#8 Opportunity Myth, DESE Review

This is the fifth week of school, but it feels like school has been in session much longer than that! As I visit classrooms, it is more and more apparent that in general, 

• students do not have plentiful opportunities to engage with grade level standards based content 
• students are passive; teachers do most of the talking
• students do not have opportunities to demonstrate their thinking through speaking, listening, reading and writing

Quotes from TNTP Opportunity Myth: 

"When students who started the year behind had greater access to grade-appropriate assignments, they closed the outcomes gap  with their peers by more than seven months."

"In many classrooms where the content had potential, students weren’t actually reaping the benefits because they were not doing the hard work themselves."

[teacher] "mindset matters nearly as much as the material they teach or the practices they employ in their classrooms. Yet teacher expectations had a stronger effect on student achievement growth than any other factor we studied." 

Our equity work is to ensure that all students have access to grade level standards based content and have meaningful opportunities to engage with the content through reading, writing, listening, and speaking in every class every day. 

See TNTP Opportunity Myth (Full Report)

Administrator Evaluation

The school superintendents are working on a communication on priority indicators for the 2019-20 year. Nothing is due yet, so focus on collecting and approving staff goals at this time. 

DESE Review - Next Steps

Last week AIR visited Tynan, Adams and Everett. This week, AIR visits all others in our subregion except for Russell. Be aware that the next phase of visits will be with DESE Review Team Members (RTMs). They would like to:

• Have a 1:1 interview with the school leader
• If possible, observe non-instruction at the school (e.g. walk the halls, observe lunch)
• Host one of these three focus groups:
• Student focus groups at six high schools (to talk about BPS overall)
• Teacher focus groups at eight schools (to talk about BPS overall)
• Instructional leadership team at eight schools (to talk about curriculum)

Additionally, the RTM would like to have four focus groups with just principals -- one with middle school principals and then three regional meetings with K-8 principals. 

You will be notified soon if your school is chosen to be visited by a review team. Thank you for assisting and supporting the DESE Review process.

Region 1B Attendance

Daily attendance rate for each of our schools is shown below. Any student with more than 2 days absent is on their way to being chronically absent. 

September 19th Strategic Plan Feedback

Here is the link to the input school leaders provided to the Superintendent on September 19th.

Dates

• October 17, 2019  Dr. Cassellius Monthly Conference Call Briefing 10:00-10:30 AM
• October 24, 2019  PLC Session 1
• School Support Spreadsheet (includes your PLC)
• Dr Cassellius' Engagement Tour, School and Community Visits