Post #12 Chronic Absenteeism, ClassForward, Your Evaluation

via GIPHY

Who does this remind you of? (heh, heh) 

Congratulations on entering the 8th week of school! 

School on the Move

School on the Move EdVestors Event 10/23/18

Next Wednesday morning the School on the Move Prize will be unveiled. I am honored to be the Academic Superintendent of two schools: McKay and Perry. Regardless, the finalists McKay, Snowden, and Perry are all winners! Good luck to all!

Your Evaluation

You will receive a notice from me this coming week on this year's evaluation and/or notices from TeachPoint when I upload the meeting visit notes as observations. Below, find this year's focus indicators. I will be adjusting the form I use for our visits to include these.

I-A Curriculum, I-D Evaluation
II-A Environment, II-B Human Resources 
III-B Sharing Responsibility
IV-D Continuous Learning

Reminder: Your QSP priorities/big rocks serve as your student learning and professional practice goals. Let's keep this aligned and simple!

Chronic Absenteeism

I met with Brian Marques, Director of Opportunity Youth under SELWELL. His office oversees Attendance, Homelessness, and Home/Hospital Programming. The OS/AS team will be consulting with DESE about attendance for students who miss school due to homelessness, religion, or who are medically fragile. Meanwhile, there is an attendance dashboard that is a practical tool you can use to track your attendance anytime.

• From Aspen, you can go right to the Attendance Dashboard and obtain a list of 2017-18 students who missed 18 or more days and any student this year who is on his/her way to being chronically absent. It may be useful for you or your designee to explore this site.

On the dashboard you will see several tabs across the top.

Click on "Chronic Absenteeism" tab. You can view
absenteeism by grade and subgroups. To see students,
click on the number above School Level (in this case 33.52%)

When you click on the percentage, this list specific list of
students will appear.

To get last year's students, go to the top right corner and
click on SY 2017-2018.

Chronic Absenteeism, Part II

Are you checking attendance on a daily basis? Are students inadvertently being marked absent when they may have gotten to class without checking in the office? 

Introducing Molly Peters

Assistant Director, ECE, Science

Molly is one of Network 6's academic liaisons. She and I have been working on a plan to support and bring together science specialists in our network. Molly has worked in BPS since 2012. She was a Science Specialist at the West Zone ELC in Jamaica Plain, a Science Teacher Leader, and the Wipro Science Teacher Fellowship through UMASS Boston. Molly holds Bachelors Degrees in Early Childhood Education and Environmental Science and a Masters in Ecological Teaching and Learning.

Lots of Deadlines...

Educator Evaluation: Goals Due November 1, 2018; at least one observation by November 15th.

Title I Budget/Family Engagement, Wellness Action Plans, etc... Share your plans with me and I will create a folder for you if you have not already shared one with me.

Here is the link to Mary Driscoll's email with dates.
Here is the link to the October page of the Operations Center.

ClassForward: Video Platform Available 

Do your teachers use video to share instructional practices for reflection? Do you wish to create "How to" or "Infomercials" for your staff? ClassForward is a  a video sharing platform that facilitates a collaborative, online space for teachers, administrators, school leaders, and central office personnel to leverage video as a tool for improvement. Anyone in BPS is now able to go to ClassForward's website and set up their own private account and here is a "how to" guide that explains that process. This is a tool available for all to use if it fits into your school's goals (i.e. peer observation, CPTs, ILTs). All uploaded videos are only accessible to those who upload them, and can only be shared if initiated by the owner of the video. 

Pumpkins from Russell School

Zeroing in on Math PD at Guild

Data Walls at Mason ILT

Eliot's Principal Traci and students greet the school
community at the beginning of the day

Post #11 QSP Action Plan Due 10/15, TeachPoint

The Importance of Your Professional Learning Community

Your attendance and participation in your PLC is vital, not just for yourself, but also for your group. Our theory of action is that the work and learning with your peers combined with your living Quality School Plan will result in better outcomes for all students. 

Learning with and through others is a major facet of the PLC, so if you are not present, you miss the dialogue amongst role-alike peers. The intention is to meet over time and for the topics to be relevant to your adaptive work as leaders. Be there for yourself and for your peers!

QSP Action Plan Was Due 10/15/18

To those of you who have shared your Quality School Plan, thank you! I will be reviewing them as they come in. If you have not yet shared, please do so this week. The goals/action plan also serve as your student learning and professional practice goals for your evaluation. I know that many of you are still reviewing the plan with your ILT; please share your document - perfection is not the goal. We will revisit the progress towards your goals during my visits to your site.

Here is a link to a template if you still need it: Quality School Plan Template

TeachPoint - Your Goals for SY18-19

I will be using TeachPoint for your evaluation this year. The goals in your Quality School Plan = your goals for your evaluation. Hopefully, the platform will be intuitive once we get started. To get into TeachPoint try clicking on your "waffle" or nine squares at the top right area of your browser and scroll down to the TeachPoint icon. You should be able to log in from there. 

I will be sending a document with the priority indicators and example artifacts for your evaluation. In general, formatives will be completed in February/March and summatives in June.

Co-Teaching/Push-In Article

Many of you have co-teaching taking place at your schools for inclusion and/or SEI classrooms. Here is an article from a teacher's perspective with tips and lessons learned: Co-Teaching: How to Make It Work (Cult of Pedagogy) 

Recent Photos

Example of translanguaging

Documenting exploration on energy

Using light to generate solar power for a motor

Post #10 TNTP Opportunity Myth, America to Me

Well-deserved Break!

Thank you so much for all of the hard work you do each day on behalf of students. I feel honored to be working with all of you and in the Boston Public Schools.

School Visits - I see...

By mid-month, I will have completed at least one cycle of visits to schools in our network. As the weeks have progressed, I have observed students and teachers focused on content learning supported by routines that maximize learning time. General observations:

• Our students are eager to learn; they are respectful, all around amazing, and just so beautiful. There do exist challenges with trauma, behavior and/or families, but for the most part, I see each school treating all students as our students.
• You and your staffs are working exceedingly hard to meet the needs of every student. 
• Lived learning targets are not consistently visible across the network.
• The primary mode of instruction is teacher-led in most instances.
• The level of expectations for learning are uneven between programs within and across schools.

When visiting classrooms, we will focus on observing evidence or progress towards your school's IF, explicit and lived learning targets, and whether students are doing the "heavy lifting."

Planning Future School Visits

Over the next week, I will be drafting another cycle of visits and sharing it for your review. I will then send invitations to confirm. I really appreciate your flexibility when I have had to reschedule visits. With Enrollment Projections, Pre-Probable Org, Budget Collab and Probable Org coming up, I plan to build in some flexibility in the schedule (open spots). In general OSs Ted Lombardi or Ed Lee will be attending most of these meetings, and I will attend your school's meeting upon request. 

October 1 Enrollment Is Important

One of the reasons why you have not received your targets or list of students in the lowest 25% is partly because the information is based on October 1 enrollment. Your accountability data for next year are based on the students enrolled from October 1, 2017 to October 1, 2018 and who have taken MCAS in your school in the spring of 2018 and 2019.

PLCS I-IV have met, PLC V on Tuesday

Some themes that have emerged from PLC sessions have been about creating greatness/culture of achievement in our schools, talking about race, expectations, and access to opportunities. Each PLC involves videos, readings, plenty of discussion/processing, and application to your common goal #3 on your QSP. I am excited by how each group has come together to address thorny challenges and adaptive change. Principals have been engaged in learning through text-or video-based discussions and applying their thinking to actions in their QSP.

Chronic Absenteeism Is Different from Average Daily Attendance

Your school may have earned a certificate for attendance that is based on your average daily attendance. However, you may have earned zero points for chronic absenteeism. This is because the DESE is looking to decrease the percent of students missing 18 or more days of school per year. We have collected many questions about transitional housing, door-to-door transportation problems, medically fragile students, etc... and are working with several departments to ask questions of DESE and find district-wide solutions to the issues out of the control of schools.

Need something to do over the weekend? Below, find an interesting read and interesting video series.

TNTP Opportunity Myth

"We’ve been telling students that doing well in school creates opportunities—that showing up, doing the work, and meeting teachers’ expectations will prepare them for their futures. Unfortunately, that’s a myth."

"Opportunity Myth: What Students Can Show Us About How School Is Letting Them Down—and How to Fix It" (TNTP)

"America to Me" - Starz, Amazon Prime Video

Not Separate, Unequal Experiences

Looking for something to watch over the long weekend?
Quote from New York Times Review "[The film maker] spent a year with students, teachers and parents at Oak Park and River Forest (O.P.R.F.) High School in suburban Chicago. In this integrated, progressive school he finds a community of white and black students whose education is not separate, but whose experience is not equal."

Recent Photos

Laura Perille at Russell 3rd Grade with
Derrick Ciesla and Ed Lee

Third Grade Math Expectations

Multiplication representations

Comfy Independent Reading in Second Grade

Post #9 - Asst Dir of Spec Ed, Network 6 Liaisons, Math Assessments

Carter students' artwork created in
collaboration with the MFA

PLCs 

Now that the first three weeks of school are underway, PLCs have begun to meet. PLC IV met last Thursday. The group collaborated around the systems and structures used for CPT, the difference between shared and collaborative lesson planning, and working on their QSPs and/or Accountability message. This week PLCs I-III meet on Thursday and PLC V next Tuesday. I want to thank the Principal Leads for planning and executing these learning communities. I'm looking forward to upcoming meetings.

Quality School Plans 

Your QSPs are due for feedback on October 15th.

Your Goals 

Should be the same as/aligned to your QSP goals. The Academic Superintendents are working with OHC to use TeachPoint as the evaluation platform for school leaders. Hold off on entering your goals in EDFS because we may be using a different platform. Academic Superintendents have chosen some focus indicators; we will be communicating with you about these in another week.

Welcome Network 6 Assistant Director of Special Education!

Mary Shannon Marcella graduated with a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University in 2010. For three years prior to graduation, she worked as a teaching assistant, clinical aide, and teacher at Perkins School for the Blind. After graduation Mary started in the Related Services Department for Boston Public Schools. Following two years as a full-time Speech Therapist, working at both the Agassiz School and then the Murphy, Mary transitioned onto the Assistive Technology team. For three years she served as a district-wide Augmentative and Alternative Communication consultant and evaluator. In 2015, Mary took the Assistive Technology Coordinator position and organized, assigned, and supervised all Assistive Technology cases and evaluations for the district. Mary has also worked the last two summers as the coordinator for the Murphy Extended School Year program. Mary has spent her entire career working in special education with students with highly diverse learning styles and is committed to helping every student have a successful school experience.

Contact information: 

email: mshannon2@ | fax: 617-635-6834 | office: 617-635-8599 | cell: 617-407-3939

Network 6 Liaisons

Here is a link to our <Network 6 Liaisons>.

BOY Math Assessments and Assessment Tasks in Mathematics - Resources

For those of you looking for additional assessments or tasks in Math:

Beginning of Year Assessments K-5 in Math are available in English and Spanish on the Academics Website. There is an answer key that aligns to the standards being assessed. 

Click on:

Academic Department Website > Mathematics > K-5 Box > Grade Level > 2018-19 Assessments

Here are some performance tasks: Inside Mathematics Grades 2-12
Here are assessments for every standard in mathematics. (FYI - All files are in Word)

St. Joseph County Intermediate School District K-Geometry

What constitutes Chronic Absenteeism?

Chronic absenteeism is defined as the percentage of students missing 10 percent or more of their days in membership. In a typical 180-day school year, this is the percentage of students who miss 18 or more days. The chronic absenteeism rate for each school and group includes both excused and unexcused absences, and is calculated for students in grades 1 through 8 in non-high schools. In order to be included in a school’s chronic absenteeism rate, a student must be enrolled in the school for at least 20 days at any point in the school year. However, if a student is enrolled in multiple schools within the same district in a single school year, the student is excluded from school-level chronic absenteeism rates, but is included in the district rate. Chronic absenteeism rates are reported for each non-high school and subgroup with at least 20 students enrolled.

What about Progress toward English Proficiency?

K-8 schools that have at least 20 ELs will have a measure of progress made by English learners toward achieving English proficiency. This is measured by calculating the percentage of students who meet annual targets that get them to English proficiency in six years. In Massachusetts, “making progress” means that a student is on track to attain English proficiency within six years of entering a Massachusetts school. As such, DESE derived growth-to-proficiency targets (i.e., benchmarks) using a six-year period. A school district may consider a student proficient when they have achieved an overall composite score of Level 4.2 on the ACCESS test, based on a score scale that extends from Level 1.0 (the lowest level of proficiency) to Level 6.0. Students continue to receive annual benchmarks for as long as they are classified as ELs, even if they have earned a score of Level 4.2 or higher.

Each year that a student takes the ACCESS test and receives a score, DESE will provide a future progress target and difficulty index for the following year for the student.

The future progress target represents the minimum ACCESS proficiency level score needed on the following year’s ACCESS test to remain on track to reach English proficiency within six years in a Massachusetts school. Future progress targets are reported as an ACCESS proficiency level, ranging from Levels 1.0 to 4.2.

Nathan Hale Fire Drill - Out in 2 min 27 sec!!!

Home Grown Potatoes from GPA

Principal Ciesla at Open House

Pete the Cat at Baldwin 

Love this kindergartener's writing.
Can you read it? 

Young men from O'Donnell after Boston Scores soccer in the
morning before school

Modeling conferring with a random
student for staff at Otis