Integrating Successful Research-to-Practice Strategies into the New School Year (Part I of II)
Dear Colleague,
Introduction
While some of you
are starting to “trickle” back to your schools, districts, or other employment
settings, other educators are still off “for summer vacation.”
As for me. . . I am
writing this while traveling to my second school consultation of the new
school year (I did a training last week in Mississippi). In fact, this current two-week trip brings me
to Kentucky, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
My Kentucky
district actually starts school on Wednesday August 6th, and I will be able
both to train different staff in the District before the school year
begins (Monday and Tuesday), and then watch the training being
implemented of the first day of school (Wednesday). This is an ideal situation, because I can
support the teachers on Wednesday as they move from training to implementation and
ensure that the training transfers to effective and high-fidelity practices.
In Philadelphia, I
am helping a kindergarten through high school charter school district create
and implement a comprehensive, multi-tiered social, emotional, and behavioral
(PBSS/SEL) school-wide system. Here, I
am working with the Leadership and SEL/MTSS Teams this week, and then returning
next week to work with their entire staff.
Another “effective
practices” professional development situation.
Finally, in
Chicago, we are beginning a multi-year MTSS process— helping all of the staff in
this high-school-only district to utilize systems-level and student-level
(ESEA, academic, and social-emotional-behavioral) data to make effective
instructional decisions.
Next Monday, I work
with the Administrators and MTSS Teams (especially their related services
professionals). Then, I return next
month to begin the school-by-school MTSS training and implementation.
All of this
contrasts with my full-day of professional development last week in
Mississippi. . . which was a “one and done” training for a random group of
elementary through high school teachers.
The District’s Professional Development Director had three or four
similar sessions (on different topics) occurring simultaneously and was
expecting participants in each session to return to their schools and share
the content from each session.
My prediction? This approach was a recipe for failure. There was no way for those participating in
my session to be able to go from science to effective practice. . . much less understand my multi-layered content
so quickly and so well that they could successfully communicate it to
colleagues.
I am not being
disrespectful in any way to my audience.
I am simply reflecting the principles of effective professional
development and adult learning.
_ _ _ _ _
Reinforcing the
effective PD approaches in Kentucky, Philadelphia, and Chicago: It is critical that the professional
development—received by teachers and others immediately before the new school
year begins—is implemented with coaching, mentoring, and consultation. This facilitates helps to ensure both implementation
fidelity and science-to-practice intensity.
But. . . with all
of the competing perspectives and “pitches” in today’s educational
“marketplace,” we need to begin with sound science
And so, as we enter
(or approach) the new school year, I thought that it would be useful to review
some of the most popular Blog articles that I have written over the past year
or two.
Making this
topic-driven, I have organized the Blogs into four clusters:
- School Improvement, Strategic Planning, and Effective School and Schooling Practices
- The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA/ESSA) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
- School Climate, (Disproportionate) Discipline, Safety, and Classroom Management
- Students’ Mental Health Status and Wellness
In today’s
Blog, I briefly overview the first two areas above—and then chronologically
provide the Dates and Titles of the most important past Blog
messages. In Part II of this “series,” I
will address the last two areas.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
School
Improvement, Strategic Planning, and Effective School and Schooling Policies
Strategic planning
processes should anchor virtually everything that we do when working to
continuously improve our schools. Over
the past three years, a number of my Blogs have discussed how to conduct
effective strategic planning processes, make sound leadership decisions, build
staff cohesion, and minimize the impact of (sometimes routinely) losing
superintendents, administrators, and instructional staff.
In addition, I
often analyze and critique, from a science-to-practice perspective, programs and
strategies that have become “educational bandwagons” despite their
poorly-researched or unproven claims.
Related topics here include approaches addressing teasing and bullying,
chronic absenteeism, reading and grade retention, the length of the school day
and when it starts, and even the mindfulness “epidemic.”
_ _ _ _ _
Research-to-Practice
Lessons Learned
- The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA/ESSA) has virtually replaced the No Child Left Behind term “scientifically-based” with the term “evidence-based”— providing a specific statutory definition.
- Educators need to recognize that they must independently validate any program, intervention, or strategy that claims it is “research-based”—as the research could be sound, unsound, or non-existent.
- Even when research validly supports a specific program, intervention, or strategy, educators still need to validate that (a) it is applicable to the students, staff, schools, or situations that they want to change/affect, and (b) it can be realistically implemented “in the real world” (as opposed to a controlled or “laboratory” setting).
- As but one example: John Hattie’s research significantly contributes to educational decision-making. . . but educators need to fully understand the decision rules and outcomes inherent in his meta-meta-analytic methods and outcomes.
- Even when Hattie’s research provides a programmatic, intervention, or strategy-related “recommendation,” educators need to understand that (a) meta-analytic research often pools research focusing on the same approach, but using different methodologies; and (b) it is effective methodology, implemented with fidelity, that ultimately determines student, staff, and/or situational success.
For a chronological
summary of the 33 Blogs in this Area:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA/ESSA) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
The Elementary
and Secondary Education Act/Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA/ESSA) was
passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in December 2015. It makes states, districts, and schools more
responsible for designing and implementing effective school improvement
strategies (and their own accountability) than ever before.
Written to work
“hand-in-hand” with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA, 2004), ESEA/ESSA has a number of specific provisions related to the
delivery of multi-tiered systems of support.
Over the years, I
have discussed how the U.S. Department of Education (and a number of its funded
National Technical Assistance Centers) have misled educators as to what is (and
is not) mandated by federal law relative multi-tiered and other special
education services.
Specifically,
ESEA/ESSA and IDEA discuss “positive behavioral interventions and supports” as
a generic approach, and it appears in both laws in lower case letter without an acronym (i.e.,
PBIS).
Similarly,
ESEA/ESSA discusses “multi-tiered systems of support” as a generic approach,
and it too appears in the law in lower case letter without an acronym (i.e., MTSS).
And yet, the U.S.
Department of Education and its funded PBIS and MTSS National Technical
Assistance Centers often make it appear that ESEA/ESSA and IDEA require
their uppercase versions of the required generic services.
I have also
discussed some large-scale research studies and national evaluation reports
that question whether the PBIS and MTSS frameworks advocated by the U.S.
Department of Education produce consistent, sustained, and needed student
outcomes.
To conclude: Just as ESEA/ESSA has given states,
districts, and schools more responsibility for designing and implementing
effective school improvement strategies, it similarly encourages them to create
multi-tiered systems of supports that are personalized to the needs and
circumstances of their own students.
For a
chronological summary of the 20 Blogs in this Area:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Summary
As the new school
year approaches (or has already begun), and as districts and schools begin to
implement their strategic and/or continuous improvement plans with a clear eye
on ESEA’s requirements, the importance of effective science-to-practice
approaches cannot be understated.
The new school year
gives us an opportunity to reboot, recalibrate, or renew our efforts to
maximize all students’ academic and social, emotional, and behavioral
competence and proficiency. I hope that
one or more of my Blogs can be part of your efforts to reach your “next levels
of excellence.”
Meanwhile, I always
look forward to your comments. . . whether on-line or via e-mail.
And . . . if I can
help you in any of the area of school improvement (please visit the
other areas of this website), I am always happy to provide a free one-hour
consultation session to help you clarify your needs and directions on
behalf of your students, staff/colleagues, school(s), and district.
Best,
Howie
