CISI Resources & e-Bulletins

Resources & E-Bulletins

Overview

CISI provides E-Bulletins as a service to members by email. Here you find archived E-Bulletins in addition to topically searchable resources on the following topics:

District Leadership: LCFF, LCAP, Budget, & API

Curriculum & Instruction: Common Core, Teaching, School Climate

Assessment: Smarter Balanced Assessment & Other Testing

Legislation & Policy: Politics, SBE, Legislation Analysis

Research in Brief: Curated research briefs and summaries

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Study: Too Many Structured Activities May Hinder Children’s Executive Functioning

Research in Brief

(Education Week)

A recent report in the journal Frontiers in Psychology  found “that the kids who spent more time in less-structured activities had more highly-developed self-directed executive function.” However, the children who spent more time in structured activity showed a decrease in ability to set goals, make decisions and self-regulation. 

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Cops and No Counselors

Research in Brief

According to a new nationwide report by the ACLU on the presence of police and mental health services in schools, “400,000 K-12 students in California attend a school that has a police officer but not a counselor.”

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Book Resources

Research in Brief

Bryk, Anthony S. Organizing Schools for Improvement : Lessons from Chicago. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2010. Print.

Campbell, Davis W., and Michael Fullan. The Governance Core : School Boards, Superintendents, and Schools Working Together. Corwin Press. 2019.

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Building Instructional Capacity Ann Jaquith: A Research Brief

Legislation & Policy

The ideas in this brief were initially developed in The Creation and Use of Instructional Resources: The Puzzle of Professional Development (2009). This research brief presents a conceptual framework to illuminate the conditions that enable professional development resources to get used by teachers and schools.

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EdSource Database of California Smarter Balanced Test Results Spring 2017

Assessment

The California Department of Education (CDE) released test score results from the 2017 Smarter Balanced assessments of math and English language arts on Sept. 27. This was the third year of testing based on the Common Core State Standards, using assessments created with input from several states in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). The tests form part of the state’s California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP.

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Fullan Report on California’s Education System: State is on Track to Improve Education Recommended Strategies for Improvement by Michael Fullan

Curriculum & Instruction

(September 2017)

In a recent report on policy changes in California since LCFF, LCAP, SBAC and CCSS, Michael Fullan, with colleague Santiago Rincón-Gallardo, writes of promising developments in the state’s education system. The 30-page report outlines positive shifts in the system and makes recommendations for “staying the course” in order to see positive outcomes for students. Following are excerpts from the report:

Fullan’s right drivers are now a focus of California’s education system.

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New Rand Report on personalized learning

Curriculum & Instruction

A July 2017 report from Rand report identifies four approaches to personalizing learning (excerpted from the report Insights on Personalized Learning Implementation and Effects):

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Continuous Improvement in Practice

Legislation & Policy

(Policy Analysis for California Education)

This policy brief presents research-based information on “continuous improvement” and identifies characteristics present in organizations that are successful in building a culture of continuous improvement. It also identifies some areas that district and school administrators have identified as challenging within the current context.
 
While acknowledging that continuous improvement holds promise as a means for improving educational outcomes, the brief states,
 

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Mindset Kit

Curriculum & Instruction

The Mindset Kit is a free set of online lessons and practices designed to help you teach and foster adaptive beliefs about learning.
https://www.mindsetkit.org

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Good Leaders Make Good Schools

District Leadership

(New York Times)
 
In a March 2018 article for the New York Times, David Brooks cited examples of how school leadership has made a significant impact on school improvement. In short, Brooks points to dramatic improvement in Washington, New Orleans and Chicago schools that have increased graduation rates since 2011.

“These improvements are proof that demography is not destiny, that bad things happening in a neighborhood do not have to determine student outcomes,” writes Brooks.

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Formative Assessment Research

Assessment

Dr. James Popham references two studies of formative assessment that point to areas of impact for educators. Several focal areas are identified in the articles (excerpts follow):

1) Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment

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Getting Down to Facts II

Legislation & Policy

“The research evidence suggests that state leaders should focus on:

Building on current reforms:
During the past decade, California’s education system has undergone major reforms that have resulted in improvements, but the system is still in need of capacity building.
 
Addressing achievement gaps:
Large achievement gaps by race, ethnicity, income and English learner status persist in California and need a continued focus through multiple approaches, including enhanced early childhood education.
 

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CISI Colleagues Visit Highline Public Schools in Seattle, WA

District Leadership

In October 2018, a group of California school district superintendents and staff visited a lab school/district to see how the district is working with Dr. Meredith Honig on transforming the central office. As we imagine it, an opportunity like this might strengthen and add depth to the work SELF and the Superintendents Network as well as providing participating California SELF alumni school districts to learn from a district that is implementing central office transformation with fidelity and success.         
 

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Teaching Resources

Curriculum & Instruction


Betterlesson
https://betterlesson.com/home
NSRFHarmony.org
Resources and training promotes effective collaboration among educators, developing best practices that result in increased student learning and a stronger school culture.
Growth Mindset for Educator Teams
https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset-educator-teams

NSRF Protocols
Learning Communities
Equity
Inquiry
Team-building and trust-building
Good for classroom use
Good for administration use

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Administrative Resources

Curriculum & Instruction

Jo Boaler Online. Jo Boaler, educator and author, focuses on promoting mathematics education reform and equitable mathematics classrooms. She serves as a professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education.
https://www.youcubed.org/ 

Leading for Learning: Reflective Tools for School and District Leaders and Leading for Learning Sourcebook: Concepts and Examples
(Center for Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington).

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From the Sept 6, 2018 State Board of Education.

Legislation & Policy

The California Department of Education (CDE) is proposing changes to prepare for the inclusion of two new indicators for the 2018 Dashboard—the Chronic Absenteeism Indicator and the College/Career Indicator (CCI)—and to report a five-year graduation rate for high schools. In addition, the CDE is proposing Status and Change cut scores to the one-year graduation rate for schools with Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS).

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Rethinking Bilingual Education

Curriculum & Instruction

(Patricia Gandara, Educational Leadership – March 2015) — “Research shows that bilingualism not only boosts individuals’ academic and social achievement, but also strengthens the workforce. So why don’t schools foster this strength?”

Cognitive Advantages: The Evidence Grows

Labor Market Advantages: The Picture Becomes Clearer

How Schools Can Foster Bilingualism

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RESOURCE — Program Implementation

Assessment

National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) - http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu

With schools faced with so many new initiatives, it can be helpful to have access to resources that frame analysis of the work. The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) has resources that can be used to evaluate progress toward implementation. One such tool is the brief report (with implementation rubric) entitled Stages of Implementation Analysis: Where Are We? Access the pdf HERE

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