Find your ACT/SAT champions. Discovering passionate and committed leaders to spearhead ACT/SAT initiatives is paramount for lasting success. These champions, often already driving test preparation efforts, serve as the backbone of change implementation and student advocacy. Identify potential champions by holding a listening tour for those already working on ACT/SAT efforts. These are the people you want in your ACT/SAT cabinet. Their ideas will inform your leadership and facilitation of ACT/SAT planning meetings. Your ACT/SAT champions will serve as your inner circle: they can help execute the plan to ensure it has expansive impact. By nurturing and coaching these key leaders during meetings, you can cultivate their skills in data analysis and instructional leadership, ensuring a robust foundation for impactful change.
Invest Leaders and Form a Team
Gather this cohort of key leaders together at a time when everyone can be fully present. This might be before the school year starts, on a half day, or after school when there are no students in the building. Design an inspiring kick-off meeting dedicated to shaping the future of ACT/SAT outcomes at your school. This session isn’t just about setting goals. It’s also about forming a cohesive team invested in student success. Time is well spent investing in the stories related to why higher achievement on the ACT/SAT will lead to better outcomes for students. This dialogue is what will connect the members of the team and form a unified vision.
An effective strategy is to incorporate a story of a student or teacher who demonstrated tenacity and achieved growth in their ACT/SAT outcomes. Communicate the vision for improving ACT/SAT outcomes through professional development and teacher coaching and explain how this team will shape that work through their expertise and leadership. Make time for participants to share in open discussions to understand the current landscape of where the school stands and listen to insights on enhancing the test-taking culture from the diverse perspectives in the room. By fostering a collaborative and supportive environment, this kick-off meeting will ignite passion and commitment, laying the groundwork for the journey ahead.
Maintain Momentum
Maintaining momentum between exams is one of the biggest challenges to achieving outsized results for students on the ACT/SAT. To combat that challenge, schools must build in systems and routines to ensure focus stays on this important work. One essential action coming out of the kick-off meeting: schedule recurring meetings for key leaders to reliably and consistently convene about ACT/SAT progress and craft action steps to move campus forward. An example agenda is at the end of this blog. There are different ways leaders might structure this time but there are four essential features that must be included in order to maintain momentum.
- Incorporate Interactive Data Analysis Activities: Incorporate interactive elements into your data review sessions to foster engagement and collaborative problem-solving. Here are four examples of how to make the meeting more interactive. An example agenda is offered below.
- Hold Meeting Time Sacred: To ensure continuous progress, schedule regular meetings to review ACT/SAT progress and develop action steps. Do not let the busyness of the school year derail or get in the way of these meetings. This is precious time to move student achievement forward.
- Communicate Clear Objectives: Define clear objectives for each meeting to ensure focused and productive discussions. For example, one meeting might aim to identify trends in recent practice exam scores, while another could focus on evaluating the effectiveness of newly implemented strategies. It’s worth noting that the objective could be the same each meeting but what’s necessary here is that all participants know the objective and work towards achieving it. These objectives should be communicated to all participants ahead of time in order for everyone to arrive prepared.
Interactive Data Analysis Activity
Description of Activity
Stack Audit of Student Work
Gather Student Work Samples:
- Ensure you have samples from a range of performance levels to get a comprehensive view.
- Collect a representative set of student work samples from the relevant class or subject area.
Review Samples Against a Rubric:
- Use a standardized rubric to evaluate each work sample.
- Ensure the rubric is aligned with the learning objectives and standards for the assignment or assessment.
Sort Work by Trends in Performance and Common Misconceptions:
- Organize the evaluated work samples into categories based on performance trends (e.g., high, medium, low) and common misconceptions or errors.
- Use this sorting to help identify patterns and areas where students struggle.
Identify Instructional Next Steps and Recommendations for the Teacher:
- Based on the sorted work, determine specific instructional actions that can address the identified trends and misconceptions. Provide clear, actionable recommendations for the teacher to implement.
Observe Classroom Instruction
Observe Live Instruction or Video Recordings of Instruction:
- Select a lesson or series of lessons to observe, either in real-time or through video recordings. Ensure that the observation covers various teaching strategies and student interactions.
Form Small Groups to Chart the Highest Leverage Observations and Recommended Action Steps:
- After the observation, divide the participants into small groups. Each group should use whiteboards or chart paper to note the most impactful observations from the lesson. Focus on identifying both effective practices and areas for improvement.
- Discuss and agree on actionable steps that the observed teacher (or teachers in general) can take to enhance instruction.
Conduct a Gallery Walk to Review and Discuss These Charts:
- Arrange the charts around the room and have the groups circulate to review the observations and recommendations made by others.
- Encourage participants to ask questions, provide feedback, and discuss the charts. This collaborative review helps to deepen understanding and refine action steps.
Plan a Professional Development Session
Use the Instructional Gap Identified in the Data or Observation:
- Analyze the data or observation results to pinpoint specific instructional gaps.
- Focus on improving one key area that will have a significant impact on student learning.
Identify the Instructional Action the Teacher Needs to Do:
- Clearly define the instructional strategy or technique the teacher needs to adopt.
- Specify both the “what to do” (e.g., implementing formative assessments) and the “how to do it” (e.g., using exit tickets to gauge understanding).
Design the PD Session:
- Structure the professional development session to include an overview of the identified gap, the rationale behind the chosen instructional action, and detailed guidance on implementation.
- Incorporate interactive elements such as role-playing, group discussions, and hands-on practice to ensure teachers understand and can apply the new strategies.
Review Achievement Results
Analyze Student Data Results:
- Gather and examine the latest student achievement data, focusing on key metrics like test scores, grades, and performance on specific assessments.
- Look for overall trends and patterns in the data.
Consider Cohorts and Trends:
- Break down the data by different cohorts (e.g., grade level, subject area, student demographics) to identify specific trends and variations in performance.
Study How Diverse Learners Performed:
- Pay particular attention to the performance of diverse learners, including students with disabilities, English language learners, and students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Analyze how these groups compare to their peers and identify any disparities.
Identify Accolades, Areas of Growth, and Other Items:
- Highlight areas of success and acknowledge accomplishments to motivate and encourage students and teachers.
- Identify areas where improvement is needed and develop specific action plans to address these gaps. Consider other relevant items such as attendance, participation rates, and behavioral data to get a holistic view of student achievement.
- Follow-Up Plan: Establish a follow-up plan to ensure accountability and continuous improvement. This plan should document action steps coming out of meetings and make it transparent for members of the team to monitor progress, evaluate the impact of implemented strategies, and make necessary adjustments.
By maintaining a structured, interactive, and goal-oriented approach, your team can effectively respond to data, implement strategies, and continuously improve ACT/SAT preparation efforts. These meetings serve as a powerful moment to insert strong leadership and establish the academic culture desired. Over time, when a clear leader for the group emerges, the school leader can attend meetings and coach the team and the new leader, thus expanding the team’s capacity and impact. At the end of the day, the school will focus on what the school leader prioritizes. Coaching others around ACT/SAT success will lead to powerful outcomes for students.
Reflection Questions for School Leaders:
Brainstorm potential key leaders in your community.
- Who is already engaging with students about the ACT/SAT?
- Who knows the content of the exam?
- Who is someone that excels at investing students in initiatives?
- Who is someone that is eager for a challenge to support learning?
- Who has the capacity to join a team or committee like this one?
- When is the time that you can gather this group together consistently?
Sample Agenda
Topics
Description
Data Review
(15 min)
Review Data
- Monitor academic habits and instructional practices.
- Review artifacts such as lesson plans, exemplars, and student work.
- Analyze academic performance data (i..e practice test scores or grades).
Identify Trends
- “What are the top gaps in learning and what do you think is causing them?”
- Observe by cohort – monitor a specific point of focus such as 10th grade or English classes
- What specific data points will be reviewed during this meeting, and how do they align with our goals for ACT/SAT improvement?
- How will we ensure that the data review process is comprehensive and objective, considering various sources such as practice exam results, formative assessments, and classroom observations?
- Are there any emerging trends or patterns in the data that we need to pay particular attention to, and what insights can we draw from them regarding student performance and instructional practices?
Takeaways and Action Steps
(15 min)
Charting & Gallery Walk
- Take 5 minutes to chart your highest leverage observations and recommended action steps.
- Charting can be done on whiteboards, chart paper, or digitally.
- Complete a gallery walk of the observations and action steps.
- Debrief the gallery walk with the following reflection questions.
Reflection Questions
- Based on the data review, what are the key takeaways for improving ACT/SAT preparation?
- How can we translate these takeaways into actionable steps or strategies to address the identified gaps in learning and improve student outcomes?
- What specific actions will each member of the group commit to taking between now and the next meeting to contribute to our progress towards our goals?
- If we do these actions, where might things break down? How can we plan for those possibilities in advance?
Action Planning
(15+ min)
Align on Action Steps
- What specific actions or initiatives will be prioritized based on the identified takeaways and discussions? Who will be responsible for leading or participating in each action?
- How will progress towards each action item be monitored and evaluated, and what mechanisms will be put in place to ensure accountability and alignment with our goals?
- Are there any potential challenges or considerations that need to be addressed? How can we proactively address them to maximize effectiveness?
Make it Happen
- Use the remaining time to begin working on the action steps. This allows for participants to ask and answer questions.
- As a closing, each member shares one thing they are excited to work on coming out of the meeting.
Building a positive school-wide culture around ACT and SAT assessments is challenging and essential. This blog is part of a series, “10 Strategies for Building a Culture of ACT and SAT Success,” where we’ve outlined strategies to help school leaders. If you have questions or need support as you build a school-wide culture, please reach out to Thomas O’Brien at thomas@winwardacademy.com.
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About Winward Academy – Winward Academy is one of the world’s leading innovators in the online education space, providing web-based academic support that enhances students’ knowledge, confidence, and competitiveness in middle and high school academics and in college applications. We help thousands of students every year by providing personalized, comprehensive ACT and SAT test preparation and extensive math curriculum support. The Winward Academy learning platform honors over 40 years of education and cognitive psychology research, incorporating proven techniques that promote effective learning.
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