2006-2007
Support to the District of Columbia State Committee
In order to meet the technical assistance needs of the District of Columbia SEA, this project was designed to build state capacity in the area of resource sharing and comprehensive planning across divisions.
MACC used the "MACC Survey of SEA Practices that Promote Systems of Support for Districts and Schools " to conduct an initial assessment of key SEA staff's knowledge of these practices and resources and, from there, to track changes in the knowledge of SEA staff that support internal cooperation.
MACC developed this survey to assess the needs of our states relative to the three MACC goals and to establish baseline data on state practices to assist in planning technical assistance activities and tracking state progress toward meeting those goals. Technical assistance to the District of Columbia was determined in part by analyzing the needs revealed by this survey.
The District of Columbia State Committee members included SEA directors from Title I and Title III, Special Education, Reading First, Curriculum Development, Assessment and Accountability, and Education Technology and Content Specialists that work with the LEA and the SEA.
Professional Development System for DC Standards-based Curriculum in Science and Social Studies
During the summer of 2006, DC rolled out new science and social studies standards and curriculum (including a scope and sequence, exemplars for student tasks and performance assessments, and a supplement on how to use these tools with special needs students such as special education students, ELLs, and gifted and talented students).
The DC SEA/LEA provided summer trainings to teachers on these standards and curricula, and established anchor teams in schools to support the rollout of the curricula.
MACC provided support to the DC SEA/LEA on the rollout of the new curricula and follow-up support for the school-based anchor teams on instructional implementation, and assisted with the development of a plan for supporting the anchor teams in their work with teachers by
1. surveying teachers on professional development needs and preferred modes of PD delivery;
2. analyzing the survey data and providing a summary report on findings to the DC SEA/LEA;
3. using the findings from the professional development survey to select a service delivery mode for teacher training in the summer and for methods by which the anchor teams to support teachers as they implement the new standards and curriculum; and by
4. creating an ongoing support system for the anchor teams.
District of Columbia Middle School Transition Project
One of the initiatives within the District of Columbia All Students Succeeding-A Master Education Plan for a System of Great Schools is the improvement of middle schools.
At that time, DC did not have performance expectations at each grade level around standards, nor did it have teams to work across grade levels to address the coordination of expectations across the transition years. MACC worked with the DC SEA/LEA to develop a support system of staff to both create and implement grade-level expectations, exemplars for student work, and proficiency rubrics.
In Year 2, MACC provided assistance to the DC SEA/LEA in the following areas:
1. identification of criteria for selection of principals, teacher leaders, and SEA/LEA staff with expertise in middle school transition and use of this criteria to form a planning group;
2. assistance to the planning group to (a) write grade level expectations; (b) develop student work exemplars, and (c) develop proficiency rubrics;
3. formation of vertical teams across all high schools and their feeder middle schools; and
4. development of a professional development plan for these vertical teams so that they can work with the teachers in their respective schools to use the grade level expectations, exemplars, and performance tasks in their instruction.
The ultimate goal of this project was to create and implement aligned curriculum and instruction for the transition years, particularly in schools that were identified as needing improvement, to address both the decline in achievement during these years and the high drop out rate that occurs in ninth and tenth grades.