ARI Literacy Leadership
May 2022
Finishing Strong
Here are some tips and strategies for where to focus your time and energy for a STRONG FINISH:
- Quality Over Quantity
When leaders have limited time left in a school year, they might start to feel pressure to complete the many tasks all at once. This is the time of year when everything is due: observations, data presentations, final evaluations, staffing plans, etc. It often feels like there is no way you’re going to get it all finished. Breathe, take a step back, consider the big picture, and prioritize. Focus On What’s Important! Too often the end of the school year becomes a race to the finish, and there is little time dedicated to celebrating the school team's hard work and students’ progress. Leaders, be intentional about setting aside time for celebration and reflection. Thinking about your growth and positive strides will give you the much-needed energy to get to the end of the year.
- Self-Reflection
What parts of the curriculum are essential? What parts of the curriculum are non-essential?
What are you most proud of?
Which Circle of Influence did you see the greatest improvement?
What are the areas of your leadership practice that you’d like to grow in?
What might you do over the summer to learn more about these areas?
- Celebrate Progress
Taking time to conference with teachers about their learning goals and on their achievements is a powerful way to make progress visible. As leaders, it is crucial that you take time to provide tangible feedback to teachers as you wrap up the school year. Strength-based feedback is an opportunity for reflection and celebration. Encourage your teachers to identify what they have learned and how they have grown, while also recognizing their challenges and the areas they should continue to work on.
Make the BEST use of your time this month. Your teachers and the students they teach are precious and they need to know that your time together was worth it. So, don’t just let the year end! Take time to celebrate learning, celebrate the moments you’ve had, and savor the time you have left together. At the end of the race, we like to hear cheers, and when students graduate, it’s a climactic event. The end of every school year should be climactic and exciting. FINISH STRONG, ALABAMA LEADERS!
Alabama Literacy Act Updates
It is important to keep the goal of the Alabama Literacy Act in the forefront as we work together to ensure ALL students are able to read at or above grade-level by the end of third
grade.
Submissions are due on or before May 6, 2022. Please contact your Regional Leadership Specialist for support.
Grade Three Cursive Writing Collection
In 2016, the Legislature passed Act No. 2016-352 requiring students be able to create readable documents through legible cursive handwriting by the end of Grade 3 and each local board of education certify annually that schools in the district are meeting these requirements.
Alabama State Department of Education Third Grade Cursive Writing link for the 2021-2022 School Year is now open and should be completed by June 30, 2022. Please include the names of the applicable schools in your district and their respective percentages of students in Grade 3 who are able to create readable documents through legible cursive handwriting.
2022 Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Stipend for Mastery
Requirements for the Stipend:
- Completed the LETRS® (Units 1-8) or LETRS® ECE (Units 1-4) course. Course completion includes online coursework, offline coursework, bridge-to-practice activities, and face-to-face/live-virtual training.
- Scored at mastery level on the Learning Platform coursework as evidenced by a score of 80% or greater on the posttest(s) for the course.
- No stipend is available for the LETRS for Administrators course as there is no pre-/post-assessment. However, administrators who have achieved mastery status in LETRS Elementary or LETRS Early Childhood are eligible for the stipend.
libby.balazik@alsde.edu.
CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE
As we move into the month of May, it is imperative to prioritize planning efforts around the Circles of Influence:
Collaborative Leadership- How often does your leadership team meet? How do you ensure that your leadership team is focused on the “right things?"
Assessment- How do you use your data to prioritize and plan your literacy goals? Do you use multiple pieces of data to plan for reading success?
Curriculum & Standards- How will you plan for your new core program implementation?
Instruction & Interventions- Do you understand tiered instruction? Have you considered staggering your reading block to ensure the Local Reading Specialist maximizes coaching support?
Ongoing Professional Learning- Where are your teachers in LETRS? Where are you as a leader? Can you lead the Science of Reading?
As leaders, we know that "Structure Generates Behavior." Failing to plan is planning to fail. With that being said, it is vital that we begin now being proactive in making instructional decisions, planning professional learning opportunities, effectively scheduling, and meeting with leadership teams to put structures in place for next year. Planning now will ensure that you are ready to successfully move forward.
Planning Ahead
Leaders, as you plan for the 2022-2023 school year, consider the following:
- Staggering the K-3 literacy block
- Planning ahead for comprehensive core program implementation
- Aligning all professional development and resources to your school's goal
- Creating a coaching plan that addresses each Circle of Influence
- Developing a plan for Science of Reading implementation
- Establishing a plan for multi-tiered system of support
May Leadership Tasks
- Organize reading camp daily schedules/calendar based on personnel/resources.
- Ensure all students are identified accurately.
- Facilitate spring data meeting/analyze data and effectiveness of instruction/interventions.
- Consider how progress will be communicated to parents using home language.
- Meet with LRS weekly.
- Schedule and conduct classroom walk-throughs.
- Schedule a data meeting.
- Use end of year screener for the Summer Reading Camp Baseline Data.
- Math and Reading Assessment Selection Form deadline
- Conclude PST meetings with parents of students being served with SRIPs.
End of Year Data Meetings
Have you planned for the End of Year Data Meeting?
- ANALYZE the data with your Local Reading Specialist
- PREPARE to lead the data meeting discussion
- PLAN the data meeting with your Local Reading Specialist
- USE the data to make informed decisions with teachers
- SET short and long term goals with teachers
- DETERMINE instructional areas of focus with teachers
- REFLECT on the effectiveness of Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III with Local Reading Specialists and teachers
- DEVELOP a plan of action for using the data to inform your Summer Reading Camp
Throughout your data meeting, always reflect by asking these three questions:
1. What do we now understand?
2. What did we decide?
3. What are we going to do next?
Data meetings should be led by the principal with support from your Local Reading Specialist. Your regional team is ready to support you with analyzing your data. Follow the links to view some data meeting resources (sample agendas, probing questions, and a complete roadmap to lead effective data dialogue) that you may use as a guide as you plan your data meetings. Any resources ARI shares are only for planning purposes; they are not mandated by ARI. If you find these resources helpful, please use them.
Data Meeting Folder
Sample 1: Data Meeting Template Meeting https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tRSSdfi9sxY0uGPSuRZkxz6P2Pe5uEr1/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs
Sample 2: Data Meeting Template Agenda https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XgCwIdZnra4eYZyYtNY1ddvZaVxqh3TdSgFAJdEpMs8/edit#
Sample 3: Handbook on Implementing Structured Data Meetings https://www.meadowscenter.org/files/resources/Full_Handbook.pdf
Summer Reading Camp: PowerSchool Support
In order to keep teacher rosters and student accounts as they are currently in their assessment vendor platforms, districts may need to consider having their technology department pause their syncs of student data with their 3rd party vendors used in rostering the early years assessment platforms prior to the end of the school year. Please have a discussion with your technology team and PowerSchool administrator to develop a plan to ensure rostering is available for early years assessment testing this summer.
Summer Reading Camp: Multisensory Brain Break?
Short the Squirrel Summer Reading
Alabama's Journey to Reading Success: Year 2 Outcomes
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: Increased instructional capacity among all educators is evidenced through coaching cycles and peer coaching at the building level and increased job-embedded professional learning in the science of reading for all student support staff.
When you read this goal, take some time to reflect. How have you helped increase capacity in your school? Take a look at the Seven Key Principles of Effective Professional Learning. How can these principles help you FINISH STRONG?
Literacy Act Portfolios: Make Plans Now
MEGA 2022: TURNING OBSTACLES INTO OPPORTUNITIES
MEGA 2022: Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities
- Date: July 11 - 15, 2022
- Location: Mobile Conference Center; Mobile, AL
Neuhaus Literacy Leadership Institute Summer Sessions
Participants in the Neuhaus Literacy Leadership Institute course will develop an understanding of the key elements of reading instruction, how beginning skills develop, and how to enhance teachers’ use of effective teaching strategies within a Structured Literacy instructional routine. The course includes two days of training as well as two small group follow-up sessions.
June 6-7, 2022
o Course# 279457
o Section# 431091
o Registration Deadline – May 11th
June 29-30, 2022
o Course# 279457
o Section# 434134
o Registration Deadline – June 1st
ARI ARCHIVED NEWSLETTERS
MISSED A NEWSLETTER? VISIT THE ARCHIVED ARI LITERACY LEADERS NEWSLETTERS
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1njAGGWSKBhF1c5egKgQ6tqcJ1JtyqAkY3R13fn4rv4k/edit?usp=sharing