Resources for Learning

No two schools are alike. In particular, no two struggling schools are alike, though they may share some common challenges and similar goals for student success. The Resources for Learning (RFL) Team, while following rigorous, research-based approaches aligned with principles that articulate success for high-needs high schools, provides individualized services to any school wanting to improve the learning of its students. The RFL Team includes experienced leaders in school improvement who will conduct comprehensive needs assessments, assist in developing a useful school improvement plan, help each school’s stakeholders understand the results of the needs assessment and plan, provide professional development, and monitor and support plan implementation.

Project Management

There must be ongoing collaboration and communication with the TEA, Regional Education Service Center XIII (Region 13), and the contracted school. As an approved service provider, RFL will work effectively with Region 13 in its role as statewide administrator of the THSRR project.

Comprehensive Needs Assessment

After a kick-off meeting, a comprehensive, research- and standards-based needs assessment will begin. The needs assessment includes use of both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses, specifically document review, student achievement data, survey data, and site visit data.

School Improvement Planning

The RFL Team will use the results of the needs assessment to develop a detailed, viable campus improvement plan that will include specific, measurable outcomes and processes that have been shown to help achieve comparable outcomes in similar schools. Additionally, benchmarks will be provided for each outcome that are achievable within relatively short periods of time, providing success for the school.

Implementation: Leadership Coaching and Support/Professional Development

Early discussions among the leadership and coaching support team and school leaders will focus on reviewing and analyzing data, particularly those data related to state accountability and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The team leader will also facilitate dialogue about curriculum alignment based on results of the needs assessment, and technical assistance will include the facilitation of leadership skills in order to build capacity among the school’s principals.

The completed needs assessment will indicate areas where staff capacity exceeds expectations and other areas where needs are not being met. The RFL Team’s goal in implementing professional development is to create a high-quality, standards-based professional development process that addresses teachers’ concerns with traditional professional development and impacts student learning.

Ongoing Monitoring

Assessment site visits will include classroom observations, interviews with school personnel, and lesson plan review. Test score data will be collected from the school and analyzed with reference to the baseline student data analysis. Patterns in test score data will be extended from the initial analysis to include the current year of data.

The primary purpose of the leadership coaching and professional development site visits will be to work with stakeholder groups including principals, teachers, counselors, and parents to better understand the school improvement plan, strategies for achieving its outcomes and benchmarks, and progress to date.

Upon conclusion of each site visit, team members will write a concise summary of progress since the previous site visit on each principle and recommendation (e.g., specific steps that have been taken, such as reporting that the curriculum alignment team for mathematics met once and defined specific timelines for completing their scope and sequence).

This approach can be modified according to the results of a school’s needs assessment and any other activities determined by stakeholders. It may be that some site visit days can be replaced by coaching conversations over the telephone or email, for example. A strength of RFL’s approach is that it lends itself to flexibility and to the specific requests of the district and school.