The process works with an individual school, focusing on language arts and math, and offers follow-up support, services, and training. The School Audit is designed to identify instructional practices that may be blocking high achievement and to refocus those practices to ultimately help struggling schools satisfy the requirements of adequate yearly progress.
What does the School Audit for Higher Performance accomplish?
The objectives of the School Audit are to:
- Conduct a 3-day diagnostic review of the school leadership, instruction, and support services.
- Compare current adherence of school educators to the 50 characteristics of high performing schools.
- Conduct extensive data collection and analysis to support the conclusions drawn regarding the 50 characteristics.
- Present the data in a report with findings and recommendations around which a multi-year school improvement plan can be developed.
- Assist the principal and site-council in development of a comprehensive multi-year single site plan around the recommendations of the report.*
- Monitor implementation of the plan twice a year for up to 3 years.*
- Provide on-going mentoring and assistance to principals in their leadership.*
- Provide multiple staff development opportunities to ultimately move your school toward higher student achievement.*
- *Additional cost -- call for information.
How the School Audit Works:
Building Upon Research and Best Thinking
The diagnostic School Audit is an independent examination of three data sources: documents, interviews and surveys, and classroom observations. These sources are gathered and triangulated, or corroborated, to reveal the extent to which a school is adhering to the standards and strategies incorporated within the School Audit process.
To begin, the School Audit team gathers diagnostic data about the current operation of the school staff and compares these data to a set of standards of schools with high student performance. From these data findings, action strategies are recommended to help the staff in establishing an educational program to move toward academic excellence. Suggested student achievement goals are recommended for a three-year school improvement plan.
Upon request, optional services can be provided to assist the group charged with the development of a school improvement plan, utilize the recommended strategies, and propose student achievement goals to develop a three-year plan of action.
A public report is issued as the final phase of the School Audit process and the final product represents the work of highly qualified, experienced, and licensed personnel. The diagnostic scope is centered on curriculum and instruction, and includes any aspect of operations of a school and the school system that enhances or hinders its design and/or delivery.
What the School Audit does: Closing the Achievement Gap
The School Audit uses six standards and 50 essential characteristics of high performing schools to compare, verify, and comment on a school's existing curricular and instructional practices. These characteristics have been extrapolated from an extensive review of powerful strategies for higher student achievement on high stakes tests.
The six standards for high performing schools:
- Establish a well-crafted, focused, valid, and clear curriculum to direct teaching
- Provide assessments aligned to the curriculum
- Align program and instructional resources to the curriculum and provide student equality and equity
- Use a mastery learning approach and effective teaching strategies
- Establish curriculum expectations, monitoring, and accountability
- Institute effective district and school planning, staff development, resource allocation, and provide a quality learning environment
The School Audit team uses the six standards and underlying 50 characteristics to determine the extent of their presence and status in the school. For each of the 50 characteristics, the team will determine the preferred level of need, which guides school administrators in proceeding with leadership and interventions.
The four phases of the School Audit:
Phase 1 - School Audit. This is the diagnostic process of gathering data within the school and system on the level of need in the six standard areas and the underlying 50 characteristics.
Phase 2 - Developing a Three-Year Plan of Action.* The School Audit team facilitates a collaborative process with the principal and school personnel (faculty, staff, parents) to pull together a data-driven school improvement plan.
Phase 3 - Monitoring and Support.* Two visits per school year are provided to ascertain how well the plan is proceeding.
Phase 4 - Professional Development and Assistance (Optional).* Multiple on-going professional development opportunities are available upon request.
- * Additional cost - call for more information
The School Audit for Higher Performance: Components
The School Audit process includes the following services:
- Up to 30 in-depth classroom observations, document review, and individual and focus group interviews conducted on site.
- Data analysis and report development and production
(Conducted off site after step 1).
- Delivery of a comprehensive written report of findings and presentation of the report to school staff and key district personnel, including recommendations for design of action plans for the school and staff.
The Chief Evaluator-Reviewer is on site for 3 days, and the complete process from start to report presentation extends over a 60-90 day period.
The School Audit optional components
(Additional cost -- call for more information):
- Orientation and training for school personnel and stakeholders to the process prior to starting the School Audit (1 day).
- Additional interviews can be provided upon request, for an additional cost.
- Training for school personnel and stakeholders may be provided upon request. (See below)
The optional training components for school personnel are listed below:
Professional Staff Development
- Basic concepts of alignment of the written, taught, and tested curriculum (2 1/2 days)
- "A Baker's Dozen" steps toward higher test scores (1 day)
- Deconstructing test items: taking the mystery out of tests (1 day)
- Aligning textbooks/resources to high takes assessments (1 day)
- Calibrating student artifacts for alignment to district content and context standards (1 day)
- Using powerful effective teaching strategies around a mastery learning approach (2 days)
Administrative Staff Development
- Monitoring curriculum and instruction for higher student achievement (1 day)
- Informal walk throughs with reflective inquiry for higher student achievement (2-4 days)
- Calibrating observed content objectives and context of objective to district expectations (1 day)
- Dealing with inequality and inequity issues (1 day)
- Motivating staff to change (1 day)
- 50 ways to close the achievement gap (2 days)
- Maximizing student achievement through curriculum and assessment design and delivery (3 1/2 days -- all professional staff may be included.)
For more information, contact:
Curriculum Management Center
P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789
Phone (toll free): 800-766-1156
Fax: 812-339-0018
Email: curriculum.audit@pdkintl.org |
