Indistar®Information about the Indistar® Online Tool

Where it all began…Center on Innovation & Improvement

One of five national content centers Administered by the Academic Development Institute Funded by U. S. Department of Education Began in 2005 Purpose: Assist regional centers and State Education

Agencies (SEAs) with:• Statewide systems of support• District and school improvement• Restructuring and turnaround• Family and community engagement

Academic Development Institute applied for a federal grant

One of five national content centers (2005-2012) Center on Innovation & Improvement, administered

by the Academic Development Institute Funded by U. S. Department of Education Purpose: Assist regional centers and State Education

Agencies (SEAs) with:• Statewide systems of support• District and school improvement• Restructuring and turnaround• Family and community engagement

We published a book in 2007

Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement

American Educational Research Association (AERA) named it “publication of the year” in 2008

Research syntheses by experts From school board to district office to principal to

teachers Includes Indicators of Effective Practice

• Specific, behavioral, plain language indicators of what works

Virginia had a problem• Not satisfied with school improvement planning

process• Wanted focus on Indicators, like those in

Handbook• Wanted way for SEA to coach schools more

effectively• Wanted to relieve everyone of the paperwork• Wanted district and school teams to take charge

of improvement

Indistar ® was born in 2007• Web-based system to solve Virginia’s

problems• First two years, 26 of 27 restructuring schools

made big progress and exited restructuring• Not just the web system, but focus on

effective practice• And support from the SEA

Indistar ® caught on• 2008: New Hampshire and Idaho adopted Indistar ®

• 2009: Alaska, Oklahoma, and Arkansas jumped on board

• 2010: North Dakota, Illinois, and Bureau of Indian Education joined

• 2011: North Carolina, Maine, District of Columbia, Mississippi, Alabama, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Washington adopted Indistar ®.

• 2012: Kansas, Arizona, Oregon, Louisiana, Minnesota, Vermont, Georgia, and Ohio

What is different about Indistar ®?

1. Process plus practice. Research-based practices (rather than programs) that are predictive of improved student achievement.

2. Supported local initiative. District and school teams with coaching from SEA

3. Continuous improvement process. Does not end with a new year, but continue to build from previous work.

4. Recognition of strengths. Strengths in current practice as well as areas in need of improvement recognized in process.

5. Focus on the drivers of improved student achievement. Focuses attention on numerous, specific practices rather than reducing the focus to a small set of hoped-for outcomes.

6. Broad engagement and transparency. Team-directed, tasks for everyone, Guest Login for transparency

Indistar ® services:• Schools:

– School Improvement– Schoolwide– School Improvement Grant (SIG)– Race to the Top– Priority– Focus – Alert– Volunteer– Other

• Districts• Statewide

Systems of Support

PROS

TEAMING process State accessibility to REAL TIME work SEA, LEA, and coaching support Electronic submissions Interactive, online coaching feature Indicators of effective practice Research support (Wise Ways and Indicators in

Action)

Like a GPS, Indistar®:

• Shows where you are relative to your destination

• Provides detailed routes for reaching it• Adjusts to variations and even

accommodates diversions along the way

But the destination remains constant.

• Roles are Clear• Purpose is Shared• Effort is Aligned• Partnerships Prevail• Change is Sustained

Which means...

Schools and Districts enter here through a link from the SEA website

The School or District Dashboard

Where Plans, Reports, and Forms Required by the StateAre Completed and Electronically Submitted

THE STATE ADMINISTRATIVE PAGE

Where Submitted Plans, Reports, and Forms are Posted for the SEA

Where the SEA has access to see what’s working well and where they need to focus their efforts as leaders

But Remember, the Real Work Occurs in Teams

Indistar® Makes it Easy and Efficient to Know What to

Improve

But the Actual Improvement Depends on the Effort of the People

Behind It

A Strong Team Process... and the Steadfast Implementation of its Plans

Now We’re Ready to Roll Up Our Sleeves

And start the improvement conversation

Assess – Plan - Monitor

Where are we now?

Self-Assessment, the First Step toward Improvement

SELECT THE CATEGORY, SECTION. . .

AND THEN AN INDICATOR

If the Team Identifies the Success Indicator as a

Priority

Then Indistar® turns it into an action item, an objective to be defined and accomplished

Notice the Wise Ways link?

Wise Ways Is a Built-In Reference Tool that Provides a Synthesis of the Research that Supports the Indicator AND Provides Real, How-to, High-leverage Strategies for Attaining It

• Indicators in Action is an additional research resource

• contains 3 courses of video clips showing exactly what the indicator looks like...in action!

Examples of IndicatorsIE08 The principal spends at least 50% of his/her time working directly with teachers to improve instruction, including classroom observations.

IF01 The principal compiles reports from classroom observations, showing aggregate areas of strength and areas that need improvement without revealing the identity of individual teachers.

IF02 The Leadership Team reviews the principal’s summary reports of classroom observations and takes them into account in planning professional development.

How About that Coaching Comments Button?

Coaching Comments Makes it Easy and Automatic for Teams to Communicate with their Coaches and Instructors

And Since We’re Always Learning and Improving…

Indistar® Makes it Easy to Update the Tasks

AND MONITOR PROGRESS

AND GENERATE LOTS OF REPORTS

www.indistar.org