Profile 3: Jeremiah E. Burke High School (Grades 912, 532 Students), Boston Public Schools28

Cultivating a learner mind-set29

Creating integrated teaming structures for collective inquiry30

Improving instructional practice through the data inquiry cycle process31

Profile 4: UP Academy Leonard (Grades 68, 352 students), Lawrence Public Schools34

Employing a sophisticated, consistent, and student-specific system for monitoring and reinforcing behavioral expectations35

Using teams to diligently monitor and use student behavior data to support students36

Building teachers instructional and organizational capacity to meet the needs of all students37

Linking behavior and student support teams to provide ongoing and school-based social-emotional supports to students37

Appendix A: List of Massachusetts Resources and Tools40

Appendix B: Summary of the Examples of Turnaround Practices in Action, by School Profile41

Appendix C: Connery Elementary School Artifacts and Examples43

Appendix D: Union Hill Elementary School Artifacts and Examples53

Appendix E: Burke High School Artifacts and Examples71

Appendix F: UP Academy Leonard School Artifacts and Examples85

2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field GuideTable of Contents

Introduction to the 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide

Since 2010, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) has classified schools into Levels 1 through 5, based on absolute achievement, student growth, and improvement trends as measured on standardized state assessments. Level 1 represents schools in need of the least supportthose that have met their gap-closing goalsand Level 5 represents the lowest performing schools, in need of the most support (and, in fact, have been placed under state receivership). ESEs District and School Assistance Centers and Office of District and School Turnaround, in particular, provide ongoing targeted support to Level 3, 4, and 5 districts and schools. In addition, for the past several years, ESE has committed substantial resources to developing research-based tools specifically designed to support continuous school improvement in the states lowest performing schools and districts (see Appendix A). This guide adds to the states existing catalog of tools and resources available to schools and districts either embarking on or in the midst of turnaround.

The 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide is based on the premise that knowing precisely how to implement and sustain turnaround efforts can be difficult, especially when schools and districts are faced with multiple challenges. This guide provides educators with examples of school-specific practices, in authentic school contexts, which have contributed to turnaround success, so that those engaged in turnaround can apply these practices in their own schools and accelerate turnaround efforts.

(The 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide builds upon the 2014 Turnaround Practices in Action report, which documented four interconnected practices used in Level 4 schools (priority schools in the lowest 5%) that increased student achievement and exited Level 4 status, and the 2016 Evaluation of Level 4 School Turnaround Efforts in Massachusetts, which illustrated specific practices that are characteristic of improving and exited schools. For more information on accountability and assistance in Massachusetts, please visit: http://www.mass.gov/edu/government/departments-and-boards/ese/programs/accountability/. )Organization of the 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Field Guide

Part 1: Turnaround Practices at-a-glance provides a two-page overview of the Massachusetts Turnaround Practices. For each practice, it provides details and evidence drawn from the Level 4 schools that have successfully been turned around. Part 1 is a good starting point for new and experienced users of the Turnaround Practices and can serve as a guide for locating certain practices and strategies to explore in greater detail.

Part 2: Cross-Practice Themes highlights three themes that emerged as we analyzed data for the 2016 Evaluation of Level 4 School Turnaround Efforts. The cross-practice themeswhich highlight the value of (1) specific turnaround leadership attributes, (2) an improvement mind-set, and (3) a tightly aligned approach to curriculum and instructional practicescut across the four individual turnaround practices described in Part 1.

Part 3: Strategic Turnaround Actions describes what the first year, and particularly the first 100 days, of turnaround often looks and feels like, including a set of strategic actions and decisions that characterize how some successful leaders and schools have navigated the challenges of school turnaround. Although there is no linear set of steps that will necessarily work for all schools or all contexts, there are a number of strategic actions, processes, and structures that can better prepare a school for the difficult and stressful work that is required in the first year of turnaround.

Part 4: Examples of Turnaround Practices in Action details how four schools implemented certain Turnaround Practices and school-specific strategies that contributed to successful turnaround. Each school profile provides a detailed snapshot of what the practices mean and look like for leaders, teachers, and students. In each profile, we see how school staff cultivated and used the turnaround practices, along with the cross-practice themes, to address specific problems of practice. Each schoolfunctioning as a true learning organizationcontinuously improves its ability to provide students with rigorous instruction and student-specific supports, including social-emotional supports in particular.

Site Selection and Methodology

We identified a purposeful sample of exited Level 4 schools to