Let’s Double Our Fun: Dodgeville Schools Win 5 Statewide Awards AND Growth Trends Continue!

It’s summer and time for some more good news from Dodgeville School District! In March, I wrote about our work to apply for statewide awards for our reading Response to Intervention (RtI) and Positive Behavior (PBIS) programs. I’m excited to report that as our growth trends continue to improve, we have earned recognition for 3 schools in PBIS and 2 schools in RtI Reading! WI RtI Center Director Kathy Ryder emailed that “The Center has established the formal Recognized School application as the first line of verification and acknowledgement of schools. Schools that are recognized through their successful applications act as examples of different models of implementation that are beginning to show signs of positive student outcomes.” She clarified that while Dodgeville Schools are working with the RtI and PBIS Centers, this first line verification will now allow the Center to more formally recognize our practices through the awards, conference presentations, and Center training materials.

Three Awards for PBIS

PBIS is a proactive approach to student behavior that establishes safer and more effective schools and is currently being used in more than half of all schools in the state. Awards are earned by schools that can show evidence for using PBIS in ways that are consistent with research-based models and which document improved student outcomes, like fewer office discipline referrals. School teams get trained on these models through a statewide network, and then start using the new practices through the work of teacher teams supported by a PBIS Coach, who helps coordinate and organize the system.

Schools were recognized as Schools of Merit for PBIS based on an application process that included team and meeting information, implementation and outcome data, and a narrative that described the data, systems, and practices in that school. I am thrilled to report that Ridgeway Elementary was one of about 150 elementary schools statewide to be recognized as a School of Merit for the 2013-14 school year. Dodgeville Middle School was one of only about 17 middle schools to receive this award!

Schools of Distinction for PBIS are awarded based on a similar application process. These schools have evidence of at least two years of sustained progress, have worked to improve classroom engagement, include parents, and use student data even more specifically and consistently. Dodgeville Elementary School (DES) was one of about 40 elementary schools in Wisconsin to receive this coveted award. DES also successfully began providing intensive supports for student behaviors (Tier 2 PBIS) at the same time that they maintained overall system effectiveness—a feat not commonly seen among schools according to WI PBIS Center staff.

Let’s put these three awards in perspective. According to the WI Department of PublicInstruction, there are 1238 elementary schools and 352 middle schools in our state. Only about 13% of elementary schools were awarded Schools of Merit and less than 5% were Schools of Distinction. Less than 5% of middle schools earned a School of Merit. Tell your friends--Dodgeville schools are among the top in Wisconsin for use of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports!

Two Awards for Reading Response to Intervention as part of our Multi-Tiered System of Supports

Response to Intervention (RtI) uses short tests to identify skills that students have not learned and quickly re-teaching those skills. It's part of our overall system to ensure that all students are making progress. It doesn’t sound complicated, and teachers do this sort of work all the time when they use classroom data and when they meet each week to review student progress. Our RtI system uses newer tests that are validated for this purpose, and we now have more specific interventions for academic problems when they are identified. We coordinate the tests and the interventions to make sure students don’t fall behind, and we help them catch up as quickly as possible when they need additional help. Students who are ready for more advanced work can also be identified and given the challenges they need to keep engaged and moving forward.

Dodgeville Elementary School and Ridgeway Elementary School BOTH earned School of Merit awards for their work in RtI for reading. They were 2 of just 17 schools statewide to be recognized at this level (only 3 schools in WI earned the School of Distinction awards). The application included information about team membership, meeting information, implementation and outcome data, and a narrative that described their RtI systems. Congratulations to all of our award-winning schools--the staff and students have a lot to be proud of! Putting all these pieces together is called a Multi-Tiered System of Supports or MTSS, and when it is coordinated well, you start to see amazing results, like those described below.

Multi-Tiered Systems Lead to Improvements

These combined academic and behavior systems have contributed to some remarkable gains for our students. Our teams recently analyzed student reading and math growth data for the year. I wrote in spring about our growth from fall to winter, and now we can compare the entire 2013-14 school year to the previous 4 years. We have data for grades K-8 using a computer-based test called MAP. For these comparisons, we looked at the percent of students who met their growth targets each year. In other words, what percent of Dodgeville students grew at least as much as their peers from around the nation? Anything more than 50% is good, more than 60% is excellent, and when you get above 70%, there’s something really special going on…

As you can see, reading growth for grades K-8 was on a downward trend. If that had continued, we would have had about 57% of our students meeting targets this year. That’s still a great number, but instead, through hard work, planning, and our new systems, we’ve grown this year: 63% of our K-8 students met their growth targets in 2013-14. The news in math is also fantastic! Math growth was slowly trending upwards at about 1% growth per year on average over the past 4 years, starting at 60% and ending at 64% in 2012-13. Last year, a remarkable 70% of students met their growth targets! Again, a substantially higher number of students met their growth targets than we would have expected based on the 4-year trend.

In summary, today’s post has something everyone can be proud of, including our high school staff who are also working hard on RtI and PBIS. If I know our teachers, they’ll all want to know how they can do more next year! If I know our community, they’ll want to thank a teacher! I hope all the readers of this blog have a great summer. We have had almost 1100 page views to date, so please share the link and watch for more great news in the fall of the 2014-2015 school year.

For more information, contact me:

John Humphries

Director of Pupil Services

Dodgeville School District

jhumphries@dsd.k12.wi.us

Dodgeville Students Growing Fast, Closing Gaps!

In a post this past winter, I shared some great news about student growth in Dodgeville Schools: more than 60% of our students were growing faster than the national average in reading! As of this spring, over 64% of our students are growing faster than the national average in reading for grades K-8, and the growth rates are higher for grades 9-12! In math, our students in grades K-8 are growing even faster, with 69% growing more than the national average. High school students are also growing fast in math. Other blog posts have described our systems for raising achievement for all students, and we’re proud to report that the data suggest our systems are working. But the real news for today’s post is about closing achievement gaps and how our systems appear to be working for this purpose as well.

What is an achievement gap? It’s a difference in the percent of groups of students who are proficient in reading or math. For instance, in Wisconsin, only 20% of students who come from low-income households were proficient in reading this year, while about 48% of other students were proficient. This raises questions and concerns for our state—how can we better support all of our students and why would these gaps exist? Achievement gaps are calculated for economic status, race and ethnicity, and disability, and reported as a single score by DPI in our district and building report cards. Achievement gaps in Wisconsin are a major problem. In fact, Wisconsin has the largest gaps in the nation, and has for some time! Closing gaps was a centerpiece of the Burmaster administration at DPI as far back as 2001, and current State Superintendent Tony Evers has continued that focus. I’m happy to report that the Dodgeville School District is well on our way to making the kinds of improvements Wisconsin has been seeking.

Here’s how we did it.

Along with our growth targets, many of our grade-level teams have set goals focused on closing achievement gaps for students with disabilities within three years. This has been part of a 5-year grant we received that is focused on achievement gaps for students with disabilities. Taking 3 years to close gaps might seem like a long time, but remember that closing gaps has been a focus area for Wisconsin for about 15 years! The data we use to monitor our progress come from two computer-based achievement tests: MAP (elementary and middle), and STAR (high school). We calculate a gap score for each student, identify how much gap they have to close, and then divide that by 3 to find the target score for the end of the year. Teachers then form small groups and provide additional supports for those students. Here’s what we’ve been able to accomplish.

In reading, 44% of our students with disabilities closed their achievement gaps by at least one-third. (Of 114 students with disabilities in grades K-10, 82 had gaps this fall. Of those 82, 36 students or 44% closed their gaps by at least one-third.)

In math, we focused on gaps in grades 6-11, and saw 52% of our students with disabilities close their achievement gaps by one-third. (Of 77 students with disabilities in grades 6-11, 52 had gaps this fall. Of those 52, 27 students or 52% closed their gaps by at least one-third.)

The highest gap closure rates came in grade levels where we provided the most significant amounts of additional instructional time, especially at the high school level where students with gaps (regardless of disability status), have access to double the instructional minutes.

This week, three teams from Dodgeville Schools attended a training event to learn more about closing achievement gaps. Not surprisingly, we were among the leaders at the conference, and we're excited to share all of this good news with our community! If you see a Dodgeville School District employee this long Memorial Day weekend, please take a moment to thank them. These results are the result of many hours of work by all of our team members.

Dodgeville Schools Model Best Practices for Area School District Leaders

This morning, leaders from four area school districts visited Dodgeville to learn more about our educational practices and how we have linked academic and behavioral systems. We had about 20 visitors, including principals, district improvement coordinators, teachers, counselors and psychologists. The districts were Potosi, Lancaster, Verona, and Adams-Friendship.

Amy Tranel and Julie Piper talk about our history and our future.

Tiffany Helmke MTSS Coach and Elementary School Psychologist kicked us off by talking about how we have begun to merge our academic and behavioral systems this year. She emphasized new meeting formats and the problem-solving process we use when students need help to stay on track. She discussed data monitoring, and how we ensure students “don’t fall through the cracks.”

Amy Tranel, External PBIS Coach for the district, then gave an overview of the systems we are using to improve school climate and student behaviors in all 4 buildings. Dodgeville Elementary School (DES) Principal Julie Piper and I spoke briefly from the administrative perspective. The group had a tour that focused on showing them the ways that students experience our systems, and heard from DES Internal PBIS Coach and Art Teacher Monica Kmak.

One of the most interesting aspects of this meeting was the sense of urgency held by these educators. From high school math and Spanish teachers, to elementary teachers and bilingual support staff, to administrators and pupil services, everyone in education these days is focused on making changes to improve student outcomes. Dodgeville team members talked about the ways that we’ve worked to make sure that all of our students are making progress. There was particular interest in our data systems, schedules, and procedures for working directly with student behaviors. Our staff talked about “having one foot in the new and one in the old” ways of doing business. Change takes time, and success has a lot to do with planning and support.

From the leadership perspective, Julie and I talked about how important our MTSS coaches have been. These are the people who, in addition to roles as school psychologists, counselors, and reading or math specialists also serve to bring all of the pieces of the puzzle together. They receive training, frequent feedback from staff and leadership, and support from administration to help teachers use our new approaches to student success. Without our coaches, who are typically found in classrooms working with teachers to model the practices and meeting to talk about student progress, our students would clearly not be growing at the same rate.

We closed with an overview of the critical role of those people with the closest contact with students, our teachers. Participants were eager to learn about our staff training, and the decision-making process that teachers use to monitor student growth. Again, this is all about students, and the commitment level and excitement are strong at a critical time. In the coming weeks, we will be ready to share our end-of-year progress data and reflect on changes for next year. We look forward to sharing that with you!

Please feel free to contact me for more information about Dodgeville Progress!

John Humphries

Director of Pupil Services

Dodgeville Schools Applying for Statewide Recognition

We're excited to share that all four schools in our district are applying for awards through the Wisconsin RtI Center or PBIS Network. The School of Merit and School of Distinction awards recognize schools that are making great strides in implementation of these new state initiatives. The purpose of the awards includes recognizing work to implement initiatives, promotion of quality frameworks, and showcasing examples of implementation. Schools of Merit have implemented elements of the frameworks with integrity. Schools of Distinction sustain these elements for at least two years and begin to demonstrate student-level outcomes. This blog post explains why we believe our schools are ready to apply for these prestigious awards and what it will mean if we win.

Our schools have worked hard to create systems to help ensure that students learn every day, understand our expectations, and that we respond quickly when students need additional support. In previous blog posts, I have described our Multi-Tiered System of Supports or MTSS. Here are elements of our MTSS and some of the work we are doing in the district: 

• We have building-based teams that meet at least monthly (most teacher teams meet at least weekly).
• These teams have been trained by the state to analyze student data and coordinate responses if students are struggling or need more challenging activities.
• We have a group of five excellent staff coaches, who are trained in reading and math interventions, behavior supports, data analysis, and supporting our teacher teams as they implement new curriculum and improved interventions.
• Our staff members have been surveyed about how well these systems are working, and those surveys have helped us identify necessary changes to our systems.
• And finally, we have multiple years of progress data that we use to identify trends and modify supports and resources.

We hope to report great news about awards this spring! If we do receive awards, RtI Center and PBIS Network staff members will have thoroughly researched our processes and verified them with student outcome data. Schools that are recognized through their successful applications act as statewide examples of different models of implementation that are beginning to show signs of positive student outcomes. Stay tuned for more about this exciting opportunity.

Dodgeville Students Growing Fast in Reading and Math

Last year, every school and district in Wisconsin was rated for the first time using report cards issued by the Department of Public Instruction. These report cards focus on three main areas: achievement level, growth in achievement from year to year, and closing gaps in achievement. In this blog post, I want to share some the exciting news about student growth.

Growth sounds like a simple topic. “Are more students proficient this year as compared to last year?” That’s the basic question that the report cards ask. Our challenge in schools is to make sure every student is growing every day, and that we are ready to help students if they begin to fall behind. We follow the state’s recommendation to use data from short, standardized tests, three times every year to help answer these questions. Each of our buildings or grade-level teams has set growth goals for all of our students, and the data we use come from two computer-based achievement tests: MAP (elementary), and STAR (middle and high school). Let’s talk a little more about growth and how we measure it, and then I will share the great news about Dodgeville student growth this fall.

To measure growth, we compare scores from fall, winter, and spring tests, looking for increased scores. We compare the amount of growth each of our students made to the amount of growth made by other students from around the country whose starting score was about the same. We’re looking for more than the average amount of growth. It may sound a little like the mythical “Lake Wobegone, where all the children are above average!” In fact, our teachers set goals using one key question: “What percent of our students will grow more than average?” Growing more than average is a big job, and even students who don’t grow more than the average are still growing, albeit not as fast as we would like. We’re proud to report some of the amazing gains our students have registered so far this year.

As you read, keep in mind that 50% of students growing the average amount would be what we expect. That would mean that half of our kids would have grown as much as other students from around the country. We’ve been working hard to analyze all of the data, but it looks like well over 60% of our students have grown more in reading and math than students from the rest of the country who started with a similar fall score. The high points include:

• Over 60% of elementary students grew more than the average in reading.
• 64% of DMS students grew more than the average in math.
• 61% of DHS students grew more than the average in reading.

Obviously, there are variations across grade levels, and this is one reason our teams are working hard to make classroom instruction more effective for all students and to provide additional supports for those students who need it. We’re also providing additional challenges for students who have made the most progress and who can go even farther.

It’s a great day to be a Dodger! Be sure to congratulate our students and thank our hard-working teachers and staff for all of their efforts in helping every Dodgeville student grow and learn!

Dodgeville Elementary School Using Positive Behavior Support Model, Seeing More “Pro-Social” Behaviors and Better Motivation

In Dodgeville Progress BlogPost #1, we described the district’s initiatives and how we use data to make timely decisions about student needs. As part of our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, student academic achievement and behavior are monitored to support student success. We are using a state-supported model called “Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports” (PBIS) in each of our buildings to help students learn about “pro-social” behaviors and improve their motivation to learn. The model uses a tiered approach, where all students are taught the basics, some students get supplemental support, and a few students get intensive assistance. PBIS uses data from office referrals, teacher and parent information, and student surveys to help us support students in making positive choices and being fully engaged in learning. Here is an example from Dodgeville Elementary School.

For the last three years, Dodgeville Elementary School has implemented the Tier I PBIS model. The recommendation from the state is that effective instruction at this level should result in at least 80% of students meeting social and behavioral expectations. One data source we use to gauge our work in this area is a teacher survey that helps identify student growth and their needs. Using this data-collection process, our data last year showed that 78% of students were progressing well in terms of behavior and motivation. We were close, but as always, wanted to do better at Tier I and expand into Tier II to provide more intensive supports.

Last year, a core team teachers, pupil services, and administrators attended a series of workshops to learn how to create these targeted supports for students. Since beginning to use the additional supports, our 2013-14 data indicates that 83.4% of DES students demonstrate pro-social behaviors and good motivation to learn. In addition, we had a substantial decrease in the number of students who had significant behavior concerns. Our discipline referrals are down by almost 50% and out-of-school suspensions have been reduced by almost 80%!

All of this progress translates to many more hours of classroom instruction for all of our students, and improved academic performance.

Dodgeville School District Taking the Lead in MTSS Integration

Dodgeville School District Taking the Lead in MTSS Integration

Last August, all district staff packed into an overheated DHS Music Room, and heard about the “marriage of RtI and PBIS.” (See Dodgeville Progress #1, "District Initiatives" to learn about RtI and PBIS.) “MTSS” stands for a Multi-Tiered System of Supports, a way to merge academic and behavioral systems in the district. Since summer, we have worked to be as efficient as possible in using data to make decisions about student progress. And, as the district grows and develops along these lines, our efforts are being recognized across the state!

Along with other district representatives, I met for a second time today with technical assistance staff from the Wisconsin RtI Center, a statewide collaboration between the Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) Statewide Network and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Lynn Johnson and Heidi Erstad from the Center spent over 2 hours interviewing us about our MTSS Systems and the integration of RtI and PBIS in our schools.

The Center is creating long-term relationships with a small handful of districts around the state where high-quality MTSS practices are being implemented, and we have been chosen to be one of the first districts! The other districts currently being highlighted include Sun Prairie, Hudson, and Crandon. Franklin Elementary in West Allis-West Milwaukee has been chosen. Over time, other schools and districts that are also integrating high-quality MTSS practices into their systems will be brought into what amounts to an information campaign and technical assistance program.

The campaign and projects will include ongoing stories in the Center’s newsletter, training opportunities for other districts around the state reflecting on the models being used in Dodgeville and the other districts, and use of our district’s practices as examples in networking sessions for MTSS coaches and others interested in studying our practices. At the networking sessions, school and district leaders will receive technical assistance and opportunities to network with peers while planning for fidelity and sustainability. Conference presentations by Center staff will also use examples from these districts, including disaggregated student outcome data. These data will show how our students have grown and how we have closed achievement gaps for students of color, students with disabilities, and students who receive free and reduced lunch.

In talking about why Dodgeville was chosen to be among these select districts, Lynn Johnson said, “Efficient systems are sustainable, and districts become more efficient by integrating RtI and PBIS systems. Dodgeville has made enormous strides integrating RtI and PBIS into an MTSS system in a short period of time.” She continued, “Dodgeville School District recognizes the hard work that is involved when making a deep systems change. Careful planning at each level of implementation, along with strong communication is a priority for the district.”

The WI RtI Center was created to assist Wisconsin schools to build capacity, adopt and implement high quality practices, ensure sustainability of efforts and increase success for all students. The Wisconsin Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Network operates within the Wisconsin RtI Center with a specific focus on behavior. The Center provides professional development and technical assistance to help schools implement culturally responsive MTSS. They offer statewide workshops on the components in order to establish consistent foundations upon which schools should build their systems. Considering the research that has linked academics and behavior achievement, the Center recommends the implementation of an integrated, culturally-responsive MTSS. The center’s vision, mission, values, preferred future, and goals were built around this recommendation. 

This post was updated 3/25/14 to avoid confusion with the RtI Center's School of Merit and School of Distinction awards, which includes alignment with research-based practices and validation of student outcomes.

For more information about "Dodgeville Progress" please contact:

John Humphries, Director of Pupil Services at jhumphries@dsd.k12.wi.us