Don’t Throw Out The Baby With The Bath Water

By Dreier, Frederick G

The period of public school accountability prompted by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and state accountability systems has put public schools under an academic microscope. High dropout rates, low test scores and a less than rigorous curriculum in many high schools across the country have alarmed local, state and national leaders. The failure of many high schools to meet the academic demands of state and federal accountability systems has been a vital catalyst in the recent movement to reform high schools.

Many schools are struggling to make adequate yearly progress as required by NCLB, while others are being sanctioned by their state’s accountability system for ongoing low test scores. As a result, schools are expected to assess the quality of educational delivery and make changes that will engender student academic success and establish a process for continual improvement.1

Planning high school reform to meet the future needs of our graduates and society will require a creative construct of what a high school of the future should look like, a clear vision of a quality school and a keen focus on student achievement.

Intelligent Redesign Theme

The quality of America’s high schools can be viewed on a continuum. As author Leon Botstein puts it, “With more than 18,600 high schools, you can find the good, the bad and the ugly.”2 He recommends intelligent redesign as the theme behind change.

Accordingly, several school leaders have cautioned against reinventing the wheel without a clear vision of what future high schools should look like.3-4 Education writer Lynn Olson suggests there is no silver bullet when targeting high schools for reform, 5 while Stephen Raudenbush, a professor of education and statistics at the University of Michigan, emphasizes that measuring for quality requires several sources of evidence, not just tests alone.6

Realistically, every low performing high school, as ineffective as it might seem, has elements of good. So, short of throwing the baby out with the bath water for the sake of reform, thus destroying programs that are highly effective, it is vital that high schools develop an assessment process to measure the level of quality in key areas. The sole purpose should be continuous improvement while not diminishing programs and practices that work well.

Berthoud High School in Berthoud, CO, recently developed an assessment tool to measure the level of quality in several educational areas and a process for developing professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on the targeted areas.

Commitment to Reform

Starting in 2002, the Thompson R2-J School District in Loveland, CO, initiated the process of examining the quality of its high schools. The process, referred to as “high schools of the future,” was to unfold in three phases, which would ultimately lead to implementation during the 2007-2008 school year.

During phase one, district high school principals and assistant principals examined research and attended conferences on high school reform. High school administrators, under the leadership of the district, collaborated to establish five guiding principles on which the program would focus.

In formulating the five guiding principles, we identified 35 elements of success and aligned them with the five principles. With some exceptions, the basic ingredients of the five guiding principles and elements of success originated from key high school reform publications, such as Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution7 and Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform.8

The five guiding principles say that Thompson district high schools will:

1. Build partnerships with its communities to prepare all students for success with a variety of postsecondary and civic responsibilities.

2. Create learning communities that support and foster meaningful relationships, transitions and strong academic performance.

3. Collaborate with stakeholders to create a rigorous, relevant and articulated curriculum to develop students who are critical thinkers and lifelong learners.

4. Offer rigorous and relevant education by offering educational options for all students.

5. Provide data driven staff development that results in professional growth for staff, impacts student achievement and promotes collaboration and reflective practices.

After establishing the guiding principles, the next phase in the high schools’ processes required input from the staff at each of the district high schools. The district high schools vary in size, culture, demographics and level of academic success, as measured by the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) and federal mandates related to adequate yearly progress.

Therefore, each school structured its own assessment process to determine what level of educational quality it had mastered relative to each of the five guiding principles. To assist in this process, the Thompson district superintendent, Daniel P. Johnson, established a guide for assessing quality. He provided in-service programs for district administrators on the process of sustaining change and assessing quality in schools, using materials from his book Sustaining Change In Schools: How to Overcome Differences and Focus on Quality.9

Assessment Tool

One of five high schools in the Thompson District-Berthoud-took the lead in assessing quality by creating a tool (see Figure 1) to rate its level of educational quality relative to the five guiding principles.

The target stakeholders for the assessment included Berthoud High School teachers, high school seniors, members of the school improvement team and Berthoud parents. The structure of the assessment tool called for a quality rating of each guiding principle. The tool also invited the respondents to recognize which elements of success listed with each guiding principle were perceived as Berthoud High School strengths or areas that needed improvement.

To assist the stakeholders in assessing the level of quality in each of the five principle areas, a rubric was constructed to define what a poor and exemplary high school might look like relative to each of the five guiding principles (see Tables 1-5, pp. 46-48). The respondents were to select what level of quality they perceived for Berthoud High School on a scale of one to 10-one representing poor quality and 10 being exemplary.

Each stakeholder group, except for the parents, was independently organized into groups of five to eight individuals. After reviewing the rubric, each group was asked to discuss the characteristics of the rubric as it related to Berthoud High School and use the survey tool to assess the level of quality for each of the five principle areas.

FIGURE 1 Berthoud High School Quality Assessment Tool

An important objective of each group was to come to consensus on the rating for each guiding principle. Only high school seniors were selected to be in the student stakeholder group because of their length of experience.

Because it was difficult to gather enough parents in one location at the same time, parents were surveyed differently. The survey was mailed to 40 sets of randomly selected parents from all four grade levels. Included with the parent survey was an explanation on how to use the tool, a glossary of terms and a copy of the rubric.

Shared Quality Assessment

The most exciting result of this process was the level of discussion and collaboration among all the stakeholders. Walls that often separated high school teachers, individually and by department, disappeared. Within their groups, teachers and other stakeholders debated, justified and critically assessed where Berthoud High School fit on the quality continuum and why.

The remarkable result of the assessment was that it gave all stakeholders a voice to critique, analyze, compare and identify areas of strength and areas to strengthen. The assessment also gave everyone an opportunity to listen to what others were saying about the quality level of education at Berthoud High School.

More importantly, however, it gave all involved a chance to identify the areas to strengthen and to explore strategies for forging ahead.

Choosing Five Areas For Improvement Effort Focus

All group ratings were near or above seven points on a 10-point scale for all guiding principles. The overall measure of educational quality, as viewed from the Berthoud High School stakeholders relative to the five guiding principles, is moderately high and just short of exemplary in some principal areas (see Figure 2 at www.asq.org/qualityprogress).

Notwithstanding, the stakeholder’s level of perceived quality is supported by other Berthoud High School academic measures that are often used to assess levels of quality in high schools. These include CSAP and American College Test (ACT) scores (all above the Colorado state average), low dropout rates, and the high percentage of students that graduate and go on to college from Berthoud High School.

TABLE 1 Poor and Exemplary High Schools Contrasted by Guiding Principle No. 1

Table 2 Poor and Exemplary High Schools Contrasted by Guiding Principle No. 2

TABLE 3 Poor and Exemplary High Schools Contrasted by Guiding Principle No. 3

From the survey, specific areas were identified as areas to strengthen (see Table 6 at www.asq.org/qualityprogress). From these, Berthoud High School teachers were asked to select five or six areas and initiate the planning process to increase quality in each. The five areas on which Berthoud teachers chose to focus their improvement efforts were:

1. Continue to strengthen articulation with the feeder middle school in areas of curriculum and transition.

2. Increase interdepartmental collaboration time.

3. Develop more relevant staff training by department.

4. Improve the consistency of student expectations.

5. Expand college preparation and planning for students.

Within the last two years, more than half the teachers at Berthoud High School were trained in forming and using PLCs to address specific issues. With the quality findings in hand, Berthoud teachers were asked to form individual groups focused on developing strategic action plans. The objectives of the plans were to improve quality in each of the selected areas.

TABLE 4 Poor and Exemplary High Schools Contrasted by Guiding Principle No. 4

TABLE 5 Poor and Exemplary High Schools Contrasted by Guiding Principle No. 5

At this point in the quality process, many of the PLCs had identified two or three goals including strategies and timelines in their action plans. The next step in the process was to launch each of the action plans during the 2006-2007 school year, with follow- up plans to measure our success at continuous improvement.

Results and Actions

Berthoud High School administration and teachers have recognized several positive results from the quality study.

First, the new assessment tool and process is a valuable means of quality review and future planning for schools. This process has increased the level of collaboration within and among Berthoud High School staff and, as a result, teachers meet more often in meaningful and directed conversations about school improvement and student achievement.

Staff has a new sense of energy resulting from the empowerment of collaboration. Prior to the quality process, teachers met occasionally to discuss targeted student achievement and continuous improvement. Staff will occasionally suggest that a PLC be organized to manage issues or problems.

The quality assessment process revealed that Berthoud High School is perceived by its stakeholders to provide a high level of quality in each of the five principal areas. At the same time, it has areas that could be strengthened.

The assessment process established the foundation to allow action. Five PLCs formulated several goals or objectives to address the areas that needed strengthening. For each goal or objective, strategies were crafted, timelines were developed and needed resources were defined.

For example, to strengthen articulation with the feeder middle school, Berthoud High School teachers are meeting regularly with the feeder middle school staff to discuss teaching strategies that benefit students who are not proficient or who are only partially proficient in language arts and mathematics, as determined by CSAP test scores.

Furthermore, Berthoud High School teachers have increased interdepartmental collaboration aimed at establishing strategies to improve the reading and writing skills of an identified target population of ninth and tenth graders who are not proficient or who are only partially proficient on the CSAP test.

Likewise, in the area of staff development, 50% of 2006-2007 staff development is being dedicated to effective teaching strategies specific to departmental course work. Each department is planning to add a minimum of 10 new lessons, turnkey strategies or activities to its resources.

In another targeted area, Berthoud High School teachers are examining ways to strengthen consistency of student expectations. This year, teachers identified three key student behavioral issues to strengthen. The same PLC group that is targeting consistency of student expectations is also studying successful feeder school transition models and planning visits to schools known for exemplary programs.

Through the quality process, Berthoud High School is focused on providing more college preparation and planning for students.

This spring, Berthoud High School completed the initial planning for the math and science focus program. It continues to establish partnerships with industry and higher education to support resource and professional development needs for the program.

Along these lines and in partnership with the local community college, Berthoud High School is establishing a higher education outreach center on the high school campus to support the math and science focus program and to provide an associate of arts degree option for Berthoud High School students.

Finally, a PLC is developing a database of Berthoud High School graduates to determine their satisfaction with their high school career and the college preparation they received.

Institutionalizing Continuous Improvement

Without this quality assessment process, Berthoud would have been unable to make well-informed decisions about its ability to institutionalize continuous improvement and plan for its future.

From the quality assessment, Berthoud High School defined its strengths and what areas need strengthening. So, the reform target was in focus.

In many areas, Berthoud High School already was doing quite well. Hence, our process has become our own intelligent redesign. Consistent with the headline of this article, we are keeping the healthy baby and discarding the old bath-water.

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In 50 Words Or Less

* To avoid eliminating effective programs in the name of continual improvement, a Colorado high school developed an assessment tool to measure quality.

* Professional learning communities focused on targeted areas by formulating goals and objectives.

* Among improvements, the process increased staff empowerment and collaboration while focusing on staff development.

The structure of the assessment tool called for a quality rating of each guiding principle.

Staff has a new sense of energy resulting from the empowerment of collaboration.

REFERENCES

1. Lloyd C. Kilmer, “Continuous Quality Improvement: A Roadmap for Rural School Improvement,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Rural Education Assn., Charleston, SC, 2000.

2. Leon Botstein, “Intelligent Redesign,” School Administrator, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2006, pp. 10-15.

3. Kilmer, “Continuous Quality Improvement: A Roadmap for Rural School Improvement,” see reference 1.

4. Botstein, “Intelligent Redesign,” see reference 2.

5. Lynn Olson, “States Target High Schools for Change,” Education Week, Vol. 25, No. 22, 2006, p.1.

6. Stephen Raudenbush, Schooling, Statistics, and Poverty, Educational Testing Service, Policy Evaluation and Research Center, Policy Information Center, Princeton University, 2004.

7. Breaking RanL- : Changing an American Institution, National Assn. of Secondary School Principals, 1996.

8. Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform, National Assn. of Secondary School Principals, 2004.

9. Daniel P Johnson, Sustaining Change in Schools: How to Overcome Differences and Focus on Quality, Assn. for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005.

FREDERICK G. DREIER is principal of Berthoud High School, Berthoud, CO. He was assistant principal at the time he wrote this article. Dreier earned a doctorate in anthropology from Washington State University. He is a member of ASQ.

Copyright American Society for Quality Aug 2007

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