Welcome to 2011-12 School Year!

Wow the first week of school has come to a close and we are off and running for a great year of work with students in Storm Lake.  Teachers were involved in a variety of professional development activities over the last two weeks and are working hard to improve their instructional practices for students at all grade levels.  We are working especially hard to develop new strategies to have students involved in classroom activities that will allow them to utilize technology.   More teachers in the district have had Smartboards installed in their classrooms and other teachers are working to integrate use of applications on computers into their curriculum.  We have put into place more laptop computer labs which teachers will be able to use right in their classrooms for instruction.

Beginning next week as a continuation of work that we are doing in Storm Lake District to determine if students are mastering the curriculum as we have planned for them,  students in grades 3-11 will be taking assessments in reading, math and science.  These assessments are called MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) and are based on the standards and benchmarks that we say that all students should know and be able to do in the Storm Lake School District.  These tests are given online and are what are considered "smart" tests which measure where students are in overall achievement and don't just compare them to what is expected of their current grade level.    The results of these tests will allow teachers to see at a glance which students are struggling and need more support and which students may need acceleration in their acquisition of skills.   Teachers were given professional development opportunities to learn how to better analyze these scores and will be sharing this information with parents at our fall parent-teacher conferences.

We hope that parents will to talk with their children about these tests and encourage them to do their best so we will have a true picture of their needs for this school year.   The partnership of parents and educators is what is needed for us all to help students grow to their potential this year.  Please let us know if you have other questions or concerns.   Our goal is to make this year the best year of education for your child!

Assessment of Standards and benchmarks for Students

As a continuation of work that we are doing in Storm Lake District to determine if students are mastering the curriculum as we have planned for them, this week students in grades 5, 8, 9 and 11 will be taking assessments in math and science.  These assessments are called MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) and are based on the standards and benchmarks that we say that all students should know and be able to do in the Storm Lake School District.  These tests are given online and are what are considered "smart" tests which measure where students are in overall achievement and don't just compare them to what is expected of their current grade level.    The results of these tests will allow teachers to see at a glance which students are struggling and need more support and which students may need acceleration in their acquisition of skills.   We are excited to be looking at this with these beginning grades and hope to move to include all grades during 2011-12 school year.

Just another way that our educators are working to know more about students and give them all the support and encouragement they need to achieve at high levels in Storm Lake Community Schools!

Thinking for Students Needs in Future

As we continue to  talk about what is best for students in the Storm Lake District, it is good for us to be in touch with other educators in the field and what they are thinking regarding best practices.  Tony Wagoner spoke to the Iowa Association of School Boards two weeks ago and told attendees that in education we are between a rock and a hard place for practices in education.  The "rock" is that there are new skills that have not been taught that are necessary for developing skills in a knowledge society for all students.  The "hard place" is that the students of today who have been dubbed the "net generation" are differently motived to learn and need different resources in classrooms than before.

He outlined 7 Survival Skills that research says will be needed for Career, College and Citizenship in future:

1. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
2. Collaboration across organization networks of people
3. Agility and adaptability to new situations
4. Initiative and Entrpreneurialism
5. Effective oral and written communication skills
6. Accessing and analyzing information
7. Economy and Innovation in work practices

Not all of these skills are apparent in our course requirements in schools and schools need to look at substantially changing practices in memorization of content and focus on digital capabilities to prepare students for what the world will be --not what we know today. 

Iowa Culture and Language Conference

I was able to be part of the state ELL conference in Iowa City last week. Over 500 Iowa educators spent time collaborating, gaining research best practices and advocating for ELLs. One of the highlights was the recognition of Prairie Lakes AEA consultant Kathy Brenny for one of Dan Chavez Awards. Kathy has truly supported districts in their ELL work and is one of our greatest advocates in the state. It's great to recognize one of our own!

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Interesting Equity Information

A week ago Dr. Tedesco and I had the opportunity to be part of the Midwest Equity Update for school districts.  Some of the highlights were:

• Patrick Kerr, representing United States Office of Education Director Arne Duncan, talked extensively about the idea that all children have the right to supports that will afford them a high school education.  This may mean changing what programs we start students with and an emphasis on preschool services.  Director Duncan also believes that  what we do is imperative to economic development of the United States and our ability to compete internationally in 21st century skills.   If we do this right, we will also have supports to move students to enrollment in higher education after high school.
• Dr. George McKenna, Superintendent for the Los Angeles California School District. talked about his work in trying to provide equity for all students in a large urban district.  He challenged administrators to continue to remember that the main factor that effects student achievement is staff effectiveness and that professional development to accomplish this is imperative.  Class size is not always the answer - it is "great teachers" that make the difference.  Our focus as administrators should be on "teacher quality" not "teacher quantity".
• Other thoughts from various presenters:
• We need to look at students from and "asset" based instead of "deficit based" view.
• Students who are given a sense of purpose and power make them look at school different.
• When parents struggle to connect to school and programs we cannot shortchange or penalize their children.   We can't base our educational services on parents' behavior and involvement.
• As educators of diverse student populations we need to adopt the belief that we need to be "desperate" to make a difference with students and really believe that "we save lives for a living."

Initiatives for 2010-11 School Year

Building Professional Development Plans 2010-11:

The high school will continue to implement and align instruction and assessments with standards and benchmarks.  All teachers will integrate technology into their classroom instruction.  Focus of professional development will emphasize improving student achievement and the ultimate goal to increase high school graduation rate.  Staff will be working to instigate renewed efforts that aim to reach, engage and motivate students-as-learners, particularly those in the middle of the performance range through research based strategies involving AVID programming.  Staff will continue recent curriculum mapping work by linking it with Iowa Core Curriculum. Work in teams will continue to focus on literacy, high standards, relevant coursework and climate of high expectations.  Professional Learning Communities (PLC) format will utilized to focus on integration of Marzano’s nine categories of instructional strategies and other strategies effective for use with English Language Learners (ELL) and implementation of Iowa Core Curriculum.  PLCs will also focus efforts on developing for effective strategies to communicate and work with parents at high school level.

The middle school will continue to implement and align instruction and assessments with standards and benchmarks. All teachers will integrate technology into their classroom instruction and appropriate professional development provided based on teacher needs.  The middle school literacy and math Professional Learning Communities(PLCs) will collaborate with all middle school staff to facilitate collaboration and implementation of strategies to teach reading and math concepts across curricular areas.  Math strategies applied to mathematics content, including a problem-centered approach to mathematics instruction and instruction in the use of mathematics representations and distributed practice will continue to be supported.  Concept Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) techniques will continue to be supported in grades 5-8  and continue to have coaching regarding class implementation of techniques by CORI coach.  These instructional strategies will be continued with CORI lessons documenting classroom integration. Balanced Reading Framework will be implemented in grades 5-6 and supported by professional development in those strategies.  Specific teachers will continue to get training and work to differentiate their instructional practices for learners who are ELL or low achieving.  Professional Learning Communities (PLC) format will utilized to focus on integration of Marzano’s nine categories of instructional strategies and other strategies effective for use with English Language Learners (ELL). 

The elementary will continue to implement and align instruction and assessments with standards and benchmarks.  All teachers will integrate technology into their classroom instruction and receive appropriate professional development based on determined needs.  Focus in reading will be on comprehension and vocabulary building techniques.  The elementary leadership team will meet with all elementary school staff to facilitate collaboration and implementation of strategies to teach reading and math across curricular areas. These instructional strategies will be continued with implementation logs documenting classroom use.  Further work with Picture Word Induction Model (PWIM), Tier II and III Interventions and addition of integrated writing into the curriculum will be supported.   Teachers will also continue training in process based math strategies utilizing work with Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI).

Professional Development Day

Today is not just another day that students only have half day of school!   It is a day that allows our teachers to work together to improve instructional practices in the classroom.