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.