5-12 Building Leadership Team News
January 2019
BLT Members:
WBMS BLT Members: E Brown, J Hart, T Larson V Soemadi
WBHS BLT Members: K Franzoni, B Gallagher, M McCarthy, A Noelck, K Strope, R Thompson
(TLC Coaches invited as needed)
Student Performance/Data Review
Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress: The 5-12 BLT is planning for testing on April 8, 9 and 11. The counselors are setting up logins and will provide training. Look for an email from Pearson Access Next to setup your testing account. This is similar to the MAP testing protocols. We will be doing some practice tests with the students in February.
Spring MAP Dates: April 19 and 23
Professional Development/PLC (SBG, PBL)
Teacher Quality Round One applications available: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s2tViMxwmBXOZdy7msA_CVAmh5vakKFyl3TqsYRo8EA/edit?usp=sharing
SBG: The high school BLT members met separately and will be communicating with high school staff about consistent expectations around the two week reassessment/work completion deadline. There will be a faculty meeting on Tuesday, January 15. Please access the notes ahead of time so you are prepared with questions for clarification.
Students will be expected to turn in all assignments within the 10 school day window. The 10 school day window begins with the teacher entering scores in PowerSchool. Late work will not be eligible for reassessment. Reassessments will also be completed within the 10 school day window. Mr. Bucknell will have a student academic assembly and visit with small groups of students to inform them of the expectations.
The BLT discussed including discussion about the use of an I vs. an N for student work that is poor quality. We encourage teachers to use the I when students are submitting incomplete or careless work. The use of a checklist on the rubric can help the teacher communicate required elements outside of the academic standard. If those elements are missing, the teacher can inform the student that the work is insufficient and will not be graded. The N should be used when student effort is evident but the work demonstrates a lack of understanding.
The teachers who had met with an instructional coach/administrator for a rubric review reported that it was a meaningful activity. We will plan to continue to collaborate on improving the quality of our assessment rubrics. Please access Christa and Jessica at any time - don't wait for a PD assignment! They are here to provide that ongoing support.
The group processed the 5-12 reassessment survey results. We believe the changes in high school practices will help address many of the concerns. Additional discussions will be held this spring with the potential of making changes to the grading policy for Fall 2019. These topics include potential requirements for reassessment: turning in homework prior to the original assessment, documenting class participation, expectations for additional learning, and use of the process standards. We also will continue to discuss situations where a reassessment would not be necessary due to repeated opportunities for mastery of the same standard.
A separate document will be shared with data from the survey for everyone to review.
Wednesday, January 16 PD: January 16 will be set aside for 5-12 teachers to wrap up your J Term courses and prepare yourself physically and academically for Semester Two to begin on Thursday. There will be no district PD.
J Term Surveys: Just like last year, there will be multiple J Term surveys distributed next week. There will be a student survey, teacher/staff survey, and a parent survey. Additionally, we will collect information on community connections/field trips. Please complete these in a timely manner as information will be shared at the January 28 SIAC meeting.