Star Gazer Newsletter

The Role of Instructional Leadership in Implementing EBRI presents a variety of guidelines directed at state administrators, policymakers, and program administrators:

Guidelines for state administrators and policymakers include:

Give greater weight to state performance standards that emphasize student achievement and not numbers served.
Implement projects and initiatives across programs that encourage practitioners to share their expertise.
Encourage policies that support managed enrollment rather than open entry/open exit.
Encourage programs to develop courses at multiple levels of difficulty to accommodate the needs of a diverse adult population.

Guidelines for program administrators include:

Convene program improvement teams that work collaboratively to analyze program data and plan second order changes.
Observe and evaluate teachers regularly to provide them with ongoing feedback on their reading instruction.
Work with teacher leaders to clearly define and document the scope and sequence of all instruction that takes place within the agency.
Review and provide feedback on class syllabi and individual lesson plans.
Provide instructors with ongoing support for diagnostic assessment.
Develop progress monitoring systems that include periodic student feedback.

State leaders and program administrators are encouraged to utilize the tips and guidelines offered throughout the STAR Web site and Tool Kit. STAR implementation can lead to systemic change if programs are supported from the state level.

STAR Spotlight
North Carolina Spreads the Word About STAR!
When Cheryl Keenan, Director of Adult Education and Literacy, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) speaks at the STAR Training of Trainer (ToT) events to the newest training candidates, the STAR Team records these sessions and makes them available to partner states to view and show at the state and program levels. Taking a cue from how powerful messaging can be, North Carolina's STAR state leadership team created their own video message for adult education programs, delivered by State Director of Adult Education Randy Whitfield, to be used as the opening for the state STAR training. Now, instead of just telling participants of the state's support and desire to have programs implementing EBRI, the message is delivered via video emphasizing that STAR is supported by the state and that the State office is committed to the programs and teachers implementing STAR. This was a simple communication strategy by the state leadership team to help advance further implementation of STAR as well as support the work that has been accomplished statewide in promoting EBRI. North Carolina is excited that the State director can now deliver her message to all STAR instructors and administrators in person via this video.

This is a great idea for states that are looking to enhance their communication mechanisms to their adult education providers.

Shining Stars
by Marn Frank, Certified STAR Trainer and Minnesota STAR Coordinator
The Minnesota STAR Project, supported by the Minnesota Department of Education, is facilitated by ABE Teaching and Learning Advancement System (ATLAS) at Hamline University. One of the core values of ATLAS is responding to changing needs through ongoing assessment and evaluation. Therefore, both quantitative and qualitative measures were integrated throughout Minnesota's STAR Projects. In this article we describe the following five important elements for successful implementation of EBRI: a teacher survey, a student survey, an electronic review of action plans, Stories of Success, and a technical assistance survey.

Before attending any of the STAR Institutes, teachers must complete a teacher survey that measures progress in EBRI knowledge and practice. Teachers were asked to simply answer Yes or No to the following twelve statements:

I can describe the four components of reading and how they are related.
I can describe the key elements of EBRI.
I administer diagnostic reading assessments (besides CASAS and TABE) to my intermediate ABE students.
I can interpret diagnostic reading assessments and determine strengths and needs of my intermediate ABE students.
I organize my reading lessons based on the strengths and needs of my intermediate ABE students.
I teach alphabetics to my intermediate ABE students.
I teach fluency to my intermediate ABE students.
I teach vocabulary to my intermediate ABE students.
I teach comprehension strategies to my intermediate ABE students.
I have support for learning and applying EBRI in my classroom.
I have time to plan and deliver EBRI in my classroom.
I have materials to deliver EBRI in my classroom.

After each survey, a percentage for Yes responses was calculated. Results less than 70% indicated challenges that needed to be addressed through subsequent STAR Institutes or technical assistance (TA) activities. By late May, 90%+ of STAR participants responded Yes to all statements but item 11 (there's never enough time)!

Approximately 100 STAR students completed a brief student survey asking:

What did you like BEST about STAR class?
What did you like LEAST about STAR class?
What did you learn MOST from STAR class?
What do you want to learn MORE about from STAR class?

Completed surveys were sent to the STAR Coordinator for tallying and analysis. The BEST trend was vocabulary and learning new words. The LEAST trend was not enough time for STAR! The MOST trend was learning about new words - sounding them out, understanding their definitions, synonyms, and antonyms. The MORE trend was vocabulary and comprehension strategies; a few mentioned grammar and writing. Overall, these results documented student satisfaction with STAR classes and instruction.

STAR Trainers completed an electronic review of action plans to monitor programs progress in establishing managed enrollment structures, conducting diagnostic reading assessments, and organizing reading routines based on students needs. Action plans were drafted by Teams of teachers at each Institute; final versions of these plans were due as an email attachment three weeks later. Trainers reviewed the program's goals and steps, made suggestions in a colored font, and added explanations or comments along the side using MS Word Track Changes. Throughout the training cycle, we had five conversations with each Team and over time, noticed significant improvements in STAR planning and implementation due to the higher engagement level of teachers.

Brief Stories of Success were collected from both STAR administrators and teachers. This anecdotal data reported substantial improvements in reading assessment and instruction and increased teacher confidence. Also reported were improvements in students' TABE scores, attitudes, attendance, persistence, and oral and silent reading skills as well as an increased comfort level with oral and silent reading. These success stories have also been helpful in recruiting new STAR programs.

A technical assistance survey was completed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of our TA delivery model. Sample questions included:

Have you received timely responses from your TA Provider?
What support have you received from your TA Provider that was most helpful to you?
Overall, regarding the TA before, during, and after STAR trainings that you have received so far, are you not satisfied, satisfied, or very satisfied?
On what aspects of STAR implementation would you like to receive more TA in the future?
What improvements do you suggest for STAR TA in the future to keep you moving ahead with implementation?

Over 90 percent of responders were satisfied or very satisfied with the TA received; however, some responses to the open-ended questions were surprising, disappointing, and very insightful. Analysis by the STAR Leadership team led to significant changes in how TA will be delivered and monitored in the future. The process will be more centralized (meaning most questions and all assignments will be sent initially to the STAR Coordinator), involve regular email or phone check-ins, progress to face-to-face meetings as needed, include more site visits and feedback conferences, and offer more opportunities for Minnesota STARs to take leadership roles.

Ongoing assessment and reevaluation of the Minnesota STAR Project has led to improvements in the quality of leadership, coordination, planning, preparation, and delivery of STAR Institutes, Boosters, and TA activities. The extra time and effort that data collection, analysis, and reporting require is a return on our investment.

If you have any questions, comments, or advice (we have yet to resolve reliably tracking TABE scores), please email Marn at mfrank06@hamline.edu