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.