The Bailey Times
March 19, 2018
The more innovative I have become, the less I have to deal with classroom management.
Congratulations to Kristin Korthauer, she is our March Rotary Teacher of the Month!!!
Grade Verifications - Due by Wednesday 4:00PM
All teachers who teach Science - please read and complete by April 6th.
Educator Survey - Please take a moment to complete this survey so that we will be represented in the state!
****This is the survey we do every year, please take time this week in PLC, grade level meetings or on your own to complete it!
Educator Survey Launch This Week
Audience: Directors of Schools, Principals, Educators
Contact: Isaiah.Bailey@tn.gov
The Tennessee Education Research Alliance at Vanderbilt University (TERA) and the department are pleased to continue in partnership to administer the annual Tennessee Educator Survey beginning this week. Every school-level educator in Tennessee is invited to share their perceptions and expertise on education issues affecting their classrooms and schools. All educators should have received a personalized invitation by today, March 7.
This survey will take up to 20 minutes to complete, and upon completion, participants will become eligible for a lottery that will award several $300 classroom support grants each week through April 20. After the survey closes, a separate lottery will be held to award grants of $2,000 to schools with the highest participation rates.
Survey completion is voluntary, and participants may decline to answer any specific questions within the survey. Individual responses are confidential and will not be shared or released. The department will share aggregated school-level results with school and district leaders by the end of May and will make all results publicly available here later this year. In order to receive this aggregated data, a school or district must obtain at least 45 percent participation.
You can find more information about the survey, including information about troubleshooting, here.
Upcoming March Coffee Chats!
March 23rd: Green Screen - Cook
March 28th: Clips - Neugebauer/Cook (Room 109)
Date to be announced - Using Microsoft Forms/Ferrante
Professionalism - Due April 5th
Toni Flynn sent out an email recently with information that was presented on this earlier in the month. If you have questions, please see me or Toni Flynn.
New English Learner Resources
Audience: Directors of Schools, Principals, Educators, Title I and Title III Directors
Contact: Jan.Lanier@tn.gov
The department has created two new resources to support English Learners (ELs) in Tennessee:
- The English Learner Framework outlines the department’s framework for supporting and empowering districts to serve ELs more effectively. District administrators, educators, and other advocates should use this document to inform decisions on planning, support teachers in differentiating supports for students, and ensure that English as a Second Language (ESL) programs are implemented with fidelity and in the best interest of students.
- The English as a Second Language Manual provides support for Title I and Title III directors as they manage ESL programs and projects and also provides meaningful support for teachers and administrators who are working to improve outcomes for ELs.
The department will release these resources in a public announcement next week.
2018 LEAD Conference Call for Proposals
Audience: Directors of Schools, Principals, Educators
Contact: LEAD.Conference@tn.gov
The LEAD Conference will take place Oct. 3-5, 2018, at the Music City Center in Nashville. The call for proposals is now open (here) and will close on April 2. We are seeking session proposals in conjunction with this year’s theme, Equity, Expectations, and Pathways LEAD to Success. For more information, click here.
Key Messages for Principals about Student Growth Portfolios
Audience: Directors of Schools, Principals, Educators
Contact: Keely.Potter@tn.gov
As we are approaching the April 15 portfolio submission deadline, we want to ensure that teachers and leaders have accurate information about portfolio implementation. Please share this document with the principals in your district who have teachers utilizing student growth portfolio models, and encourage them to share with teachers.
Updated: Grades 3-4 ELA TNReady Assessment
Audience: Directors of Schools, Testing Coordinators, Curriculum Directors, Instructional Coaches
Contact: Virginia.Mayfield@tn.gov
This year, the department made slight revisions on the grade 3 and 4 English language arts (ELA) assessments to align with the revised ELA standards and better mirror item types on the grade 2 ELA assessment. As noted in the assessment Blueprint for grades 3 and 4 ELA, the 2017-18 assessment includes more areas of the content standards, including items on listening and fluency that were not included in the 2016-17 assessment. As these are new item types, and neither has been field tested in an operational setting, these items will not count toward a student’s score this year but will count as field test items.
The department is working with Questar to determine if we will be able to provide specific reports on student performance on these items. There will be no other changes to the 2017-18 assessment blueprints, which are available here.
Licensure Points - Please be aware that you are responsible for checking your license to know when it is up for renewal and taking care to provide all the paperwork to the state to renew the license.
Professional Development Points Guidance
Audience: Directors of Schools, HR Personnel, Principals, Educators
Contact: Educator.Licensure@tn.gov
In January 2017, the State Board of Education updated the professional development portion of the Educator Licensure Policy 5.502. These updates include how and when professional development points (PDPs) can be accrued, how they are submitted for approval, and who approves PDPs for the purpose of renewing or advancing an educator’s license. A table with the number of points awarded for various activities can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions for Educators and Frequently Asked Questions for Administrators documents.
Check out some of these articles I read this past week as well as books that you might be interested in.
Month at a Glance
March 20th: Battle of the Books, Field Test for 2nd, 3rd and 5th grades
March 21st: PLC 3rd, 4th, 5th - Rock Your Socks Day for Downs Syndrome
March 22nd: Spring Pictures and Faculty Meeting 7:30
March 23rd: Coffee Chat: Green Screen - Cook
March 24th: Cub Chorus perform at Grizzlies Game
March 27th: Vision Team meeting at 8:00 in the library (rescheduled)
March 28th - 29th: Memphis In May
March 28th: Coffee Chat: Clips Neugebauer/Cook PLC 1st, 2nd, K
March 29th: Leadership Meeting 7:45 in the library
March 30th: Good Friday Holiday
April 2nd - 6th - Teacher Appreciation Week
April 4th - Assistant Principal Meeting
April 5th: Kindergarten Kickoff 5:30- - 6:30