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 Help

State LevelIntermediate Education

Agencies

School Level

State Government

Local Government

Supplemental Education

Service ProvidersFederal GovernmentStudent Government

Classroom 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 it

Adjusts 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 Teams

State TeamProvide 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 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

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

Indistar®

A Keep-Moving Navigational Tool

www.indistar.org