The document discusses an Integrated Learning Supports System framework developed by AASA, UCLA, and Scholastic to help schools and districts address barriers to student learning. The framework takes a holistic approach to align instruction, learning supports, and management. It leads districts to identify service gaps, maximize existing resources, and implement strategies to support students and address issues like poverty, family stress, and mental health challenges. Early results show improved achievement, graduation rates, attendance, and decreased disciplinary issues in districts that have implemented the framework, including a 40% increase in graduation rates in one pilot district. The framework offers school leaders a promising approach to help more students succeed.

1. Improving Schools and Communities: Integrated Learning Supports Systems
MerrianneDyer,Ph. D.
In a recentlyreleased surveyof the 2015 Teacher of the Year conducted bythe Council of Chief State
School OfficersandScholastic,the areasof focusviewed asthe mostcritical to addresstohave
maximumimpactonstudentlearningare anti-povertyinitiatives,earlylearning,reducingbarriersto
learning,andprofessional development/learning.
Throughthe pioneering workof AASA, the School Superintendent’sAssociation, afreshandnovel
approach hasemerged thatoffershope andstrengthtoschoolsto improve the livesof children,their
families,andthe communitiesinwhichtheylive.
A collaborative projectthatbeganin2008 betweenAASA,UCLA,andthe ScholasticCompany now offers
a way to systematicallyaddressthe challengesthatimpactstudentlearning. The studybeganwiththree
Superintendentsandtheirdistricts.The foundationof the frameworkisthe alignmentof school and
districtworkina unifiedthreecomponentframework:instruction,learningsupports,andmanagement.
The projectoutcome isthe developmentof an innovative leadership improvementmodel,anIntegrated
Learning SupportsSystem, now deliveredbyScholasticthroughcustomized professional learning.
The researchisbasedon the workof Dr. LindaTaylor andDr. AdelmanatUCLA onhow mental health
impactslearningandhowschools can addressthe challenges studentsface bothinandoutof school.
The resultsto date have yieldedimprovedachievementandgraduationrates,fiscal efficiency,and
increased familyandcommunityengagement. The LearningSupportsFrameworkisparticularlysuited
for schoolsanddistrictswhoseektoaddressthe needsof the whole childandtoaddressgapsin
achievementordisproportionalityindiscipline reports.
What makesthisapproachdifferentfromother improvementmodels? The customizedcoachingand
facilitationleadsdistrictsto:
 identifyredundantandineffectivepracticesanduncovergapsinservices.
 maximize effectiveuse of existingstaff,programs,andfunding.
 discoveropportunitiestoweave togetherschool andcommunityresources
 addressbarriersof familystress,poverty,andpsychological issueswithalignedstrategies,
 implementlearningsupportsforstudents tosupportthe instructional goalsbefore the students
fail.
How doesa state or districtimplementthisframework? Scholasticworkswiththe Superintendentto
designacustomizedapproachfortheirdistrictsandschools. Superintendentsthenworkwithacoach-
consultanttoplan and deliverimplementationthroughthe Superintendent’s Cabinetand cascade the
workout to school teams.
What are the resultstodate? Underthe leadershipof State School SuperintendentDr.TommyBice,
Alabamahasincorporatedthe LearningSupportsFrameworkintothe StrategicPlan2020, a plan with
the goal to reach a 90% GraduationRate by20120. Currently,40 districtsinAlabamahave implemented
with20-30 more joiningfor2015-2016. In only the thirdyearof implementationwith40districts,
Alabama’shasusedthe Learning SupportsFramework tofocusonthe mostprevalentbarriers,
attendance anddiscipline. Since implementationin2012, the pilotdistrictshave decreasedabsences

2. by 25%. The improvementsin the pilotschoolshascontributedtoan increase of Alabama’sgraduation
rate from72% in2011 to 86% in2014. In a report releasedinAugust2014 by the PublicAffairs
ResearchCouncil,the importance of addressingbarrierstolearningthroughlearningsupportswas
recommended. The reportstate that,“We needschoolsinpartnershipswithcommunitiestokeepkids
enrolled,engaged,andachievementontrack. That meansidentifyingproblemsanaddressingthem
before theyleadtofailure.”(PARCA Reportpp.23-25)
In GainesvilleCitySchools, Georgia, one of the original three pilotdistricts, the frameworkwasusedin a
studentpopulationof 78% qualifyingforfree-reducedlunchrate and54% of studentshaving Englishas
theirsecondlanguage. The fouryearcohort graduationrate of GainesvilleHighSchool increasedfrom
58% in2011 to 78.9% in2014. The percentof studentsabsent10 daysor more district-wide has
decreasedfrom21% in2011 to 5% in 2014. Disciplinarytribunalsforoutof school suspensionshas
decreasedby65% duringthat time.
Currently,districtsinColorado,Texas, SouthCarolina,Minnesota,and California,are inimplementation
planningstages. Aspowerful asindividual districtworkisinthe integrationof learningsupports,the
resultsfromAlabamasupportthe impactof implementationfromastate-wide perspective.
As school andgovernmentleadersrecognizethatinstructionalonewillnot resultinlong-term
improvementforchallengedschools,the Integrated Learning Supports Systemframework offersafresh
and hopeful approach. Facedwithincreasedexpectationsforstudentstomeetrigorousstandardsand
increase graduationrates,school leadersnow have apromising andhopeful solutiontoexplor