Resource Guide for the Standards and Rubric for School Improvement

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Standard One:
School and District Leadership

1.1 Learning Community
1.2 Systems Focus on Student Achievement
1.3 Vision and Mission
1.4 Teacher Leadership
1.5 Communication
1.6 Growth Plans
1.7 "Reculturing" Around Accountability Systems
1.8 Data as Part of Planning
1.9 Instructional Materials
1.10 Time
1.11 Allocating Resources, Monitoring Progress
1.12 Use of Resources
1.13 Fiscal Resources



Standard Two:
Curriculum, Instruction, And Professional Development



Standard Three:
Classroom And School Assessments



Standard Four:
School Culture, Climate, And Communication



ADE Calendar of Events



Best Practices Academies

2.5 Monitoring and Evaluation

The staff monitors and evaluates curriculum and instructional programs based on student results, and makes modifications as needed to ensure continuous school improvement.

If a school makes plans to improve student performance without aligning the written curriculum and the taught curriculum with their tests, then the members of that school community are wasting their time. Without this alignment, student performance will not – indeed, cannot – improve.

Fenwick English and Robert Larson,
Curriculum Management for Educational and Social Service Organizations

Suggested Evidence
  • Evidence of ongoing evaluation of school improvement plan
  • Principal and teacher interviews
Level of Performance: Exceeds Standards
  • The effectiveness of all programs is regularly monitored and evaluated, and modifications are made based upon evaluation results.
  • Instruction and organizational systems are regularly monitored and modified as needed to support student performance using a wide variety of data gathered in the evaluation process.

Related Resources

Tools
AIMS Website   
This website provides Arizona teachers, administrators, students, and parents access to the AIMS Hotline phone number for tutoring help, an overview of the AIMS test, sample tests, study guides, and information about tuition waivers.
Publisher: Arizona Department of Education

Comparing the Research on Best Practices   
This activity has practitioners working in pairs to find the intersection of components found in articles on what research says, what research-based best practices are, and what strategies impact student achievement. It is noted that the activity requires at least 30 minutes.
Author: Carol Rolheiser and Michael Fullan
Publisher: Center for Development & Learning


Articles
NEW! How To Increase Higher Order Thinking   
This article defines higher order thinking and provides strategies for enhancing higher order thinking skills.
Author: Alice Thomas and Glenda Thorne
Publication Date: 2009
Publisher: Center for Development and Learning

NEW! Classroom Walkthroughs: Learning to see the trees and the forest   
Pilter and Goodwin discuss how to effectively use walkthroughs to collect data and provide useful feedback to educators to improve instruction.
Author: Howard Pitler with Bryan Goodwin
Publication Date: Summer 2008
Publisher: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

NEW! Foundations for Success: Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel   
On March 13, 2008, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel presented its Final Report to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education. This report contains information for parents, teachers, policy makers, the research community.
Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: U.S. Department of Education

NEW! Mathematics Intervention at the Secondary Prevention Level of a Multi-Tier Prevention System: Six Key Principles   
The author lists and describes six principles necessary for RtI in mathematics at a secondary level.
Author: Lynn S. Fuchs, Ph.D.
Publication Date: Retrieved November 2008
Publisher: RTI Action Network

NEW! Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom   
This guide offers strategies to reduce problematic behavior in elementary schools.
Author: Michael Epstein, Marc Atkins, Douglas Cullinan, Krista Kutash, and Robin Weaver
Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education

Computers, The Internet, and Cheating Among Secondary School Students: Some Implications for Educators   
This article investigates how secondary students may use the Internet for plagiarizing schoolwork and provides some basic precautions educators can implement in their classrooms.
Author: Stacey Conradson & Pedro Hernández-Ramos
Publication Date: 2004
Publisher: Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation

Eight Questions about Implementing Standards-Based Education   
This article, written by Robert Marzano, presents eight questions that are relevant to how standards-based education affects classroom instruction and assessment at the local level.
Author: Robert Marzano
Publication Date: 1996
Publisher: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

Every Child Reading: Tips for Schools   
The Learning First Alliance presents eleven tips schools can use to focus faculty on student literacy.
Publisher: Learning First Alliance

Extensive Reading Interventions in Grades K-3: From Research to Practice   
This report summarizes available data on the effects of extensive reading interventions (comprising at least 100 instructional sessions) and related implications for practice.
Author: Nancy Scammacca, Sharon Vaughn, Greg Roberts, Jeanne Wanzek and Joseph K. Torgesen
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: Center on Instruction

Hard Questions about Practice   
The author believes that educators need to look closely at the organizational and instructional practices in schools that affect the learning of students and adults, in order to effectively change practices and improve student learning. Instructional practice and the improvement of instructional practice are complex and require high levels of knowledge and skills across a number of important domains. Success requires that schools have structures that develop the knowledge and skills of administrators and teachers.
Author: Richard F. Elmore
Publication Date: 2002, May
Publisher: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

Interim Assessments: A User's Guide   
The author argues that in order to reduce achievement score gaps, we must advocate rebalancing assessment priorities to bring classroom assessment into the equation.
Author: Kim Marshall
Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: Phi Delta Kappa

Interventions for Adolescent Struggling Readers: A Meta-Analysis with Implications for Practice   
This report focuses on interventions designed to improve students' use of reading comprehension strategies. It also considers the impact of interventions that target improved reading vocabulary, accurate decoding of unfamiliar words in text, and increased reading fluency.
Author: Nancy Scammacca, Greg Roberts, Sharon Vaughn, Meaghan Edmonds, Jade Wexler
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: Center on Instruction

Linking Formative Assessment to Scaffolding   
This article addresses four strategies that illustrate the strong connection between formative assessment and research on learning: eliciting prior knowledge, providing effective feedback, teaching for transfer of knowledge, and encouraging student self-assessment.
Author: Lorrie A. Shepard
Publication Date: 2005
Publisher: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

Meeting the Needs of All Students Through Professional Development   
Arguing that the needs of all teachers must be meet before schools can begin to meet the needs of all students, this principal advocates for comprehensive, on-going professional development and describes specific factors that have helped at his middle school in San Francisco.
Author: John A. Michaelson
Publisher: Center for Development & Learning

Progress Monitoring in an Inclusive Standards-based Assessment and Accountability System   
This report describes how progress monitoring can be used to compare student performance against standards and make adjustments in order to help students accelerate their progress towards meeting those standards. Benefits and contextual challenges that must be addressed are discussed.
Author: Rachel Quenemoen, Martha Thurlow, Ross Moen, Sandra J. Thompson, and Amanda Blount Morse
Publication Date: 2003
Publisher: National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), University of Minnesota

Screening for Mathematics Difficulties in K-3 Students [K-3]   
This report looks at the key features needed to screen kindergarten through third grade students for difficulties in mathematics.
Author: Benjamin S. Clarke, Russell Gersten, Nancy C. Jordan
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: Center on Instruction


Useful Links
NEW! Science Resource Page   
This page provides links to help teachers implement the Arizona Science Standard, including links to the Science Standard, AIMS information related to science, ADE professional development opportunities, state and national organizations, and resources for science teachers.
Publisher: Arizona Department of Education

NEW! Tiered Instruction/Intervention   
The site offers details and information on the RtI process and articles as well as descriptions of the three tiers.
Publication Date: Retrieved November 2008
Publisher: RTI Action Network

Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents   
This PowerPoint presentation discusses resources and areas of knowledge that can assist in successful academic literacy instruction.
Author: Joseph Torgesen
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: Center on Instruction

Tips from Teachers   
The COMP Resource Library contains “Tips from Teachers” where educators from around the country post helpful hints under the topics of Room and Materials Arrangement, Rules and Procedures, Managing Student Work and Accountability, Maintaining Good Student Behavior, Planning and Organizing Instruction, Conducting and Facilitating Instruction to Maintain Lesson Momentum, Getting the Year Off to a Good Start, Climate Communications and Self-Management.
Publisher: COMP Classroom Organization and Mangement Program


Other Resources
NEW! Dr. Archer Video Series   
“Dr. Anita Archer is a talented author and beloved teacher of teachers. This video series is one of her many gifts to the educational community. Produced with support from the Sonoma County Office of Education, it is made available at no cost thanks to her generous spirit.
The series addresses strategic literacy instruction in grades K-8 using a research to practice approach grounded in pragmatic real-world application. Each video is 4 to 8 minutes long, has a particular strategic focus, and was shot unrehearsed in real time. A short viewing guide is included for each video, providing guidance for viewing and feedback for post-viewing applications.” Sonoma County Office of Education
Author: Dr. Anita Archer
Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: Sonoma County Office of Education




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