October 9, 2007 Update

The following information was provided to the Board of Education on October 9, 2007. The information provides an update on Curriculum and Assessment for the current school year.

Curriculum and Instruction

Curriculum Discussions:

In October buildings have or will be conducting a curriculum needs assessment to determine what subject area(s) need the most focus from a teacher's perspective. A thirty minute meeting will be the kick off in each building to identify the curriculum needs and what we are currently doing that we like, don't like, and prescription for change.

Scheduled Dates for Curriculum Needs Assessments:
Eisenhower Junior High: October 5th
Mark DeLay School: October 9th
Lace School: October 19th

Once the needs are identified we will establish a curriculum cycle which will lay out a plan for regular review and recommendations for curriculum in the district. All feedback from the staffs at each building will be coordinated and shared as we move forward. It is anticipated that a summary should be available by the November update.

Staff Development

The Staff Development committee met on Wednesday, October 3, 2007. The Committee Chairperson for the 2007-08 school year is Amy Brundage.

In addition, we have made changes in the terms of membership. Beginning this year teachers will serve as members on rotating three year terms. The committee currently has representation from each building. The Staff Development plan is in place and will continue to fine tune the plan for the rest of the year and begin the planning of the final year of the three year plan later this year.

Screenings

Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy (ISEL)

All information has been entered into a database which will be exported into the CRT program by Mr. Hotton. CRT data should be up and available to teachers by the October 19th School Improvement Day Early Dismissal. In the future we will be able to generate reports as needed based on feedback from teacher needs. The double entering of data will be eliminated as teachers will be able to enter the data directly to the CRT web site.

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

Results are being entered into a spreadsheet which will be exported into the CRT by Mr. Hotton. CRT data should be up and available to teachers by October 19th School Improvement Day Early Dismissal. In the future we will be able to generate reports as needed based on feedback from teacher needs. The double entering of data will be eliminated as teachers will be able to enter the data directly to the CRT website.

September 11, 2007 Update

The following information was provided to the Board of Education on September 11, 2007. The information provides an update on Curriculum and Assessment for the current school year.

Curriculum and Instruction

Discovery:

Last year it was recommended that students in second grade be identified for Discovery using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the areas of math, reading, and language and the Cognitive Abilities Test.

This test will be administered in February and results are expected back in early/mid April. This will allow for the test data to be used for identification of second graders for third grade discovery.

In addition, students in grade 5 will take the Cognitive Abilities Test in February. This ability test has been reinstated as it will be useful, along with ISAT data and teacher recommendation, to identify students for Discovery at EJH.

The assessment information will allow the teachers to identify students based on criteria developed for the Discovery program.

Learning To Read:

After reviewing the evaluation of the Learning to Read (LTR) program dated June 15, 2007 and talking with Ms. Kelly, principal of DeLay School, we are moving forward with LTR. The following highlights have set the direction to address issues presented in the evaluation and improve the impact of such a program:

-continuation for another year of the LTR program,
-keep a record of students that comprise each teacher group,
-have teachers keep a record of instructional strategies/methods used,
-keep track of students who do not reach mastery for follow up

Ms. Kelly and her staff are developing appropriate record keeping instruments which can be used to record the data necessary for further evaluation of this program.

Elements of Reading Vocabulary:

Grades one, two and three will use the Elements of Reading Vocabulary workbooks for the 2007-08 school year. This is a program that originally began at Fairview school under the direction of the reading teachers. DeLay teachers also used the materials during the 2006-07 school year. Some kits were purchased for use with the workbooks and those already purchased are available within each building. The number of kits will need to be further evaluated as well as the impact of the program in our district.


Screenings

Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy (ISEL)

Teachers have complete the ISEL screening. Information from the screening was used by Kindergarten teachers to assign student placement before the beginning of the year. Some students who were not screened before the start of the year have been screened and their data is included in the data base.

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

Teachers are conducting the DIBELS screening for students in grades K - 5. This screening is done during the school year as a progress monitoring tool for student performance.

The reading committee is working with the Junior High staff to determine the best way to complete this screening for students at EJH.