STEPP: “How to Rethink, Redesign, and Recreate the Improvement Planning Cycle”

Jerry Schoenberger, Director Gerry Briscoe, Improvement Specialist Alaska Comprehensive Center

Alaska Comprehensive Center-is a program of SERRC-Alaska’s Educational Resource Center Juneau and Anchorage, Alaska

AESA 26th Annual Conference 2011 Dec. 1, 2011 The Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, CO

SERRC - Alaska’s Educational Resource Center Facts About Alaska Communities, Districts, and Schools

• Alaska’s approximately 500 public schools are organized within 53 school districts. These include 34 city and borough school districts and 19 Regional Educational Attendance Areas. REAAs serve students living in towns and villages in politically unorganized areas of rural Alaska.

• Alaska schools vary greatly in size. High schools in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, may serve more than 2,000 students. Schools in other urban areas such as Juneau, Fairbanks, the , or the Matanuska-Susitna Valley may serve hundreds and are similar to schools in small cities in the rest of the United States.

• The vast majority of the state's communities are in rural or remote Alaska, also know as “the Bush”. To get to the Bush, you have to fly or take a boat. Although some regional hub communities have a local system of roads, with the occasional car or truck, they are not connected to the rest of the roads in the state, or , for that matter.

SERRC - Alaska’s Educational Resource Center Alaska spans an area from the Great Lakes to Texas and from Florida to California.

At 586,400 square miles, Alaska is the U.S.'s largest state, over twice the size of Texas.

(36) North Slope – Oregon State

(52) Yukon-Koyukuk Washington State

(7) Bering Strait Kansas State Yukon Koyukuk School District Transportation SERRC-Alaska’s Educational Resource Center

• Created in 1976 by AK State Legislature.

• Private, non-profit agency that does not receive any dedicated funding from the federal government or the state of Alaska. Funding is derived exclusively from grants and contracts.

• Approximately 100 employees in Juneau and Anchorage

• Direct student services, school/district support services, community services (adult education-GED, job training programs)

SERRC - Alaska’s Educational Resource Center Alaska Comprehensive Center (ACC)

• Funded by U.S. Department of Education • ACC’s primary client is our SEA-Alaska Department of Education and Early Development • ACC is part of a network of 16 Regional Comprehensive Centers (RCCs) • The regional centers are supported by 5 National Content Centers which include – Center on Instruction – National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality – National High School Center – Center on Innovation and Improvement – Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center • The overarching goal of ACC with its partner Education Northwest is to help increase state capacity to assist districts and schools in meeting their student achievement goals

SERRC - Alaska’s Educational Resource Center

Evolution of STEPP

2006: Started as an external audit process/tool developed for the state to use in low performing schools (6 domains/dichotomous scale)

2008: Developed into a self-study tool/process for schools (6 domains/rubric based)

2009: Alaska SEA became a member of Academy of Pacesetting States (Center on Innovation and Improvement {CII} initiative)

2010: Partnered with CII/Indistar to develop Alaska STEPP (3rd evolutionary stage of audit tool). Implemented in first cohort of 11 districts. Three sets of indicators: school/district/state

2011: Alaska STEPP rolled out to second cohort of 15 districts. Indicators expanded to include SIG and Title I Schoolwide.

SERRC - Alaska’s Educational Resource Center The ultimate goal in school improvement is for the people attached to the school to drive its continuous improvement for the sake of their own children and students. -Dr. Sam Redding

Alaska STEPP is an online, continuous improvement planning tool that puts the emphasis on the process and takes it off of the paperwork. Alaska STEPP is based on the Continuous Improvement Model

Assess Plan

Implement Implement

Revise Monitor (plan) (assess) Alaska STEPP is a Framework

It provides school and district teams with an organizational tool for planning & documenting their work. School and District assessments, plans, notes, and progress are saved on-line so that institutional knowledge is not lost with turnover. Alaska STEPP is Based on Research

The indicators of effective practice are drawn from both national education research and the priorities of the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development. Alaska STEPP is a process. Teams monitor the implementation of their plan over the course of the year.

Plans are no longer just another binder on your shelf. Alaska STEPP is Adaptable.

It is designed to be flexible in order to meet the individual needs of Alaska’s diverse schools and districts. Ever been on a road trip when no one remembered the map? Or no one could read the map? You knew where you wanted to go, but you weren’t quite sure how to get there…although everybody had an idea. Sometimes things happened that weren’t expected and there was no way to accommodate them. Now we have more efficient ways to know where we are going… and to keep from getting lost. A Global Positioning System

•Shows where you are relative to your destination

•Provides detailed routes for reaching it

•Adjusts to variations and even accommodates diversions along the way

Like GPS, Alaska STEPP…

• Shows where you are relative to your destination • Provides detailed routes for reaching your goals • Adjusts to variations along the way

But the destination remains constant. Alaska STEPP is a school improvement navigational tool that guides everybody in the same direction. Which Means: •Roles are Clear •Purpose is Shared •Effort is Aligned •Partnerships are Built •Improvement is Sustained Alaska STEPP is a team driven process for school improvement. Indicators of Effective Practice are organized in 6 Domains •Curriculum •Assessment •Instruction •Supportive Learning Environment •Professional Development •Leadership Alaska STEPP has 6 Steps

1. Register School 2. Provide School Information 3. Form Team • Examine data 4. Assess Indicators 5. Create Plan • Implement Plan 6. Monitor Plan To Log in to Alaska STEPP:

www.alaskacc.org

For additional information contact:

Gerry Briscoe, School Improvement Specialist 805 W. 3rd Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 907-349-0651

Jerry Schoenberger, Director 210 Ferry Way Juneau, AK 99801 907-586-6806

SERRC - Alaska’s Educational Resource Center