Lead Learners Update 10.1.12

If the goal can be accomplished without students learning at higher levels (for example, "Our team will create four new common assessments."), it is not a SMART goal.

                                                                                   Learning By Doing Pg. 179

Lead Learner Updates
10.1.12 Admin Learning 12:00 - 3:30
10.2.12 Train the Trainer Workshop (7:45 - 3:45) - ESC Boardroom
10.3.12 Train the Trainer Workshop (7:45 - 3:45) - ESC Boardroom
10.8.12 Cabinet Problem Solving Meeting 12:00 - 3:30
10.10.12 Math Task Force (7:45 - 3:45 @ Prairie Point Presentation Room)
10.11.12 Being a Skilled PLC Facilitator (Sponsored by Learning Forward)
10.15.12 Principal Board Report @ 5:30 (submit summary by October 9)
10.22.12 Instructional Rounds (Heights and Creek)

Administrative Input Summary (By John Speer)
Since our August time, I have had time to analyze your comments and input regarding administrator evaluation and quarterly conversations.  If you recall, we did a plus/delta for both.  I have summarized below the overall sentiment for each process from your input.

Administrator Evaluation

Plus	Delta
Opportunity to get feedback on my instructional coaching/just feedback Individual time with the Superintendent Important for Superintendent to see PL time and process	Scheduling is a nightmare Process should be streamlined Should have more of a learning focus More of an emphasis on feedback

Quarterly Conversations

Plus	Delta
Individual time with Superintendent Forced to take time to reflect Provides for ongoing communication	Questions and conversations seemed to not be differentiated No clear focus or purpose for meetings Not as much coaching or feedback as needed Not a growth or learning model

Using your input, we have made changes to both the evaluation process and the process and purpose of the quarterly conversations.  I will go over in more detail these changes in Monday’s Administrator meeting.  I hope we have crafted something that each of you can see as meaningful and also meets the State mandate of yearly administrator evaluations.

Oversight Meeting Data Needed (By Ying Ying Chen)

• Date: 10/29
• Time: Teacher reps will start at 7:45, building principals will start at 10:00.  The session will end at 3:30.
• What will the teacher do between 7:45 - 9:45: We will engage teachers in books study (The Data Teams Experience by Angela Peery; Chapter 1 and 2) Principals are encouraged to read the book following the same pacing. You are welcome to join our book study.
• What to bring: In supporting every school’s improvement process, ESC strives to model and promote professional learning by engaging all schools in lateral collaboration and authentic data analysis.  For the 10/29/12 Oversight meeting, please bring two pieces of data set from your school, one from each category. We will provide several data analysis protocols for you to work with your own data.  Choices of data set for you to bring:

Category 1 - Cause Data:

1. TPP-AFL
2. TPP-UBD
3. Digital Literacy Pre-assessment

Category 2 - Effect Data:

4. CFA data from a “cycle” (can be whole school or some teams)
5. Literacy diagnostic data (BRI/DRA/DIBELS; fluency data; Stanford; Jamestown; EasyCBM)
6. MAP data
7. At-Risk data aligned with your school goal (% fail classes, % 2 years behind grade levels etc.)
8. Your choice of student achievement data aligned with your school goal

Math Task Force - 10/10/12 (By Ying YIng Chen)
The first Math Task Force will focus on the following:

• Connect authentic math lessons with mathematics practice
• Refine essential understanding and essential questions, unit by unit
• Identify assessment strategies that are aligned with common core and curriculum units

Principals are welcome to stop by during any part of the day (7:45 - 3:45 at Point Presentation Room)

Curriculum Alignment Monitoring (By Ying Ying Chen)
Each building principal should set expectations about curriculum design and curriculum alignment as you continue to monitor SMART goal #1 and 3.  Data collection does not have to be a compliance act.  It should be built in as part of your “tight” structure and let teacher teams use collaboration time to plan, share, reflect as part of their recurring improvement cycles.  Each school’s improvement plan should have these data collection dates established.  It may be a good idea to review them with Cadre as you design professional learning opportunities.

At the district level, we will begin to collect system curriculum alignment data from the Rubicon system after mid year.  The data should be used to help school and staff set goals for continuous improvement.  

Possible examples for principal leadership:

• Set Tight/Loose expectations (Example - Tight:  All units should be standard aligned and entered; K-4 teachers could select one content to be entered to Rubicon, 5-12 teachers may choose to enter one or two content areas. Loose: When to update, which subject area etc.)
• Establish a schedule for TPP formative assessment and expect teams to conduct self-assessment as part of the “cycles”
• Ask teams to supply student performance data after each cycle
• Ask teams to identify instructional adjustment after each cycle

Revised Structure of Instructional Rounds (By Ying Ying Chen)
A few adjustments have been made based the administrative team’s suggestions.  They are:

• Smaller teams
• Double Rounds on the same day (increase frequency)
• Mini follow up rounds to support the NLOW
• Strengthen connections between rounds and school improvement
• Teams are: K-4 team, 5-12 + Edge

We will start the day at 8:00 in the boardroom for a brief team learning and overview.  Then the team will split into two groups at 9:15 to conduct classroom observations in two buildings (Heights and Creek).  We plan to end the day around 1:30 - 2:00.  

In the meantime, all principals could begin to work with their staff about POP and TOA and think about how the data can be used for school improvement.  Instructional rounds reflection and NLOW could be incorporated in quarterly conversations.

PLP and Important Timeline Associated with Teacher Career Plan and Evaluation (By Ying Ying Chen)
It is the time of the year that all teachers establish professional learning goals.  To ensure consistency, please review the PLP Task Force recommendations and ensure that PLP is connected to the district/building’s professional development plan.  Below is a set of timelines principals should follow:

Teacher Evaluations Communication

Tier I

Tier I evaluation/evaluator list Deadline: September 1
Written notice to teachers Deadline: October 1
First two (2) observations completed Deadline: February 1
Final observation completed Deadline: March 30
Written notice to extend to a third year Deadline: May 15
Written/signed summative evaluations Deadline: June 1
**Best practice: The possibility of extension to third year should be communicated early (i.e. in the beginning of second semester) and clearly.  Documentation of concerns and support for growth should be thorough (i.e. Summary of conferences or letter/e-mail of reprimand).  Teachers should know your concerns and have the opportunity to grow and be mentally prepared rather than shocked at the end of the school year.

Tier II – Formal Evaluation Cycle

Tier II evaluation/evaluator list Deadline: September 1
Written notice to teachers Deadline: October 1
Professional Learning Plan (PLP) established Deadline: October 15
Online PLP self-assessment/principal feedback Deadline: May 30
Written/signed summative evaluations Deadline: June 1

Tier III
Tier III placements may occur at any time after an ESC conference with principal.
**Important Note: Any administrator who is considering a Tier III process should communicate with John and Ying as soon as possible so that we can craft a support plan for the administrator.  This process will usually involve a district attorney.
 
Additional Council Days
Music: 11/20 (11:30 - 3:30)
CTE: 10/29 (7:45 - 3:45)
Counselor: 12/10 and 2/11 (7:45 - 3:45)
WL: TBD
ART: TBD
These curriculum council days are lead by teacher leaders.  Bill, Ying and Noreen will plan with council leaders prior to each council day.  

Fall MAP testing update (by Craig Barnum)
I know many of you are anxious to run reports for fall MAP testing.  Here is a little bit of information on how the whole process works and what the timelines are for these reports.  It all starts back in early August.  I have to send a Class Roster File (CRF) to NWEA at least 10 working days before testing starts.  We usually go a few days earlier because it takes us a couple of days to download the data once NWEA finishes processing it.  This year’s file went to them around August 10th.  Any student who was not here at that date would need to manually added to the system and will not show up on teacher report rosters.  By the same token, any student who changed rosters after that date will also not show correctly.  When I send the CRF, I have to declare a testing window.  Since the CRF serves the whole district, so the testing window needs to encompass the full district’s needs.  This year the window ran from 8/29 to 9/28 on the assessment calendar.  Typically, we have a few make ups, so I always pad the back side of the window by a few days to allow for this.  This year’s hard end date is 10/5.  Once we get to 10/6, the day after the window is closed, I can login to the NWEA reporting site and declare testing complete.  Once this step is done, your building secretaries can run the building level paper reports.  I also always run another CRF file shortly after testing is done.  This new file provides corrections to roster changes and puts new students who came to use after 8/10 on a teacher’s roster.  Again, it takes NWEA a few days to process the CRF-- up to 10 working days.  So, around the middle of October, teacher report rosters will look quite a bit more accurate than they do now.

Curriculum Matters (by Bill Poock)
"Schools organized for student and teacher learning, designed to allow teams of professionals to create a coherent curriculum focused on critical content and skills reinforced by shared norms and habits of mind, and exhibited through authentic assessments of performance that reflect the ways knowledge is used in the real world.  These assessments should guide and inform teaching and learning through an ongoing inquiry process at the classroom and school levels, supported by regular time for teachers to plan and learn together.  These 21st-century schools should integrate new technologies for learning and create personalized structures for support students" (L. Darling-Hammond, 2010, pgs. 280-281).

Does this sound familiar?  As I read The Flat World and Education:  How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future and reflect upon our current and past work with professional development, I cannot but find the following connections:

• concept-based unit design
• building capacity for high functioning collaborative teams
• identification and implementation of power standards
• performance-based assessments
• using assessments to guide instruction
• 21st-century skills including digital learning

Sometimes I become very overwhelmed by all of the work that we are currently involved with at CCSD.  It is sometimes difficult to “see the forest through the trees.”  However, as I reflect on this quote, many things become clear to me.  I know that, despite the difficult job of creating coherence and shared understanding for all members of our learning community--this work is vitally important to creating a system for school reform that is truly responsive to our students’ immediate and future needs.  All of our learning works together to help shape the system that is ultimately responsible for providing the best learning experiences to prepare our students to do “quality learning today for tomorrow.”

Student Services (by Cheryl Kiburz)
10.11.12 Paula Kluth, Center Point Urbana Schools
5 teachers will be attending from CCSD
Here is a link to a recent posting on Paula’s website, Calm in Crisis
http://www.paulakluth.com/readings/autism/calm-in-crisis/
10.15.12 PL Day  1:45-3:45 PM
Differentiated Learning Sessions for Special Education Teachers
10.24.12 District RtI meeting  (Prairie Point Presentation Room) 8:45-11:45 AM
10.29.12 LETRS Training  (The Mighty Word:  Vocabulary and Oral Language)
10.30.12 LETRS Training

Building Visits

During the last week of September and the first two weeks of October, I will be in each building to meet with special education teacher teams. The meetings have been coordinated with the building contact. The time is focused on providing information (i.e. professional learning opportunities, significant disproportionality, etc.).  Additionally, our conversations have been focused on writing rigorous individualized goals, reinforcing the value, process and review of progress monitoring data, IEP compliance updates, preparing for October Count and finally, shifting thinking in regard to responsibility for ALL and how special education teachers work collaboratively with general education teachers to continually improve results for all students.   Amazingly, we have also had time for questions and clarifying roles and responsibilities in relationship to providing special education instruction and supports.   At each meeting the building administrator has joined our time together. Thank you so much for your support and leadership each day for ALL students.

October Each and Every Child Newsletter- 

http://www.educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2518.

Lead Learners Update 9.17.12

Lead Learners Update 9.17.12

It is possible to be tough-minded and adamant about protecting purpose and priorities while also being tender with people. Learning By Doing pg 230

Calendar of Events
9.17 Digital Learning
Board meeting
9.21 New Teacher Workshop
9.24 SIAC (Starts @ 6:00 PM, a change from past)
9.26 IPI training @ Ridge

Legislative Update - 2 key assessment changes go into effect - (By Ying Ying Chen) Two changes in district-wide assessment requirements go into effect this year, as per legislation passed in the Spring, 2012. Both 10th grade Iowa Assessments and a kindergarten readiness assessment are required.

The purpose of the new 10th grade Iowa Assessments is to provide for inclusion of high school in the growth model for Annual Yearly Progress.  Section 279.60.3 Each school district shall administer the Iowa Assessments, created by the state University of Iowa, to all students enrolled in grade 10. (CCSD is testing 10th grade already, but we do not report 10th grade achievement with SIAC at this time.)

The Iowa Department of Education and Early Childhood Iowa State Board are collaborating to form a cross-agency planning group to study and select a standard, multi-domain kindergarten readiness assessment for implementation by all school districts beginning in the fall of 2013.  The assessment shall be aligned with state early learning standards and preschool programs shall be encouraged to administer the assessment at least at the beginning and end of the preschool program, with the assessment information entered into the statewide longitudinal data system.  (CCSD will watch this closely)

New Teacher Workshop #1 - September 21, 2012 (By Ying YIng Chen)
The content of the new teacher workshop will be different this year.  They will include the following:

• UBD in nutshell and Rubicon
• EU, EQ and Conceptual Lens
• Clear Learning Targets
• Check for Understanding Overview

On the surface, they look like what we have had before, but due to changes that happened in the district (Unit Design, Power Standards, CFA, AF, etc.), we are compelled to change the learning targets to ensure new teachers’ smooth transition to CCSD.  They will receive a textbook: The Formative Assessment Action Plan (by Frey and Fisher).  We will use Chapter Three in this particular workshop.  Principals will benefit from this learning as the content and protocols could be adapted for the entire staff to reinforce your school improvement goals.

TAPPLE and Varied Response will be included as we introduce Chapter 3, Check for Understanding, but it will be taught lightly via modeling, not explicitly due to time constraints.  This means new teachers will need additional modeling from you and/or mentors to ensure implementation fidelity. The time frame for the workshop is one hour shorter than last year.  (7:45 - 12:15). This will give you time to carry out PM follow up.  Here is the PM structure options.  Please enter your options to the google doc by Thursday, September 20, so we know your individual school plan.

Last but most important, new teachers will need time to apply what they learn in the afternoon.  I suggest the observation and debriefing to be no more than 60 minutes this time (more content in workshop #1). Please leave ample amount of time for independent practice with some level of support arranged by you. They will need to open the  Rubicon tool to enter a few things such as learning targets.  They also need to plan Varied Repondes in a real lesson.  Their independent practice needs to happen within 100 hours before they forget what they learn from the workshop.

Digital Learning on 9/17 (Grades 7-12) - By Ying Ying Chen
AM session: 8:00 - 11:00; PM session: 12:00-3:00; Opposite Half Day: Designed by the Principal and Leadership Teams
With the above schedule, principals and cadres can use the last 30 minutes to debrief learning and set professional or team goals. (Ex.  When you plan the next unit, how can you incorporate this learning to increase rigor?)  Be mindful about making digital learning a cohesive part of lesson/unit planning and collaboration, not an add on!  A debriefing process will help teachers make the transition.

Digital Learning on 9/17 (Grades K-6) - By Ying Ying Chen
AM session: 7:45 - 11:45; PM 12:45 - 3:45  PM Content Decided by Principals and Cadre
The Digital Trainers will deliver the content to your school.  Here is the website (under construction).  The facilitation guide and materials are available on the website.  I highly recommend that you have a brief conversation with the building reps so that you understand the vision, the process and how this work fits into your building improvement process.

Fantastic Learning Opportunities (By Ying Ying Chen)
A series of workshops offered by NTC (on GWAEA website and on George Held’s update) are fantastic learning opportunities.  NTC is the group that offers mentor training series.  Many of their workshops are benificial to all teachers and administrators.   Since all school improvement plans and cadre actions are individualized this year, you may need additional support to develop your leadership groups.  If you are looking for sessions to grow your cadre members and teacher leaders, check these sessions out:

1. Analyzing Student Work (October 4-5 or January 23-24)
2. Creating and Facilitate Meetings that Promote Professional Development (October 19)
3. Designing and Presenting Professional Development for Teachers (September 24-25 or February 21-22)

See flyer for above sessions
A new workshop by NTC, which is not on the flyer yet, is called Differentiating Instruction: Entry Point for Mentors (November 7-8). The content includes:

• Identify effective mentoring entry points that support teacher’s differentiated instruction
• apply the five components of differentiation to content area instruction
• apply formative assessment mentoring tools (e.g., Analysis of Student Work, Lesson Planning, Observation and Case Studies) as means of integrating differentiated instruction into new teacher’s practice.
• apply pre-assessment tools and strategies in mentoring and classroom teaching

Digital Literacy Update -- By Craig Barnum
This will be the first time our Digital Literacy Trainers will be in action.  As Ying references in her article we have created a website to house the resources the Digital Literacy Trainers are creating.  The site can be found by going to the Staff Hub and clicking Teacher Resources, then Digital Literacy PD.  Here is the direct link as well -- http://prairiepride.org/dlpd  

At this website, which is still having content added, you can find multimedia tutorials by the Trainers.  The session names, dates, and times of our digital literacy after school PL.  Please encourage your staff to have a look at these offerings.  And, each Trainer will be sharing exemplary units here as well.  As the year goes on, we envision will grow into a content-rich environment that will benefit all staff.  Again, please encourage your staff to check in at this site periodically.

Curriculum Matters (by Bill Poock)

Instructional Rounds for 2012-2013:  We will have our first Instructional Rounds visits on October 22nd for Prairie Creek and Prairie Heights.  Ying, Bill, John, and Josh will soon begin that planning process and have already attended our own Instructional Rounds PLC in Clive at SAI on Thursday of last week.  This PLC provides us with the chance to learn about how other schools implement the rounds process and how different perspectives add to our own thinking about our rounds processes at CCSD.  We will use our time to think deeply about the process and the rationale behind the various steps in the rounds process.  Instructional Rounds is one component of a school improvement inquiry process in which we think collectively about how to improve teaching and learning in our schools.

Math Task Force:  On October 10, we will have our first Math Task Force meeting at the Prairie Point Presentation Room from 7:45 – 3:45.  We will work to increase our understanding of the Common Core Mathematics standards as we continue to implement the standards within our teaching.  We will use the Math Task Force to accomplish high leverage work for our district.  We look forward to meeting with the Math Task Force members and beginning this important work.

Student Services - (By Cheryl Kiburz)

9.19.New Special Education Teacher District IEP Training- (ESC Boardroom)
8:00-11:30 AM  Elementary (K-6)
12:00-3:30 PM  Secondary (7-12)

District RtI Meetings- (all future meetings will be held in the Presentation Room at Point)
Future meeting dates include, October 24, December 12 and March 6. The time and location will remain constant (8:45-11:45 AM).  The GWAEA building contacts met on Thursday and  reviewed the same content shared in our district meeting.  The team was very appreciative to share in the learning and will work to support our efforts in building a collaborative culture focused on student learning and results.

Lead Learners Update 9.3.12

Lead Learners Update 9.3.12 - 9.14.12

The best employees of the future will excel at creative problem solving and different ways of thinking -- synthesizing seemingly diverse things together for better solutions, using metaphors to explain new ideas for which no context yet might exist.

Calendar of Events
9.3.12 Labor Day - No School
9.7.12   Digital Learning Trainers Planning Day for Sept. PL Day
9.10.12    Admin Learning 12:00 – 3:30
9.12.12    RTI Meeting K-12 Rep @ PHS 8:45 -11:45
9.17.12   PL Day - Digital Learning Session 1
9.21.12   New Teacher Workshop #1 @ PHS 7:45 - 3:45

What do We Want Students to Know and be able to Do? (By John Speer)
A question has run through my mind a number of times over the past week.  As we discuss SINA at multiple buildings, student scores, and student knowledge, I am drawn to the question—do we know what we want students to know?  If the answer is yes, to what degree?  If the answer is either no, or sort of, how do we transform in order to say yes?  In my educational career, I have fundamentally believed that we can’t move forward until we have a firm grasp on key concepts we need students to know. 

It is like driving to an unknown place without a map.  That can be enjoyable when time is not a factor and simple exploration is the goal, but is more often than not frustrating when we need to be someplace at sometime and we approach the area with no real plan on how to arrive at our final destination.  Obviously, because of the activities of the past two weeks, I am more concentrated and literacy and numeracy right now.  I have asked the question of whether we know what we want our students to know many times—and am not sure with my limited knowledge, that I can answer that question.  My sense is that the answer is sort of.

If we want students to learn and build the fundamental skills necessary for literacy and numeracy, our efforts probably start with an all out effort to determine or guarantee that we know what we want our students to know—or more importantly that our staff knows what we want our students to know.  This simple question brings a multitude of others.  For example, how do we support the buildings and system in a process to systematically define where we are done and where there is work, once we know the starting point, what is the end, and how do we support the process of defining student learning outcomes at the building level.

I know that there are many questions here, and few answers, but I think answering these questions will be critical as we continue to meet students at their individual level with learning.

Electronic Book Study (By Ying Ying Chen)
The C&I department would like to explore a different form of PL, using today’s social media tools.   The purpose is to support teacher and administrative leadership development and to provide differentiated and personalized learning. The book study cycle consists four online interactions via google + and an end of cycle face-to-face meeting, a total of 5 sessions.  The book will be provided to the participants.

Book Club #1  

The Data Teams Experience - A Guide for Effective Meetings by Angela Peery

This book study will support teachers and administrators in developing leadership and facilitation strategies to promote high performing collaboration among teams.  The book is easy to read, practical and makes total sense.  It will answer just about any team collaboration questions you can think of and load you with tools and strategies for immediate applications.

Audience: Administrators, cadre members, team leaders, department chairpersons and any teacher who wants to improve team collaboration at the building or team level.

Author:  Angela Peery Ed.D.

Time:  ? for the first four on-line meetings (We will discuss on 9.10.12)

Time: 4:00 - 5:00 for the last meeting on 11/29 (face to face, Board Room)

Meeting Dates: 10/4, 10/18, 11/1, 11/8, 11/29

Coaching Tips for New Teachers (By Ying Ying Chen)
Prior to our first new teacher workshop, the most important focus is to establish a strong set of procedures and routines for each class.  One might think this is only for brand new teachers,  when in fact, most master teachers will tell you how they continue to sharpen these skills, learn from colleagues and make new procedures as they develop new knowledge and skills.

A Common Pit Fall - Teachers think about teaching procedures and routines in teacher terms. In other words, some teachers think about procedures and routines as what they will do rather than what students will do.  So the procedures they come up with might look like the following:

• I would write down to-do-list on the whiteboard
• I would ask students to write down notes in the notebook
• I would make sure students know where to retrieve and return materials

The issue with this type of thinking is that teachers will most likely be rule reinforcers rather than team builders.  The coaching tip is to ask good questions:

So, you would like students to engage in meaningful work from the first minute and become very organized.  Tell me what you would want them to do specifically (not what teachers will do) as they enter the room. What does it look like in student behavior?  What might be the potential issues with this expectation? (Not reading what is on the board, not knowing how to organize the notebook, etc.)

The Answers Are Within Teachers

It usually takes no more than 5 minutes of coaching to help teachers clarify their thinking.  The results of coaching could be very much like the following:

• Read the whiteboard (right hand upper corner), as you enter the room
• Engage in answering the review questions on the whiteboard (which will help you learn today’s lesson)
• Record your thoughts in your notebook under the tab of “Daily Review”
• Be ready to share one thought with your class when I open the class in five minutes

Notice that these statements all start with a strong verb – what students will do.

Why Should We Construct Procedures This Way?

When teachers think in student terms, they will begin to think about how to “teach, rehearse, reteach and reflect” WITH students.  Procedures and routines are all ABOUT HOW WE FUNCTION AS A TEAM SO WE CAN LEARN WELL,  not about what rules students will FOLLOW.

Digital Literacy Updates -- Craig Barnum
The Microsoft Settlement accountability plan is still in place this year.  We have one more year after this one before we are done.  We will be submitting a $35,000 claim again this year to offset some our cost for Infinite Campus.  Please follow the same procedures we did last year with teachers submitting monthly data.  Building secretaries can add new staff on that site.  Principals should send their monthly walk-through data to John O’Connell -- John.OConnell@iowa.gov  Let me know if you have any questions.

Curriculum Matters -- Bill Poock
Learning Forward, the national organization formerly known as the National Staff Development Council, along with Learning Forward-Iowa will host a workshop called “Becoming a Skilled Facilitator in a Learning School” by senior consultant Linda Munger on October 11th in Ankeny.  I would encourage you and any teacher leaders to attend this workshop to learn more about further developing the craft of facilitating collaborative teams.  Read below for more information:

Becoming a Skilled Facilitator in a Learning School
Oct. 11, 2012, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
FFA Enrichment Center
1055 SW Prairie Trail Parkway
Ankeny
Presenter: Linda Munger, Ph.D., senior consultant, Learning Forward Center for Results

Participants will have an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and skills in becoming a skilled facilitator in a learning school (PLC).  The focus will be on learning and practicing the essential skills needed to facilitate effective leadership and collaborative teams.  Emphasis will be on building a foundation for effective teams, preparing and organizing teams, defining team expectations, conducting effective team meetings, and monitoring and assessing team progress. This is a perfect session for teachers who are asked to facilitate Learning Teams.

See the attached flyer for information and registration details.

Student Services-- Cheryl Kiburz
9.18.12 IEP Training for New Special Education Teachers to the district
9.21.12 LETRS Training (Co-hort I)

Significant Disproportionality
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended in 2004, the Code of Federal Regulations and Iowa’s Administrative Rules of Special Education the Iowa DOE is required to collect and examine data to determine if significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in the State and LEAs with respect to the identification, placement, and discipline of student with disabilities.  Data for FFY 2010 (2010-2011) along with FFY 2008 and FFY 2009 were examined to demonstrate a three year trend of disproportionality in Iowa’s LEA’s. Based on the analysis, it has been determined that College Community School DIstrict is significantly disproportionate for the identification of African American students with disabilities for FFY 2010.  The district will need to submit a plan of Coordinated Early Intervention Services (CEIS) to address this trend. The CEIS plan should be K-12 with particular emphasis on K-3, who have NOT been identified as needing special education or related services, but who need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in general education.   The plan is due on October 1, and principals will be involved in the development of the plan.