Superintendent’s [Re]Briefing

Superintendent’s [Re]Briefing

Principals’ MeetingAugust 24, 2010December 2010

Las Cruces Public Schools

Stan Rounds

Principals’ MeetingAugust 24, 2010December 2010

Las Cruces Public Schools

Stan Rounds

Las Cruces Public

Schools - A Responsive

Learning Community

Las Cruces Public

Schools - A Responsive

Learning Community

Our Mission: The Las Cruces Public Schools, in partnership

with students, families, and the community, provides a student-centered learning environment

that cultivates character, fosters academic excellence,

and embraces diversity.

Our Mission: The Las Cruces Public Schools, in partnership

with students, families, and the community, provides a student-centered learning environment

that cultivates character, fosters academic excellence,

and embraces diversity.

A Responsive Learning Community

• Budget reductions cannot limit our mission to provide “a student-centered learning environment that cultivates character, fosters academic excellence, and embraces diversity”

• Educational plans must emerge from student achievement data and be purposeful and targeted

✴ School-based EPSS due on September 30 [Target Met - EPSS Peer Reviews conducted; November 1 all EPSS ready for PED review, PED comments forthcoming; outcomes drive revisions, revisions are ongoing, evidence linked to goal attainment, and revised EPSS due January 24, 2011]

✴ EPSS [review] includes essential elements discussed at the Administrators’ Retreat [revisited today]

✴ COGNOS will be a valuable tool [Limited implementation]

A Responsive Learning Community

• We must expand our definition of “intervention” to include those in the upper quartile without compromising our commitment to those in the lower quartile

✴ Who are your upper quartile students?

✴ Who are the students reading below grade level? [How many students are reading below grade level?]

✴ Who are the students not meeting proficiency standards in mathematics?

✴ What is your acceleration model? [Acceleration Guidance Manual posted as part of IKE and Instructional Framework Tools]

✴ Are interventions meeting the needs of students?

✴ Are these questions [answers, and progress] addressed [documented] in your EPSS?

• Parental and community involvement is essential

A responsive community Is Attentive to current dataNMSBA: Students Proficient or Above In

Mathematics

A responsive community Is Attentive to current dataNMSBA: Students Proficient or Above in Reading

K-2 It’s all about you (getting

them ready for third grade reading level)

A responsive community Is Attentive to its plan of Action

• Transformational Model - a rigorous intervention model that all schools commit to implement (AY 10-11 focus on Tier I - Classroom Based Interventions prior to referral to Tier II intervention)

• Reading, language arts, and mathematics proficiency for all students

✴ Instructional leadership (PLC’s are focused on student achievement and learning plans emerge that allow for differentiation of instruction and Tier I classroom-based interventions [no more than 15% are targeted for Tier II])

✴ Comprehensive and purposeful data analysis to ensure that ALL students are learning [MAP growth August to December]

A responsive community Is Attentive to its plan of Action

✴ Focus on the “whole child” through a robust interdisciplinary curriculum that includes the arts, music, physical education, science, & social studies [recess] (Critical at the elementary and middle school - PDT professional development will begin to focus on this aspect of the learning process [examine PDT agendas])

✴ Implementation of the core curriculum with fidelity (District Curriculum Instructional Framework Tools posted on web site)

A responsive community Is Attentive to its plan of Action

Highly qualified teachers and para-professionals

✴ Hiring process to attract & retain the “best” [report on highly qualified in review by HR and Federal Programs]

✴ Beginning teacher induction program & mentoring [mid-year review scheduled with Associate Superintendent]

✴ Proficiency levels for English Language Learners in all academic subjects (Bilingual Department available for technical assistance and working with PLCs on appropriate strategies and in-class support for teachers) [ELL Task Force continues to meet, recommendations due in March; master schedules continue to reflect the needs of ELL students]

✴ Alignment and use of NM ELD standards [at all levels; principals’ responsibility to ensure use of the standards]

A responsive community Is Attentive to its plan of Action

✴ Curriculum maps guide and align instruction (Current focus is on aligning the middle grade maps with Common Core Reading and Language Arts Standards and Springboard [National Core Standards in Language Arts and Mathematics adopted on October 21, 2010; district review and alignment during the 2011-2012 AY with full implementation in August 2012])

✴ Differentiated professional development that is job-embedded and data driven (Classroom Walk Throughs, MAP, NM SBA, ACCESS, other qualitative data that emerges from PLCs [ongoing and documented in EPSS (i.e., PD 360 usage reports, PLC agendas & minutes, achievement growth and/or regression)])

✴ Classroom walk through protocol (Are we ready? Walk throughs should begin this week; what is your schedule? [PDC coordinator preparing report for Superintendent for use in principal evaluation discussion beginning in January; each teacher receives 2 visits per month])

A responsive community accepts & Meets challenges

• Increase attendance rates by 1.5% (baseline 09-10; attendance interventions as outlined in JEA-R; documentation reviewed during principal evaluation )

• Increase graduation rate by 20% at all high schools (withdrawals, transfers, and drop outs are monitored monthly by Directors of Elementary and Secondary Instruction )

• All subpopulations show growth in measured achievement areas by at least 10% (regression is not an option, cohorts monitored through MAP & NM SBA [AAR staff will prepare MAP growth reports for discussion during principal evaluation])

A responsive community accepts & Meets challenges

• Career and college counseling is provided to students, not some but ALL (critical at the high school, exposure at the middle school, exploration at the elementary school)

• Examination of the critical role that counselors play in the educational, social, & behavioral context (a change in practice; an action plan is in development by the Directors of Elementary and Secondary Instruction)

• Central office personnel provide support that is timely and productive (Associate Superintendents will gather principals’ input [survey will be distributed in February; please respond honestly and openly])

A responsive community Is Attentive to a plan of Action

• Coordinated review of all interventions above the core (Directors of Elementary and Secondary Instruction, in collaboration with building principal, review progress each semester; process to address needs of dyslexic students rolled out in September [in progress, December meeting will address full roll out])

• Safe, Drug-free schools conducive to learning (Federal Program Office reviews all referrals and develops action plan with each building principal to address emerging issues on a semester basis [Anti-Bullying plans are embedded in EPSS] )

• Careful analysis of discipline referrals and consequences (School Leadership Team meets in PLC to analyze referrals and determine actions steps)

A responsive community Is Attentive to a plan of Action

• Valuing and encouraging parental involvement (School Advisory Council is conducted monthly and agendas are kept on file; representative from the SAC attends District Advisory Committee [Superintendent’s Office will distribute summary report for each building in January])

• Exploring alternative education opportunities (The school EPSS defines a process to identify and work with students who are in need of alternative education options at the school - academic, behavioral, & social)

• Support for student transitions from one level to the next (The EPSS specifies a clear articulation plan for students who transfer from one level to the next [promising practices are emerging, i.e., Onate and two feeder campuses; 9th grade support study has identified this as a significant strategy])

A responsive community Accepts & Meets challenges

• Teachers, principals, and assistant principals call a parent every day with a positive message (The EPSS identifies this as a proactive strategy and also specifies a monitoring strategy)

• Teachers take accurate attendance daily within the first ten minutes of class (The school leadership team monitors this practice and identifies a plan of action to work with teachers who are not taking accurate attendance)

• School staff welcome all parents and visitors professionally (“the 8-second rule”) (How is your school doing in this regard? School Leadership Team discusses proactive strategies and implements these strategies)

A responsive community Accepts & Meets challenges

• Communication loop is closed within 24-hours (schools and central office) with minimal transfers (Community survey results show marked increase in parent satisfaction in this regard)

• Criticality is the measure for all travel (Is travel required to meet EPSS goal, strategy, & action? Can the goal, strategy, & action be accomplished without travel to a meeting or conference? Is video conferencing an option? All travel requests must include specific school-based EPSS goal, strategy, & action)

• We must take a proactive attitude to address budget challenges

A responsive community Is Attentive to its plan of Action

• We must will continue to embrace our challenges

• We must will continue to ensure that all decisions are student focused

• We must will continue to alter our course when student needs dictate such a change