Discussion Board: EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability

Week #5- What should schools do when they get stuck? “Stuckess” typically when people feel like they are doing their best work and it’s not paying off in visible of improved student performance. Have you or has your school found itself in that position? What are some things that can be done at that point to gain forward momentum?

My campus faced this kind of situation with its deaf education program and yet we haven’t gotten off the sinking ship yet. My campus is a public high school with a day school program for deaf students; there are numerous challenges in deaf education. The non-deaf student population at our campus is just over 1,000, whil there are 40 deaf students. Most of the deaf students tested lowest in all subject core areas, although this has had little impact on the status of AEIS because it is such a small subgroup. This is still a significant concern for our program supervisor and deaf educators.

The deaf student subgroup test scores have not improved since 2005, which is a clear indication that this subgroup is in much need for improvement. My supervisor and campus principal have pushed deaf educators to work harder to raise test scores by providing countless professional development meetings and experimenting with instructional curriculums for deaf students. Some of our deaf educators expressed that such effort has nothing to do with improving test scores, and noted that many of the deaf students are also economically disadvantaged. They usually come from homes where there are a lot of communication barriers, factors that contribute to low test scores. Despite such barriers, we are still devoted to finding ways to fill gaps in their educational needs.

We are committed to finding solutions, but it is not an easy task. Fortunately, there is an annual State Conference for Deaf Educators, a great opportunity for our deaf educators to work with other deaf educators to share ideas, explore alternate deaf education curricula and acquire new research on deaf education issues. The conference helps us bring effective instructional and motivational practices for raising deaf students’ test performance scores. Additionally, on-going professional development for deaf educators is also a key to improving test scores.

As a deaf educator, two main goals in my career are to advocate for deaf students and to work with schools to find creative solutions to bridge the communication gap between deaf students and their teachers through not only better instructional practices, but also through a better understanding of Deaf culture, greater parental involvement, and deaf professionals in the school. I am firmly convinced that research is needed in order to identify, understand, and propose solutions to the various dilemmas that affect the deaf education programs.

Course Relfection: EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability

This course has provided me valuable lessons in techniques for gathering data information and using data to develop a solution to address any area of concern regarding students’ educational achievements and overall campus’ health.  There are many research-based tools for collecting and using data to identify areas of improvement in students’ academic and test performance. Using data on students’ tests and overall campus performance gives us the opportunity to identity areas needing improvement to fill the gaps in student achievements and then develop the action plan for on-going improvements in our campus. However, it should not be the only criteria to evaluate their progress. Even though the campus, Memorial High School, according to AEIS report, is rated “academic acceptable,” our job as administrators is to continue joining efforts to improve our campus in order to maintain momentum. 

The next steps for continuous campus improvement cycle in our campus is to identity any areas that are in need for improvement by studying data information collected through appropriate research-based techniques. Then, I will develop and implement the action plan  for improvement on our campus. The action plan will include (once again) research-based tools to develop a rigorous professional development trainig for teachers and administrators.

This class, provided me with valuable tools to put together an effective professional development by incorporating a “Team Dialogue Guide” and reflection guide (both tools are similar to assessments for evaluating data and determining the most effective steps for addressing concerns). Thomas wrote, “…the team emerges from the data analysis process with a clear plan of action for identified students and for class instruction…” (p. 42). He also wrote, “The reflection guide included in this article is a helpful tool for team members to analyze the current status of curriculum, instruction and assessment and to identify instructional changes for the next unit” (p. 42); this data analysis tool is beneficial for a school team to explore the ineffectiveness and effectiveness of instructional practices and curriculums.

The benefits of “Team Dialogue Guide” and reflection guide in professional staff development is to provide teachers an opportunity to share input on student’ tests score improvements. This could be accomplished by sorting through data to identify areas of needed improvement. In general, the meetings would include discussion on data regarding students’ tests and overall campus performance to meet state standard requirements; this can be overwhelming and time-consuming.  Using the two guides Thomas provides, would bring about great relief for this data-driven dilemmas. These tools can help open dialogue with teachers and promote collaboration on data analysis of students’ achievements by presenting subgroups students’ academic performance and attendance rates. The data will be presented in a systematic way to point out strengths and weaknesses with combined data sources, and the factors contributing to low performance scores would be explained clearly. I would then provide recommended actions for improvementing, and opening the floor to input from the meeting participants. Additionally, on-going professional development for educators and administrators is also a key for continuous campus improvement cycle to thrive the excellence quality of education for every individual student.

The last step, I will use formative assessment to monitor the students performance and ensure that an action campus plan is in the place.  Dylan William from “Changing Classroom Practice” explains the role of formative assessment as a professional tool to promote teachers into action by using formative assessments for student performance, “Meeting regularly in teacher learning communities is one of the best ways for teachers to develop their skill in using formative assessment” (William, p. 36).School leaders should use formative assessment as part of their action plans when they see challenges or issues. As William suggests, “Formative assessment has the power to produce unprecedented improvements in student achievement in our schools” (p. 39). Using formative assessment will help me evaluate my campus and students’ performances for efficacy. However, formative assessment is a cynical process that requires a length of time as William emphasizes: “Don’t treat formative assessment as just this year's quick fix” (p. 39). This course helped me gain a greater understanding of the necessity of effective data collection and use, along with various guidelines, implementing action tools to improve students’ academic performances.

References:

Thomas, R. S. (2006). How to survive data overload. Principal Leadership, 7(2), p. 42.

William, D. (2007-2008). Changing Classroom Practice. Educational Leadership, 65(4), p. 36-41