Deans' Digest
Week of 9/7-9/11
This week, we celebrate Labor Day and honor September 11th
Data Drill Down
All students have finished Reading and Math STAR testing in grades 6, 9-12. If you are an ELA/Math teacher, please take some time to review this data and be prepared to talk about strategies when we have our beginning of the year meetings. If you teach another content, I'll share data and insights that are relevant to your courses when we meet.
~Amanda
Hickey's Headlines
I want to thank everyone for their participation in last week's Evaluation Update training. It's important to both Amanda and me that this process is as transparent, non-punitive, and supportive as possible. If you'd like to take another look at the presentation from last week, it is included with this week's digest.
~Brian
"I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way."
--Carl Sandburg
Murphy's Message
The RTI team will hold the first meeting of the year next week to review star data and look at where we are with students from last year. Please let me know of any students you'd like us to review. When referring the student, please include a reason for referral and what interventions you have already tried. Moving forward all RTI referrals will come from the grade level teams.
~Robin
SLOs
As you know, teachers who are not in an evaluation year will still need to write 2 SLOs for 2015-2016. We are in the process of scheduling those meetings. As a reminder, draft SLOs are due on or before October 5.
At Wednesday's meeting, the question of "tiered target" SLOs came up. Last week, we put a handout in your mailboxes that demonstrates the ways in which proficiency targets can be tiered, based on your students' varying abilities. If you have any questions, let us know.
~Amanda & Brian
Try Discovery Streaming!
Discovery Streaming is "a ground-breaking cross-curricular resource designed to simultaneously engage students and provide educators with instructional support to implement the Common Core State Standards. Thousands of learning objects, tools, and assessment activities encourage student content creation, critical thinking, and collaboration"
Currently, Beacon and Founders have a 30 day trial subscription that several people have already started to play with. If you're interested, give it a try and let me know if you'd be interested in a full subscription.
Username: beaconfounders
password: stadium
Have a tech problem?
Email tech@beaconart.org with a detailed explanation of this issue.
This Week's Happenings
Event Information
Department Meetings 6-12
Please remember to complete your meeting minutes and share with the deans!
When?
Wednesday, Sep 9, 2015, 03:00 PM
Where?
Beacon & Founders
Portfolio Due Dates for 2015-2016
I'll send this out again as the dates approach, but I wanted everyone to have it in advance.