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Environments that Support Teaching and Learning

October 7, 2014

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Today

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HistoricalPerspective

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What’sNext

From the Empowering Effective Teachers Proposal:

• Continually assessing improvements

• Empowering teachers as leaders

• Establishing behavior expectations of

students

• Providing support to assist with

behavior-related interventions

How do we Create Environmentsthat Support Improvement of

Teaching and Learning?

Understanding the Context

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5Classroom

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School

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Central Office

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Pennsylvania

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United States of America

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International

Our Theoryof Change

If we want to create environments that support improvement to teaching and learning, then we must:

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• Enhanced Focus on StudentVoice, Peer Culture, and Service

• Renewed Focus on Becoming

Stronger Partners with Families

• Providing Professional Growth

Opportunities for Teachers

• Providing Professional Growth for

School Leaders

Overview of Strategic Initiatives

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Enhanced Focus on Student Voice, Peer Culture, and Service

Students will take a leadership role in our efforts to improve peer culture in our schools and classrooms.

Data collected from both the Tripod and TLC surveys suggest that peer respect is a key indicator of a positive teaching and learning environment.

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Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:

Students will be more actively engaged as leaders in improving peer culture in all of our schools. This will be measured on an annual basis through the Tripod and Teaching and Learning Conditions Surveys.

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Rationale:

Objectives:• Utilize Parent Hotline data to impact policy and practice

• Create targeted strategies to increase participation in the Parent Survey and to receive feedback from parents

• Engage in the Public Conversation Project

• Strengthen our EFA Steering Committee

• Support our families through the creation of a Parent University

In order to truly impact District-wide culture, we need to ensure that our students and families possess a strong sense of belonging.

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Success:Students and families will receive a first class experience when interacting with any of our systems of support or information. This will be measured through the parent survey.

Renewed Focus on Becoming Stronger Partners with Families Renewed Focus on Becoming Stronger Partners with Families

• Create more opportunities for teachers to engage in professional learning communities, teaming, and to work collaboratively

• Provide professional growth offerings to assist with aligning instruction and classroom management to better support our students.

• Provide teachers with differentiated and innovative professional growth opportunities.

• Build the capacity of substitute teachers.

Teacher effectiveness is the most importantschool-based factor for determining student success.

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Providing Professional Growth Opportunities for Teachers

Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:Teachers will experience relevant and targeted professional growth opportunities based on need, interest, and student & teacher data . This will be measured on an annual basis through the Teaching and Learning Conditions and RAND Surveys.

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Providing Professional Growth Opportunities for School Leaders

Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:Principals will create schools of excellence where all students engage in rigorous innovative learning experiences that will prepare them for the future

• Provide school leaders with differentiated, focused, and innovative professional growth opportunities

• Provide school leaders with the knowledge and skills needed to build the instructional capacity of teachers and engage families and communities to support student learning

• Strengthen the principal pipeline to ensure the development of the next generation of school leaders

Leadership Matters: The impact of principal leadership is second only to teaching in its impact on student learning.

• Transforming Central Office

• Launch the Assistant Superintendent

Networks

• Create an Innovation Team

• Enhance our Network of Support for Students

• Supporting Out of School Time

• Viewing Student DisciplineThrough a New Lens

Overview of Strategic Initiatives

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Transforming Central Office

• Provide instructional support to principals,

• Improve basic operations,

• Improve Central Office’s delivery of service to schools,

• Provide case management support to developresources and structures to build leadership capacity, and

• Special emphasis on improving teaching and learning conditions at Pittsburgh Westinghouse & Perry

As outlined in research conducted by the Wallace Foundation, to support principals in becoming stronger instructional leaders, the District must have a system in place to facilitate the brokering of resources and activities.

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AssistantSuperintendentNetworks

Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:The work of Central Office is organized around improving teaching and learning. This will be measured by a variety of student outcomes such as: attendance, PSSA, Keystone, and retention. Positive results on the Principal, Teaching and Learning Conditions, and Parent Surveys.

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Create an Innovation Team

• Identify and spread promising practices,

• Increase efficiency and effectiveness,

• Address systemic barriers to success, and

• Pursue innovative process in all areas of our work.

To ensure that we are continuously improving District systems and processes, we will launch an innovation team that will observe and study how we currently operate and offer new approaches to increase success.

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Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:The District will operate more efficiently, principals and teachers will experience a greater level of satisfaction, and students will more consistently experience innovative teaching practices. This will be measured by the Teaching and Learning Conditions and Principal surveys.

Innovation: doing something new, different, smarter or better that will make a positive difference.

• Enhance our network of support for students to ensure that we are impacting the whole child: social, emotional, and academic

• Invest in a community school model that features adding capacity to schools and matching community support to student needs

Principals and teachers have identified social emotional support for students as a critical gap. The District cannot address student needs in isolation; this work must be in done in coordination with cross-sector community partners.

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Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:All schools will offer social and emotional support that is specific to the unique needs of their students. Success will be measured through principal and parent feedback and the Teaching and Learning Conditions Survey.

Enhance our Network of Support for Students

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Invest in a Community Schools Model

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Supporting Out of School Time

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21st Century Community Learning Center Grant

Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:

Our District after-school programs are designed to leverage out-of-school time to build a coordinated and strategic network in order for students to become graduation ready, promise-ready, and college and career ready.

• Launch new regional after-school programs at Westinghouse, Perry, & Brashear

• Support enrichment opportunities for students at the Summer Dreamers Academy

Students will engage in high quality after school programing. This will be measured through various performance indicators as aligned by the 21st Century Learning Community Centers.

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Viewing Student DisciplineThrough a New Lens

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Pursuing Equitable Restorative Communities

Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:

Restorative Practices involve informal and formal processes to address misconduct, not as a reactive response to crime and other wrong doing but as a proactive process of building relationships and a sense of community.

• Measure the capacity of Restorative Practices to improve the safety and climate in our schools.

• Reduce disparities in suspensions, improve student attendance, and student and staff perceptions of school safety.

There will be a significant decrease in disciplinary action across all of our schools. We will partner with the RAND Corporation to measure success.

• Creating Healthier School

Environments

• Giving back to our Schools,

Communities, and Each Other

• Building Pride in Pittsburgh

Public Schools

Overview of Strategic Initiatives

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Create Healthier School Environments

As adults we should be good role models for our children and have the opportunity and the responsibility to do all we can to support the development of healthy habits that will serve our children well all their lives.

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Healthy Schools Program/Live Well Schools

“Students will receive a better understanding on how to live a healthier lifestyle, which we hope will boost student achievement in the classroom.”

-Kathy Guatteri, vice president, Out-Patient Services at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Rationale:

Objectives:• Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh will assist 6 pilot schools in

creating environments that promote nutritious eating, physical activity, and staff wellness in utilizing the country’s largest school-based childhood obesity prevention initiative, the Healthy Schools Program, a partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

Success:

Giving Back to our Schools, the Community, and Each Other

Giving back not only helps to improve District culture but helps us to better serve our students, schools, and communities.

• Provide multiple opportunities for staff to volunteer throughout the year,

• Provide multiple mentoring opportunities, and

• Create a system to keep staff aware of school-based activities (plays, sporting events, etc.) and encourages attendance.

"He who wished to secure the good of others has already secured his own.” - Confucius 28

Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:Our staff, students, families and community partners will describe the District as a caring organization. This will be measured by Central Office, Tripod and Parent surveys.

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Building Pride in Pittsburgh Public Schools #PPSProud

Launching efforts to increase awareness about the good news about students, staff, families and communities at PPS and build pride in public education.

• Enhance public perceptions in the District’s efforts to transform environments that support positive teaching and learning,

• Share all of the moments, students and staff that make us #PPSProud through owned, earned and paid media, and utilizing social media.

• Establish a PPS tradition as a presenting sponsor of the yearly Channel 11 Holiday Parade.

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Rationale:

Objectives:

Success:Our staff, students, families and community partners will speak proudly of the District, its students and public education in Pittsburgh. This will be measured by the Central Office and Parent surveys.