IN VISION
#NCCVTWORKS
9/5/2020
NCCVT MISSION
To provide superior Career and Technical Education enabling all students to achieve their aspirations.
CTE PRIME
Delaware Labor Force Trends
Please review the following data from two perspectives:
One, how as a CTE district does this or will impact us? (e.g. Cooperative employment).
Two, how does this impact our students and their families? How may this manifest itself in our students? (e.g. attendance, behavior)
- Delaware’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July 2020 was 10.4%, down from 12.6% in June 2020.
- There were 52,600 unemployed Delawareans in July 2020 compared to 18,600 in July 2019. The US unemployment rate was 10.2% in July 2020, down from 11.1% in June 2020.
- In July 2019, the US unemployment rate was 3.7%, while Delaware’s rate was 3.8%. In July 2020, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment was 422,100, up from 414,800 in June 2020.
- Since July 2019, Delaware’s total nonfarm jobs have decreased by a net loss of 43,100, a decline of 9.2%. Nationally, jobs during that period declined 7.7%.
Weekly Brief
Thank you for a power packed week!
As we move forward with our plans, it is very natural for us and our staff to uncover particulars that we may not have thought of or anticipated. This is natural and to be expected. As leaders it is our responsibility to predict, prepare, and execute with as much forethought and perceptual acuity as possible. That being said, great leaders also pivot very fast. Once a need is clearly identified it is our response time that is vital to success.
At this time, we need to continue to communicate with each other as much as possible. Below is an email guide that I shared with the principals last week and a few others. I am asking that these codes be used in our internal emails. Like you, I receive an excessive amount of emails that require some sort of action and this coding method allows you to communicate with those you supervise in an effective manner. The clarity lies in the subject line because the recipient knows right away that there is an expectation with the email.
Also, more than a few of you have mentioned to me that you are struggling balancing the number of emails with all of the to other work that needs to be done. I will say that in times like these there is no balance. Yes, we should strive for balance in normal circumstances but the last several months have been anything but normal, so be sure to be reasonable with your expectations.
Here is an email./mail hack I developed years ago when we short an administrator at Christiana High. At the time, we had about 1400 students and each AP had their own caseload organized by alphabet. When the AP left on extended leave our case load jumped to 700 students -- 1 principal, 2 APs, 1400 students. This is not perfect but it's pretty good.
Email Hack -- The 5 Ds of email decision-making
Delete -- junk or informational -- you just don't need to hang on to it.
Delegate -- assign the question/work to someone. This is where you would use Response Required or Action Item.
Delay -- this may be something DOE sends out but doesn't require your attention for a few days or weeks. Tip: Drag the email into your calendar so you don't forget it and you automatically block out time to work on it in your calendar.
Do -- this are emails you can respond to in a couple minutes.The mistake people make is that they unrealistically set the amount of time needed to look at emails.
Deadlines -- this is for yourself and others. If you get an email that will require a couple hours of work (possibly from me) then make sure you know the deadline. This is harder than it looks, but also try to tell those you are delegating to the deadline. We've all received an email, dropped everything we were doing, upended our day, only to find out it wasn't urgent. This is why we will use HOT in the subject line.
Up Ahead: COVID continues
- In the upcoming week we will hold a Start Strong Live parent series that includes the following events virtually:
- 9/1 Mrs. Villa and I will present on the district’s expectations for remote learning, student expectations, how parents can support their child and ways we can support families.
- 9/2 Each school will host their New Student Orientation virtually.
- 9/3 Dr. Jezyk will hold an informational meeting for all new Special Education students and parents.
2. Our staff survey to determine who is willing to come in and work in-person with our students with special needs will be posted soon. After we receive their feedback, we will fully develop and implement our learning center plan.
3. We are looking at childcare needs for our staff, so we have a clear understanding of various issues when we begin hybrid learning.
4. We are ironing out a couple issues regarding recording live synchronous teaching sessions. We believe the FERPA concerns are resolved. We are know reviewing a potential MOU with NCCVTEA if we move forward with recording these live sessions more to come.
5. I want to make everyone aware of an upcoming event hosted by NCCVT SPEAKS and others. You may have received an email yesterday about the event. This event is not in conjunction with our DEI efforts although throughout the summer we have listened intently to those who have used this platform to communicate racial injustice.
I believe our efforts regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion will make a huge impact on our district and the community. We will continue to move forward to create the very best learning environments for our students through our own learning, engaging our community, developing our staff, and creating opportunities for our students.
For those of you that have done the 30th count, know these challenges when we are in session, let alone a remote start. Below are some Best Practices and thoughts to incorporate and guide our work.
Best Practices:
1. Contact: The pandemic made clear that we lacked current contact-information for many of our students and families. In some cases, families moved suddenly because of lost jobs or health concerns. In others, contacts were outdated. Develop a system to contact every person that you don't have up to date contact information on. If you need assistance, please contact Kathy D who has worked on this issue the last several years. Be sure to involve as many staff members as possible to help accomplish the goal of ensuring every family is receiving our communications.
2. Connectivity: Some students (possibly parents) may need internet access, proper equipment and training on utilizing online learning platforms to participate in distance learning. We need to identify as quickly as possible students who need internet access. We will also hold a parent session on tech and cover how to use platforms that we use in the district.
3. Relationships: Research and experience show that strong reciprocal relationships with caring adults and educators are key to keeping students and families involved in school and learning.
4. Participation: Teachers need to actively track whether students participate in online classes or access other remote learning.
5. Chronic Absence: As we monitor attendance and participation, we can determine if students are chronically absent. Ideally, when students miss 10% or more of learning opportunities across all modalities – in person, synchronous virtual and asynchronous, we actively engage the student and parent and develop a plan of support.
Take the Time to Climb: Principle -- Management
Going Beyond...
#NCCVTWorks for Equity in Action.
Up Ahead
Start Strong Live Parent Series