Tools, Surveys & Protocols

All our publications are designed to inform and engage audiences in building inclusive, urban schools. Please explore all the tools, surveys and protocols below. We encourage you to download, copy and distribute all our urban schools products. If you would like assistance with any of our products please contact us at: niusi@asu.edu. Let us know how they work for you and what you would like to see us publish next.

Tools:
The School Improvement Planning Booklet  
The School Improvement Process can help school communities to develop an information system to guide the improvement of services to all students and their families. Each page of this guide focuses on a different part of the School Improvement Process. You’ll find ideas about how to gather and use information to set your focus areas and action cycles.

NIUSI Accreditation Standards: A Blueprint for Inclusive Schools   
This tool provides a framework for assessing schools on their inclusive practices. A set of 15 standards frames governance, continuous improvement, teacher practice, student performance and family involvement. This tool is designed for use by accreditation bodies as well as by districts committed to ensuring effective early intervening as well as high quality special education services and supports.

Systemic Change Framework – Rubrics Assessment Handbook  
The rubrics in this publication have been designed to help your inclusive schools network assess their current status and identify specific goals for the coming year. Based on the systemic change framework and vignettes from the National Institute for Urban School Improvement’s (NIUSI) network of schools, these rubrics provide a yardstick for measuring your improvement efforts.

ITEMS Decision Making Tool for Instruction  
A lesson planning tool for teachers to examine: the structure of instruction, the demands and evaluation criteria of the tasks, the learning environment, the learning materials used, and the support structures needed.

Preventing Disproportionality by Strengthening District Policies and Practices – An Assessment and Strategic Planning Process   
his tool is designed to help State and Local Education Agencies address institutional and systems issues that may impact students from culturally and linguistically diverse populations who continue to experience a wide variety of achievement gaps. This document contains a self-study tool that assists district teams to examine policies, procedures, and practices in general and special education that have been shown to contribute to institutional factors that surround disproportionality.

Work Plan Tool  
This tool provides a 7 step process for developing a work plan for your school improvement efforts.

Transformed, Inclusive Schools: A Resource Guide to Fundamental Change in Urban Schools   
Once teachers, whole schools, or district leaders have assessed their current progress in systems change, using the Systemic Change Framework Rubrics Assessment Handbook, they will want to focus their change efforts on specific elements that need attention. This Resource Guide provides direction for those change efforts, based on the best research in the field are changing across the United States as educators.

Conducting Focus Groups to Develop a Comprehensive School Portrait  
What is a focus group? How do focus groups work? How do you conduct a focus group? How do you analyze and use the information from focus groups? This tool provides the background you need to conduct focus groups at your school. A sample focus group reporting form is included.

Equity in Special Education Placement: A School Self-Assessment Guide for Culturally Responsive Practice  - Form A    Form B
The self-assessment instrument is designed to assist elementary school practitioners (all professionals and paraprofessionals working in the schools, such as special and general education teachers, counselors and administrators) in creating schools that are culturally responsive in their programming and instruction so that optimal achievement might occur for all students including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The use of this assessment tool requires the implementation of three steps, namely (1) calculation of disproportionate representation, (2) assessment of 5 domains relevant to addressing the needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and (3) development of a school improvement plan to provide culturally responsive education.

A Logic Model for Whole School Special Education Reform   
This tool designed to be used by districts and schools directs conversation, planning, implementation and capacity development towards whole school reform and more inclusive school practices.

Meeting Planner Tool  
Planning a large meeting or retreat? This tool provides a framework for planning large meetings from the beginning of the process to post-meeting follow-up to review what worked and what didn’t.

Surveys:
School Improvement Survey  
This survey helps schools measure how individuals associated with the school disclose their perspectives of how an ideal school would operate and compare it to the degree to which the school accomplishes the statement. Questions are categorized into: teacher and school practices, school climate, and school/community partnerships. This survey tool is also available to take online at http://niusi.edreform.net/login.html.

Protocols:
Walkthrough Planning Guide  
This document provides guidance on how to prepare for a building walkthrough, what to do during and after the walkthrough. It contains both group and individual feedback forms. (Focus on Results 2001).

Tuning Protocol  
This problem-solving protocol aims to ensure that educators receive direct and respectful feedback on the problems they present, as well as the opportunity to reflect on the feedback. It also aims to help all participants “tune up” their values through contact with others’ diverse and candid views. (McDonald, J.P., Mohr, N., Dichter, A., McDonald, E.C. (2003). The power of protocols; An educator’s guide to better practice. New York: Teachers College Press, p. 63-66.)

Learning From Speakers Protocol  
The purpose of the Learning from Speakers Protocol is to structure the experience of the invited speaker format, so that learning is maximized for the speaker as well as the learners.


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