Professional Learning Communities
andResponse to Intervention
Yorktown High School Action Plan
Focused thinking…
Coming together is a beginning; keeping
together is progress; working together is success.
---Henry Ford
The beginning…• High School history• Leadership roles• Faculty and staff roles• Student roles• Parent roles• Community roles
How do we inspire students, parents and staff to strive together for excellence?
• and
Joining Yorktown High School
• Summer of 2009• Personal and professional history with
YCSD• Development of entry plan focusing on
culture, faculty, staff, and students• Goal setting• Elementary educator leading a high
school• Development of trust• Relationship building
YHS Goals and Objectives
• Build a professional learning community which focuses on collaboration, use of data, and progress monitoring
• Educate faculty and staff about Response to Intervention
• Increase student achievement under the RTI lens
• Create a positive teaching and learning environment for all under the PBIS lens
Creation of RTI Team• Surveying of faculty and staff --- seed
dropping 2009- 2010• Creation of RTI team• Immersion into latest research• What is RTI• Why RTI• How RTI can benefit YHS• Training with Jim Wright• Solidify the team
RTI Consultant
Erin Ax—district funded• Guidance Department• Teacher Coordinators• Learning Center Staff• Administrators• RTI team
Focusing on:• What is RTI• Role and impact at the secondary level
Team Decision
Formally present Response toIntervention to the faculty and staff• What is RTI• RTI common terms• Tiered model• Why RTI• What can RTI do for YHS• Future Steps• Introduction of RTI team
Motivation
• Discussion buzz about how RTI will impact our work at YHS
• How do we help students to succeed when so many aren’t motivated
• Creation of a schoolwide definition of motivation
MOTIVATIONWhat it means at YHS
Motivation is a self-driven pursuit of an intrinsic or extrinsic
goal.
Year One ReflectionReflections and Next
Steps
• Goal setting for 2010- 2011 school year
• Targeting grade 9• Restructuring of
Learning Center• Restructuring of Study
Hall• Curriculum
Development• Summer work• YHS Goals
Professional Learning Communities
• Creation of YHS’s first Study Group for 2010 – 2011 school year focusing on teaching of literacy
• Teacher Coordinator Study Group—PLC’s
Summer Work • Collaboration with middle school to review incoming
ninth grade data• Creation of an English Skills and Special Education
English Skills classes for grade 9• Meeting with Teacher Coordinators• Meeting with Guidance Department• Restructuring of Learning Center• Restructuring of Study Hall along with curriculum
development focusing on topics such as study skills and organization and progress monitoring targeting students
• Progress monitoring document• Creation of English 11 collaborative class
YHS Plan Sharing
Presentation of RTI goals to:• Building and district
administrators• Faculty and staff• Parents• Targeted students• Presentation
Professional Learning Communities Study
Group• Introduction of Professional Learning
Communities to Teacher Coordinators• Bi-weekly meetings with Teacher Coordinators
to discuss curriculum updates focusing on RTI and PBIS
• DuFour’s book distributed and monthly discussions of text
• Still a work in progress• Newest text purchased and will be distributed
this month
Buildingwide Study Group
• We’re all teachers of literacy• Teacher volunteers• Meet twice monthly • Do I Really Have To Teach
Reading? • I Read It, But I Don’t Get It• Sample chapter summary
Maintaining Momentum…
Erin Ax visiting YHS consistently…• Meeting with Teacher Coordinators• Meeting with Guidance
Department• Meeting with RTI team• Meeting with Learning Center staff• Meeting with Study Hall Staff• Meeting with Administrators
RTI Team Recommendation
Erin Ax formally addresses entire YHS Learning Community
RTI Team Reflections
Team debriefs focusing on…• Next steps• Continually meeting RTI goals
Essential question:How do we ensure, work collaboratively to meet the
individual needs of each learner?
RTI Team Next Steps…
Run progress report and/or report data of grade 9
students receiving a “D” or “F”
RTI Team Data Review
• Collaboratively review data
• Discuss data• What do we do with data
RTI Team Recommendation
• Creation of “Student Review Data” document
• Document purpose:Before we can make recommendations to
support students, we must engage in intimate conversations with classroom
teachers.
Student Data Review Document
• Student Data Review Document
What do we do with this information?
• We need to dig deeper!
• Creation of Student Intervention Plan Document
Student Intervention Plan Document
Building Trends
• Closer and deeper look at building trends
• What are we collectively recognizing
Students are struggling in specific areas:
• Homework• Motivation• Extra help
RTI Team Framework
• Continued immersion into latest research
• Development of YHS RTI Framework
Tiered Interventions at YHS
Framework Presentation
• Present to RTI team• Present to Erin Ax• Reflect and revise with RTI team
RTI Team Decisions
Review of building trends focusing on:
• Extra help• Motivation• HomeworkTeam collectively decides to target
EXTRA HELP as an intervention.
Next steps
• Survey entire YHS Community…
“How do you motivate students to come for extra
help?”
Extra Help Intervention
• Continue present practice of making students aware of extra help sessions by posting within classroom, department offices, website and/or verbally discussing
• Creation of “Extra Help” bulletin board
• Extra Help sign in sheet• Provide Teacher Coordinators and
Guidance Counselors with list of targeted studentsFree Template from www.brainybetty.com 29
Simultaneously Happening…
PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Supports)
• Team was formed consisting of teachers, social worker, guidance counselor, and an administrator
• Attending training and meeting buildingwide to process new learning
How do we ensure YHS Community support?
• RTI changes happening• PBIS changes happening• Brief overview of PBIS to faculty
and staff• Share that we will survey entire
YHS learning community
What are your schoolwide expectations
for positive behavior?
RESPECT
RTI Team Next Steps
Extra help focus• How do we begin to collect data on
the effectiveness of extra help?• How do we share our new
learnings with our YHS community?
• Team decides to present at next faculty meeting
Faculty Meeting Update
RTI and PBIS update presentation
Next Steps…
• Continued work with Erin Ax• Data analysis• RTI and PBIS teams joint goal
setting• Reflection and review of work• Sharing of best practices at faculty
meetings• Communication and collaboration
with YHS community
Action Plan Document
Action Plan
Reflection
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
---Gandhi