Coatesville's A-TSI School Plan

This article is a collaboration among several CAP members including
Amelia Mills, West Caln, Candidate for SB Region 3, Retired Educator, Retired CASD employee.

During the June Education Committee meeting CASD Leadership presented their “A-TSI School Plans.” Earlier this year FIVE schools in the Coatesville Area School District were designated as A-TSI (Targeted School Improvement). 

CASD’s (documented) Plans for School Improvement - by Amelia

I read the published plans with great interest to see exactly what CASD plans to do to support our schools needing improvement.  So I was happy to see that our TSI plans show that the five schools will once again use school-wide benchmark testing and data driven-instruction. In the past CASD was highly successful with targeting instruction for students who lagged behind academically by using data, provided by PSSA’s annual assessment, along with quarterly benchmarks and teacher-designed formative assessments.

I was saddened and surprised that our district didn’t use this opportunity to do something new, something innovative with programming. Instead the improvement plans focus on the same-old same-old including Co-teaching, which we know is not currently implemented with fidelity. Only one CASD school is targeted for school improvement due to lack of academic improvement of our students with disabilities, I believe this is due to the hard work and wisdom of our veteran teachers who have been successfully differentiating instruction for years. It is not a result of the poorly implemented co-teaching model that CASD currently uses.

In addition, CASD’s A-TSI school plans mirrored the same questionable programs and initiatives described in CASD’s Comprehensive Plan: Equity Leadership Program, Mindfulness, Positive Behavior Supports, Units of Study and College Preparatory Math.

How does CASD (verbally) explain and position Targeted School Improvement?

After reading the details of their school plans, I was eager to hear first-hand what district leadership’s would present at the Education Committee meeting. This was their opportunity to apprise the school directors and the public on what CASD plans to do to improve the academic performance of the subgroups of students in our FIVE Coatesville schools.

What is CASD’s focus for school improvement as presented last Tuesday night? Fix the attendance problem. Good grief. The whole intent of A-TSI is to improve the academic performance of students.  If our District Leadership sees the fix as an attendance-fix using the same old failed programs they have been pushing since the start of the current leadership reign; I am truly frightened about the future of our district.

For a visual comparison and a better understanding of this plan, below is an excerpt from Coatesville and neighboring Delaware County School, Chichester. 

You'll note that Coatesville's plan is to provide professional development for all for CDT implementation, data analysis, planning for instructional changes, and data meeting protocol. None of this specifically states what we are doing to help students. Further, it specifies that DRAs will be used to measure student achievement. The DRA is a subjective test, which Audra Ritter's situation reveals, and teachers are not adequately trained to administer this test. 

What in this plan explains anything specific that will be accomplished to achieve our goal?

Chichester, on the other hand, not only includes the necessary training. They also include developmental steps to help students meet the goals. They allot for teachers to post specific assignments, create common assessments for specific algebra units, and include a tutoring program for students. This plan not only includes the measurement of student achievement, it also includes a plan to help them meet the achievement goal. We recognize that these could still be more specific. However, it is a better action plan towards student success.



Coatesville:

Chichester

We maintain that the board should not vote through this plan. Similar to the comprehensive plan and the special education plan, it does not represent input from the community and it does not have specific goals on HOW we will implement strategies to ensure student success. 

For anyone wanting background and context for the A-TSI:

A little historical perspective: PDE has always had initiatives to identify schools that “need improvement.” With the new ESSEA guidelines, PDE refined their approach, hence CSI and A-TSI schools. And, yes, CASD has had schools targeted for school improvement in the past. And, yes, when our schools were targeted for improvement, CASD used those opportunities to figure out what wasn’t working and change what we were doing. We were innovative, we didn’t do continue with what wasn’t working.

Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) web site gives a little background on PDE’s approach to School Improvement. Replacing No Child Left Behind, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides Pennsylvania with direction to designate and serve schools in need of support.

To summarize, Pennsylvania's approach to ESSA implementation "emphasizes collaboration between state and local stakeholders to identify and address root causes for existing problems, to implement appropriate and evidence-based corrective actions, and to carefully monitor the pace of improvement." 

PDE notes two designations for schools needing improvement.

1. Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI): Schools facing the most significant challenges in academic achievement, student growth, and other areas; and
2. Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (A-TSI): Schools in which performance by one or more student groups is at or below the level of the CSI schools.

How does a school get on the A- TSI List? To get on the targeted for school improvement list a school needed to have one or more subgroups of students performing badly academically.

Out of the FIVE Coatesville schools, FOUR schools need to do a better job with our children of color; THREE schools need to do better with our economically disadvantaged (our poor kids); and only one school needs to do a better job with students with disabilities.

1. CASH = Black
2. North = IEP, Econ Disadvantage, Black, Hispanic
3. South = Econ Disadvantage. Black, Hispanic
4. RB = Econ Disadvantage
5. RCV = Black

As a matter of perspective some school districts who are also on the list, Allentown, TWO schools; Harrisburg, TWO schools; Norristown, TWO schools; Pottstown, TWO schools. And, yes Collegium is on the list.  If you are interested in seeing all 190+ school here is the full list.

I checked out the Goals for PDE’s commitment to school improvement to get a sense of what is expected of CASD.

1. Goal: LEAS (school districts/CASD) are accountable and empowered to serve schools identified for support and improvement.
2. Goal: Schools and communities are accountable and empowered to provide effective, engaging instruction within a supportive culture.
3. Goal: Engaged, healthy, safe students who are college, career and community ready.

PDE’s Expectations for School Districts/CASD

• Establish effective, standards-aligned instructional programs;
• Support schools and their communities in removing barriers to learning;
• Customize support systems to meet the local needs and context of individual schools;
• Implement data-informed human capital systems; and
• Allocate resources based on the needs of individual schools and their communities,

PDE’s expectations for schools and communities:

• Support effective instructional practices in all classrooms;
• Foster collective responsibility for the academic, social, emotional and behavioral outcomes of all students;
• Cultivate a safe, positive and supportive climate that is conducive to learning; and
• Provide high-quality professional learning opportunities for all administrators, teachers and support staff 

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