School Improvement in Oklahoma (SC3 Projects Update June 2019)

The South Central Comprehensive Center (SC3) at the University of Oklahoma Outreach is completing a series of professional learning sessions for the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) Office of School Support and Improvement (OSSI). SC3 will host “Visible Learning Foundations” (VLF) sessions in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 9 and 10, 2019. Visible learning is focused on John Hattie’s meta-analysis of research-based practices with high effect sizes, which are appropriate for all subjects to support PK-12 instruction. VLF is the product of John Hattie’s synthesis of 1,600 meta-analyses of 95,000+ studies involving 300 million students into what works best in education. The VLF sessions in September will extend the professional learning for 25 OSDE staff members who experienced a series of five capacity building support sessions provided through the Instructional Coaching Group (ICG) Institute last winter and is grounded in Hattie’s research-based practices. During the previous series, SC3 and ICG built the knowledge and skills of OSDE staff members across six essential domains: (1) adult learning (2) an instructional coaching cycle, (3) using video recordings to gather data, (4) instructional practices described in an instructional playbook, (5) communication skills, and (6) leadership skills.

These professional learning sessions build the capacity of OSDE OSSI staff members as they support educators from more than 115 unique school sites (including Comprehensive School Improvement, School Improvement Grant, and Striving Readers Grant) across Oklahoma. During the September sessions, other OSDE staff members from Curriculum and Instruction, Special Education, Student Support, and Assessment will also be included to ensure integration of cross-agency services to schools. SC3 continues to provide ongoing support to OSDE staff members as they apply knowledge and skills to support districts and schools designated for school improvement.