From:                     Marino, Jay

Sent:                      Friday, January 10, 2003 10:02 AM

To:                         Administrators

Cc:                         Charvat, Cheryl

Subject:                 Updates and Reminders for 1-10-03

 

Updates and Reminders for 1-10-03 from the Office of Instruction and School Improvement...

 

Topics in this issue include…

 

ACTION ITEMS

-Koalaty Kid Conference and Site Visit Opportunities For Administrators (Contact My By Friday, January 17th)

-List of Strategies & Intervention At Your School- Due Friday January 24th

-Evaluate January 27th 1/2 Day In-service; Due Monday, February 3rd

 

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

-Reminder- Previously Scheduled SIP/Budget Planning Meetings With Jay, Kay & Bruce Are Postponed

-Koalaty Kid Updates

-SIP Updates

-Science Training- 1-24-03 & 2-26-03

-ITBS & ISAT Summary Data Available (Board of Education SIP Reports)

-Illinois Learning Standards/RISD Curriculum Alignment & Student Friendly Standards Online Now!

 

 

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Instruction/School Improvement Related- Dates To Remember...

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Please note- This is not an exclusive list of meetings; there may be other meetings that are not included on the list below

*January 16h, 8:45 - 3:00pm-  Social Studies Curriculum Alignment Committee meeting (http://curriculum.risd41.org/committee/social_studies/meeting1-16-03.htm )

*January 16th, 3:45pm- Koalaty Kid facilitator meeting (http://curriculum.risd41.org/documents/koalaty/facilitators/school_facilitators.htm )

*January 17th, 9:15am- Leadership Meeting (http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/principal_meetings/principal_meetings_02-03.htm)

*January 17th- Last date to let Jay know if you are interested in attending the National Koalaty Kid conference (http://www.asq.org/ed/conferences/koalatykid/index.html)

*January 21st, 3:30 - 7:30pm- Day 5 Koalaty Kid training at TPC (http://curriculum.risd41.org/documents/koalaty/school_data/kk_schools.htm)

*January 23rd, 9:15am- K-12 Principal meeting (http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/principal_meetings/principal_meetings_02-03.htm)

*January 24th, 8:30am- FOSS training for Science P.O.C's (http://curriculum.risd41.org/committee/science/poc/foss_mcmillan_training.htm)

*January 24th, Last day to turn in list of strategies & interventions ( http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/improvement_strategies.doc )

*January 27th, 1/2 day school improvement- make sure to evaluate in-service using the usual means (http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/pd/profes_dev.htm)

*February 3rd, 1/2 day school improvement evaluation summaries due (http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/pd/profes_dev.htm)

*February 4th, 3:45pm- Social Studies Curriculum Alignment Committee (http://curriculum.risd41.org/committee/social_studies/ss_curriculum_align.htm)

*February 5th, 3:45pm- Science Point of Contact Meeting (http://curriculum.risd41.org/committee/science/poc/point_of_contact.htm)

 

 

ACTION ITEMS

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-Koalaty Kid Conference and Site Visit Opportunities For Administrators (Contact My By Friday, January 17th)

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One of the best ways to enrich your knowledge of quality tools and how PDSA works in the school or classroom is by making a site visit to a model school or attending the National Koalaty Kid conference.  I am working on setting up a site visit to Pekin School district sometime over March intersession.  The Koalaty Kid conference is April 5th - 8th in Ottawa, Canada.  If you are interested in attending either the Koalaty Kid site visit or the Koalaty Kid national conference, please contact me by Friday, January 17th.  You won't want to miss these opportunities to develop your understanding and enhance your ability to drive data driven decision making and continuous improvement in your school.  More information about the Koalaty Kid conference is available online at http://www.asq.org/ed/conferences/koalatykid/index.html .

 

 

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List of Strategies & Intervention At Your School- Due Friday January 24th

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One of our goals next year is to develop effective classroom instructional models & practices district wide.  In efforts to begin this task, the PDSA cycle directs us to "define the system" or identify what we are currently doing.  By Friday, January 24th, we would like each school to list the effective instructional practices, programs and interventions being utilized at your school.  This includes assisting programs or other strategies for school improvement.  Examples might be;  PBIS, balanced literacy, Koalaty Kid, Soar to Success and others.  Later this Spring or Fall, we will be seeking to put together a committee of teachers and administrators to help make recommendations for effective instructional strategies for all subject areas and grade levels.  More information to come on this topic...

 

I will compile this information and report it back out to all principals.  Please use the following form- http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/improvement_strategies.doc .  Please download the file to your computer, enter the data and then email the file back by January 24th.  Thanks for your assistance.

 

 

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Evaluate January 27th 1/2 Day In-service; Due Monday, February 3rd

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Just a reminder to evaluate the January 27th 1/2 day in-service using the customary format.  Please use the standard "professional development evaluation form" found at http://curriculum.risd41.org/documents/pd/evaluation.doc and submit your school's summary evaluation to the Curriculum Office by Monday, February 3rd.  In efforts to continuously improve our staff development activities, please review last year's evaluation data and make changes as necessary.  Last year's 1/2 day evaluations are available online at http://curriculum.risd41.org/documents/pd/evals/pd_evaluations.htm .  Thanks for your assistance.

 

 

 

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

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Reminder- Previously Scheduled SIP/Budget Planning Meetings With Jay, Kay & Bruce Are Postponed

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Just a quick reminder that the scheduled Title I Budget/SIP meetings are postponed until after more information is available to schools.  In light of the budget cuts that will be made, it seems wise to postpone these meetings until we all have a better picture of the impacts of reductions.  Please continue planning how Title I (and other school funding sources) will support an effective SIP.  More information to come later... 

 

 

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Koalaty Kid Updates

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On January 21st, 125 teachers, administrators and paras will complete their 5 day Koalaty Kid training.  This will mean that 13 schools will have teams (and is some schools most teachers) trained in the Koalaty Kid approach to continuous improvement.  It is becoming evident as I visit schools and classrooms that the Koalaty Kid initiative is beginning to take off.  Congratulations to all schools who are completing the training. 

 

To better support, sustain and build internal capacity for Koalaty Kid to become a powerful change agent, we are initiating our second wave of support through the implementation of Koalaty Kid facilitators.

A building Koalaty Kid facilitator keeps the momentum of Koalaty Kid training going in the school. He/she works closely with the building principal and school improvement team to enhance the school's use of Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) and the use of quality tools. He/she serves as a "coach" for teachers and works with staff in refining their skills in the following areas: use of data driven decision making at the classroom level, creating classroom mission statements, implementing the use of student data folders (and student led conference techniques), use of quality tools to enhance instruction and use of PDSA to increase academic achievement and positive student behavior. In general, the school's Koalaty Kid facilitator serves as a "PDSA/quality tools support person".

It is our vision that every school in RISD 41 has a Koalaty Kid facilitator. Facilitators may be involved in the following:
-Share best practices in PDSA/quality tool usage in the school or classroom setting
-Network with other facilitators to share ideas and best practices
-Assist staff, students and administrators in learning how to effectively use PDSA and quality tools
-Learn from each other's expertise and experiences and discuss how to deploy and enhance continuous improvement efforts in RISD #41
-Attend conferences, workshops, site visits or other professional development activities

Learn more about Koalaty Kid facilitators and view a list of who they are at http://curriculum.risd41.org/documents/koalaty/facilitators/school_facilitators.htm .

 

 

 

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SIP Updates

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After several meetings with the Educators In Residence, there have been a few helpful revisions made to the SIP template to more closely align our template with the ISBE rubric.  All SIP information is available online at --> http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/school_improvement/school_improvement.htm .  These updates will be shared at the next Leadership meeting.  Here are some of the updates:

 

-Alignment of the ISBE rubric with the RISD41 SIP template (section by section correlation to the ISBE rubric).  To view these changes, visit http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/school_improvement/risd41_SIP_Template.doc .

 

-Suggested annual calendar of SIP activities to be able to transform your current SIP into the new format.  Available online at http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/school_improvement/SIP_Timeline.xls .

 

-SIP Quarterly Review Sample Agenda for conducting quarterly SIP action plan reviews.  Available online at http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/school_improvement/Quarterly_Review.doc .

 

 

 

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Science Training- 1-24-03 & 2-26-03

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Science Point of Contacts will be engaging in advanced training in our recently adopted new science materials.  FOSS training is scheduled for Friday, January 24th from 8:30am - 3:00pm in room 23 of the administration center.  McMillan/McGraw-Hill science training is scheduled for February 26th from 8:30am - 3:00pm in room 23 of the administration center.  A complete list of registered participants is online at http://curriculum.risd41.org/committee/science/poc/foss_mcmillan_training.htm .  All administrators are invited to join the training or just stop by.

 

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ITBS & ISAT Summary Data Available (Board of Education SIP Reports)

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As many of you prepare your school's SIP summary for the Board of Education, I have created an ISAT and ITBS graphical summary (by school).  These excel files are available to you and your staff for other SIP purposes as well.  Feel free to use the data as appropriate.  The files can be downloaded, viewed and printed online at http://curriculum.risd41.org/documents/published_reports/curriculum_office_published.htm .

 

 

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Illinois Learning Standards/RISD Curriculum Alignment & Student Friendly Standards Online Now!

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Please take a moment to review the teacher created RISD 41 curriculum alignment documents for the content areas that you teach.  In most cases, the major subject areas contain the K-12 Illinois Learning Standards by grade level. On the web site, we have also placed a document that translates the Illinois Learning Standards into "student friendly language" that is easily understood.  These Word files can be printed and displayed as posters in the classroom to help student (and teachers) identify and understand the standards.  In the area of writing and math, student assessment rubrics are available.  To view all of these documents, visit our web site at http://curriculum.risd41.org/committee/curriculum_alignment.htm .

 

 

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View past "Updates and Reminders" at... http://curriculum.risd41.org/admin/updates/updates_and_reminders.htm

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Jay

 

 

Excellence Every Day!

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Jay Marino

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction & School Improvement

Rock Island-Milan Public Schools

2101 Sixth Avenue- Admin Center - Rock Island, IL  61201

Voice: 309-793-5900 ext. 253 - Fax: 309-793-5905

 

jay.marino@risd41.org - http://www.risd41.org

Instruction/ School Improvement Site: http://curriculum.risd41.org/

Personal Web Site: http://www.jmarino.ws

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