Colleague Connections
Orchard Gardens: Last week I mentioned that OGPS is lifting up Socratic Seminar as a primary instructional strategy to fortify academic discourse. Here is a document instructional coach Meghan Harrington put together to summarize its purpose, steps, and tips. The school is also engaging in a March Madness competition where teachers earn points for peer observations tied to discourse practice. Go to OGPS Press to read about their creativity.
Quincy: Most of my time at Quincy Lower this year has been to support in their adult learning. This past week's professional learning was a pleasure to observe because the monthly two hour sessions have been transformed to teachers sharing their practices and grade level teams looking at student work using a consultancy protocol. The "answers" are truly "in the room."
MCAS Test Design Information
Annually, DESE publishes information about the test - such as # multiple choice, open response, and essay, standards that are emphasized and some other criteria that teachers should be aware of when planning assignments. The purpose of this is NOT to teach to the test; it is for instructional purposes in terms of the kinds of assignments students are given. The best preparation for MCAS is grade level standards aligned instruction, not, I repeat, NOT test prep. See linked documents below:
ELA Grades 3-8 2022 Test Design
Mathematics Grades 3-8 Test Design
STE Grades 5 & 8 2019 Test Design
Climate Surveys - Student, Family, Staff
In our efforts to better understand the strengths and areas for improvement in our schools, we are preparing for our annual spring survey program. Boston Public Schools has again partnered with Panorama Education to gather feedback from students, families, and teachers.
Students: Every student in grades 3 - 12 will be given the opportunity to take a survey. Students in grades 4-11 will complete one survey about their overall experience at school (Climate and Culture Survey) and students in grades 3-12 will complete two additional surveys about select teachers that they have a class with (Student Feedback Survey).
Families: Parents of students in all grades will be invited to complete a survey.
Teachers: All classroom teachers in all grades are expected to complete the survey. They will receive the survey in email from Panorama.
Key Dates
Weeks of March 7 and March 14: Survey coordinator trainings
Monday, March 28: Survey launch date
Friday, May 6: Survey deadline
Week of May 27: Reports available to administrators and teachers
What will be required of schools?
School principals will need to identify a survey coordinator that supports administration of the survey at their site. Schools complete this form to designate this coordinator. Schools can have more than one coordinator.
Survey coordinators will need to attend a training hosted by Panorama that will ensure your school has all the relevant information and materials. We are offering multiple sessions, but coordinators only need to attend one. Register here!
Schools will need to administer the surveys to eligible students. Surveys will be done electronically, so it will require coordination of technology. The survey should take no more than one class period to complete.
New This Year: Based on schools' feedback, we are implementing a new and improved roster verification process to ensure that only eligible teachers are included for the Student Feedback Survey. More details will be shared with coordinators at the training, but we’re excited for this improvement!
This is the first year we are doing Student, Teacher, and Family surveys simultaneously.
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