The CIA Report
January 2019 Edition
Welcome to the January 2019 Edition of The CIA Report!
Please take some time to read through this prior to the January 30 administrator meeting. If you have any questions, please post them in this Google Doc.
Thanks!
Learning Today... Feeding Your Professional Soul
And as an educator, I am so incredibly lucky to be so connected to other educators from across the globe. Things like Twitter make it possible for me to connect and collaborate with educators who push me and help me grow my thinking.
But while all the ways to be connected and to collaborate are fantastic and can help to make us better in our roles as leaders and educators, sometimes we need to take some time for quiet. We need time to process and reflect on our learning and we need opportunities for white space.
As with everything, balance is important. Taking time to connect is so valuable, and taking time to sit in quiet is equally important for growth. So find ways to connect with others, to learn with them and grow from them - and be sure to take time for quiet and white space.
Professional & Program Development
2/15 PD Day Action Items
Your next Trauma PD is in less than a month - 2/15
As you and your team consider your journey from trauma aware through trauma sensitive and trauma responsive to trauma informed, it is important to determine where your building is on the journey and the next steps. Three big considerations are:
Trauma informed is far less about what you do and more about who you are. It is the relationship with the student that matters most. (Dr. Cox, 12/4/18)
PD survey results suggest that many of the teachers want building supported strategies. Click here for Trauma Implementation Ideas!
Please join the learning at the Best Practices Mini-Conference 2/15! You will find more sessions than ever before including some on the Ron Clark Academy, Culturally Responsive Teaching, Self Care, lots of content-specific sessions, and technology sessions to meet your immediate needs! The sign-up is now live at https://2019wsdbpmc.sched.com. Elementary Admin, you'll choose from the pink sessions. Secondary Admin, your options are in green.Was
Elementary Action Item
TC Summer Institute for Leadership - Our goal is to send, over the course of many years, at least one administrator from every building to this very focused, specialized professional learning. If you haven’t already, please discuss this opportunity with your admin team. If you are interested in sending an admin from your building, please have ONLY ONE admin complete this TC form per school.
Elementary/MS Action Item
Summer School Enrollment now open - Please include this information in your building newsletters to parents. Our goal is to spread the word so much that there are no late enrollments! Deadline is 4/17/19 to enroll.
MS Action Item
Girls4Tech - Please email me by 1/31 if you are interested in sending a group of technology-minded young ladies to Mastercard’s Girls4Tech. Also add when you’d like to attend in 2019. They are revamping their program as the interest is greatly increasing!
Leadership Reminders
Making Change Incrementally (Doug Reeves)
Leading in a Culture of Change (Michael Fullen)
All successful school experience “implementation dips” as they move forward (Fullan, 2001). The implementation dip is literally a dip in performance and confidence as one encounters an innovation that requires new skills and new understandings.
Leaders who understand the implementation dip know that people are experiencing two kinds of problems when they are in the dip - the social - psychological fear of change and the lack of technical know how or skills to make the change work.
Technology
Pulse Reports
The Technology Department is finally to a place where many of the “bugs” with Pulse have been resolved. We are ready to begin repairing any specific school reports previously not working and/or requests for new reports. Please work with Terence Golden, our Data Integrationist, to begin these updates.
SISK12 Training
The Student Data Team will be providing training for building secretaries to enhance their understanding for SISK12 throughout the semester. The trainings will last between 1-3 hours. Topics include: Attendance, Discipline, Grades and Report Cards, Enrollment, and Roundtables. Please encourage your secretaries to attend these trainings.
New iPad Management
The Technology Department is in the process of transferring over to a new system to manage district iPads. To complete this transition, we will need to erase and resetup every iPad to move them over to our new system, Mosyle. Any newly purchased iPads has already been transitioned over to Mosyle. Your building tech will be working with your staff to complete this transition. This will need to be completed by October 31.
Assessment
MAP ITEM SPECIFICATIONS:
As we move towards the testing season, now may be a good time to ask teams to take a look at the DESE MAP Item Specifications. Item Specifications can be found here. Although these should not be used to “teach to the test”, the information included may be helpful for teachers to know as they prepare students for the spring testing window.
Components of the item specifications include:
Expectation Unwrapped breaks down a list of clearly delineated content and skills the students are expected to know and be able to do upon mastery of the Expectation.
Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Ceiling indicates the highest level of cognitive complexity that would typically be assessed on a large scale assessment. The DOK ceiling is not intended to limit the complexity one might reach in classroom instruction.
Item Format indicates the types of items used in large scale assessment. For each expectation, the item format specifies the type best suited for that particular expectation.
Content Limits/Assessment Boundaries are parameters that item writers should consider when developing a large scale assessment. For example, some expectations should not be assessed on a large scale assessment but are better suited for local assessment.
Sample stems are examples that address the specific elements of each expectation and address varying DOK levels. The sample stems provided in this document are in no way intended to limit the depth and breadth of possible item stems. The expectation should be assessed in a variety of ways.
Text Types suggests a broad list of text types for both literary and informational expectations. This list is not intended to be all inclusive: other text types may be used in the classroom setting. The expectations were written in grade level bands; for this reason, the progression of the expectations relies upon increasing levels of quantitative and qualitative text complexities. (English Language Arts Only)
Calculator Designation indicates whether a calculator will be available for test questions written to a particular expectations on the large-scale assessment. (Mathematics Only)
Stimulus Materials defines types of stimulus materials that can be used in the item stems. (Science and Social Studies Only)
Possible Evidence indicates observable methods in which a student can show understanding of the expectations. (Science Only)
Teachers have commented that the expectation unwrapped and the sample stems are very helpful.
I encourage you to get these in the hands of your teachers. Please reach out if you have any questions.
MMD Updates
$500 Technology Grants available to all schools this year! Exciting news...you can apply for a technology grant to purchase something for your school. I encourage you to think of something you might need. Some examples of items I have heard people purchasing: TVs for lobby or conference room, ipad for specific use etc. Use the link below to access the Technology Request Forms https://www.moedu-sail.org/mmd-tools-resources/ (When you get to the page, scroll down to the bottom. The form is the last on this page.) Please note: Please get your request approved by Greg Lawrence prior to submitting the grant form.
Teaching & Learning
At the last administrator meeting the Content Leaders shared pacing guides. Here is a link to the pacing guides. They can also be found in the Administrator Team Drive.
Dr. Megan Stryjevski
Twitter: @DrStryjewski