ONWARD TO EXCELLENCE

Evidence of positive effects on student achievement
Year introduced in schools		1981
Number of schools		1,000
Support developer provides schools
First-year costs      with new staff      with current staff reassigned		$72,000 $60,000
= Strong	= Promising		= Marginal
= Mixed, Weak		? = No Research

OVERVIEW

Onward to Excellence is an approach that attempts to build school capacity for continual improvement. A series of workshops are provided to help teams of teachers, administrators, other school staff, and community members learn to set schoolwide goals for increasing student achievement in specific areas, to collect data and evaluate progress toward achieving goals, and to set new objectives once initial goals have been met.

Schools implement Onward to Excellence in ten steps over the course of two years by:

• conducting an initial assessment to determine the school's areas of need;

• developing a "school performance profile" that shows trends in student achievement;

• establishing one or two broad goals for school improvement related to increased student performance;

• studying research on best practices related to their school goals;

• reviewing their current instructional practices in relationship to the research;

• determining how to improve student learning in the areas of their goals;

• developing an implementation plan;

• carrying out the implementation plan (identifying resources, organizing training, and changing practices);

• monitoring progress toward meeting the goal(s); and

• reviewing the school's progress toward meeting its goal(s) and setting new goals after first goals have been met.

Onward to Excellence was developed at the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (NWREL) in 1981. The approach resulted from research on effective schooling practices, including research on: school effects, teacher effects, instructional leadership, curriculum alignment, program coupling, and educational change. Presently, over 1,000 schools (K-12) have adopted the approach. NWREL grants other organizations, such as education service centers, state departments of education, school district offices, or universities, permission to conduct training using Onward to Excellence, provided that NWREL has trained their staff.

EVIDENCE OF POSITIVE EFFECTS ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Strength of the Research Base. Overall, the strength of the research base is marginal. Much of the research available was conducted by the developer. Four studies were reviewed that report student outcomes, two of which use a sufficiently rigorous methodology to report their findings here. One of these was conducted by independent researchers.

One limitation of the research on Onward to Excellence is that, although the approach is used in over 1,000 schools across the country, studies have focused on schools in the state of Mississippi. Still, this limitation is mitigated by two factors; one-quarter of all Onward to Excellence schools are in Mississippi, and the research in Mississippi has been extensive. One study examined 33 Mississippi schools; the other looked at almost 30 school districts, including almost every Onward to Excellence school in Mississippi.

In addition, three studies have looked extensively at the factors that help and hinder the implementation of this approach.

Effects on Students. There is some limited evidence that Onward to Excellence improves student achievement. Two studies found that well-implemented Onward to Excellence schools had higher reading test scores than schools not using the approach.

Further, one study provided evidence that Onward to Excellence is effective for schools in high-poverty districts. Specifically, when Onward to Excellence districts with more than 60 percent of students receiving free lunch were compared to Onward to Excellence districts with fewer than 60 percent of students receiving free lunch, it was found that the higher-poverty districts had higher gains in reading. In addition, Onward to Excellence students in high-poverty districts were found to have significantly greater gains in reading achievement over two years than did two comparison groups: 1) the average gain across the state of high-poverty schools, and 2) a non-Onward to Excellence high-poverty control group.

However, the more typical Onward to Excellence school (i.e., a school that does not have a high-poverty population or that is not identified as implementing the approach especially well) does not improve achievement, according to one study. In these schools, student achievement did not show a pattern of improvement; scores rose and fell slightly (not significantly) over time.

CENTRAL COMPONENTS

Organizational Change, Staffing, and Administrative Support. Onward to Excellence requires that schools establish two teams to lead the reform effort. A School Leadership Team—composed of the principal plus a combination of school staff, community members, and (in secondary schools) students—is responsible for guiding the school and the community through reform. According to the developer, the School Leadership Team is trained in the process of improvement; the team, in turn, uses this knowledge to engage school staff, the community, and students in reforms based on reviews of the curriculum and instructional practices. In addition, the School Leadership Team is responsible for drafting the school's implementation plan.

The second team is the External Study Team, which is composed of representatives from educational service centers, local universities, the district central office, and other Onward to Excellence schools. The developer recommends that members of the External Study Team have a background in research and evaluation methods. (As described below, some of the Onward to Excellence training sessions cover issues related to research and evaluation, so the External Study Team members do not necessarily have to be research and evaluation experts.) The External Study Team is responsible for collecting data, developing the school performance profile, reporting their findings to the school leadership team and faculty, and providing feedback on the school's progress toward meeting its goals.

In addition to the School Leadership Team and the External Study Team, each school is required to hire a quarter-time facilitator who is responsible for coordinating implementation in the school. Onward to Excellence encourages four or five schools that are located in close proximity to one another (they do not have to be in the same district) to join Onward to Excellence as a "cluster" so the schools can share one full-time facilitator. According to the developer, one External Study Team can serve several schools in a cluster, although each school must have its own School Leadership Team.

In terms of administrative support, the developer reports that successful Onward to Excellence implementation requires a principal who is willing to share some decision-making responsibility with the School Leadership Team.

Curriculum and Instruction. The developer does not provide or require specific instructional strategies or curricula. However, aligning the school curriculum with state and local standards is the focus of one training workshop. According to the developer, training also focuses on helping teachers compare current instruction to research-based instruction.

Supplies and Materials. There are no classroom instructional materials or supplies associated with Onward to Excellence. Some professional development materials are provided to workshop participants.

Scheduling and Grouping. Onward to Excellence does not provide guidelines for scheduling or grouping students. However, the approach does require that schools establish common planning time for instructional staff to work together.

Monitoring Student Progress and Performance. A central component of Onward to Excellence is continuous monitoring of student performance by the External Study Team. The External Study Team's first role is to develop the school's performance profile, which shows trends in student achievement, behavior, and attitude. This profile is based on standardized test scores, surveys, interviews, and group discussions with teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other community members. The profile helps the school identify learning goals and provides a baseline against which to measure progress. Onward to Excellence does not specify the student performance indicators that the External Study Team should analyze; according to the developer, these are determined through discussions with the School Leadership Team.

Family and Community Involvement. The single explicit requirement for family or community involvement is for parents and community members to participate on the School Leadership Team. Parents and community members also are encouraged to participate on the External Study Team.

SUPPORT THE DEVELOPER PROVIDES SCHOOLS

Professional Development and Technical Assistance. Onward to Excellence offers a professional development program designed to help school staff learn to set, meet, and refine goals for improved student achievement. Schools participate in a series of Onward to Excellence workshops, conducted over a period of two years. The workshops are conducted at the school by Onward to Excellence trainers and attended by the School Leadership Team and the External Study Team. After each training session, members of the School Leadership Team work with the entire faculty, staff, and community on the processes learned in the training workshop.

According to the developer, the workshops follow a relatively strict schedule to ensure that all required training is provided over a two-year period. For example, in the first month, school or district administrators attend a half-day Onward to Excellence Awareness workshop that reviews Onward to Excellence and prepares participants for talking with staff and gaining their commitment. Also during the first month, school board members and the superintendent attend a half-day session designed to gain their support. Following is an abbreviated schedule for the remainder of the two-year period:

• During month two, an Onward to Excellence trainer presents a one-day Getting Started workshop. After the workshop, schools form the two teams. The School Leadership Team attends a one-day Introducing Onward to Excellence workshop, and the External Study Team attends a one-day Conducting Initial Assessment workshop.

• In month three, the School Leadership Team attends a one-day workshop on Focusing on School Improvement Goal(s), after which the team and faculty identify school improvement goals.

• In month four, the School Leadership Team attends a one-day Mapping the Curriculum workshop, as well as a one-day workshop on Learning About Best Practices led by the Onward to Excellence trainer. The External Study Team also is expected to attend a one-day session on Preparing for Self-Study.

• In month five, the School Leadership Team attends a one-day workshop on Developing a School Improvement Plan, and then writes the plan based on discussions with staff.

• In month six, the School Leadership Team attends a one-day session on Taking Action on the School Improvement Plan, and the External Study Team attends a one-day workshop on Monitoring Progress.

• In month nine, the trainer visits the school to guide the School Leadership Team and the External Study Team in establishing networks of experienced people who can help the school implement Onward to Excellence. Specifically, teams learn to establish a principal support network, a network for schools that have common improvement goals, and networks related to quality teaching practices.

• In month 21 (or three months before the end of the second year), the trainer conducts a one-day workshop for key people who are new to Onward to Excellence, Preparing New Leaders.

• At the end of the second year, the School Leadership Team and External Study Team attend a one-day workshop on Renewing the Onward to Excellence Process.

In total, according to the developer, the School Leadership team needs approximately seven days for training and six days for follow-up and planning per year; any additional support teams formed (e.g., a study team of stakeholders) need approximately three to five days per year for their work; and the entire faculty could expect to spend three days on training. During each training visit, the developer provides technical assistance as well as structured training.

Between each of these workshops, Onward to Excellence provides guidance to schools, answering any questions that arise as they implement the approach. In addition to the professional development provided by Onward to Excellence trainers (the workshops described above), schools are expected to identify and contract with experts who can provide training related to the schools' goals.

Implementation Requirements and Schools' Experiences. According to the process described by the developer, schools interested in implementing Onward to Excellence should have representatives from the school or the district attend a half-day orientation to become familiar with the approach. These individuals are expected to report back to school staff, who should reach consensus before moving forward. After the staff reaches consensus, representatives present information to the school board, which must agree to support the school's involvement with the approach. If the school board agrees, it spends two hours with the Onward to Excellence trainer to discuss its role and responsibilities in supporting the school.

After this groundwork, the school establishes School Leadership and External Study Teams and appoints the facilitator. The facilitator then works with a School Leadership Team chairperson to plan meetings, document discussions and decisions, follow through on selected tasks on behalf of the team, and monitor progress. The first major objective is to identify the school's improvement goal(s) based on the findings from the school performance profile. If no obvious learning goal arises from the profile, the staff, administration, students, parents, and the community continue discussions until consensus is reached on one or two goals. The External Study Team helps the School Leadership Team develop a system for tracking implementation progress.

Schools are offered a second implementation option: rather than committing to the complete training package (a minimum of seven workshops in two years), schools may decide that they need only limited assistance, or that they lack the resources to commit to the full program. Such schools can choose selected services that allow them to work on specific areas. Workshops are available on topics such as engaging the community in goal-setting, establishing a focus for improvement efforts, and profiling student performance. This type of implementation includes at least two workshops separated by enough time for schools to try out ideas between sessions. However, the developer recommends that schools use the complete, seven-workshop package to "foster the highest degree of success over time."

Implementation studies show that a number of schools have been able to implement Onward to Excellence fully, although some components seem to be easier to implement than others. Typically, schools were able to identify goals related to student performance, and showed progress toward achieving those goals. In schools that implemented Onward to Excellence well, the school's goals were well known to the staff, and nearly all of these schools kept performance data that aligned with their goals.

Studies also found that the degree of implementation tended to diminish gradually over time: leadership teams operated more loosely, or student performance profiles were not updated; monitoring became more informal; and improvement goals were not renewed. Of 36 schools surveyed in one study, six had discontinued Onward to Excellence because they were no longer interested in using the approach, the principal left, or the reform lost momentum.

One study identified four strategies to facilitate implementation. First, schools should gain support from policymakers, program developers, foundations, and local educators. Second, schools should identify a group of local trainers who are familiar with the school and are committed to ensuring that the approach works. Third, schools should set a common focus on student learning to help unify the school community. Fourth, schools should develop both internal and external support systems to sustain the required energy and commitment.

COSTS

The first-year cost of adopting Onward to Excellence is $72,000. This includes half of the two-year professional development fee, estimated expenses for staff release time, travel for developer staff, and a quarter-time facilitator's salary. The first-year cost can be reduced to $60,000 if the quarter-time facilitator is a current staff member who is reassigned to fill this role.

The cost of the training workshops is $15,000 for two years. This fee covers all seven workshops and any technical assistance provided between workshops. The fee does not include travel expenses for the NWREL trainer, which schools must cover. Also, the fee for the workshop is $16,500 if the school is located more than 1,000 miles from the trainer. There are also provisions for training offered by other organizations approved by NWREL. If another organization provides training, the organization providing training sets the cost, with the caveat that the cost may not be greater than that established by NWREL. According to the developer, having another organization provide training is often less expensive for schools because of reduced travel expenses (presuming the other organization is closer to the school).

Schools can also reduce costs significantly by joining a school cluster. One Onward to Excellence trainer can conduct workshops for up to four schools at a time, with the schools dividing the cost. (This is an option only if the schools can meet in one place for the training.) For example, if there were four schools in a cluster, each would pay one-fourth of the total cost for training, or $3,750. Schools in clusters also can share the travel expenses of the trainer.

In addition to training fees, schools pay the salary of a quarter-time facilitator. (Joining in a cluster does not reduce this expense.) Schools also cover release time for School Leadership and External Study Team members, estimated by the developer at approximately 13 days per year for an average of four members; release time for approximately three four-member study teams estimated at four days; and release time for all teachers, estimated at three days per year.

Finally, schools may have to purchase additional supplies or instructional materials, or contract with content experts for additional professional development activities directly related to the school's learning goal(s).

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