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The Broad Prize Framework for School District Excellence

Northside Independent School District

Assessment

Analyzing Data to Improve Instruction – Northside Independent School District

Northside Independent School District uses these frameworks and tools to ensure that teachers and principals use data in the continuous improvement of instruction.

1 – Framework for Using Data to Drive Instruction Offers a visual depiction of the district’s process for using assessments to drive instructional reforms.
What to Notice This one-pager shows how each school in the district is expected to link assessment data with instruction. Everything starts at the top—with the results of the Texas state exams (the TAKS) and the curriculum diagnostic benchmarks (CDBs). A process of school-site analysis leads to an identification of needs and strengths, as articulated in the campus needs assessment. The school then launches a plan of action designed to produce measurable results, and the process starts all over again. The full process is reflected in the school improvement plan, and all school-site educators—principals, teacher leaders, teachers and specialists—contribute to the process.	Questions to Ask When does this typical cycle start at a school? Who drives the process forward? Is this process iterative? How often are curriculum diagnostic benchmarks administered? How does the district support this cycle of inquiry and action? Do area superintendents or instructional coaches play a leadership role with school sites? How widely is this framework distributed? Do school-site educators understand the “big picture” in regard to how the district thinks about data and instruction? How is this assessment information at the school level used to inform district-level decisions?
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2 – Protocols for Analysis of Curriculum Diagnostic Benchmark Data Provides guidelines for the generation and discussion of student achievement reports, using the district’s content management system.
What to Notice These protocols instruct teachers and principals how to generate and analyze student achievement reports. Notice that this process is mandatory—all teachers and principals must produce the relevant reports and discuss them. In addition to instructions, the document includes talking points for principals to ensure that teachers understand the thinking behind the process and guiding questions to encourage hard thinking about each teacher’s data.	Questions to Ask What training do principals receive that is relevant to this process? Does it include technical training on how to use CMS? Leadership training on how to work with teachers to understand the data? What training do individual teachers receive? Are they comfortable with accessing CMS on their own? Do they find the process helpful or threatening or both? How does the district address potential concerns?
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3 – Benchmark Test Item Analysis Forms Identifies questions missed by individual students and maps those questions to the Texas state standards.
What to Notice The cover sheet of this form shows a principal or teacher—at a glance—how his or her students performed on each item of the test. This information is immediately followed with an alignment of individual test questions with the Texas state standards. And then, on page 3, the principal or teacher can see how individual students performed on each item. Finally, for a given student, the report lists each item, one-by-one, with a description of the specific concept that was tested.	Questions to Ask How do teachers use the data? Is there common planning time that allows grade-level teachers to share and compare data, as well as instructional strategies? How did the district develop this type of practical tool? Did they buy it off-the-shelf from a vendor? Did they develop it internally? Did they work with a vendor to customize it? What kind of IT staff does the district need to support this type of system? Can curriculum diagnostic benchmark answer sheets be scanned? How quickly is data turned around and made available to teachers and principals?
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4 – Accelerated Instruction Plan Allows teachers to identify specific learning objectives for each and every student who fails the Texas state assessment (TAKS).
What to Notice After each administration of the TAKS test, teachers in Northside are required to fill out this accelerated instruction plan for every student who failed to reach proficiency. The document identifies specific learning objectives, as well as strategies for intervention, tied directly to the student’s performance on relevant items from the TAKS. At the bottom of the page, notice that promotion status is tied directly to this data from TAKS and the intervention plan.	Questions to Ask Who collects the accelerated instruction plans? Who works with the teachers to develop the plan and assess a student’s progress toward proficiency? How is the data aggregated? Do teachers have access to reports that show how many of their plans were successful in boosting a student to proficiency?
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District Governance

Setting Board Norms – Northside Independent School District

The board of education in the Northside Independent School District has established a common set of expectations for the role of board members and their communications with district stakeholders. These guidelines are designed to build the public’s confidence in the board and ensure a rigorous, healthy process for making difficult decisions.

1 – Board of Education Operating Procedures This document lays out the expectations and norms for board members’ relationships with each other and other district stakeholders.
What to Notice The board of education in Northside established these guidelines to ensure that board members treat all stakeholders—including other board members—with respect and to establish an environment in which the board can fulfill its policy role effectively. On the first page, notice that changes to the operating procedures require a 100 percent vote of the board. On page three, the document explicitly forbids members from publicly criticizing other members. In addition to avoiding controversies which might damage the public’s confidence in the board, such a policy makes it easier for board members to be honest with one another in private. Also, sections III and V implicitly address issues of the board’s role. Board members have to be sensitive about their communications with district staff members, since this could be seen as undermining the superintendent’s authority, and citizen complaints are referred directly to district staff, instead of being routed through board members.	Questions to Ask What kind of process did the board use to arrive at these operating procedures? How did they achieve 100 percent agreement on these guidelines? What were the most difficult pieces, and how did they overcome disagreements? To what degree do board members adhere to these guidelines? What are the processes to hold board members accountable for their behavior? What role does the board president play? For example, what would happen if a board member were to intervene with a district executive on behalf of a complaining citizen? What is the superintendent’s relationship with the board? How does he or she build a trusting relationship with individual members and with the board as a whole? What role does he or she play in ensuring that the board sticks primarily to policy matters and does not intervene in the operations of the district?
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Allocation of Financial Resources

Allocation of Financial Resources – Northside Independent School District

The Northside Independent School District aligns its resources to achieve academic goals. The district has received unqualified audit opinions and recognition through the state’s Financial Integrity Rating System (FIRST) for its financial management.

1 – Annual Financial Report Presents legally-required financial statements and information.
What to Notice On page six, the district uses a pie chart to clearly depict its sources of revenue. On page 11, the district analyzes the potential impact of changing enrollment and property tax collections. Also on page 11, the report identifies which district executive can be contacted for further information.	Questions to Ask From what source does Northside receive the vast majority of its revenue? Is this funding source expected to grow or shrink? Is the enrollment of the district growing or shrinking? What are the financial implications of potential changes in enrollment? Is the district building more schools? What kind of financial reserve does the district have? How large is this reserve as a percentage of the district’s annual operating budget? How does this compare to other districts in Texas and outside of Texas? Does the district have the ability to weather unexpected financial crises? How much of the district’s operating budget is under the control of school site administrators? Do principals have the ability to use funds creatively to serve their students? Does the district have monitoring mechanisms in place to combat wasteful spending and potential corruption?
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2 – Summary of Professional Development Costs Summarizes professional development costs for principals and teachers.
What to Notice Notice that the district tracks professional development spending on a per-teacher and per-principal basis. Notice also, the relatively small amount specifically allocated to new principals. This may indicate that new-principal training is rolled into training for existing principals.	Questions to Ask How do these numbers compare to similar districts in and outside of Texas? Is the district spending enough on teacher and principal training to ensure the best results for students? Is the money spent efficiently? How much training is off-site versus in the school building? Are outside contractors used?
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Human Resource Systems

Recruiting, Mentoring and Evaluating Teachers – Northside Independent School District

Northside Independent School District employs an aggressive and strategic approach to teacher recruitment. In addition, the district has developed a number of programs to support incoming teachers and nurture their success in the classroom.

1 – Teacher Recruiting Overview with Schedule Describes teacher recruiting initiatives, as well as a detailed schedule for recruiting events.
What to Notice The document starts with a description of who serves on the human resources recruiting team. Notice that Northside uses a software system to track recruits and that the district has developed a “cutting-edge” recruiting CD to replace hard-copy brochures. The HR department works closely with the communications department to develop a media strategy to reach potential candidates. Finally, Northside offers signing bonuses and stipends to candidates in “critical needs” areas, including special education and secondary math/science.	Questions to Ask Does the district set specific targets for recruiters? How is the success of the recruiting team measured? Have applications been rising or falling? What proportion of applicants receives offers? What proportion of applicants with offers accepts the position Who makes offers to applicants? Do principals hire for vacancies at their own schools? How is teacher placement determined? Has the incentive pay program led to an increase in applicants or hires in the “critical needs” areas? How long do such new hires stay in the district? How does the district nurture relationships with key universities? Who is responsible for cultivating these relationships?
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2 – Recruiting Data Report Reviews recruiting data for the 2005-06 school year.
What to Notice Every year, Northside's HR department prepares this report to assess the success of the district’s recruiting efforts. On the first page, the document puts the district’s recruiting efforts into perspective, discussing state policy changes, pay differentials with other local districts, NCLB requirements, and the difficulty of recruiting candidates from out-of state. The document then presents the data—in table form—which shows how successful the recruiting efforts were. Notice that a special section is devoted to the district’s critical needs areas and that the report includes recommendations for next year’s recruiting efforts.	Questions to Ask From what sources does the district generate the most interviews with teacher candidates? How does the district cultivate relationships with these universities/job fairs? Who is responsible for this? What proportion of new hires has no teaching experience? How does that compare to other local districts? What challenges does it present for principals and other instructional staff? How does this data compare to the prior year? Is the district improving in its recruiting efforts? What targets are set at the district level? How were the recommendations for next year’s recruiting efforts determined? What information was used to make these recommendations?
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3 – Teacher Mentoring Programs Descriptions Describes district programs to induct and orient new teachers, as applied to Raba Elementary.
What to Notice The district’s approach to new teacher induction includes both off-site professional development and on-site coaching. Teachers attend a New Teacher Academy at the district before ever serving in the classroom, and they have access to both mentors and buddies (peers who can provide guidance). The district has developed a program specifically tailored to new hires who have no previous teaching experience, the Red Wagon Induction Program.	Questions to Ask What kinds of supplemental training are included in the induction program for new hires with no teaching experience? How does the district evaluate the success of the program? How many days of training do new teachers receive? Is the training interactive, or are the new hires primarily passively listening? Who is responsible for improving the training from year to year? How are mentors identified/selected? What kind of training do mentors receive? How are mentors paired with new teachers? How are topics for discussion selected?
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4 – Teacher Evaluation Forms and Process Timelines Describes Northside’s approach to teacher evaluation.
What to Notice Pages one through six consist of a teacher’s self-report form, allowing each teacher to identify specific objectives relevant to the Texas state standards and tests, as well as narrative descriptions of instructional goals, intervention strategies, etc. The second tool—pages six through 18—is a formal evaluation tool, called the Professional Development and Appraisal System, which is mandated by the Texas Education Agency. The tool includes a sample completed form, as well as a template for an “Intervention Plan for Teacher In Need of Assistance.” Finally, the rest of the document describes the evaluation process and timeline. Notice that the self report form must be completed by early September, ensuring that teachers begin to think about their professional goals at the beginning of the year.	Questions to Ask If evaluation is considered a part of a teacher’s development process, then at what point in the year should the evaluation discussion start? How can principals and district staff use the evaluation process to encourage continuous improvement throughout the district? How does the district deal with teachers who fail to perform up to expectations and do not improve from year to year? How does the HR department work with principals to ensure that chronically failing teachers are removed from the classroom? What proportion of teachers are designated as “in need of assistance” each year? Who makes this determination? And how successful is the district in assisting these teachers in overcoming their performance obstacles? What kind of informal feedback does a teacher receive throughout the year? How is progress towards goals managed?
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Support for Teaching and Learning

Implementing a Long-Term Professional Development Plan – Northside Independent School District

Northside Independent School District approaches professional development (PD) as a long-term improvement cycle that continuously identifies areas for growth and development. In the case of district-wide programs, such as their differentiated instruction initiative, the district rolls out waves of PD sessions over a multi-year period, designed to reach all relevant stakeholders. District executives help principals develop specific PD plans for their own personal development, targeting potential growth areas.

1 – PD Plan for the Differentiated Instruction Initiative Lays out a detailed, multi-year implementation plan for the district’s differentiated instruction initiative.
What to Notice This document illustrates how Northside thoughtfully and carefully implemented a three-year plan to introduce differentiated instruction (DI) into district schools. Notice that the process starts with all principals in the district participating in a reading group focused on critical DI texts. Page 47 shows the different phases of the implementation plan, including book study, formation of a “leadership cadre,” and further roll-out via professional development. The initiative culminates in an Academy for Differentiated Instruction offered to all principals and selected teachers. Note that the invitation to this conference indicates that inclusion in the academy is a privilege and honor.	Questions to Ask How did the district decide to focus on differentiated instruction? Who was involved in that process? What measurable objectives does the district expect to influence through the implementation of the initiative? Who is tracking these outcomes, and how will the data be analyzed and presented? How successful was the academy? Would most classroom teachers say that they have changed their practices to reflect the district’s focus on differentiated instruction? How does the district ensure fidelity of implementation?
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2 – Excerpt from the Course Catalog for Teachers Describes courses available to teachers, available through the district.
What to Notice This document is the equivalent of a college course catalog. It describes courses available to teachers in the 2005-06 school year. Notice that courses offered range from instructional strategies to behavior management, from grant writing to technology. Notice also that each course is offered at a specific time, allowing teachers to see at a glance whether or not they are available.	Questions to Ask What is the enrollment process? Can teachers sign up online? How do teachers decide what courses to take? Are teachers free to pick courses on their own? Are any courses mandated by the district? How much PD does a typical teacher receive in a typical year? How are substitutes handled?
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3 – Personalized PD Plan for School Administrator Outlines PD plan for one principal in one year, based on growth opportunities identified by the principal and district staff.
What to Notice Northside develops this professional development plan for each principal, at the beginning of each year. Starting with specific objectives that are relevant to the administrator’s growth potential, the document lists specific PD sessions that the principal will attend, when he/she will attend them, and what measurable objective the principal will be evaluated on. Notice how the PD plan evolves from year-to-year, building on what came before.	Questions to Ask Who sits down with the principal to create the plan? At what time of the year is the first discussion held? And how often is it revisited throughout the year? How are the principal’s PD objectives determined? Is this linked to the principal’s annual evaluation? What kind of discussion is this? How much input does the principal have into the plan? How does the district ensure that principals perceive their PD plan to be an opportunity for professional growth, rather than an indictment of their past performance?
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