Developing Systems to Improve Outcomes for Students in Schools Receiving Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI)

In Year 2, the R11CC and the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) delivered a virtual learning community series titled An Equity-Focused Approach to TSI/ATSI School Improvement. Throughout the 2020–21 school year, interactive, content-focused sessions delved into topics such as understanding, collecting, and organizing data; interpreting student learning data; foundations of data equity; using the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) tiers of evidence and What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) to find evidence-based resources; and incorporating evidence-based resources in policy and practice. Participants—representing districts, schools, Educational Service Units (ESUs), the NDE, and the Nebraska Multi-Tiered System of Support—grappled with what it means to decode data for equitable outcomes for English learners, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students. Session presenters included the R11CC, the NDE, English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21; National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing [CRESST] at the University of California, Los Angeles), the We All Count project with Datassist, and Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central. Following the content sessions, the R11CC and the NDE hosted Lunch & Learn sessions where participants dug more deeply into the content and shared tools and resources. The learning community series emphasized the development of mindsets, knowledge, skills, and sharing of resources to eliminate achievement gaps for student subgroups.

In Year 3, the R11CC and the NDE are collaborating with ESU 3 to support academic achievement for English learners in schools and districts in ESU 3.