Targeted School Quality Review
Currently, schools receiving federal Innovative Partnership Grants (IPG) from the NCDPI Federal Programs Monitoring and Support Division are prioritized to participate in the TSQR process to meet the federal monitoring requirements around IPGs.
The Targeted School Quality Review (TSQR) provides a framework which:
- provides a systematic review of strategic/improvement plans, practices, processes, and systems within a school;
- assists district and school leadership in determining needs, examining their nature and causes, and setting priorities for future action;
- supports the continuous cycle of improvement to assist the implementation of meaningful school plans as schools implement any of the 12 Key Indicators found in NCStar® on which they are focusing; and
- provides recommendations to guide ongoing improvement efforts.
The TSQR has grouped the NCStar® Key Indicators to reflect four of the six dimensions of the NCDPI developed Comprehensive Needs Assessment (Instructional Excellence and Alignment Part I, Instructional Excellence and Alignment Part II, Leadership Capacity, Professional Capacity, and Families and Community) to allow schools and districts to review available rubrics by dimension/sub-dimension.
Resources
Pre-TSQR Orientation
An NCDPI representative will conduct an orientation with school leadership prior to the initial review and every year of the grant thereafter will conduct a logistics review phone call/virtual meeting. During the orientation, the representative will provide an overview of the TSQR process, including a typical schedule as well as arrangements for before, during, and after the visit. A Notes of Guidance is also provided.
TSQR Site Visit
The on-site element of the review lasts one day (minimum) and occurs annually (minimum). The review team consists of a lead reviewer and one additional team member. In addition to an interview with the principal, meetings are held with students, staff, families, district representative(s), and Innovative Partner representative(s). All meetings will cover questions arising from the TSQR framework, NCStar® Comprehensive Progress Report, and the IPG proposal and budget. Classroom observations are also conducted to gather evidence about the impact of school improvement efforts.
IPG Budget Review
Schools that are receiving a TSQR due to receipt of a federal improvement grant are subject to a review of grant spending. If any spending is found to be out of alignment with grant requirements, this information will be reported to the NCDPI Federal Programs Monitoring and Support Division immediately for further review and investigation.
Post-TSQR Final Report
The lead reviewer will use the evidence gathered to make judgments on the quality of the school’s progress towards the implementation of NCStar® Key Indicators as the school addresses continuous improvement. These findings are synthesized into a report which reflects an analysis of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement.
If the school is the recipient of an IPG, the draft report will be sent to NCDPI’s Federal Programs Monitoring and Support Division for review. The State IPG coordinator will add comments and then finalize the report and send it to the principal. The school can then use the feedback within the report to guide their continuous improvement efforts. The principles of quality assurance support all aspects of the quality review processes and procedures, including the production of the report.
Contact
For more information about TSQR, please contact Susan Silver, Diagnostic Services Lead at 984-236-2021 or susan.silver@dpi.nc.gov