October 8, 2020

During my home visits one thing that was very apparent is that parents and students are overwhelmed with distance learning. Parents did NOT know their student's grades and have not been logging in to check on them. Just because they are not signing in does not mean they don't care. It was very clear they DO care and appreciated the home visit. We came up with plans to help their child while they are at home. As a No Excuses school it is our job to step in and make sure we follow up in different ways. What is another way to let a parent know how their child is doing? Every visit was very emotional and students WANT to do better, they are just lost in this digital platform. 

Please take a deep breath and be okay with the fact that you are NOT going to cover the same amount of material or projects or assignments that you would in a normal year. We are NOT in a normal year!

That being said, TRULY take a look at what you are assigning and whether it is TRULY needed/effective/important/meaningful. There is no need to have so many assignments given. There is no prize for the teacher who assigns the most! Let's not stress our students out! Keep in mind if a student has mastered a concept and our report cards are standards based should their grade go down because they didn't finish the assignments????

NO EXCUSES UNIVERSITY – DATA ANALYSIS

Culture of Universal Achievement

Collaboration

Standards Alignment

Assessment Plan

Data Analysis

Interventions

“It is one thing to have a sophisticated system of regular, formative assessments, but if that assessment data is not collected, disaggregated and reported in a timely and user-friendly manner, it becomes almost unusable.  We believe data must be easily accessible, openly shared, and deliberately arranged.”

There are three main components to data management:

#11. Easily accessible

#  2. Openly shared

#  3. Deliberately arranged

Easily accessible:  We are so fortunate to have two data systems that provide us with on-the-spot data about our students, our schools, and our district.  If you have not become proficient on MAP, you are missing out on valuable tools that will help guide your conversations and actions.  The best part of MAP and Illuminate is that both systems are accessible to our staff.

Openly shared:  During our collaborative time with grade levels, we have shared multiple data sets that include district and site-level academic achievement.  We should currently be working with our school’s formative (or MAP) data and providing intervention now.  

Deliberately arranged:  Over the last few weeks, we have been hearing lots of thoughts about student achievement – reasons for increases or decreases.  One of our commitments is to be specific when we talk about student achievement.  Student achievement data is readily available and we need to use it to describe academic progress.  Furthermore, as you look to each data set, make certain you drill down to the student level.  Don’t just look at the data from the 30,000 foot view.  Remember…data doesn’t always answer questions.  More often than not, it raises questions. AND DATA BELONGS TO THE STUDENT!

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Make some time to connect with a student. It will make a difference.

Play:  Make sure you take some time to RELAX.

 Choose your attitude: BE POSITIVE!!!

Make Their Day:  Thank you Carlos for your hard work to keep our campus beautiful!