GV BOCES School Improvement
May 2022 Newsletter
News You Can Use
Featured Speaker: Patrice Bain
Description: Have you had students struggle to remember what was taught the previous year, semester, or even the last month? Have you had students internalize failure, thinking they won’t succeed because they’re “not smart”? There are reasons, researched reasons, why this happens. Patrice Bain, a veteran teacher and co-author of Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning, knows the rigor required for the classroom. Having worked with cognitive scientists for over fifteen years, Bain developed teaching strategies based on robust research that improves learning. Best of all, these strategies don’t add to teachers’ already filled plates but will streamline what they are already doing. In this engaging and interactive workshop, Patrice Bain will unlock the research and provide evidence-based strategies that will transform your teaching so that all students will be successful learners.
In this workshop, educators will:
Learn the research behind: retrieval, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition
Understand how cognitive load, working memory, and desirable difficulties play a role in learning
Discern learning “myths” vs. “truths”
Grasp how simple changes to what they are already doing will increase student learning
Leave the workshop with a repertoire of tools and strategies that can be used the following day
Date: June 8, 2022
Location: LeRoy Service Center, 80 Munson Street, Le Roy, NY 14482
Time: 8:30am-3:00pm
Full Implementation Is Around the Corner!
Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards
The New York State K-12 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards were adopted by the Board of Regents in December 2020. The new standards focus on five key concepts:
Impacts of Computing
Computational Thinking
Networks & Systems Design
Cybersecurity
Digital Literacy
To assist and support districts and educators with the transition to full implementation of the NYS Learning Standards for Computer Science and Digital Fluency, NYSED has released a new Roadmap and Implementation Timeline. The purpose of the Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards Implementation Roadmap is to serve as an at-a-glance guide for all stakeholder groups to facilitate the attainment of the standards.
Other Important Dates & Timelines
Continue Your Professional Learning
Ignoring the Fads, Programs, and Innovations
Mike Schmoker claims, in his book entitled FOCUS: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning (2018), that schools need to re-evaluate their focus in an effort to radically improve student learning. Schmoker contends that if schools can narrow their focus on “what is essential,” then educators have an opportunity to decrease most of the achievement gaps within five to seven years. The book offers three fundamental elements to reach this aim:
1. Curriculum that is reasonably coherent;
2. Lessons that are sound and structured; and
3. Authentic literacy as the spine.
Simply put, the emphasis for school improvement should address… what we teach and how we teach.
Mike Schmoker will be the keynote presenter at the 2022 Genesee Valley BOCES Leadership Institute (LI). Regional administrators were given a copy of the text FOCUS at the 2021 Leadership Institute in preparation for Schmoker’s upcoming keynote. The School Improvement Team (SIT) invites all Genesee Valley BOCES administrators to read the text prior to the LI event in August. (Please call SIT if you need a copy.) A study guide and opportunities to discuss the book synchronously with other administrators from the region will be forthcoming, in order to prepare for the 2022 LI event. These resources and opportunities will be sent out on the Genesee Valley BOCES listservs. Stay tuned for more information!
Discussing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Genesee Valley Region
The New York State Board of Regents launched an initiative to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in schools across New York State. As the first steps in the initiative, the Board released a policy statement as well as a draft framework and call to action for all schools in New York State to develop policies that advance DEI as a priority in their schools. In an effort to support the Genesee Valley BOCES component districts with the alignment to the Board of Regents initiative, the School Improvement Team (SIT) partnered with a local expert, Dr. Luvelle Brown, on leading a culture of love and ensuring a culturally responsive teaching/learning environment.
Dr. Brown is currently the Ithaca City Schools Superintendent and has received various awards and recognitions. The 2017 New York State Superintendent of the Year has been listed by TrustED as one of the nation’s top educators and thought leaders. In 2022, he received the prestigious Dr. Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award. Dr. Brown has been recognized by the National School Boards Association as a “20-to-Watch” and “Difference Maker.” He also received the Center for Digital Education Top 30 Award as well as the 2014 eSchool News Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award. He was selected by the US Department of Education as one of the nation’s top 100 Innovative Superintendents. Along with that distinction, Dr. Brown was invited to be a featured speaker at President Barack Obama’s 1st National Superintendent Summit at the White House. Additionally, Dr. Brown has served on the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) Executive Committee, The School Superintendents Association (AASA) Digital Consortium, The Center for Digital Education Advisory Council, and CoSN’s Empowered Superintendent Advisory Panel.
If interested in DEI/Equity long-range planning, please feel free to contact the SIT.
School Improvement Spotlights
Warsaw CSD Spotlighted At NYSED BOR Meeting!
The April Board of Regents Meeting starred a local Genesee Valley BOCES Region representative. Invited through the work of NYS Staff Curriculum Development Network and the ELA PD Framework Group, Mrs. Kimberly Monahan, Director of Instructional Services for the Warsaw Central School District, shared Warsaw’s “story” regarding the process toward full implementation of the NYS Next Generation Learning Standards for ELA. Graciously, Kim Zoom-ed into the BOR Meeting from her spring vacation to discuss Warsaw’s efforts to improve local curricula to reflect the NGLS, discuss how the district leveraged BOCES as a partner, and share some staff reflections regarding the project.
During the allotted time, Mrs. Monahan shared how she created a map for curriculum review that included initial priority areas, which included English Language Arts. Through her leadership, a Steering Committee was created to take a “deep dive into the NGLS”-- a component of which concentrated on analysis of local assessment data. As a result of the Steering Committee’s initial work, teams of teachers partnered with BOCES School Improvement Staff to prioritize standards, develop pacing guides, audit instructional units, and create quality learning intentions and success criteria to enhance clarity, as well as to illustrate “what students need to know and be able to do and how students can demonstrate proficiency.”
Kim generously thanked BOCES for working with her to develop a long-range plan of which School Improvement provided “the structure and progress monitoring tools necessary to support staff to continue to make progress.” Although the project represents significant and sustained effort from a myriad of staff at the Local Educational Agency (LEA) level, Mrs. Monahan shared that a seasoned veteran exclaimed of the process as turning out to be “really good professional development!”
Thank you Mrs. Monahan for showcasing the work at Warsaw!
CoSer 526 Form A Documents Due
Genesee Valley BOCES Leadership Institute 2022
Follow School Improvement on Twitter
Don’t forget that you can follow the School Improvement Team (SIT) on Twitter. The team is often posting information about upcoming professional learning opportunities, educational resources, and strategies for the classroom. You can stay in tune with what is happening at Genesee Valley BOCES and the SIT by following #gvbocessit.
Need Support?
Website: http://www.gvboces.org/services.cfm?subpage=208119
Location: 80 Munson Street, Le Roy, NY, USA
Phone: 585.344.7923