The SSE ILT News
The Team that Never Settles!
April 2018
Important State Assessment Info
WISHING ALL STUDENTS, TEACHERS, and COORDINATORS ALL THE BEST DURING STAAR!
SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW! LET YOUR "STAAR" SHINE!
1. Commissioner Morath sent STAAR update information. It is on this link if you have not already read it: https://tea.texas.gov/About_TEA/News_and_Multimedia/Correspondence/TAA_Letters/Important_Updates_for_the_2018_Spring_STAAR_Administrations/
2. The Student Assessment may have information that is of interest to you. You can access it on this link: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/TXTEA/bulletins/1dad92f
3.Reminder: The STAAR report cards for the April 2018 grades 5 and 8 mathematics and reading administration will be available online only. No printed copies will be sent.
For questions or help with STAAR- Contact Cynthia Gardner at X7111.
From ASCD: Six Ways to Implement Effective Literacy Change
Literacy Unleashed: Six Ways to Implement Effective Literacy Change
We are about to start a new literacy program next year in K-2nd. We are lucky enough to be able to send two staff members to New York to get first hand learning at the summer institute: Laura Almaguer and Cynthia Gardner will get their training in August. All K-2nd teachers, instructional support, and leadership will need to register for SBISD Homegrown TCRWP Week of Learning on July 16-19th.
As we work towards our goal, will be
Collecting and using the Literacy Classroom Visit Model data from every classroom across a school to provide a richer, more comprehensive view of the status of teaching and learning school wide. Teachers can use this data to design improvement plans and help outline the best strategies for student goals. Below is a framework and process to effectively guide the Literacy Classroom Visits (LCV) in implementing effective literacy change:
- Establish a Body of Evidence: Leaders and teachers partner to collect Literacy Classroom Visit data about the overall literacy integration and culture school-wide over time.
- Identify Instructional Patterns: Data patterns inform effectiveness in shifting the ownership of learning to our students.
- Design Professional Learning: Develop evidence-based professional learning plans and PLC content to cultivate reflective practice and continuous learning.
- Implementation of Professional Learning: Leadership and Teachers may use Enhanced LCV observation instruments designed to dig deeper into the specific area of instruction to guide successful implementation of new learning and instructional practices.
- Interactive Feedback: Leaders model non-evaluative, action-oriented feedback conversations about the LCV data with teachers to inspire growth and change.
- Ongoing Data Analysis: Periodic analysis and discussion of literacy classroom visit data inform a school community of the impact professional learning growth has on instruction and student learning. We will utilize map and TCRWP running record data to inform our student analysis and trends.
Watch this video as principals from Mounds View elementary schools in Minnesota share the benefits of using the Literacy Classroom Visit Model.
The ultimate goal of the Literacy Classroom Visit Model is to create a literacy culture that inspires children to read. Todd Durand, a principal in Mounds View, Minnesota sums it all up, “We have more kids reading than ever before. They love to read. Since we have dedicated our professional learning to literacy, we have more books checked out from the school library, the guided reading library, and classroom libraries. Students know what they are supposed to learn and do, using their own work as evidence of accomplishment. This revitalization and focus on literacy- based professional learning has changed our instructional practice.”
Bonnie and Sandi are authors of Literacy Unleashed: Fostering Excellent Reading Instruction Through Classroom Visits (ASCD 2016). You can learn more about their book here.
Also, if you’re attending Empower18, don’t forget to sign-up for the pre-conference institute Literacy Unleashed: Leading with the Literacy Classroom Visit Model.
Grant Opportunities
Upcoming K–12 Grants
- Sponsor: Discovery Education and 3M
Award: $25,000 grand prize; other prizes vary
Number of Awards: 71 (61 for students, 10 for educators)
Application Deadline: April 19 Social Emotional Learning Innovation Fund
Sponsor: NoVo Foundation, Education First, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Award: Up to $5,000 for teacher grants; up to $25,000 for district grants
Number of Awards: Not specified (67 teachers and 30 districts won grants last year, representing 12 percent of applicants)
Application Deadline: April 20NEA Foundation Student Achievement Grants
Sponsor: National Education Association Foundation
Award: $2,000 or $5,000
Number of Awards: Not specified
Application Deadline: Feb. 1, June 1 and Oct. 15 of each yearChampion Creatively Alive Children Grant Program
Sponsor: Crayola and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
Award: $2,500 plus $1,000 in Crayola gear
Number of Awards: Up to 20 major prizes, plus one Crayola Classpack for every applicant submitting by the early bird deadline
Application Deadline: June 22 (June 4 for early bird prize)SparkFun Community Partner Program
Sponsor: SparkFun
Award: STEM/STEAM-related prize packages, event and team sponsorships and other types of support
Number of Awards: Varies
Application Deadline: Ongoing: third Thursday of each month; awards announced on the last business day of each month- Deadline: Ongoing
- Deadline: Ongoing
- Deadline: Ongoing
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants
Deadline: Ongoing
Award: No more than 10 percent of an organization's annual operating expenses or 25 percent of the total budget for the project being funded; awards have ranged from the hundreds to the millions of dollars.
Number of Awards: Varies
Qualification: Project should "directly serve or impact children living in urban poverty, particularly in the areas of education, family economic stability (including microfinance) and childhood health."- Deadline: Ongoing (approx. 10 awards per month)
- Deadline: Ongoing (grants awarded on a rolling basis)