executive summary: preparing middle graders for success

A Roadmap

for the District

Pad

res & Jóvenes Unidos ~

The Center for Edu

cation

Policy Analysis Executive Summary

Preparing Denver

Middle Graders

for Success

Preparing Denver Middle Graders for Success

Padres Unidos is a nonprofit organization based in Denver, Colorado. Led by people of color,

Padres Unidos works for equality and justice in education, racial justice for youth, immigrant

rights, and the right to quality health care for all. Jovenes Unidos is the youth initiative of Padres

Unidos.

3025 West 37th Avenue, Suite 209

Denver, CO 80211

(303) 458-6545

www.padresunidos.org

This report was researched and written by Kelly Hupfeld and Tracey O’Brien of the Center for Edu-

cation Policy Analysis in the School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver. We would

like to thank the principals, teachers, and district administrators who so generously shared their

time with us and who clearly are devoted to improving student outcomes in the Denver Pub-

lic Schools.

1380 Lawrence St., Ste. 500

Denver, CO 80204

(303) 315-2896

www.cepa.ucdenver.edu

The skills that many students do not achieve mastery of when they are in middle The skills that many students do not achieve mastery of when they are in middle The skills that many students do not achieve mastery of when they are in middle The skills that many students do not achieve mastery of when they are in middle school areschool areschool areschool are the same skills that they fail to display when they arrive at college.the same skills that they fail to display when they arrive at college.the same skills that they fail to display when they arrive at college.the same skills that they fail to display when they arrive at college. Even Even Even Even though they havethough they havethough they havethough they have met the requirements for high school graduation, they remain met the requirements for high school graduation, they remain met the requirements for high school graduation, they remain met the requirements for high school graduation, they remain profoundly limited in their abilities to do collegeprofoundly limited in their abilities to do collegeprofoundly limited in their abilities to do collegeprofoundly limited in their abilities to do college----level academic work, in many ways level academic work, in many ways level academic work, in many ways level academic work, in many ways because of what they did not learn in middle school.because of what they did not learn in middle school.because of what they did not learn in middle school.because of what they did not learn in middle school.

~ College/University and School Partnerships: Lessons Learned at CUNY and Recommendations

to the Committee; A Report to the K-12 and Access Partnerships, Office of Collaborative

Programs at the Office of Academic Affairs of the City University of New York, 2007.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 4

Middle Grades are the Key to Improving High School Graduation Rates 11

What the Research Says: Early Indicators 12

What the Research Says: Accelerating Achievement 15

Using Early Warning Systems to Target Help for Students 15

Extended Learning Time 16

Personalized Learning Environments 17

Specific Programs and School Models 17

The State of Schools Serving Low-Income Middle Graders in DPS 18

Breaking the Cycle: Significantly Accelerating Student Growth 23

What Works: The Roadmap for Success 23

Element 1: Focus on Student Learning: High Expectations,

Constant Monitoring, and Intensive Support 24

Element 2: College-Going Culture: A Sense of Community, Belief

in Individual Success, and an Emphasis on Going to College 26

Element 3: Great Teachers: High Expectations and Support for

Teachers 28

What Doesn’t Work: Perpetuating the Cycle 29

The Key Role of District Leadership in Systemic Change 30

Response to Intervention: Seizing the Opportunity 31

Conclusions and Recommendations 33

References 36

Appendix

38

Preparing Denver Middle Graders for Success

Executive Summary: Preparing Denver Middle Graders for Success

Executive Summary: A Middle School Roadmap to Success

The Problem: Systemic Failures in Middle Schools Lead to Low High School

Graduation Rates.

Policy makers and politicians have focused a great deal of attention in recent years on

high school reform. Prompted by dismal graduation statistics showing that only 69 out of

every 100 ninth graders will graduate from high school four years later (EPE 2009), luminaries

from Bill Gates to President Barack Obama have championed the importance of staying in

school. The graduation rate in the Denver Public Schools, like most urban school districts, is

well below national and state averages.

In DPS, just 53 percent of entering ninth graders in the class of 2008-09 graduated four years

later. While graduation rates in DPS are improving over past years, the odds of graduating

from high school in DPS are still roughly 50-50 — a coin toss.

Of course, this is not news to DPS. The District has launched several initiatives over the past

few years designed to improve high schools, ranging from the report of the DPS Commission

on Secondary Schools (2005) to the passage of rigorous new high school graduation

requirements to the redesign of several of its high schools. This is hard and important work,

and we commend the District for its willingness to acknowledge its problems and for the

actions it has taken to date.

However, too little attention has been paid to middle graders in DPS. Students do not begin

to fail once they walk through the doors of high school. For most, dropping out of high

school is just the final step in a series of academic failures, and most students who are going

to drop out do so early in their high school years. These students must be identified well

DPS AND STATE GRADUATION RATES 2008 AND 2009, BY ETHNIC GROUP AND

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

Graduation Rates - 2008 Graduation Rates - 2009

DPS State DPS State

Overall 49% 74% 53% 75%

Hispanic 41% 56% 46% 58%

Black/African American 56% 64% 56% 64%

Native American 27% 58% 32% 56%

Asian 58% 83% 75% 86%

White 61% 82% 63% 82%

Economically

disadvantaged 45% 59% 50% 61%

Source: Colorado Department of Education, Graduation Rates for the Class of 2008 and 2009


before high school and provided with academic and other interventions that will ensure

they are on track to graduate when they enter high school. Even the most heroic high

school teacher has a limited opportunity to help a student who enters high school many

grades behind. For this reason, if we are serious about improving high school graduation

rates, we need to ensure that students enter high school on or close to grade level. (Balfanz

2009).

Unfortunately, many students in DPS lose ground during sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

The percentage of eighth-graders in DPS who are able to read, write, and do math at

grade level is consistently lower than the percentage of sixth graders performing at grade

level. Math scores, for example, drop by nearly 20 percentage points. While this

downward trend shows up across the state, DPS students in particular need to accelerate

their learning during middle school in order to be prepared for high school. When less than

three in ten eighth-grade students are performing at grade level in math, and just four in

ten read at grade level, focusing solely on high school reform is too late for too many

students.

Source: Colorado Department of Education, Assessment Results

4845

444539

3637

363137

3430

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

READING

CSAP 2009 Average Proficiency Levels, DPS Grades 6-8

All students

Black students

Hispanic students

Low-income students

47

36

29

39

2419

38

28

22

38

27

20

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

MATH

CSAP 2009 Average Proficiency Levels, DPS Grades 6-8

All students

Black students

Hispanic students

Low-income students

This Study: Identifying the Elements of Success in Serving Low-Income Middle-

Grades Students.

The goal of this study was to identify and describe the school-level practices that make a

real difference in the academic success of low-income students in grades 6-8 in DPS. We

first looked at the research on early indicators of student risk of dropping out of high school

and the research on effective interventions for at-risk students, with a focus on academic

interventions.

We then reviewed data on the performance of DPS middle-grades students and schools

using CSAP scores, the Colorado Growth Model, and the DPS School Performance

Framework, focusing on schools that feed into three high schools that traditionally serve low

-income students: North, Montbello, and Lincoln.

From this analysis, we selected eight focus schools serving primarily low-income middle-

grades students of color that represented a range of performance success in DPS. We then

conducted site visits and interviewed the principals of these schools to obtain a deeper

understanding of the school’s approach, policies and practices, and specifically, its

methods for identifying and assisting underperforming students. At three schools, we

conducted teacher focus groups to ask about teacher knowledge and practice with

respect to struggling students. Finally, we reviewed district documents and spoke to district

administrators about district-wide initiatives to improve middle-grades performance and

academic performance overall.



Staff at all of the schools we looked at are working to improve outcomes for their students,

and are doing so in the midst of multiple transitions and reform initiatives. We found,

however, that some schools are consistently improving results by working smarter than

others. Schools that had the best results typically shared the following characteristics, which

we are calling the Elements of Success.

• Focus on Student Learning: Clear expectations for academic achievement,

constant monitoring, and intensive support. The best schools hold high and clear

expectations for student performance, give students more time to learn, assess

students regularly and use the results to plan instruction and interventions, structure

their schools so that intervention is readily available, and have consistent

expectations for homework.

• College-Going Culture: A sense of community, belief in individual success, and an

emphasis on going to college. At the best schools, students know that their

education is important to their future. College-going is a constant focus. The

school environment supports a disciplined focus on learning, and truancy and

behavior issues are dealt with swiftly. At the same time, students feel supported

and “known,” and parents are provided with information regularly.

• Great Teachers: High expectations and support for teachers. At the best schools,

teachers know they make a difference for students, and they feel an urgency to

accelerate student learning. Schools value their teachers and provide the support

necessary for them to succeed in this challenging work, including planning and

collaboration time and lead teachers whose sole focus is on improving instruction.


REFORM NEEDED ACTIONS NEEDED

Focus on Student

Learning:

Clear expectations

for academic

achievement,

constant monitoring,

and intensive

support.

• Commit to becoming a district in which no one can fall through the cracks.

Continue the expansion of the ABC Stoplight early warning report system.

• Make data-driven instruction a reality in every classroom. Put district- and

school-level data systems in place that allow teachers and principals to have

real-time information about student needs based on assessments. Ideally, all

teachers would have classroom access to assessment results from benchmark

assessments and more informal classroom-based assessments and training in

how to analyze these results.

• Make sure that all school personnel have the necessary knowledge, skills,

and resources to strategically intervene in real time and in multiple ways with

students who need additional academic help. The District should provide a

menu of intervention models that include concrete details about implement-

ing these models, including staffing and schedule adjustments necessary to

implement them. As more data becomes available about which models

best promote student success in the middle grades, the District should assist

schools in moving to these models.

• Ensure that Response to Intervention has the best chance possible of achiev-

ing its intended purpose. For many schools, the full implementation of RtI

would mean a restructuring of how the school currently works in order to ac-

complish the strategic academic interventions that RtI contemplates. This is a

big challenge, but also a prime opportunity. DPS should develop a rubric

that identifies various levels of RtI implementation and use the rubric to peri-

odically assess the level of implementation at each school. This allows the

District to target implementation support, and allows the school to under-

stand why actions are working or not working.

• Ensure that schools have resources to expand learning time. Require schools

with the greatest student needs to offer expanded learning time, and pro-

vide a choice of options for them along with technical assistance in imple-

menting expanded learning time and any resources needed to pay for extra

time.

• Identify which interventions can best be delivered at the district level, and

implement them well. Some interventions are best delivered at the school

level, such as real-time intensive support for students who are not learning

through the universal level of instruction. Other interventions may be best

provided at the district level, such as truancy initiatives. School staff are oper-

ating at overload, and the more that the district can do to lessen their bur-

den, the better. However, if the district commits to owning certain initiatives,

it must take care to do them well.

• Coordinate with other agencies and organizations providing services to mid-

dle grades students and their families. Provide space for schools and teach-

ers to focus on student learning by creating partnerships in the community

that will help alleviate conditions that may interfere with learning, such as

hunger, health care needs, and family dysfunction. Many students have so-

cial and emotional needs that must be met in tandem with academic needs.

All Schools Serving Middle Graders:


All Schools Serving Middle Graders:


College-Going

Culture:

Sense of commu-

nity, belief in individ-

ual success, and an

emphasis on going

to college

• Insist that each school culture reflects a focus on learning and planning for suc-

cessful student futures.

• Insist that each school implement a college preparatory curriculum for all.

• To accelerate the improvement of school cultures, put the District’s best princi-

pals in the schools that need them most.

• Provide training for principals in changing school culture, and release time for

them to visit successful schools. Transforming a school so that it embodies the

best practices of successful schools usually involves substantial changes. Most

principals working today have not been trained in managing change, and

need help understanding the various stages that must be worked through. To

help principals understand the need for change, arrange for them to visit suc-

cessful schools so they can see what is possible.

• Support staff in holding students accountable for their behavior while keeping

them in school and learning.

• Coordinate with other agencies and nonprofit organizations to support students

and their families, so that schools can focus on learning.

Great Teachers:

High expectations

and support for

teachers

• Commit to hiring only teachers and principals with a demonstrated belief that

all students can learn.

• Provide on-site, job-embedded training for teachers in assessments, data

analysis, differentiating instruction, and delivering interventions. Many teach-

ers working in DPS today have never been trained on these issues. Currently,

much of the professional development offered to teachers is selected by the

teachers out of the district’s course catalog. While it is helpful to have district

offerings located in one place, research on effective professional develop-

ment shows that change in practice is most likely to occur when training oc-

curs on-site and is embedded in the workday.

• Provide teachers with adequate planning time including opportunities to work

with colleagues, school leaders, and educational facilitators and specialists.

• Train principals in the effective use of frequent observations and informal and

formal evaluations to identify and support teachers’ professional learning

needs. Work with the union to ensure that these practices are done well and

become part of the professional culture.

• Act swiftly to remove ineffective teachers from high-needs schools, and end

the forced placement of teachers in these schools.

All New and Reopening Schools Serving Middle Graders:


Replicate successful

school models

throughout the District

• Deliberately use new school openings and school restarts to replicate those

school models that are (1) successful in serving students, (2) proven to be in

demand in the community, and (3) show capacity for replication.

executive summary: preparing middle graders for success

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