Lead Learners Update 4.2.12

Lead Learner Updates

4.2.12 - 4.13.12

"Defining SMART goals in smart ways involves a more comprehensive analysis by the community that will be motivated by and committed to their actualization."

Blankstein, 2011

4.2 Professional Learning Day
4.4 Curriculum Tool Template Design (small committee)
4.5 Heights Instructional Round Follow Up
4.6 No School
4.9 View Instructional Rounds (8:00 - 3:45)
4.10 AIW with Bruce King-AM (PHS and Crest) - Principal observation welcome
4.11 Media Council (PM)
4.13 LST visit - PHS

Looking Ahead
4.16 Meeting New Superintendent (Lunch and PM Administrative meeting)
4.17 Elementary Cadre
4.19 Instructional Rounds SAI conference
4.20 Secondary Cadre

Iowa Assessment (Ying Ying Chen)
After exchanging many e-mails with Michelle Tressel, Karla Ries, attending the ITP workshop and debriefing with Craig, I developed the following summary:

• NPR scores are much lower than it was in the past among elementary grades.  This pattern is consistent throughout the state. This pattern does not apply to secondary schools.
• ITP claims that this pattern is due to overall improvement in elementary grades throughout the nation.  With the new norm, our students did not perform worse, but their “relevant standing” is lower when compared with other students in the nation.
• Craig and I talked about the inconsistent pattern between Iowa assessment and NWEA results.  This continues to be a puzzle to us. We will need more information and expert study to know what this means.
• ITP will not provide Iowa norms this year, therefore, we will not know our standing in comparison to other schools in Iowa.
• ITP will not provide % proficient report or FAY data. GW or EdInsight are still trying to figure out how to use the newly normed data for school improvement reports (AYP,
  SINA, DINA, etc.) We were told that DE is working on it and we might not have the official % proficient data till July or later. As soon as we have access to EdInsight, we will work on the data and share them with you. The GW data is helpful, but it is not the official NCLB data.  Sheri will host a secretary’s meeting in mid April to ensure your secretary knows how to run the GW data for your building.
• ITP has not sent out the sub-group report yet.
• Proficiency is no longer defined by 41 percentile.  It is now defined by NSS scores and it is different in each grade. (Click here to see the cut scores for each grade.)  This has significant impact on how we pull data from the existing system.  (New programs will have to be written to pull data.)

How can we explain the results to the parents?
This is a tough question as there are so many unknowns to us.  I believe the best answer is to be open and transparent about the issue caused by the new norm.  Familiarize yourself with the ITP documents so that you can articulate the nature of the problem.  These problems are not solvable at the local level and will take time to sort out.  If parents ask about the dropped NPR, let them know that we will triangulate data by examining MAP and curriculum based assessment created by teachers.

DE is revealing their first report about SMARTER BALANCED ASSESSMENT this month.   How the data will be collected and reported is still unknown to us. The entire data reporting system will continue to evolve in the next few years.

What I am sure about is that our PL foci (power standards, common assessment, AFL, standard-based grading, concept based unit etc.) are all heading in the right direction. Stay focused on designing rigorous and relevant curriculum and use standard-based data (common assessment and other FA) to set improvement goals. They are the right things to do regardless which assessment system will be used in the future.

Important Summer Dates (Ying Ying Chen)
It has been a challenge to schedule summer sessions, but we finally put the puzzle together:

June 1 - Oversight; HS study hall (8:00 - 11:30) - Notice this is a changed (from June 6)

June 7, 8 and 9 - PLC conference

June 12 - Reserved for Cadre work (building decision)

June 13 and 14 and August 3- Consensus Mapping on Math (Principles should attend)

June 15 and 18 - Curriculum work sessions; HS study hall

June 20, 21, 22 - PBL workshop Muscatine (Point and HS)

June 25 - 27 - HTH training (Point and HS)

June 25, 26, 27, 28 - CORI (Creek and Point staff) - Confirmation with consultants still in progress

Please share these dates with your teachers.

Learning Modules on Common Core (Ying Ying Chen)
These free learning modules are produced by a publisher.  I found it interesting and it is free. It can be used to introduce common core to your teachers.
http://www.commoncoresolutions.com/professional_development.php

Digital Literacy Updates
Please encourage your staff to subscribe and periodically check the blog I’ve created for communicating our digital literacy plans -- http://www.techhawks.org.  I’ve been updating it with new content three or four times a week for the last month.  So, there is already a wealth of information there.  Staff can sign up/subscribe to get email updates when something new is posted.  Right now, there are just over 30 staff subscribed.  I would like to see this number go higher in the next few days as there will be a lot of important information shared on this site regarding digital literacy and 1 to 1.  I understand how busy our staff are and that they will not think to check the site without a prompt.  So, any support you could give in this direction would be very helpful.

I know not all of you use Twitter, but I’ve been collecting resources for us there as well.  I have been using the hashtag “#ccsd1to1” to gather information resources for our staff.  Feel free to search on that hashtag if you looking for articles or research to share with your staff on digital literacy.   Furthermore, I would hope that both you and your staff would add to this collection by adding this hashtag to your own Tweets that target learning about digital literacy.  Of course, anyone of you who would like to learn more about how to use Twitter in this way, just give me a call or drop me a note.  I’d be happy to work with you.