WASC Update
Week of Jan 12-17 2015
WASC is coming!
The WASC Visiting Committee will be visiting Olympian High School on March 1-4 2015.
The committee will be checking to:
-Verify the contents of the WASC Self Study that we have been working on since November 2013
-See if we are doing all we can for student achievement (for all students)
-See if we are working at self-improvement
The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a weekly update regarding Olympian's preparations for the visit so that everyone is familiar with the visit's requirements. I am addressing this newsletter to Olympian staff, parents who served on the WASC Focus Groups, and members of the student WASC'ATEERS.
My intent is to publish an updated version of this newsletter each week as we head toward the WASC visit.
Steve Rodriguez
English Teacher
WASC Coordinator
Olympian High School
Update on Olympian's WASC Self Study
A PDF copy of the latest version of the WASC Self Study can be found on Google Drive. The self-study is contained in two files labeled:
-Olympian WASC Self Study dtd Jan 16 Chapters 1-4,
-Olympian WASC Self Study dtd Jan 16 Chapter 5.
If you are a faculty member/parent and you need access to the WASC Google Drive files, please let me know. If not a faculty member, you will need a gmail account to gain access.
Olympian High WASC Self Study
Highlights of Olympian's WASC Self Study
Here are a few interesting highlights of the school data that can be found in Chapter 1 of the Self-Study:
Olympian experienced a 63-point rise in the Academic Performance Index (API) score from 2009 to 2013. Each year saw an incremental increase. Our school's API score of 853 is the highest in the district.
Olympian's AP participation has risen from 604 exams taken (2009-2010) to 978 (2013-2014).
Olympian's "on track" rate for students meeting A-G requirements is 60.51%--which is highest in the district. This noteworthy statistic effectively reflects the pursuit of our school's mission.
Olympian's D/F rate is the lowest in the district.
During The Visit
The WASC Visiting Committee intends to visit EVERY classroom/teacher during March 2 and 3 of the visit. Needless to say, the committee members want to see teachers in action--just like on Focus/Learning walks. For teachers, start thinking right now about the activities that will be planned for that time period. The last thing committee members want to see in the classroom during those days is students testing.
As expressed by the Visiting Chair during her visit to Olympian in November, if you are a teacher who will be doing something special/interesting during a specific period, and you want visiting committee members to observe your classroom in action, please let me or Mr. Zamudio know so we can get the word to the committee members. They WANT to see us doing great things!
The WASC visiting committee members will expect to see recent student work (not older than 30 days) up on each classroom wall, just like on Focus/Learning Walks.
9th grade English teachers!!!! The 9th grade Student-led Conference will be held after school on March 2. This will allow the visiting committee members to observe one of Olympian's most interesting/effective programs. Students will be displaying their work, and will be required to demonstrate their knowledge of the ALP, as well as their metacognitive skills while conversing with parents.
The WASC Visiting Committee will meet after school with different Focus Groups on March 2 and 3. A schedule pertaining to the Focus Group meetings will soon be published.
The WASC Visiting Committee will want to meet with WASC Executive Committee members, and parents and students serving on WASC Focus Groups, the afternoon of March 1. Olympian will be hosting a reception for the WASC Visiting Committee at that time.
Chapter 5 of WASC Self Study
Chapter 5 of the WASC Self Study contains the Schoolwide Action Plan. The plan contains 5 Action Goals (with action steps) that the Focus Groups and WASC Executive Committee deemed necessary to address our 3 critical learner needs. These 5 action goals flowed from the Focus Group analysis/findings presented in Chapter 4 of the Self Study.
These 5 Action Goals include:
Goal # 1: Conduct cross-departmental collaboration to encourage greater alignment/calibration of curriculum.
Goal # 2: To train and develop the capacity in teachers to encourage more effective student use of online/technology resources.
Goal # 3: Develop Subject-Specific Academic Literacy Plan Skills.
Goal # 4: Continue to develop the best use of the Academic Tutorial Period to support struggling students.
Goal # 5: To develop and implement a cross-curricular writing program.