Mt. Adams School District

Harrah Elementary School

Presentation to SBE

February 15, 2023

Mt. Adams School District #209

Curt Guaglianone, Ed.D. Superintendent

Dana Jarnecke, Director of Teaching and Learning

Gloria Widener, Principal, Harrah Elementary and Mt. Adams Middle schools

​

Thank you for inviting us to present today to talk about our RAD Journey.

Mt. Adams School District #209

900 +- FTE Students

55% Native, 41% Hispanic, 4% White/other

100% free lunch, 36% Homeless, WAKids mean 12% K-Ready 6-domains, 295th attendance

The one biggest problem…

156 FTE Employees - Harrah Elementary, Mt. Adams Middle, White Swan High

Contiguously located on the Yakama Indian Reservation 228 Sq Miles/145,920 Acres

Harrah Elementary/Mt. Adams RAD Journey

First order change deals with the existing structure, doing more or less of something, and involving a restoration of balance. It is characterized by being incremental, a linear progression to do more or less, better, faster, or with greater accuracy. “It consists of those minor improvements and adjustments that do not change the system’s core, and that occur as the system naturally grows and develops” (Levy 1986).

Second order change is creating a new way of seeing things completely. It requires new learning and involves a nonlinear progression, a system transformation from one state to another. (Levy 1986)

​

Harrah Elementary/Mt. Adams RAD Journey

​

Required ACTION = System Transformation via a complete new way of seeing, learning, and acting by implementation of nonlinear “progression.”

The Key -

Progression

Time - LONG-GAME

Support

The Ask - Additional Support for our students; based on our progression of our students; and the Long-game Need of our students!

​

History of School Improvement

• “I have been here for 25 years and our scores have never changed.” a quote from a veteran teacher.
• Summit, SIG, Reading First, RAD, ect.
• Have removed principals, moved teachers, brought in coaches and other experts.

What has remained the same? Our scores change for a bit and then return to below acceptable levels. Our “sea of red” stubbornly remained.

​

RAD Journey

• 2018-2019
• RAD Ramp Year
• First year principal
• First year assistant principal
• Conducted a Needs assessment
• 2019-2020
• First official year as a RAD School
• Made changes in staffing to build equity in classroom instruction
• Master schedule to include Small Group Instruction and Intervention
• Added 30 minute SEL block to every classroom
• Added SEL Teacher/Counselor
• Added support staff for each K-2 classroom to support literacy instruction
• Added a district wide diagnostic testing system (iReady)
• Recommitted to using DIBELS Screening with fidelity
• Purchased a new researched based reading curriculum
• MARCH 2020 COVID

RAD Journey Continued

• 2020-2021
• Year 2 of being in RAD
• Hybrid Learning
• Continued the academic focus in the face of unprecedented crisis
• Identified priority standards in Reading and Mathematics
• Began the work of unpacking the standards to further our understanding of what students need to know and be able to do
• Continued to develop our use of local data
• 2021-2022
• Year 3 of being in RAD
• Reinvested in PLC process to go from light to right.
• ILT returned to the focus on instruction outside of the online classroom
• Moved into a new building
• Began to have a better understanding of how to use our local data

​

​

​

​

​

RAD Today

• 2022-2023
• New principal and two new assistant principals
• Added Middle School Students to the campus
• Maintaining the work of RAD through
• Consistent PLC collaboration weekly that includes all members of the team (Teachers, Specialists, Educational Assistants and Administrators)
• Using local data (iReady, DIBELS and Formative Assessment) to drive instructional practices
• Diving deeper into best practices by bring math resource experts from ESD and all staff participating in LETRS training to further develop our understanding of the Science of Reading
• Consistent use of our support staff and have now added an ELL Interventionist.

​

​

​

Why Share this?

• We want to be held accountable for the outcomes at Harrah Elementary.
• Teaching and learning at Harrah is a very different experience.
• We are doing the work needed to turn things around… AND we need more time!!
• We have developed an intentional focus on our MTSS profile by building systems in Behavior (PBIS), Academics and Attendance all of which support learning’
• SBA scores alone doesn’t begin to tell the story of what it is like teaching and learning at Harrah or Mt. Adams in general.
• Trauma, Poverty, Turn Over, Suicide and Historical Trauma are the realities of the life of our students and a barrier to successful learning.
• Continuing to plan and build in three year increments causes a pause in momentum .
• The support from OSPI during this process has been invaluable as they have allowed us to meet the needs of our students and demonstrate success through our local data collection.

Some Data to Share: DIBELS Benchmarks

iReady Reading Data:

Fall/Winter 2022

• Grade Level same starting percentage with more at benchmark this year.
• Strategic decrease of 7% compared to decrease of 1%.
• Started with fewer students well below benchmark over last year.

Fall/Winter 2023

In Conclusion:

• Second order change of this magnitude takes time and planning.
• We are just beginning to see change in our practices with results showing up in our local data. Our trajectory is headed in the right direction.
• Funding is a crucial part to our planning and our success.
• We are doing the work needed to turn things around… AND we need more time!!
• We ask that you allow us to continue as a RAD as long as it takes to ensure that the systems we have built can become part of the teaching and learning culture of Harrah.