Education Week - December 5, 2012 - 11

EDUCATION WEEK

DECEMBER 5, 2012

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got what we wanted,’ or the transformational end, where, ‘It drives what we do,’ ” she said. “So we have different levels of engagement and different categories of affiliation.” One teacher at the A+ retreat confided that with a recent leadership switch at her school, the commitment level has declined. “It’s not the same if you don’t have a leader who is completely active and passionate about it,” she said. “So it has changed, but we’re hanging in there.”

building and is also an A+ school. Speaking to her visitors last month, who saw classes for both academies, she sang the praises of the network: “A+ is our driving force.” Ms. Harrison, who describes her schools as “dripping in the arts,” also emphasized the power of the other A+ essentials, including the intentional collaboration. “We have teachers collaborating without me having to say ‘collaborate,’ ” she said. “You cannot be isolated in an A+ school.”

We have teachers collaborating without me having to say ‘collaborate.’ You cannot be isolated in an A+ school.”
CHRISTINE HARRISON
Principal Millwood Academies

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‘Shared Experience’
Following the trip to Millwood, the visiting educators shared ideas and exploring best practices. At one point, the principals sat down in small groups for an intensive, problem-solving exercise. Each leader identified a particular challenge and worked on strategies to cope. “We provide ongoing professional development and networking opportunities, with a strong research eye on the methods we’re using, the outcomes we’re getting,” said Ms. Hendrickson. Sandra L. Kent, the principal of Jane Phillips Elementary in Bartlesville, Okla., gives high marks to the professional development, especially the five-day workshop for schools first joining. “We had a really powerful shared experience,” she said. “That’s one thing, as an A+ school, when you all go and live together for a week.” Ms. Kent said A+ is often misunderstood as being an “arts program.” The arts dimension gets significant attention “because not a lot of other people talk about it as being so important.” But other elements are also important, she said, such as the call for collaboration and the pursuit of multiple learning pathways that attend to students’ “multiple intelligences.” Another ingredient is enriched assessment strategies that aim to better capture what students know and are able to do. One aspect that has helped get A+ schools noticed is the re-

search base. “They have a very strong evaluation component,” said Sandra S. Ruppert, the executive director of the Washington-based Arts Education Partnership. “They have made the investments, documented their strategies. They can look at the correlation with test scores, but also a whole host of other outcomes. ... It is what gives that work greater credibility.” Both the North Carolina and Oklahoma networks have been the subject of extensive study. In 2010, Oklahoma A+ Schools issued a five-volume report on data collected by researchers from 2002 to 2007. It found that participating schools, on average, “consistently outperform their counterparts within their district and state on the [Oklahoma] Academic Performance Index,” a measure that relies heavily on student-achievement data. The study also found other benefits, including better student attendance, decreased disciplinary problems, and more parent and community engagement. But it found the level of fidelity to the A+ essentials uneven, with those schools that adhered most closely seeing the strongest outcomes. Meanwhile, a separate, more limited study in Oklahoma City compared achievement among students in A+ schools with a matched cohort of students. It found that, on average, students across seven A+ schools “significantly outperformed” a comparable group of district peers in reading and math, based on 2005 test data. However, not all individual schools outperformed the average, and the study did not measure growth in student achievement over time.

WHAT’S ESSENTIAL?
Schools participating in the A+ network in Oklahoma and other states commit to a set of eight A+ essentials. ARTS
Taught daily. Inclusive of drama, dance, music, visual arts, and writing. Integrated across curriculum. Valued as “essential to learning.”

CURRICULUM Curriculum mapping reflects alignment. Development of “essential questions.” Create and use interdisciplinary thematic units. Crosscurricular integration. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Grounded in arts-based instruction. A creative process. Includes differentiated instruction. Provides multifaceted assessment opportunities. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES Multiple-learning pathways used within planning and assessment. Understood by students and parents. Used to create “balanced learning opportunities.” ENRICHED ASSESSMENT Ongoing. Designed for learning. Used as documentation. A “reflective” practice. Helps meet school system requirements. Used by teachers and students to self-assess. COLLABORATION Intentional. Occurs within and outside school. Involves all teachers (including arts teachers), as well as students, families, and community. Features “broadbased leadership.” INFRASTRUCTURE Supports A+ philosophy by addressing logistics such as schedules that support planning time. Provides appropriate space for arts. Creates a “shared vision.” Provides professional development. Continual “team building.” CLIMATE Teachers “can manage the arts in their classrooms.” Stress is reduced. Teachers treated as professionals. Morale improves. Excitement about the program grows.
SOURCE: Oklahoma A+Schools

Photos by Shane Bevel for Education Week

Tapping Into Creativity
Amid growing interest in A+, neighboring Arkansas is ramping up its network, after stalling for a few years. Just recently, several charter schools in the high-profile kipp (Knowledge Is Power Program) network signed on. “People think kipp: structure, discipline, rigor. Arts infusion? What the heck do they have in common?” said Scott A. Shirey, the executive director of kipp Delta Public Schools, which runs schools in Helena and Blytheville, Ark. “But I think it was what we needed to bring our schools to the next level, ... to tap into the creativity of teachers and students.” Mr. Shirey said he values the ongoing support in the A+ network. “It’s not, ‘We’ll train you for one week, and you’re done,’ ” he said. Back in Oklahoma, Ms. Kent, the elementary principal, welcomed the fall leadership retreat as a way to get “refreshed and renewed and refocused.” She said it can be tough to maintain support for an arts-infused approach as schools face the pressure for improved test scores and other demands. In Oklahoma, recent changes include a new teacher-evaluation system, new letter grades for schools, the advent of the Common Core State Standards, and a new 3rd grade reten-

tion policy for struggling readers. visiting educators. “But the A+ “Yes, it’s very difficult with the Schools way helps you look good policy changes to get other people on that paper.” to trust you and trust the [A+] proThe tour of Millwood was eyecess,” said Ms. Kent, who previously opening for Ms. Franklin, the new led another A+ school. Her current principal at Owen Elementary, school is in its second year of transi- who came away impressed by this tioning to the A+ essentials. example of A+ in action. She said “Until you really produce the “evidence was everywhere” of sturesults, people have a hard time dent engagement and learning. going there,” she said. “It was colorful, it was lively, it But Ms. Kent said she’s convinced was audible,” she said. “I am motiher school’s journey as part of the vated to take it back to my school.” network will serve students well. Schools can’t escape the push for Coverage of leadership, expanded strong test scores, said Ms. Harri- learning time, and arts learning son from Millwood Arts Academy. is supported in part by a grant “Let’s face it, that’s a big part of from The Wallace Foundation, RHSTLEducationWeekAd10-12_Layout 1 11/8/12 2:12 PM Page 1 how we’re graded,” she told the at www.wallacefoundation.org.

The tightest alignment comes with “demonstration schools.” Those schools, including Millwood Arts Academy, have “made a really strong commitment to the eight A+ essentials, and they are our best partners to help others see what it looks like,” said Ms. Hendrickson. Millwood is a grades 3-8 magnet that primarily serves African-American students from low-income families. Unlike most Oklahoma A+ schools, it has selective admissions criteria. Admission decisions primarily are reflective of strong student interest in the arts and parents’ embrace of the school’s philosophy, said Christine Harrison, the principal of both that school and Millwood Freshman Academy, which is in the same

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Education Week - December 5, 2012

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