avondale meadows academy · 2020-01-23 · avondale meadows academy in 2014. over the years, as...

Avondale Meadows

Academy

Charter Renewal Application

Fall 2019

Contents:

I. School Overview 2

II. Executive Summary 3-4

III. Narrative 5-25

A. Performance Review 5-14

1. Core Question 1.1 5-7





B. Sustainability and Improvement 15-25

1. Sustaining Success 15-

a) Governing Board 15-16

b) Leadership Team 16-19

c) Teaching Team 19-21

d) Academic Achievement 22-23

2. Ongoing Improvement 24-25

C. Conclusion 25

IV. Education Services Provider Questionnaire 26-30

V. Attachments

A. Assurances Statement

B. Five-Year Budget

C. Instructional Vision

D. School Culture Vision

E. Lesson Plan Internalization Protocol

F. Data Driven InstructionProtocol

G. Weekly Data Meeting Protocol

H. USI Organizational Chart

I. 2017 Priorities and Initiatives

J. AMA Insight Survey Data

K. 2019 Priorities and Initiatives

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I. School Overview:

School Name: Avondale Meadows Academy

School Address: 3980 Meadows Drive

Indianapolis, IN 46205

Mission Statement:

The mission of Avondale Meadows Academy is to provide a rigorous and

relevant college-preparatory program, grounded in our belief in the ability

of every child to succeed at high levels. Through well-coordinated support,

a strong partnership with families and close attention to results, our

students will consistently meet and exceed academic standards ensuring

their success as future college graduates and lifelong learners.

Principal: Sarah Lofton

Executive Director: Kelly Herron

Board Chair: Kelly Braverman

Current Grades Served: K-5

Current Enrollment: 450

Grade Span for Next Term: K-5

Maximum Enrollment: 468

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II. Executive Summary:

Avondale Meadows Academy opened as Challenge Foundation Academy (CFA) in 2006,

serving as the flagship school of the TeamCFA network of schools. In 2011, the CFA

Board of Directors voted to apply for an additional charter to replicate the success of

CFA in a different underserved neighborhood of Indianapolis. The replication charter

was approved in 2012, and Vision Academy launched in 2014.

During the Vision Academy planning years, the local CFA board members and the

representatives from TeamCFA had two different philosophies in regards to replication.

This led the two entities to an agreement to dissolve the relationship in 2013. CFA

families participated in a “Name Our School” campaign, and the Board ultimately voted

from that list of recommendations. Upon this dissolution, there were not any

programmatic or funding changes for the school, and the school was officially renamed

Avondale Meadows Academy in 2014.

Over the years, as students matriculated out of Avondale Meadows Academy as rising

6th graders, parent demand for a middle school continued to increase. The Board of

Directors applied and were approved for a charter for Avondale Meadows Middle School

(serving 6th-8th graders) in 2015. AMMS opened in 2017.

During this time, the Board of Avondale Meadows Academy, Inc, recognized the full

array of academic, financial and operational responsibilities that often rest on the

shoulders of a charter school principal. Consequently, the AMA Board created the

Executive Director position in the Fall of 2016. During the 2016-2017 school year, the

AMA Principal served as both Executive Director of Avondale Meadows Academy, Inc,

and the Principal of Avondale Meadows Academy. In July 2017, United Schools of

Indianapolis (USI), the network team that supports AMA, Vision and AMMS was

launched.

Located in one of Indianapolis’s most underserved communities, Avondale Meadows

Academy (AMA) is a tuition-free, K-5 public charter school, entering its fourteenth year

of operation. The AMA community is a diverse collection of families, educators, and

volunteers who commit each year to equipping our students with the strongest possible

preparation for middle school ensuring their success in Indianapolis’s most demanding,

college-preparatory high schools.

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AMA employs rigorous and engaging curriculum aligned to state standards and

supplemented by the humanities based scope and sequence of the Core Knowledge

scope and sequence. Our teachers implement effective instructional strategies aligned to

our instructional vision (Attachment C) to challenge and support students to meet

ambitious academic goals.

The staff actualizes the school culture vision (Attachment D) to create a strong school

culture that is critical to moving student achievement. In addition to teaching

academics, teachers recognize their obligation to teach behavior and social-emotional

skills. The AMA team is proud of the creative, engaging ways we involve parents and

empower them to support their child’s academic and social-emotional growth.

Over the last thirteen years, AMA has built a strong family of learners, parents and

teachers committed to success. The school remains confident in their efforts and ability

to impact every measure of student growth and achievement. While the trajectory of

academic achievement from the first ten years did not continue over the last two years

due to significant transitions, USI and AMA leaders have spent considerable time

reflecting, consulting, planning and developing systems for improvement. We remain

eager to help our students learn even more and score even higher on every measure of

student growth and achievement.

AMA benefits greatly from the support of the United Schools of Indianapolis (USI)

network team as well as the collective knowledge and resources of a broad array of local

leaders committed to “making magic in the Meadows,” the neighborhood we are

working to transform through the power of great schools.

We are applying to the Mayor of Indianapolis to renew the charter of Avondale

Meadows Academy. Through the tireless work of our team in partnership with the love

and commitment of our families, we believe that we can make an even greater difference

in the lives of children in our city. A renewed charter will afford us the opportunity to

continue to do this important work and help ensure every child in our school is safe,

challenged and college-bound.

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III. Narrative

Section A: Performance Review

1. Core Question 1.1 - Is the school’s academic

performance meeting state expectations, as measured

by Indiana’s accountability system?

Root Cause Analysis:

Shifts in IN Academic Standards: The 2015-2016 school year was the first year for

the new ISTEP test, assessing the Indiana Academic Standards that were released

in 2014. AMA did meet standard in 2015-2016, however rated “approaching

standard” in 2016-2017 and “does not meet standard” in 2017-2018. After much

reflection, the team recognized that the instructional leaders and teachers were

never thoroughly trained on the shifts in the “new” 2014 standards.

Teacher Retention: Upon further analysis of the data from 2015-2016, the school

had a 95% teacher retention rate going into the year and there was one teacher at

each grade level whose class had significantly higher proficiency rates than the

other teachers at the grade level, thus “pulling the weight” of the team. Each of

those teachers from 3rd-5th grade stepped out of the classroom into leadership

roles (at AMA or elsewhere) going into the 2016-2017 school year.

Curriculum: AMA utilized teacher-created curriculum in all subject areas until the

2017-2018 school year. The team recognized that teacher created curriculum

wasn’t meeting the level of rigor of the standards, and the time it took to write the

plans wasn’t sustainable for teachers. Additionally, when there was a transition on

a team that involved a team member that created the curriculum, the plans were

often no longer accessible.

Actions Already Taken:

Shifts in IN Academic Standards: During the 2017-2018 school year, instructional

leaders at the network and school level attended a series of trainings on the shifts

in the state standards led by Instruction Partners. In June 2018, the instructional

leaders facilitated a Curriculum and Standards Summer Institute for teachers

training them on the shifts in the Reading and Math standards. All staff also

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engaged with this training during Beginning of School Year Professional

Development in July 2018.

Curriculum: AMA adopted a new reading curriculum, Benchmark Literacy in

2017, responding to the need for a schoolwide reading curriculum. In 2018, AMA

purchased Eureka Math to address the need for a math curriculum that was

aligned to the shifts in the standards. The implementation of this rigorous math

curriculum in the 2018-2019 school year, caused the team to realize the lack of

rigor with the Reading Curriculum. The school consulted with Instruction

Partners to audit the reading curriculum, pilot a few sample curricula and

ultimately select a new curriculum for the 2019-2020 school year. Wit & Wisdom

was purchased for the 2019-2020 school year. According to Ed Reports, Wit &

Wisdom meets expectations in every category.

Lesson Plan Internalization: During the 2018-2019 school year, instructional

coaches began facilitating a Lesson Plan Internalization Protocol (LPI)

(Attachment E) with teachers. This process supported teachers with analyzing the

standards and internalizing the lessons. In the LPI meeting with leaders, teachers

review the objectives and key activities for the week. They also discuss anticipated

student errors that will occur and script how they will respond. The last portion of

LPI allows teachers to practice a portion of an upcoming lesson that the leader

anticipates will be difficult for teachers. After the meetings, teachers store their

LPI materials on Atlas, a curriculum storage system so that the exemplars,

supplemental materials and lesson plans do not have to be recreated every year

and remain stored in the school’s system even when a teacher leaves. Instructional

leaders are also able to access files and give teachers direct feedback on their LPI.

Interim Assessments: AMA subscribed to the Powerschool Assessment system in

2017-2018, creating quarterly interim assessments to be administered K-5. The

school adopted a Data Driven Instruction (DDI) Protocol (Attachment F) to be

used each quarter. Teachers then completed the DDI protocol quarterly with an

instructional leader.

Upon early implementation of the above mentioned instructional initiatives, it is

important to note that AMA’s most recent piece of state testing data is

encouraging. As shown below the IRead-3 assessment data from 2018-2019 is at a

4 year high. See Figure # 1 Below.

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Figure # 1: AMA IREAD-3 Data Over Time

Plan to continue to address deficiency:

Lesson Plan Internalization: Teachers will continue to be supported with

implementation of the new curricula through weekly LPI meetings. The

expectations for the LPI protocol have increased for both the instructional leaders

facilitating the meeting and the teachers. There is pre-work that must be done

prior to each weekly meeting. The pre-work is reviewed briefly, allowing for the

bulk of the LPI meeting to be spent on anticipating student difficulties and

teachers practicing delivery of the most critical lesson/skill.

Data-Driven Instruction: The Quarterly DDI protocol will go beyond the surface

level. Instructional coaches will facilitate these meetings with a deeper analysis.

Teachers will be coached on creating reteach plans based on quarterly assessment

results and held accountable for delivering reteach lessons and collecting the

reteach data. Reteach data will be monitored by the instructional leaders.

Timeline:

AMA will meet standard by the end of the 2020-2021 school year.

2. Core Question 1.2 - Are students making sufficient and

adequate gains, as measured by the IN growth model?


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The Opportunity Myth: In 2018, The New Teacher Project released a study that

followed over 4,000 in 5 districts and concluded that all students in the study have

high aspirations but are lacking the tools necessary to achieve their goals. They

were able to identify that there were 4 major levers that students were lacking

access to in their classrooms. Students were not given grade-level appropriate

assignments, strong delivery of instruction was not evident, students were not

engaged in lessons, and teachers were not holding students to high expectations.

The study found that students of color, low-income students, ELL students, and

students with mild-moderate disabilities had even less access to the 4 major levers.

This proves the need to ensure that all students have regular access to grade level

material, even if they are not yet performing at that level.

Structure of the Reading Block: Prior to the 2019-2020 school year, AMA’s reading

block consisted of a 30 minute whole group lesson followed by 60 minutes of

students reading leveled texts. Recent studies have shown there is a surprising lack

of rigorous evidence that supports that kids do best when reading with leveled

readers. Timothy Shanahan, Professor Emeritus of urban education at the

University of Illinois at Chicago, stated that the original 1946 study around guided

reading did not yield results. Shanahan has said, “We put way too much

confidence in an unproven theory.”

Increase in SpEd Population: From Fall 2014 to Fall 2019, AMA’s population of

Exceptional Learners has increased from 13% to 20%. Upon the implementation of

the 2015 ISTEP assessment, exceptional learners no longer had the option of taking

a modified assessment. The school needed to shift the schedules around these Tier

3 interventions so that students with IEPs are also exposed to grade level rigor.


Increase in Rigor: All students (regardless of instructional level and academic tier)

are exposed to grade level rigor during Eureka and Wit & Wisdom lessons. During

classroom walkthroughs, instructional leaders hold teachers accountable to using

the adopted curricula. Furthermore, teachers receive feedback on the “lift” that

students are doing during the lesson. We are focused on pushing the thinking and

doing on to the students.

Intervention Schedule: When creating schedules for the 19-20 school year, we

ensured that all Intervention teachers (Tier 2 and Tier 3) do not pull students

during the Direct Instruction portion of reading and math. If a student needs

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support services during those times, it is provided through push-in support as

opposed to pull-out support.

5th Grade Departmentalization: Effective in the 2018-2019 school year, the fifth

grade team became departmentalized. This allows teachers to be content experts in

their content and have a deeper impact on all three fifth grade classes. One teacher

teaches English Language Arts, one teaches Math and the other teaches Science &

Social Studies.


Weekly Data Meetings: Starting this school year, each grade level team of teachers

will meet weekly with an instructional leader to analyze student performance on

the highest leverage classroom task from the week. Teachers will identify the

common gap found in their classroom and then create a reteach plan to address the

errors. Teachers will practice their reteach lesson with their instructional leader

and receive feedback on their delivery. Teachers will then implement their reteach

plans with their students and then reassess. (See Attachment G. Weekly Data

Meeting Protocol)

Adoption of Airways: AMA adopted AIRWays to ensure interim assessments

aligned to the rigor of ILEARN. When using Powerschool Benchmark system,

instructional coaches had to create the majority of test questions and found that

the test question format did not mirror the testing experience. With AIRWays

students will now have practice with the same question types and rigor they will

encounter with ILEARN.

Scheduled Rigor Audits: Instructional leaders conduct quarterly audits assessing

the level of rigor observed in classrooms. The classroom walkthrough forms filled

out by leaders track if rigor is present in the lesson observed and if the adopted

curriculum is implemented correctly. Results from the audit will drive PD sessions

offered to staff.

Restructured Literacy Block: Following the guidance from Wit & Wisdom, reading

instruction now follows a 90 minute block that engages students in rigorous texts.

All students are accessing grade level texts and tasks that meet the demands of the

standards. AMA also adopted Wilson’s Fundations phonics program. It is a 30

minute systematic phonics program that builds critical foundational skills. The

instruction aligns with the states’ rigorous college- and career-ready standards.

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It is important to note that while AMA students are not making sufficient and

adequate gains as measured in 1.2, according to 1.6 the school is outperforming

schools that the students would have been assigned to attend. AMA students had

higher growth in ELA as shown in Figure 2. In Math, their overall proficiency

outpaced that of their peers and AMA students also had higher growth than their

peers as shown in Figure 3.

Figure #2 AMA ELA Comparison to Assigned Schools

Figure #3 AMA Math Comparison to Assigned Schools

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Additionally, according to preliminary 2019 ILearn Data, AMA is outperforming

the local school district in proficiency at each grade level in Reading and Math.

Timeline:

AMA will meet this standard by the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

3. Core Question 1.3 - Does the school demonstrate that

students are improving, the longer they are enrolled at the

school?


Teacher-created curricula: Without solid curriculum in place and with teachers

creating curriculum, there were gaps in the content taught from one grade level to

another. There was no way to ensure that curriculum was sequenced appropriately

from one grade level to another.

Teacher Effectiveness: AMA lost some key high performing teachers in 3rd through

5th grade after the 2016 and 2017 school years. It has taken a few years to rebuild

those teaching teams with strong, effective teachers.


Common Curricula with Vertical Alignment: In 2018, AMA purchased Eureka

Math to address the need for a math curriculum that was aligned to the shifts in the

standards. During the 2018-2019 school year, the school consulted with

Instruction Partners to audit the reading curriculum, pilot a few sample curricula

and ultimately select a new curriculum for the 2019-2020 school year. Wit &

Wisdom and Fundations were purchased as the ELA curriculum for the 2019-2020

school year. According to Ed Reports, Wit & Wisdom meets expectations in every

category. When the new curriculum is implemented with fidelity, student learning

will be sequenced and gaps will be closed.

Observation & Feedback: We know that teacher effectiveness has a significant

impact on student learning. Research indicates that three consecutive years spent

with high-performing teachers can eliminate the achievement gap for high

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performing students. AMA’s refreshed systems of Observation & Feedback were

codified and implementation begin during the 2017-2018 school year.


Wit & Wisdom and Fundations Adoption: An adoption of a research based Literacy

and Phonics program will ensure vertical alignment K-5. Teachers will continue to

be supported with implementation of new curriculum through the LPI process.

Observation & Feedback: AMA utilizes the Teacher Action Step Scope and

Sequence from Paul Bambrick Santoyo’s Get Better Faster. Based on classroom

observations, each teacher is assigned an observable, bite-sized action step from

the sequence. Through weekly coaching meetings and real-time feedback, the

expectation is for teachers to master one action step every two weeks.

Classroom Walkthroughs: Classroom walkthroughs by all instructional leaders are

occurring at a higher frequency than ever before. For the 2019-2020 school year,

there is intentionality, rigor and follow up from these walkthroughs. The AMA

Leadership team creates monitoring forms to use and review weekly based on

trends noticed in the observation data. For the first thirty days, walkthrough forms

were based mainly on school culture and will shift into rigor of instruction. The

data from these walkthroughs is reviewed weekly and used to identify the need for

small group practice clinics on Friday afternoons and whole group professional

development needs during Professional Development Days.

Timeline:


4. Core Question 1.4 - Is the school providing an equitable

education to students of all races and socioeconomic

backgrounds?


For the first time in 16-17, AMA did not meet standard due to the difference in

percentage of students passing standardized assessments amongst socioeconomic

statuses. There is a 17.3% gap between Paid lunch proficiency and Free/Reduced

lunch proficiency.

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Interim Assessments: AMA subscribed to the Powerschool Assessment system in

2017-2018, creating quarterly interim assessments to be administered K-5. The

school adopted a Data Driven Instruction (DDI) Protocol (Attachment F) to be

used each quarter. Teachers then completed the DDI protocol quarterly with an

instructional leader. This data was not presented or reviewed by subgroups.


Data-Driven Instruction: The Quarterly DDI protocol will go beyond the surface

level. Instructional coaches will facilitate these meetings with a deeper analysis.

Data reports and will include disaggregated subgroup data that will be reviewed

with the DDI protocol.

Timeline:


5. Core Question 1.7 - Is the school meeting its

school-specific educational goals?


Lack of Clear Expectations & Accountability: As teachers began to transition out

in 2015 and 2016, we recognized a lack of systems with clear expectations and

accountability for teacher implementation.

Varied Levels of Teacher Effectiveness: The growth data from one classroom to

another varies widely from 40%-85%. We know this is an attainable goal.


Instructional Vision Codified: During the 2017-2018 school year, the USI Director

of Academics, with input from the school leadership team, created an

instructional vision for the 17-18 school year with aligned systems of Observation

and Feedback. She trained leadership teams on these new systems in the Fall of

2017. Teachers are now receiving regular observations and being given bite-sized

action steps that can be mastered within a 2-week time period.

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Observation & Feedback: We know that teacher effectiveness has a significant

impact on student learning. Research indicates that three consecutive years spent

with high-performing teachers can eliminate the achievement gap for high

performing students. AMA’s refreshed systems of Observation & Feedback were

codified and implementation begin during the 2017-2018 school year.


Observation & Feedback: AMA utilizes the Teacher Action Step Scope and

Sequence from Paul Bambrick Santoyo’s Get Better Faster. Based on classroom

observations, each teacher is assigned an observable, bite-sized action step from

the sequence. Through weekly coaching meetings and real-time feedback, the

expectation is for teachers to master one action step every two weeks. Instructional

Coaches utilize the “See It, Name It, Do It” protocol with teachers in the coaching

meetings to ensure teachers see an example of exemplar teaching method and then

practice that skill.

Classroom Walkthroughs: Classroom walkthroughs by all instructional leaders are

occurring at a higher frequency than ever before. For the 2019-2020 school year,

there is intentionality, rigor and follow up from these walkthroughs. The AMA

Leadership team creates monitoring forms to use and review weekly based on

trends noticed in the observation data. For the first thirty days, walkthrough forms

were based mainly on school culture and will shift into rigor of instruction. The

data from these walkthroughs is reviewed weekly and used to identify the need for

small group practice clinics on Friday afternoons and whole group professional

development needs during Professional Development Days.

Timeline:


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Section B: Sustainability and Improvement

1. Sustaining Success

A. Governing Board

The Board at Avondale Meadows Academy has consistently been one of the strongest

aspects of our school over time as indicated in the Charter Renewal Report; rating

“Exceeds Standard” for being “active and knowledgeable” (Indicator 3.3).

Today, the Board continues to exercise a deep commitment to the long-term success of

the school as well as a diversity of representation in terms of both professional

background and community connections. Over the last year, four new members were

added to the Board. USI currently operates with a 10-member Board of Directors,

including:

● Kelly Braverman (Board Chair): President, IU Health Frankfort

● Rose Mays, PhD.: Professor of Nursing, IUPUI (Retired)

● Judith Hall: Retired, Educational Administrator

● Bill Harris: Vice President, Government & Institutional Banking, Regions Bank

● Oscar Gutierrez: President, Bondry Management Consultants

● Michael North: Partner, Katz Sapper & Miller

● Michael Mason: Senior Vice President, Eli Lilly & Company

● Dr. Alex Choi: President, Anesthesia Consultants of Indianapolis, LLC

● Aaron Williamson: Associate, Jackson Lewis

● Matt Tait: Managing Director, Somerset Technology Solutions

Together, the ten individuals who serve on the United Schools of Indianapolis (USI)

Board represent a broad array of skills, interests and connections to our school. Their

commitment to USI is their strongest commonality. The USI Board consistently

maintains a strong record of attendance at our Board Meetings.

The Board is also responsible for the sound fiscal oversight of the school. This includes

approval of the yearly budget and monthly review of the applications of that budget. The

Board oversees all policies and ensures they are consistent with the guidelines of Federal

and State law and the principles of effective, efficient, and safe management.

Currently the Board has four standing committees with prescribed duties and

responsibilities as outlined in the bylaws. The standing committees consist of an

executive committee, a finance committee, a governance committee, and a development

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committee. The Governance Committee of the Board formed in 2017 and has been

critical in the onboarding of new Board members. Once a potential Board member is

identified, the Board follows a well-established process that begins with an invitation to

tour the schools and meet with the Executive Director. The Board Chair and Governance

Chair follow up with an interview. Based on these meetings, an explanation of the

responsibilities of Board Members and the required background check, the Governance

Committee may present a new candidate’s qualification to the full Board for a vote. If

selected, the Executive Director and a Governance Committee member provide an

orientation for each new and the Board before the new member’s first meeting.

Finally, through the years, the Board has also remained committed to convening Board

retreats during which we’ve identified strategic organizational priorities, including

Board Development. At our most recent retreat (August 2019) the following strategic

priorities were identified:

1. Strengthen implementation of curricular and instructional systems.

2. Codify and strengthen implementation of student culture and adult culture

systems.

3. Design and implement network-wide systems for recruitment, selection,

onboarding and ongoing professional development of exceptional talent.

4. Strengthen the organization’s operational and financial health.

B. The Leadership Team

Sarah Lofton, Principal

Sarah Lofton joined the AMA team three years ago as Principal. Mrs. Lofton is a TFA

alum who taught five years at her placement school in St. Louis. Additionally, Sarah

served as Assistant School Leader at a charter school in St. Louis before coming home to

Indianapolis. Sarah earned her Masters in Teaching from Webster University and her

Masters in Educational Leadership and Business Administration from St. Louis

University.

Mrs. Lofton reports directly to Kelly Herron, Executive Director. Principal responsibilities include:

● Promoting, motivating and maintaining a productive, creative, and caring

atmosphere in which every scholar, parent, and educator can experience success

● Ensuring the Instructional Vision of the school is carried out by all stakeholders

● Fostering an environment where scholars and staff are challenged to attain the

vision of the school

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● Establishing a school culture based on caring, concern, trust, and support for all

scholars that adapts to the special needs of our families

● Hiring and evaluating all school personnel

● Managing day to day operations of the school

Kandis Pearson, K-2 Assistant Principal

Kandis Pearson is in her 11th year at AMA. She served seven years as a kindergarten

teacher, two years as a 1st grade teacher and mentor, and two years as an instructional

coach before stepping into the role of Assistant Principal for the 2019-2020 school year.

Ashley Meyer, 3-5 Assistant Principal

Ashley Meyer spent three full years as a highly effective 5th grade teacher at AMA. She

served as the summer school administrator and oversaw the Math Pentathlon program

prior to moving into her role as Assistant Principal. She is entering her third year in the

role.

Assistant Principals report directly to the Principal. Responsibilities include:

● Working closely with the principal and Director of Academics in shaping

curricula, instruction, assessment and culture.

● Employing systems of Observation and Feedback to support AMA teachers in the

implementation of our curricula and maintaining continuous attention to student

achievement.

● Implementing the overall design of our assessment schedule through which we

continuously measure growth and shape the instructional focus, support and

professional development priorities across our school.

● Providing coaching and development to Instructional Coaches and Deans of

Discipline.

● Facilitating Weekly Data Meetings in which teachers analyze scholar data to

promote academic growth.

● Evaluating teacher performance using the TAP rubric

● Promoting the active involvement of families

● Managing the Dean of Discipline to ensure all school culture systems are being

implemented with fidelity.

● Meeting with parents as necessary to relay students’ progress and issues of

concern and, as necessary, crafting academic or behavior intervention plans in

accordance with student needs.

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AMA also has an Instructional Leadership Team, which includes two instructional

coaches and grade level mentor teachers as well as the administrative team. Members of

this team evaluate classroom instruction, conduct regular professional development and

coordinate support for each classroom teacher. This is an example of the ways in which

the structure of leadership at AMA offers multiple career paths for teachers to assume

responsibilities outside the classroom and build skills that support leadership

development while lending support for AMA’s overall program.

As referenced in the Executive Summary, in July 2017, the Board launched United

Schools of Indianapolis, a network team to support schools and enable principals to

focus on instructional leadership. The USI network team (the majority of whom have

been with the school for five or more years) supports the Administrative Team at AMA.

See Attachment H for the USI Organizational Chart.

The USI network support team includes :

Kelly Herron, Executive Director

Kelly Herron joined the staff at AMA in 2006 as one of its founding teachers. Two years

later, she was named Assistant Principal, and, in January 2012, she assumed the role of

Principal. Mrs. Herron also has had two children matriculate through AMA and one

child is a current student.

Mrs. Herron provides support and oversight to each Director on the Network team as

well as each of the four school principals in the network. On a weekly basis, Kelly

facilitates coaching meetings with the AMA principal and conducts building

walkthroughs.

Jessica Kohlmeyer, Director of Academic Affairs

Jessica Kohlmeyer was a founding teacher at Avondale Meadows Academy in 2006. For

the first five years she taught grades 1st through 3rd and served as a mentor teacher

before later serving as an Instructional Coach for two years and Assistant Principal of

Academics for three years.

Jessica’s primary role is to ensure the implementation of instructional systems across

the network. She spends the majority of her time coaching and developing Assistant

Principals and Instructional Coaches through weekly meetings and conducting building

walkthroughs.

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Janie Seivers, Director of Business Affairs

Janie joined the team as the AMA Office Manager in 2013. In that role she focused her

attention on the Business Office and became the School Treasurer. She quickly became a

mentor to the Business Manager at Vision Academy, modeling proper separation of

duties and offering guidance in Human Resources practices. Janie’s ability to

understand how sound business operations can be aligned to the core values and

mission of our organization has proven invaluable.

Janie’s primary responsibilities include human resources and financial management. In

this role she works with all new hires, oversees payroll and manages the benefits

package offered to all staff. In managing the finances she offers oversight to the Business

Manager, works closely with the accountant, auditors, development office and investors.

She also manages the USI Facilities Manager overseeing operational procedures in each

of the buildings.

Anne Swearingen, Director of Special Education

Anne joined AMA in 2007 as a Special Education teacher. As the number of special

education students grew at AMA, Anne’s role evolved and her teaching responsibilities

decreased as her supervisory responsibilities increased. Over the years, Anne has proven

herself to be especially committed to advocating for students with IEPs.

Anne’s primary role is to support the Special Education teachers at each school. She

manages the testing process and ensures compliance with IEPs, state and federal

mandates.

Sean Dunlavy, Director of Development

The Board and network recognized the need for additional philanthropic funding to

support the cost of the network team. The Director of Development position was a part

of the capacity building plan and set to be hired in 2018. Sean is the newest member of

the USI team, joining in December 2018.

Sean’s primary role is to spread the word about the great work happening in our schools

and close the funding gap by raising approximately $350,000/year for the schools.

C. The Teaching Staff

The Leadership Team and the Board recognizes the quality of our school and success we

expect to come relies on the quality of classroom instruction. Our ability to recruit,

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develop and retain great teachers is critical to our continuous improvement and ability

reach our ambitious performance goals.

Since 2010, AMA has implemented the TAP system for student and teacher

advancement. This system has four core pieces.

1) Instructionally-Focused Accountability

2) Ongoing, Applied Professional Development

3) Multiple Career Paths

4) Performance-Based Compensation

We rely primarily on our Instructional Leadership Team to implement this system. We

employ two full-time Instructional Coaches – who oversee the development, coaching,

evaluation and overall support of our classroom teachers.

Instructionally-Focused Accountability: Together, the Instructional Coaches and Mentor

teachers work closely together to support our faculty and hold them to high standards of

performance. Our systems for Observation & Feedback are an important part of our

program and resource in our capacity to recruit, support, develop and retain strong

teachers. Each teacher is observed by his/her instructional coach a minimum of one

time each week. Based on those observations, Instructional Coaches assign each teacher

an action step using the teacher Action Step Scope and Sequence from Get Better Faster.

If there are any performance concerns or a lack of teacher progression on action steps,

the teacher will be observed more often.

AMA utilizes Whetstone, a classroom observation platform used to give feedback to

teachers and monitor the instructional systems critical to student achievement (Data

Driven Instruction, Coaching Meetings, Lesson Plan Internalization). Instructional

leaders at the school analyze the data from Whetstone weekly to determine individual

supports for teachers as well as needs for small group and whole group development.

Ongoing, Applied Professional Development: Our Instructional Coaches also provide

ongoing, applied professional development through weekly 1:1 coaching meetings and

grade level Lesson Plan Internalization (LPI) meetings as well as the professional

development days, strategically placed throughout our school year.

Multiple Career Paths: The opportunity to offer teachers multiple career paths has been

especially powerful in both the support we lend teachers new to our school but also in

the help we provide veterans, who are often interested in looking for opportunities

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outside their specific classroom that still allow them to stay connected and develop as

educators.

Performance Based Compensation: Each of our teachers can earn a performance-based

bonus to support retention of effective teachers and provide incentives for strong

performance. These annual bonuses are based upon a combination of classroom

evaluations and student proficiency and growth measures.

Finally, in addition to the steps we take to retain and help develop our teachers, we also

track closely basic data measuring teacher retention rate. We must never be hesitant to

let an ineffective teacher go; yet, among those who do meet our high standards, we must

continue to work hard to retain them as teachers and/or leaders. During AMA’s first

charter term, the staff retention rate averaged 76%. The thirteen-year average is 82%.

AMA’s staff retention rate from 2017-2018 is at a 4-year high of 85.7%. Figure #4 below

relays our retention rates since 2013.

Figure # 4: Staff Retention Rates

We will continue to track this data closely while we employ a rigorous system of teacher

recruitment and selection to ensure the strongest possible teachers join our team. We

are equally committed to continuous growth, including the valuable lessons we glean

from those who leave our team as well as those stay with us and continue as critical

members of our instructional team.

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D. Academic Achievement

Avondale Meadows Academy remains committed to the work of providing a high quality

education to a population that has, for far too long, been underserved. The school

remains focused on continuous improvement and will stay the course to ensure

improvements in academic achievement.

AMA has a deep partnership with Attuned Education Partners that emerged from a

strategic planning process during the 2016-2017 school year and developed into weekly

coaching of network leaders and monthly development opportunities and walkthroughs

with school level leaders.

Attuned Education Partners is comprised of a group of former teachers, principals, and

system leaders from some of the nation’s most effective districts and charter school

networks. The results that many of these leaders have garnered are extraordinary. Their

experience in the work of creating replicable systems has been invaluable for AMA.

The following strategic priorities emerged from the work in 2017:

1. Recruit exceptional talent.

2. Codify the network's instructional and school culture systems. Codify the

network's instructional and school culture systems.

3. Develop and support school administrative teams to implement the network's

instructional systems effectively.

4. Ensure the organization's operational and financial health.

For each of these priorities, the team developed initiatives to carry out each priority. See

Attachment I for the list of 2017 priorities and milestones.

While the team is pleased with the progress made on the 2017 priorities, especially in

the area of codifying our systems, we recognize the need to “double down” on those

priorities with deeper implementation and accountability. This prompted the 2019

strategic planning process.

USI deepened the partnership with Attuned Education Partners to facilitate this process

which began with a full Organizational Diagnostic. Attuned Education Partners

reviewed key organizational trend data to identify areas of strength, weakness and

opportunity. The team used school instructional systems audits to summarize strengths

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and growth areas from walkthroughs and instructional systems data. Lastly, the

Strategic Planning officer conducted a survey of all staff to collect perspectives on what

to start, stop and continue.

The completion of the Organizational Diagnostic confirmed the following:

1) Core systems are now in place as the team has:

a) Adopted highly rated Common Core State Standards (CCSS)-aligned

curriculum in math (Eureka) and science (Amplify) and completed process

for K-5 ELA (Wit & Wisdom).

b) Adopted a student culture vision, a rubric to measure against the vision

and started culture walkthroughs to assess progress.

c) Improved upon the common interim assessments (IAs) we developed in

17-18 and adopted a data analysis protocol; Leaders review IA data at

regular intervals.

d) Adopted an Observation & Feedback (O/F) protocol, increased frequency

of teacher observations and increased coaching proficiency.

e) Adopted a strong lesson plan and unit/module internalization protocol

and built in time for collaborative planning.

2) The school is beginning to see the impact on student outcomes.

a) In 2018, AMA was a mid-performer on I-STEP Math/ELA proficiency

relative to other mayor-sponsored charters.

b) AMA continues to outperform schools that the students would have

otherwise been assigned to attend in both ELA and Math.

c) 2019 I-READ data is encouraging.

d) Preliminary 2019 ILearn Data shows AMA student proficiency

outperforming the local school district in ELA and Math at each grade

level.

3) Leading indicators suggest that we are headed in the right direction.

a) AMA participates in a national survey conducted by The New Teacher

Project (TNTP) that assesses the instructional culture of schools.

b) AMA’s instructional index score improved 1.8 points from Spring 2018 to

Spring 2019 and is approaching the national average.

c) Our strongest domains on this survey are the areas on which we have

focused most intensely in the last year: family/community engagement,

observation & feedback, professional development and evaluation.

See Attachment J for data for AMA Insight Survey Data.

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2. Ongoing Improvement

Based on the Organizational Diagnostic, the team recognizes the opportunities to

improve rigor of implementation. AMA will continue to use walkthroughs, coaching and

professional development to more effectively monitor rigor and consistency of

implementation of our core systems. The network and school leaders will have an

increased focus on the following areas: rigor of curriculum implementation,

school-wide behavior systems, consistently provide feedback and coaching for teachers

on data analysis, systems to ensure reteach plans are effectively planned or executed,

development of coaches, revision of IAs to be more aligned with content and format of

ILEARN.

Additionally, looking across the data sources from the organization diagnostic, it’s

evident that inputs are in place. As we strengthen them, we are confident we will see

improvements in outcomes. For that reason, there is not a major pivot in priorities.

Instead, we are focused on deeper implementation. Figure #5 shows the relationship

between the 2017 and 2019 Priorities.

From the 2019 strategic planning process, the following refreshed priorities emerged:

1. Strengthen implementation of curricular and instructional systems.

2. Codify and strengthen implementation of student culture and adult culture

systems.

3. Design and implement network-wide systems for recruitment, selection,

onboarding and ongoing professional development of exceptional talent.

4. Strengthen the organization’s operational and financial health.

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Figure #5 Strategic Priority Refresh

The USI Board retreat to complete the Strategic Priority Refresh took place on August 23,

2019. The leadership team has identified initiatives for each priority and is in the process

of mapping out the multi-year plan with milestones and owners identified. The

leadership team will review and monitor the milestones at least once per month to hold

themselves accountable to the work. See Attachment I for the list of refreshed 2019

priorities with initiatives.

C. Conclusion

With the submission of this application, it is our wish to continue to be a

Mayor-sponsored charter school. We are truly honored with the opportunity the

Mayor’s office has afforded our team to know and help educate the highly intelligent,

exceptionally energetic children and dedicated families that come through our doors

each day. Provided further chance to work with the young people of Indianapolis, we are

confident AMA will continue to serve not only as a keystone in the revitalization of the

Avondale Meadows community but also a powerful part of the success of public

education across Indianapolis.

Thank you for the opportunity to share with you our progress and the consideration

given to the renewal of our charter.

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IV. Educational Service Provider Questionnaire

1. Overview:

Avondale Meadows Academy does not contract with any service providers. As

mentioned, AMA is part of the United Schools of Indianapolis network of charter

schools. USI oversees and supports the work at three charter schools: Avondale

Meadows Academy, Vision Academy and Avondale Meadows Middle School.

Vision Academy opened in 2014 as a replication of Avondale Meadows Academy,

serving Kindergarten through 6th grade students at the time. Vision has

expanded to serving Kindergarten through 8th grade. The school has a capacity

of 468 students and is currently exceeding enrollment targets with a current

enrollment of 240 students.

Avondale Meadows Middle School was developed out of response to parent

demand for Avondale Meadows Academy to continue to serve students past 5th

grade. The school launched in a temporary facility in 2017 serving 6th-7th. In

2018, AMMS moved into a new facility located on the Avondale Meadows

Academy campus and expanded to 8th grade. At capacity, AMMS will serve 300

students.

2. Academic Performance:

Vision Academy:

Since the implementation of the 2015-2016 ISTEP test and the state

accountability framework, Vision Academy has yielded improvement each year

with proficiency and growth points as shown below in Figure #6 and Figure #7.

For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years, Vision Academy’s Accountability

Grade was based on growth only. During those two years, the school received a C

and A rating, respectively. The 2017-2018 school year was the first year that

proficiency was calculated into the rating. Vision received a D despite

improvements in both student proficiency and growth.

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Figure #6 Vision ISTEP Proficiency Over Time

Figure #7 Vision ISTEP Growth Points Over Time

According to the Mayor’s Office Accountability Framework for Core Question 1.6,

Vision Academy students are outperforming their peers at traditional public

schools that students would have been assigned to attend if they did not attend

Vision in three out of four categories.

Vision Academy’s students’ English/Language Arts proficiency was higher than

that of their peers and also had a higher growth as shown below in Figure 8.

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Figure #8 Vision Academy ELA Comparison to Assigned Schools

Vision Academy students’ Math proficiency was lower than that of their peers,

however, Vision students had a higher growth in Math as seen below in Figure 9.

Figure #9 Vision Academy Math Comparison to Assigned Schools

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Avondale Meadows Middle School:

In AMMS first year of operations, 2017-2018, the school earned a B rating on the

State Accountability System. This grade was based solely on earning 88.3 growth

points on the ISTEP test.

According to the Mayor’s Office Accountability Framework for Core Question 1.6,

AMMS students are outperforming their peers at traditional public schools that

students would have been assigned to attend if they did not attend Vision in two

out of four categories.

AMMS students’ English/Language Arts proficiency was higher than that of their

peers and also had a higher growth as shown below in Figure 10.

Figure #10 AMMS ELA Comparison to Assigned Schools

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AMMS students’ Math proficiency was lower than that of their peers, however,

Vision students had a higher growth in Math as seen below in Figure 11.

Figure #11 AMMS Math Comparison to Assigned Schools

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5-Year Budget

FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 FY2024

Enrollment Estimate 450 450 450 450 450

Revenue

State Funding 3,890,650 3,908,709 3,935,051 3,961,656 3,988,527

Federal Funding 776,000 826,090 826,090 826,090 826,090

Private Funding 5,000 55,000 55,000 55,000 55,000

Other Income 50,750 49,000 49,000 51,000 51,000

Total Revenue 4,722,400 4,838,799 4,865,141 4,893,746 4,920,617

Expenses

Instructional Expenses

Personnel Costs 2,038,217 2,084,652 2,064,133 2,102,146 2,139,237

Instructional Services 131,000 127,000 127,000 127,000 127,000

Supplies & Materials 77,500 77,500 77,500 77,500 77,500

Total Instructional Expenses 2,246,717 2,289,152 2,268,633 2,306,646 2,343,737

Administration Expenses

Personnel Costs 699,329 716,164 729,721 743,540 757,177

Staff Training 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000

Supplies & Materials 57,500 57,500 57,500 57,500 57,500

Professional Services 458,256 460,800 463,644 466,517 469,419

Other Expenses 10,100 17,300 17,300 17,300 17,300

Total Administration Expenses 1,230,185 1,256,764 1,273,165 1,289,857 1,306,396

Facilities

Building Lease

Maintenance 204,000 201,400 204,600 208,800 212,200

Equipment 7,000

Total Facilities Expenses 211,000 201,400 204,600 208,800 212,200

Technology Expense 3,100 3,900 4,000 4,200 4,200

Interest Expense 307,939 304,063 299,643 294,379 289,443

Depreciation Expense 232,262 213,133 212,751 208,708 185,929

Other Expenses

Extra-Curricular 41,650 42,000 42,000 42,000 42,000

Transportation 900 900 900 900 900

Student Lunch Expense 260,000 260,000 260,000 260,000 260,000

Total Other Expenses 302,550 302,900 302,900 302,900 302,900

Total Expenses 4,533,753 4,571,312 4,565,692 4,615,490 4,644,805

Net Operating Income 188,647 267,487 299,449 278,256 275,812

Attachment B. Five Year Budget

●We teach a rigorous, standards-based curriculum.

●We sustain student attention. ●We have a warm and structured

environment for learning. ●We engage students by pushing the

thinking and the doing onto them. ●We respond to data in the moment. ●We are professional and prepared.

Attachment C. Instructional Vision

● We provide a positive environment where scholars,

teachers and families are supported.

● All interactions within the school community are

respectful.

● We establish high expectations for all stakeholders and

hold one another accountable to those expectations.

● We develop a classroom culture where scholars are

engaged and enjoying academic challenges.

● We create an environment that is safe, orderly and

organized.

School Culture Vision Attachment D.

Step Agenda

Step 0 → Pre-work

off for the standard) ● Choose which parts of the student work packet need to be completed in advance and

communicate to team ● Choose critical part of 1-2 lessons for practice

Teachers ● Read all lessons ● Print all exit tickets and student work packets. Complete all exit tickets and all

leader-assigned student work for the week ● Mid-modules and End of Modules completed

Step 1 → Week overview (10 min)

● Teachers review for one minute ● What are the standards/objectives we will be covering this week? (Teacher reads) ● Summary of lessons (30 seconds or less)

Step 2 → Review assessment items (IA, ILEARN) (5 min)

● Review IA ● Review Specs ● Review mid-mod and EOM ● How does the EOM relate to this week’s assessment? ● Stamp the understanding

Step 3 → Exit Ticket Exemplars (5 min)

● Look at each lessons problem sets and exit tickets. ● Which problems do we think students will do well on? Struggle? ● Must Dos?

Step 4 → ID most critical concepts/ questions/ conceptual understanding (4 min)

● Finalize Know/Show Chart for the week. ○ What concepts should students be able to articulate? ○ What should students be able to say/write/solve? ○ What types of tasks/questions/problems are most important this week? Flip

through the student work packet and place a star next to highest priority and a triangle next to lowest priority activities or problems.

○ What strategies should students use when tackling these tasks?

Step 5 → Anticipate misconceptions (5 min)

● What is the common error and how can we specifically address it? ● How will we respond?

○ Draft prompts ○ Role play

Step 6 → Practice teaching (12 min)

● Role play (3 min) ● Feedback (1 min) ● Redo (1 min) ● Final Feedback (1 min)

Step 7 → Close (2 min)

★ What are the key things we want students to be able to walk away with?

Attachment E. LPI Meeting Protocol

Leader ● Determine which lessons are the focus of the meeting and send reminder ● Find IA and ILEARN questions aligned with the standards/objectives for this week (Print

Before Assessment – Step 0

PREPARE ● Review assessment or sample items to ID appropriate rigor of standard. ● Review LPs to ensure students practice this level of rigor. ● Practice writing sample items (or ID’ing them from banks and materials) and get

feedback. ● Predict performance on each question.

Post Assessment – Step 1

SURFACE ANALYSIS ● Review results to determine:

● Which standards/topics/strands had highest levels of mastery? ● Which standards/topics/strands had lowest levels of mastery? ● What patterns/trends can you identify? [For example, did a particular group of

students do better than another? Were there high or low outlier students?] Post Assessment – Step 2

DEEP ANALYSIS ● Choose highest leverage questions based on:

● Questions assessing critical standards with low mastery ● Questions where performance has a large range ● Questions where teacher over-predicted mastery

● For questions identified: ● Write exemplar and ID characteristics of exemplar response [For open-ended,

write the ideal response. For MC, write out exemplar annotations of the question and ideal thinking (e.g., process of elimination)]

● Review a sample of student work and ID gaps between student responses and exemplar response by: ● ID missing or incorrect elements of OER ● ID most common incorrect answers ● ID other gaps (e.g., annotations, etc.)


NAME THE CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDINGS ● ID the critical conceptual understandings that the student needs to master this

standard/skill ● ID 1-3 most critical conceptual misunderstandings/GAPS and name them as

specifically as possible. [e.g., When identifying main idea of text, students are too focused on details, but not able to generalize to describe main idea that applies to entire text.]

Post Assessment- Step 4

NAME THE PROCEDURAL UNDERSTANDINGS ● ID the critical procedural understandings that the student needs to master this

standard/skill ● ID 1-3 most critical procedural misunderstandings/gaps and name them as

specifically as possible. [e.g., Students need to annotate all word problems by underlining pertinent given information and circling the quantity they are to find.]


DEVELOP/CURATE RE-ASSESSMENT ● ID or develop 1-3 questions to reassess the standard.

Attachment F. Teacher Data Driven Assessment Analysis Protocol For Interim/Benchmark Assessments, Periodic External Assessments


RETEACH AND RE-ASSESS ● Develop lesson to reteach targeting the conceptual and/procedural

misunderstandings (could be 1 or more lessons). ● Execute re-teach. ● Reassess and repeat steps above as needed.

1. Take the benchmark and work out each problem as though you were an exemplar student. 2. Identify the 2-3 most difficult questions on the exam.

Question # _____ Why did you choose this question?

What is the standard or strand or topic?

Exemplar Response

What skills and content do students need to answer this question?

Break down the steps students will need to follow in order to answer this question.

Sample item that mirrors this question.

Teacher Data-Driven Analysis Template Quarter________ Subject__________________________________

Question # _____ Why did you choose this question?

What is the standard or strand or topic?

Exemplar Response

What skills and content do students need to answer this question?

Break down the steps students will need to follow in order to answer this question.

Sample item that mirrors this question.

Teacher Data-Driven Analysis Template SURFACE ANALYSIS Highest-Performing Questions [70%+ Mastery] # Standard/Strand % Correct Possible Causes of High Performance

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.

.

.

.

.

. Lowest-Performing Questions [Below 70% Mastery] # Standard/Strand % Correct Possible Causes of Low Performance . . . . . . . Highest Performing Students Student Score Possible Causes of High Performance . . . . . . Lowest Performing Students Student Score Possible Causes of Low Performance

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DEEP ANALYSIS, NAME THE GAP, AND RE-ASSESS Question #(s) _____ Why did you choose this question? What is the standard or strand or topic? Exemplar Response

Notes on Student Responses (attach them) Conceptual Understanding Procedural Understanding RE-ASSESSMENT Re-Assessment Question #1 Re-Assessment Question #2 Re-Assessment Question #3 RETEACH Use the calendar below to plan when you will re-teach and re-assess. Specify when re-teach will happen in small and large group. Include spiral review for medium and high mastery standards (if applicable). Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Attach your reteach LP(s).

Leading Teacher Teams to Analyze Student Daily Work

Prepare Before the meeting

Prepare

Materials ready: ID student exemplar, teachers turn in student work, pull and categorize hi/med/lo student work (just a few of each), pull upcoming lesson plan(s) and pertinent prompting guides

Prime the pump: script the reteach plan and the gap in student understanding; unpack the standard

Preview protocol with teachers: assign roles, novice teachers speak first, veteran teachers add on and clarify, leader provides additional clarity at end, chart, preview the need for concision from more verbose team members, use of a timer, creation of note taking template

See It 12 mins

See Past Success, See the Exemplar, and See and Analyze the Gap

See Past Success (1 min):

“Last week we planned to reteach _____ and we went from ___ % proficient to ___%. Nice job!”

“What actions did you take to reach this goal?”

See the Exemplar (8 min):

Narrow the focus: “Today, I want to dive into [specific standard] and the following assessment item.”

Interpret the standard(s) o “Take 1 min: in your own words, what should a student know or be able to do to show mastery?” o Chart it o Go last: add anything that is missing

Unpack the teacher’s written exemplar: o “Take 1-2 min to review the exemplar: What were the keys to an ideal answer?” o “How does this [part of the exemplar] align with the standard?” o “Is there anything you would add to our chart of the unpacked standard?”

Analyze the student exemplar: o “Take 1 min: How does your student exemplar compare to the teacher exemplar? Is there a gap?” o “Do students have different paths/evidence to demonstrate mastery of the standard?” o “Does the student exemplar offer something that your exemplar does not?”

See the Gap (5 min):

Move to the sample of un-mastered student work (look only at representative sample): o “Take 2 minutes: What are the key gaps between the rest of our student work and the exemplar?” o “Look back at our chart: using the language of the standard and exemplar, what are the key

misconceptions for our students?”

Name It 2 mins

State the Error and Conceptual Misunderstanding

Punch it—Stamp the Error and Conceptual Understanding:

“So our key area to reteach is: o Describe the conceptual understanding o (if needed) describe the procedural gap (e.g., memorize multiplication tables) and/or missing habits

(e.g. annotating text, showing work)

Write down and/or chart the highest leverage action students will take to close the gap

Attachment G. WEEKLY DATA MEETINGS

Do It 20-45 min

Plan the Reteach, Practice, and Follow Up

Plan the Reteach (8-10 mins):

Select the re-teach structure: o “Should we use modeling or guided discourse?” “Why?”

Select the task & identify exemplar response: o Select materials: task, text, student work to show-call, what to chart o “What is the ideal answer we want to see that will show we’ve closed the gap?” o (If needed—follow-up question): “What is the ‘why’ that students should be able to articulate?”

Plan the re-teach: o “Take ______ min and write your script. I will do the same so we can spar.”

If a model: write the think aloud and questions

If guided discourse: select student work for show-call, write prompts o “Let’s compare our reteach plans. What do you notice? What can we pull from each to make the

strongest plan?” (Revise the plan)

Plan the independent practice: o “What will you monitor to see if they are doing this correctly? What laps will you name?”

Practice the Gap (remaining time):

“Let’s practice.” o If a model: practice modeling the thinking, precision of language, & change in tone/cadence o If guided discourse: practice Show-Call, prompting students, and stamping the understanding o If monitoring: practice the laps, annotations, prompts when students are stuck, or stop the show

(If a struggle) “I’m going to model the teaching for you first. [Teach.] What do you notice?”

Repeat until the practice is successful. CFU: “What made this more effective?”

Lock it in: “How did our practice meet or enhance what we planned for the reteach?” Follow Up (last 2 min):

Set the follow-up plan: when to teach, when to re-assess, when to revisit this data o Observe implementation within 24 hours; teacher sends re-assessment data to leader

Spiral: o Identify multiple moments when teacher can continue to assess and track mastery: Do Now

questions, homework, modified independent practice

Move to the lowest scoring work: o “What students do we need to pull for tutoring? What do we need to remediate?” o “How can we adjust our monitoring plan to meet the needs of these students?”

RE-TEACHING STRUCTURES

Option 1: Guided

Discourse (some

students struggle; trending

error)

Guide Student Conversation

Know the end game--what strategy/skill/thinking you want students to understand via the discourse

Start from student work (Show-Call) o Post/display/chart an exemplar student response AND/OR an incorrect student response

Call on students—ID the student thinking: o Exemplar: what did this student do?

Push for clearer answers when they haven’t precisely IDed the successful strategy o Incorrect response: do you agree/disagree with this answer? What is the error?

Stamp the understanding: o What are the key things to remember when solving problems like these? o Name the strategy/conceptual understanding; have students put it in their own words

Option 2: Modeling

(Most students are struggling)

Show the Students How

Model precisely the thinking when moving through a specific task: o Narrow the focus to precisely the thinking students are struggling with: that frees their mind to

focus only on that component o Model replicable thinking steps that students can follow o Model how to activate one’s content knowledge/skills that have been learned in previous lessons

Vary in tone and cadence to sound different from a “teacher” voice.

Give students a clear listening/note-taking task that fosters active listening of the model

Debrief: What did I do in my model? o What are the key things to remember when you are doing the same in your own work?

Attachment G. WEEKLY DATA MEETINGS Attachment G. WEEKLY DATA MEETINGS

kherron

Text Box

Attachment H. USI Organizational Chart

SP #1: Recruit exceptional talent. 1.1 Develop and implement a system to attract, source, and hire talent1.2 Develop a principal pipelineSP #2: Codify the network's instructional and school culture systems. 2.1 Draft, publish and adopt a shared instructional vision that articulates expectations for

consistent practices.2.2 Curate or create a limited number of high-impact teacher-facing instructional systems

and protocols intended to be common. 2.3 Curate or create a limited number of high-impact leader-facing instructional systems and

protocols intended to be common. 2.4 Develop a comprehensive assessment plan that includes standardizing benchmark

assessments.2.5 Create, curate or adopt common curricular resources for ELA. 2.6 Develop adult learning systems that prioritize teachers developing content knowledge

and content-specific pedagogical skills, grounded in practice perfect and lesson internalization protocol.

SP #3: Develop and support school administrative teams to implement the network's instructional systems effectively.

3.1 Define each principal's needs and goals and implement differentiated weekly system coaching and walk-throughs

3.2 Define a clear purpose, agenda, and structure for and then implement monthly group principal meetings and quarterly admin team meetings

3.3 Help principals strengthen SOPs3.4 Create and implement principal evaluation systemSP #4: Ensure the organization's operational and financial health.4.1 Build and implement processes to manage finance and vendor relations for schools4.2 Build and implement systems to collect and report school data4.3 Develop and implement a comprehensive student recruitment plan to ensure the

network meets enrollment targets

Attachment I. 2017 Strategic Priorities & Initiatives

Attachment J. AMA Insight Survey Data Spring 2019

Improvements in Instructional Culture Index

Domain Scores - Compared to Top National Quartile

Domain Scores – Trends Over Time

SP/Initiative # DescriptionSP #1: Strengthen implementation of curricular and instructional systems.1.1 Improve DDI by implementing Weekly Data Meetings and strengthening implementation of

Interim Assessment Analysis.1.2 Strengthen implementation of observation and feedback to ensure effective teacher practice,

faster mastery of action steps, and effective monitoring systems.1.3 Implement improved LPI to ensure effective internalization of Wit and Wisdom, Eureka, and

Amplify.1.4 Effectively roll out and implement Wit and Wisdom.1.5 Codify vision for excellence in content areas.1.6 Create and refine multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS).1.7 Improve and monitor effectiveness of SpEd supports.SP #2: Codify and strengthen implementation of student culture and adult culture systems.2.1 Design and implement behavior management systems (inside and outside classrooms) aligned to

our values.2.2 Create and implement multi-year plan to ensure schools run with equity at the forefront.SP #3: Design and implement network-wide systems for recruitment, selection, onboarding and

ongoing professional development of exceptional talent.3.1 Develop and implement United teacher competency model and selection rubrics.3.2 Create and implement a recruitment plan (including teacher pipeline sources, marketing

strategy).3.3 Strengthen principal, AP, and coach development (including leading change).3.4 Develop an internal leadership pipeline (e.g., mentors, teacher leaders, APs, coaches, principals).3.5 Develop and implement a new hire onboarding process (operations and culture). SP #4: Strengthen the organization's operational and financial health.4.1 Develop and execute a student recruitment strategy.4.2 Develop and execute a fundraising plan.4.3 Continue to monitor and update multi-year financial model (inclusive of capital plan and multi-

year network staffing model) to reflect the needs of a growing network.4.4 Codify and implement operational systems and protocols.

Attachment K. 2019 Strategic Priorities & Initiatives

avondale meadows academy · 2020-01-23 · avondale meadows academy in 2014. over the years, as...

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