Works
SCHOOL
FALL
2007
VOLUME 21
A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E H O U S T O N
CHALLENGE
From Adequate to Excellent: Houston A+ Showcases School Change Strategies M ore than 400 teachers, administrators, university faculty, parents, students, business and community members participated in the eleventh annual Reforming Schools Summer Institute in July – Houston A+ Challenge's largest Institute to date. The Institute provided a powerful showcase for the change strategies now being used in schools and learning communities throughout the Houston region. This year, Houston A+ Challenge is celebrating 10 years of supporting local public school improvement, and all of the campuses spotlighted during the Institute's 14 breakout sessions have received funding and technical support from our nonprofit organization. This year’s Institute, which featured Michael Fullan as keynote speaker Institute participants learned firsthand that keeping multiple "balls in the air" is much easier with help from a team of colleagues. (see page 6), was “learner-centered, collaborative, and supported a vision for improving and changing schools and systems,” according to one participant. Another wrote, “As a result of the Institute, my thinking has changed about my role and part in the reform process at my school. I am now more convinced that I can be a change agent.” And that is the goal. Each year, the Institute models what Houston A+ Challenge knows to be the keys to successful whole school change: ■
The Importance of Teaming Working as campus-based teams helps educators deepen their shared learning and provides continued support for taking lessons learned back to the campus.
■
The Importance of a National Perspective Through Houston A+ Challenge’s summer institute and ongoing national series, local educators engaged in school reform work are exposed to research and ideas that provide a framework for and perspective on what's working elsewhere, what's not, and how these . . . continued on page 7 lessons apply in Houston.
News You Can Use: TIPS FOR MANAGING CHANGE Your school team can benefit from these tips from the Reforming Schools Summer Institute: ■
Plan carefully, but don’t spend more time planning than doing. Limit planning documents to five pages, max.
■
When managing change, new experiences are important – behavior changes before beliefs do. Build skills on the new experiences.
■
Good ideas often have bumpy introductions. Bad ideas also have bumpy introductions. Learn to tell the difference.
■
Don’t be judgmental about low-performing students/schools/systems. Use performance measures as a guide for capacity building.
Breakout sessions at the Institute provided insights into what is working at a number of schools. For breakout topics and school contact information, visit the Houston A+ website at www.houstonaplus.org.
Also inside: Dropout Recovery: A Year-Round Effort p. 3 Teachers Team To Improve Instruction pp. 4-5 News & Events from Houston A+ Challenge p. 7
Established in January 1997 with funding from the Annenberg Foundation and local matching contributions, The Houston A+ Challenge is an independent, public-private partnership that develops and funds school programs, professional development and leadership institutes to promote higher academic achievement by all students.
From the
T
Executive Director
his fall, I am particularly energized by the call to action of the nationwide Give Kids Good Schools campaign: Learn, Vote and Act for quality education.
In November, Houston, Spring Branch, Fort Bend and Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs will all Suzanne Sutherland ask voters to approve major school construction bonds aimed at improving and expanding facilities for the region’s students. In addition, there are contested seats on school boards for Houston, Alief, Aldine and North Forest ISDs. And with the nationwide conversation on the renewal of No Child Left Behind, education is already gaining importance as a topic in the 2008 presidential elections. As a teacher, a principal, a parent, a student or a community member, you have a valuable opinion on these topics. I challenge you to learn as much as you can about the specific issues and individuals on the ballot, vote according to your conscience and convictions, and act by making time to share your views with people you care about. For more information about the Give Kids Good Schools Campaign, go to www.houstonaplus.org. In this issue, we also spotlight opportunities for professional development – how to become a Critical Friends Group coach on your own campus, and why lessons from Michael Fullan shared at Houston A+ Challenge’s Reforming Schools Summer Institute might apply to your own work. As Interim Executive Director for Houston A+, I have the exciting opportunity to see first-hand so much of the good work that goes on in Houston’s public schools. This fall, I encourage you to share your own best practices with others – and join me in continuing to push toward the day when all of Houston’s children have access to a high-quality education.
Suzanne Sutherland, Interim Executive Director
GET OUT AND VOTE: Local School District Elections, November 6 SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES:
SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND ISSUES:
DISTRICT
OPEN SEATS
BOARD SIZE
# OF CANDIDATES
Aldine ISD
4 (1 uncontested)
7 members
7
Alief ISD
3
7 members
7
Houston ISD
4 (2 uncontested)
9 members
9
North Forest ISD
3
7 members
11
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
$807 Million
Fort Bend ISD
$428 Million
Houston ISD
$805 Million
Spring Branch ISD
$597 Million
The last day to register to vote is Oct. 9. Early voting will run from Oct. 22 until Nov. 2. Voters may apply for a ballot by mail through Oct. 30. For more information, to locate your voting precinct or to apply for a ballot by mail, contact the Harris County Clerk’s Office at (713) 7556411 or visit their website at www.harrisvotes.org.
2
Focus on . . . Dropout Recovery: A Year-Round Effort E
ach year since 2004, the annual Reach Out to Dropouts Walk – which was started by Houston ISD, the Houston Mayor’s Office and Houston A+ Challenge – has drawn the Houston region’s attention to the overwhelming importance of giving students a second (or a third, or a fourth) invitation to a better future through education. The walk has become so successful that Aldine ISD joined the effort in 2006, Alief and Spring Branch ISDs joined in 2007, and communities around the country are looking at adopting the idea. But as schools and districts know, recovering dropouts – and keeping them – is a year-round effort. Here is an example of what one school community is doing to address the issue: After the first Reach Out to Dropouts walk in 2004, Principal Bertie Simmons and her staff at Furr High School on Houston’s east side realized that the 35 students who answered the call to return to school would need special attention. If the school didn’t address the root causes of the recovered students’ decision to leave, they would simply drop out again. So Simmons and the staff designed an instructional program specifically for these students, and opened REACH Charter High School right on the campus of Furr High School. The project-based curriculum at REACH, which stands for Realizing Educational Achievement in the City of Houston, helps keep students engaged in their school work and their neighborhoods. “The first thing we did was to give the kids cameras and send them out to find problem areas in the community that could be projects,” said Simmons. When they enroll, REACH students are given an interest assessment and learning styles inventory so that their assignments can be based on their specific needs. Hours are flexible to accommodate work schedules – students come in before and after school hours and on Saturdays.
By meeting and serving re-enrolled students where they are, REACH actualizes the concept of personalizing schools for students. Since it began two years ago, REACH has graduated more than 50 students. This year, 152 students are enrolled in the small high school, which operates independently on the campus at Furr, a school of just over 1,000 students. To Bertie Simmons, each student’s success is an overwhelming triumph.
“This summer, two of our former dropouts presented at the national Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development conference in Anaheim, California. Their presentation focused on how Habits of Mind [a structure for problem-solving developed by educators Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick] made a difference in their lives, in particular the habits of persistence and controlling impulsivity. These students had dropped out and given up on their education, but now they are both attending college.”
Quick Facts on the Reach Out To Dropouts Walk The first Reach Out to Dropouts Walk took place in
2004 at 8 Houston ISD high
3 years, as a result of the walk and other dropout recovery efforts, 3,956 students returned to school. So far, 492 of those students have graduated. In 2007, more than 1,600 volunteers at 34 schools in 4 districts persuaded more than 130 students to return to school. Efforts continue year-round. schools. In the first
Top Reasons for Students to Stay in School 1. High school dropouts are four times as likely to be unemployed as those who have completed four or more years of college. 2. Graduating from high school will determine how well you live for the next 50 years of your life. High school graduates earn $143 more per week than high school dropouts. College graduates earn $336 more per week than high school graduates ($479 more per week than high school dropouts). 3. Dropouts are more likely to apply for and receive public assistance than graduates of high school. 4. Dropouts comprise a disproportionate percentage of the nation's prison and death row inmates; 82 percent of prisoners in America are high school dropouts. Source: National Dropout Prevention Center/Network
Get more local public education news from Houston A+ Challenge and sign up for our eNotes newsletter at www.houstonaplus.org 3
TEACHER T
en teams of Houston-area educators will spend the next two years studying and documenting how their professional learning communities are impacting student achievement, an effort made possible through $100,000 in grants recently awarded by Houston A+ Challenge. Critical Friends Group as Research Team (CART) Grants support educators as they meet in groups to examine student work, discuss the latest research on effective instruction, and reflect on their own teaching strategies. Projects are carried out using the methods of action research, which is aimed at improving student achievement by changing individual teachers' classroom practice. The following Critical Friends Group coaches and teams have been awarded $10,000 each in Houston A+ Challenge CART Grants to support their work through 2009: Chong-Hao Fu and his team from KIPP Sharpstown College Prep will attempt to develop a school-wide vision of student and teacher excellence that looks beyond simple quantitative data and promotes a more comprehensive view of teaching and learning. Michaelann Kelley and an interdisciplinary team from Eisenhower High School in Aldine ISD will focus on how changing the content and context of conversations among educators encourages collaboration and reflection and ultimately impacts student learning. Matthew Martinez and a team from Houston ISD's Challenge Early College High School will work on coordinating teaching strategies and unit plans across the school in order to improve students' preparation and aptitude for college work. Debra McIntyre and her team from the Small Learning Community and PACE Programs in Humble ISD will explore how a highly personalized educational experience reconnects atrisk students to their studies.
TEAMS Lauren Nguyen, a reading specialist in Houston ISD’s Curriculum Department, will lead a multi-school team of reading teachers in a study to determine the impact that Master Reading Teachers are having on student test scores in reading and to assess which mentoring schedule shows the greatest results. Sonia Pacé and her team from Anderson Academy in Aldine ISD will
EARN
GRAN
research best practices for infusing the arts into the core curriculum and explore ways to improve collaboration among teachers in order to put these practices into action at the school. Mandi Painter and her team from Stovall Academy in Aldine ISD will document the impact of daily poetry readings on students' early development of fluency.
Critical Friends Groups Collaborate to Improve Instruction It’s the start of another school year, and here’s a pop quiz for teachers: ■ How well do you know the strengths and weaknesses of your own teaching? ■ Who else knows? How open is your classroom door? ■ Do the students in your school recognize you as a lifelong learner? Given the hectic pace of campus life, many teachers do not have the time and structure built into their schedules to take part in thirst-quenching professional growth opportunities, even those that are directly linked to student learning. Just like exercise – even with the best of intentions, time for reflection often is the first thing that drops off a teacher’s weekly planner. That’s where Critical Friends Groups can help. Like training partners at the gym, CFGs are campus-based groups of educators who come together to improve their practice through collaborative learning. Skilled coaches help teachers and administrators create and sustain voluntary learning communities where they can develop shared norms and values, engage in reflective dialogue, give each other feedback and encouragement on their work, and hold each other accountable. As Houston’s first center of activity for the National School Reform Faculty, which developed CFGs, Houston A+ Challenge has trained more than 880 CFG coaches since 1998.
FA L L 2 0 0 7
CRITICAL FRIENDS GROUP NEW COACH TRAINING Find out how to create a professional learning community at your school that turns theories into practice and standards into actual student learning. October 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27 & 29 Mondays 4:30 - 8 p.m. | Saturdays 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. University of Houston Hilton Hotel
Application deadline: October 1, 2007 Cost: $1,200 per coach (Does not include lodging) Contact Tim Martindell, tmartindell@houstonaplus.org, with questions or for scholarship information.
4
NTS
FOR
ACTION
Dr. Angela López Pedrana, an assistant professor in the Department of Urban Education at the University of Houston-Downtown, will facilitate a group of faculty members from several local universities who are exploring how research is helping to document the impact of teacher knowledge on student achievement.
RESEARCH
Carolyn Thibeaux, from Chavez High School in Houston ISD, is facilitating a team of educators from Alief, Aldine, and Houston ISDs who will explore how changes in administrative leadership affect the school culture, from the perspective of empowered school leaders.
TEN YEARS
OF
Nichole Thompson from Houston Academy in Aldine ISD will lead a collaborative group that includes educators from Bethune and Drew Academies to document how the STARS units of study have been adapted, their purpose and impact, and their lessons for the future.
CRITICAL FRIENDSHIP
Since 1998, more than 880 local educators have opened their classroom doors to collaboration by becoming Critical Friends Group coaches through Houston A+ Challenge. These coaches are campus leaders who guide small groups to examine their teaching practices, deepen their content knowledge and plan for whole-school change. Michaelann Kelley is an art teacher at Aldine ISD’s Eisenhower High School, and a national CFG trainer who works with Houston A+. How long have you been meeting with your Critical Friends Group? We’ve been together for nearly 10 years now – you know, with a few changes. For example, one former member of my CFG is now the principal of Westbury; another one of my Critical Friends was Paul Grey, who is now Program Director for Mathematics at Region 4 Education Service Center. We’ve had a lot of our members retire, but they were working on their practice continuously until the day they retired. Do you ever run out of things to talk about? How does a group sustain itself for so long? Everyone I have worked with has been a real advocate for bettering their own instructional practice, and there is always room for improvement. Best practices are something to strive for continuously, and if you think that you have already arrived – then you aren’t really in line with the philosophy of the group. What topics have you focused on with your CFG? Our past Critical Friends Group as Research Team (CART) work has really reached down to the student level. Through our writing and research, we have looked specifically at how to serve special populations of students – not just special education and English language learners, but also the Advanced Placement or gifted and talented students, which is a subgroup that we commonly leave out in this era of high stakes testing. So we’re looking at what strategies work to push all kids to higher places.
Dottie Lawrence, Houston ISD West Region Math Content Specialist, takes a “gallery walk” as part of CFG training.
What type of leadership skills have you developed through your CFG? I believe there are informal and formal leaders in schools, and Critical Friends Groups really help promote informal leaders. Informal leaders are your true leaders of school culture, because they are the people who directly impact what happens in the classroom. If you can get teachers working together, looking at their practice and focusing on how it affects students – that’s a powerful experience. Now they can see it, hear it, touch it and taste it. It becomes part of what they breathe every day.
5
“OPEN SPACE” STRETCHES CONFERENCE BOUNDARIES At many conferences, the most interesting conversations don’t happen in the breakout sessions or the officially moderated panel discussions – but rather in the buffet lunch line, the lounge, or the fleeting moments between sessions. This observation spawned “Open Space,” a National School Reform Faculty framework intended to stretch the boundaries of active conference participation. For the first time in 2007, Houston A+ Challenge’s Reforming Schools Summer Institute asked participants to suggest topics for conversation based on their own passions and interests Building on Michael Fullan’s keynote speech about the elements of successful change, Institute participants began with the question, “How can we be change agents for our schools?” and identified specific areas of interest or concern. The resulting sessions were rich with lively and productive discussions. Use these topics, suggested by your peers, to start conversations in your own school communities:
Michael Fullan’s ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL CHANGE
Around student achievement and curriculum and instruction issues: How do we close the gap between Black and Hispanic and Asian and White? How do we meet the needs of mild to moderate special education students with regard to TAKS? How do we help students who have failed the TAKS multiple times? How do we avoid gifted and talented elitism and still serve the students? How do we align fine arts with the other core subjects? How do we co-teach and still differentiate instruction? Around issues of school culture: How can we develop effective advisory programs in middle school? How do we create a sustained, schoolwide, respect-based culture? How can we involve our parents in their students’ learning? How do you make your school the kind that parents would drive for 25 miles to bring their kids? How do we change the culture or climate of our school in the face of high turnover? How can our team overcome administrative roadblocks to establish positive pressure? Around building collegial relationships and workplace structure: How can we develop effective teacher retention and in-house mentoring? What should professionalism/codes of conduct in the workplace look like? What do PLCs look like from a teacher’s perspective? How do we build a cohesive faculty when everyone is new? How can we find time for mentoring or collaborating with colleagues? This fall, Michael Fullan returns to Houston for Houston A+ Challenge’s National Speaker Series. Wednesday, October 3, 2007 5 to 6:30 p.m. University of Houston Hilton 4800 Calhoun Road, Houston, Texas 77204 Please register for this free public lecture by Friday September 28 at www.houstonaplus.org
6
At the 2007 Reforming Schools Summer Institute, keynote speaker Dr. Michael Fullan – internationally known education researcher, author and professor of policy studies at the University of Toronto – provided insights from his book Turnaround Leadership (2006) on what we must do in order to move our schools from adequate to excellent, and how to sustain that change over time. 1. Define closing the gap as the overarching goal. 2. Attend initially to the three basics (literacy, numeracy and student well-being). 3. Be driven by tapping into people’s dignity and sense of respect. 4. Ensure that the best people are working on the problem. 5. Recognize that all successful strategies are socially based and action oriented – change by doing rather than change by elaborate planning. 6. Assume that lack of capacity is the initial problem – and then work on it continuously. 7. Stay the course through continuity of good direction by leveraging leadership. 8. Build internal accountability linked to external accountability. 9. Establish conditions for the evolution of positive pressure. 10. Use the previous nine strategies to build public confidence.
n d a r 2 C a l e0 September 26
o f
E v e n t s7 0
“Solutions to the Texas Dropout Crisis” Conference University of St. Thomas Hosted by Children at Risk, in partnership with Houston A+ Challenge, local universities, Project GRAD and Communities in Schools
September 28-29
Texas Association of School Administrators/ Texas Association of School Boards Conference, Dallas
September 29
P-12 Math Summit Scarborough HS, Houston ISD
October 3
Michael Fullan, Houston A+ Challenge National Speaker Series University of Houston Hilton
October 8
Critical Friends New Coach Training Fall Session begins University of Houston Hilton
October 15-21
Give Kids Good Schools Week www.houstonaplus.org/givekidsgoodschools
October 20
Link Up Greater Houston George R. Brown Convention Center Sponsored by the City of Houston, the YMCA of Greater Houston, the Texas Association of Partners in Education and Houston A+ Challenge
November 6
Election Day School construction bond issues (Houston, Cy-Fair, Fort Bend, Spring Branch ISDs); Board of Trustees Elections (Houston, Aldine, Alief, North Forest ISDs)
November 10
Critical Friends Group Homecoming, Houston
January 27-30
Texas Association of School Administrators Midwinter Conference, Austin
January 28-29
Texas Association of Partners in Education Annual Conference, Austin
For more information or to register for these events, go to www.houstonaplus.org. RSSI . . continued from page 1 ■
The Importance of Interactive Learning Active, as opposed to passive, learning provides participants with strategies and ideas for improving their own practice. The Houston A+ Challenge summer institute provides a spotlight on the important work going on throughout Houston, with breakout sessions presented by the very people doing the work – local area teachers, principals and district administrators.
■
The Importance of Facilitation With skilled facilitators, teams,can practice newly-learned skills and plan how to develop and apply what they learn – in order to impact students during the coming year.
Reflected one educator: “I hope we have more opportunities to learn about campuses that are successful in urban settings, and what changes have occurred because of these institutes – how campuses use what they learn.” If you would like to receive information about future Institutes, please send an e-mail to news@houstonaplus.org.
News from
Houston A+ Challenge
■ In August, the Houston Endowment awarded a $300,000 planning grant to aid Houston A+ Challenge in the development of a regional principal leadership academy. Planning and development of the academy and its curriculum will continue through next year, with the intent to begin training aspiring principals as early as the fall of 2008. ■ The United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast has awarded a $30,000 grant to help support Houston A+ Challenge’s public engagement activities. The funding will help provide action labs and school sharing visits aimed at increasing college readiness for all Houston-area students. ■ In September, Houston A+ Challenge bid fond farewell to Executive Director Michele Pola, who stepped down from her post in order to return to the public school system. Michele now serves as Chief of Staff for Dr. Abelardo Saavedra, Superintendent of Houston ISD. ■ Suzanne Sutherland has been appointed Interim Executive Director, after serving for the past three years as Houston A+ Challenge’s Director of Programs and Associate Director. The Houston A+ Challenge Board of Trustees has launched a search for a new Executive Director. ■ Houston A+ Challenge is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to the Board of Trustees. William K. Crouch is Managing Director of Human Resource Information Systems for Continental Airlines, Inc. He serves as Chairman of the Continental Scholarship Fund and is a member of the Greater Houston Partnership’s Education and Workforce Advisory Committee. Thomas Elsenbrook is Managing Director for Alvarez & Marsal Business Consulting LLC, and works with the company's top management to design and execute corporate and business unit strategies. ■
Betsy Broyles Breier has joined the staff of Houston A+ Challenge as Special Projects Coordinator, building on her previous contract work in publication services. Muhammed (Tuan) Amith has also joined Houston A+ as webmaster and public relations assistant.
7
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID
#11363 1415 Louisiana, Box 9 Houston, Texas 77002-7332
HOUSTON, TEXAS
713-658-1881 fax 713-739-0166 www.houstonaplus.org
GIVE KIDS GOOD SCHOOLS WEEK
THE HOUSTON A+ CHALLENGE
OCTOBER 15-21, 2007
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Give Kids Good Schools is a nationwide campaign to focus the public’s attention on three ways that everyone can help achieve public school excellence - Learn, Vote and Act. Please join Houston A+ for the following local events: ■ Monday, October 15 School Sharing Visit: Best Practices in Making the Work Public Hastings High School (Alief ISD), 4410 Cook Road, Houston School Sharing Visit: Best Practices in Literacy across the Curriculum Milby High School (Houston ISD), 1601 Broadway, Houston ■ Tuesday, October 16 School Sharing Visit: Best Practices in Personalization McReynolds Middle School (Houston ISD), 5910 Market Street, Houston School Sharing Visit: Best Practices in Small Learning Communities Atascocita High School (Humble ISD), 13300 Will Clayton Parkway, Humble ■ Wednesday, October 17 School Sharing Visit: Best Practices in Shared Leadership Stovall Academy Middle School (Aldine ISD), 11201 Airline Drive, Houston ■ Thursday, October 18 School Sharing Visit: Best Practices in Arts Integration Pine Shadows Elementary School (Spring Branch ISD), 9900 Neuens, Houston ■ Friday, October 19 School Sharing Visit: Best Practices in High-Performing Small Schools Eastwood Academy High School (Houston ISD), 1315 Dumble, Houston ■ Saturday, October 20 Link Up Greater Houston Conference George R. Brown Convention Center Find more information about these events and join the national campaign to Give Kids Good Schools at www.houstonaplus.org/givekidsgoodschools SchoolWorks is published by: Houston A+ Challenge 1415 Louisiana, Suite 3250 Houston, TX 77002 (713) 658-1881/ (713) 739-0166 (fax) Interim Executive Director: Suzanne Sutherland Director of Public Affairs: Melissa Milios Writer: Betsy Broyles Breier
www.houstonaplus.org
Joe B. Foster, Chairman Founder, Newfield Exploration Company Ann Friedman, Ph.D., President Civic Volunteer
BOARD MEMBERS William K. Crouch Managing Director, Human Resource Information Systems Continental Airlines, Inc. Jonathan Day Managing Partner Andrews & Kurth, Mayor, Day, Caldwell & Keeton, LLP Thomas Elsenbrook Managing Director Alvarez & Marsal Business Consulting LLC Michael Dee Investment Banker Roberto Gonzalez Vice President, Employment and Training Centers, Inc. H. Devon Graham, Jr. R.E. Smith Interests Jenard Gross President, Gross Investments Steve Miller Chairman & President SLM Discovery Venture Inc. Karol Musher, M.A., CCC-SLP Speech, Language and Learning Disorders Texas Children’s Hospital Maconda Brown O’Connor, Ph.D. Chairman, Brown Foundation Harry M. Reasoner Vinson & Elkins, LLP J. Victor Samuels Chairman, Victory Packaging Yava Scott Community Volunteer Andrea White Civic Volunteer Rosie Zamora President, Houston Wilderness, Inc. Leonel Castillo Director Emeritus