Interview with Ken Sealy, LHS Administrator
Interviewers: Randy Hardigree, Susan Hinson, Keita Placide, Lisa Skinner, and Misty Williams
Question 1: In your eyes, what specifically is our school targeting regarding data and the use of it? What is our main focus?
LHS, along with all other schools, is concerned with making AYP (Adequately Yearly Progress). Three main areas of focus that can easily be quantified: (1) student test participation, (2) percentage rate of students passing English and Math, (3) graduation rate. Will AYP continue to be our focus? The formula may be different but the focus will continue. The grading of schools is here to stay.
RECOMMENDATION: Our school already does an excellent job of making stakeholders aware of the variables that play into AYP. We go to great lengths to offer students extra preparation opportunities for the GHSGT. We have a very high rate of participation in these activities and a high rate of parent participation in the meetings held to inform parents of our strategies for success and how they can play a role in preparations. As GHSGT is phased out and more emphasis is placed on EOCTs, we recommend continuing the same strategies and tailor them as necessary to meet the EOCT timeline. Although we are already strong in this area, we recommend a continued effort and continued parent communication about our efforts.
Question 2: What is the process you use when planning your school improvement plan and how do you choose members to serve on that team?
The largest part of our school improvement plan is dictated to us by the central office. There are specific things that we have to look at. This is because our accreditation has moved to a system accreditation rather than an individual school accreditation. Some areas dictated to us: How do we improve our Math and English scores so we can make AYP? What underlying issues do we have that will also contribute to making AYP? What do we do as a school to help the system make AYP?
School Improvement Team: The Principal has always chosen the makeup of the team. The team consists of department chairs and assistant department chairs, key personnel in the school, people with experience, people that will help answer, and even ask, the tough questions. It’s easy to get so narrowly focused that you forget other important issues. The more people you get, the more ideas you get. It’s good to have a variety of people that can contribute. We have about thirty members, about one third of our certified faculty, is on the school improvement team.
RECOMMENDATION: Our school improvement team already includes a fair percentage of the faculty and appears to be well-balanced with individuals of varying interests and expertise. An opportunity for improvement we see is making the staff more aware of how the team selection takes place and asking staff members who may have qualifications that the administrators are unaware of. A fresh crop of teachers that hold Specialist degrees in Curriculum and Instruction should prove to be a valuable resource. We need to make sure administrators are aware of the nature of our new degree and what we have to offer.
Question 3: How do you determine what data to present or emphasize to the faculty? What data gets discarded?
The use of data is a good thing, but with the use of computers and technology, we can over-data ourselves. That’s not necessarily the right thing to do. You don’t want to discourage your faculty. In choosing what data to show to the faculty, you want to show how reachable a goal is. If you want “buy-in” from the faculty, then what you’re trying to attain, must be attainable. You still have to present the discouraging data…you shouldn’t withhold it; but, having a plan to go along with the data is better when presenting. Before presenting data, meet with your school improvement team to develop a plan of action for improving that data. When presenting the discouraging data, present the plan of action at the same time to show how we can work to improve it.
RECOMMENDATION: Again, our school improvement team does a great job of presenting the data in a concise manner. We do not feel that teacher morale is adversely affected by the use of data at LHS. We believe we receive a good balance of information that is useful for planning strategies for improvement. However, we have heard of parents complaining this year about a teacher emphasizing the likelihood of students doing poorly on a particular section of the GHSGT that the students felt panicked and defeated from the start. This is evidence of the ridiculous amount of pressure that teachers endure regarding standardized tests. We believe this was brought to the attention of the teacher and addressed with the students. As it turns out, the students scored quite well. However, this was a red flag situation showing how the power of a data-driven mindset can have just as much of a negative effect as it does a positive one. We recommend the continued presentation of data to the faculty, but should also encourage teachers to use this information positively in their classrooms.
Question 4: Is the School Improvement Plan insisting that we use data, and how do you justify the use of that data? Is the data posted around the school something that LaGrange has to do?
It is absolutely essential that we use the data! It’s not even optional. When the central office sends us a report, we simply put our new numbers in. We are forced to look at our numbers and then we look at what our plan needs to be. Anybody can come up with what they “think” students need to be working on. However, with data, we have the numbers to support what we’re doing, or to show us what the data is not supporting. We have to use data to make decisions about what we need. If we don’t need it, then why are we even doing it? The State requires us to have a data room. We have to have a room to we can present our data to stakeholders at any time. It is a good thing to have data available to everyone. It can be a form of encouragement for all those involved.
RECOMMENDATION: Although people can easily be overwhelmed by data, it may be a good thing to take the meat of what is displayed in the data room, make it as concise as humanly possible, and post it in more visible parts of the building. It is rare for teachers and students to visit the data room. Our school does a great job of informing students when new data arrives, and we celebrate our successes. In addition to keeping students informed, we believe adding some visual reminders around the building would be an effective practice.
Question 5: How do you monitor teachers to make sure they are implementing the goals and action plans?
Monitoring is the hard part. You can come up with the best plan in the world, but without teacher support and implementation from the teachers, the plan means nothing. Data helps in the monitoring process. For example, the EOCT data is looked at closely by the administration and the teachers. Even though the EOCT data is not used for AYP purposes, teachers look at the data as being a reflection on them. With the goals being out there, the data on benchmarks, EOCTs, etc., can be used to predict how students are going to perform on the graduation test. The data show up fairly quickly, we don’t have to wait until the end of the year to get data. Benchmarks and midterm grades are posted instantaneously and be examined quickly. Classroom observations are also useful when monitoring teachers. It doesn’t have to be a formal observation, but just checking whether teachers and students are doing what they’re suppose to be doing is an important part of contributing to the students’ success.
RECOMMENDATION: All of our departments have made great strides in collaborative planning, data-driven planning, and increasing our level of common practices. Observation and monitoring of best practices is a big opportunity for improvement for the entire school. For the coming year, we recommend having intradepartmental observations. We could design a check-list of innovations that should be utilized in the classroom and use the check-list for brief observations of each other’s classes. If we can’t figure out how to accomplish the actual observations, maybe we could hold accountability sessions where we can discuss what is actually occurring versus what is not.
Question 6: Are there members of our School Improvement Team that decide how to present the data to the faculty?
What comes from the state has to be strategically sifted through and presented to the staff. What is the bottom line? Did we or didn’t we make AYP? In department meetings we can disaggregate the data further.
RECOMMENDATION: This is the area that can easily overwhelm and discourage the staff if not handled correctly. Thus far, our school does a great job of giving us the bottom line in faculty meetings. We usually disaggregate the data departmentally, often in system-wide meetings. Teachers are very busy and are under immense pressure with pacing guides and preparations to meet testing deadlines. For this reason, we think our team’s strategy for cutting to the chase in beg meetings and saving the more detailed work for smaller meeting is effective and should be continued.
Question 1: In your eyes, what specifically is our school targeting regarding data and the use of it? What is our main focus?
LHS, along with all other schools, is concerned with making AYP (Adequately Yearly Progress). Three main areas of focus that can easily be quantified: (1) student test participation, (2) percentage rate of students passing English and Math, (3) graduation rate. Will AYP continue to be our focus? The formula may be different but the focus will continue. The grading of schools is here to stay.
RECOMMENDATION: Our school already does an excellent job of making stakeholders aware of the variables that play into AYP. We go to great lengths to offer students extra preparation opportunities for the GHSGT. We have a very high rate of participation in these activities and a high rate of parent participation in the meetings held to inform parents of our strategies for success and how they can play a role in preparations. As GHSGT is phased out and more emphasis is placed on EOCTs, we recommend continuing the same strategies and tailor them as necessary to meet the EOCT timeline. Although we are already strong in this area, we recommend a continued effort and continued parent communication about our efforts.
Question 2: What is the process you use when planning your school improvement plan and how do you choose members to serve on that team?
The largest part of our school improvement plan is dictated to us by the central office. There are specific things that we have to look at. This is because our accreditation has moved to a system accreditation rather than an individual school accreditation. Some areas dictated to us: How do we improve our Math and English scores so we can make AYP? What underlying issues do we have that will also contribute to making AYP? What do we do as a school to help the system make AYP?
School Improvement Team: The Principal has always chosen the makeup of the team. The team consists of department chairs and assistant department chairs, key personnel in the school, people with experience, people that will help answer, and even ask, the tough questions. It’s easy to get so narrowly focused that you forget other important issues. The more people you get, the more ideas you get. It’s good to have a variety of people that can contribute. We have about thirty members, about one third of our certified faculty, is on the school improvement team.
RECOMMENDATION: Our school improvement team already includes a fair percentage of the faculty and appears to be well-balanced with individuals of varying interests and expertise. An opportunity for improvement we see is making the staff more aware of how the team selection takes place and asking staff members who may have qualifications that the administrators are unaware of. A fresh crop of teachers that hold Specialist degrees in Curriculum and Instruction should prove to be a valuable resource. We need to make sure administrators are aware of the nature of our new degree and what we have to offer.
Question 3: How do you determine what data to present or emphasize to the faculty? What data gets discarded?
The use of data is a good thing, but with the use of computers and technology, we can over-data ourselves. That’s not necessarily the right thing to do. You don’t want to discourage your faculty. In choosing what data to show to the faculty, you want to show how reachable a goal is. If you want “buy-in” from the faculty, then what you’re trying to attain, must be attainable. You still have to present the discouraging data…you shouldn’t withhold it; but, having a plan to go along with the data is better when presenting. Before presenting data, meet with your school improvement team to develop a plan of action for improving that data. When presenting the discouraging data, present the plan of action at the same time to show how we can work to improve it.
RECOMMENDATION: Again, our school improvement team does a great job of presenting the data in a concise manner. We do not feel that teacher morale is adversely affected by the use of data at LHS. We believe we receive a good balance of information that is useful for planning strategies for improvement. However, we have heard of parents complaining this year about a teacher emphasizing the likelihood of students doing poorly on a particular section of the GHSGT that the students felt panicked and defeated from the start. This is evidence of the ridiculous amount of pressure that teachers endure regarding standardized tests. We believe this was brought to the attention of the teacher and addressed with the students. As it turns out, the students scored quite well. However, this was a red flag situation showing how the power of a data-driven mindset can have just as much of a negative effect as it does a positive one. We recommend the continued presentation of data to the faculty, but should also encourage teachers to use this information positively in their classrooms.
Question 4: Is the School Improvement Plan insisting that we use data, and how do you justify the use of that data? Is the data posted around the school something that LaGrange has to do?
It is absolutely essential that we use the data! It’s not even optional. When the central office sends us a report, we simply put our new numbers in. We are forced to look at our numbers and then we look at what our plan needs to be. Anybody can come up with what they “think” students need to be working on. However, with data, we have the numbers to support what we’re doing, or to show us what the data is not supporting. We have to use data to make decisions about what we need. If we don’t need it, then why are we even doing it? The State requires us to have a data room. We have to have a room to we can present our data to stakeholders at any time. It is a good thing to have data available to everyone. It can be a form of encouragement for all those involved.
RECOMMENDATION: Although people can easily be overwhelmed by data, it may be a good thing to take the meat of what is displayed in the data room, make it as concise as humanly possible, and post it in more visible parts of the building. It is rare for teachers and students to visit the data room. Our school does a great job of informing students when new data arrives, and we celebrate our successes. In addition to keeping students informed, we believe adding some visual reminders around the building would be an effective practice.
Question 5: How do you monitor teachers to make sure they are implementing the goals and action plans?
Monitoring is the hard part. You can come up with the best plan in the world, but without teacher support and implementation from the teachers, the plan means nothing. Data helps in the monitoring process. For example, the EOCT data is looked at closely by the administration and the teachers. Even though the EOCT data is not used for AYP purposes, teachers look at the data as being a reflection on them. With the goals being out there, the data on benchmarks, EOCTs, etc., can be used to predict how students are going to perform on the graduation test. The data show up fairly quickly, we don’t have to wait until the end of the year to get data. Benchmarks and midterm grades are posted instantaneously and be examined quickly. Classroom observations are also useful when monitoring teachers. It doesn’t have to be a formal observation, but just checking whether teachers and students are doing what they’re suppose to be doing is an important part of contributing to the students’ success.
RECOMMENDATION: All of our departments have made great strides in collaborative planning, data-driven planning, and increasing our level of common practices. Observation and monitoring of best practices is a big opportunity for improvement for the entire school. For the coming year, we recommend having intradepartmental observations. We could design a check-list of innovations that should be utilized in the classroom and use the check-list for brief observations of each other’s classes. If we can’t figure out how to accomplish the actual observations, maybe we could hold accountability sessions where we can discuss what is actually occurring versus what is not.
Question 6: Are there members of our School Improvement Team that decide how to present the data to the faculty?
What comes from the state has to be strategically sifted through and presented to the staff. What is the bottom line? Did we or didn’t we make AYP? In department meetings we can disaggregate the data further.
RECOMMENDATION: This is the area that can easily overwhelm and discourage the staff if not handled correctly. Thus far, our school does a great job of giving us the bottom line in faculty meetings. We usually disaggregate the data departmentally, often in system-wide meetings. Teachers are very busy and are under immense pressure with pacing guides and preparations to meet testing deadlines. For this reason, we think our team’s strategy for cutting to the chase in beg meetings and saving the more detailed work for smaller meeting is effective and should be continued.
