indistar® overview
TRANSCRIPT
Lighting our path to stellar learning
Academic Development Institute
Indistar®
Part One: A Simple Tool
For a Complicated Job
Improving Schools Is A Complicated Pursuit
Lots of People Want to HelpState LevelIntermediate Education
Agencies
School Level
State Government
Local Government
Supplemental EducationService Providers
Federal GovernmentStudent GovernmentClassroom Level
Business Roundtables
Boards of Education
District Level
Advocacy Groups
But Have Different Ideas About How
Look Familiar?
A Global Positioning System (GPS)
Shows where you are relative to your destination
Provides detailed routes for reaching itAdjusts to variations and even
accommodates diversions along the way
But the destination remains constant.
Family Vacations Have Never Been More Relaxing
(For the Most Part)
A Performance Positioning System (PPS)
Works in much the Same Way, Only for School
Improvement
It’s a Keep-Moving Navigational Tool
That Guides Everybody in the Same Direction
Everybody.
Roles are ClearPurpose is
SharedEffort is AlignedPartnerships
PrevailChange is
Sustained
Which means...
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.
Indistar® Provides a Structure for Improving Performance
(With Plenty of “How” Flexibility)
The Structure is Built Using Success Indicators
The Research and Evidence of What Works in School Improvement
We’ve Collected, Analyzed, and Organized the Research So that Your Time Can Be Spent Applying It
(And Indistar® Guides You Through Application, Too)
in·di·ca·tor [in-di-key-ter]noun
1. A pointer or a gauge for assessing progress toward the destination
But Indistar® Doesn’t JUST Tell You
Whether or Not You’re On the Right Track
It Keeps You MOVING On It
(PS….Indistar® is Also Designed to Build and Sustain Momentum
So Where Is It Guiding Us? What is the Destination, Exactly?
The Specifics Will Vary According to the Individual Needs and Circumstances of Each State, Each District, and Each School
But Ultimately, What We Want
Is Big Lasting Improvement in Teaching and Learning
But Results Won’t Improve Unless Performance Improves
Indistar® Will Help
Don’t Follow the Leader. Be the Leader.
Part Two: Success Indicators, the Backbone of Indistar®
Improvement-Seeking? Spine Required.
Success Indicators - The Research and Evidence of What Works in School Improvement
Evidence-based strategies for classrooms, schools, and districts
Culled, analyzed, and organized in Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement
Handbook named “outstanding publication of the year” by Division H of AERA at 2008 convention in New York City
Organization of Success Indicators
\
Improving the Performance Of
The District.The School.
The Classroom.
And Ultimately…The Student.
In Teams
School TeamEngage with School-Level Success Indicators AND
May Receive Support from State Teams and/or District Teams
District TeamEngage with District-Level Success Indicators AND
May Provide Support to School-Level TeamsState Team
Provide Support to District and School Teams
For the District…
District Context and SupportDistrict Change ProcessDistrict-School Expectations
For the School and Classroom . .
Team Structure Principal’s RoleProfessional
DevelopmentParents and LearningAligned Instruction
Classroom Assessment
Differentiated Instruction
Periodic AssessmentInstructional DeliverySchool Community
The Decision is Whether To
Use every indicator or selected indicators
Indistar® Ensures that the Route Will Be Detailed, Direct, and Focused
Indistar® Allows the District, the School, the Leader to know where they are in relation to a Success Indicator and provides guidance on where to make the next turn.
Either way...
We Can’t Promise it will be Easy
(Though with Indistar® it will be Easier)
Part Three: Knowing Who’s Who
And Making Sure Everyone Works from the Same Coordinates
The Roles We PlayState Team: Members of the state’s system of
support for districts and schools team, includes coaches and instructors in addition to administrative staff
District Coach: Member of the State Team who assists the district teams by reviewing Indistar® progress and providing comments and reviews within the tool (i.e., Coaching Comments) to which teams may respond
District Team: District staff who will engage with the indicators and provide support to school teams, process manager who assists Superintendent in managing Indistar® is optional
District Liaison: District staff who serves on the school team and is its primary link to the district
The Roles We Play
The Roles We PlaySchool Team: School staff who will engage with
the school-level Success Indicators and receive support from State and/or District Teams
School Coach: support person from the state, district or external provider who assists the school team by reviewing work on the Indistar® and providing comments and reviews (i.e. Coaching Comments) to which the school team may respond
Now We’re Ready to Get Started
Schools and Districts enter here through a link from the SEA website
The School or District DashboardWhere Plans, Reports, and Forms Required by the StateAre Completed and Electronically Submitted
The State Administrative PageWhere 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
Expectations for the Team Process
High Quality Performance RequiresRegular and well-attended team meetingsFocused and difficult discussionsCulture of Candor - honest and reflective
self-examinationOpenness for and commitment to creativitySincere and collaborative effortUse of Indistar® protocols and consistent
documentation
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
Highlights of Team To-Do’sAttendance at regularly scheduled team meetings
Assess progress toward Success Indicators,
Plan for adjustments, and
Receive feedback from instructors and coaches
Select a team member to regularly update activity and progress within Indistar® (called the process manager)
Now We’re Ready to Roll Up Our Sleeves
And start the improvement conversation
Assess – Plan - Monitor
Part Four: 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 Providesa Synthesis of the Researchthat 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!
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
A Quick Review of Some Features
Coaching Comments: Built-in communication tool for coaches and team members (sorry no voice command yet)
Wise Ways: On-demand synthesis of research and strategies that will support Success Indicator attainment (think of it as a traveler’s reference)
Agendas and Minutes: The Team Leader (a superintendent, principal, or designated “process manager”) logs into Indistar® and prepares a customized agenda for the team meetings and records the minutes
Worksheets: Customized according to the agenda, the worksheets support adherence to the agenda and ensure documentation of agreements and next steps
