Rochester City School District (RCSD)
Since the creation in 2004 of Rochester’s Blue Ribbon Panel, organized to help RCSD meet its ambitious student performance goals, ERS has assisted district leaders in examining RCSD's performance, programs, funding, resource allocation, and district-wide strategy.
Professional Development & School Support
Project Goals and Analysis:
The development of a professional development strategy required
ERS to perform an in-depth analysis of RCSD’s professional
development programs and spending, evaluating the impact of RCSD's current
professional development strategies on sustained teacher quality and student
performance.
Preliminary Results
With the creation of the cabinet level position of Chief for Diversity
and Leadership Development, RCSD is already making progress toward system-wide
improvement in teaching quality and instructional leadership. RCSD invests
significant resources in professional development activities, approximately
7.8% of its 2004-2005 Operating Budget. This investment has helped RCSD
integrate research-based strategies that are linked to improving student performance,
including school-based instructional coaching through instructional specialists,
adoption of school-reform models, and the use of teacher mentors.
Recommendations
To ensure these investments reflect district priorities and translate into sustained improvement in teaching quality across the district, RCSD has identified several opportunities for improvement:
- Scheduling that allows the effective use of time for common planning and coaching of core academic subjects
- Refined career and salary structures to encourage and reward high quality teachers in priority subjects and areas
- System-wide professional development opportunities aimed at sustaining district-supported curriculum and reform and aligned with individual career needs
- Building principal capacity and creating accountability for the strategic management of school-level resources
- Regular tracking and reviewing of professional development spending and effectiveness in addressing district needs and priorities
In addition to evaluating Rochester's professional development efforts, ERS has helped district leadership begin to ensure the equitable allocation of resources by understanding per pupil spending. ERS assisted the Blue Ribbon Committee in analyzing:
- The variations in per pupil spending by school and by student type: regular, limited language proficient and the groups of special education students
- Teacher and student assignment to identify cost savings through new placement policies and school/classroom consolidation where possible
- Opportunities for a more equitable and effective allocation of resources
A third piece to ERS's work in Rochester includes a look at how strategically individual schools use the resources they receive. ERS has evaluated RCSD’s individual schools' allocation of time, people, and dollars against research-based principles of effective resource use, specifically:
- The investment in teacher quality through hiring, job structure, and common planning
- The strategic use of time around academic rigor and literacy
- The creation of individual attention and personal learning environments
- The organization of staff and other resources in creative, flexible ways to support coherent instructional designs
Some leading indicators by which ERS is measuring the effectiveness of resource use at individual schools are
- The distribution of teacher experience and expertise
- The use and experience of instructional coaches, mentors, and lead teachers
- The amount and use of common planning time
- The percentage of instructional time spent on core academics
- The employment of common literacy and numeric strategies
- Class size and teacher loads by subject and school
- The allocation of staff to core versus non-core instruction
In the face of declining enrollment, increasing poverty, and budget shortfalls, ERS analysis of school level resource use has helped RCSD understand and best organize and use the available resources.
RCSD has identified 7 Essential Standards for Schools that ensure strong curriculum and instruction, leadership, organization, collaboration, and support to nurture individual learning and development. With these Essentials in mind, ERS has worked with RCSD to develop Performance Rubrics that measure the key practices, culture, roles and players, systems, and operations necessary for the successful achievement of RCSD’s School Essentials and district priorities.
See these Performance Rubrics in draft form.
In addition, ERS is assisting RCSD in developing a strategic plan and a high school strategy, using the 7 Essentials to structure the work. As part of this work ERS is:
- Analyzing RCSD’s student performance data
- Evaluating the programs and organization of elementary and secondary schools against RCSD’s Essential Standards for Schools
- Identifying gaps and areas of focus
- Developing goals and action plans for K-12 as well as a high school strategy
- Outlining the fiscal and organizational requirements