School Improvement is Possible with HQPL

School improvement and accountability efforts changed dramatically as a result of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The law established new criteria and designations for prioritizing school improvement, along with a process for identifying schools and districts that require targeted school improvement efforts.

ESSA labels schools that are identified for school improvement as either Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) or Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI). Both of these designations come with their own specific criteria and subsequent plans for support.

There are two main criteria for a school to be designated as CSI:

• If the school is in the bottom 5% of Title I schools.
• If one-third or more students do not graduate.

States can identify schools as TSI “based on consistently underperforming subgroups.”

Both CSI and TSI schools are tasked with the responsibility of developing, implementing, and monitoring evidence-based school improvement plans designed to improve student outcomes. One necessary component of school improvement plans includes professional learning. Importantly, research studies continually reveal that High-Quality Professional Learning (HQPL) has significant impacts on student achievement. As such, CSI and TSI schools need to think critically and strategically about the specific role HQPL can plan in their school improvement plans.

Needs of CSI & TSI Schools

CSI and TSI schools, by nature of their designations, have unique and fundamental challenges related to student learning and achievement. Identifying and understanding these needs and challenges can be complicated, which reflects the complexity of school improvement efforts. 

Of course, the needs of CSI and TSI schools are highly contingent upon each school’s specific context and situation. Still, there are general needs that underpin most challenges to student achievement, including chronic low academic achievement, high teacher turnover rates, and low student engagement. 

There is also a strong connection between school improvement and educational parity. For example, low-income students and Black students are disproportionately represented in CSI schools. This data positions school improvement efforts as a practice of advancing supportive learning conditions across race and class backgrounds.

High-Quality Professional Learning can play a significant role in addressing these disparaties by equipping teachers with the skills, strategies, and support necessary to address systemic barriers to student achievement.

What is High-Quality Professional Learning?

If a district conducts a day-long workshop for teachers and doesn’t see changes in instructional strategies and student outcomes, this isn’t a reflection on professional learning as a whole. Instead, this is a reflection on an ineffective professional learning strategy.

By contrast, High-Quality Professional Learning (HQPL) is an evidence-based approach and strategy to professional learning that yields tremendous results in student performance and growth. But what constitutes HQPL?

Researchers have sought to understand what characteristics are required for professional learning to impact student learning, and in a research brief published by the Learning Policy Institute, a group of scholars identified seven traits of effective professional learning. Accordingly, High-Quality Professional Learning is:

• Content focused
• Grounded in adult-learning theory and involves active learning
• Supportive of collaboration
• Focused on modeling effective practices
• Embedded with individualized coaching 
• Focused on feedback and reflection 
• Sustained over longer durations

In other words, one-size workshops or one-size-fits-all approaches to professional learning are ineffective strategies. Instead, HQPL is an ongoing, job-embedded, praxis-oriented process that is simultaneously collaborative and individualized.

When HQPL is incorporated into school improvement plans, research affirms that student outcomes will improve.

HQPL and School Improvement 

Creating a school improvement plan requires an understanding of evidence-based strategies for advancing student outcomes. HQPL is among the most impactful strategies for improving student achievement.

In fact, research shows that HQPL can impact each overarching challenge of CSI and TSI schools: chronic low academic achievement, high teacher turnover rates, and low student engagement. 

Academic Achievement:

• Research suggests that students whose teachers who receive HQPL see boosts in their achievements by approximately 21 percentage points.
• Teacher participation in professional development can lead to significantly increased ELA proficiency rates and achievement on state mathematics assessments.

Teacher Turnover:

• HQPL improves teacher retention, particularly for early-career educators. 
• Professional development can improve teachers’ sense of career satisfaction.

Student Engagement:

• Professional development can lead to increased implementation of instructional strategies that promote student discourse.

Designing and implementing a school improvement plan can seem daunting, but understanding the transformative possibilities of HQPL can replace that sense of dread with one of hope, optimism, and enthusiasm. As CSI and TSI engage in the urgent and complicated task of school improvement, the role of HQPL cannot be overstated.