GR TLC BLOG!

Yesterday I attended a session put on by the Department of Education.  It was a day of learning about the replacement to No Child Left Behind. This new act focuses on continuous improvement instead of accountability.  No longer should districts feel the “shame and blame” of the old SINA/DINA legislation. This new program for school improvement is called the “Every Student Succeeds Act”, referred to as “ESSA”   ESSA gives districts a score in several areas such as proficiency, growth as well as learning environment. Each category is weighed and students are measured against like peers. Schools that are below the 43.9 cut-off are marked “Targeted” or “Comprehensive”   Our elementary was given the “Targeted” status.  We are above the state average in proficiency in both reading and math (Reading 75.81 and Math 85.48) however, one our subcategories was not high enough.  Our low socioeconomic subcategory did not show the necessary growth. Our low socioeconomic rate in reading was 3

12/6 - The best part of my job is the fact that I get to attend some of the best trainings and classes.  I spent another great day at the AEA at a class called “Vision for Instruction in Math”. This class was perfect for me because it was developed for Instructional Coaches and Administrators that may not be as comfortable with the content.  We focused on 5 belief statements. For each statement, we were asked to think about our historical beliefs, how we were taught and how math instruction is currently taught in our buildings. The presenters modeled the same lesson several ways so we could really see what it was like to be a student in each scenario. We had some great discussions and it confirmed and challenged  many of my current beliefs on instruction. Here are several of my favorite takeaway statements: Kids need to be in charge of their learning - the person doing the talking is doing the learning Direct instruction comes at the end, during the justification. Student