Supporting School Improvement in an Oregon Education Service District Using Doing What Works Resources

• In Event: Crossing the Divide: Integrating Doing What Works Resources Into Professional Learning—Results From Four Implementation Projects

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to help schools integrate research-based recommendations from Doing What Works (DWW) resources into their improvement efforts. Education Northwest provided evidence-based training and technical assistance to strengthen school improvement services offered by Columbia Gorge Education Service District, an intermediate service agency in The Dalles, Oregon. Services were provided to the five regular public schools in North Wasco County School District (NWCSD), which serves 2900 students in an area classified as “Town, Remote” by the National Center for Education Statistics.


School improvement is reinforced by a collaborative school culture focused on inquiry, in which teachers and school leaders exchange ideas, learn, and solve problems together (Burke & Cavalier, 2004; Copland, 2003; Duigan & Bezzina, 2006). Engaging school leadership teams in leading this work develops internal capacity for sustained improvement (Fullan, 2010; Kolb & Kolb, 2010; Senge, 1990), which is important in rural or remote districts that may lack resources. Teams frequently start with manageable changes to ensure early wins and build confidence, credibility, and momentum for future change (Adams, 1997; Kouzes & Posner, 1997; Warrick, 2005).

When this project began, NWCSD schools were already using Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as a catalyst for school improvement. Education Northwest adapted its PLC training materials to focus on two practices within the topic Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools featured on DWW: identifying and implementing “quick wins” related to instruction, and building staff capacity to achieve improvement goals by engaging in cycles of data-based inquiry and action. With CGESD, Education Northwest provided training and technical assistance around these topics to school leadership teams in three sessions over an eight-week period, during which time the participants led data-based inquiry and improvement cycles focused on instructional “quick wins” at their schools. Education Northwest and CGESD also supported leadership teams in four site visits during the project period.


Education Northwest collected survey data from school leadership teams on the perceived utility of the training and participants’ confidence in their ability to implement “quick win” cycles. Education Northwest also conducted interviews with principals and several teachers at each school. The schools collected and analyzed their own pre- and post- student achievement data and collected information and classroom artifacts related to implementation of their “quick win.”


Four of the five NWCSD schools engaged all staff in the project, with the high school involving only its leadership team due to limited resources. Although implementation levels varied between and within the fully participating schools, each produced evidence of instructional improvement and teacher understanding of the “quick win” inquiry cycle. Over 90 percent of leadership team members expressed confidence in their ability to lead successful inquiry cycles at their schools as a result of the training.


Our own research (Nelson, Leffler, & Hansen 2009) suggests that educators are more responsive to research that is presented clearly and is timely, accessible, and relevant to their context. This project underscored the effectiveness of also providing practitioners with a detailed, structured process for implementing evidence-based recommendations into improvement efforts.

Author

• Jacqueline Beth Raphael, Education Northwest