GV BOCES School Improvement
January 2022 Newsletter
News You Can Use
January 2022 Regents Examinations Cancelled Due to Ongoing Pandemic
2021–22 Elementary- and Intermediate-level Testing Schedule
Upcoming Featured Speakers
Dr. Luvelle Brown
Description:
Dr. Luvelle Brown, known for his experience in building and leading culturally responsive learning environments, will challenge participants with hard questions, and deep reflection to develop equitable, empathetic, culturally responsive, and inclusive learning environments. Participants can expect that best-practice examples from Dr. Brown's own nationally recognized work will be shared, as well as demonstrations on how to lead and activate change in your schools among colleagues, staff, and the broader community. Below is a breakdown of each synchronous virtual session.
January 12, 2022: Cultivating a culture of love, liberation, and belonging: Evaluating your system with an equity lens
February 14, 2022: Addressing unconscious bias in schools
March 23, 2022: Evaluating and creating local policy through a responsive, loving, and equitable lens
Patrice Bain
Description: Have you had students struggle to remember what was taught the previous year, semester, or even the last month? Have you had students internalize failure, thinking they won’t succeed because they’re “not smart”? There are reasons, researched reasons, why this happens. Patrice Bain, a veteran teacher and co-author of Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning, knows the rigor required for the classroom. Having worked with cognitive scientists for over fifteen years, Bain developed teaching strategies based on robust research that improves learning. Best of all, these strategies don’t add to teachers’ already filled plates but will streamline what they are already doing. In this engaging and interactive workshop, Patrice Bain will unlock the research and provide evidence-based strategies that will transform your teaching so that all students will be successful learners.
In this workshop, educators will:
Learn the research behind: retrieval, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition
Understand how cognitive load, working memory, and desirable difficulties play a role in learning
Discern learning “myths” vs. “truths”
Grasp how simple changes to what they are already doing will increase student learning
Leave the workshop with a repertoire of tools and strategies that can be used the following day
Date: February 3, 2022
Location: Genesee Community College (GCC)
1 College Rd, Batavia, NY 14020
Conable Technology Building Room T102
Time: 8:30-3:00
Leadership Institute 2022 At-a-Glance Agenda
Preparing to Score the Social Studies Framework Regents Exams
Continue Your Professional Learning
Four-Part Article Series: Equity As The Lens For A School-Wide Tier 1 Framework
Part 1 - January Newsletter: Using Data to Establish Local Context
Part 2 - February Newsletter: Curriculum with an Equity Lens
Part 3 - March Newsletter: Instruction with an Equity Lens
Part 4 - April Newsletter: Assessment with an Equity Lens
In education, we continue to think of curriculum, instruction, and assessment as the three guiding pillars of a quality Tier 1 framework across classrooms. Having a guaranteed and viable curriculum is one assurance towards ALL students having equitable learning opportunities. Student learning has always been at the center of developing/revising curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The NYS Board of Regents 2021 Call to Action states that districts should consider inclusive and culturally responsive teaching and learning as part of their local policy. This includes inclusive curriculum, rigorous instruction and accessible assessment practices.
Districts have a critical role in elevating the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion; setting policies; establishing data targets; reviewing and modifying their curriculum (The NYS Board of
Regents Framework on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in New York’s Schools: A Call to Action, 2021). Before beginning an audit/revision of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, districts might consider reviewing data sets to establish a clear understanding of the student population. Knowing the student that your district serves can change over time, and having this information will support accessible learning situations for ALL students by design, not chance. The data review can also provide information on areas of strength and the need for diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.
It is important to establish shared and collaborative data review teams that can work together to consider multiple perspectives, develop common understandings about equity, and create safe spaces for dialogue about data (Fabillar, Education Development Center, 2018). The data team should consider demographic data, perceptual data, student learning data, and systems data as articulated by Victoria L. Bernhardt in her 2013 publication of Data Analysis for Continuous School Improvement (see picture below).
Other areas to disaggregate data could include:
Performance
Suspension
Graduation
Classification
AP courses admissions
Extracurricular activities
Code of Conduct
Attendance policies
Field trip policies
Restrictions to participate in sports
Dress codes
In the February 2022 School Improvement Newsletter, we will explore ways to examine local curriculum with an equity lens. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series!
School Improvement Spotlights
Building a Strong Curricular Foundation
Follow School Improvement on Twitter
Don’t forget that you can follow the School Improvement Team (SIT) on Twitter. The team is often posting information about upcoming professional learning opportunities, educational resources, and strategies for the classroom. You can stay in tune with what is happening at Genesee Valley BOCES and the SIT by following #gvbocessit.
2021-2022 Regional Professional Learning Opportunities
Registration for upcoming regional professional learning opportunities can be accessed through the links below. Check out the various opportunities the School Improvement Team is offering during the 2021-2022 school year. We look forward to seeing you in the upcoming months!
Need Support?
Website: http://www.gvboces.org/services.cfm?subpage=208119
Location: 80 Munson Street, Le Roy, NY, USA
Phone: 585.344.7923