WASC/CDE Self-Study

The most recent edition of the Focus on Learning: Joint WASC/CDE Process Guide is dated 2009 Edition (Updated Fall 2009). The manual details two parts of the entire FOL process - the self-study and the visit. It is not a manual for the most important, long-term portion of the process - implementing an action plan clearly centered on improving student learning. You can download the complete manual.

The manual is quite complete and detailed. Someone on the school campus should be thoroughly familiar with its contents.

The process guide includes excellent directions, it's important to remember that while flexibility is the key, the school should strive to accomplish these outcomes as staff and stakeholders develop the self-study:

The involvement and collaboration of all staff and other shareholders to support student achievement.

The clarification and measurement of what all students should know, understand, and be able to do through expected schoolwide learning results and academic standards.
The gathering and analyzing of data about students and student achievement.
The assessment of the entire school program and its impact on student learning in relation to expected schoolwide learning results, academic standards, and WASC/CDE criteria.
The alignment of a long-range action plan to the school's areas of need; the development and implementation of an accountability system for monitoring the accomplishment of the plan.

By following the process outlined through the tasks, these outcomes can be met.

The school organizes itself into three types of groups: leadership team, home groups (shareholder groups organized by roles and responsibility), and focus groups (interdisciplinary groups of shareholders organized around the criteria). Small schools function as a committee (or two) of the whole, announcing the discussion topic(s) of the day. Think about establishing a "data team" as well. Chairs (maybe co-chairs) of the focus groups, the school self-study coordinator (maybe co-chairs), the principal, and others form the leadership team.

NEW WASC now provides a voluntary template for the entire self-study. While it downloads as a protected Word® file, it is possible to copy and paste from the protected file into a new word processing file to format text as you prefer. Use this to build note sheets for home and focus groups and/or to publish your self-study.

The self-study contains five chapters plus (newly required) appendices. While there is no set presentation format for contents, follow the report outline carefully.

Data presented in Chapter I forms the base for the rest of the self-study. The expectation is that schools will present demographic and outcome data longitudinally (3 years) which are disaggregated in ways that help the school better understand its students and their performance. A set of tables with some graphs has been built in Excel® for schools. State data are included where they were available. Sample shell tables for schools having a visit in 2010 are available on the WASC website. (11/14/08-lwr) Chapter II presents conclusions reached from the data, identifies critical academic needs, and lists questions raised by the data. Both the critical academic needs and the questions to help guide portions of the work of home and focus groups. Click here for examples of these questions.

Learning results (school's mission/vision, student goals, learner outcomes, graduation goals, expected schoolwide learning results, ESLRs) are presented in Chapter I and define what students should know and be able to do upon exit from the school. They must address critical academic needs of students. It is this vision which drives the instructional program and the support operations of the school. To see what other schools have selected as their goals, do an Internet search on "ESLR." Think about audience as you use these agreements. What might students best respond to? What do teachers need to better understand student growth in these areas? More than one presentation may be beneficial. If you're interested in what the large profession of educators says about 21st century skills check

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills "framework presents a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines a discrete focus on 21st century student outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies) with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century."
21st Century Skills originally posted at mcrel.org a Denver, Colorado, based private, nonprofit corporation dedicated to "making a difference in public education. We draw upon the best of education research to translate what works into innovations and results." As of September 2009 this was no longer available, however, it's an excellent graphic.
ASCD Conference on Teaching and Learning, "Learning and Leading in the 21st Century" October 30 - November 1, 2009 in Washington DC
For a personal touch, check Kim Cofino's blog, Always Learning, particularly her own distillation of essential 21st century skills complete with a web-bibliography of interesting, pertinent readings.
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner from the American Association of School Librarians may be helpful.

Critical Academic Needs and the questions they raise become important lenses as home and focus groups work. Ensure that you use this opportunity to find out what and where and how - this provides insight for the action plan.

Progress on the Action Plan which has incorporated the Visiting Committee's key areas for follow-up since the last full visit is presented in Chapter III. This section should indicate major changes in the school since that visit; describe the school's procedures for implementing and monitoring the schoolwide action plan; and comments on the accomplishment of each section of the action plan. Schools need to emphasize how the school's plan accomplished the critical areas of follow-up from the last full self-study. Remember, this is the school's statement of its capacity and commitment to implement such a plan! Here are different ways of presenting the information. Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3.. Each is a different presentation showing a variety of styles and possibilities. WASC has a narrative sample of a Progress Report for a revisit on their website as well. It requires additional data (update of key data elements) for the Visiting Committee. The three samples shown here are modeled from this sample progress report but do NOT contain the additional data as that's in Chapter 1 of the self-study.

The criteria are research-based guidelines for school improvement that focus on student achievement of the expected schoolwide learning results and academic standards. In Chapter IV, the school presents is analysis and synthesis of the actual student program and its impact on student learning as it relates to the criteria and the learning goals (expected schoolwide learning results, graduation goals). Should you need each of the criteria on a separate page, they're here: A. Organization (public schools), A. Organization (charter schools), B. Standards-based Learning - Curriculum; C. Standards-based Learning - Instruction; D. Standards-based Learning - Assessment and Accountability; E. School Culture and Student Support.

Schools often have concern over the presentation of criteria summaries in Chapter IV. Gathering (and sometimes presenting) the information in tables has been helpful to many schools. Download a full set of Word® worksheets. Worksheets represent all of the 19 criterion for non-charter schools. Additional worksheets are provided to identify strengths and key areas for growth for the five criteria. A sample worksheet for identifying critical academic needs is included. For home groups, the worksheet summarizes their findings around the critical academic needs, academic standards, and/or expected schoolwide learning results. You could alter this to center some home group work around the Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and Accountability criteria. You could alter this to center some home group work around the Instruction criteria which requires differentiation and disaggregration in the self-study. Things just aren't the same for all students at all grade levels in all classes. This is a .zip file which can be extracted using any of the standard compression programs.

The additional prompts and indicators, rubrics, and guide questions (all now in the 2009 manual) are helpful in fully understanding the depth and breadth of the concepts embedded in the criteria. Use these as a double check to ensure your school's responses are rich and full. Check the WASC website for a version of these with expanding "boxes" for adding text in response to the prompts. (Note: this link is an automatic download of the files.) This is just one example of a number of note sheets which might be developed during Focus Group work.

Evidence (or artifacts) supporting the narrative in Chapter IV is required. While accuracy and relevance are important, descriptions can become cumbersome. Think about using "chunkier" language. Here are some examples.

The purpose of the self-study is to make sound decisions about what should be the most beneficial strategic work of the school over the next several years which support the desired learning results. Another way of looking at it is the self-study is the road map to the action plan. Based on its study, staff drafts a "preliminary action plan" within the self-study. This plan may be amended an/or expanded based on the insights from discussion with members of the Visiting Committee. Following the visit, the school refines and implements the action plan with the Leadership Team coordinating this implementation, annual review of progress, and refinement (revision) of the appropriate steps in meeting the goals.

Chapter V presents the school's comprehensive action plan includes not only sections based on the expected schoolwide learning results but may also contain those elements required by school projects, grants, and other elements relative to the school's strategic initiatives. Link these through various elements in the Action Plan, such as the steps and resources. There is no set format for the plan, however, there are required components. Each action plan must include a description of the processes and structures which will be used to monitor the implementation and evaluation of plan activities.

The core questions to be asked are "Is the problem/weakness clearly stated and supported by data?" and "Would the implementation of this solution enhance student learning and improve the quality of the educational programs of the school?" Remember, solutions must be within the control of the school! The Visiting Committee will not bring a money machine.

The required components for public schools include:

Statement of the area for improvement, including growth targets
Rationale for the area based on the self-study
Link to one or more learning result (graduation goal, expected schoolwide learning result)
Ways of assessing progress, including student achievement of the critical academic needs, expected schoolwide learning results, and academic standards
Means to monitor and assess progress
Who's responsible and involved
Specific steps, including professional development
Timeline
Resources

Directions include the need to identify the means to monitor and report progress to all members.

For public schools, the action plan resulting from the Focus on Learning self-study should be married to the Single Plan for Student Achievement (SB 374) (SPSA) now required for California public schools. Where possible, a single document meeting all requirements for the California Department of Education and WASC. Another model is to use the WASC-FOL action plan as the long-range, umbrella plan with the SPSA serving as the annual plan. The same rationale applies to Program Improvement plans or plans required for School Assessment and Intervention Teams (SAIT).

Even if the SPSA is not required, a single focus for strategic initiatives is important to concentrate and direct the school's work.

Here's a Word® document with the shell table used in the sample action plan distributed in training. All required elements are incorporated.

Here are some questions which can help guide the development of the action plan. Thanks, Nadine.

Additional helps include:

Search the Web for "effective proposals." Many of the resources deal with marketing proposals, however, the core guidelines of clarity, language, and alignment are key.

Writing Effective Proposals

As used here by the California Department of Education, "plan" refers to any document—an application, plan, or proposal—that may be developed in response to a state or federal program. A comprehensive plan is comprised of a clearly expressed vision, the methods for developing the vision, the program components, the evaluation design, and a description of how the results will be used to improve the program.

Writing Winning Grants

Check the Visit page for some writing tips

Acknowledgements

Site last modified & updated March 16, 2010

Writing Effective Proposals