#35 Final Network 6 Blog Post

Wow, you have finished the school year with lots of ceremonies, learning exhibitions, and end of year clean-out. This is a great accomplishment! Now, you can start the process of reflection and recharging. Some schools are having ILT retreats before July and as you know, there is a June Leadership Institute open to you and/or your representatives next week.

Congratulations!

Please join me in welcoming back Olga Frechon, who will be filling in at the Alighieri until we find a permanent leader in the fall. Here is the announcement. Welcome Olga!

Now, see this article about Glenda being the first Hispanic leader in Lynn. Congratulations, and best of luck, Glenda!

Best wishes to Tavia, who will retire at the end of August.

Congratulations to the Guild for being awarded the Welcoming Schools Seal of Excellence last week!

Data

Preliminary MCAS

Your school's preliminary results are available in your ODA folder with file title <SchoolName School 4-digit # ODA Data>. Then look for <Preliminary 2019 MCAS (EMBARGOED)> where there are three Excel files with CBT machine scored results for ELA, Mathematics, and STE. Although results are preliminary, they give you an idea of how your students have done for a percentage of the assessment. It would be very valuable for teachers to review the standards in relationship to released questions. 

Hand scored results will be available on July 1. Please give ODA a few days to populate the files! Also, notes of thanks to ODA for ensuring you have these data in a timely manner would be appreciated: Ileana Gruia, Monica Hogan, and Mary Dillman.

Panorama - Student Survey Results

Your student survey results for grades 3 and up are available for review at this link. Click on the "Sign in with Google" icon to automatically get logged in. There, you will see student results grouped by 3-5 and 6-8. These results are beautifully displayed and easy to navigate. You can see where your school is relative to the demographics, district, to the nation, and by essential. Our elementary students view school more positively than middle school. 

You have school and classroom results and teachers have district, school, and their own classroom results. 

Educator Evaluation Data for Network 6

Here is our network's data (excludes Eliot) on evaluation completion and ratings:

The network completed 676/696 evaluations this spring.

Network 6 (EDFS)                                District Percents (Roughly)

189 (28%) Exemplary                           20% Exemplary
477 (70.6%) Proficient                          76.7% Proficient
10 (1.5%) Needs Improvement             2.7% Needs Improvement
1 (0.0014%) Unsatisfactory                  0.2% Unsatisfactory

The educator rubric is clear that Exemplary practice includes consistently meeting or exceeding standards as defined by the MFC as well as model for others. The district and state tracks our ratings that should be reflective of our outcomes. Our network's Proficient and Exemplary ratings is greater than 98%.

From the Administrator Rubric on Alignment Review:

Proficient:
ID4 Alignment Review: Consistently reviews alignment between judgment about practice and student learning data and makes informed decisions about educator support and evaluation based upon this review.

Classroom Teacher Rubric example:

Proficient
IIA3 Meeting Diverse Needs: Uses appropriate inclusive practices, such as tiered supports and scaffolded instruction, to accommodate differences in students’ learning needs, abilities, interests, and levels of readiness, including those of academically advanced students, students with disabilities, and English learners.

Exemplary
IIA3 Meeting Diverse Needs: Uses a variety of appropriate inclusive practices, such as tiered supports and scaffolded instruction, to address specific differences in individual students’ learning needs, abilities, interests, and levels of readiness, creating structured opportunities for each student to meet or exceed state standards/local curriculum and behavioral expectations. Models this practice for others.

As a network, there is a discrepancy between student achievement/growth outcomes and educator evaluation ratings. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to reflect on the judgments we have made. I have no problem with high numbers of Exemplary ratings, so please do NOT assume the goal is to reduce those numbers. I am looking for alignment between student outcomes and the ratings.

Final Thoughts

You have led your schools to the best of your ability in spite of all the changes in leadership. As in any transition, there will be disruption, and you will need to establish new relationships and make new connections. Regardless, just as you have this year, your schools will open successfully and children will not know the difference. In advance, I thank you for making that happen. 

I am available pretty much all summer except for July 29-August 2. If/when there is concrete news about the schedule of assessed standards, data availability, or deadlines, etc... I will send communication via email or add to this blog. Reach out if you need a thought partner or if you just want to check-in. Meanwhile, I do hope you take time to turn off, unplug, and recharge. 

All the best,

Grace

#34 Preliminary MCAS, JLI, PD for Arts, History, World Lang & Library

June 6 Principal PD Reflection

Thank you for attending the All Principal PD at Bolling on Thursday. It was perfectly bookmarked beginning with Dr. Cassellius, who shared her inspiring story/why and ended with Laura Perille expressing her closing remarks and recognizing retirements and transitions. Both of our outgoing and incoming leaders are fiercely committed to providing equitable opportunities and attaining improved outcomes for all students. Both women spoke from the heart, always putting those we serve in the center. Laura's message made me tear up 😢 because she has worked tirelessly to keep our district afloat and set the stage for us to keep focused on our why so the "what" of our work has greater meaning. Brenda filled me with hope for the years to come.

Here is the video Gene Roundtree showed in case you wish to use it in the fall.

Tavia Mead and Olga Frechon were presented with their silver bowls to honor their service and retirement from the Boston Public Schools. Congratulations to both! 👏👏👏

Winship at the Statehouse Being Honored as a 2018 School of Recognition on 06/07/19

2019-20 PLC Assignments

Jodi and I were going to communicate PLC assignments last Friday and decided to delay the announcements until we are more certain about the new superintendent's expectations. I am truly excited about the partnership with Boston College, the principal leads, the continuum, and the potential of achieving improved outcomes for all students. 

Dr. Cassellius was grateful to all of the principals who took the time to participate in the ALL PD in spite of the busy-ness of the job. She framed this time as super important to learn with and through one another. Please prioritize Thursdays next year.

Preliminary MCAS Results

Your preliminary ELA results that include third grade is available in your school's ODA folder. 

1. The preliminary data are embargoed. These reports can be used internally and for educational planning purposes and are not to be made public.
2. The analysis includes only machine-scored items for online testers. Full results (MCAS-Alt, paper-based accommodations) will become available after July 1. 
3. The released Grades 4-8 ELA items from the online administration are available on the MCAS Resource Center.
4. Open the file using Excel in order to achieve the most functionality of looking at the graphs to visualize results by school, district, and state. 
5. See Post #33 for highlights on how the state plans to calculate targets and percentiles.

June Leadership Institute (JLI)

JLI looks really interesting! Here is the link for easy access.

2019-2020 PD Offerings for Arts, History, World Language, and Library

The heads of these departments worked with Jodi and me to create professional development opportunities in the above content areas. Traditionally, the day after New Year is a PD day for specialists. This year, January 2 will probably not be well-attended. Instead, our thinking was if you were given these dates and topics now, you might be able to plan ahead so that these staff could avail themselves of these learning opportunities. See offerings here.

Message on Curriculum for 2019-20

Here is access to the memorandum from Andrea Zayas about the curated curriculum for next year, information on pilots, and circular from 2008.

Sickle Cell Disease Teacher Training

Your staff will receive an email with a link to a webinar on Sickle Cell Disease. We know it is the end of the year with many other competing requirements. Teachers will be asked to acknowledge that they have viewed the webinar by June 19th (per voluntary agreement with Office of Civil Rights). View flyer.