Supports and Interventions

Over the past few years, SEAs have scrambled to design and implement effective systems of support and intervention for their districts and schools. Each state is advancing its own priorities and initiatives at the same time it is juggling Race to the Top (RTTT), School Improvement Grants (SIG), Common Core, ESEA flexibility plans, and new leader and teacher evaluation systems. The year ahead is the time to examine what is in place, ensure its coherence, sound implementation, and effectiveness, and to plot next steps. This is a pivotal time, as lessons learned from RTTT, SIG, and early implementation of flexibility plans and Common Core will be surfacing in national studies and through each state's experience. Regardless of any one state's participation in any of these national initiatives, lessons will be derived from the experience of all the states.

What many states are now calling a Differentiated System of Recognition, Accountability, and Support (SRAS) requires structural changes within SEAs and a strong emphasis on performance management. In particular, performance management methods will be applied as each state exercises five key levers of change:

1. Opportunities for improvement by reducing regu­latory burdens and encouraging innovation;
2. Incentives (positive and negative) for LEAs and schools to take the reins in their own improvement;
3. Systemic capacity development, including data and planning systems and policies that promote the supply of high quality leaders and teachers;
4. Local capacity development, diagnosing opera­tional effectiveness and professional practice and providing supports to address gaps;
5. Interventions that direct the state's most aggres­sive tools on turnaround toward the most persis­tently low achieving schools and districts.

States have much to share with each other, and experts in performance management, district and school improvement, and turnaround are available to inform the conversation. The goals of this SCASS will be to:

1. Examine current SEA policies, structures, programs, and practices relative to the SRAS and related initiatives.
2. Review emerging research and experience from the field.
3. Apply performance management and productivity analysis in determining strengths and weaknesses of current and planned SEA policies, structures, programs, and practices relative to the SRAS and related initiatives.
4. Achieve a coherent presentation of each state's theory of action, policies, and programs to elevate the trajectory of success for all its districts and schools and eliminate pockets of persistent low achievement.
5. To listen to the webinar about this and much more, please click here.

Sam Redding is executive director of the Academic Development Institute and associate director of the Center on School Turnaround. He is a senior learning specialist with the Center on Innovations in Learning and a consultant to the Building State Capacity and Productivity Center. A former high school teacher and college dean, since 1984 he has served as the Executive Director of the Academic Development Institute (ADI), and from 2005 to 2012 was director of the Center on Innovation & Improvement. He received the "Those Who Excel" Award from the Illinois State Board of Education in 1990, the Ben Hubbard Leadership Award from Illinois State University in 1994, and in 2012 the Wing Institute's award for Exemplary Practice and Research in Evidence-Based Education. He has been executive editor of the School Community Journal since 1991 and was a senior research associate of the Laboratory for Student Success (LSS) at Temple University from 1995 to 2005. He has edited four books on family-school relationships, written a book on school improvement, edited a book on statewide systems of support, and written articles and chapters in the areas of school management, school improvement, turnaround, and factors affecting school learning. Dr. Redding served on the IES expert panel on school turnarounds and co-authored its 2008 report: Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools and in 2012 was a member of the U.S. contingent to Korea for an exchange on turnaround methods in the two countries.

Dr. Redding has served on a variety of state committees, including the standards-writing committee for the Illinois State Board of Education; the Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) Leadership Team and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Parent Leadership Team; and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. He has served on various civic boards, as well as the boards of the Effective Schools Institute and Superintendency Institute. He has worked directly with more than 40 districts in comprehensive school reform, consulting with their administration, training teachers, and establishing systems for tracking student learning data. Dr. Redding has consulted with more than 30 state education agencies on their systems for school improvement. He holds a doctorate in Educational Administration from Illinois State University, master's degrees in both Psychology and English, and is a graduate of Harvard's Institute for Educational Management.

2013-14 State Members:

Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Michigan Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming

2013-14 Associate Members:

Measured Progress and NEA