OSP Connected
November, 2018-Office for School Performance-Volume 23
Message from Dayle
My mom passed away about seven years ago and every now and then someone says or does something that makes me think of her. Last week it was a phrase that started with “Take a minute to be mad about it” but in my head it ended with my mom saying, “…and then solve the problem!”
Although my mom was compassionate, she didn’t extend a lot of patience for drama or emotional responses. Her young life was tough. By the time she was an adult she had found her strength and didn’t spend much time fretting over obstacles or worrying much about people’s opinions. I grew up with phrases like, “Don’t worry about that”, “It’s going to be fine!”, and “Don’t let what people say affect you!”
So why the story?
By now you know the continual cry of my heart is to know each of our students and help each of them succeed. The truth is for the over 85% of us who are white and middle class, we do this better for kids who look and act like us. For the over 50% of kids who don’t, we are not doing as well. Our kids of color are over twice as likely to get referrals, they achieve and graduate at rates less than their white peers, their attendance is worse and so are their grades. Sadly, our black and Hispanic boys are most impacted- but our girls of color are close on their heels.
Does that data frustrate you? Are you feeling like teaching has changed? Kids have changed? It’s true! Our population has changed, social media has influenced our society, the rigors of education are greater, we are asked to teach in different ways- you are right!
From the wisdom of my mother, “Take a minute to be mad about it then solve the problem!”
I don’t want to minimize the challenge of teaching in 2018 but the truth is, the kids we have are the ones we need to serve and it’s our job to engage and teach them. You can do this! It starts with building relationships and knowing who is sitting in front of you. When you find yourself frustrated, take time to talk to your students. Help them problem solve with you. Kids are always willing to tell you their perspectives if you are willing to ask.
And, it’s about focus. There are always a million things to do. Lots of shiny objects on pinterest and on twitter may make you feel like you are behind. Focus. Teach the standards at the highest levels of rigor. Scaffold and explicitly teach language so all students achieve. Invest in your PLC to work smarter and more efficiently. You can do this!
Thank you for your work and service to our students.
HSD Focus 2018-2019
INSTRUCTION: Using Formative Assessments that Drive Instruction
Traditionally, we use assessments to measure how much students have learned up to a particular point in time. We call these “assessments of learning” or summative assessments and it is what we use to see whether our students are meeting standards. Although these assessment of learning are important, if we are to assign grades to students and provide accountability, we should also focus more on “assessments for learning”. These types of assessments - formative assessments- support learning during the learning process and provide ongoing feedback that can be used by students and teachers to improve learning. The word formative is defined as serving to form something, especially having a profound and lasting influence on a person’s development. This means that formative assessments should shape instructional decisions to have a profound influence on a students learning success. “The Handbook for Embedded Formative Assessment” by Solution Tree clearly provides 5 strategies for teachers to help their instruction be adaptive to their learner's needs:
Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions and success criteria - What are you looking for and do students know what they are suppose to learn and how it is measured?
Eliciting evidence of learning - How could you best elicit the evidence?
Providing feedback that moves learning forward - How do students know how they are doing and what they need in order to have success?
Activating learners as instructional resources for one another - How are students made accountable for each others learning success?
Activating learners as owners of their own learning - What ongoing structures are in place for students to monitor their own learning to the targeted goal?
Through CM, GLAD, Systematic ELD and AVID we have learned many types of formative assessments. The essential idea is simple, teaching should be guided by formative assessments that get the best possible evidence about what students are learning. Therefore the purpose of your formative assessment should guide what and how you will use it.
BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS through Culturally Responsive Teaching
Here are two quick things to keep in mind from Zaretta Hammond as we continue our work around culturally responsive teaching practices:
(1) Culturally responsive teaching doesn’t have to be a performance the teacher does to entertain students and;
(2) It doesn’t have to mention race or reference culture at all. Instead, what makes a practice culturally responsive is that it mimics students’ own cultural learning tools. These practices are helpful for all students, not targeted at minority students.
The real trick is to use these strategies regularly as part of your instructional routine rather than doing them randomly every now and then. Consistency is the key.
Here are 3 things you can implement in your classroom right now in order to make content more accessible to all students:
- Gamify it: Most games employ a lot of the cultural tools you'd find in oral traditions - repetition, solving a puzzle, making connections between things that don't seem to be related.
- Make it social: Organizing learning so that students relay on each other will build on diverse students' communal orientation.
- Storify It: Diverse students (and all students) learn content more effectively if they can create a coherent narrative about the topic or process presented.
Read more on the topic in an article from Cult of Pedagogy here.
Website: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/culturally-responsive-teaching-strategies/
CAREER & COLLEGE READY: Key Academic Achievement Indicators
Each year in our Career and College Pathways work we share 5 metrics with staff, students, parents and community. The selected metrics are: FAFSA (Free Application for Financial Aid) submissions gathered from the FAFSA.gov report, 2 and 4 year postsecondary persistence data collected by National Clearinghouse data, total number of student internships attended using the Hillsboro Chamber reports and number of students earning dual credit and the amount in potential dollars save collected by postsecondary and ESD reports. We are pleased to say that due to the hard work of our Hillsboro School District staff and community stakeholders, all 5 metrics have increased in one year (please see graph). We hope that through our continuous collaboration with internal and external partners we continue to see an increase to one day reach our vision of clear and viable pathways for all students.
Coffee Conversations
Hillsboro SD Region 8 Title I-C Advocate of the Year
Lisa Aguilar, principal of WL Henry Elementary, was selected as the Oregon State Title I-C Advocate of the Year. She received her award on Friday, November 2, 2018, accompanied by family members.
Lisa Aguilar has been in the field of bilingual education for over 20 years, and has always been a strong advocate for EL and Migrant students and families. This is a life mission very close to her heart. She works closely with both PAC and PTO parent leaders, and holds monthly “coffee with the principal” meetings to gather feedback from families and to build relationships. She is a trust-builder who fosters open dialog and meaningful conversations. Principal Aguilar guides Henry to be a welcoming, safe space where students are respectful, thoughtful, honorable, and kind.
We celebrate and congratulate Principal Aguilar, and are proud to have such an exemplary educator at the helm of WL Henry.
Title I-C Student of the Year
Our very own Eduardo J. Silva Alonso has been selected as Oregon State’s Title I-C Student of the Year. He was nominated by the Hillsboro School District, and received his award on Friday, November 2, 2018, accompanied by his parents and little sister.
Eduardo attended the Oregon Migrant Leadership Institute last summer and shared his experiences at the HSD Fall Summit. He maintains high overall academic standards and participates in both the AVID and Dual Language programs. An outstanding musician, Eduardo is also in Symphonic Band, the Jazz Ensemble, and the Una Voz Mariachi band. Una Voz is frequently invited to perform in public arenas, including recent performances at the Portland Trailblazers Viva Rip City and pre-show lobby concert for the Oregon Symphony, as well as many local events.
We feel fortunate to have this illustrious young man in the Hillsboro School District and Migrant Education Program.
5th Grade Math Case Study Highlight
We congratulate them and are proud to have them be instructional leaders in our district.
Dual Language Update
As our dual language program in the elementary schools expands with a grade level each year, the 2018-2019 school year marks three of our four feeders providing dual language opportunities at the middle school level: Hilhi feeder, Century feeder, and Liberty feeder. Please reference the Dual Language Expansion Timeline document regarding how, what, and when each DLP school expands in our feeder system.
On November 27th, HSD will host a 6th grade Dual Language Family Night. Families from Reedville, Eastwood, Lincoln Street, and Wtich Hazel have been invited to attend to learn about the DL program and options that each of the middle schools offer. Read this information page to learn more about the Middle School DL expansion.
Teaching and Learning 2.0
DCA Corner
Welcome to this new addition to OSP Connected! Each month we will highlight a report, query or feature in DCA that you can use to make thoughtful, well-informed, data-driven decisions to better help students be successful. DCA is rich in student data, easy to use and a great resource to help you more holistically analyze the many factors contributing to a student’s successes and challenges.
For this month, we are highlighting the new Attendance Goal Calendar reports. There are two such reports in the Attendance section of DCA reports, one that shows individual student attendance and another that shows school-wide attendance. These reports are delivered as month-by-month calendars; color-coded to indicate attendance percent ranges. They are a great way to obtain a graphical snapshot of a student’s or a school’s attendance “streaks.” Here is an example of a goal calendar for Century High School last school year:
One quick look and you can see that school-wide attendance starts out strong at the beginning of the year but then tapers off as the year progresses. As an added feature, rolling your cursor over the daily color-coded date blocks pops up a window showing the overall attendance percentage for each day on the calendar.
The Attendance Goal Report for individual students has the same look and feel of the above and is a great tool to use with students and families to both discuss attendance concerns as well as celebrate positive attendance “streaks.” Individual student reports may be downloaded to PDF and printed to share with students and parents.
If you have questions about DCA and/or would like training in your building on using DCA, contact Tom Luba (lubat@hsd.k12.or.us.)