A college-prep small public elementary school in Oakland Our vision at Think College Now is that all students will have the tools to choose their life.

A college-prep small public elementary school in Oakland

Our vision at Think College Now is that all students will have the tools to choose their life’s path and desired occupation with an equitable opportunity to attend college and pursue their dreams.

Making a difference… Together, Anything is Possible

David Silver, Principal and Founder Think College Now Elementary Oakland Unified School Districtwww.thinkcollegenow.org

Who Attends Our School?

Think College Now

•Grades: K-5•Student Population: 280•Free/Reduced Lunch: 95%•Special Education: 10%•English Language Learners: 65%

Less than 1 of 20 students of Oakland public school students are eligible for the University of California. Most of the Oakland public school students come from low-income families and are often students of color. This is not equity for Oakland students. We must close the achievement gap.

Our equity focused vision is attained through college opportunity for all students. Strong student achievement leads to college readiness for our students.

Our students will achieve academically and have access to college using the following elements:

1) Entire community united in our early College-Focused mission2) High Expectations for all students, staff, parents – No excuses 3) Standards-based, data-driven instruction and assessment 4) Strong Family Involvement and Community Partnerships

5) Outstanding Staff with a sense of urgency to reach our goals

• Our parents and staff came together to found TCN 7 years ago with high hopes.

• Our vision was clear – to close the achievement gap by getting our kids (90% title I) college ready

• But we did not close the achievement gap our first few years – our results were low and flat

• Year 3 and beyond things changed… dramatic growth, achievement gaps narrowed, and our students began to move into proficiency in math and ELA regardless in all sub-groups

The First 2 Years: Top 3 Mistakes

1.Focused on the wrong things– Details and process instead of People and outcomes– Curriculum-based assessments instead of standards-based

CST aligned ones

2.Lack of Alignment with standards & CST– Did not set up students for success on the CST– Taught in a language different than they were held

accountable for

3.Failed to observe high-achieving models– Did not see models of success closing the achievement gap

1. Built a strong culture focused on a big goal• Parents, teachers, students and community helped to start the school. • All constituents were united in our vision of closing the achievement gap through college

access.

2. Developed relationships with the district, networks, and partner organizations

• Oakland Small Schools Foundation (fundraising, capacity-building strategy)• Strategic Schooling (Sharing best practices schools used to increase CST outcomes) • Oakland District (Facilities provisions, curriculum/assessment flexibility and staffing support)• Teach for America, New Leaders for New Schools, and RISE (Recruitment network)• Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, Oakland Community Organizations (Equity and vision

work)• Even Start, UC Berkeley, Centro Legal (Parent education, college focus, community

resources)

3. Created Systems for collaboration• Stipends for extra time (retreats, extra professional development, time with students)• Parent, teacher and student expectations for workshops, conferences, academic and culture

events

Percent of TCN students who score Proficient and Advanced on the

California State Test (CST) over time

•Every year, more TCN students score proficient and advanced in math and ELA. • Last year students scored the highest ever, with 66% proficient in ELA and 81% proficient in math! For the first time, every grade level scored 80% or higher in math! •Our goal is that 90% of TCN students will be performing at grade level by 2011.

10%

63%

23%

8%

33%

51%

31%

58%

49%54%

81%

66%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

ELA Math

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

TCN Subgroup Performance in English Language Arts

Over Time

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AA 9% 12% 38% 56% 65% 65%

Latino 7% 11% 31% 50% 47% 64%

ELLs 0% 9% 29% 49% 40% 54%

Low SES 8% 10% 33% 49% 53% 66%

School-Wide 7% 10% 31% 49% 54% 66%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

TCN Subgroup Performance in Math Over Time

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

AA 9% 29% 52% 56% 63% 69%

Latino 28% 33% 55% 61% 61% 82%

ELLs 24% 32% 54% 62% 56% 76%

Low SES 23% 35% 54% 59% 63% 81%

School-Wide 21% 33% 51% 58% 63% 81%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

“I could not have it any other way. The TCN community is an awesome place to learn, collaborate, and use your voice.”

-Jean Higgins, Parent and Family Resource Center Liaison

Parents’ Thoughts

(From OUSD Use Your Voice

Survey, Spring, 2009)Of the 157 parents who returned their surveys

•99% said, “Teachers at this school set high academic standards for student work.”

•98% believe that TCN does “A good job of teaching skills and knowledge my child needs for college.”

•97% said, “At school, my child gets to learn about different cultures.”

•96% said, “I collaborated with my child’s teacher this year to set and review his/her learning goals this year.”

•99% said, “Overall, I am satisfied with my child’s school.”

Annual Parent Workshop “Help your child show the CST who is

Boss!”

End-of-Year Open House

Students’ Thoughts (Student Satisfaction Survey Results)

All of our results went up or stayed the same this year. We are especially proud that more students are reading at home.

Survey Questions % responding “Yes”

June 06 June 07 June 08 June 09

I’ve learned a lot from my teacher. 94% 94% 94% 98%

I know I am going to college. 90% 89% 89% 93%

I like school at Think College Now 86% 81% 89% 88%

I know Mr. Silver and Ms. Catlin 84% 89% 93% 93%

I feel important in school. 66% 61% 68% 67%

I read at home. 51% 56% 76% 80%

Million Minute Reading Challenge

Year 1-2: No challenge, poor reading results Year 3: Students exceeded their “one million minutes” of reading and forced Mr.

Silver to go to the Roof (See ABC Video) Year 4: Students forced the principal, teachers, parents and students into the

dunk tank booth Year 5: Students took over the school for a dayYear 6: Students did not meet their goalYear 7: TBD – If the students read 100 million words, Mr. Silver grows out his

hair, student council reps cut it off and shave in “TCN” in the back

Kids Rule the School Day – Million Minute Challenge

Breakthrough: Years 3 & 4Recruit, Retain, & Support the Right

People • Recruit: Get the right people

– Invest the time in staffing– Develop networks

• Retain: Keep the right people– Explicitly ask what you can do to support and retain– We consistently retain 80-90% of our staff each year

• Support: – Observe clear models of success in low-income areas – Create structures to support staff to reach outcomes

PD and Data: Year 3 & 4• Began data cycles and a focus on Academic student

outcomes/results • What: Item analysis on interim assessments & goals/data

conferences every six weeks. • Why: By focusing more attention on this, it shows that this is

what we value and encourages students to focus on improvement of this as well.

• Data/Goals Conferences: Admin and teachers make a plan to improve standards mastery and for moving more students out of FBB/BB and into P/A

• Item Analysis: Teachers use data to inform which standards will be focused on for re-teach and when for whom

• We encourage teachers to ask for what they need to move student outcomes. “How will this help student achievement?” When these are aligned with how they will improve student achievement, we try to support it. (This keeps the focus on the results)

Instructional Focus and Alignment: Year 3 and 4

Created the TCN Best Practices: Outcomes-Based Research (Strategic Schooling)

• Instructional • Environmental• Feedback forms outside of

classrooms • Walk-through’s

Dennis Parker: www.strategicschooling.com

Charlotte Knox: www.knoxeducation.com

Strategic Schooling

Leadership Practices: Years 3 & 4 -

Breakthrough Focus on data-based outcomes, allow multiple paths to get there

• Empower teachers to reach outcomes, monitor progress, provide support and resources they need

• Observe models of success to develop authentic, high expectations and shared best practices

Put people in the right seats & pair grades effectively.

• When there is a teacher that is not achieving results on CST, we try to pair with a strong one for support and accountability to show “it can be done with our kids”

• When this does not work, we try to move them into a better position that fits their pedagogy and strengths

The Problem – Year 5: TCN’s Bump in the Road • We caught a Flat Tire • While our proficient/advanced

numbers rose slightly: 58-63% in math, 49-54% in ELA…

• Our API line not only flattened but actually went down by 8 points to 781

• Due to a slight students in FBB/BB and disparities between grade-level growth.

Academic Performance Index (API)

609

720

585

789

781

601

634

653

674

658

751

709

689

776

500

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

TCN

OUSD

CA

The Myth

• Do not judge a book by its cover• Externally, Year 5 of TCN was great... • We won the CA distinguished school and

the Title I Academic Achievement Award (one of about 50 schools in California).

• Internally, Year 5 was one of the worst in our history…

• For the first time our student achievement was flat, our school culture was poor, and many (including me!) considered quitting.

Staff Culture – Year 5

Factionalized Faculty with members with a lack of trust between some teaching staff and administration

Seeds of Discontent: • Relationships not as strong• Principal handpicked the Leadership

team• Too much focus on data and the CST?

Staff Culture: Rebirth - Year 6

Create Structures to facilitate clear communication that build trust

1. Create the Exit Outcomes Process • Constructive way to improve the school and realizing our vision. • Expand our vision to have a focus on CST/data AND other areas. 2. New Leadership Team structure • Members chosen by the teachers• Principal joined by Assistant Principal • Open to all 3. Creating a specific time to address issues for those who

want to come • Be transparent when getting feedback how it will be or was used • Report out what you did to the feedback 4. Future: 5. Be explicit of what we do and not do6. But do not open “a can of worms” & take focus away from

instruction

Leadership (or Lack Thereof)

Year 5: The Bump in the RoadPerceive pain & do not rub salt in the wounds

• Be explicit but not too explicit Clarifying our vision through “The Big Goals” document did not work to clarify our goals, but created division that took the focus away from instruction

• Pick and Choose your battles Even if the idea is good “clarifying or public data”– sometimes the goal is achieved better through a different medium (example: individual goal conferences and not necessary creating documents or sharing in the whole group)

Leadership Year 6: Lessons

Learned• Stick to your theory of action: maintain what is most important - academic outcomes - and strengthen systems to integrate it into your culture in a way that is sustainable

• Figure on what your key levers are and do not compromise on them and be willing to compromise on other things (analyzing data is important, but bend on how or the frequency)

• Balance Must-Haves and staff voice/investment (Push and Pull back)

• Get clear about what you want, what people are asking for, and who should decide which issues

Leadership: Future • Do not take focus away from student learning• Conserve energy and emotional resources• Analyze what is requested, and by how many

people, its importance • Taking the person with the highest results, best

relationships, and strongest systems and moving him to an intervention and coach role (grades 3-5) to coach and support the other teachers and grades.

• In tough budget times, get feedback from staff and maintain the most important engines to our train

• Continue to focus a lot of energy on recruiting and selecting the right people (i.e., teachers) and bring them and pair them with strong teachers whenever possible.

Big Take-Away’s

• Stick with the focus on student outcomes while being flexible in other areas

• Be clear about your objective• Do not under-estimate staff culture• Set up structures for communications that can

work when relationships falter• Keep getting strong teachers that are team

players • Refine your best practices in a way that moves

teachers towards, not away, from them

TCN Strategy to Increase Student

Achievement• Recruit, Hire and retain the best teachers and staff

• Focus on the state standards

• Assess regularly and use data to focus and individualize instruction

• Collaborate with staff and with families to help our students learn

• Live, breathe “college culture”

Climate and

Culture at TCN

Teachers, parents, students and staff work together to create a positive environment with high expectations for all students. Students showing our core values of respect, responsibility, reflection, reality and ganas will sometimes be recognized with panther paws. Students will be given a yellow card as a warning if they are not following our school rules.

Extra supports for students

• We expanded counseling services so that more students got individual or group counseling

• Reading Partners provided individual reading intervention to 36 struggling readers.

Theory of Action Summary

Key Success Factors• Get the right people with a belief they

can and history of closing the achievement gap

• Set clear, measurable “big goals” based on high expectations

• Invest entire school community in the goals and be explicit of everyone’s role in achieving the goals

• Support teachers, students & parents to reach the goals

Theory of Action SummaryOvercoming Challenges

• Access additional resources and align all resources towards the goals

• PD driven by data, collaboration & sharing best practices

• Use standards-based CST aligned-data to monitor progress, inform instruction & focus interventions

• Focus on outcomes, without being wedded to “one way” to get there

SUSTAINABILTY StrategyHow TCN will be built to

last• Cultivate others now for future

leadership • Establish future Fundraising base • Document operational systems • Develop district, community

partnerships • Focus on a few high-leverage

strategies • Empower staff with leadership roles • Support Students after they leave TCN

2nd Annual Alumni Night

“I feel so proud to be part of this team. I would put our staff up against any in the state – if not the country.” - David

Silver, Principal.

If you are interested in joining our team, email [email protected]

For more information about Think College Now, go to www.thinkcollegenow.org

42

In Closing

• At Think College Now we are a team – everyone in our community – parents, teachers, students, administration, custodians, support staff and community members – is responsible for ensuring that every TCN student gets the best education possible and is prepared to go to college!

• Together, yes we can! Juntos, si se puede!

Questions?

In pursuit of our vision that all students can go to college and pursue their dreams.