Vision
For Excellence
2015-2016 School Board Academy In cooperation with The Tennessee Department of Education
To access the digital version of this notebook, please visit www.issuu.com/tsba. Version Updated April 2016
Vision for Excellence
School Board Academy
Agenda
8:00 a.m.
Welcome and Overview
8:15 a.m.
Exercising Board Leadership through the Visioning Process
9:15 a.m.
Board’s Role in Creating a Vision
9:45 a.m.
BREAK
10:00 a.m.
Public Education in Tennessee
12:00 p.m.
LUNCH
1:00 p.m.
Translating Vision into Action
2:15 p.m.
BREAK
2:30 p.m.
Ensuring Vision Becomes a Reality
3:45 p.m.
Wrap-up and Evaluations
4:00 p.m.
Adjourn
To access the digital version of this notebook, please visit www.issuu.com/tsba.
Vision for Excellence
Table of Contents
Exercising Board Leadership Through Visioning Process
1-6
Board’s Role in Creating a Vision
7-12
Public Education in Tennessee
13-17
Translating Vision Into Action
18-23
Ensuring Vision Becomes a Reality
24-32
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Vision for Excellence
EXERCISING BOARD LEADERSHIP THROUGH THE VISIONING PROCESS School Boards As Leaders School boards are charged with the responsibility of educating all children to their full potential. In a time of rapid social, economic, and technological change, the board’s responsibility is greater than ever. School board members, both individually and collectively, must be leaders in their school system and in their community. A board exercises leadership within the school system when its members can combine their talents to: • Create-on behalf of and with extensive participation by the entire community-a vision of the district’s education future • Set common goals congruent with that vision and prioritize them • Establish a structure to achieve its vision, developing educational standards designed to meet the needs of all students and an assessment program designed to determine district and student progress • Enact fair, workable, and carefully considered policies • Hold the board and all staff members accountable by monitoring student achievement, evaluating board and district programs in light of student achievement goals, providing appropriate training opportunities, and keeping the public informed about the status of education programs and progress • Align personnel and financial resources with the district’s vision and standards • Ensure a safe and orderly climate in which students can learn and teachers can teach • Serve as advocates for children and for the public schools through collaborative relationships designed to bring people together • Question, revise, refine and revisit in order to ensure continuous improvement (Source: Becoming A Better Board Member, NSBA, Third Edition, 2006)
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Vision for Excellence
Vision: The Board’s Work The board’s work is about vision, the mental picture of what the schools and district would be if everything were perfect. It’s a mental image of success. Effective school boards commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction and define clear goals toward that vision. They have strong-shared beliefs and values about what’s possible for students and their ability to learn, and of the system and its ability to teach all children at high levels. Effective boards are data savvy; they embrace and monitor data, even when the information is negative, and use the insights to drive continuous improvement. Effective boards also align and sustain resources, such as professional development, to meet district goals. To ensure that the board’s vision becomes reality, the board should develop a strategic plan and establish policies for implementation. The board’s community leadership function involves building the public support necessary to implement the vision. Boards exercise leadership by holding themselves and staff accountable for monitoring student achievement, evaluating board and district programs in light of student achievement goals, providing appropriate training opportunities, and keeping the public informed about the status of education programs and student progress. Boards need to lead as a united team with their superintendent to ensure the vision is implemented. Why do boards need a vision? A clear and compelling vision is necessary for districts to achieve excellence. Districts that can see beyond the present and create a vision for the future reach heights that surpass the expected or even imagined. Management guru Peter Drucker wrote:
Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation. We cross ... a divide. Within a few short decades, society rearranges itself- its worldview; its basic values; its social and political structure; its arts; its key institutions. Fifty years later, there is a new world. And the people born then cannot even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived and into which their own parents were born.
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We are living through one of these periods of transformation. As boards create vision statements, they need to ask, “Are we educating our students with educational constructs that were created for their parents and grandparents? Do students feel disconnected from the current approaches to learning?”
What is Vision? Vision is not about what we are, but what we want to be. It captures a critical dimension of dynamic systems. For school boards, it is about where you are going and what kind of district you are trying to create. A positive vision is future-focused and seeks to shape events rather than simply let them happen. Vision is the ability to see and create the future education system you desire. While current realities you face are important, vision means having a clear image of what “better” looks like -- and taking the necessary governance steps to get there. Positive and inspiring visions require the widespread involvement of those whose lives will be influenced and shaped by vision. Powerful visions are the product of endless hours of discussion and dialogue among key stakeholders. Without involvement, there is unlikely to be much commitment on the part of those upon whom we must rely to achieve it. Your vision is not the same as your mission statement. The mission statement is a simple explanation of purpose -- the reason a school district exists. A mission statement clearly explains the needs the district fulfills, whom these needs are fulfilled for, and how these needs will be met. What does having a vision do for the board? It helps you think beyond your boundaries; provides continuity for your planning; identifies direction and purpose; alerts stakeholders to needed changes; promotes interest, commitment, and laser-like focus; encourages and builds confidence; builds loyalty through involvement; and results in efficiency and productivity. What can kill a board’s vision? Commonly it is tightly held tradition, fear of ridicule, complacency among some stakeholders, short-term thinking, and naysayers.
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Sample Mission Statements To prepare all students with the skills they need to be confident in academics, sophisticated in learning, and global in orientation. To provide instruction by a diverse group of effective teachers that capitalizes on students’ native attraction to interactivity and learning by doing. To provide for all students exemplary programming that instills wonder, values discovery, and encourages problem solving. To prepare all students with not only the basic areas like math, reading, and writing but also how to think and communicate in ways that will help them thrive. To empower all students to communicate, collaborate, and learn globally. To help students prepare for work, active citizenship and college using a combination of classroom work and community internships.
Vision for Excellence
The Value of a Shared Vision and Core Values Developing a shared vision that reflects your school community’s core values and beliefs is the starting point for a school board and its focus on student achievement. This shared vision is the kernel of the mission and goals that direct board and staff actions and gains the entire community’s commitment to improving achievement for all students. Engaging the entire community in creating the vision generates support for getting the resources- both financial and human capitalnecessary to make it a reality.
Knowing what you really value, individually and collectively, guides your aspirations and your mission as a district. It also guides your behavior. This sma II set of principles should not be confused with specific cultural or operating practices, nor are they short-term goals. In visionary school districts, core values don’t need a rational or external justification because they don’t sway with trends or fads and they don’t shift with different priorities in education. These five to six guiding tenants are the foundation for the way the district acts, how it treats people, and what it will do to achieve the vision and mission.
Building a shared vision requires you to agree on your core values and beliefs. Core values drive the vision. They underlie the work to be done, define how individuals interact with each other, and help determine the strategies necessary to fulfill the mission. Core values are the belief systems that motivate a person or group to choose one alternative over another. They are guiding principles that remain constant even when the mission and vision may change.
Your vision should inspire, look ahead, and lead. Defining your vision is taking charge of your destiny. For districts, that destiny must be improving achievement for all students. A vision with anything less than student achievement as the top priority cannot fulfill the public education’s core mission.
Creating A Vision Vision becomes reality through the daily actions of everyone in the organization. In a school district, “everyone” includes employees, parents, community advocates, businesses, government agencies, and higher education. Engaging the community makes the vision more likely to be accepted and encourages the behaviors necessary to achieve the vision. As a board of education, it is your responsibility to work with the community to develop student achievement as the top priority. Achieving such total commitment requires multiple steps. First, gather input to identify the community’s core beliefs and common values. Once those are defined, develop a process for drafting a vision statement. After the draft statement is written, test it by seeking feedback to ensure it reflects the community’s core beliefs and inspires a commitment to improving student achievement. When the vision statement is complete, the dissemination process begins.
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Communicating the vision to the entire community is essential. As board members, you must articulate the vision’s main points at every opportunity, both when you are together and when you are in the community. By constantly repeating, reinforcing, and embracing these main components, you will develop the constancy of purpose necessary to sustain the vision. This work takes persistence. Knowing that your board is committed to investing the time necessary to achieve the vision will motivate staff to be committed to working as hard and as long as necessary to be successful. Your constancy of purpose and commitment to your district’s long-term change gives staff the encouragement to try new ideas that may need time to become successful. Long-term results require long-range thinking and commitment.
Here are several key questions to ask as you work toward a shared vision for your district: 1. Do you use data to tailor solutions based on the needs and assets of each school and its community? 2. Is your accountability system based on best practice and sound research? 3. Do you embrace vigorous standards? 4. Do you recognize that sustained or pervasive underperformance cannot be tolerated? 5. Do you see that advocacy is the only way to shift state and federal policy matters from mandatory prescriptive programs to providing assistance and resources to spur innovation? 6. Are you a catalyst for innovation with a customer service approach to the education of every student? 7. Do you realize year-round or other non-traditional school calendars and extended days and years will be common in the school district of the future? 8. Do you see the need to expand innovation to business operations and infrastructure (outsourcing, facility sharing, job sharing, etc.)? 9. Do you respect the fact that parents and students have choices? 10. Do you see the need to provide a portfolio of public school options in your jurisdiction to help parents and students determine their best option? 11. What is the ideal school year? 12. What is the ideal school day? 13. Do you think the curriculum that your students need most can be taught effectively within a traditional classroom setting? 14. How much freedom should students be given in deciding when, where, and how they connect to learning? 15. How do we ensure that all children have access to the full range of connective technologies and are taught the skills necessary to use them effectively? 16. Do you educate your students with educational constructs that were created to serve the agricultural and industrial ages?
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The answers to these and similar questions can help board members reflect on actions needed now to achieve the envisioned future. A well-developed and clearly articulated vision for your school system can help you see a bit farther into the distance. Defining your vision means taking charge of your destiny. For school districts, that destiny must be improving student achievement for each and every student. Anything less can’t fulfill the core mission of public education. After all, our obligation to our students is to prepare them for the world they will inherit.
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BOARD’S ROLE IN CREATING A VISION Tennessee’s Vision Far too few Tennessee ninth graders will eventually graduate from college. Currently, for every 100 ninthgraders, only 87 graduate high school. And, of those 87, only 59 enroll in a public postsecondary institution; of those 59, only 46% will complete a postsecondary credential within six years of high school. Given the projection that by 2020 58 percent of the jobs in Tennessee will require some type of postsecondary education, this is a problem. To consider Tennessee’s vision that has focused on preparing students for their future, let us examine some of the recent events that have set our course.
state-led effort, coordinated by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. This efforts was focused on raising academic expectations and resulted in the development of the Common Core State Standards. In July 2010, Tennessee’s State Board of Education adopted these standards and began a phasing in of the standards in the 2010-2011 school year. In May 2014, Senate Bill 1835 required the continuation of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) and Tennessee to initiate a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to select a new assessment. This process was led by the state’s Procurement Office. In the fall of 2014, a new assessment company, Measurement Inc., was selected and began development of Tennessee’s assessment called TNReady.
In 2007, the National Chamber of Commerce comparison report card of key education factors in all states gave Tennessee an “F” in the category of “Truth in Advertising” due to the comparison of Tennessee proficiency (our state assessments at the time) to national proficiency (NAEP). Governor Bredesen launched the Tennessee Diploma Project in 2008, which set new standards for Tennessee students, more rigorous graduation requirements, and a single path diploma. By 2010, Tennessee students were being assessed on the new standards and proficiency results dropped statewide. It was during the same year, that Tennessee passed board education reform legislation that ultimately resulted in the state being one of the first two states receiving “Race to the Top” funding (over $500 million). The Tennessee Department of Education and individual districts and schools set trajectories of improvement and focused activities to meet the state’s First to the Top goals. Because the federal legislation (No Child Left Behind – NCLB) was not reauthorized, Tennessee requested and was awarded a waiver.
In October 2014, Governor Haslam launched a public review process for Tennessee’s math and English/ language arts standards. The State Board of Education typically reviews standards every six years, but following increased public discussion surrounding the standards, the governor sought to provide all stakeholders the opportunity to give feedback after four years of implementation. Public input helped inform the work of six advisory teams appointed by the State Board of Education to review and recommend changes to the current Tennessee standards. The advisory teams included classroom teachers across grade levels, subject areas, and geographic regions of the state. The teams developed a set of recommendations for changes to Tennessee’s State Standards. During the 2015 legislative session, policymakers reached a compromise in House Bill 1035/Senate Bill 1163 which called for the standards to be reviewed and revised. This bill codified the standards review process and adds another an additional layer of review in the form of a Standards Recommendation Committee. State leaders will now appoint members of this committee for each set of standards to be reviewed moving forward.
During the time that this work was occurring, Tennessee was helping lead a larger conversation about how to continue to raise the bar for its students. This conversation was focused on challenges that included the varying expectation of students from state to state, military families’ concerns, and the low number of students ready for postsecondary education or the workforce. As a result, Tennessee decided to join a
Tennessee’s continued focus on improving public education is helping ensure students have the best
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Vision for Excellence opportunities and brightest futures. The significant student achievement progress made in our state in recent years can be attributed to shared commitment among educators, policymakers, parents, and other partners statewide to promote high-quality teaching, enhance the rigor of academic standards, focus on using data to inform educational decision-making, and provide dedicated, visionary leadership in schools and districts.
Despite these accomplishments, work remains to continue on the path that will help all students graduate with the skills and knowledge needed to be competitive with their peers across the state, country, and globe. Although Tennessee students are performing at higher levels on rigorous assessments, still too many students continue to graduate from high school without the content mastery and skills they need to succeed in college and their careers. Too many of our young students struggle to gain essential literacy skills. Only 9 percent of African American students in Tennessee score at college-ready benchmarks across at least three of the four ACT subject areas. While Tennessee has made great improvement on the NAEP since 2011, there is only one grade and subject (grade 4 math) in which our students scored in the top half of test-takers nationally. On international assessments, Tennessee ranks 67th in reading and 80th in math out of 116 countries and U.S. states.
Since 2010, Tennessee has made impressive gains in student learning. The percentage of Tennessee’s students proficient or advanced in grades 3-8 math have increased from 34.6% in 2010 to 55.6% in 2015. In science, the percentage of students proficient or advanced has grown from 51.9% to 64.5% during the same time period. Although much smaller and less impressive, Tennessee has seen some improvement in reading and language arts, and this area remains a focus for our state. Tennessee students have made gains in high school subjects also. Specifically, our state has seen strong growth in algebra I and II along with biology. This includes double digit gains over the past few years in algebra and notable growth in biology. These gains have resulted in significant increases in the number of students who are proficient or advanced in math and science in grades 3-8. Statewide, there are tens of thousands more students now achieving proficiency or advanced in math and science than in 2010. Although there was no improvement this past year in Tennessee’s ACT composite score, there had been strong gains between 2012-13 and 2013-14.
As a state, we can be proud of the phenomenal and historic growth we have made. However, we must continue our work to ensure that all Tennessee students have an opportunity at a bright future once they graduate from high school. It will be important for all stakeholders to build upon this success by accelerating academic gains for students while staying committed to student-centered decision making at the school, local, and state level. Collectively, all stakeholders are encouraged to engage in making the following priorities for improvement during the coming year: • Implement TNReady and aligned interim assessments • Ensure equitable outcomes for historically underserved populations • Empower Tennessee’s teachers • Invest in Tennessee’s school and district leaders • Cultivate community and business partnerships
These improvements, coupled with the significant milestone achieved by Tennessee in 2013 as noted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) labeling our state as the “fastest improving state in the nation” in terms of students achievement outcomes across fourth and eighth grades reading and math, give cause for our state to be proud of the work that the students, teachers, school and district leaders, and school boards have been doing. The recognition of the hard work and dedication to improvement has continued with the most recent 2015 NAEP results. Tennessee continues to lead the nation as the “fastest improving state” for student achievement showing that the gains made between 2011 and 2013 were sustained.
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What Can School Boards Do? • Ensure formative assessments are aligned to the state standards. • Expand appropriate professional learning opportunities for teachers and principals that are found to improve students learning. • Expand teacher and student access to higher quality learning materials that are aligned to the standards. • Support and expand teacher leadership opportunities in the district. • Ensure teachers, principals, and district leaders have access to data that will support student learning. • Design a long term plan for enhancing the district’s use of instructional technology. • Ensure students have early instruction on technology and keyboarding to prepare them for technology-based assessments and success beyond high school.
National Vision There have been significant developments in education in recent years, including the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and the Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants. There is a crisis in educational funding in many states precipitated by the nation’s economic downturn, increasing concerns that the United States may be failing behind other nations in education and workforce preparedness, and pervasive discussions of linking teacher evaluations to student performance and growth. (Source: International Center for Leadership in Education)
Tennessee is a leader in education nationally. It has been in the forefront in educational policy reform, including educator evaluation, differentiated compensation, and other issues impacting student success. Tennessee’s steady improvement with regard to student outcomes has garnered attention from other states’ leaders, educators, and foundations. Although state level funding remains a concern in this economic climate, Tennessee has continued to focus on improving opportunities for its students. The national vision, as well as Tennessee’s, recognized that the future growth and stability of our global economy depends on the ability of education systems around the world to prepare all students for career opportunities and help them attain higher levels of achievement. This would result in meeting the demands of the 21st Century learners and employers. Although the vision is then global, the path to 21st Century education requires a local journey; one that recognizes and responds to specific challenges and opportunities. (Source: Cisco Systems, Inc., “Equipping Every Learner for the 21st Century”)
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Vision for Excellence Vision Self-Assessment Use this tool to assess your initial understanding of vision and to get a sense of where you are as a board on this essential work. Indicate the degree to which your board/district/staff has achieved the following elements toward establishing a vision to improve student achievement. Fully Achieved
Mostly Achieved
Stakeholder representatives (school board, senior leadership, district staff, school staff, employee organizations, parents, community advocates, higher education, business leaders, and students) helped create the vision. As a board we have discussed the core values of our school district, supervisory union/employee groups, and community, and these values are reflected in our vision. Our board has established a written vision that commits to student achievement as the top priority of the school board, staff, and community. Our vision is clearly articulated and known to all community members who have a vested interest. We frequently revisit and reaffirm our vision to ensure our constancy of purpose/ Our vision is the foundation for all long-range, strategic planning, and policy decisions. Our vision is the guiding force that sets the framework for how we operate as a local district and supervisory union. We base our resource and budget decisions on our vision. Everything we do as a a board of education aligns to achieve our vision.
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Partially Achieved
Beginning to Achieve
Don’t Know/ Unsure
Vision for Excellence
Roles and Responsibilities of the School Board and Superintendent in Vision and Planning
The School Board
•
• Approves a strategic planning process to include the community in creating the vision for student achievement. • Adopts the vision. • Adopts board goals that support the vision. • Communicates the vision. • Keeps vision at the forefront of all decision making. • Adopts policies needed to achieve the vision. • Allocates resources based on the vision. • Monitors progress toward vision.
• • •
• • •
The Superintendent • Recommends a visionary strategic planning process to the board that incorporates • participation by a broad swath of the community. • Ensures the integrity of the planning process. • Ensures staff development to carry out the planning process. • Ensures the recommendations of the strategic planning team are presented to the board for action. • Coordinates periodic review of the strategic plan. • Ensures short- and long-range vision plans are developed and carried out at both the district and school levels. • Develops performance indicators, based on data, to measure progress toward the board’s vision for student achievement. • Conducts work sessions with the board to increase its understanding of progress
• • • • • •
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needed. Recommends performance indicators for board action. Works with the board to identify its role in supporting the vision. Works with the board to develop plans for carrying out its goals. Communicates, through the district’s communications plan, the vision to the staff and community in a team approach that incorporates board participation. Prepares and disseminates information about progress toward the vision. Uses the vision to guide priority recommendations to the board. Uses the vision to guide decisions throughout the organization. Recommends policies needed to support the vision. Conducts periodic review with the board to identify additional policies or revise existing ones. Recommends resources needed to support the vision through the budgeting process. Conducts periodic review with the board to identify resources and funding needed. Brings data to the board periodically that enables the board to review student achievement progress. Recommends changes based on data.
Vision for Excellence
Possible Agenda Items Relating to Vision
A)
Dialogue and work session with staff and community representatives to create Vision and Mission statements
B)
Formal adoption of Vision and Mission statements and establishment of yearly goals
C) Discussion and action on the superintendent’s recommended strategic plan for the district D) Strategic Plan Review √ Are we meeting our timetable? √ Plans for assessing successes and shortcomings √ Yearly update of district goals E)
Community open forum on the district’s vision, mission, and goals
F)
Reports from community advisory committees
G)
District’s communications plan and public relations activities
H)
Recognition events for students and staff who exemplify the district’s vision
I)
Superintendent’s report on school improvement plans
(Source: The Key Work of School Boards, NSBA, 2009)
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PUBLIC EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE
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“TENNESSEE’S STORY” FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT THE TENNESSEE STORY OF INITIATIVES
Use the document “A Brief History of Education Initiatives in Tennessee” to answer the following questions to formatively assess your understanding of Tennessee’s story. Question
Board Response
In what year was A Nation at Risk released documenting the decline in the U.S. education system?
The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) was first implemented in an effort to measure student progress on Tennessee’s academic standards in what year? The first year Tennessee had academic standards was in 2010. True or False
The Education Improvement Act of 1992 established two very important efforts in Tennessee. What were they?
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has been reauthorized twice in recent history and called what?
What was so significant about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Leaders and Laggards report in 2007?
What does TEAM stand for in Tennessee? What is it?
The NAEP identified Tennessee as the fastest improving state from 2011-‐2013. In what categories/subjects and grade spans did we improve?
In 2013, several changes were made to the teacher evaluation process (TEAM). What are two of them?
In 2014, several significant events occurred in Tennessee education. Name three of them.
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ASSESS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF TENNESSEE’S PRIORITIES FOR 2016 2015-‐2016 THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE What can your Board do to support the state’s priorities for 2016? PRIORITIES
BOARD SUPPORTS
Continue a strong assessment system • • •
• •
Ensure stability in statewide assessments Maintain strong commitment to an annual standardized assessment Implement recommendations from the Tennessee Task Force on Student Testing and Assessment Provide educator support Implement high-‐quality interim assessments
Ensure equitable outcomes for historically underserve populations • •
• •
Recruit and retain highly effective teachers in high-‐need schools Reflect the diversity of Tennessee’s student body in Tennessee’s teacher pipeline Radically improve college readiness rates for historically underserved populations Implement innovative solutions that yield sustained academic growth for historically underserved populations
Empower Tennessee’s teachers • •
•
Elevate teacher voice Ensure the continued improvement of Tennessee’s teacher preparation programs Improve teacher compensation in Tennessee
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Empower Tennessee’s teachers • •
• •
Elevate teacher voice Ensure the continued improvement of Tennessee’s teacher preparation programs Improve teacher compensation in Tennessee Expand access to high-‐quality literacy instruction
Invest in Tennessee’s school and district leaders • • •
Create high-‐quality professional learning opportunities for Tennessee’s principals Create effective systems of support for aspiring, new and current principals Strengthen the principal evaluation system
Cultivate community and business partnerships in education • • •
Expand access to youth apprenticeships and internships Provide children with high-‐quality early literacy instruction Incentivize students to pursue degrees and certifications in high-‐need employment areas
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TRANSLATING VISION INTO ACTION From Vision To Practice Your vision cannot end with a written statement. Organizations that complete the writing process and believe that they have a vision are mistaken. They have a vision statement. Writing is only the beginning. Moving the vision from paper into practice is the real challenge. A powerful vision should guide the district’s strategic planning process. A vision without a plan to achieve it is like a great movie title with no script. This is where the board starts developing a mission statement, which is the focal point of all goals, objectives, and strategies undertaken by the board, administration, and teaching and support staffs. It should be concise and understood by every district employee. The vital nature of the statement is that it reflects the district’s true mission with integrity, clarity and inspiration. To fulfill its purpose, a mission statement must be memorable and capture the purpose for which a district exists and its function. As a board develops its mission statement, it should consider the following criteria: 1. Does the statement capture the essential nature of the district’s reason for being? 2. Is the statement student-oriented as opposed to being inwardly or organizationally bound? 3. Does the statement represent a relatively stable anchor point for the district, one that will not require frequent change? 4. Does the statement describe the desired result rather than focusing on activities? 5. Does the statement reflect the district’s values or philosophy relevant to today and the future
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Sample Vision Statements To create a school district that is focused on personalized learning so that our students will be successful in college, career, and life. To create a school district that prepares students for what they will encounter in life beyond their K-12 experiences. To create a school district that prepares students for our changing world. To create a school district thot is highly regarded for its academic excellence and for improving the community in which it operates. To create a school district that produces very high levels of student achievement and helps make its community a more pleasant place to live.
Vision for Excellence
Assessment and Accountability
Some details from ESSA are included below:
The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2001 was a reauthorization of the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and it changed the role and the importance of standards and assessment in public education. NCLB required all states to define standards, develop annual measures of student achievement in reading and in mathematics for all students grades 3-8, establish proficiency targets for schools and report the results on an annual basis. These targets were determined based upon a progression of growth that would ensure that 100% of students would be proficient by the year 2014. Meeting these targets became the basis for determining Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). (Source: The Key Work of School Boards, NSBA, 2009)
● Standards: States will be required to adopt “challenging academic content standards” and aligned academic achievement standards in mathematics, reading or language arts, science, and any other subject determined by the State. States are also required to use at least 3 achievement levels. The legislation also prohibits the Secretary of Education from coercing or deterring states from picking standards.
In 2012, Tennessee became one of the first states to be granted a waiver under the No Child Left Behind Act which changed the accountability targets for schools and districts. This waiver was revised in the spring of 2015 by the Tennessee Department of Education with considerable input from various stakeholder groups and was approved by the U.S. Department of Education. The Every Student Succeeds Acts (ESSA) was signed into law in December 2015 and replaces the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (or former ESEA). ESSA maintains several NCLB measures including annual testing for reading and math in grades 3-8 and once in high school. The reauthorized federal law also provides for the identification of and intervention in the bottom five percent of schools in a state. ESSA requires states to implement accountability systems that incorporate four measures: proficiency on annual assessments, graduation rates, English language proficiency, and one nonacademic indicator (i.e. student engagement, postsecondary readiness, etc.).
● Accountability: The rewrite eliminates AYP goals and replaces them with state-designed accountability systems. In measuring school performance, states must consider proficiency on annual assessments, graduation rates and English language proficiency. Academic factors must account for “much greater weight” compared to other indicators. These nonacademic indicators include measures such as student engagement, school climate and safety and postsecondary readiness. States must continue to report disaggregated data for subgroups of students. The bill would require states to improve student learning in the state’s lowest performing 5 percent of schools and those with high achievement gaps, as well as high schools failing to graduate one-third or more of their students. However, the legislation does not require types of interventions, which would be left to the states to determine. ● Assessment: The legislation maintains annual testing for reading and math in grades 3-8 and once in high school, as well as science tests given three times between grades 3 and 12. States may pursue flexibility to develop and implement innovative assessments through a pilot program, as is the case with New Hampshire and the state’s use of performance based assessments. The bill allows states to create their own testing opt-out laws but maintains the requirement for 95 percent
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participation in tests. However, unlike under NCLB, local districts and states would get to decide what should happen in schools that miss participation targets. States would have to take low testing participation into consideration in their accountability systems.
In November 2014, Tennessee completed the process to replace the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) assessments in English/language arts (ELA) and math. The new measurements of learning for ELA and math are called Tennessee Ready (TNReady). The TNReady ● Teacher Quality: States will no longer be assessment is aligned with the Tennessee state required to implement a teacher evaluation standards and, therefore, more accurately can assess system. Previously, states that received NCLB student readiness and mastery of the standards. waivers were required to adopt teacher evaluation These ELA and math assessments, administered systems that used student achievement data as by Measurement Inc., were selected through a one of the measures. The ESSA also eliminates transparent process established by the General the “highly-qualified teacher” requirement which Assembly and administered by the state’s Central required that all teachers in core academic areas Procurement Office. Measurement Inc. received must be highly qualified and possess content the highest rating from a content and technical knowledge. The ESSA requires state and LEA standpoint and was also the lowest cost of the plans to describe how they will ensure lowfinalists. income and minority students are not taught at a disproportionate rate by ineffective, out-of-field, The Tennessee Commissioner of Education or inexperienced teachers. convened an Assessment Task Force in 2015 for the purpose of identifying best practices in testing ● English Language Learners: The legislation and to examine how school-level assessments moves accountability for English language align with required state tests. Concern about proficiency from a separate system in Title III the issues of over-testing served as a primary to Title I to ensure that states are focusing on motivation for establishing the task force. The task the specific needs of students who are learning force proposed guiding principles for summative English. standardized assessments, formative assessments, and test preparation and logistics. Based upon The ESSA represents a significant opportunity those principles, sixteen recommendations were for states to demonstrate the progress made made. A few key recommendations were: improving on improving student achievement over the transparency by releasing test items for students, last several years. Particularly in Tennessee, the parent, and educators; eliminating the kindergarten accountability system and the use of evaluations and first grade standardized test option; eliminating to enhance teacher quality have made the state a the 8th grade (EXPLORE) and 10th grade (PLAN) national leader on student outcomes. Educators, tests; creating additional input opportunities for policymakers, and other stakeholders must parents on the issue of assessment; and ensuring continue their commitment to these measures that institutions of higher education validate and to ensure that every child in Tennessee receives use TNReady as a measure of postsecondary access to a high quality education. preparedness and as a tool to determine remedial placement. (The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): A Primer, SCORE, 2016)
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Although the administration has not gone as planned during this 2015-2016 school year due to technology challenges requiring the assessment to be given via paper/pencil exams rather than online, the shift in assessment strategies represents an improvement in our ability to gain a deeper understanding of what students are learning. In an effort to honor educators’ and parents’ concerns regarding this first year’s results, individual teachers and districts will have flexibility in how the data is used. The 2016 TNReady student data will be used in a teacher’s evaluation only if it helps his/her overall score. Districts will continue to have flexibility around how they choose to factor test data into employment decision like promotion, retention, termination, and compensation. They also will have the flexibility to determine whether the individual students’ scores will factor into this year’s student grades. In early April 2016, changes for 2016-17 TNReady were proposed based upon feedback from educators and an analysis of interim information. Significant changes are related to reducing the time required for assessment and the structure of the ELA and math assessments. Additional changes will be determined in the final weeks of the 2015-16 school year including the status on online assessments for 2016-17. The Commissioner of Education is also planning to convene an Assessment Task Force 2.0 during late spring and summer to provide additional guidance to the TDOE.
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Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) TVAAS is a statistical method used to measure the influence of a district or school on the academic progress (growth) rates of individual students or groups of students from year-to-year. The TVAAS method uses previous test score data to plot a “growth pattern” for students. Think of academic growth in terms of a child’s physical growth. Growth is measured by how much gain or progress an individual student or group of students make over time. Growth measures do not assume all students start the school year at the same academic level. By measuring the academic achievement of students and the academic growth of students, schools and teachers will have a more comprehensive picture of the effectiveness in raising student proficiency. TVAAS public site can be accessed at http://www.state.tn.us/education/mdata.shtml.
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Digging Into the Data
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ENSURING VISION BECOMES A REALITY Board Accountability Leaders in public education can only meet today’s challenges if they can clearly see the “tomorrow” they seek to create. That might sound simplistic, but it takes hard work to convert foresight into reality. Accountability means taking your fair share of responsibility for outcomes. Being accountable means that you answer not only for your actions, but also for the results of your actions. Accountability includes taking credit for achieving the desired results and accepting responsibility when targets are missed. School boards need to ensure that they do the following: 1. Establish an accountability process based on the board’s strategic plan with measurable criteria and an annual review. 2. Participate in work sessions to understand accountability measures, including data analysis and how the board administration and staff should use this information. 3. Ensure that the superintendent’s evaluation includes accountability measures. 4. Ensure effective and timely communications on the accountability system and progress. 5. Ensure that an annual report is developed containing data on student achievement and district performance data related to goals and standards. 6. Ensure funding for implementation of accountability measures. 7. Use student achievement results to drive decision-making. 8. Ensure compliance with state accountability measures.
Your state school boards association is a good source of expertise in assessing your mission and vision statement and also assisting with strategic planning. Because this is a complex process, it might be helpful to have an informed, objective voice to lend a different perspective.
Alignment of Strategic Planning, Vision, and Accountability Although Tennessee schools have participated in school improvement planning processes for several years, the format and function of the processes have varied. Currently, all districts are required to participate in the ePlan process which utilizes an electronic platform and ensures an alignment between all federal programs (Title I, IDEA, etc.), CTE, special education, and other district programming with the district’s overall strategic plan. The ePlan is essentially a grants management system which allows districts the ability to link multiple processes: planning, application for funds, monitoring and fiscal – designed to promote collaboration among stakeholders. The Board’s Strategic Plan should support the district planning process and be aligned with the district’s data while moving the district toward accomplishment of its vision.
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Implementing Your Vision Saying it and writing it down is only the beginning. School leaders who complete the writing process and believe they have a vision are mistaken. What they have is a written vision statement. Moving the vision from paper into practice is the real challenge. A powerful vision should guide the strategic planning process for the school district. After your board and superintendent have widely disseminated the vision statement, the next step is developing a strategic plan. A beautiful vision without a plan to achieve it is like a great movie title with no script. In creating a strategic plan, the board-staff leadership team must develop a process to identify goals that mark progress toward the vision and strategies to achieve the goals. Staff is responsible for creating work plans to implement the strategies; reviewing the goals, strategies, and work plans with the board; and reporting regularly on progress, needs, and adjustments to continue moving toward the vision. Your vision also should influence the policies the board adopts and procedures the superintendent develops to implement the policies. School boards should consider a periodic, systematic review of policies to assure consistency with your adopted vision. That kind of check-in is worthwhile because it keeps you on track and signals to staff, students, and the community that the board is committed to its vision. School leaders must pay close attention to the culture they create. For good or for ill, culture can permeate classrooms, directly affecting teaching and learning. The blend of school board policies and superintendent’s procedures sway the district’s climate. But the content of those policies and procedures is not the only consideration. Leadership behaviors and the demeanor of the board and superintendent’s staff speak volumes as you carry out your responsibilities. Ultimately, the way board members work with each other and treat staff sets a leadership tone that affects the behaviors and attitudes of staff and students. Getting that wrong can potentially undermine the positive efforts that go into embracing a vision. In sum, ensuring that public education will meet emerging challenges requires a clear vision for the work and operations of school boards in the future. With that vision before us, we can shape strategies that make boards more relevant, credible, and effective leaders of public education.
“We should try to be the parents of the future, rather than the offspring of our past.” - Miouel de Unamuno
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Sample Goals and Strategies Goal: To offer high-quality student programming so that graduates are prepared to enter the workforce or to successfully complete postsecondary education. 1. Provide personalized learning for all students. 2. Support progression based on mastery of individual student goals. 3. Embrace a collaborative culture by leveraging and maximizing parent and community partnerships to support accelerated student success. 4. Create a parent scorecard for families and the community to increase transparency with regard to student and school performance. 5. Implement a plan to transition to student-based budgeting, where funding is directly tied to students and their individual needs. 6. Require students to play a key role in setting their goals along with their teachers, advisors, counselors, and parents. 7. Provide student and families with choices and meaningful opportunities to improve their school experiences. 8. Ensure all classrooms are wired global places that encourage interactivity and learning by doing. 9. Provide a curriculum that balances individualization and vetted best practices. 10. Design classroom instruction to be a hybrid offace-to-face and online. 11. Design classroom instruction according to individual learning goals and assessment for competency. 12. Ensure all classrooms are using electronic tools for instruction. 13. Utilize digital textbooks. 14. Ensure that technology proficiency and digital citizenship literacy are part of the learning experience for each student. 15. Maximize all data sources to improve instruction for students.
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16. Ensure that every child is taught by an effective teacher. 17. Ensure that every school is led by an effective principal. 18. Increase literacy proficiency. 19. Increase math proficiency. 20. Utilize instructional coaches and intervention processes (example: RTI - Response to Intervention) to support at-risk schools and students. 21. Create or expand on-line and distance learning programs. 22. Support “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)� education opportunities for students. 23. Design and deliver multiple career pathways that lead to industry certifications and post-secondary credit upon graduation.
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Sample Goals and Strategies (continued) Goal: To provide high quality effective teachers and administrators. 1. Require teachers to frequently assess student academic growth to constantly inform their instruction. 2. Provide teachers with opportunities to network and collaborate with external organizations to enhance student learning experiences. 3. Provide teachers with research-based ideas for the most effective instructional practices. 4. Recruit, retain, and empower excellent teachers who are adept at personalizing learning experiences for students. 5. Provide principals with the autonomy to innovate and demand excellence from their faculty and staff. 6. Hold principals accountable for meaningful school improvement and rapid turnaround for chronically under-performing schools. 7. Ensure that every principal demonstrates how they provide opportunities for student, parents, and teachers to contribute their talents, skills, and experiences to support school improvement. 8. Shift the role of teachers and administrators to a focus on serving learning as collaborators. 9. Develop professional learning communities in all schools. 10. Support leadership development for aspiring, new, and veteran school leaders. 11. Partner with higher education institutions and other state approved teacher and lecture prep institutions to ensure that teacher candidates are of the highest quality and aligned with district needs. 12. Transform the traditional role of the central office from a top-down management system to a system designed to provide meaningful support to schools and effective accountability for school performance. 13. Support the evaluation system for teachers and principals to ensure professional learning that results in increased student achievement.
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14. Link professional development to teacher effectiveness based on student performance measures. 15. Implement strategically-aligned performance incentives. 16. Develop, implement, and refine differentiated pay plan. 17. Provide instructional and data coaches to assist teachers. 18. Provide teacher induction or support services for novice and low-performing teachers. 19. Develop and implement professional learning communities. 20. Provide school leadership training programs. 21. Provide professional development and coaching programs for current administrators. 22. Provide leadership coaches/mentors for principals, especially in low-performing schools.
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Sample Goals and Strategies (continued)
Goal: To seek the involvement and participation of the entire community in the learning process. 1. Ensure that all schools are the center of community learning locally. 2. Leverage community assets and resources to build community schools that provide full-service supports for students and families. 3. Provide schools as a place for community convening and for citizens to acquire new knowledge and skills.
Goal: A board committed to excellence in education and aware of its responsibilities. 1. Have every board member participate in annual professional development. 2. Maintain ongoing review and development of pertinent policies. 3. Conduct at least one retreat for the entire board and superintendent each year. 4. Involve community and business leaders in the development of the board’s vision and strategic plan. 5. Develop and monitor standards for student and system performance.
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Executive Summary of 2014-‐15 Report Card Data ____________________________________ District
Profile Stats District Grades Served Ethnicity rates for: White ____________ Hispanic or Latino ____________ Black or African American ____________ Asian ____________
Number of students served
Number of Schools Student breakdowns: Number of English Learner (EL) students ____________ % of EL students ____________ % of Economically Disadvantaged (ED)students ____________ Number of Students with Disabilities (SWD) ____________ % of SWD ____________ Average ACT composite for all schools
Question: •
When you consider your profile data, do you have any immediate concerns that will drive your conversations with the Director of Schools or other board members?
Education Climate Stats 2014-‐15 K-‐8 Attendance rate 2014-‐15 9-‐12 Cohort Dropout rate 2014-‐15 Graduation rate 2014-‐15 Discipline/Suspension rate for all students
Finance per pupil expenditure
# Teachers
2014-‐15 9-‐12 Attendance rate 2014-‐15 Event Dropout rate 2013-‐14 Graduation rate 2014-‐15 Discipline/Suspension rate for: Hispanic or Latino __________ Black or African American students __________ White __________ Females __________ Males __________ Expenditure breakdown: Local __________ Federal __________ State __________ # Administrators
Questions: • •
Do you see any variance in attendance, dropout, graduation, or suspension rates? What might cause that? Does any of the climate data give you pause for concern? What additional information do you need as your consider this further?
Teachers Stats Questions:
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Executive Summary of 2014-‐15 Report Card Data • •
Does your district have any waivers for the 2014-‐15 school year? If so, what information is available about the kinds of waivers the district has?
Value-‐Added Stats Academic Achievement 3-‐8 Math 3-‐8 Reading 3-‐8 Science 3-‐8 Social Studies
2013 (Grade/Score)
2014 (Grade/Score)
2015 (Grade/Score)
Value-‐Added (3 year average) 4-‐8 Math 4-‐8 Reading 4-‐8 Science 4-‐8 Social Studies
Questions: • • •
2014 (Status/Gain)
2015 (Status/Gain)
What patterns do you see in your achievement and/or value added data over two or more years? Why are there no statistics for Social Studies in 2015? What will you want to look at closely this year as a result? How does your district’s scores compare to the states?
College/Career Readiness Stats Graduation Rates for: All students ________________ Asian ________________ Black or African American ________________ Hispanic or Latino ________________ White ________________ Female ________________ Male ________________ ACT College Readiness Benchmarks: All 4 categories ________________ English ________________ Math ________________ Reading ________________ Science ________________
ACT HOPE Scholarship Eligibility for: All students __________________ Females __________________ Males __________________
ACT Scores (current year scores): Composite __________________ English __________________ Math __________________ Reading __________________ Science __________________
Questions: • • • •
Do you see patterns with your college/career readiness statistics? What additional information do you need? How can the board and district/school leaders work together to meet its goals for students? How will the learning from this activity impact your role and function on the board?
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This is a publication of the Tennessee School Boards Association Š 525 Brick Church Park Drive Nashville, TN 37207 www.tsba.net