CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Strand:  Quality Teaching Matters
Thursday, November 3, 2005 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM   Download PowerPoint Presentation	Teaching Quality Matters   We have more evidence than ever before that it is teachers who are the primary factor in closing the achievement gap. We also know that it is low-income and/or minority students who are least likely to be ensured access to high-quality teachers. In places where teachers are producing gains with students, we know little about their instructional practices and how they go about achieving results. But we are working on it! In this session, learn more about the data on teacher quality, as well as Ed Trust’s current work on student access to high-quality teachers and our study of the instructional practices of effective teachers.   Presenters: Heather Peske, Senior Associate, Education Trust, Washington, DC Candace Crawford, Research Associate, Teacher Quality, Education Trust, Washington, DC
Thursday, November 3, 2005 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM	Does National Board Certification Equal Teacher Quality?   Closing the achievement gap between White and underserved minority students will not be accomplished without placing highly effective teachers in every classroom. One way that some states and school districts are attempting to raise teacher quality is by encouraging teachers to obtain National Board Certification (NB). Are such policies cost effective? In this presentation, we report evidence from a large, urban school district on the relationship between teacher quality indicators and gains in student achievement in mathematics in the ninth and 10th  grades.  We then consider the implications for workforce policy and management.    Presenter: Linda Cavalluzzo, Senior Researcher, The CNA Corporation, Alexandria, VA
Thursday, November 3, 2005 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM	Using Qualitative and Quantitative Research to Examine a Value-Added Teacher-Preparation Assessment Model   This presentation will provide information about quantitative and qualitative research studies that are being conducted in Louisiana to test a value-added teacher-preparation program assessment model that has the capacity to examine the achievement growth of children and link growth in student learning to teacher-preparation programs. Participants will be provided information about the results of two studies that were conducted to test the model during 2003- 2004 and to examine technical adequacy issues. They will also be provided with information about a comprehensive study that will be conducted over the next three years to establish the reliability of the model, as well as information about a qualitative research study being conducted in 2005-2006 to identify specific factors in school settings and university teacher-preparation programs that impact the findings of the assessment model.   Presenters: Jeanne M. Burns, Associate Commissioner for Teacher Education Initiatives, Governor’s Office/Board of Regents, Baton Rouge, LA George Noell, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Friday, November 3, 2005 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM	Georgia’s Educator Preparation Data Marts - Making it Feasible for Data to Drive Teacher Quality   The Office of P-16 Initiatives of the University System of Georgia (USG) has developed a series of Educator Preparation Data Marts. These data marts integrate information on those who complete the USG educator preparation program with extensive data on the public education workforce in Georgia. The Educator Preparation Data Marts provide the ability to conduct detailed analyses of teachers, counselors, and educational leaders produced by Georgia’s University System as they enter the public education workforce. The marts also allow detailed longitudinal reporting on: teacher workforce characteristics, teacher retention, attrition, and mobility issues, and potential teacher shortage areas. Live, detailed demonstrations of these tools will be presented, including discussions on how the tools put immediate, relevant, useful information into the hands of decision makers when and how they need it. Use of the data marts for improving educator preparation, planning to meet upcoming teacher workforce needs, and ensuring teacher quality will also be discussed.   Presenter: Mark E. Pevey, Director of P-16 Data Management, Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, Atlanta, GA
Thursday, November 3, 2005 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM	The Essential Elements of High Performance   Studies say high-performance schools “sound, walk, and talk alike.” What are the traits of high performers no matter what the levels, locations, or demographics? What do they do with data? How are new teachers treated? What’s different about relationships among stakeholders in high performers? How is technology used? Have feelings about academic goals and testing changed as a result of accountability reforms? Florida’s Council for Educational Change (CEC) shares lessons learned by conducting research using the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) Best Practices model for high school and others CEC initiatives studying K-12 practices.   Presenters: John Moore, State Study Coordinator, Council for Educational Change (CEC), Miami, FL Jimmy Neitzel, Project Director, State Studies, National Center for Educational Accountability, Austin, TX
Friday, November 4, 2005 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM	Achieving “Bang for the Buck:” Isolating Aspects of University-Based Teacher-Preparation Programs that Make a Difference   This session will focus on the development and application of a research framework that can support evidence-driven reform of teacher preparation in institutions of higher education. Presenters will discuss a standard research framework which “maps” key practices in teacher preparation that are hypothesized to affect the quality and effectiveness of university-based preparation programs. Presenters will offer examples of the application of this research paradigm for improving both near-term and long-term outcomes for teachers prepared in university-based programs. They will also discuss key elements of program “treatment” and demonstrate how these treatment variables can be tested for effect.   Presenters: William E. Reaves, Executive Director, Center for Research, Evaluation and Advancement of Teacher Education (CREATE), The Woodlands, TX John Beck, Higher Education Research Liaison (CREATE), The Woodlands, TX
Friday, November 4, 2005 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM   Download PowerPoint Presentation	Creating a Statewide, School-Level Teacher Quality Index: Assessing the Distribution of Teacher Quality and Its Importance to Student Outcomes   This presentation introduces the Teacher Quality Index (TQI), a school-level indicator being used to measure the distribution of teacher quality throughout one entire state. Using the TQI, researchers found that most of the variation in teacher quality occurs between schools within the same district. The session will graphically illustrate how this distribution is related to school minority, poverty, and achievement levels, and how teacher quality varies within actual districts. Participants will be asked to draw on their personal experiences to help interpret and explain these findings, and to discuss ways to encourage a more equitable distribution of teacher quality.   Presenters: Jennifer B. Presley, Director, Illinois Education Research Council, Edwardsville, IL Yuqin Gong, Senior Researcher, Illinois Education Research Council, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL Bradford R. White, Researcher, Illinois Education Research Council, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
Friday, November 4, 2005 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM   Download PowerPoint Presentation	Unintended Consequences: How the Staffing Rules in Teachers’ Union Contracts Affect Urban Schools   The New Teacher Project (TNTP) will discuss the findings of its recently published report on the impact of collectively bargaining transfer and excess rules on teacher hiring and staffing in five urban districts. Although esoteric, legalistic, and seemingly divorced from the daily lives of students and schools, the transfer and excess rules control all aspects of teacher hiring and staffing in each district. TNTP will describe the extent to which these rules undermine the efforts of urban schools to hire and retain the teachers that can best meet the needs of their students and will present a “model contract” for reform.   Presenter: Jessica Levin, The New Teacher Project, New York, NY
Strand:  Schools and Districts: Dispelling the Myth
Thursday, November 3, 2005 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM	Organizing for Success: High Schools   It’s one of the thorniest issues confronting high schools today: How do we educate students who come in way behind? These high school principals know how to do just that. North Carolina’s Jack Britt High School and Farmville Central High School serve high populations of African-American and low-income students and boast strong track records of helping struggling ninth-graders achieve higher-than-expected academic growth by the 11th grade. At Granger High School in Washington’s Yakima Valley, where more than eight in 10 students qualify for free and reduced-price meals – test scores were dismal in 2001: Just 20 percent of students met state reading standards, and only 4 percent met math standards. Four years later, there’s been a dramatic turnaround: 61 percent of students met reading standards, and 31 percent met math standards in 2005. Come hear how these principals have organized their high schools for academic success.   Presenters: Richard Esparza, Granger High School, Granger, WA Conrad Lopes, Principal, Jack Britt High School, Fayetteville NC Thompson Forbes, Jr., Director of 9-12 Programs, Pitt County Schools, Greenville, NC
Thursday, November 3, 2005 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM   Download Powerpoint Presentation	Organizing for Success: Elementary Schools   This session will examine how two elementary schools – one in rural Arkansas and one in the heart of Philadelphia – organized their schools to improve student achievement. At Oakland Heights Elementary School in Russellville, AR, seven in 10 students come from low-income families. But that is no barrier to high achievement. In 2004, 80 percent of students met or exceeded state reading standards. At M. Hall Stanton School in North Philadelphia in 2003 only 13 percent of students read well enough to meet state standards, and only 20 percent met state math standards. Two years later, 73 percent of students met state reading standards and a whopping 84 percent met state math standards. Hear how these schools became focused on achievement and success.   Presenters: Barbara B. Adderley, Principal, M. Hall Stanton School, Philadelphia, PA Sheri Shirley, Principal, Oakland Heights Elementary School, Russellville, AR
Thursday, November 3, 2005 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM	Dispelling the Myth: Rock Hall Elementary School   Rock Hall Elementary School is a small, rural school located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where 22 percent of the children are African American, 21 percent require special-education services, and 60 percent come from low-income families. Rock Hall is a full-inclusion school; students, some with profound disabilities, are included in the general classrooms. In 2005, every fourth-grader met reading standards and every third-grader met math standards -- including students with disabilities. In addition, the school managed to close the gaps between White and African-American students in both reading and math. In fact, in 2005 African-American students had a higher proficiency rate than White students. In this session, the staff of Rock Hall will highlight how they use data to drive expert instruction to ensure that every child learns what he or she needs to succeed.   Presenters: Bess Engle, Principal, Rock Hall Elementary School, Rock Hall, MD Stacey Baker, Teacher – Multi-year Grades 3 & 4, Rock Hall Elementary School, Rock Hall, MD
Thursday, November 3, 2005 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM	Closing the Gap and Raising Student Achievement with Mississippi’s Formative Assessment Program   This presentation addresses the first step in the Mississippi initiative to improve student performance using the Mississippi Student Progress Monitoring System, which incorporates aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The fi rst year of implementation saw a wide range of use from school to school. Comparing the level of integration at each school to the results from the Mississippi Curriculum Test yielded information both about the functionality of the system and the correlation between activity level and improved student performance. The results provided clear indications for schools to consider as they design new strategies for the 2005-2006 school year.   Presenters: Cindy Simmons, Student Progress Monitoring System Coordinator, Mississippi Department of Education, Jackson, MS Susan Rucker, Executive to the State Superintendent, Office of Instructional Program and Services, Mississippi Department of Education, Jackson, MS Kris Kaase, Bureau Director of the Office of Student Assessment, Mississippi Department of Education, Jackson, MS Aletta Price, Teacher, Forrest County School District, Hattiesburg, MS
Thursday, November 3, 2005 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM	Dispelling the Myth: University Park Campus School   University Park Campus School is a small, urban school in which 75 percent of the students speak English as a second language. Most students enter seventh grade reading well below grade level, but by 10th grade they all pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) -- most at proficient and advanced levels. June Eressy, principal and founding English teacher of the University Park Campus School, offers a “how-to” guide to literacy across the curriculum to promote universal student achievement. She will share strategies to create a school-wide curricular program that focuses on advancing literacy in all classes and demonstrates specific techniques to help students develop their reading, writing, and thinking skills in English and content area classes.   Presenter: June Eressy, Principal, University Park Campus School, Worcester, MA
Thursday, November 3, 2005 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM	Closing the Gap Early: Creating a K-2 Initiative   Administrators of Fort Wayne Community Schools’ K-2 Project, a successful early reading intervention, share how multiple data sources contribute to its design, evaluation, and effectiveness. The project includes the use of Indiana Division of Exceptional Learners Continuous Improvement Monitoring, research-based reading recommendations, and DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). The intervention, which provides targeted reading instruction for students with disabilities and other students at-risk, has had promising early results.   Presenters: Carol Lindquist, Chief Academic Officer, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Fort Wayne, IN Theresa Oberley, Director, Special Education, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Fort Wayne, IN Sandra Sunderland-Willis, Specialist, Special Education, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Fort Wayne, IN
Friday, November 4, 2005 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM	Dispelling the Myth: Dayton’s Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School   Five years ago, Dayton’s Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School, in St. Paul, Minnesota, was widely acknowledged as the worst school in the city. Almost all the students are from low income homes and nine out of 10 students were not meeting state standards. But in 2005, almost eight out of 10 fifth-graders met state math standards. Presenters will describe the school redesign effort that aligned instruction to high standards and helped produce significant gains among all groups of students.   Presenters: Andrew Collins, Principal, Dayton’s Bluff Elementary School, St. Paul, MN Marilyn Wojtasiak, Design Coach, Dayton’s Bluff Elementary School, St. Paul, MN
Friday, November 4, 2005 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM	Effects of a District Reform Model in an Urban School District   Seven years ago, Pueblo District 60 in Pueblo, CO, had some of the lowest reading scores in the state. Nearly 60 percent of students are minority and qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, so few expected the district to significantly improve reading achievement. In 1998, the district began a partnership with Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes and set out to raise achievement for all their students and close the achievement gap. As a result of implementing Lindamood-Bell’s district reform model, the district has outperformed the rest of Colorado schools on the state-mandated reading test. The district now ranks second among the largest districts in Colorado for Adequate Yearly Progress.   Presenters: Paul Worthington, Executive Director of School Services and Research & Development, Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, San Luis Obispo, CA Keith Owen, Director of Lindamood-Bell/Reading, Pueblo School District 60, Pueblo, CO
Friday, November 4, 2005 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM	Dispelling the Myth: Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School   Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School is a large, suburban school located in western Nassau County, New York where 75 percent of the students are African American, 12 percent Latino, and 24 percent are low-income. In 2004, Elmont Memorial had the nation’s highest number of African-American students who received college credit on the Advanced Placement World History exam, and in June 2005, Elmont Memorial had a 99 percent graduation rate, with 88 percent of students earning Regents diplomas. Presenters will discuss the school-wide focus on instruction that begins with careful hiring and continues with systematic observation of each classroom teacher, first by administrators and then by fellow teachers – all with a relentless emphasis on improvement.   Presenters: John Capozzi, Principal, Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School, Elmont, NY Alicia Calabrese, English Chairperson, Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School, Elmont, NY Baytoram Ramharack, Social Studies Chairperson, Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School, Elmont, NY Karren Dunkley, Social Studies Teacher, Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School, Elmont, NY Wendy Tague, English Teacher, Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School, Elmont, NY Russell Marino, Math Teacher, Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School, Elmont, NY
Friday, November 4, 2005 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM	Igniting a Passion for Student Success   Three perspectives of systematic reform actions spanning five years that took a high-poverty, high-minority school with 68 percent English-language learners from low-performance to high-performance will motivate participants to embark upon a similar journey. The session will address the specific leadership through the superintendent, instructional program action from the director of educational services, and school site actions from the principal which are replicable and founded on research-based practices.   Presenters: Henry M. Escobar, Superintendent, Livingston Union School District, Livingston, CA Penny Weaver, Director of Educational Services, Livingston Union School District, Livingston, CA Fernando Ureno, Principal, Yamato Colony Elementary School, Livingston, CA
Friday, November 4, 2005 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM	Dispelling the Myth: Frankford Elementary School   At Frankford Elementary School, all third- and fifth-graders met or exceeded state standards in reading this year and roughly nine in 10 met or exceeded state standards in math. Frankford Elementary is a rural school in Delaware, with a diverse student body that is almost evenly split among African-American, White, and Latino students; three out of four students are low-income. Presenters in this session will describe how careful use of data in constructing individual learning plans drives thoughtful instruction so that all students can reach high levels.   Presenters : Duncan Smith, Principal, Frankford Elementary School, Frankford, DE Sharon Brittingham, Principal (retired), Frankford Elementary School, Frankford, DE Traci Hudson, Supervisor of Elementary Instruction, Indian River School District, Selbyville, DE Jennifer Babcock, Reading Specialist, Frankford Elementary School, Frankford, DE
Friday, November 4, 2005 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM	Break Some Rules - Make a Difference   This presentation will describe a highly successful, teacher-created four-year looping program that resulted in systemic district change in a diverse, suburban school. By changing the structure in which they taught, these teachers were able to teach “smarter, not harder.”  Through multi-grade collaboration, implementing research-based reading and math programs, and direct instruction in the strategies necessary to be “test savvy,” the “double loop” promoted a phenomenal increase in student achievement. The presenters will discuss the ups and downs of their journey of radical change to inspire participants to fulfill their dreams for school reform.   Presenters: Beth Rae, Teacher, Coventry School, Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, Cleveland Heights, OH Roberta Herman, Reading Teacher, Coventry School, Cleveland-Heights-University Heights School District, Cleveland Heights, OH
Friday, November 4, 2005 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM   Download PowerPoint Presentation