Data Student Voice in the MVHS School Improvement Processes From - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Faces of Student Data Student Voice in the MVHS School Improvement Processes

From the mouths of babes; come pearls of wisdom “Don’t just look at students for answers, but look at who we are through the way we act. Not “what’s going on in our home life” - be perceptive to what’s going on in our classroom . Who we like, what’s hard for us, what’s easy for us. If you pay attention, you can see it” Fires in the Bathroom Kathleen Cushman

Think - Pair - Share  Why is student voice important?  What are you hoping to learn as a result of this session?  How does the district currently leverage student voice for system-wide improvement?

Learning Targets  Participants will understand how student voice can increase equitable learning for every student;  Participants learning will be supported through a teaching and learning stance to demonstrate how student voice can inform leadership practices;  Participants will be introduced to strategies for collecting student voice in use at MVHS;  Participants will be able to strengthen their own practice by utilizing student voice data collection methods.

Success Criteria  Participants will gain exposure on how student voice can be used to inform their practice;  Participants will be introduced to strategies to gather student voice within their settings;  Participants will understand and effectively apply student voice data to inform their student success initiatives.

Socio-Cultural Learning: Responsive to Your Needs Learning happens when learners:  Participate in authentic, valued activities in real settings;  Have opportunities to view and understand whole process;  Engage in social interactions; real learning happens as you are engaging with others;  Observe/engage/identify with experts/images of target practice;  Have access to learning resources inside and also outside the group.

Roadmap for The Session  The What and the Why about Student Voice;  Introduction to 3 different strategies to collect student voice and how the data collected informed leadership practices;  Questions and clarifications after each strategy is presented;  Questions at the end and feedback.

What is Student Voice and Why do We Need it? “We describe student voice from an operational perspective as occurring when students are meaningfully engaged in the decision making and improvement related processes in their schools.” “At its heart is a fundamental conviction that students are not the problem in our schools; rather they are the potential . We believe student voice should be instrumental to any educational reform agenda.” -Russell J. Quaglia Student Voice - The Instrument of Change

Typologies of Student Voice Being Heard: The Case of One and Student Shadows Collaborating with Adults: Student Focus Groups Building Capacity for Leadership: World Cafe Increasing Student Voice and Moving Toward Youth Leadership -Dana Mitra, Ph.D

Student Voice – CEE Survey on MVHS 52% 46% 61%

Case-of-One: Being Heard Addressing Inequitable Student Outcomes What is a Case of One? Problem of Practice at MVHS Collecting specific data on one case or At MVHS, 51.% of students with disabilities (SWD) graduate on time compared to a subject that would perhaps typify across state average of 58.1%. Students not a system receiving special education rates graduate at a rate of 73.2%  File Reviews;  Interviews with Parents, Teachers and Students;  Classroom observations.

Student Shadow Experience  Strategy that takes a student or a cross-section of students that has more implications other students;  This strategy focuses on student experience with the observer seeking to collect data about how the student “walks through school life”  Leadership Team members or PLC shadow a student to collect observations of experiences;  Team can also collect artifiacts from the day and include in the debrief.

Implications for Leadership Practice:  Taking the “big issue” and breaking that into a smaller, more digestible pieces to explore;  Getting a “slice” of a student’s day helps to give our data perspective;  Using multiple perspectives (student, parent, teacher) helps to give depth and breadth to data that can help us to better unpack our problems.

Questions Specific to the Case of One and/or Student Shadows

Student Focus Groups: Collaborating with Adults Addressing Inequitable Student Outcomes What is a Student Focus Group? Why Focus Groups? An interview that generates collective  Efficiency over one-on-one interviews; qualitative data about the perspective and norms of a particular group.  Participants can respond to each other’s comments, ideas, and the group’s dynamics as a whole;  Helpful in collecting exploratory data or feedback on a topic or experience.

Student Focus Group Problem of Practice at Mount Vernon High School. Historically marginalized students are struggling with chronic absenteeism. A subgroup of ten out of twenty, 9 th – 12 th graders was identified to serve as the focus group. OSPI Chronic Absenteeism Data 2017

Student Focus Group Findings:  “ Teachers should be more real with students so students will feel more inclined to talk about their issues. Be sensitive to students.” Student – MVHS;  Students shared that when teachers make them feel welcomed, when they smile, when they offer support, and when they do not judge, it makes them want to come to class more;  Students said that when teachers are passionate about their content and when they make the content relevant to the lives of their students that students want to be in class more;  Students said that teachers don’t always know or understand what is happening to students outside of school. Students often work to help pay bills, care for younger siblings, feel anxious at school, or feel overwhelmed.

Implications for Leadership Practice:  Strategy that takes a student or a cross-section of students that has more implications other students;  Illustrates a need to continue to focus on building positive relationships with students;  Professional learning has been adjusted to focus on social emotional learning, posimproving the use of formative assessments.  Ongoing coaching and feedback to support teachers in implementing the formative assessments.

Questions Specific to Student Focus Groups

World Cafe: Building Capacity for Leadership Addressing Inequitable Student Outcomes Problem of Practice at Mount Vernon HS: There is currently a disconnect between staff perception of student-adult connectedness and student perceptions of connectedness. 73% Faculty perceptions of their readiness to address issues of diversity.

World Cafe: Building Capacity for Leadership Addressing Inequitable Student Outcomes What is a World Cafe? World Cafe is method for creating collaborative dialogue around questions that matter. World Cafe is based on an the assumption that people already have within them the wisdom and creativity to confront even the most difficult challenges; that the answers we need are available to us; and that we are Wiser Together than we are alone.

World Cafe Protocol - Mount Vernon High School 1. Set the Context; 2. Create a Space; 3. Explore Questions that Matter; 4. Encourage Everyone to Participate; 5. Connect Diverse Perspectives; 6. Listen Together for Patterns and Perspectives; 7. Share Discoveries;

Students Selection Process MVHS Student Leadership Team Nomination 1. Student’s Name 2. Student’s Grade 3. Which (if any) clubs, activities, or sports does the student nominee represent? 4. Why would this student make a good MVHS Leadership Team representative?

World Café Questions 1. What is our school doing well right now that is helping students to be successful in school and or life? 2. What is our school NOT doing well right now that is not helping students to be successful in school and or life? 3. What obstacles do you, or your peers, face as students? What could the school do to help remove these obstacles? 4. Do you feel challenged and engaged in your classes? If yes, what happens to make the class challenging and engaging? If no, what could make your classes more challenging or engaging? 5. Describe interactions between students, teachers, and others at school. What is working? What is not working? 6. What are your thoughts on advisory? What do you like about advisory? What should be changed? 7. What are three changes that the school could make right now that would make MVHS a better place? Why these three changes?

Questions Specific to World Cafe?

Pause and Reflect  How could these or other strategies to collect student voice support our student achievement initiatives?  What supports or resources would we need to marshall to implement one or more strategies to collect student voice within our organization?  If you had to start a student voice initiative tomorrow, who is the first student you would gather data from? Why?  About what are you wondering?

Student Voice Resources  Fires in the Bathroom . (2003). K. Cushman.  Fires in the Middle School Bathroom . (2009). K. Cushman and L. Rogers.  Student Voice: The Instrument of Change. (2014). R. Quaglia and M. Corso.  Student Voice in School Reform. (2008). D. Mitra  “Why We Drop Out.” (2017). D Feldman, A. Smith, and B. Waxman.

Questions?