Lead Learners Update 4.30.12

Lead Learners Update 4.30.12- 5.11.12

Perhaps we need leaders who are able both to start processes of learning and to diagnose and disturb already existing processes that prevent learning and change, the active, ongoing immune systems at work in every individual and organization.
Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, 2001

4.30 Admin Learning (Continue the topic on Digital Learning and Leadership)
Digital Learning Advisory Committee (3:00 - 5:00)
5.7 Professional Learning Day
5.10 Atlas Rubicon Curriculum Tool Trainer Day (Principal attendance recommended)
5.11 Retirement event for Prairie Point retirees (starting @ 3:00)
Write assessment data entered into the Campus system (K-12 teachers who teach LA)


Leadership Teams
Principals should recommend members for the leadership teams following the due dates. Please enter names in the google doc.  Make sure you communicate with the teachers prior to making the recommendations so that when they receive e-mails from ESC, it is not a surprise to them.

Due by May 15:

1. Cade membership
2. Math Consensus Map Team (summer sessions)
3. Math Task Force (Should be a sub team from the Consensus Map Team)

Due by May 30

All the other teams

School Improvement Plan/End of Year Report (Ying Ying Chen)
The plan is due to Superintendent and Executive Director by the end of school year (June 30).  Due to the messiness of Iowa Assessment, we are not going to populate the information on the report template.  Instead, you should use the current data tools, such as reports from GW AEA and EdInsight for your end of year analysis.  Sheri will work on the MAP report portion and send the template to you in May.  Sheri has also provided training to your school secretaries to run GW reports for you.  (You should request those reports from your guidance secretary so that they get to practice it right away.)

All schools have trained personnel to access EdInsight.  Principals are highly recommended to use the resource to understand your achievement pattern.  This reporting system will save you time and provide you with the following data:  

• Eight years of Iowa Testing data enabling powerful Cohort analyses over time and over multiple levels
• Comparisons to other Buildings, Districts and AEAs
• Multiple source systems (Iowa Testing, Special Education, Easier data collections, among others) into one seamless reporting system

The person (usually counselors)  who has been trained should have the password for your building. To enter the system, click http://edinsight.iowa.gov.  The reporting system, I predict, will continue to be the system for future state level assessment reports.  So, it is important that you take some time to familiarize yourself with the tool.  

End of Year Timeline Review (Ying Ying Chen)
Please also review the timeline to make sure you understand important due dates for various school or state-mandated reporting.  Pay special attention to:

• Evaluation completion schedule
• PLP completion schedule (Also see suggested activities in the previous Lead Learner Update posted on March 19)
• Principal board report in June

Curriculum Tool Roll Out Plan Reminder (Ying Ying Chen)
May 10 is Train the Trainer Day for Atlas Rubicon.  All selection committee members, summer curriculum work session coaches and principals are the main participants.  Some principals recommended a few more teachers to the training so that they will have plenty of building-based support. Feel free to do so.  Principals are highly recommended to attend the learning session so you can prepare yourself as a leader and learn from the team about how to roll out the plan smoothly at the building level.  

New Teacher Self and Principal Assessment On Implementation (Ying Ying Cgeb)
Thank you for your help, we have collected the information within a reasonable amount of time frame.   While this summary shows the district results, each building principal could go to the actual google spreadsheet (shared with you already) to pull out data just for your school.  The information will be useful as you continue to provide mentoring and induction support to new teachers.
Principal Assessment Results
New Teacher Assessment Results

Tableau and MAP data (Craig Barnum)
I’ve updated Campus with spring MAP testing data, so this information is  also ready to be analyzed in Tableau.  Here are a couple of quick reminders:  to get to Tableau, go to http://tableau.prairiepride.org.  When you get to that site, you will be prompted for a username and password.  Use your email username (not full email address) and password.  In the menu of choices on the left, under “Workbooks” click “By Project”.  A new page will load on the right. It will show two links, click the “Assessments” link.  Scroll down to see the NWEA Growth representation and click it.  Then click the “NWEA Test Results” view.  The page will take a few seconds to load.  Filters are located on the menu on the right.  Be sure to select only “Fall 2011” for the “Fall Test” filter.  You may also need to filter for your building as well.  The grade level and sub-group level filtering are available here as well.  Let me know what questions you have.

Curriculum Matters (Bill Poock)
On the May 7th PL Day, K-6 teachers will have the opportunity to assess the growth of their students’ writing over the past year.  Teachers will have between 12:00 - 3:45 PM to practice calibrating student scoring using the district writing rubric and participating in discussions about effective writing assessment practices.  This will also involve classroom teachers, ELL teachers, GT teachers, and Title One teachers.  These teachers need to have the experience of knowing what “at grade level” writing looks like and sounds like from an assessment point of view.  After about 45 minutes of calibration discussions, then individual teachers will score their own writing samples.  They will need to enter scores into Campus by the end of the day on Friday, May 11th.  It is important to have that accomplished so that system data can be accessed through Tableau in order to prepare end of year reports.

Student Services (Cheryl Kiburz)

5.08 Final session of Joyful Learning (4:00-5:30PM-Point)

5.15 Paraeducator Assignments for 2012-2013 completed (meeting with principals scheduled)

This week I have attended several transition meetings for students moving from building to building.   It is a joy to be part of the team’s celebration of each child’s accomplishments.  Parents, teachers and other related service providers,  share about each student’s growth and the plan for the upcoming year.  It is important for us to continue to challenge our thinking in regard to student independence and supports/accommodations/modifications necessary. At times, it feels like the team makes assumptions regarding what students need and document supports which they anticipate instead of having data to support the need.  Let’s continue to challenge each other in having student work and data in front of us as we document plans and determine what each students needs to be successful.