When Doug Brown started his first job as a principal at W. T. Chipman Middle school, he knew that he, like all other principals, had a lot of work ahead of him.  As a principal, it is his responsibility to set a course for the school academically, and to know how to get things done – not an easy job when you also have to run school operations and address urgent, unplanned events throughout the day. Through the Vision Network, Mr. Brown has acquired more tools to help him focus his energy and realize his vision for Chipman. 

“Vision Network schools are more focused,” according to Mr. Brown. “I am fortunate to have a very strong leadership team, and the Network made them even stronger by providing years’ worth of knowledge to help us reach our goals.” 

This past year, Mr. Brown, with guidance from Vision Network thought partners, analyzed data that helped clearly identify “special education” as an area in which Chipman was falling behind. Something had to be done, so working with his Vision Network thought partner and his leadership team, Mr. Brown devised a creative plan. 

“We created a baseball team where each student is a player and each student has his or her own baseball card,” explained Mr. Brown. The cards which are made for students who have demonstrated academic difficulty contain the students’ “player stats” on how well the students are doing in different subjects. This allows teachers to better understand students’ needs and enables them to better meet these needs. This not only gives teachers valuable information on the children they teach, but also creates a fun learning environment. Teachers wear baseball jerseys, which further underscores the theme and builds energy and excitement around it. Mr. Brown and other educators at Chipman are very proud of their students’ new excitement about learning.

Mr. Brown says that the Vision Network was his greatest asset during his first year of school leadership. “We should be working together across the state to share ideas and make education better, and the Vision Network makes this possible.”

Central Middle School is changing.  At least that’s how Principal Dr. Darren Guido sees it.  Just a few years ago, data and instruction were far less prevalent in conversations among teachers, and Dr. Guido himself spent less time on instruction.  The students acted differently, as well.  “Our students had issues looking at a problem,” explains Dr. Guido.  “They didn’t go down deep to solve the problem, so they couldn’t communicate the issues or solutions.”

This fact was discovered after Dr. Guido and his staff began working with Vision Network data coaches.  These data coaches assisted the staff in putting together an instructional leadership team (ILT) and training them to analyze five years’ worth of DSTP results and other data.  This led them to develop a new instructional focus concentrating on developing their students’ ability to problem-solve and to communicate solutions.  To implement this focus, changes were needed.

The first action taken in partnership with Vision Network trainers and the ILT was a complete overhaul of the school’s scheduling to allow for more collaboration among teachers.  The school was split into four teams per grade level and also split into teams based on subject area.  These teams met during the school day to discuss common issues in their grades and subject areas and to brainstorm on ways to solve these problems. 

Next, the school began to utilize Vision Network data use training sessions to track student progress through the school year.  The school instituted a program called “Meet the Challenge,” replicated from a successful program that began in Indian River School District,  which focused on using math and reading exercises in all classes to track a student’s understanding of the topic.  This program also brought teachers together to figure out common terminology between subjects to provide for greater cross-topic understanding of the material.

“The conversations that my staff has are changing.  They are now willing to talk instruction and are open to allowing other teachers to come in and observe.  Our language of instruction is changing,” said Dr. Guido.  “With this change, we can provide a better instructional environment for all of our students.” 

The work did not end there.  Dr. Guido also has worked with a Network “thought partner” to better allocate his own time.  The goal is to focus more of his time on instruction, rather than on administrative tasks.  Although he now spends more of his time on instruction than ever, he continues to work every day to minimize the bureaucratic aspects of his job in favor of a school that runs more smoothly and focuses more energy on teaching students.

These changes have been transforming the instructional and structural environment of Central Middle School.  Teachers are working together.  Administrators are working more efficiently.  These changes are producing students who can think through and solve problems, as well as communicate ideas.

This post is the fourth in a 6 part series highlighting Vision Network schools.  You can read part one here, part two here and part three here.  Check back soon for part 5.

In 2008, Gauger-Cobbs Middle School joined the Vision Network to enhance the intensive academic and cultural supports that Principal Dr. Amy Grundy had been putting into place. Under Dr. Grundy’s leadership, Gauger-Cobbs had secured a grant from The Wallace Foundation and the State of Delaware in 2005 that brought a framework of distributed leadership to the school. Distributed leadership brings teachers and administration together to better address the needs of their school and their students, creating truly effective teacher collaborations.

Through the Vision Network, Gauger-Cobbs reinforced and intensified Dr. Grundy’s plan by establishing a new team of school leaders called an “Instructional Leadership Team,” composed of teachers, administrators, and other key staff. With support from Vision Network data coaches, the Instructional Leadership Team analyzed school data and teacher feedback in order to devise an instructional focus–an area in most need of attention and improvement.  As its instructional focus, Gauger-Cobbs selected “critical thinking,” to help every student build skills in learning, applying, and (most importantly) conveying his/her understanding of content.

Through this collaborative process, the Instructional Leadership Team has helped focus the entire school on creating a learning environment that encourages students not just to remember and use information, but to communicate it, as well. Students are taught using a focused curriculum, encouraged to use this knowledge in class exercises and projects, and are expected to talk about their knowledge in and outside the classroom. “We believe if students can communicate what they know, they know it,” said Dr. Grundy. “That’s clear evidence of learning.” The basic philosophy behind this communications focus can be summed up with three words: learn it – use it – share it. This is a philosophy Gauger-Cobbs has been applying to all subjects, from mathematics to physical education. 

This post is the third in a 6 part series highlighting Vision Network schools.  You can read part one here and part two here.  Check back soon for part 4.

When you walk into William Henry Middle School, you may be surprised at one of the first things you see.  Next to the welcome signs and entry doors, there is a big green, yellow, and red board with markers indicating how the school is doing academically.  If you walk around the school, you will find many smaller versions of this chart next to every classroom.  But what are these stoplight-like signs?

When William Henry first joined the Vision Network, it was having trouble getting its students to communicate what they had learned.  After reviewing several years of student data as part of the Vision Network training, the school recognized a disparity between students learning the material and students using the material.  Some students could talk about the information they learned, but couldn’t write it; some kids could write it, but didn’t test well; still others could not put their knowledge of the material into words.  This resulted in the school-wide adoption of an instructional focus centered on critical thinking and communication. 

From there, the school worked with Vision Network trainers to shift its resources to focus on creating an environment that encourages communication and development.  This first thing the leadership team learned from Vision Network trainers was how to use data to track student learning and use it as a tool for intervention.  With this knowledge, they developed a program of reading evaluation in which students are tested three times a year to measure how well the student understands the material via critical thinking and reading exercises.  This evaluation program not only gives the teacher an understanding of students’ reading levels, but also can be used by the students to track their individual growth. 

The data produced from this evaluation system—each student’s scores by his or her level of performance—is displayed on the green, yellow, and red boards around the school.  Red is well below standards, yellow is below standards, and green is meeting or beating the standards.  The student’s scores are posted anonymously so students can safely check their own scores and compare them to the scores of their peers.  

“The students have really begun to own the data,” explains Principal Eric Niebrzydowski.  “They understand it as a picture of their work, and they use it for motivation.  You can even hear the students talk about their scores, and you can see those scores are improving.  We have seen the number of students in the red decrease, and the other colors increase.”

So when you visit William Henry and see those green, yellow, and red signs, notice how many markers are in the green and know that each one those markers represents where William Henry Middle school and the Vision Network have enabled a child to succeed.

This post is the first of a 6 part series highlighting Vision Network schools.  Check back Tuesday for part 2.