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Our expert researchers, evaluators, and veteran educators synthesize information gleaned from our research and blend it with best practices gathered from schools and districts around the world to bring you insightful and practical ideas that support changing the odds of success for you and your students. By aligning practice with research, we mix professional wisdom with real world experience to bring you unexpectedly insightful and uncommonly practical ideas that offer ways to build student resiliency, close achievement gaps, implement retention strategies, prioritize improvement initiatives, build staff motivation, and interpret data and understand its impact.

Apr 22
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Balancing the Common Core: Reading strategies take on supporting role

By Blog, Common Core 4 Comments

Reading“Where are our reading strategies?” This was the reaction of a group of K‒5 educators in North Dakota I was working with in 2010 as we reviewed the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Some widely used strategies, such as summarizing and inferencing, were easily found in the new standards, while others—like text-to-self connections, making predictions, and pre-reading—were not. During the review process, it became clear that the role of reading strategies had shifted: They were no longer primary objectives for student reading, as they had been in previous state standards, curriculums, and reading programs.

The Common Core instead places the text and student understanding front and center. Rather than focus on reading strategies and how students read, the CCSS focuses on the text and what knowledge students gain from their reading. The new standards stress comprehension and analysis of complex texts and the synthesis of ideas across texts to build knowledge. Reading strategies are largely sidelined as techniques for scaffolding instruction with individual students. As David Coleman, a lead author of the CCSS and current president of the College Board, said in a presentation at the New York State Education Department, “We lavish so much attention on these strategies in the place of reading, I would urge us to instead read” (“Bringing the Common Core to Life,” p. 17).

We know, however, that many children don’t understand what they read, and that they benefit from instruction on how to apply research-based reading strategies. It is not surprising, then, that many teachers plan their reading curriculum around them. How can we align strategy-based curriculums with text-based standards? There is a sensible balance to be found.

Complex texts, by the very nature of their complexity, often require teachers to support students’ reading. Teachers should continue to teach students how to apply certain reading strategies when they need them, but strategies should not be applied for their own sakes. Strategies should be carefully selected to support the aspects of a given text that are complex. For example, texts that have a high readability score on the quantitative measure of the CCSS text complexity model often have challenging vocabulary and sentence structures, aspects that teachers should support through targeted reading strategies.

Research-based reading strategies still play an important role in teaching reading comprehension. However, teachers should seek out a complex text that provides the information or ideas that students need to learn, and then provide opportunities for students to practice using a strategy suited to that specific text, rather than seek out a text that “fits” a certain reading strategy dictated by the curriculum.

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A former English language arts teacher, Susan Ryan is a curriculum services consultant at McREL and co-author of Common Core quick-start guides published by ASCD on English language arts and mathematics standards at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Apr 15
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Getting behind the wheel of school improvement

By Blog, School Improvement 4 Comments

Earlier this year, I took my grandson to his first driver’s education class and memories came flooding back. When I was 15 years old and wanting to learn to drive, I turned to my oldest brother for instruction. With much effort and practice, I was ready to drive on the country roads in Iowa. I’ll never forget my calm brother’s sudden look of panic during a nighttime driving lesson after I mistakenly turned off the headlights as another car approached (I was trying to dim the headlights). Eventually, I graduated to driving on the highway, and, today, I’m a proficient driver.

School improvement cycle

School Improvement Cycle

As I reflected on my experience of learning to drive, I realized how it aligns to a school’s improvement process. First, I took stock of the situation by considering the data: the people who could teach me to drive. Next, I focused on the right solution. Out of all the people I knew who could teach me to drive, I chose my oldest brother, who was the calmest and most patient. When I implemented my plan and approached my brother for instruction, I was taking collective action. Although I learned the basics of driving, my brother and I monitored and adjusted my driving as I improved. He continued to coach me in night- and highway-driving, and I maintained momentum by continuing to practice and improve my skills (and by baking chocolate chip cookies for my brother to celebrate our progress).

Schools use this same continuous improvement process for their improvement initiatives. A school first takes stock by collecting data to clearly identify the problem it faces. Next, the school identifies a focused, manageable improvement initiative that addresses and resolves the identified problem (see my earlier post about focusing on fewer, not more, initatives for success). After determining the right solution, the school takes collective action by developing a plan and timeline for engaging all staff members in ownership of the plan. The school identifies professional development needs, and collectively implements the plan of action with consistency and fidelity.  A very important, though frequently omitted, step in the continuous improvement process is constant monitoring of the extent of implementation and its impact on student achievement, which enables mid-course corrections. Finally, the school maintains momentum of the improvement initiative by celebrating and sustaining the effort. This entire process allows the school to identify the successes and the challenges that arose, informing the process for the next initiative to be tackled.

We sometimes think that school improvement is a complex, difficult task. But if we break it down into a manageable, systemic process, we can confidently, collectively, and successfully take the wheel and move on down the road of improvement.


2011_Frunzi_WEBDr. Kay L. Frunzi is a systems transformation consultant who provides strategic improvement guidance to schools and districts across the country. Before joining McREL, she was a school principal in four districts and taught graduate-level courses at various universities.

Apr 07
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Jump-start school improvement with fewer, not more, initiatives

By Blog, School Improvement 7 Comments

When developing and evaluating school improvement plans, a meaningful question to ponder is, “Why do some schools achieve their school improvement plan goals, while others fail to make gains?” The outcome depends greatly on how the school focuses on improvement initiatives: does the school attempt to tackle many initiatives or does it focus in on a few key issues?

Educators have noble intentions and high hopes when drafting their school improvement plans. They identify challenges and set goals and strategies to meet those challenges. They, in good faith, attempt to tackle numerous initiatives to increase student achievement with the hope that, by spending time on many improvement efforts, they will get the results they seek. However, schools that follow this path often become overwhelmed by competing priorities and end up with less-than-desired results. They are attempting too many things to do any one of them well.

On the other hand, when schools focus on select, manageable change initiatives, they increase the probability of achieving successful implementation of those initiatives.

For example, a school team takes stock of their situation by looking at student achievement data, and they determine that their students need vocabulary development. The staff decides to collectively focus on building students’ vocabulary and a plan is made. All staff members agree to take collective action by posting and explicitly teaching key vocabulary words in each content area. Throughout four to six weeks of focused implementation of this initiative, the degree and quality of the implementation and the effect on student achievement are monitored. This focused approach usually results in a quick win, increasing the staff’s collective efficacy and satisfaction, engendering the belief that “we can do together what we cannot do alone.” The feeling of “we have too much to do” dissipates.

As schools repeatedly apply this improvement process, concentrating on a few important initiatives at a time, they increase their capacity to change. Ultimately, they develop the collective beliefs, capacity, and experience to sustain improvement efforts that ultimately lead to long-term, positive student outcomes.

SiS Continuous Improvment CycleHere’s a diagram that illustrates this approach.

Concentrating the focus and effort of a school improvement plan on a few key initiatives is a manageable, effective approach for school improvement that, unfortunately, still too few schools use. Why do you think some schools and districts are hesitant to use this strategy? Share your ideas in the comments section, below.

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Dr. Kay L. Frunzi is a systems transformation consultant at McREL, providing strategic improvement services to schools and districts across the country. Before joining McREL, she served as a school principal in four districts and taught graduate-level courses at various universities.

Mar 27
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Ending the “fire hose” model of PD learning

By Blog, Classroom Instruction that Works, School Improvement 13 Comments

As educators, we’ve all experienced sitting through a two- or three-day workshop and, at the end of it, being overwhelmed with information, tired of sitting and listening, and wondering how we’re going to even begin incorporating what we’ve learned into our daily practice at school. We get back to work, and there’s no feedback from anyone and no time to try what we’ve learned. Time slips by, and we make little to no changes in our instructional practices. This style of “learning via fire hose” is one of the least effective, yet all-too-commonly-used formats of professional development in education. A much more effective PD model is to allow teachers to absorb information in small bites, giving teachers time to think about what they’ve learned and to methodically integrate new practices into their existing instruction, and providing them with feedback on their efforts.

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Feb 27
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Reflections on Top Dog: Does more school pressure lead to better student performance?

By Blog, Books, Current Affairs, Research Insights One Comment

In my recent column in Educational Leadership, I drew upon some studies synthesized in a new book from Newsweek and New York Times journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing, which provides a slew of fascinating insights, including the importance of framing problems as challenges versus threats.

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Feb 21
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In support of classroom observations

By Blog, Current Affairs, Leadership Insights, Research Insights, School Improvement 4 Comments

There’s been chatter in the educational blogosphere lately about the effectiveness of classroom walkthroughs. Some question the impact that instructional leaders have on student achievement. Some have even questioned whether principals should visit classrooms at all. However, research shows a clear link between the coaching of teachers and student achievement. There is also a clear indication that walkthroughs are valuable if teachers see them as part of professional development. So what’s the best model for walkthroughs?

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Feb 05
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Non-core classrooms: Are you observing them?

By Blog, Classroom Instruction that Works, Leadership Insights, School Improvement 9 Comments

Imagine you’re conducting classroom walkthroughs and, as you walk by a music classroom, you hear the sound of student voices singing beautifully. “They are all busy practicing together again,” you think as you continue on toward a U.S. history classroom down the hall.

Wait a minute—did you just skip the music teacher’s classroom?

The music teacher needs to feel valued as a teacher as much as the history teacher does. Stopping in her classroom, and other “non-core” classrooms, to observe is just as important as seeing what happens in math, science, social studies, and language arts.

To get a clear picture of the instruction happening in all of your classrooms, McREL recommends that every teacher, core and non-core, be observed twice a week. While this may seem daunting, walkthroughs can be conducted by principals, coaches, other administrators, or fellow teachers as long as they have been through sufficient training on the “look-fors.” The benefit of conducting walkthroughs and providing formative feedback to teachers is two-fold: It improves communication and helps with goal setting, and the data gathered during walkthroughs can be used to make informed decisions about professional development and coaching opportunities.

In just a couple of months of walkthroughs, you will collect enough data to identify what instruction looks like in your school (as well as in specific content areas), what teachers are doing well, and areas where they need support. As you conduct more walkthroughs, you’ll also get valuable information about how often and how well particular instructional strategies are being used. PWT data chart

As an example, look at the data in this graph, taken from a sample of more than 150,000 walkthroughs recently conducted by Power Walkthrough® users around the world. Notice that there are some differences in strategies being used in core versus non-core classrooms. How does this compare to what you think you’d find in your own school?

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Lisa Maxfield is a managing consultant at McREL International, where she provides information and support for McREL’s Power Walkthrough informal observation software.

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