Guiding Principles for Implementing an Effective Early Warning System
Guiding Principles for Implementing an Effective Early Warning System: What are the Essential Components of an Effective Early Warning Indicator Teacher Meeting?
What is the purpose of an Early Warning Indicator System? Research has shown that we can predict which students are least likely to graduate from high school as early as 6th grade by looking at individual student outcomes in attendance, behavior, and course performance—what we call the Early Warning ABCs. By monitoring these ABCs, it is possible to identify when students are beginning to fall off-track, providing time to intervene and alter their trajectory through school and beyond. By monitoring, analyzing and intervening on the basis of ABC Early Indicator data, schools are able to design more targeted and effective interventions at the individual, classroom and school levels to ensure more students stay on track to graduate high school.
What are the Essential Components of an Effective Early Warning Indicator Teacher Meeting? Possibly the most important component of implementing an effective Early Warning System for your school is ensuring that your teachers and instructional support staff meet regularly to identify, discuss and problem-solve around individual and groups of students who are exhibiting the early warning signs of low attendance, behavior problems and coursework challenges (the ABCs). Teachers and other school-based staff have very little time during the typical school day that is not devoted to the immediate task at hand – namely, teaching and supporting the students. Lesson preparation and paperwork is usually completed during off-hours at home, and too often in-school meetings with colleagues are devoted to administrative and compliance issues. Time is at always at a premium for teachers and school-based staff. Effective and useful EWS meetings take planning, forethought and discipline. The following information is general guidance to assist you in understanding the steps and components necessary to planning and running an effective EWS Teacher Meeting. Essential Component #1: Preparation Agenda
Purpose, scope, and meeting agenda are established, communicated prior to the meeting, and contain sufficient content and detail
Data use
Data are brought to the meeting and used during the meeting as part of the discussion.
All attendees have clearly made use of data
Multiple sources of data are considered
Essential Component #2: Meeting Protocols and Norms Clear roles & responsibilities
All staff members are in attendance
Roles and responsibilities are established and clear to all members
All staff members know the students and are familiar with their specific interventions Time keeper designated o Time keeper role is designated o Time keeper adheres to set time limits o Time keeping device is used Facilitator designated o Facilitator role is designated Record keeper designated o Record keeper role is designated
Adherence to meeting rules & norms
Meeting rules & norms are established, communicated, clearly posted, integrated into the meeting and observed
Student interventions
A clear and effective protocol is used for conversations
Qualitative and quantitative data are used to inform discussion of students and used to identify student strengths and weaknesses, and appropriate interventions
Discussion is solution-oriented
Student-level data and resource map are explicitly used to drive conversations and determine decisions
Facilitation
There is a single facilitator who runs the meeting with focus and structure
All members participate in the meeting
In the few instances where members do not stay on track, facilitator reminds others to stay on-task and otherwise redirects the conversation when necessary
Decisions are made collaboratively
Use of constructive talk
Discussions are generally framed positively and are solution-oriented
Discussions are essentially collaborative, positive, and solution-oriented using people-first language
Positive achievements are noted and student achievements are recognized and celebrated
Essential Component #3: Follow-Up and Implementation: Next steps are clear
Next steps are clearly established with full attention given to specific roles, tasks, and timelines
Use of tracking form
Interventions, point persons, timelines, and goals are included in the tracking tool
Tool is accessible before, during and after meetings by all members
Tool is reviewed to evaluate status of intervention implementation
Strength-based, people-first language is used
What is the purpose of an Early Warning Indicator System? Research has shown that we can predict which students are least likely to graduate from high school as early as 6th grade by looking at individual student outcomes in attendance, behavior, and course performance—what we call the Early Warning ABCs. By monitoring these ABCs, it is possible to identify when students are beginning to fall off-track, providing time to intervene and alter their trajectory through school and beyond. By monitoring, analyzing and intervening on the basis of ABC Early Indicator data, schools are able to design more targeted and effective interventions at the individual, classroom and school levels to ensure more students stay on track to graduate high school.
What are the Essential Components of an Effective Early Warning Indicator Teacher Meeting? Possibly the most important component of implementing an effective Early Warning System for your school is ensuring that your teachers and instructional support staff meet regularly to identify, discuss and problem-solve around individual and groups of students who are exhibiting the early warning signs of low attendance, behavior problems and coursework challenges (the ABCs). Teachers and other school-based staff have very little time during the typical school day that is not devoted to the immediate task at hand – namely, teaching and supporting the students. Lesson preparation and paperwork is usually completed during off-hours at home, and too often in-school meetings with colleagues are devoted to administrative and compliance issues. Time is at always at a premium for teachers and school-based staff. Effective and useful EWS meetings take planning, forethought and discipline. The following information is general guidance to assist you in understanding the steps and components necessary to planning and running an effective EWS Teacher Meeting. Essential Component #1: Preparation Agenda
Purpose, scope, and meeting agenda are established, communicated prior to the meeting, and contain sufficient content and detail
Data use
Data are brought to the meeting and used during the meeting as part of the discussion.
All attendees have clearly made use of data
Multiple sources of data are considered
Essential Component #2: Meeting Protocols and Norms Clear roles & responsibilities
All staff members are in attendance
Roles and responsibilities are established and clear to all members
All staff members know the students and are familiar with their specific interventions Time keeper designated o Time keeper role is designated o Time keeper adheres to set time limits o Time keeping device is used Facilitator designated o Facilitator role is designated Record keeper designated o Record keeper role is designated
Adherence to meeting rules & norms
Meeting rules & norms are established, communicated, clearly posted, integrated into the meeting and observed
Student interventions
A clear and effective protocol is used for conversations
Qualitative and quantitative data are used to inform discussion of students and used to identify student strengths and weaknesses, and appropriate interventions
Discussion is solution-oriented
Student-level data and resource map are explicitly used to drive conversations and determine decisions
Facilitation
There is a single facilitator who runs the meeting with focus and structure
All members participate in the meeting
In the few instances where members do not stay on track, facilitator reminds others to stay on-task and otherwise redirects the conversation when necessary
Decisions are made collaboratively
Use of constructive talk
Discussions are generally framed positively and are solution-oriented
Discussions are essentially collaborative, positive, and solution-oriented using people-first language
Positive achievements are noted and student achievements are recognized and celebrated
Essential Component #3: Follow-Up and Implementation: Next steps are clear
Next steps are clearly established with full attention given to specific roles, tasks, and timelines
Use of tracking form
Interventions, point persons, timelines, and goals are included in the tracking tool
Tool is accessible before, during and after meetings by all members
Tool is reviewed to evaluate status of intervention implementation
Strength-based, people-first language is used
