WEBVTT 00:00:11.086 --> 00:00:17.206 I'm Yvonne Brandon, and most recently I was named Interim Superintendent 00:00:17.456 --> 00:00:18.796 for Richmond Public Schools. 00:00:19.466 --> 00:00:22.946 Data and understanding data was extremely critical. 00:00:23.446 --> 00:00:27.886 We had teachers when we interviewed them and ask, 00:00:28.246 --> 00:00:32.406 "Just how do you know that your children are attaining the skills 00:00:32.406 --> 00:00:34.186 that are being taught in the classroom?" 00:00:34.676 --> 00:00:39.186 and most of the comments were, "I think," "I feel," "I saw." 00:00:39.616 --> 00:00:42.326 But it was not anything that was supported by data. 00:00:42.716 --> 00:00:46.206 So, again, we had to blend the art of teaching with the science of teaching. 00:00:46.356 --> 00:00:49.956 And understanding how data works within the science 00:00:49.956 --> 00:00:53.706 of teaching was a primary focus for us in Richmond. 00:00:54.256 --> 00:01:02.406 We have a document called "Charting the Course," and this document pulls in a lot 00:01:02.406 --> 00:01:08.106 of data elements that we are looking for in order to help schools: attendance data, 00:01:08.326 --> 00:01:14.096 suspension data, academic data to include our benchmarks. 00:01:14.096 --> 00:01:19.536 And we give nine-week benchmarks, and some schools, based on their level of performance, 00:01:19.816 --> 00:01:22.346 were required to do more frequent benchmarks. 00:01:22.566 --> 00:01:27.276 And then we go out, once we collect the data, and review it with each school. 00:01:27.486 --> 00:01:32.536 The entire central office, with the exception of our superintendent, went out school by school, 00:01:32.776 --> 00:01:39.896 51 visits between the end of September and the first of November. 00:01:40.416 --> 00:01:46.026 And we would spend two to three hours with school teams-those teams were made 00:01:46.026 --> 00:01:50.516 up of the principals, the APs and teachers-because most 00:01:50.516 --> 00:01:54.116 of our instructional products were developed with the support 00:01:54.116 --> 00:01:56.286 and the help and assistance of teachers. 00:01:56.736 --> 00:02:03.046 So we wanted them to make sure that they were able to talk to us about data. 00:02:03.576 --> 00:02:09.295 And in Charting the Course visits, generally we have an introductory statement, 00:02:09.295 --> 00:02:14.146 and then we turn it over to the principal and that team, and they explain the data to us. 00:02:14.146 --> 00:02:17.466 They look at it; they know how to look at trends. 00:02:17.466 --> 00:02:21.916 They can tell us what the trends indicate to them. 00:02:21.916 --> 00:02:28.396 They can help us to understand what focus they may be taking for that year, 00:02:28.496 --> 00:02:35.996 and we provide the supportive help, assistance from the central office, 00:02:36.276 --> 00:02:38.786 in those areas where they need the greatest help 00:02:38.826 --> 00:02:43.116 and where they have asked us to provide for them. 00:02:43.616 --> 00:02:47.586 It is a very, at first it was a very intense process. 00:02:47.656 --> 00:02:52.526 Of course, it wasn't comfortable for many people at the beginning. 00:02:52.526 --> 00:02:56.026 But when they understood that the reason we were having these conversations, 00:02:56.386 --> 00:03:00.006 so we could better direct the assistance that we were there to support them, 00:03:00.276 --> 00:03:03.496 it no longer became a big brother type of meeting. 00:03:04.136 --> 00:03:14.006 Depending on the level of performance by that school, we come out at least monthly to revisit. 00:03:14.006 --> 00:03:18.806 We break up our large team into sub-teams and assign schools 00:03:18.836 --> 00:03:22.016 to those sub teams, and we visit at least monthly. 00:03:22.416 --> 00:03:28.676 If it is a school that is in need of critical care, a top priority school, 00:03:29.016 --> 00:03:31.196 we may go as frequently as weekly. 00:03:32.266 --> 00:03:36.136 And the reports come back in many different ways. 00:03:36.136 --> 00:03:39.576 They can be from the district level. 00:03:39.676 --> 00:03:40.996 We can see it from the district level. 00:03:40.996 --> 00:03:42.746 We can see it from the school level. 00:03:42.746 --> 00:03:44.266 We can see it from the teacher level. 00:03:44.266 --> 00:03:49.126 We can look at individual students, and the teachers also have the ability to look 00:03:49.126 --> 00:03:53.286 at their classroom and individual student performance. 00:03:53.826 --> 00:04:02.106 They also are able to drill down to the actual skill that is in need of some additional support 00:04:02.486 --> 00:04:05.096 by either group of students or by an individual student. 00:04:05.716 --> 00:04:12.176 The professional development was done, first, on how to do it, 00:04:12.176 --> 00:04:20.036 and then we did professional development on once you receive the data what to do 00:04:20.036 --> 00:04:29.806 with it- how you use it, how to analyze it-to help them to understand that the data tell a story 00:04:30.316 --> 00:04:37.426 and that that story can be interpreted in order to increase the performance 00:04:37.486 --> 00:04:40.356 of individual students as well as the entire classroom. 00:04:40.976 --> 00:04:43.696 We gave them samples of the data. 00:04:43.696 --> 00:04:52.176 We used a process of allowing them to look at some test questions and providing them 00:04:52.176 --> 00:04:58.326 with additional manipulatives and other supports that would dovetail 00:04:58.326 --> 00:05:02.866 with what this particular question was asking so that they would know 00:05:02.866 --> 00:05:08.506 that the data would show them where the skill deficits were, 00:05:08.506 --> 00:05:10.856 and these are the tools that you can use to address that. 00:05:11.236 --> 00:05:15.236 So we tied it into the overall instructional process. 00:05:15.546 --> 00:05:20.786 We wanted to make sure that our teachers were able to understand that assessment 00:05:20.786 --> 00:05:27.056 and the data that comes from assessment are not separate issues. 00:05:27.156 --> 00:05:31.826 They have to be embedded because that's the way we drive the instruction. 00:05:31.826 --> 00:05:36.756 It has to be something that is so routine that children aren't anxious about it 00:05:36.756 --> 00:05:38.646 and teachers aren't anxious about the results. 00:05:38.946 --> 00:05:40.056 That it tells the story. 00:05:40.056 --> 00:05:46.246 It's not about pointing blame; it's about finding the issues that need the critical care 00:05:46.246 --> 00:05:51.066 and addressing those critical care issues right away rather than waiting until the end 00:05:51.066 --> 00:05:58.086 of the year, which it could have been a skill that was a building skill or scaffolding skill 00:05:58.416 --> 00:06:04.156 that caused all the rest of the instruction throughout that year to not be retained. 00:06:04.546 --> 00:06:08.896 So we try to make sure that they understand that it is a more efficient way 00:06:08.926 --> 00:06:14.976 of providing instruction and it should drive what is done in the classroom.