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Running Head: INSTRUCTIONAL NEED ACTIVITY

Instructional Need Activity


Katherine Barbosa, Kimberly Grisdale, Scott Jenkins, Sara Palmosina
Accountability and Organizational Improvement
Dr. Caggiano 11/19/2013














INSTRUCTIONAL NEED ACTIVITY 2
Assessment and Analysis of Instructional Need
On the 2012-2013 fifth grade Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) writing test, the state
saw a significant decline in passing scores. There were many changes that arguably impacted
scores across the state. Like much of the state, Hampton City Schools experienced a significant
drop in the pass rate on the 5
th
grade-writing test. School, division, and state report cards are
published by the Virginia Department of Education as a way to provide information about
student achievement, accountability ratings, attendance, program completion, school safety,
teacher quality, and other topics. According to information published in these report cards, the
state pass rate on the 5
th
grade writing tests declined from 89% to 73%. In Hampton City, the
rate fell from 78% to 68%.

Hampton City Schools Deborah Fahringer, English Language Arts Teacher Specialist
for grades 2-5, outlined changes to the 5
th
grade-writing test in an interview on November 7,
2013. She noted that 2012-2013 was the first year that the students took their writing test online.
Other changes included a brand new type of writing called creative narrative. The school
system did not receive notice of this change until December, just a few months before the test.
The teachers had very little time to respond to this change in their instruction. The last major
change was in the states scoring rubric for the writing test. The state altered the weights of
certain items. This change impacted the scores as well.
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George P. Phenix Pre-K-8 schools instructional need in the area of writing will be
assessed and analyzed here. Phenixs enrollment is around 1500 students. 44% of their
population is considered economically disadvantaged. The racial breakdown can be seen below:

Scores on the 5
th
grade-writing test at Phenix declined, generally speaking. One alarming trend
is the decline seen in students who are economically disadvantaged. A 3-year decline in writing
scores is evident, with the most significant drop occurring between the 2011-2012 and 2012-
2013 school year.

Literacy is the ability to read and write. The correlation between socioeconomics and literacy is
well established historically in research. A number of variables are factors for students of
economically disadvantaged households. Literacy development can be inhibited because these
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students spend less time reading, get less sleep, have higher rates of absenteeism and mobility,
and less parental encouragement of academic pursuits. These factors are not only more likely to
be experienced by children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, but research indicates there is
often an interactive effect, meaning socially disadvantaged children suffer more adverse effects
from these risk factors than other children (Buckingham, et al 2013). It is because of these
extenuating circumstances, the change in the 5
th
grade-writing SOL test, and the 3-year trend in
dropping scores for economically disadvantaged students that an adjustment in instructional
planning and teaching must be examined.
Nonetheless, the sizeable decrease in 5
th
grade-writing SOL scores cannot be attributed to
the change in the assessment and the traditionally low performance of socially disadvantaged
students alone. Brand new in 2010, Phenix is one of two PreK-8 schools in the Hampton City
School Division. Servicing about 1,500 students each day, Phenix is also one of the largest
schools in the division. Although Phenixs population does include a rather considerable number
of economically disadvantaged students, the portion of these students is not large enough for the
school to meet the criteria for Title I funding. Thusly, the extra support to help students that
come from low socioeconomic status families lies in the hands of the regular classroom teachers,
whose schedules do not often lend themselves to providing these focused learning opportunities.
Time to do it, explains Stacy Walker, Literacy Leader and Reading Specialist. Since
Phenixs opening, Ms. Walker has been tasked as the single language arts instructional resource
at Phenix. She pushes into classrooms to provide support as she sees necessary, but functions
mostly as a pullout teacher, often working with the lower performing students in an attempt
provide the extra support needed to boost reading abilities and, ultimately, test scores. Writing
requires more than just 30 minutes, she continues, and with having to teach every subject, and
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math and reading taking up such big chunks of the school day, teachers just dont have the time
necessary to devote to teaching writing appropriately, (Walker, 2013).
Time is also a factor when it comes to having grade-level conversations about the
teaching of writing. Since its inception, Phenix has embraced the Professional Learning
Community (PLC). This model requires grade-levels to formally meet as Collaborative Learning
Teams (CLT) and, at Phenix, schedules have been adjusted to incorporate bi-weekly extended
meeting times for this purpose. Our CLT is supposed to be for discussing student learning and
whats working in classrooms to achieve great understanding, explains Jennifer Breault, a 5
th

grade teacher at Phenix (2013). Unfortunately, she continues, they are often taken up by
curriculum leaders talking about the latest news on the test and what we need to do in the
classroom. CLT meetings should be dedicated to reflective conversations and using data to plan
with your team about how to help students succeed, (Breault, 2013). Stacy Walker also spoke
to the importance of examining writing during CLT time. Bringing student samples to
collectively grade and discuss brings cohesiveness within the grade-level as to the expectations
for writing. It also sparks conversations on how to improve writing and the strategies teachers
may have found that work, (Walker, 2013).
Vertical teaming encourages teachers to look beyond their everyday colleagues to other
resources above and below their grade-level. When implemented appropriately, 5
th
grade
teachers can work with the grade level teams below them to create a plan to develop writers
before the onset of their 5
th
grade, testing year. These same teachers can also work with middle
school language arts teachers to learn how to enrich writing lessons with better strategies for
teaching writing planning and development. Its sad that vertical teaming does not occur more
often, as it creates a cohesiveness in the teaching of writing across grade levels, explains Ms.
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Walker (2013). By beginning writing early and building upon skills gradually, students at all
levels can grow in their understanding and abilities each year, rather than starting over from
scratch again and again, (Walker, 2013).
Perhaps the largest hindrance to the teaching of writing is not the time, nor the resources,
but rather the lack of teacher fidelity. Teachers in urban school districts often face a myriad of
pressures to ensure student performance on standardized tests. According to a number of
researchers, the achievement gaps created as a result of culturally and socioeconomically diverse
student populations are often the focuses of state and federal mandates (Dooley & Assaf, 2009).
A drop in scores could mean a decrease of funding resulting in an increase of pressure to raise
scores. This increasing pressure then trickles down from district leaders, to school
administration, to teachers, to students. Although Hampton curriculum leaders promote the use
of research based writing strategies, teachers that do not test writing often succumb to the
pressures of testing, leaving writing to wait until test scores have improved. Ive gotten used to
my students looking at me like Im speaking a different language when I mention a t-bar (an
HCS strategy for crafting a topic sentence), says Ms. Breault (2013). Its at that point that I
know I have my work cut out for me, having only seven months to create effective writers out of
students that have never been asked to write before (Breault, 2013).
It is because of this reality that a cohesive, efficient, and effective plan needs to be
developed to thoroughly address the goals of writing improvement; not only in 5
th
grade, but also
across the board. Establishing a plan of attack for the specific needs of Phenix in conjunction
with the plan that has been established by the district can lead to addressing some of the above
problems.
Leadership Plan for Instructional Change
Goals and Objectives
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Without a well-defined and integrated set of strategies for improving learning, teaching,
and leadership- in short, a system- it is hard to imagine how leaders can be anything but reactive
(Wagner, et al 2006). Based this idea, Phenix must adopt a clearly defined action plan aimed at
improving writing skills and in turn scores. Using the previously discussed data, Phenixs goal is
to increase the number of 5
th
grade economically disadvantaged students passing the writing
SOL by 10%. By implementing the changes addressed below, Phenix should not only increase
their 5th grade writing scores, but proactively prepare lower grades for their upcoming
assessments.
Facilitation of Changes through PLC
A modified use of PLC will play a major role in the improvement of writing scores at
Phenix. This model will help facilitate the implementation of the districts new writing pacing
guide and curriculum. Weekly team meetings through CLTs will continue; within these meetings
teachers will participate in the lesson study protocol. In this paradigm, teachers create a common
lesson and objectives, teach the lesson to their classes, and bring back work samples to CLT
meetings. Teachers then examine the work samples to see whether or not students have met the
appropriate learning objectives. This process is ...not to expose those who may be getting poor
results, but rather to identify and learn from those teachers who are getting results far above
average with comparable groups of students (Wagner et al, 2006). Accordingly, this forum
allows for conversations centered around student learning and best-practice for the teaching and
learning of writing.
Another key change in the way the CLT meetings will function is the addition of vertical
teaming. Using the vertical team model, teachers will periodically meet with teachers of other
grade levels. The purpose of these meetings is to collaborate with teachers to identify areas of
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strength and weakness in the subject of writing. From these discussions teachers can share best
practice and plan to address the most critical skills.
In accordance with the idea of vertical teaming, Phenix will create its own need-specific
pacing guide, coinciding with the district-wide pacing. Using data from district and school-wide
common assessments, the building guide will be created to ensure that it appropriately addresses
areas of weakness. Karen Johnson, current assistant principal at Tyler Elementary and former
reading specialist, states, writing should have a plan vertically across the board; if given a plan
on what it looks like and how it should work it is not as overwhelming and new in 5
th

grade...writing should build upon like math. Foundations should support the learning in the
upcoming year, (Johnson, 2013).
Phenix will also make use of other members of the schools PLC. Resources such as
librarians, music teachers, physical education teachers, and art teachers will also help support
action plan goals by assisting the teachers with ideas and concepts that are cross-curricular.
Resource classes will infuse writing goals periodically in their classrooms as their specific
curriculum allows. Additionally, resource teachers will intervene with differentiated small
groups for intervention and enrichment during one planning period a week.
Implementation of Professional Development
A strong emphasis on professional development will help teachers and staff to effectively
incorporate the new writing plan. A school-wide professional development explaining the new
writing standards, pacing, and platform will kick off the implementation of Phenixs action plan.
Throughout the year, teacher leaders will collaborate to provide additional professional
development opportunities based on staff needs, concerns, and questions. District and school
level coaches will provide professional development will centered around composition, usage
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and mechanics, and technology. Kaplan states, Professional workshops where participants can
share their expertise with other teachers provide a sense of community and common purpose.
(Kaplan, 2008). When there is a disconnect between school-based leadership and central office
leadership, goal attainment at the school level can prove to be incredibly difficult (Green, 2013).
Therefore, the goal of professional development is to ensure the fidelity of instruction by
streamlining the understanding of the district writing plan. An additional area of professional
development need is for teachers to receive information and training about meeting the needs of
disadvantaged students. Understanding their unique circumstances will help teachers tailor their
classroom instruction appropriately.
Instructional Changes
Instruction will also change in alignment with the new district initiatives and new school
goals. There are several district-mandated components to writing instruction that will be
incorporated into instruction at Phenix. Thirty-minute daily writing blocks are required to be set-
aside for students in grades 3-5. Another major component of the district plan is for teachers to
keep and maintain district-mandated writing folders for each student. These folders will contain
samples of student writing that indicate mastery of various writing components. Student writing
will be scored using the established district-wide rubric, which has been adjusted to match the
rubric used to score the SOL test. Additionally, writing prompts released by the Virginia
Department of Education should be utilized so that students can practice all of the writing styles
tested on the SOL.
Teachers will use and model writing graphic organizers with students. This strategy is
particularly useful for disadvantaged students, helping them sort and organize information and
prepare for writing (Payne, 2009). Phenix teachers will also implement a reverse-webbing
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strategy. This strategy asks students to take an already written essay and break it down into parts
using a graphic organizer. This exercise encourages a deeper understanding of the organization
of writing and emphasizes a strong need for clear, coherent main ideas and details. It also allows
students to fully understand the organizers they are asked to use.
A unique approach to writing instruction that Phenix will adopt is a writing workshop
approach. In this approach, the teacher will act as a writing professional, helping young authors
to explore and develop writing through needs-based mini-lessons, set writing times, and peer
editing/sharing. Students will make use of age-appropriate rubrics for peer editing. Although
these rubrics are useful for all students, they are specifically shown to enhance the writing
performance of students who are disadvantaged. Championed by Ruby Payne, rubrics require
students to evaluate writing through specific criteria, a higher level thinking skill according to
Blooms Taxonomy (Payne, 2009). This evaluation helps students of all levels to master content,
as they must not just recognize, but understand the criterion that indicates a skilled writer. Using
rubrics to assess peer writing will help students to embed those criteria into their learning and
approach their own writing with the same set of skilled eyes (Payne, 2009).
Under the writing workshop model teachers will conduct individual writing conferences
with all students. During these meetings, the teacher will offer feedback and instruction
specifically tailored to individual student needs. Also at that time, the teacher and student will
discuss writing progress, as demonstrated in writing folders, and collaborate to set goals for
future writing endeavors. Working together to create appropriately difficult goals has proven to
have an energizing and motivating effect on students. Challenging, yet attainable, goals are
effective in enhancing student performance because they lead to a clearer notion of success and
direct students attention to relevant behaviors or outcomes of that success (Hattie, 2009). Using
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writing time in such a way allows the teacher to concentrate less on whole group, direct
instruction and more on one-to-one instruction with hard to reach learners. Because writing
prompts and state assessments require students the use formal register, and formal register
requires a pattern, teachers can capitalize on this individualized time to help disadvantaged
students achieve this integral skill. During student writing conferences, teachers can help
disadvantaged students develop mental models that help teach these basic patterns of formal
writing (Payne, 2009).
Progress Monitoring and Assessment Strategies
Assessing progress is an integral part of the improvement process through which schools
increase their internal accountability and find better ways to meet all students learning needs
(Boudette et al, 2010, p.138). Indistar, an online forum for charting and managing the
continuous change process, will provide the perfect platform for recording and monitoring
Phenixs action plan. Schools immersed in the change process benefit from setting clear goals
for student improvement and proficiency and precise plans for how and when they will measure
progress toward these goals (Boudette et al, 2010). By establishing an action plan with
transparent goals and logical steps to achieving them, shared accountability and a common focus
ensures the fidelity of the program, as well as the commitment to the plan.
Short-term data collection and analysis is often best delegated to individual classroom
teachers because they can examine student work and observe student participation on a regular
basis (Boudette et al, 2010). Sources of short term data that Phenixs educators will use to
measure progress includes student classwork and homework, quizzes and tests addressing
specific skills, and anecdotal observations of student performance. Writing folders will be
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examined during CLT meetings on a quarterly basis, with district level support, and serve as a
wonderful means of progress monitoring for gains in student writing abilities.
Establishing Stakeholder Buy-In
It is important to ensure external and internal support when making a transition or change.
Transitioning a new concept from plan to action is a task that can be daunting at best. The
capacity to change is likely to exist if the change process takes place in an environment where
stakeholder involvement is respected (Green, 2013). When a participatory approach is taken,
stakeholders feel valued, take ownership for the implementation of change and are willing to
assume responsibility for the outcomes (Spillane, 2005). One way of establishing teacher buy-in
is to use teacher leaders to help facilitate the process. The focus of the writing plan is on what
the students are learning rather than what the teachers are teaching. Through a combination of
professional development and transparent discussion, student focused ideas can be formulated
and decisions can be made through consensus.
Parents are another important group of stakeholders to include in the change process.
Workshops are a wonderful way to reach out to parents and to inform them of the academic
goals the school has set for their children. Fiore (2011) points out that in addition to the
myriads of studies that show parental involvement in schools having a positive affect on
education, the recent push of the federal government, specifically in the eighth National
Education Goal, advocates the importance of strong home-school connections. Phenix will
structure parent workshops specifically with economically challenged families in mind.
Workshops will be family-friendly and focus on useful ways parents can help their 5
th
graders
become better writers. Teachers, teacher leaders, and curriculum specialists will work to explain
the writing process used by the school and give parents resources to help students reach mastery
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of this process through practice at home. By providing a specific way and means to be involved,
the Phenix staff will increase the likelihood that the lessons taught in the classroom will become
a jumping-off point for continued practice at home. Furthermore, greater achievement resulted
for students whose parents were involved in education early on (proactively rather than
reactively) and for those whose parents maintained consistent involvement throughout their
childrens education (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Strong home-school relationships were also
shown to improve student attendance, behavior in school, and attitudes toward school
(Henderson & Mapp, 2002). By providing parents and community members opportunity to
become involved and knowledgeable about the process will solidify the efforts being made
within the school building.
Conclusion:
Due to the change in the 5th grade writing SOL test, necessary changes to writing
instruction at Phenix must occur. Whats more, regardless of the change in the SOL test, scores
for disadvantaged students have shown a decline over the last three years. Some of the program
changes will be come from the district level curriculum department, while some will be building
specific for Phenix. Building specific changes include a shift in the usage of PLC time to include
vertical teaming and lesson study. These strategies help teachers implement effective instruction
through new types of collaboration. Changes in instruction include the use of reverse webbing
and a writing workshop structure where students peer edit, conference with the teacher and set
writing goals. Securing stakeholder support will help make the changes sustainable. These are
just a few of the changes meant to enhance all student achievement, but specifically that of
disadvantaged students.

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References
Boudett, K. P., City, E. A., & Murnane, R. J. (2005). Data wise: a step-by-step guide to using
assessment results to improve teaching and learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Education Press.
Breault, J. (2013, November 11). Personal Interview.
Buckingham, J., Wheldall, K., & Beaman-Wheldall, R. (2013). Why poor children are more
likely to become poor readers: The school years. Australian Journal of Education ,
57(3), 190-213. Retrieved November 7, 2013, from
http://aed.sagepub.com/content/57/3/190
Dooley, C. M., & Assaf, L. C. (2009). Contexts Matter: Two Teachers' Language Arts
Instruction In This High-stakes Era. Journal of Literacy Research, 41(3), 354-391.
Fahringer, D. (2013, November 7). Personal Interview
Green, R. L. (2013). Practicing the art of leadership: A problem-based approach to
implementing the ISLLC standards (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to
achievement. London: Routledge.
Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family,
and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: SEDL National Center
for Family and Community Connections with Schools. Retrieved from
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/fam33.html
Fiore, D. J. (2011). School-community relations (3rd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education.
Johnson, K. (2013, November 4). Personal Interview.
Kaplan, J. (2008). The National Writing Project: Creating A Professional Learning Community
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That Supports The Teaching Of Writing. Theory Into Practice, 47(4), 336-344.
Payne, R. K. (2010). Research-based strategies: narrowing the achievement gap for under-
resourced students ([Rev. ed.). Highlands, TX.: Aha! Process, Inc.
Spillane, J. (2005). Distributed leadership. The Educational Forum. Retrieved June 10, 2006,
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4013/is_200501/ai_n9473825
Wagner, T., Kegan, R., Lahey, L., Lemons, R. W., Helsing, D., Howell, A., & Rasmussen, H. T.
(2006). Change leadership: a practical guide to transforming our schools. (1st ed.). San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Walker, S. (2013, November 11). Personal Interview.
Running Head: INSTRUCTIONAL NEED ACTIVITY
Appendix A
WRITING ACTION PLAN
2012-2013 PHENIX PREK-8 SCHOOL HAMPTON, VA
Target: To increase the pass rate on the 5
th
grade writing SOL by 10% for disadvantaged students.

Result Statement: students will be competent writers by using meaningful text through short and extended responses; they will use new collaborative techniques to
effectively and thoroughly communicate through appropriate means of writing.
Support of student learning: Collaboration Professional Development Instructional Changes Progress
Monitoring/Evaluation
Stakeholder Buy-In
Students Will

Effectively use meaningful
techniques to communicate
thoughts and ideas from oral
to written language.

Write coherently, with
details and complete
sentences.

Use the various writing
styles and genres to specific
topic, purpose, and audience.

Sequence the writing
process.

Use various types of graphic
organizers during pre-
writing.

Improve word processing
skills.

Conference regularly with
peers and teachers
throughout writing process.

Peer-edit using the
appropriate rubric for
students.
Staff will collaborate by-

Meeting in weekly content-
based PLC team meetings.

Working with librarians and
other resource teachers will
support writing goals with
cross-curricular writing
activities and differentiated
intervention or enrichment.

Meeting in vertical teams.

Using the lesson plan study
model during CLT meetings.







Teachers will participate in-

Professional development
provided by district
curriculum leaders/specialist
based on the district
expectations and writing
guides.

Professional development
provided by in-house teacher
leaders focused on building
specific needs.

Professional development
aimed at meeting the needs
of disadvantaged students.


Teachers Will-

Follow writing expectations
set forth by the district:
Maintain writing
folders
Holding daily writing
blocks (30 min)
Use established rubric
Use prompts released
by the VDOE.
Use pacing and
curriculum guide
provide
Use a writing workshop
model for instruction.

Use Phenix-specific pacing
guide.

Model the use of graphic
organizers for pre-writing.
including reverse webbing

Provide differentiated
instruction to meet the needs
of all students.

Facilitate student goal
setting for writing.

Model peer editing practices.
Measurement Tools-

Indistar: formal goal setting
and progress monitoring.

Student classwork,
homework, quizzes and unit
tests.

Informal observations of
student participation and
work.

Quarterly benchmark data.

Writing folders.


Buy-in will be obtained by-

Involving teacher leaders to
provide professional
development

Utilizing transparency

Utilizing meeting structures
already in place

Providing parent workshops
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