#7 Links from recent days, OEL Liaison/Links, ELA MCAS Update

I have a love/hate relationship with Fall. The trees are starting to turn and it will be peak season for the beauty of New England - orange, reds, greens, rust, browns, the cool mornings and warm afternoons... but it also signals RAKING (ugh), shorter days, and putting the garden to bed. The worst part of summer for me is mowing the lawn, the best part of winter is not having to mow the lawn!

Geoff Rose reminded me last Thursday was only the 10th day of school; it feels like we have quickly settled into a routine and then over the last few days you have received a lot of information, numerous emails from various folks. Some of this is due to leadership transition as we work to define roles and be supportive. As we settle into the new year with new leadership, your strong leadership, moral imperative, and steadfastness is even more needed to keep your schools humming and focused on teaching and learning.

Recent Links:

All Admin PD Day Slide Deck
All Admin PD OEL Presentation 
PLC Roster
School Support Contact Information
School-Central Shared Folders
Schedule of Assessed Standards SY20 Folder
AHERA Letter from John Hanlon
Testing Memo Email from Mary Dillman 09/19/19

Research for Better Teaching Newsletter

Here is RBT's September Newsletter (PDF from my email). This issue is on Intelligence and Growth Mindset. There's a great video on unlearning - the Backwards Bicycle that is a great one to show staff.

From Rachel Chen, OEL Liaison

Welcome back! My name is Rachel Chen, and I am your Office of English Learners’ liaison for the 2019-2020 school year. I will be your main point of contact for questions related to support and services for English Learners. When necessary, I will also be able to refer you to various team members to provide you more direct or specialized support. We are so excited about this year!Please find some helpful resources:

• LATF / ACCESS Coordinator registration form (due September 20, 2019)

• LATF Job Description

• LATF Calendar

• LATF Meeting dates for the SY19-20

• EL Code Change Request Form (LCCR)

• English Learner (EL) Program & Scheduling Guidance (updated for SY1920)

• Aspen instructions for inputting ESL schedules

• Link to sign up for Scheduling Clinics

We are also pleased to announce that new this year Data Warehouse will have student schedule compliance updated twice a day. Please see the above guidance for more information.Finally, some things to be aware of in the near future:

• RFP for After School Programming

• LOOK Act Bilingual Programming Statement of Interest for School Leaders

First LATF meeting is Monday, September 23rd!Wishing you a great start to school year 2019! Please reach out to oellinstructionteam@bostonpublicschools.org if you have any questions.

Changes to ELA MCAS Test Design

As part of DESE’s efforts to reduce testing time for students, the test designs for the 2020 English Language Arts MCAS tests in grades 3–8 and 10 have changed. Changes include:

• the elimination of one operational essay in each grade;
• the addition of multiple choice items, including both language and reading items;
• a small adjustment to reporting category percentages; and
• a small reduction in the total number of points on the grades 6–8 and 10 tests.

In addition to helping reduce testing time, these changes are also intended to make the student testing experience on the grades 3–8 tests and the grade 10 test more similar.

#6 All PD Thursday, Calendar, Teacher Leadership Opportunities

🤣 Back to School Humor 🤣

See you on Thursday - All PD

Andrea Zayas and I will meet with Region 1 all together after the launch of the All PD. You will have time to connect and work on your Quality School Plan. The agenda for the day is linked here.

Superintendent Visits to Schools and Community

I sent you invitations to the currently scheduled superintendent visits on Friday. Some schools were left off and needed to be added, others were regrouped based on location, and some had to be moved due to Dr. Cassellius' schedule. About a week before your visit, the Office of Engagement will send you an email notification. 

Please share these announcements via your school communication channels:

Charlestown, N. End, East Boston Community Visit English
Charlestown, N. End, East Boston Community Visit Spanish
Six Evening Community Meetings throughout Boston

District Review School Visits (AIR)

Principals have begun receiving emails from AIR to conduct classroom observations as part of the District Review. The email subject line will say "AIR Observations at your BPS School." There will be a request for your master schedule and a school map.

Visit Calendar Information

You can view Dr. Cassellius' Region 1B visits on the calendar as "BC @ School." Her community meetings are listed as well as other BPS events such as School Committee and EL Task Force.

I have listed the district review observations as well. They are entitled as "AIR @ School."

I am still working on my rotating calendar as I am trying to tie my visits to your priorities. This is what the calendar looks like (with annotations):

Teacher Leadership Opportunities

Teacher Leadership Working Group

This working group of educators and BPS staff will be developing a Teacher Leadership strategy for the district, so educators can have equitable access to a range of dynamic leadership opportunities throughout their careers. In addition to monthly meetings, activities include conducting an inventory of leadership roles, interviewing teacher leader colleagues, conducting focus groups, and sharing the work with your networks and communities. See the full job description here and apply here. Stipend $3500 (through December 2020). Deadline: September 30th. Contact Paul Tritter or Nicole Ireland with questions.

Professional Learning Advisory Board (PLAB)

This is a working group of BPS educators dedicated to improving professional learning for all. This year we will work on advising the Telescope Network, The Teacher Leadership Working Group, and more. See the full job description and meeting dates here, and apply here. Stipend $1000. Deadline: October 6th. Contact Paul Tritter with questions.

Those interested in being considered for either/both the Teacher Leadership Working Group and PLAB should apply only to the teacher leadership group and use the checkbox indicating your interest in both groups.

#5 Choose PLC, Accountability, DataWise Institute

The beginning of the year is so full of promise! I am pleased to report that students and staff are hard at work. At the Mason, teachers are mapping the curriculum against grade level standards and the schedule of assessed standards in Illuminate. The transformation plan at Orchard Gardens is being launched through the ILT and Grade Level Teams. At the Russell, the staff are working on using the DataWise cycle to focus on a few standards based on item analysis on MCAS. The Adams and Guild Schools are using the calendar tool from the curriculum office to ensure a throughline among ILT, CPT, and PD. In all cases, schools are working to build leadership capacity among the teachers and staff in order to lead the continuous adult learning leading towards improved teaching and learning. Thank you for all of your hard work!

Mason staff hard at work mapping mathematics
curriculum for the year

Last week, Mayor Walsh and the Dr. Cassellius visited McKay and the EEC. On Tuesday, the superintendent visited the Alighieri, Adams, and Bradley. I'm so glad you have had some time to meet her and talk about your schools! Thank you for organizing student representatives and inviting parents to participate on these tours.

Accountability

Your school's accountability report is embargoed. Teachers have access to information that supports teaching and learning, but do not share accountability percentile and targets yet. Accountability reports will be public on September 24, 2019. You may hold a brief optional meeting to inform staff of your status that morning or afternoon.

Choose PLC by Monday, 9/16

Please complete the PLC Selection Form by Monday 9/16. Click here to see: PLC Offerings & Descriptions. PLC assignments will be shared on Thursday 9/19 at PD.

FAQs:

• PLCs are mandatory - Choose one.   
• Choose a PLC that best fits with your learning needs and the needs of your school. For example, a Dual Language school leader does not have to choose the Dual Language PLC if they would prefer to be in another. School Superintendents and school leaders are welcome to discuss and decide together the best fit PLC.
• PLCs sessions are six hours on each of the six PLC meeting days, but they may run slightly different lengths depending the need of the group. Deep learning is necessary in order to develop from the leaders you are to the leader you are meant to be.  
• The PLC topics were generated from the most popular selections and requests from the ALI survey.
• PLC Facilitators were chosen in multiple ways:
• Volunteered on the survey
• Applied and accepted last spring
• School type or work aligned with the content 

Data Wise Institute at Harvard Ed Portal

Once again, the BPS Data Inquiry Team is partnering with the Data Wise Project from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in order to offer a three-day BPS Data Wise Institute. The institute approaches the Data Wise Instructional Improvement Process through the lens of equity, grounded in the curriculum and assessments used in BPS. The SY19-20 BPS Data Wise Institute will be held at the Harvard Ed Portal on October 22 and 23, with a follow up session on February 12.  Last year's training was extremely well received, earning a promoter score of 9.6 out of 10. The training served either as a "booster shot" to support pre-existing inquiry practices or served as an introduction to Data Wise in anticipation of deeper coaching support from the Inquiry Team this year.

If you want to learn more, call your colleagues who participated last year from the schools below:

• Warren-Prescott K-8
• Quincy Elementary
• Mary Lyon K-8
• Kilmer
• Lyndon
• Russell

We are asking that school teams (school leader, 2-3 teacher leaders) register if they are interested in establishing disciplined inquiry practices in their schools and would like to learn in a collaborative, case-study driven environment. They must commit to attending all three sessions as well as work to implement their learning back at school between sessions. Participants are provided breakfast and lunch each day of the institute.

Please reach out to Sarah Jay with any questions. Please register all participants here.  (This registration form includes learning objectives and logistics for the training).  There is limited space at the Ed Portal, so schools should register as soon as possible. 

Edvestors School Solution Seed Grant Funds - Call for applications

Do you and your colleagues have an idea for how to tackle a pressing challenge at your school but need resources to pilot or test your solution?EdVestors will make School Solutions Seed Fund grants of $5,000-$10,000 to support educators working collaboratively in Boston schools to pilot, plan, or test promising and innovative on-the-ground solutions. Work may be implemented across a few classrooms, a grade-level or department team, an entire school, or multiple schools.

Applications are due on November 1st for project implementation between January and September 2020. Schools may apply directly or with a nonprofit partner.

Boston's teachers and school leaders know their schools best. Let EdVestors support your ideas for improving Boston's schools!
 
Application Deadline: Friday, November 1, 2019 at 3:00pm
Want to learn more and apply?
Contact: Alia Verner, Manager of Strategic School Support, verner@edvestors.org

Pictures of the week:

Dr. Cassellius hasn't seen
cornfields and cows for a month!

Dr. Cassellius speaking with student tour guides at Adams

Posted standards based
expectations in
student language

Explicit use of academic language with
visual support (left)Descriptor of expectations for quality student
work (right)

Mayor Walsh, Dr. Cassellius,
and Principal Weymer @ McKay

Dr. Cassellius at McKay K Orientation

Quincy Lower K Orientation 

Got the JUICE @ Tynan!

Reading boat at Tynan K2 classroom

#4 First Full Week of School!

Notice the name of the Mayor on this
person's Countdown to Kindergarten t-shirt!

Congratulations, you made it through the first day of kindergarten! Through my travels Monday morning, I did not see one child crying. Many factors such as a Countdown to Kindergarten visit, an orientation at school last week, and/or previous school experience all contributed to a successful launch. Great work, everyone!

Survey to Pilot MAP Math Screener

LINK: 

Due 9/13: Request to join optional pilot of MAP Math Growth

If your school community is interested in participating, please respond to this survey by 3:00pm on Friday, September 13th. Decisions to participate in the pilot should be made at the school level in close collaboration with classroom teachers and the ILT. Space is limited, so schools will be selected based on student need, communicated staff interest, and demonstrated commitment to balanced assessment. While ODA is covering the preponderance of the assessment license fees, schools that wish to participate in the pilot will be asked to contribute $1.25 per student license.

MAP Math Growth may be administered as a universal screening assessment as part of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). MAP Math Growth measures what students know and identifies what they’re ready to learn next. The assessment is available in English and Spanish for grades K-12 and takes approximately 45 minutes to administer. We are piloting the assessment in grades K-8 this year. Schools may choose to have all grades participate or just a subset of grade levels based on interest, capacity, and overall assessment strategy.

Attendance/Homelessness Info

Memo from Opportunity Youth Office  <New Information is in this memo regarding the efforts to address chronic absenteeism.>

First Five Days Attendance <from Mark Racine>

Operational Contacts

School Support Spreadsheet <Still working on other departments>

Upcoming Dates:

September 19, 2019   All PD

October 1, 2019         Goals Due

October 15, 2019       QSP Due

Superintendent Community September Meeting Dates