The Curriculum Connection
February 9, 2015
Updates from Kim Halley, Chief Academic Officer
Curriculum Council
The Curriculum Council has established three sub-committees of 24 teachers, instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and administrators for its next phase of district-level work.
The ultimate goal: personalized assessments for students
We will help teachers reflect on their current assessment and grading practices and move toward the District Assessment Framework/Vision. It is our intention that all:
· Assessments have a clear purpose
· Assessment data is used intentionally
· Assessments allow learners to demonstrate understandings in multiple ways
The Curriculum Council will use the Grading and Assessment Task Force Findings and assessment literacy modules created in 2013-14 to focus on the district's Blended Learning Characteristic of Assessment. We plan to complete the following tasks by May in preparation for next year:
- Create District Assessment Framework/Vision with clear purpose to guide work
- Use Framework to create electronic PD about high quality assessment practices for all Pre-K-12 teachers; revise current draft Assessment Literacy Modules
- Create district-wide implementation plan of GATF Findings
- Explore Secondary standard-based reporting as an outcome of this work; consider adding 'Work Habits' to the quarterly progress report
- Develop recommendations for district professional development plan for 2015-16
Committee members are:
Sub-Committee 1-Literacy Assessment Modules (led by Susanne Lintz; Assisted by Stacy Carter, CO Teacher Leader)
Sub-Committee 2 – GATF Findings – Assessment/Reassessment (led by Mike McDonough; Assisted by Jake Grantier, CO, Science)
Sub-Committee 3 – GATF Finding – Grades (led by Kim Halley; Assisted by Mike Bleh, CO, Social Studies)
Cheryl Gehres, CO, Elementary Instruction Leader
Mark Tremayne, CO, Secondary Instruction Leader
Kim Kembitzky, CO, Math
Heather Sherrill, HCR, 2nd gr.
Meghan Lawrence, BRD, French
Melissa Ho, Station, English
Tonya Curry, WMS, Science
Lisa Price, SDE, Kindergarten
Julie Goodman, DVD, Science
Deb Lairson, RGW, Intervention
Laura Penzone, DVD, Spanish
Lisa Braun, DVD, Spanish
Jillian Cross, ADE, 4th gr.
Heather Moody, MMS, Math
Angie Rader, DVD, U.S. Govt.
Kimberly Dixon, HTE, 4th gr.
Wendy Cushnie, NOR, K/1st
Henry Rauhaus, RGW, 5th gr.
Brenda Boring, JWR, 5th gr.Donna Moss, DVD, Science
Joan Pitstick, Station, Soc. Studies
Meredith Kleman, ADE, 2nd gr.
Brett Miller, DBY, Math
Carrie Duckworth, Tharp, Lang. Arts
Scott Jones, JWR, 5th gr.
OPES evaluations will be completed by early March. The final summary rating will be added to ETPES and will need your PIN approval. You will receive an email from ETPES when your PIN entry is necessary.
English Language Learners—As of February 2014, HCSD serves 1087 ELL students from 41 countries. There are 39 languages spoken.
Last year for OTELA! During the 2015-16 school year new standards will be assessed through ELPA21 (English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century). The Ohio Test of English Language Acquisition will be replaced. HCSD will support our ELL staff with a full-day of professional development on Tuesday, March 17 from 8:00am-3:30pm in the CO Board Conference Room. A new ELL progress report will be created to align with new standards.
Elementary Only--Incoming ELL Kindergarteners - Please set up a testing date to administer the PreLAS at your building prior to the May Elementary Transfer meeting. Send results to the Dawn Blankenship in Curriculum by Wednesday, May 6. If you have a population that is served in another building (SDE, ADE), please work with the ELL staff in the serving building to arrange assessment date and times with families.
Secondary Education News from Mike McDonough
Scheduling Updates
High School Registration
· February 9th – February 23rd: Incoming 10th, 11th, & 12th grade online scheduling home access window
· March 3rd: Tentative course verifications sent home with students (possibly emailed through HAC)
· March 3rd – March 5th, March 10th & March 12th: Compass testing for all students interested in College Jumpstart Network and Academy MD. Testing will be held in the ILC computer lab from 3:00 – 7:30 each afternoon/evening.
· March 9th 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. at ILC: Whiteboard training
Middle School Registration
· February 9th 5:00 p.m. – February 17th 8:00 a.m.: Incoming 8th Grade scheduling window
· February 18th 9:00 a.m. – February 20th 5:00 p.m.: Incoming 7th Grade scheduling window (window #2)
· March 4th – March 6th: Students verify course requests and complete ranking of additional electives
· March 9th 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. at ILC: Whiteboard training
6th Grade Registration
· Week of February 16th: Letter mailed home to all 5th grade families outlining Math placement, appeal process, and information regarding incoming 6th grade parent meetings for scheduling.
· Tuesday, March 10th 6:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m: Incoming 6th Grade parent meetings held at Station 6th Grade School
· Wednesday, March 11th 6:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m: Incoming 6th Grade parent meetings held at Tharp 6th Grade School
· Friday, March 13th: Deadline to submit appeal to take District Math Placement Test
· March 10th – March 20th: Incoming 6th grade online scheduling home access window
· March 30th – April 10th: District Math Placement Testing Window
· March 31st – April 2nd: 6th grade counselors and administrators visit elementary buildings to meet with students that have not completed online registration
Elementary Education News from Jennifer Adams
What's the Big Deal about 2nd Grade?
Second grade teachers met to discuss the importance of Number Sense in second grade. Teachers read several articles defining, illustrating, and analyzing quality number sense instruction. Based upon these readings, teachers collaborated to create a common building definition for Number Sense. Teachers internalized the importance that number sense has on future mathematical success. By the end of 2nd grade, research is clear that students must have a strong understanding of how whole numbers relate to each other, in order to be an effective mathematician as they journey into the world of fractions.
In addition to committing to an instructional emphasis on high quality number sense instruction, teachers also reviewed the newly created units which were embedded in the elementary teacher math website. Teachers agreed to follow the Year-at-a-Glance sequence and collaborate with their building math coach as they work to implement the newly created units.
ST Math
The Straight A Grant which funds the ST Math program has afforded each elementary building with the ability to hire ten substitutes in order to offer job embedded PD. Buildings have the freedom to implement these days in any way they see fit as long as the PD encompasses Hilliard's Mathematical Framework and ST Math. The use of these substitutes is allowing buildings to continue their work in data teams, uncover the components of the mathematical framework, investigate additional uses for ST Math, and collaborate with peers to analyze the eight mathematical practices.
A Blast with Math
This is the year of opportunity for elementary mathematics! Our weekly coaches meetings have been invaluable in providing time to collaborate, learn and plan. We have been able to offer a job-embedded OSU graduate course in these sessions. Dr. Diana Erchick attends some of the sessions to teach this Math Pedagogy course and our work with her has been very productive. As a result of her positive and meaningful instruction, we now have a cadre of teacher leaders pursuing the Ohio Math Specialist Endorsement. Dr. Erchick is offering a second course (Action Research) in the series for this endorsement on-site in Hilliard after school. The teachers in this course will be sharing their research with all interested Hilliard staff at Summer Academy in June. The cohort includes a teacher on sabbatical in Ecuador, who is able to meet with the class via the internet.
This month, math coaches analyzed the newly released paper version of the Performance Based Assessment for Mathematics. Their intent is to communicate a common, positive message to Hilliard teachers that emphasizes the strengths our students will demonstrate on this upcoming assessment. They found these connections to current instructional practices in Hilliard:
· A growth mindset will be an important asset for our students;
· The eight math practices are essential to successfully demonstrating understanding;
· Each assessment has an Exemplar-like question with multiple parts.
They also identified:
· Vocabulary that matters: comparison, represents, expression, explanation, reasonable, not reasonable, determine, reasoning, what is closest?
· Practice questions to recommend at each grade level to demonstrate the changes in format (multiple correct answers to mark; bubbling in numerical answers; how reasoning and modeling are assessed on the rubric).
A few of our coaches have a role that includes intervention and work with at-risk students. One of these coaches recently shared video recordings of students in these sessions, working in context with active problem solving in collaborative groups. This opportunity to hear children who are at least two years below grade level expectations explain their thinking was insightful and continues to lead to thoughtful conversation amongst coaches.
Coaches have begun making video recordings of their planning conference, co-teaching and post-conference reflections with teachers in their buildings. These vignettes will be shared at upcoming coach meetings.
4th grade math iDiscovery course
9 elementary schools have representation in a professional development opportunity for 4th grade math teachers. The schools represented are: Darby Creek, Brown, Britton, Avery, J.W. Reason, Norwich, Horizon, Hilliard Crossing, and Ridgewood.
This group includes 3 math coaches, 2 principals and 14 teachers. The group is looking forward to digging deeper into quality instruction, analysis of the standards, and implementation of mathematical practices all through the lens of Hilliard's Mathematical Framework. Thus far, excellent professional dialogue is happening around contextually based math instruction, relevant problem solving, authentic assessment, and productive teaching behaviors.
LIT BITS: The Coaches’ Corner
It has been a wonderful year, as we welcomed 14 literacy coaches to the elementary buildings. These coaches support literacy teaching and learning, as they collaborate with teachers and students in the implementation of literacy in the classroom.
These 14 coaches meet with Jennifer Adams and Teresa Scholl each week to share their work, analyze student assessments, study coaching moves, research and reflect on best practice in literacy, and grow themselves as instructional coaches.
Coaches are asked to videotape their work with teachers as they pre-plan a lesson, observe the lesson, and meet with the teacher to provide feedback on the lesson. These videotapes then become a powerful teaching tool for us at our meetings, as together we evaluate coaching moves, and how best to support our teachers as they deliver literacy instruction.
We are also fortunate to work with Rachel Lang from the Educational Service Center, who provides us with professional development around cognitive coaching. Her expertise has contributed to our coaching knowledge base, and provides a springboard for conversations of our book study text, The Art of Coaching by Elena Aguilar.
We are grateful for not only the opportunity to have Instructional Coaches in each of our elementary buildings, but also for these weekly meetings. We leave renewed and empowered, bursting with new understandings about ourselves and our work.
Professional Development News from Brian Lidle
PD Update
Hilliard U is in full swing as we prepare for another day of personalizing our PD! I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for their support and confidence as we go into our second session. Your leadership has buoyed our efforts and helped staff understand the value and opportunity to grow at the U!
The Resident Educator program is beginning a focus on Carol Dweck's, Mindset. We hope to empower and engage our young teachers with tools that will help them grow, take calculated risks, and make a difference in each child's mindset.
Finally, we are plowing ahead with the ILE Conference that will be August 5th - 7th this year. We will have Kevin Carroll, author of the Red Rubber Ball; Dave Burgess, author of Teach Like a Pirate; and Dr. John as our keynotes! Call for presenters will be going out in the next few weeks and we are excited about this line up!
Updates from Vicky Clark, Director of Student Support Services
Recent News From The Ohio Department of Education:
New Memorandum for Documentation of English Language Arts Assessment Accommodations on IEP and 504 Plans
The Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children, announced the release of Memorandum 2014-1 Documentation of English Language Arts Assessment Accommodations on IEP and 504 Plans. This memorandum references the recently released FAQ on read aloud accommodations for state assessments and the new IEP or 504 Plan Decision-Making Tool. The IEP or 504 Plan Decision-Making Tool is not a required form. However, the tool contains required guidelines and will assist teams in making data-based decisions about the use of read aloud accommodations for statewide testing by students with disabilities. The planning tool can be found on the Ohio Department of Education's website at:
Postsecondary Transition Services
Transition services are specifically designed activities and processes that will help children with disabilities move through middle school and high school toward adult life, keeping in mind the specific post-school activities envisioned in the areas of employment, education, training, and independent living.
To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living IEPs must include coordinated, measurable, annual IEP goals and transition services that will reasonably enable the student to meet the post-secondary goals. (20.U.S.C. 1416 (a)(3)(B)).
Beginning at age 14 (or younger, if determined appropriate by the IEP team), the IEP shall include a statement, updated annually, of the child's transition service needs under the applicable components of the child's IEP that focuses on the child's course of study.
Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16 (or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP team), and updated annually, the IEP must include:
Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and where appropriate, independent living skills; and the transition services (including course of study) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.
Assessment Updates from Susanne Lintz
SLO Questions
Some questions have been coming up about SLOs, so I wanted to let you know where we’re at with these this year:
· Any teacher using an SLO as part of their evaluation should be administering their POST-assessments no later than the second week of March (they have until March 13th).
· They should be completing the spreadsheet (I sent this via email on January 29th) and sharing this with their evaluator by March 31st. This is the same spreadsheet as last year. As long as teachers are giving their evaluator their rating by March 31st they can modify this spreadsheet as needed.
· We will provide more information about eTPES when it gets closer to the time of having to put this information into that system.
OHIO'S STATE TEST TIPS OF THE WEEK:
Tip of the Week- February 9th – Growth Mindset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SzAeRCp3JI&rel=0
https://www.powtoon.com/show/dA4Rnc55sD3/ost-tip-feb-9/
Tip of the Week- February 2nd – Test Security Information
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQmlOsAczN0&rel=0
https://www.powtoon.com/show/cPeoczCRgkm/ost-tip-feb-2nd/
Tip of the Week- January 26th- Online Testing Tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dw1rzHexu4&rel=0
https://www.powtoon.com/show/gqjt6mD7oWm/ost-tip-jan-26/
Tip of the Week- January 20th- Accessibility Features/Accommodations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggd2KJ5hO3Q&rel=0
https://www.powtoon.com/show/crbF8NJpTaT/ost-tip-jan-20th/
Tip of the Week- January 12th- How to Prepare for the Tests
https://www.powtoon.com/show/dvaFFoHkVCf/ost-tip-jan-12th/
Tip of the Week- January 5th- Science/S.S. Info
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcCgByOUy3U&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share
https://www.powtoon.com/show/bzSjFHxBIFg/ost-tip-jan-5th/
Tip of the Week- December 15th- Math Test Info
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olUFrDaoPys&rel=0
http://www.powtoon.com/show/cMy9Bf6lyRP/ohios-state-tests-tip-of-the-week-dec-15th/
Tip of the Week- December 8th- English Language Arts Test Info
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdwqfC8STwo&rel=0
http://www.powtoon.com/show/f0IXyry2o7z/ohios-state-tests-tip-of-the-week-dec-8th/
Tip of the Week- December 1st- Ohio's State Tests Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_lOtjZ3w-0&feature=player_detailpage&list=UUO0Zr3Fg8W9_7UO9Mi-m4rA
http://www.powtoon.com/show/d3a5PZafGPi/ohios-state-tests-tip-of-the-week-dec-1st
For more information about the new tests visit the eCampus Modules:
Elementary- http://ecampus.hboe.org/course/view.php?id=1419
ILC Updates from Brent Wise
Innovation Section
Steelcase is offering up to 15 grants for active learning classrooms. Grants ranging from $30,000-$50,000 will be awarded this spring for implementation next year. Steelcase is the provider for most of the furniture at the Innovative Learning Center.
Summer School
We will hold summer school at Darby High School for secondary classes, J.W. Reason Elementary for ELL students, and potentially the Innovative Learning Center for some enrichment. More detailed information to come later.
Capstone
You will notice the capstone experience for seniors has been refined (refer to the Program of Studies). Major point of emphasis is to simplify the process and clear confusion regarding "classes" counting as a capstone.
Best way to remember is Interest + Experience + Story = Capstone.
Technology Updates from Rich Boettner
The Joy of Canvas
Canvas is coming to Hilliard. Canvas is going to be our new Learning Management System and will eventually replace eCampus. Think of Canvas as a student's digital classroom. On Hilliard U Day, we will have 3 different classes for teachers to take (offered many times throughout the day) to begin to learn Canvas.
Here is the Implementation Timeline:
January 1 - February 16, 2015
Pilot and Testing Time (soft rollout) - pilot teachers can use
without support and no training
Staff and Student accounts setup in Canvas from eSchoolPlus
Time for Tech and Curriculum to learn how to use and create
training agendas
February 17, 2015 (Hilliard U)
Canvas Rollout Day - Training available for all staff
March 20, 2015
Migration Period 1 - For staff who want to move their course from
eCampus to Canvas early
July 15, 2015
Migration Period 2 - any other staff who want us to move their
course over
Parent Accounts setup and ready (same as HomeAccess)
Tentative - Grade passback between Canvas and TAC
August 2015
Online Courses live and run through Canvas
Teachers who do not migrate data during our Migration periods will
be able to move themselves on their own schedule. We will create a
tutorial on how this can be accomplished.
June 1, 2016 - eCampus shut down