Pinkston Feeder Pattern
Week At A Glance - October 12, 2015
Core Beliefs
Core Beliefs
Our main purpose is to improve student academic achievement.
Effective instruction makes the most difference in student academic performance.
There is no excuse for poor quality instruction.
With our help, at risk students will achieve at the same rate as non-at risk students.
Staff members must have a commitment to children and a commitment to the pursuit of excellence.
Pinkston High School
DeZavala
Teaching & Learning
Spot Observations
Celebrating teacher progress and promoting continuous improvement through your feedback is critical. Continue conducting calibration walks with your administrative team using the TEI rubric to determine high leverage feedback. Make a commitment as a team on the timeframe for inputting spot observations, so your campus remains on schedule.
Data Meetings
Our first data meeting is scheduled October 21st at Hulcy during the District-Wide Principal Meeting. A sample for elementary, middle and high school is located in the Feeder Google folder. We will discuss further at the feeder meeting this week. Each principal will receive the data template with campus data this week.
Professional Development Agenda
October 19th marks our first Professional Development day. I've had an opportunity to speak with many of you about the focus for this day, so I'm excited about joining your PD. Please submit your PD agenda to Eliza Rico by Wednesday, October 14th.
Professional Development Plans w/Campus Action Plans
Please submit your Professional Development Plans that accompany your campus action plans to Eliza Rico.
ACP Film Festival
ACP FALL FILM FESTIVAL REGISTRATION IS OPEN! PLEASE REGISTER!
Teachers - Plan to attend the ACP viewings being offered. Elementary viewings will be held at Adamson HS and secondary will be at the Buckner Building.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
https://assessment.dallasisd.org/
Resources
TEI Expert Training
We held our first TEI expert meeting. Please give your TEI experts an opportunity to update your staff with the most current TEI information.
https://outlook.office365.com/owa/?realm=dallasisd.org#path=/mail/inbox
Close Reading
Scope Scholastic
Scope Scholastic log in information was sent to your CICs this week. This resource includes, lessons based on essential questions, as well as, videos, magazines and more!
Progress Measure Information
Student-level AEIS Progress Measure (Index 2) data is available on mydataportal.
DeZavala
Students prepare for Red Ribbon Week.
Stevens Park
Carr & Carver Teacher Leaders
On the Horizon
Parent Conference Nights
Monday - October 12th - High Schools
Tuesday - October 13th - Middle Schools
Thursday - October 15th - Elementary Schools
Feeder Pattern Meeting
The meeting is scheduled at Eladio Martinez 8:30AM - 12:15PM. Elementary principals arrive at 8:30AM and secondary at 9:30AM.
Principal for a Day - October 13, 2015
Secondary Fair Day - October 16, 2015
Staff Development Day - Monday, October 19th
WAIP - Important action items in WAIP, please make sure you schedule time on your calendar to read:). WAIP cliff notes are in the Google folder.
https://sites.google.com/a/dallasisd.org/weekly-administrative-information-packet/
CF Carr Pre-K
Lanier Orchestra
Pinkston Senior Parents
Scheduled Campus Visits
Please include the topics below on our campus visit agenda.
Imagine 2020 Focus - In-School Tutoring, Reasoning Mind (for campuses I have not seen ) & Demo/Department Chairs (would like to have them join our meeting to share the work they involved in and the progress made with building teacher capacity)
Data Focus - Common Assessments (for campuses I have not seen)
Tiered Teacher Progress
Monday - Gabe Allen, Carr
Tuesday - Stevens Park
Wednesday - DeZavala, Carver
Thursday - Principal Feeder Pattern Meeting; Quintanilla
Friday - Unscheduled Visits
Shout Outs
Congratulations DESA for earning the Title I Achievement Award. Great picture with Dr. Hinojosa.
Kuddos to Pinkston HS, Quintanilla MS, Carr, Martinez and DeZavala for making the September 15th Fire drill expectation
Congratulations to the Feeder - PREP U participation was 1254 people. Way to go Arcadia Park for having the most parents and student participation. Participation numbers of all schools in the Google Folder.
Arthur Elizondo - A BIG thank you to Arthur Elizondo for making a record number home visits as well as the staff trainings to our feeder campuses!
All Principals - Great job on campus action plans. You have strong plans that will guide your work to ensure high levels of student learning!
Article of the Week
Teachers Being Clear About Task, Purpose, and Criteria for Success
In this article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Dan Berrett says that some college students [and K-12 students] run into trouble because academic expectations are not clear. It’s as if there are unwritten rules that these students aren’t privy to. “As an increasingly broad and diverse cross-section of students enters higher education, knowing those rules matters more than ever,” says Berrett. “Without them, students stumble. They might miss the point of a paper, drift during discussions, or feel overwhelmed or aimless.”
Transparency with assignments is one key to these students gaining confidence, thriving academically, and feeling they belong. Researchers have zeroed in on three components that the most-effective instructors orchestrate and communicate to students:
The task – What exactly are students being asked to do?
The purpose – Why should they do it? What important learning will flow from it?
The criteria – How will students’ work be evaluated?
“As minor and perhaps self-evident as the underlying questions may seem,” says Berrett, “it’s surprising how often they go unexamined… Spelling them out for students does not mean wholesale changes, like flipping courses. It requires no fancy technology.” Clarity of task, purpose, and criteria help students meet higher expectations of rigor and ensure equity of educational quality. Attending to these factors also pushes instructors to think through their material at a deeper level and give assignments that benefit all students.
Why don’t some instructors use these simple steps? Because they “often take for granted the logic and the rhythm of their courses,” says Berrett. “Some have forgotten how much they know and care about the material relative to their students… An assignment can become an old standard, reliable but creaky.” When an instructor is on autopilot, what the assignment is all about, and what it takes to be successful, may seem obvious – but to some students, it’s anything but. Some instructors also believe that being this explicit about assignments is hand-holding; students should be able to figure out assignments by themselves. And some instructors think that showing students they care about them at a personal level is more important than being explicit about task, purpose, and criteria.
“Understanding the rules of the game is one of the most difficult parts for historically underrepresented students,” says Tara Yosso of the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor. This “navigational capital” needs to be developed, and explicitness, along with good teaching and caring, is how it’s done. When instructors explain material clearly, use good examples to explore difficult points, are well prepared, and have a solid command of their subject, students notice and appreciate it – and are more successful academically.
“The Unwritten Rules of College” by Dan Berrett in The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 25, 2015 (Vol. LXII, #4, p. A26-A29),