Rocketship Education

Rocketship Education

Vision of Excellence

What is the Vision of Excellence?
The Vision of Excellence (VOE) captures our best thinking on what it takes to be a successful beginning and veteran teacher at Rocketship Education. For beginning educators and experienced teachers new to Rocketship, we have developed the Rocketship Top Ten which outlines the most foundational teaching practices in the areas of instructional planning and classroom management and culture necessary for success at Rocketship. We believe that reaching proficiency in these ten areas helps teachers develop the necessary skills and experiences to then tackle more advanced teaching practices and to integrate fully into the Rocketship school community.
The Vision of Excellence captures the ideal student outcomes that Rocketship teachers strive to achieve with their Rocketeers, the student evidence that tells our teachers when they are on the right track towards reaching these outcomes, and the instructional best practices they’ll need to employ to reach this vision. This serves as the aspirational vision for all teachers once a teacher has mastered the Rocketship Top Ten.
The Vision of Excellence is student-centered because it is Rocketship Education’s belief that exceptional teaching is fundamentally not about what specific actions teachers take, but about what outcomes teachers achieve. In short, we know that there are many paths that lead to the student outcomes we seek and our approach of evaluating teacher actions through student outcomes allows for maximum flexibility, decision-making and innovation on the part of our teachers and teacher coaches to define their unique path to reaching the desired student outcomes. We also think our focus on student actions and outcomes helps us answer the two questions that guide all of our work: 1) To what extent are Rocketeers mastering rigorous content necessary for success now and into the future? and 2)To what extent are Rocketeers developing the enduring drive, habits and beliefs necessary for success now and into the future?
The VOE serves four primary functions:
·  To provide a roadmap for new teachers by explicitly naming the most foundational teacher actions necessary for success at Rocketship Education.
·  To provide direction for teacher coaches by highlighting the greatest priorities for new teachers as well as the highest leverage teacher actions for all teachers.
·  To provide a common language and shared vision of excellence for teaching and learning
·  To create and reinforce a shared expectation for instructional practice to facilitate teacher coaching, professional development and evaluation.
How is the Vision of Excellence organized?
Terminology
·  Rocketship Top Ten: the foundational teacher actions required for success at Rocketship Education. Teachers must first become proficient in these ten practices before moving on to additional focus areas.
·  Rocketship Recommendations: these are the high-yield teacher actions experience has shown most impact student outcomes at Rocketship Education. These are bolded throughout the VOE.
·  Teacher Competency Model: The full menu of teacher actions and practices that impact student actions and student outcomes.
·  Domain: one of the two areas of professional practice that comprise the teacher competency model (e.g. “Culture of Achievement”)
·  Pillar: a sub-area of instructional practice within any of the two VOE domains (e.g. “Establish Rigorous Classroom Expectations and Routines”)
·  Element: a component of instructional practice within a pillar (e.g. “Design and Internalization”).
·  Teacher Action: a specific instructional practice within an element that experience has shown most often leads to the student outcomes we’ve articulated (e.g. “Internalizes classroom procedures, rules, consequences, rewards and behavior tracking systems outlined in the Rocketship Top 100”)
·  Student Evidence: a specific action students would take, knowledge they would possess and beliefs they would hold as indicators that our vision for student outcomes has been realized
·  Synthesis: a narrative that conveys our highest aspirations for students and what we expect to be true if we’ve reached our vision of excellence

Model At-a-Glance
Rocketship Top Ten
The ten foundational teacher skills for all Rocketship teachers
Vision of Excellence & Teacher Competency Model
Domain 1: Culture of Achievement
·  Invest Rocketeers in Vision and Goals
·  Establish Rigorous Classroom Expectations and Routines
·  Create a Rocketeer Learning Environment
·  Invest in Rocketship Families and Rocketeer Community
Domain 2: Rigorous Instruction and Mastery
·  Facilitate Rigorous Instruction
·  Employ an Outcomes-driven Approach
Appendix: Glossary of Strategies
Includes descriptions of key instructional strategies highlighted in the VOE
While the Vision of Excellence is divided into a series of domains, pillars, elements and teacher actions, it is our belief that all of these outcomes we’re driving towards are mutually reinforcing and therefore the divisions between and within each domain should rightfully be blurred. For example, students’ internalization of their classroom goals serves to increase their investment in the learning. Similarly, deepening investment should enhance a student’s understanding of the content of their goals. Likewise, students’ ability to self-regulate their behavior will allow them to engage with a lesson more deeply. Correspondingly, students who are truly challenged and engaged in a lesson are more likely to make wise choices about their behavior so that they can continue to fully participate in the lesson.

Rocketship Top Ten

This tool serves to highlight the key teacher actions we prioritize for all Rocketship teachers because these ten actions lay the foundations for a successful Rocketeer classroom by creating an environment that is efficient, focused on the achievement of all students, and reflective of Rocketship culture. Rocketship teachers must become proficient in these ten areas before prioritizing other areas of teacher practice to focus on with their coach. We use the descriptions contained in the Vision of Excellence below to deepen our understanding of the Top Ten.

Teacher Actions
Internalizes and implements classroom procedures, rules, consequences, rewards and behavior tracking systems outlined in the Rocketship Top 100
Sweats the details to ensure smooth, predictable, and effective outcomes in everything that is done.
Implements all components of Strong Voice (economy of language, do not talk over, do not engage, square up/stand still, quiet power, self-interrupt, and “register”) as necessary to maintain a commanding, respectful, and purpose-driven presence
Designs intuitive procedures regarding instructional routines, student organization and transitions (Change the Pace, Brighten Lines, All Hands, Every Minute Matters, Look Forward, and Work the Clock) that ensure that every minute in class is effectively used
Ensures that 100% of Rocketeers follow 100% of the directions and procedures 100% of the way 100% of the time
Responds to significant breaches in classroom culture swiftly and fairly and creates a “teachable moment” to reinforce the desired culture
Designs student work displays, tracking systems and incentive systems that all work to reinforce the message that through hard work and persistence, all goals are attainable for all students
Crafts daily objectives that meet the following criteria:
·  Measureable: Teachers can discern whether students have mastered the objective or not
·  Manageable: The objective is “bite-sized” enough to be covered in one lesson but not so small that is allows for any down time
·  Meaningful: The objective is tied to a broader goal and purpose
Create a lesson plan with all five standard lesson components: opening, direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice and closing
Is regularly implementing differentiated instruction (i.e. 1 hour per day of Guided Reading or targeted math
board/math meeting)
Domain 1: Culture of Achievement
Pillar 1: Invest Rocketeers in Vision and Goals
Synthesis: Rocketeers and their teacher share a common vision of success that, if achieved, will radically transform these students’ lives. Students treat their class and personal goals as a public declaration of what must be true for them by the end of the year and this serves as the engine that drives all of their choices and actions. Rocketeers’ determination and desire to achieve is palpable. Students believe they can achieve great things together and are doing everything possible to do so. Rocketeers are fundamentally motivated by the goals themselves and the sense of personal accomplishment they receive from reaching them and not by promises of rewards. Students believe that setting and reaching goals defines them as Rocketeers both inside and outside the classroom.
Student Evidence / Teacher Actions
·  For both academic and personal growth goals, Rocketeers can articulate in their own words:
o  WHAT their class goals are and what it would mean to reach them
o  WHY these goals are important to them individually and to the class as a whole
o  HOW these goals connect to their personal motivations and interests
·  Set individual goals for behavior, academic performance, and/or personal development aligned to their personal priorities
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·  Express a deep belief in their ability to reach class goals
·  Express a deep desire to reach their class goals. Rocketeers rely on intrinsic motivation and don’t require extrinsic supplements to motivate them
·  View assessments as opportunities to demonstrate and celebrate their learning
·  Know where they stand relative to their goals, their academic strengths and weaknesses, and what they will need to do to improve their work and reach their goals.
·  Express pride in their personal accomplishments and those of their peers / Setting Vision and Goals
·  Internalizes academic SMART goals by analyzing their ambitiousness, attainability and alignment to make them personally meaningful and motivating
·  Articulates a clear and compelling vision for what Rocketeers should be able to say and do as evidence of the knowledge, skills and mindsets students will have gained by the end of the academic year
·  Establishes goals for students’ personal growth aligned with Rocketship’s core values of respect, responsibility, persistence and empathy that meet the following criteria:
o  Enduring: goals focus on developing students’ mindsets and habits that they will carry forward for years to come (themes might include sense of self, relationships and social skills, commitment to learning, etc.,)
o  Observable: a teacher and/or observer can see and hear the extent to which Rocketeers have internalized these mindsets and habits.
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“I Can” and “I Want”
·  Builds a sense of “I can” in Rocketeers by messaging that, with hard work, all students can reach the class goals and reinforces this often.
·  Builds a sense of “I want” in students by messaging the value of class goals and connecting them to Rocketeers’ interests and motivations.
·  Messages the value and importance of assessments as opportunities to “show what you know” and actively works to eliminate test anxiety
·  Reinvests students in class and individual goals by making Rocketeers aware of their progress towards their goals and by praising students’ effort toward the class goals
·  Designs student work displays, tracking systems, data walls and incentive systems that all work to reinforce the message that through hard work and persistence, all goals are attainable for all Rocketeers
·  Monitors individual students’ “I can” and “I want” and deploys multiple strategies to increase students;’ investment. Strategies include:
o  communicating progress towards goals’
o  using role models
o  building personal relationships
o  tailoring messages to individual Rocketeers
Pillar 2: Establish Rigorous Classroom Expectations and Routines
Synthesis: The Rocketship 100 Culture Items are well-established and function without teacher prompting. Students thrive in the security created by shared expectations, consistency and a culture of purposeful and organized urgency.
Student Evidence / Teacher Actions
·  Know what is expected of them and believe that rules and procedures are established to maximize their learning and create a positive and safe classroom environment
·  Self-regulate to exceed well-established behavioral expectations and procedural routines and encourage peers to do the same
·  Internalizes and faithfully follows directives
·  Internalizes and accept s consequences without debate and eagerly seek to correct misbehavior
·  Maintain all the above actions across campus even when their teacher is not present / Design and Internalization
·  Internalizes classroom procedures, rules, consequences, rewards and behavior tracking systems outlined in the Rocketship 100 Culture Items
·  Designs intuitive procedures regarding instructional routines, student organization and transitions that ensure that every minute in class is effectively used. Strategies include Change the Pace, Brighten Lines, All Hands, Every Minute Matters, Look Forward, and Work the Clock
Communication
·  Provides explicit instructions on and rationale for the Rocketship 100 Culture Items focused on what to do rather than what not to do and is able to do so with decreasing regularity as Rocketeers internalize these expectations
Reinforcement
·  Sweats the details to ensure smooth, predictable, and effective outcomes in everything that is done
·  Implements all components of Strong Voice (economy of language, do not talk over, do not engage, square up/stand still, quiet power, self-interrupt, and “register”) as necessary to maintain a commanding, respectful, and purpose-driven presence
·  Offers precise praise to reinforce positive choices and behaviors
·  Redirects inappropriate or off-task behavior using precise language and a variety of strategies (proximity, group reminder, anonymous reminder, signaling, quick word, lightning-quick public correction, consequence)
·  Ensures that 100% of Rocketeers follow 100% of the directions and procedures outlined in the Rocketship 100 Culture Items 100% of the way 100% of the time
Pillar 3: Create a Rocketeer Learning Environment
Synthesis: The learning environment fully embodies all facets of Rocketeer culture and core values which allows all Rocketeers to operate as a team working urgently to achieve their collective goals. In this culture built upon the foundation of shared expectations and rituals of the Rocketship 100 Culture Items, the class emanates warmth and positivity and every member of the team is valued and celebrated for their contributions to the class. Students challenge themselves and their peers to be better students and teammates. Instructional time is sacred and students make the most of every minute.
Student Evidence / Teacher Actions
Class Culture
·  Take responsibility for sustaining the culture of the learning environment through their own actions and by holding their peers accountable for actively promoting and advancing the class culture. Rocketeers exhibit pride in the behavior and efficiency of their class