Author: Casey Blochowiak
Casey Blochowiak serves as the Director of Curriculum and Learning for the School District of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Casey served as a high school social studies teacher, literacy specialist, associate principal, elementary principal, and high school principal. Casey holds a Bachelor's degree from Marquette University, a Master's degree in literacy from Concordia University-Wisconsin and is completing her doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Her research interest is the value of improvement science to K-12 education, with a specific focus on the positive deviance framework.
Abstract
The School District of Menomonee Falls used the positive deviant framework to determine positive deviant 3rd – 5th grade teachers in the area of literacy instruction. Literacy coaches played a central role in discovering the practices used by positive deviant teachers. Coaching plans were then designed to bring these strategies to scale. The use of the positive deviant framework led to positive results in student learning.
Background
The School District of Menomonee Falls, located in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, is a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school district serves 4,002 students in six schools – two Kindergarten – 2nd grade schools, two 3rd -5th grade schools, one 6-8th grade middle school, and one 9-12th high school. Before 2013 the school district was seen as under-performing and over-spending. At that time, the school district began a journey of continuous improvement to improve student performance and culture. Now, six years into this journey, all team members are seen as problem solvers. A systematic professional development plan is employed to ensure that team members across the system receive training in problem-solving techniques. Training in Service Excellence and the continuous improvement model of Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) occur throughout the system. Leaders across the district experience training in Project Management and the problem-solving tools of LEAN/Six Sigma. Overall, there is a belief that those closest to the work must be involved in improvement efforts. Should they feel empowered to solve a problem directly related to their work, they are encouraged to "just do it" and fix the problem.
This work led to positive results throughout the district. For example, Advanced Placement enrollment and achievement significantly increased. Currently, Advanced Placement course enrollment is over 30% of students, and over 70% earn scores on the Advanced Placement exams that are eligible for college credit. The district was also recognized as a top workplace in southeast Wisconsin for the past five consecutive years. This recognition, based on surveys completed by staff members, is amongst all employers in the region. Additionally, the School District of Menomonee Falls earned a score of "Exceeding Expectations" on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Accountability Report Cards for the past six years, with increasing scores each of the past five years. This measure is a combination of student achievement in literacy and math on state assessments, academic growth, closing gaps, and on-track and post-secondary readiness.
However, despite a clear focus on improvement and a commitment to high-quality curriculum, student literacy proficiency rates at the 3rd – 5th grades lagged. The positive deviant framework was used to discover instructional practices that had a demonstrably positive impact on student literacy proficiency and bring those strategies to scale.
Define the problem
The School District of Menomonee Falls adopted a high-quality literacy curriculum. Teachers participated in training for the instructional design, and monitoring of fidelity to the model occurred. Grade level teams at the elementary level worked collaboratively to develop common district unit assessments and pacing guides. Despite a focus on these efforts, literacy proficiency in 3rd – 5th grade was lagging. Proficiency rates declined at these grade levels for the previous two school years.
Determine the presence of the positive deviants
The School District of Menomonee Falls is data-rich and monitors progress on several data points. Measures are determined to be either leading or lagging. Leading measures occur frequently and function as predictors for lagging measures, such as the annual state assessment. Analysis of student performance on district common unit assessment confirmed that this measure was a predictor of student performance on the state assessment.
The positive deviant framework was a form of disciplined inquiry into existing district data. Data was broken down for each classroom by student performance level (exceeding, proficient, close, and in need of support) on the state assessment from the previous spring. Given that performance on common district unit assessments are predictors of performance on the state assessment, student performance on unit assessments within these performance bands were examined for 3rd – 5th grade classrooms. Positive deviants were determined to be teachers who outperformed others at their grade level within their school community. In these classrooms, more students in the "close" performance band achieved proficiency on district unit assessments. Positive deviant teachers used the district approved curriculum and employed uncommon and effective strategies that resulted in increased student learning.
Initially, teachers knew how their classroom performance compared with the district average, but not compared to others on their team. High-performing teams quickly approached their building principals and requested to see the full data set – each teacher on the team with the associated performance for their classroom. With coaching support, these teams developed a meeting protocol focused on using data to learn from positive deviants on their team. The protocol focused on the importance of everyone's voice in sharing celebrations, learning from positive deviants on the team, and committing to action steps for the next two weeks. These teams saw success as a result of this practice.
During this phase, there were challenges associated with the transparency of data. Although the district was data-rich, much of this data was within individual classrooms, at the school level, and at the district level. Before the use of the positive deviant framework, teachers did not know how students in their classroom performed compared to students in other classes. Questions emerged early in this phase regarding the use of this data. Some questioned whether it would be part of an evaluative process. District and building leaders communicated that the process was not evaluative. Communication focused on a vision of this process as centered on job-embedded professional development and coaching up every member of the district team. During the first year of this process, where teachers saw first-hand that it was about support and not evaluation, this challenge appeared to lessen. Ultimately, it was the alignment of leaders' words and actions that alleviated early concerns.
Discover the approach used by the positive deviants
It was common for positive deviant teachers to be unconsciously skilled. When asked about how their instructional practices differed from others, they frequently struggled to articulate how their practices were unique. Literacy coaches were crucial for learning from positive deviants. Coaches visited classrooms with the explicit purpose of observing the instructional moves of positive deviant teachers and other teachers directed at students in the "close" proficiency band. Entering classrooms with a blank slate was essential. It was important that coaches abandoned preconceived notions of instructional strategies at the classroom door and set their sights on learning from positive deviant teachers. The combination of classroom visits and conversations between coaches and positive deviant teachers led to the discovery of a critical strategy.
The strategy of targeted feedback emerged in positive deviant classrooms. Positive deviants provided timely, clear, and explicit feedback to students on their learning. After conferencing sessions with students, positive deviant teachers gave clear feedback to students on the next step in learning. Students in these classrooms returned to independent work with a clear next step.
Design a method to act into a new way of thinking
Literacy coaches were indispensable to coaching teachers up around the strategy of targeted feedback. The same data used to determine positive deviants was used to determine coaching cycles. Coaching teachers up was the priority of coaching cycles. Although literacy coaches support all teachers, the purpose and length of the coaching cycle were differentiated based on need. In some cases, coaches learned from positive deviant teachers for a brief time. In other instances, coaching cycles focused on developing skills related to providing targeted feedback for students.
A challenge during this phase was the time available for literacy coaches to meet with teachers. In addition to coaching responsibilities, most literacy coaches also worked with students in literacy interventions. Multiple responsibilities meant that literacy coaches had a finite number of coaching cycles occurring at any time. To resolve this challenge, literacy coaches and principals worked together to prioritize responsibilities. Weekly meetings between coaches and principals were vital in navigating the multiple demands on time. Sometimes teachers were coached independently, and sometimes they were coached as a grade level team. Maintaining a line of sight on the vital work and open lines of communication resulted in creative solutions to address this challenge.
Monitor the impact of the positive deviant approach
Monitoring occurred through the system to understand the impact of the positive deviant approach. Teachers entered student unit assessment results in an internal data management system, approximately every nine weeks. Following each unit, reports were created for grade level teams to use for collaboration and for district and building leaders to monitor the impact of the strategy. These reports became part of the district's 45-day reporting of academic progress. This data was used to prioritize coaching cycles and support throughout the year.
The following results are a result of the use of the positive deviance improvement framework:
Literacy achievement on district common unit assessments improved by 76% for students performing below grade level. Although the intervention was focused on students in the "close" performance band, supporting teachers in the use of targeted feedback had a positive impact on all students.
Literacy achievement on state assessments improved in the 3rd and 4th grades. One grade level cohort saw a 4% increase in literacy proficiency. These results indicate the declining trend over the past two years is reversing.
Grade level teams developed a collaborative protocol focused on ensuring that all team member voices are heard. The protocol also led to clear, agreed upon action steps based on what the team learned from positive deviant strategies.
A positive impact on student achievement was the result of dedicated work by students, teachers, literacy coaches, and building leaders in this project. The use of the positive deviant framework allowed the district to look within and discover how targeted feedback impacted learning and led to growth for students.
Next Steps
Following the success of this project during the 2018-2019 school year, plans were initiated to scale the use of the positive deviant framework in schools throughout the district. At the Kindergarten – 2nd grade schools, the middle school and the high school coaches are working with teachers, building leaders, and district leaders to establish key common metrics. Once firmly established, these metrics will be used to discover positive deviant teachers in these school communities.