An Exploration of School Success Factors to Inform the Leandro Action Plan

• In Event: The Role of Research and Researchers in Supporting States to Take Responsibility and Action for Addressing Educational Equity

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate schools in which economically disadvantaged students are meeting standards and identify factors that contribute to student success. The study identified a set of nine research-based school success factors that have been found to be effective in improving the achievement of at-risk students and provides illustrative examples from one state that demonstrate how schools have made systemic, sustainable improvements that result in significant increases in the achievement of students. This research study utilized a case study approach with 218 participants representing diverse stakeholder groups (district leaders, school leaders, teachers, parents, students, and community members).
This study was guided by the following research questions:
1. What exemplars of success factor implementation exist?
2. How do select schools/districts actualize success factors?
3. What elements are necessary to support factors for student success?
4. What barriers are faced by schools as they work to create conditions for student success, and how do they overcome them?

The findings for the study, address the nine Success Factors, listed below:

School culture. A concerted effort was made to create a school culture in which all adults are committed to every student’s success, and all students have supportive relationships with adults and experience a comfortable and safe environment that supports their social, emotional, and academic growth.

Principal leadership. Provision of a principal in every school who is well-prepared to serve as both a change leader and an instructional leader, to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, and to cultivate a successful teaching and learning environment for all students is critical to school growth.

Instructional staff. Assembling a sufficient staff of teachers and others who support students’ learning, with all instructional staff well prepared in evidence-based instructional approaches, content knowledge in the areas they teach, and strategies for successfully working with students with diverse backgrounds and learning differences enable students the chance to achieve their learning targets.

Personalized learning. Effective, evidence-based, systems and practices for personalizing learning that account for variability in the pace, pathway, preferences, and needs of each student enable maximum growth trajectories.

Curriculum resources and digital tools. Student success requires high-quality curriculum resources and digital tools to support students’ learning of the state standards and more advanced topics.

Formative assessment. Schools are making increasingly effective use of timely and ongoing formative assessments, aligned with the state standards, used to inform and adapt instructional practices, consistently monitor student learning, and develop personalized learning pathways for each student.

Experiential learning. Students explore opportunities within and beyond the school walls to pursue their own interests and strengths and engage in learning in which they apply their knowledge, collaborate, create, engage in authentic problem solving, and become self-directed lifelong learners.
Comprehensive staffing and support. Enable comprehensive staffing and supports for learning that go beyond classroom instruction to address social and emotional development, physical and psychological health, hunger, and adverse childhood experiences.
Flexible funding, time, and space. Effective, flexible use of funding, time and space allows schools to maximize effectiveness.

Author

• LaTricia Townsend