Annual Growth for all Students,Catch-Up for Those Who Are

Behind

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

What if…

your local school board conceived and adopted a goal that 90% of 3rd graders in your district would read at or above grade level by the end of third grade and that you had three years to accomplish this goal?

Kennewick Success Story

Goal of 90% of 3rd Graders

On grade level

It Took 11 Years but

They Made It!

Average Score74%

Spring 1995Board of Education in

Kennewick, Washington

Lessons learned along the way…Kennewick, WA

1995-2006

To Order:

Visit The National Children’s Foundation website:http://www.readingfoundation.org/

Click on Publications and it is listed as one of the books there.

Quantity          Price1-10               $17.9511-50             $14.9551-100            $12.95Fielding, L., Kerr, N., & Rosier, P.

(2007). Annual Growth for all students, Catch-UP Growth for those who are behind. Kennewick, WA: The New Foundation Press, Inc.

Urban area has 185,000; Kennewick School Districtserves 15,000 students.Operating budget of $119 million

Kennewick has 13 elementary schools, 4 middle schools

3 high schools, and a regional vocationalskill center.

Kennewick, Washington

STUDENT

TEACHER CONTENT

In the U.S. Curriculum is Delivered…

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Worksheet

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Textbooks

85%

It matters little what else they learn in elementary school if they do not learn to read at grade.” P. 49

5%

35%

40%

20%

Data

Increased direct instructional time

Quality Instruction

Assessments: benchmark and normativeand expert use of the data

Additional time for those behind

Little behind = little helpA lot behind = more help

in small, fluid, skill groups

TAG Processes

Kennewick’s Research and Action PlanTargeted Accelerated Growth (TAG)

Retest to assure adequate catch-up growth actually occurred.

Catch-up Growth

• “Students who are behind do not learn more in the same amount of time as students who are ahead.

• Catch-up growth is driven by proportional increases in direct instructional time.

• Catch-up growth is so difficult to achieve that it can be the product only of quality instruction in great quantity.”

[p. 62, Fielding, Kerr, & Rosier (2007)]

Proportional Increases in Direct Instructional Time

• Students who are behind do not learn more in the same amount of time as students who are ahead.

• Catch-up growth is driven by proportional increases in direct instructional time.

• Catch-up growth is so difficult to achieve that it can be the product only of quality instruction in great quantity.”

fcrr.org

School

Canyon V. 38 90 195 25 135 24 150 32

Westgate 80 76 120 79 120 55 120 67

Cascade 35 96 120 51 120 55 120 55

Hawthorne 60 92 120 56 120 33 120 51

Amistad 76 65 120 25 140 27 125 33

Ridge View 23 90 120 51 120 34 90 42

Southgate 20 93 120 34 120 29 120 33

Washington 54 94 120 24 120 28 120 43

Vista 50 95 120 10 120 25 120 40

Lincoln 41 99 120 17 120 27 120 30

Sunset View 9 95 74 45 105 27 73 23

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Fcrr.org

Two critical reading goals:

1. Increase the percentage of students reading “at grade level” each year at each grade level from kindergarten through the end of elementary school

2. Decrease the percentage of students with serious reading difficulties each year at each grade level

Our most important measures of success in doing this assess student performance on reading comprehension measures at the end of the year-particularly at end of third, fourth, and fifth grades

fcrr.org

Whether or not we achieve these goals depends on the strength of our instruction to do two things during the year

Insuring all students make expected yearly growth

Strong core reading instruction for all students

Enough time spent to meet the needs of many students who do not typically receive powerful support at homeEnough quality so that the increased instructional time is spent effectively

Time X quality = growth fcrr.org

Whether or not we achieve these goals depends on the strength of our instruction to do two things during the year

Insuring students who are behind make expected yearly growth plus catch-up growth

Effective differentiated instruction by classroom teacher

Effective school-level systems and resources to provide additional intensive intervention in small enough groups for enough time, and with enough skill

fcrr.org

School Characteristics at Washington Elementary

– 55% Free and Reduced Lunch– 22% Minority– 85% Stability

• Teaching Staff– 2 half-day kindergarten teachers– 3 classroom teachers each in 1-5– 1 District Reading Specialist– 3 Title I Teachers– 1.5 Resource room/special ed teachers– 1 PE teacher– 1 librarian, 1 Librarian secretary– 3 Specials teachers– 9 paraprofessionals

fcrr.org

Fcrr.org

Growth in % of 3rd Grade Students Meeting Grade Level Standards

95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06

57 72 72 68 78 94 96 99 94 98 99 98

School Year

Percent at Grade level

Working harder and more effectively at 3rd grade

Began testing in 2nd grade and focusing on earlier improvement

Result of improvement at both 2nd and 3rd Grade

Began providing intensive interventions in the afternoon to many students

Baseline year

Fcrr.org

From David Montague, Principal

• ”By the fifth year, I was convinced high performance reading was about more time and better use of that time. Students who were behind needed more direct instruction. Some of them started getting 60 to 90 minutes extra each day for a total of 180 to 210 minutes a day. We spent that time on the sub-skills they hadn’t mastered.”

Washington Elementary: “No Exceptions, No Excuses”

“We give them whatever they need to reach the goal. Direct instructional time is proportional to their deficiency. The greater the deficiency, the more time they get.”

P. 25

Instruction for Tony

• Based on good assessment

• Apply TAG principals

• Skillful teacher

• Small group instruction of 2-6 students or 1:1 tutoring

• Assessment system for monitoring

• Adjust as needed

Determining Proportional Increases

State reading standard is 50th percentile

A rough rule of thumb is 13% points from 50th % equals approximately 1 years growth

Students in lowest performing groups receive more time in small group plus additional practice during the reading block

The Kennewick Model for Catch Up Growth

• Tony finishes 2nd grade scoring in the 12th percentile. What will it take to get him to the standard level?

• Tony’s school has reading scheduled 80 minutes per day. The reading block is delivered by 20+ minutes of direct instruction in small differentiated groups

• How did Kennewick educator’s solve the problem for Tony and help him get to the standard 50th percentile?

Kennewick’s Formula

• State standard in percentile is… 50th %• Tony’s 2nd grade status is… -12th %• The difference in percentiles is… 38 points

• Percentile point difference divided by 13 is… 13/38 = 2.9 years behind

Planning for TAG(Target Accelerated Growth)

• Daily minutes required for annual 3rd grade 80 minutes• Daily minutes required for annual 4th grade growth +80 minutes

160 minutes

• Additional daily minutes for 3 years catch up growth (3 years x 80 minutes)

+ 240 minutes

TOTAL 3rd & 4th grade daily minutes…………… 400 minutes

Dividing the instructional time equally between third and fourth grade shows that Tony needed 200 minutes of direct reading instruction in

both third and fourth grades to reach the 50% goal by the end of the fourth grade school year

Spring 2008

Male completed 3rd grade scoring Level 1 on End of Grade tests placing him at 18th percentile on state test

NC State Standard 50 %John’s third grade percentile status… -18 %The difference is…. 32%

13/ 32 = 2.6 years(Estimation of - 2 ½ years behind…)

Utilizing Kennewick Formula

• Daily minutes required for annual 4th grade 80 minutes• Daily minutes required for annual 5th grade growth 80 minutes• Additional daily minutes to make the 2 ½ additional years of growth (80+80+40) + 200 minutesTOTAL fourth and fifth grade daily minutes…………… 360 minutes

Dividing the instructional time equally between fourth and fifth grade2 years/360 minutes =180 minutes daily

Shows that John needs 180 minutes of direct reading instruction in both fourth and fifth grades to reach the 50% by the end of the fifth grade school year

Schools That Are Closing The Achievement Gap

Have a relentless focus on Instruction

coherent curriculum

teacher development planthat supports curriculum

Clear vision of what students are supposed toknow and do;

Leaders have skills& knowledge , not necessarily charisma

Distribute leadership very consciously

Celebrate

Every

Success!

“We thought the board was crazy.”David Montague, Principal 1996

“Ten years ago, we had little idea what to do. We know what to do now. The challenge is getting people to do it.”

David Montague, 2006

Northwest Exceptional Children’s Winter Conference

• Each Exceptional Children’s Director provided the “Catch Up Growth” book

• One month to read

• Small group discussion (a few samples to follow)

• Followed up with looking at examples of NC students and calculated TAG

Discussion Questions

• What is the distinction between Annual Growth and Targeted Accelerated Growth?

• What are your beliefs regarding TAG? Is it appropriate? Achievable?

• What needs to be in place in order to achieve TAG? What do interventions look like in your LEA to address annual growth and TAG?

• Assume, for the sake of discussion, that this formula is applicable to the NC Testing Program.

• What would the implications be for struggling readers in your LEA’s?

• Can that much direct instruction be provided? Use the questions asked and answered on pages 42-53 to guide your discussion.

• Is your LEA willing to make those commitments to achieve TAG? What are some barriers to achieving that?

Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions

• Special education should be the most intensive intervention in your LEA. What similarities/differences do you see in Stephanie’s teaching and direct instruction in your LEA’s?

• How does your LEA plan to provide research based instruction for your students with disability? What data does your system use to decide for intensity, continuum and specific programming for each student?

Discussion Questions

• Discuss the Instructional Framework that Kennewick used to answer the following questions:

• Could this apply to special education classroom or program observations in your LEA?

• What are the expectations for quality instruction in your LEA?

• Do your principals and other administrators agree on what quality instruction looks like?

Discussion Questions

• Discuss lessons you take away from the Kennewick experience, in the following contexts:

• As a district…. What needs to happen in your LEA in order to approach the results achieved in Kennewick?

• As an EC Program Director…..What can you do to help children with disabilities maximize their progress?